Juno News - September 16, 2023


Do the Conservatives have a path to victory？ (ft. Melissa Lantsman)


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

173.16911

Word Count

867

Sentence Count

57


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:00:08.660 Sitting down at the Conservative Party of Canada-Quebec City Convention with the Conservatives'
00:00:13.780 Deputy Leader, Thornhill MP Melissa Lansman. Melissa, good to talk to you.
00:00:17.400 Nice to see you.
00:00:18.140 Let's talk about the enthusiasm here, because oftentimes when a party's in opposition,
00:00:23.420 there can be a bit of a pall over things. And in this particular case, it's a party that's lost
00:00:28.160 the last three elections, but that's not the vibe that you're picking up in this room here.
00:00:32.720 It's certainly not the vibe. And with thousands of delegates from across the country,
00:00:37.040 every single riding represented in beautiful Quebec City, that doesn't hurt with nice weather.
00:00:44.280 The vibe here is electric. People are excited. Look, it's not lost on you. The poll numbers look
00:00:52.160 good, and that has an effect on people. It means that all of the work that all of these folks do,
00:00:57.500 every single day on the ground, in their ridings, is resonating. And the message that we've been
00:01:03.920 on track with for a number of years, and particularly in the last year, is resonating with Canadians.
00:01:10.660 Do you think it's that the Conservative message under Pierre Polyev has kind of shifted to one
00:01:15.660 that's resonating with more Canadians? Or do you think it's that the climate in Canada and the
00:01:19.260 circumstances in Canada have changed to catch up with where Conservatives are?
00:01:23.320 Look, realistically, I think it's both. But we have, you know, we've got a leader who is non-stop,
00:01:28.500 every single day in a different corner of the country, oftentimes with his wife, who is often
00:01:35.600 talked about as the not-so-secret weapon. But he's talking about what Canadians are actually talking
00:01:42.920 about. And what we see is a Prime Minister who isn't. A Prime Minister who is off at the G20,
00:01:50.200 an environment minister who would raise the carbon tax here and then run off to China,
00:01:56.840 a bloc leader who's fighting for sovereignty in Europe somewhere. This is not where Canadians are
00:02:04.060 at. And we finally, you know, we finally have a leader that after a year in power is speaking
00:02:09.160 to the very chaos in this country.
00:02:12.200 You're obviously an MP in the GTA, in Thornhill. And I'm curious where,
00:02:16.840 because you've obviously been on campaigns before. So, you know, the strategic aspect of this.
00:02:21.740 You've done it better than a lot of MPs have, because you've been on both sides of this. And
00:02:24.960 I'm curious where you think the road to victory is, because in 2011, Stephen Harper won a majority
00:02:30.320 by just cleaning house in the GTA, but not really breaking through in Quebec. And I know in 2021,
00:02:36.220 we saw the Conservatives try to do both GTA and Quebec. Neither really were. Like,
00:02:40.400 where is that path? And you can't say all 338.
00:02:42.960 No, I, although that would be nice. Look, I think the coalition, it looks a little bit,
00:02:49.480 the country looks different than when Stephen Harper was prime minister, by the way, a great
00:02:53.540 prime minister. And that 2011 victory was, was like an outstanding victory for Conservatives.
00:03:01.280 One that we didn't probably see coming until, into, into the campaign. So shifts turn. So the tide
00:03:08.120 turned within the campaign. I think this coalition looks different. And I think that no matter who
00:03:12.500 you are, no matter what lot, walk of life you're from, you know, no matter, you know, if you came
00:03:17.620 to this country five days ago, five years ago, 500 years ago, there is a spot for you in the Canadian,
00:03:24.100 in the, in the Conservative Party. And because the country looks different,
00:03:27.400 the coalition looks different. So, southwestern Ontario, the 905 certainly, the van, the greater
00:03:33.440 Vancouver area, all of these are, are targets.
00:03:37.520 What is it that you would like to champion personally under a Conservative government?
00:03:41.520 And I'm not asking you to, like, pick your cabinet spot if you had one, but, but going in there, I mean,
00:03:45.420 No, we shouldn't do that.
00:03:45.960 What are the issues that you really personally see yourself as being to bring outside of an opposition role
00:03:51.260 and in a government role, if that's where the tide takes you?
00:03:53.360 Look, if the tide takes us there, and we're lucky enough, and we're going to do the work
00:03:56.800 every single day to, to try to get there. But there are so many things to fix in this country.
00:04:02.800 Attracting investment back to this country is, is certainly one of them.
00:04:06.400 Our role on the world stage, making, fixing our, our, our very broken bureaucracies,
00:04:12.720 our services to, to Canadians, and getting back on track, on a, on a, on a fiscal track,
00:04:17.920 a path to balance, and making life more affordable for Canadians.
00:04:21.360 So there's no shortage of, of, of areas to, to fix, and no shortage of areas, uh, that will really have
00:04:27.360 an impact on people's everyday lives that I'm interested in.
00:04:29.840 Melissa Lansman, thank you.
00:04:30.960 Melissa Lansman, thanks for having me.
00:04:32.560 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show. Support the program by donating to True North at www.tnc.news.
00:04:40.960 Happening our voice.
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00:04:51.960 Have proper time.
00:04:52.400 Great time.
00:04:54.400 UAIS
00:04:57.360 clan.
00:04:58.400 Thank you.