Juno News - Double Teenage Mutant Ninja COVID Variant

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's most irreverent talk show. This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.980 Coming up, why travel restrictions are too little too late, carbon tax semantics, and the film industry can use churches, so why can't churches use them?

00:00:23.620 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:30.000 Hello and welcome to another edition of Canada's most irreverent talk show. It is Thursday, April 22, 2021, the year that never ends, just like the last one, which ended but didn't really feel like it did and has just extended into this one.

00:00:44.160 But regardless, we are here. Thank you so much for tuning in to Canada's most irreverent talk show.

00:00:49.460 A very busy day today. In fact, I'd say it's been a fairly busy week, a lot going on, so we'll try to get through as much of the relevant stuff as we can.

00:00:58.540 I had a couple of emails from people after last show on Tuesday saying that they were a little bit surprised I didn't spend the entire show or most of it talking about the budget, which you may recall was tabled on Monday by the Trudeau government, the first budget of its kind from the government in two years.

00:01:17.360 And I just completely ignored it. I was hoping to today, except I got a bunch of emails.

00:01:22.280 So this is going to be my budget segment.

00:01:25.040 I'm going to do a deep dive into all the things that people need to know about the budget.

00:01:30.560 More debt, more deficit, spending a lot of money. Most of it's useless and no one's going to care because it's going to pass. Done.

00:01:36.980 Covered the whole budget in 10 seconds. Now we can move on to interesting and not necessarily as predictable topics because basically there was nothing surprising in it.

00:01:48.680 The one bit of analysis I would say is that when things were good in the Canadian economy, Trudeau said we could spend and we should spend because we can afford it.

00:01:57.320 When things were bad because of the pandemic, the Trudeau government said, well, now we have to spend because things are bad.

00:02:03.220 And as a fiscal conservative, the question I always ask is, well, hang on, when do we get to not spend?

00:02:09.400 And the answer is to liberals, there's never a time when spending is not on the menu.

00:02:14.380 And the reason for that is because they are using this pandemic where there are very legitimate expenditures government needs to put out the door as political cover to spend hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.

00:02:25.580 And that is going to be the big point. Anyone who criticizes that is going to be characterized as heartless.

00:02:32.300 And this is a very savvy political move by Trudeau because he knows that right now it is a spending culture.

00:02:39.640 Anyone can spend anything. And if you criticize it, you're going to look like the bad guy.

00:02:43.940 So this is the problem that I would say is there for Aaron O'Toole and for any politician in the coming years.

00:02:49.980 And it does, genuinely speaking, hamper any hope of any future government doing anything because they're going to be saddled with all of this debt and these deficits for which there is absolutely no end in sight.

00:03:02.220 Okay, I did about 30 seconds instead of 10 seconds, but I hope you'll forgive me as we move on here.

00:03:07.700 I want to talk about what's shaping up to be the big story of the day in the COVID file.

00:03:12.500 And that is the super duper double teenage mutant mutant double mutant ninja virus version from India. 0.99

00:03:19.720 One of the many variants we have because this is now all that all we talk about, the so-called variants of concern.

00:03:25.140 We've got the Brazil variant. We've got the South Africa variant. We've got the UK variant. We've got the Brazil nut variant.

00:03:31.960 We've got the double mutant teenage ninja turtle variant and all of these things.

00:03:35.460 And the big hotspot right now from which we are apparently importing the double mutant ninja virus is from India. 0.94

00:03:44.200 Now, the problem with this is that it's become on vogue now to talk about travel restrictions again.

00:03:49.980 Now, I was a big believer earlier on in the pandemic in the need to shut down the border because Canada is not an island,

00:03:56.380 as I've said when people try to compare Canada to Singapore or Taiwan or even Australia.

00:04:01.820 But at a certain point, the virus was not here.

00:04:04.820 And if you were going to shut down your borders to prevent the importation of the virus, that was going to be when you had to do it.

00:04:11.760 Once it is in, travel restrictions are only theatrical and they only serve to inconvenience at best

00:04:19.600 and at worst compromise the very fundamental freedoms and liberties that are required for citizens of a country.

00:04:26.940 And so the Conservatives this morning, Aaron O'Toole, the leader of the Conservatives, came out and said,

00:04:31.280 it's time to secure our border.

00:04:33.340 This is a clip from his press conference this morning.

00:04:35.520 Throughout April, dozens of COVID-positive flights have been landing in Canada.

00:04:40.200 With them, they've brought the risk of new variants, including the double mutated variant

00:04:45.840 that is currently overwhelming India's health care system.

00:04:50.160 Nearly a third of all international flights landing in Toronto have had COVID on board.

00:04:55.720 It is long past time for Justin Trudeau to take action.

00:05:00.540 The federal government must temporarily suspend flights from hotspot countries immediately.

00:05:06.900 This will buy us time to develop a clear set of parameters for identifying the risks of emerging variants

00:05:13.760 and sharing this information clearly with Canadians.

00:05:17.700 Now, I don't disagree with the sentiment behind it.

00:05:20.920 We know that if the variants are the issue and the variants are the thing that we have to devote our entire public health apparatus to combating,

00:05:28.660 then yes, travel is an important part of that.

00:05:31.520 But the problem is, as he says this, there are, according to public health officials, dozens of cases,

00:05:39.040 not one, not two, dozens of cases of the double teenage mutant ninja virus from India that is now detected in Canada,

00:05:46.940 that are now detected in Canada, specifically in British Columbia.

00:05:49.680 The problem with these variants from a detection perspective is that whatever misgivings people have about PCR tests and whatnot,

00:05:57.500 I'm just going to go along with the government definition of these things now.

00:06:02.180 When the government does these tests and the public health labs do these tests,

00:06:07.320 the variant detection is a different layer.

00:06:10.420 When you run the PCR test to see positive, negative,

00:06:13.000 it's not popping up with positive UK, positive South Africa, positive Brazil.

00:06:17.920 Those tests are run separately.

00:06:19.580 So by the time they start to identify these,

00:06:22.220 they're only getting a smaller subset because these things have already been circulating.

00:06:26.660 They might not necessarily be endemic,

00:06:29.180 but they are already in the area in which they're detected if they're finding dozens of these things.

00:06:34.920 So the reason I point that out is we can look at all of the COVID cases that may be coming in on flights from India,

00:06:41.320 and the government actually puts out a tracker where you can go and you can look up domestic, international, train, bus,

00:06:47.780 places where someone has detected a positive test and see when they are.

00:06:53.500 And if you look at flights from Delhi, there are a lot.

00:06:56.160 And if you look at them, you'll see that it's not just where this flight has a case,

00:07:01.220 this flight has a case.

00:07:02.380 There are often multiple sections identified,

00:07:05.460 multiple sections of the plane identified as having a COVID case.

00:07:09.200 So clearly, there is an issue here.

00:07:11.960 And when people are coming in, what's supposed to happen is they're supposed to go to a hotel quarantine,

00:07:17.520 and then they spend the rest of their time in a 14-day quarantine at home.

00:07:21.620 A lot of people, especially in various ethnic communities in Canada, live in multi-generational homes.

00:07:27.320 So the idea of quarantining in a way that segregates yourself from those with whom you live,

00:07:32.900 if they didn't travel with you, is not an easy thing to do.

00:07:36.600 And it's not something that a lot of people want to do.

00:07:39.160 So the reason I point this out is to say that just like in 2020,

00:07:43.200 by the time people in Canada will get around to doing border and travel restrictions that would matter,

00:07:49.220 it's going to be too late.

00:07:51.440 And that's where a lot of these things happen because the government doesn't want to do the tough calls early on.

00:08:00.340 And just remember, for example, that when we started to detect the UK variant,

00:08:05.200 this was one of the first variants of concern that people were talking about,

00:08:09.500 we did in Canada have flights from the UK shut down for a time.

00:08:13.820 And that did not stop the UK variant from becoming the dominant strain in Ontario very quickly.

00:08:22.280 So either A, the flight restrictions don't work,

00:08:24.740 or B, by the time they get around to them, it's too late to do anything about it.

00:08:28.660 And I feel we're in the same boat with this mutant double teenage Ninja Turtle variant from India. 1.00

00:08:33.920 So all of that is to say that when it comes to the tough calls,

00:08:38.780 the government is completely absent.

00:08:41.420 The government is completely absent.

00:08:42.980 They're more interested in doing things that are not targeted at all,

00:08:47.440 rather than going after specific areas of concern,

00:08:51.020 where I've always said, and especially with lockdowns, which I know are provincial,

00:08:55.720 you can't on one hand say we're going to shut down playgrounds,

00:08:58.860 or this story out of Ottawa, where now public health advisors want to shut down all retail

00:09:04.340 that is non-essential so that even curbside is not allowed.

00:09:08.720 So if you want to buy a cell phone charger curbside from Best Buy,

00:09:13.500 you would not be allowed to do that because they think that we really have to keep people at home.

00:09:19.620 And as Anthony Fury said on this very show on Tuesday,

00:09:23.120 it is not at all about targeting restrictions to where cases are being transmitted.

00:09:28.900 It's about trying to make it so there is nothing that you can do outside of your home.

00:09:33.680 That's even better than a curfew and even better than enforcement,

00:09:36.460 is if there's actually nothing for you to do outside your home,

00:09:39.800 therefore they hope that people will just stay in their homes.

00:09:43.120 And I hope the province doesn't go this far,

00:09:45.240 because this would be, I mean, nothing would surprise me now,

00:09:47.620 but this is the problem, is that you have all these people that are trying to target things

00:09:51.640 that are not really where the cases are happening,

00:09:54.580 but then you have plane loads of people coming mainly from India right now,

00:09:58.380 planes from India that are showing large numbers of COVID cases,

00:10:02.400 and all of these other variants that have somehow got into the country,

00:10:06.400 despite the fact that we're supposed to have an airtight quarantine system.

00:10:10.420 But the government response to all of this

00:10:12.920 is typically to increase restrictions for everyone equally

00:10:17.100 without looking at where the gaps and vulnerabilities were in the first place.

00:10:23.140 Someone who is going back and forth between the United States and Canada for work,

00:10:27.780 who's vaccinated, that does not get them out of quarantine.

00:10:31.780 But these people that are coming in from India, 1.00

00:10:34.800 these people that are coming in from areas where the South Africa strain is common,

00:10:38.860 or wherever the case may be,

00:10:40.380 they're still supposed to be quarantining, yet somehow that isn't working.

00:10:45.180 And the problem with this is that whenever we see shortcomings in the system,

00:10:49.920 the knee-jerk reaction is to say,

00:10:51.600 well, I guess it didn't go far enough.

00:10:53.860 And no one actually evaluates why this may be fundamentally flawed in the first place.

00:10:58.940 And this is where we go back to flight restrictions.

00:11:01.240 If blocking flights from the UK didn't stop the UK variant

00:11:04.860 from becoming the dominant strain in Ontario,

00:11:07.180 what was missing?

00:11:08.360 And I'm more and more of the mindset,

00:11:11.500 and I know this sounds like a myopic or perhaps defeatist view,

00:11:14.900 but I'm more and more of the mindset that there is no magic remedy

00:11:18.960 that governments keep looking for.

00:11:20.740 The first wave, the second wave, the third wave,

00:11:23.100 the fourth wave, the fifth wave,

00:11:24.420 who knows how many waves we're going to get out of this.

00:11:26.740 But the whole point of this is

00:11:28.340 that all of these different measures

00:11:30.320 that people have tried to say are successful

00:11:32.640 really are not.

00:11:34.160 And the countries that have done very well

00:11:36.780 are literal islands

00:11:38.200 who have had their borders shut down

00:11:40.760 for over a year now.

00:11:43.060 Places like Taiwan,

00:11:44.540 places like Singapore.

00:11:46.120 And it's one thing to hold those places up as examples

00:11:49.280 and say,

00:11:50.820 you know,

00:11:51.140 yeah, look what they've done.

00:11:52.060 They've only had,

00:11:52.680 I think,

00:11:52.840 like six deaths

00:11:53.620 or two deaths

00:11:54.400 or something like that

00:11:55.260 in some of these parts of the world.

00:11:56.660 But no one in Canada

00:11:59.280 or the United States

00:12:00.440 or the United Kingdom

00:12:01.340 would be prepared to adopt the measures

00:12:04.020 that these places have,

00:12:05.580 which is basically keeping their country 0.96

00:12:08.160 completely closed off,

00:12:10.380 which for Canada,

00:12:12.360 good luck with how much we rely on the border

00:12:14.920 with the United States,

00:12:16.160 cross-border trade,

00:12:17.160 shipping, supply chains,

00:12:18.400 and so on and so forth.

00:12:20.780 So this is where we end up

00:12:22.840 in a very tricky situation

00:12:24.280 where everyone wants to talk

00:12:25.540 about travel restrictions

00:12:26.600 when it's too late.

00:12:28.540 We have to accept

00:12:29.580 that we are an open country

00:12:30.960 with a very porous border.

00:12:33.940 And this has been the prevailing issue,

00:12:36.080 I think,

00:12:36.400 that a lot of people in this audience

00:12:37.760 have certainly raised

00:12:38.600 when it comes to illegal immigration

00:12:40.320 for the last several years in Canada,

00:12:43.060 even prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

00:12:45.560 And where are we?

00:12:46.860 We do not have an airtight border

00:12:48.660 around this country.

00:12:49.700 And even if we did,

00:12:51.620 there would be so many exemptions

00:12:53.220 and exceptions to it

00:12:54.380 for essential travel,

00:12:55.740 for supply chains,

00:12:56.800 for manufacturing,

00:12:57.920 for family reunification,

00:12:59.340 that all of these restrictions

00:13:01.020 fail to really do

00:13:02.960 what they are supposed to do.

00:13:05.340 And this is the big problem

00:13:07.000 I have with travel restrictions

00:13:08.460 at this point.

00:13:09.600 I'm not talking about early on,

00:13:10.940 but I'm talking about

00:13:11.660 at this point a year in

00:13:12.700 when the things that we're trying

00:13:13.640 to protect ourselves from

00:13:14.660 are already here

00:13:15.640 and everything we're doing

00:13:16.600 is, you know,

00:13:17.000 a month too late

00:13:17.780 or something like that.

00:13:18.740 The challenge is that

00:13:20.420 the virus does not care

00:13:22.420 whether you are an essential worker

00:13:23.960 with an essential reason

00:13:25.040 for going into Canada.

00:13:26.200 The virus doesn't care

00:13:27.300 if you're a truck driver

00:13:28.320 or if you're a tourist,

00:13:29.660 if you have family in Canada,

00:13:31.120 if you're a citizen,

00:13:32.060 a permanent resident or not.

00:13:33.240 The virus doesn't care.

00:13:34.840 So all of these exemptions

00:13:36.380 and exceptions

00:13:36.980 that I think are required

00:13:38.420 because we do not want

00:13:40.080 to turn ourselves

00:13:40.760 into a country

00:13:41.480 that is treating citizens

00:13:43.560 like cattle

00:13:44.960 and just saying,

00:13:45.960 well, no, 0.99

00:13:46.300 you're infected like mad cow. 0.99

00:13:48.700 You got it. 1.00

00:13:48.960 We're not letting you

00:13:49.460 into the country.

00:13:50.300 I don't want that

00:13:51.640 in this country.

00:13:53.640 So we have to find ways

00:13:55.040 to deal with these things

00:13:56.220 and not focus on the glitzy,

00:13:58.660 glossy,

00:13:59.620 very simplified version

00:14:02.400 that is almost always

00:14:04.000 going to trend

00:14:04.960 towards being theatrical

00:14:06.700 than actually substantive

00:14:08.840 in dealing with this.

00:14:11.320 And the easy way out

00:14:12.900 is not going to get us

00:14:13.960 out of this.

00:14:14.400 We talked about this

00:14:15.120 on the show

00:14:15.900 with Doug Ford's

00:14:17.000 Ontario approach,

00:14:18.440 the one that the Ontario

00:14:19.440 government unveiled

00:14:20.240 on Friday

00:14:20.860 and very quickly

00:14:21.860 backpedaled from

00:14:22.880 that would have given

00:14:24.220 police major sweeping

00:14:26.100 enforcement powers

00:14:27.100 to stop any pedestrian

00:14:29.080 driver,

00:14:30.000 ask them who they are,

00:14:31.100 where they're going

00:14:31.700 and how dare they be

00:14:32.500 outside of their homes.

00:14:33.440 And I will say

00:14:34.340 we saw a very swift

00:14:36.340 backlash

00:14:36.880 and I had called

00:14:37.800 on the government

00:14:38.480 or called out the government

00:14:39.740 on my previous show

00:14:41.080 for not apologizing,

00:14:42.420 for just saying

00:14:43.120 as Toronto area MPP

00:14:45.680 Paul Calandra said

00:14:46.580 that this was

00:14:47.060 a communications problem.

00:14:49.320 Doug Ford this morning

00:14:50.780 came out

00:14:51.720 and went much

00:14:53.080 beyond that

00:14:54.240 in saying

00:14:55.180 that he was sorry.

00:14:56.580 Take a look.

00:14:57.060 Last Friday

00:14:58.120 in response

00:14:59.180 to extremely troubling

00:15:00.280 modeling

00:15:00.720 that told us

00:15:03.020 we could see

00:15:03.600 well over

00:15:04.260 15,000 cases a day.

00:15:07.840 We move fast

00:15:09.220 to put in measures

00:15:10.220 in place

00:15:11.360 to reduce mobility.

00:15:12.460 but we moved

00:15:15.060 too fast.

00:15:17.000 And I know

00:15:17.780 that some of those

00:15:18.620 measures

00:15:19.060 especially around

00:15:20.500 enforcement

00:15:21.040 they went too far.

00:15:24.560 Simply put

00:15:25.460 we got it wrong.

00:15:28.460 We made a mistake.

00:15:31.120 These decisions

00:15:32.340 they left a lot

00:15:33.540 of people

00:15:33.980 very concerned.

00:15:35.020 In fact

00:15:37.220 they left a lot

00:15:38.280 of people

00:15:38.780 angry and upset.

00:15:40.800 I know

00:15:42.960 we got it wrong.

00:15:44.380 I know

00:15:44.700 we made a mistake.

00:15:47.000 And for that

00:15:48.220 I'm sorry

00:15:49.220 and I sincerely

00:15:50.360 apologize.

00:15:52.780 Because as Premier

00:15:54.100 as I said

00:15:55.560 right from the beginning

00:15:56.520 the buck

00:15:58.780 stops with me.

00:16:00.860 Again

00:16:01.540 I'm sorry

00:16:03.060 and I apologize

00:16:04.800 to each

00:16:05.560 and every one

00:16:06.020 of you.

00:16:06.280 I will say

00:16:07.720 from a messaging

00:16:08.740 perspective

00:16:09.380 that is exactly

00:16:10.700 what Ontarians

00:16:11.820 needed to hear.

00:16:13.060 Ideally

00:16:13.560 that is what

00:16:14.240 Ontarians

00:16:14.740 would have heard

00:16:15.480 on Saturday.

00:16:16.780 Actually

00:16:17.040 if we're going

00:16:17.460 with ideal

00:16:17.900 ideally

00:16:18.400 this never

00:16:19.420 would have been

00:16:20.500 proposed

00:16:21.040 in the first place.

00:16:23.200 Unfortunately

00:16:23.680 we didn't get

00:16:24.500 that lucky.

00:16:25.420 Look

00:16:25.700 I am all

00:16:26.360 for governments

00:16:26.960 that listen

00:16:27.520 to their people

00:16:28.260 and I'm actually

00:16:28.820 very pleased

00:16:29.620 when governments

00:16:30.660 will in some way

00:16:31.760 admit wrongdoing

00:16:32.640 by reversing

00:16:34.220 something.

00:16:34.780 But again

00:16:35.160 you want to hear

00:16:35.820 that they understood

00:16:36.520 why it was so wrong.

00:16:38.960 And Doug Ford's

00:16:40.000 justification for that

00:16:41.200 and by the way

00:16:41.700 I should say

00:16:42.120 if you haven't

00:16:42.520 been following

00:16:42.980 he is in his

00:16:44.640 late mother's

00:16:45.880 I think backyard

00:16:46.620 or maybe front yard

00:16:47.420 I would assume

00:16:47.920 backyard

00:16:48.380 because he's

00:16:49.460 in self-isolation

00:16:50.400 a member of his

00:16:50.980 staff contracted

00:16:51.720 COVID

00:16:52.080 and even though

00:16:52.600 he's been

00:16:53.020 vaccinated

00:16:53.740 and tested

00:16:54.400 negative

00:16:54.800 for whatever reason

00:16:55.660 the theatrical

00:16:56.780 restrictions say

00:16:57.640 that he has to

00:16:58.300 be in isolation

00:16:59.260 for 14 days.

00:17:00.840 Again

00:17:01.060 he's had a dose

00:17:02.360 of the vaccine

00:17:03.080 he's tested

00:17:03.840 negative

00:17:04.320 but for

00:17:05.380 I would presume

00:17:06.400 14 days

00:17:07.380 he's now

00:17:08.320 got to be there

00:17:08.980 so this is not

00:17:09.900 dealing with the

00:17:10.600 issues that we

00:17:11.160 actually have

00:17:11.860 with the pandemic

00:17:13.140 and with community

00:17:13.900 spread

00:17:14.260 but I digress

00:17:15.140 the point of this

00:17:16.880 is that he's saying

00:17:18.220 he got it wrong

00:17:19.020 they tried to move

00:17:20.020 too fast

00:17:20.740 or they tried to

00:17:21.580 move quickly

00:17:22.140 and as a result

00:17:22.900 they moved too fast

00:17:23.820 the issue

00:17:24.660 is not the speed

00:17:25.800 the issue

00:17:27.060 was doing something

00:17:28.640 without thinking

00:17:29.700 at all

00:17:30.400 about the implications

00:17:32.120 it would have

00:17:32.880 on things

00:17:33.900 other than

00:17:34.800 that one-dimensional

00:17:36.360 look at

00:17:37.280 COVID-0

00:17:38.400 and Anthony

00:17:39.740 Fury was very

00:17:40.700 eloquent on this

00:17:41.580 subject on Tuesday

00:17:42.580 he said the problem

00:17:43.300 with COVID-0

00:17:43.980 is that it eliminates

00:17:45.400 that desire

00:17:46.760 to look into

00:17:47.640 the specific areas

00:17:48.840 where government

00:17:50.140 action or any action

00:17:51.380 should be targeted

00:17:52.160 and instead it says

00:17:53.340 anything and everything

00:17:54.160 irrespective of the

00:17:55.180 consequences that will

00:17:56.300 we think reduce cases

00:17:57.600 has to be something

00:17:58.460 we do

00:17:59.260 so what's happening

00:18:01.560 here

00:18:02.020 is you've got

00:18:03.720 a government

00:18:04.340 that has basically

00:18:05.320 been put on notice

00:18:06.520 and I would say

00:18:07.400 that is the one good

00:18:08.440 thing that comes out

00:18:09.280 of this

00:18:09.600 I would hope

00:18:10.420 that any measures

00:18:11.160 the Ontario government

00:18:12.100 does in the future

00:18:13.620 are going to be

00:18:15.580 mindful

00:18:16.360 of this dynamic

00:18:18.480 of not turning

00:18:19.360 the province

00:18:19.900 into a police state

00:18:21.560 like I said

00:18:22.140 the apology

00:18:22.740 is appreciated

00:18:24.000 I don't know

00:18:24.660 if people are

00:18:25.420 accepting the apology

00:18:26.520 necessarily

00:18:27.200 but I'm glad

00:18:28.240 at least they admit

00:18:29.240 that it was wrong

00:18:30.060 and acknowledge

00:18:30.800 why it was wrong

00:18:32.460 because when they

00:18:34.000 just tried to cast

00:18:34.880 this off as a

00:18:35.520 communications problem

00:18:36.660 no I played

00:18:37.660 Solicitor General

00:18:38.500 Sylvia Jones

00:18:39.280 words last show

00:18:40.960 she was not just

00:18:42.500 making a mistake

00:18:43.420 in how she was

00:18:44.300 wording it

00:18:44.860 she was selling

00:18:45.900 a policy that was

00:18:46.940 in its very nature

00:18:48.600 a flawed one

00:18:50.100 with an egregious

00:18:51.240 egregious effect

00:18:52.660 on civil liberties

00:18:53.980 which governments

00:18:54.980 may not want

00:18:55.840 to acknowledge

00:18:56.480 but are still

00:18:57.200 very much

00:18:58.000 in existence

00:18:58.740 and are more

00:18:59.940 important in times

00:19:01.080 of crisis

00:19:01.620 than they are

00:19:02.260 in times of

00:19:03.520 peace and happiness

00:19:04.320 when your liberties

00:19:05.340 don't matter

00:19:05.860 because everyone's

00:19:06.460 doing what they want

00:19:07.120 no it is in times

00:19:08.460 like this that

00:19:09.060 these freedoms

00:19:09.860 matter the most

00:19:11.580 and governments

00:19:12.900 would do well

00:19:13.800 to acknowledge that

00:19:15.180 we've got to take

00:19:16.280 a quick break

00:19:17.060 back in a moment

00:19:17.760 with more of

00:19:18.540 the Andrew Lawton

00:19:19.120 show here on

00:19:19.880 True North

00:19:20.320 stay tuned

00:19:20.940 I mentioned

00:19:28.200 at the beginning

00:19:29.240 of the show

00:19:29.700 the double

00:19:30.480 I should get

00:19:31.040 the name right

00:19:31.580 at least once

00:19:32.240 it is the

00:19:33.020 double mutant

00:19:34.680 variant

00:19:35.280 which originated

00:19:36.340 and was first

00:19:37.480 detected

00:19:38.040 in India

00:19:39.280 that is the

00:19:40.160 best way

00:19:40.840 of describing it

00:19:41.640 but again

00:19:42.000 they're just

00:19:42.740 trying to give

00:19:43.160 all these names

00:19:43.800 to them now

00:19:44.440 that you might

00:19:45.480 as well just go

00:19:46.100 with the double

00:19:46.780 teenage mutant

00:19:47.580 ninja turtle

00:19:48.100 variant

00:19:48.520 I think I change

00:19:49.520 it every time

00:19:50.000 I say it

00:19:50.460 which is part

00:19:51.000 of the fun

00:19:51.440 I will give

00:19:52.640 honorable mention

00:19:53.360 here to

00:19:53.940 Le Journal de

00:19:54.760 Mugliel

00:19:55.120 the newspaper

00:19:55.820 in Montreal

00:19:56.540 that had this

00:19:58.080 on its cover

00:19:58.720 this morning

00:19:59.300 the Indian

00:20:00.340 variant has

00:20:01.500 arrived

00:20:02.200 and just

00:20:03.620 I guess because

00:20:04.500 they had a photo

00:20:05.140 and they wanted

00:20:05.580 to use it

00:20:06.080 which I am

00:20:06.480 totally for

00:20:07.160 they go with

00:20:08.220 one of the

00:20:09.300 19 costumes

00:20:10.720 that Trudeau did

00:20:11.480 actually Trudeau

00:20:12.680 his wardrobes

00:20:14.280 on that India trip

00:20:15.220 were double mutant

00:20:16.480 in the sense that

00:20:17.100 I think he changed

00:20:17.900 them twice a day

00:20:18.660 so Trudeau's

00:20:19.940 Indian wardrobe

00:20:20.540 is the double 0.99

00:20:21.200 mutant Indian 0.99

00:20:21.820 variant we've 0.98

00:20:22.600 all been warned

00:20:23.460 about right now

00:20:24.300 but my thanks

00:20:25.520 to Le Journal

00:20:26.380 for giving me

00:20:27.000 a reason to

00:20:27.480 smile in the

00:20:28.700 morning especially

00:20:29.480 in these times

00:20:30.280 Aaron O'Toole

00:20:31.540 as I played

00:20:32.220 that clip earlier

00:20:32.880 did a press

00:20:33.580 conference this

00:20:34.220 morning and I

00:20:35.520 put a question

00:20:36.280 to him that I

00:20:37.280 had not heard

00:20:37.980 anyone ask

00:20:38.720 I've been talking

00:20:39.420 about it I have

00:20:40.300 asked for an

00:20:40.880 interview with

00:20:41.340 Aaron O'Toole's

00:20:41.940 office and I've

00:20:42.960 been told we'll

00:20:43.720 get back to you

00:20:44.260 we'll get back to

00:20:44.920 you and after

00:20:45.720 about a week I

00:20:46.460 think it's safe

00:20:47.100 to say I am not

00:20:48.200 going to get an

00:20:48.600 interview at this

00:20:49.160 time but I wanted

00:20:50.720 to ask about this

00:20:51.840 climate plan of his

00:20:53.120 that we talked about

00:20:54.420 on the show last

00:20:55.320 week the too long

00:20:56.880 didn't read version

00:20:57.760 of it is that there

00:20:58.740 is going to be a

00:20:59.620 rewards program of

00:21:00.980 sorts where every

00:21:02.300 time you spend a

00:21:03.800 dollar of tax if you

00:21:05.080 will on well maybe

00:21:06.600 it's not tax we'll get

00:21:07.500 to that in a moment

00:21:08.120 but a dollar of a

00:21:09.540 surcharge on a

00:21:10.800 hydrocarbon based

00:21:11.700 fuel that money will

00:21:13.100 go to a low carbon

00:21:15.160 savings account and

00:21:16.680 that savings account

00:21:17.680 will let you buy

00:21:18.800 green things so

00:21:20.160 government approved

00:21:20.920 expenditures like a

00:21:22.440 bike or a transit

00:21:23.360 pass or a Tesla or

00:21:25.060 a retrofit something

00:21:26.500 or other for your

00:21:27.160 home that's the

00:21:27.900 the shortened version

00:21:29.120 of the Aaron O'Toole

00:21:30.020 climate plan which

00:21:31.460 has decided to pin

00:21:33.160 itself to the Paris

00:21:34.820 agreement so Trudeau's

00:21:36.660 Paris targets which

00:21:37.780 he's now gone above

00:21:38.620 and beyond Aaron O'Toole

00:21:39.880 says he's going to

00:21:40.700 meet the Paris targets

00:21:41.680 and that's the basis

00:21:42.800 of the plan now

00:21:44.680 this comes after

00:21:46.400 Aaron O'Toole signed

00:21:47.860 that carbon tax

00:21:49.080 pledge for the

00:21:50.240 Canadian Taxpayers

00:21:51.120 Federation during his 0.95

00:21:52.300 leadership race in

00:21:53.120 which he said

00:21:53.720 unequivocally no to

00:21:55.320 a carbon tax and

00:21:56.880 you may think it's

00:21:57.860 a semantical

00:21:58.640 discussion and I

00:21:59.760 will say in

00:22:00.520 constitutional law

00:22:01.640 it's actually very

00:22:02.540 relevant whether a

00:22:03.880 government imposed

00:22:04.660 charge is a tax or

00:22:05.880 not but you may

00:22:07.300 think it's just

00:22:07.800 semantics to question

00:22:08.860 whether it's a

00:22:09.520 carbon tax or just a

00:22:10.720 price on carbon or

00:22:12.080 regulatory charge a

00:22:13.280 levy and the reason

00:22:14.740 I think it's important

00:22:15.740 is because of the

00:22:17.200 integrity factor when

00:22:18.980 he says no tax and

00:22:21.080 then goes and proposes

00:22:22.220 a plan that will force

00:22:23.880 consumers to pay more

00:22:25.200 for something that to

00:22:26.860 a consumer is not

00:22:28.600 going to matter it's a

00:22:30.320 tax they're paying more

00:22:31.260 for something it's a

00:22:32.100 tax and I wanted to

00:22:33.180 ask him along that

00:22:34.200 vein whether he views

00:22:35.740 this as a tax the

00:22:37.280 background of this being

00:22:38.780 that for the last six

00:22:39.680 years when the Trudeau

00:22:40.840 government has claimed

00:22:41.700 that it's carbon tax is

00:22:42.940 not a tax the

00:22:44.000 conservatives were

00:22:44.780 calling it a carbon

00:22:45.700 tax they weren't

00:22:46.840 buying into this

00:22:47.500 whole oh no no it's

00:22:48.580 not a price it's just

00:22:49.400 a price they're saying

00:22:50.240 no it's a carbon tax so

00:22:51.680 I wanted to ask Aaron

00:22:52.640 about that here was our

00:22:53.600 exchange this morning

00:22:54.480 since 2015 the

00:22:56.020 conservatives have

00:22:56.940 called Justin Trudeau's

00:22:58.420 so-called price on

00:22:59.580 carbon a carbon tax the

00:23:01.660 implication being that if

00:23:02.900 Canadians are forced

00:23:04.100 because of the

00:23:04.720 government to pay more

00:23:05.660 for a product it's a

00:23:07.040 tax with regard to your

00:23:08.560 climate change plans you

00:23:09.760 concede that you are in

00:23:11.420 fact allowing there to be

00:23:13.140 a carbon tax and if not

00:23:15.760 how can you not make

00:23:17.200 that with what

00:23:17.820 conservatives have been

00:23:18.640 saying about Trudeau's

00:23:19.840 price on carbon for the

00:23:21.080 last six years

00:23:21.840 I put forward a plan

00:23:24.380 last week that will end

00:23:25.760 Mr. Trudeau's carbon tax

00:23:27.740 and put forward a plan

00:23:29.340 that puts consumers

00:23:30.980 Canadians small business

00:23:32.340 owners farmers in the

00:23:33.580 driver's seat and the fact

00:23:35.360 that not one penny of the

00:23:38.360 price on carbon goes to

00:23:40.640 Ottawa makes it not a tax

00:23:42.300 we've had some people say

00:23:44.300 when you pay a deposit on

00:23:46.160 a bottle and get the

00:23:47.780 deposit back when you

00:23:48.940 recycle the bottle that

00:23:50.040 environmental levy that

00:23:51.240 would probably be the

00:23:52.360 closest comparison to this

00:23:54.340 because consumers are not

00:23:56.880 giving an increasing

00:23:57.820 amount of money away away

00:23:59.720 away to Ottawa Mr. Trudeau

00:24:01.960 today is likely doubling

00:24:04.300 his tax yet again to make

00:24:07.240 new targets he's making up

00:24:09.560 on the fly

00:24:10.240 so what we've said is

00:24:12.020 Canadians deserve to know

00:24:13.240 what their carbon footprint

00:24:14.380 is

00:24:14.820 the price on carbon which is

00:24:16.900 a change Andrew yes but

00:24:18.440 that will be kept with them

00:24:20.220 and then they will be in the

00:24:21.780 driver's seat with respect to

00:24:23.900 lowering that that carbon

00:24:25.820 footprint over time

00:24:27.360 our plan is modeled to meet

00:24:29.180 our Paris targets but more

00:24:30.580 excitingly to have stronger

00:24:33.420 jobs and investment and

00:24:35.080 that's what we need after

00:24:36.040 the COVID crisis

00:24:36.980 listen I don't like the

00:24:39.500 answer but I will say he

00:24:41.000 answered it clearly and

00:24:42.340 directly which I very much

00:24:43.900 appreciate and I know that

00:24:45.780 Justin Trudeau is not

00:24:47.180 interested in doing that so

00:24:48.680 he answered it clearly I don't

00:24:50.580 buy into his excuse he said

00:24:52.440 it's like the money you pay

00:24:54.460 for a bottle deposit which I 1.00

00:24:56.840 think is kind of stupid in 0.99

00:24:57.920 and of itself but the 1.00

00:24:59.260 difference between that

00:25:00.760 money and the money that you

00:25:02.360 put into your toolbox

00:25:03.400 account is that the money

00:25:05.300 you spend for a bottle at

00:25:07.760 the liquor store or I think

00:25:09.260 in Quebec when you just buy

00:25:10.400 like a can of pop or

00:25:11.700 something like that is money

00:25:13.620 that you get back as cash

00:25:15.000 when you redeem those you

00:25:16.720 can spend them on whatever

00:25:17.620 you want with the toolbox

00:25:19.300 plan you can only spend them

00:25:21.900 on government approved

00:25:23.020 expenditures so even if that

00:25:24.620 money goes into an account

00:25:25.860 that is yours and has your

00:25:28.260 name on it and doesn't go

00:25:29.500 into general revenue it's

00:25:31.360 still money that you don't

00:25:33.260 quite control as cash which

00:25:35.200 is why it's been described

00:25:36.820 more as a rewards program or

00:25:38.960 a points program of sort and I

00:25:40.660 think that's a bit of an issue

00:25:42.620 here now an interesting point

00:25:44.380 is that Justin Trudeau has

00:25:45.460 moved the goalposts so Aaron

00:25:46.860 O'Toole has agreed to meet the

00:25:49.140 Paris climate targets now those

00:25:51.480 targets would cut emissions by 30%

00:25:53.820 below 2005 levels by 2030 and

00:25:57.360 whether you like or dislike the

00:25:58.820 Paris climate accord I've talked

00:26:00.620 about this extensively I won't

00:26:02.320 go into it too much now it was

00:26:04.020 the gold standard the gold

00:26:06.420 standard for countries around

00:26:07.940 the world it's been the gold

00:26:08.980 standard for Canadian climate

00:26:10.640 policy and it's interesting that

00:26:12.540 now that Aaron O'Toole has said

00:26:14.360 that he's going to meet those

00:26:15.840 targets Justin Trudeau has gone

00:26:18.220 beyond this to say oh now now

00:26:20.040 Canada is going to go and reduce

00:26:21.600 their emissions by 40 to 45% hey

00:26:24.260 why not go more Joe Biden's going

00:26:25.900 more today China's going more

00:26:28.140 everyone says they can go more

00:26:29.740 it's like an auction of sorts where

00:26:31.460 everyone just keeps shouting out a

00:26:32.620 number higher than what their 0.52

00:26:34.380 colleagues around the world are

00:26:35.740 saying you don't actually have to

00:26:37.300 do it because the nature of these

00:26:39.240 things is that they're 10 20 30

00:26:40.800 years down the line when your

00:26:42.660 government's not going to be around

00:26:43.840 to be held to account for it but it

00:26:45.960 is interesting that when Aaron O'Toole

00:26:47.600 does put forward a plan that he

00:26:49.280 says will meet these all of a 0.85

00:26:50.960 sudden the tone shifts

00:26:52.240 Marika Walsh in the Globe and

00:26:54.400 Mail who I've always gotten along

00:26:55.840 with she's a solid reporter but she

00:26:57.700 says after repeatedly dodging

00:26:59.660 questions on whether the

00:27:01.200 conservatives will support the new

00:27:02.860 40 to 45 percent emission

00:27:04.740 reductions target Aaron O'Toole says

00:27:07.220 his party will meet Canada's

00:27:08.420 previous target to cut emissions by

00:27:10.340 30 percent again so Trudeau has

00:27:13.160 actually succeeded in changing the

00:27:15.160 narrative just by blurting out a new

00:27:17.680 number like its price is right and

00:27:19.680 now all of a sudden the one that the

00:27:21.600 conservatives had to be dragged into

00:27:23.680 doing kicking and screaming is not

00:27:25.740 good enough and this is exactly the

00:27:28.260 point this is why I've always said

00:27:30.000 conservatives are not going to win

00:27:32.140 an election on the left's turf

00:27:34.600 conservatives are not going to win

00:27:36.540 by trying to compete in areas that the

00:27:38.920 left dominates because this is what's

00:27:41.040 happening Aaron O'Toole has staked

00:27:42.540 huge political capital on this he has

00:27:44.840 caused a mutiny within his own caucus

00:27:47.480 and from the base of the conservatives

00:27:49.520 because he has gone along with a carbon

00:27:52.080 tax and what thanks does he get less

00:27:55.580 than a week later it's not enough

00:27:58.260 because now the emissions goalposts have

00:28:00.180 been moved and you have to come up with

00:28:01.780 a plan that is going to go to 40 to 45

00:28:03.760 percent emissions instead of 30 percent

00:28:06.300 he fell for the liberal trap hook line

00:28:09.780 and sinker it's done now the election is

00:28:12.080 going to be about oh why does the

00:28:13.180 conservative plan only want to drop

00:28:15.220 emissions by 30 percent even if that was

00:28:17.900 the one that the intellectuals of the

00:28:20.280 world that the global community agreed

00:28:22.700 on and that has driven Canadian climate

00:28:25.920 policy for the last six years now it's

00:28:28.120 not going to be good enough and I'm

00:28:31.220 amused by this in a way but also

00:28:34.120 angered that these things which you can

00:28:36.780 see from a mile away are not detected by

00:28:40.240 the people that are supposed to know

00:28:41.760 better the people that are supposed to

00:28:42.920 be smart enough to navigate through the

00:28:44.900 political terrain and come up with good

00:28:46.420 policy that is going to be good for the

00:28:48.340 country and also politically saleable

00:28:50.200 and they keep tripping over their own

00:28:53.000 feet when we come back more of the

00:28:55.780 Andrew Lawton show here on true north

00:28:57.320 stay tuned

00:28:58.000 you're tuned into the Andrew Lawton show

00:29:02.060 welcome back to the Andrew Lawton show

00:29:06.260 here on true north I want to go back to

00:29:09.000 Ontario restrictions for a couple of

00:29:11.340 moments here if you don't mind because

00:29:12.720 this was an interesting one a colleague

00:29:14.820 of mine snapped a few photos in

00:29:17.340 Flamborough Ontario which is just

00:29:19.480 outside of Hamilton of a film crew

00:29:22.840 setting up outside of a church there

00:29:25.120 it's the Christ Church Anglican Church

00:29:27.900 in Flamborough and it's a quite lovely

00:29:29.980 looking building out in the country

00:29:31.320 there's lots of space lots of land off

00:29:33.540 the beaten path and few industries have

00:29:36.380 been allowed to continue to operate under

00:29:38.940 Ontario's stay-at-home order the one that

00:29:41.100 we talked about earlier that has a very

00:29:43.060 significant enforcement mechanisms

00:29:44.820 attached to it if you violate but the

00:29:46.980 film and television industry is allowed to

00:29:49.000 open and continue operating now film and

00:29:52.900 television is big business in Ontario a

00:29:55.940 lot of money a lot of jobs for every one

00:29:57.760 person you see on camera there are

00:29:59.540 probably 10 people off camera which means

00:30:01.820 that there are a lot of people involved in

00:30:03.980 individual shoots like the one here now I

00:30:06.240 don't know what show is actually being

00:30:08.640 filmed here I know this church has been

00:30:10.480 used in the past for a show called

00:30:12.420 Umbrella Academy may have been filming

00:30:14.160 that may not be don't know it doesn't

00:30:16.400 matter particularly but I made an

00:30:18.440 observation on Twitter that it is

00:30:20.160 illegal right now for more than 10

00:30:22.460 people to pray at this church but as a

00:30:24.620 film set it's allowed to have 50 actors

00:30:27.040 and unlimited crew members and I joked

00:30:29.440 because science and I was getting that

00:30:32.380 information from the Ontario government's

00:30:34.240 website which talks about restrictions

00:30:37.120 for film and television it says no more

00:30:39.340 than 50 performers may be on the film or

00:30:42.180 television set the film or television

00:30:44.380 set may be located in any business or

00:30:46.760 place including any business or place

00:30:49.060 that is otherwise required to be closed

00:30:51.420 so the point of this is that if a church

00:30:53.660 has been ordered to shut down a church

00:30:55.300 can only have 10 people there to actually

00:30:57.600 use it as a church they can still film a

00:31:00.260 scene of people going to church with 50

00:31:03.600 actors five times as many people as would

00:31:06.120 otherwise be allowed which reinforces the

00:31:09.060 double standards and triple standards that

00:31:11.160 exist throughout a lot of these lockdown

00:31:13.020 restrictions and I pointed this out not

00:31:15.360 because I think film and television should

00:31:17.000 be shut down rather I think we should be

00:31:19.280 extending the deal that they get to other

00:31:21.860 industries which is that if you can find

00:31:23.580 safe and adaptive ways to open and go about

00:31:26.340 your business do it and I got a fair bit of

00:31:29.700 pushback from people in the film industry

00:31:31.760 who by the way I'm very sympathetic to

00:31:33.560 because they deal with very precarious work

00:31:36.020 at the best of times and now they're

00:31:38.120 finding themselves feeling attacked because

00:31:40.220 it seems like I'm advocating to shut down

00:31:42.760 the industry but quite the contrary and I

00:31:44.740 looked at the regulations because a lot of

00:31:46.700 them were saying well you know we're tested

00:31:47.960 every day and we're in bubbles and this and

00:31:50.280 that and not people necessarily tied to this

00:31:52.740 production but I looked and the government

00:31:54.980 has a 50 page manual for how to deal with

00:31:59.020 health and safety issues under COVID-19 if

00:32:02.060 you're a film or television set and I've

00:32:04.320 looked through this extensively it was last

00:32:06.280 updated in January and contrary to what

00:32:09.500 people were saying testing is not required

00:32:11.580 they have to do like any other workplace

00:32:13.680 or place that's open a daily screening

00:32:15.980 which could be as simple as just asking

00:32:17.720 people do you have any symptoms have you

00:32:19.200 been out of the country etc they recommend

00:32:22.040 testing using rapid antigen testing to people

00:32:25.200 they recommend all of these measures but the

00:32:27.540 actual requirements are not all that strict

00:32:30.500 now as I understand the industry itself the

00:32:33.760 unions are very powerful ACTRA and a lot of

00:32:36.520 the unions for crew they have standards and

00:32:38.840 measures above and beyond this that they've

00:32:41.580 actually injected into their operations

00:32:43.920 because they want to be allowed to keep open

00:32:46.320 but this proves that it's not about the locations

00:32:51.280 themselves it is about what you do there

00:32:54.440 so why on earth does the Ontario government not

00:32:57.520 allow other industries who have a shared

00:32:59.400 commitment to staying open which means they

00:33:02.220 don't want to be the sources of major outbreaks

00:33:04.120 why do we not allow other industries to do it

00:33:06.540 part of it is the money

00:33:07.520 Ontario doesn't want to lose its moment

00:33:10.140 there's this image that Toronto is Hollywood North

00:33:12.860 Vancouver is sometimes characterized as Hollywood

00:33:15.420 North it's by virtue of exchange rate a lot

00:33:18.780 cheaper for American productions to film here

00:33:21.260 they get access to things they don't have back

00:33:24.060 home as far as just landscapes and what we want

00:33:27.280 to bring all this in because it's glamorous

00:33:29.380 people like it so they don't want this to go

00:33:32.380 away because they know that if they say no to a

00:33:34.200 production here they're just going to find

00:33:36.060 another city somewhere else in the world and

00:33:38.220 this Hollywood North delusion is going to go

00:33:40.720 away but there are a lot of people in the film

00:33:43.600 industry in Canada it's not just actors

00:33:46.000 directors producers it's makeup artists

00:33:48.960 editors videographers so many people that rely on

00:33:52.720 this sector to work and I don't want to put them

00:33:55.120 out of work I'm talking about all the other people

00:33:57.280 who have been put out of work by government

00:34:00.080 restrictions who are not being given the same

00:34:03.280 perks and benefits that the film industry has there are

00:34:07.360 lots of businesses that I know would say well hang on

00:34:10.240 we will do rapid testing for our employees we'll do

00:34:12.800 these things there are churches that would say

00:34:14.720 we'll adopt these measures to socially distance and

00:34:17.600 do these things that are required of us to open why are we not allowed to do it

00:34:22.320 so yes just remember this 10 people is all that could go into this church

00:34:28.240 to pray but 50 people plus however many crew could go in there

00:34:32.880 to film a scene that might be for all I know a scene of people praying

00:34:38.000 part of me wonders if churches should just convert themselves to film

00:34:41.920 productions I sent my pastor a text message

00:34:44.240 and said why don't we just call ourselves a film crew and

00:34:47.040 call everyone in the congregation cast members and then we can open up and he

00:34:52.160 laughed I don't know if he was agreeing or not so

00:34:54.320 perhaps my church will be converted to a film set by the weekend I don't know

00:34:57.440 he's less of a rabble rouser than I am but 0.69

00:34:59.680 I just want to understand the double standards here and you know someone asked

00:35:03.440 me well why is that I couldn't explain it because you can't

00:35:06.880 defend and explain and justify things that are by their nature inexplicable

00:35:11.520 when they talk about mobility they're talking about wanting anyone and

00:35:16.160 everyone to just stay in their homes but if that's the case

00:35:19.520 why does why does film get a pass I like movies I like TV I mean there's not as

00:35:23.840 many there are not as many good things to watch lately but I like these

00:35:26.960 things but you know what no one can say it's more essential

00:35:30.080 than an elective surgery than church than some of the things you'd buy in

00:35:34.880 retail it's no more essential than any of those things as far as its

00:35:38.560 relevance to humans yet they've been given a pass and other

00:35:41.840 places haven't we've got to wrap things up my thanks to

00:35:44.960 all of you for tuning into the program we'll talk to you next week with more

00:35:48.320 of Canada's most irreverent talk show here on true north this is the

00:35:52.080 andrew lawton show thank you god bless and good day to you all thanks for

00:35:55.440 listening to the andrew lawton show support the program by donating to true

00:35:58.960 north at www.tnc.news

Juno News - April 22, 2021

Double Teenage Mutant Ninja COVID Variant

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