Juno News - April 17, 2026


Former Conservative says floor-crossing ＂good for me personally＂


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

151.79962

Word count

2,307

Sentence count

82

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladue crosses the floor of the House of Commons to join the Liberal Party of Canada. A new report by RBC paints a devastating picture of economic loss for Canada since 2015. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has panned the idea of city-run grocery stores in Toronto. Conservative MP David Bextie introduces a bill aimed at helping farmers.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 the liberal government's wide open immigration policies may have played a role in the party
00:00:09.380 gaining a majority in parliament industry minister melanie jolly says the changing demographics were
00:00:15.720 a big factor in helping the liberals win the quebec rioting of terrebon on monday she told
00:00:22.340 a reporter the growing haitian and african community in the suburban montreal riding helped
00:00:27.800 turned the tide in favor of her party over the bloc.
00:00:31.560 Terrebonne is a writing, for those who don't necessarily know, the geography of Montreal
00:00:37.120 is a bit on the outskirts of Montreal.
00:00:41.020 It is very much more changing as Montreal and Quebec is changing.
00:00:47.020 And so the second generation of first immigrants coming to Quebec, a very important community
00:00:57.100 from haiti also from northern africa and and so things are changing in in across the country
00:01:03.500 particularly also here and so i think also i think that could uh be actually very favorable
00:01:10.620 in general uh for a candidate that is from the asian community well the liberals brought in
00:01:16.140 those changes since they took power in 2015 the immigrant share of the population in that riding
00:01:23.260 almost doubled from 6.5% in 2011 to 12.6% in 2021. 0.97
00:01:30.600 Housing prices exploded, too, along with crime.
00:01:34.380 More questions have surfaced over what, if anything,
00:01:37.640 former conservative Marilyn Gladue was offered by the liberals
00:01:41.560 in exchange for crossing the floor and joining the government side.
00:01:45.420 It is illegal for MPs to accept payoffs.
00:01:49.500 Here she is talking about the benefits to her constituents
00:01:52.620 as a result of her move to cross the floor.
00:01:56.200 It's going to be good for the riding.
00:01:57.740 We're going to receive the support we need.
00:01:59.580 It's going to be good for the country.
00:02:00.960 I have experience to help build it,
00:02:02.680 and it's good for me personally as well.
00:02:04.940 Gladyou also told a reporter
00:02:06.640 she got a call from the Minister of Housing's office
00:02:09.780 to talk about all the things we need in Sarnia, unquote,
00:02:14.800 just hours after she crossed the floor.
00:02:17.400 Housing Minister Gregor Robertson
00:02:18.820 was asked about it in committee.
00:02:20.600 Do you agree with Ms. Godew's assumption that the individual members that are part of the government get preferred treatment and they get more dollars?
00:02:30.600 No, I disagree, and I think at this point we're talking about the work of the Canada Infrastructure Bank,
00:02:36.200 which certainly has done many of their projects in regions, irrespective of who the Member of Parliament was.
00:02:45.440 They've delivered those across the country right now.
00:02:47.520 Thank you, Minister. I think it's quite clear that where we have the CIB give a development over $200 billion to a Liberal insider,
00:02:58.720 followed up by your newest member saying that in order to get government dollars, you need to be a Liberal.
00:03:05.440 I think it's quite clear where the evidence points.
00:03:07.180 The Criminal Code forbids any MP from accepting money, valuable consideration, office or place or employment in respect of anything done.
00:03:17.520 A new report by RBC paints a devastating picture of economic loss for Canada since 2015.
00:03:25.300 The report found more than $1 trillion in investment left Canada, the largest capital
00:03:31.840 exodus in Canadian history during that time.
00:03:35.000 The lost investment was mainly in the oil and gas sector, but also included electricity,
00:03:39.900 mining, and agriculture.
00:03:41.280 Ontario Premier Doug Ford has panned the idea of city-run grocery stores in Toronto. He says
00:03:48.660 Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is bringing socialist policies that will eventually see taxpayers
00:03:54.760 subsidizing that retail operation. Let's listen. Premier, do you think it's time for some Ontario-run
00:04:00.860 grocery stores so people can afford the essentials? Okay, I love the mayor, okay?
00:04:05.920 but this is the craziest idea I've ever heard.
00:04:09.460 These grocery stores can make, and these are experts.
00:04:13.100 These are the Costcos, the Walmarts, the Loblaws.
00:04:16.060 They make 2% to 3%.
00:04:17.620 You know, food banks, yeah, by all means, support the food banks.
00:04:21.840 But we can't have city-run grocery stores, but that's up to the mayor.
00:04:25.960 Do you want city-run grocery stores? 0.79
00:04:27.300 You'd be subsidizing it huge because it's just crazy. 0.99
00:04:32.460 That's socialism.
00:04:34.020 The Conservative member for Bow River, David Bextie, has introduced a private member's bill aimed at helping farmers, and he is our guest today. Welcome, sir.
00:04:43.880 Welcome. Thank you very much for having me.
00:04:46.480 Tell us a little bit about your bill and how it's designed to help the farming community, which, frankly, needs some help these days.
00:04:55.160 Yeah, we do. And we, right? I am a farmer, too, although my time is divided now between Ottawa and the farm.
00:05:03.500 So the bill is designed to enable an expedited path for products, new or existing products, that the agriculture industry needs to improve their business, run their business, protect their business, both pesticides, fertilizers, feeds, seeds, then through a little bit different pathway, veterinary products,
00:05:27.060 to more easily enter the Canadian marketplace
00:05:32.000 if they come from a trusted regulatory regime,
00:05:36.960 trusted jurisdictions, partners, allies that we work with forever in some cases,
00:05:43.520 the EU, the United States, the UK, Australia, New Zealand.
00:05:46.460 And it codifies into the legislation a pathway
00:05:51.740 to a provisional registration for new products that is granted 90 days past an application right
00:05:59.340 today the problem is years of study and analysis and more importantly duplication of analysis
00:06:06.460 and study on products that have already been granted use in the united states or europe
00:06:11.760 and the regulators in canada want to just repeat all that stuff here just for their own benefit
00:06:17.740 because they seem to not trust the other jurisdictions.
00:06:22.720 We're trusting those other jurisdictions.
00:06:24.300 At the same time, the minister and these agencies
00:06:26.280 have the right to continue in parallel to do their work,
00:06:30.340 but it allows an immediate path,
00:06:32.840 a very short order path for these products to come in
00:06:36.820 that can have a material impact
00:06:38.580 on the productivity of farms to date.
00:06:41.640 Whether it's orchards in Okanagan,
00:06:43.920 potatoes in PEI, sugar beets in Southern Alberta,
00:06:46.560 wheat, grain, barley, cattle, pigs, chickens,
00:06:49.240 hogs, eggs, dairy, all of it,
00:06:51.600 every part of the industry can have an immediate benefit.
00:06:56.840 I mean, considering how rare it is
00:06:59.000 for private members' bill to pass,
00:07:01.540 I mean, is there any appetite
00:07:03.480 on the part of the governing side,
00:07:04.680 especially now that they have a majority to support this?
00:07:09.260 I hope so.
00:07:10.160 I mean, I hope there's multi-party support for this,
00:07:12.500 not just bilateral.
00:07:16.560 Some of the foundations of this bill have been looked at in previous parliaments and had pretty much universal support, right?
00:07:25.060 So I've had a brief discussion already with Minister of Agriculture. I'm going to be speaking with more Liberal colleagues.
00:07:30.240 You know, this is really offered in good pace as a really simple and meaningful way that we can really improve productivity and food security and economic viability and rural resiliency with a very simple bill.
00:07:46.660 considering the housing commitments that marilyn glad you got for her riding of sarnia
00:07:53.620 after crossing the floor to join the liberals of would you ever consider taking such a step in
00:08:00.520 order to get a bill like this passed you know this whole issue of um floor crossers right and
00:08:06.800 people demonstrating their disloyalty and their unreliability i you know i i feel i've never been 0.59
00:08:12.980 contacted by the liberals and I feel somewhat insulted but also at the same time I can't
00:08:20.240 imagine a price high enough like that there's just no way right it does not compute at all in my
00:08:27.680 personal calculus my I yeah it's just completely outside the realm of possibility I'm here for my
00:08:37.200 constituents my residents of the residents and constituents of Bow River right and that
00:08:41.640 that will never change. I mean, it's right on the line in terms of what you're hearing from
00:08:49.760 Marilyn Gladwell, your former colleague, in terms of what commitments she may have or not have
00:08:56.500 gotten to help her riding. I mean, this kind of pork barreling is extremely unsavory stuff
00:09:05.300 when you consider that, you know, you get certain goodies if you're on the government side and you
00:09:09.860 don't get that for your constituents if you're on the opposition side it uh i think it'll rub a lot
00:09:17.700 of canadians the wrong way can you elaborate a little bit more about what your thinking is on
00:09:22.500 that subject i well i agree i mean minister jolie almost as much as said it right if you don't live
00:09:27.860 in a liberal riding you're not going to get anything um you know that just speaks volumes
00:09:33.460 uh you know to kind of expand that question a little bit on the whole notion of floor
00:09:38.500 crossing has been a you know plus or minus unsavory tradition in the westminster system for
00:09:44.500 a very very long time and my hero winston churchill even you know he's crossed the floor more than
00:09:51.300 months um and there's you know i can wrap my heart my mind around justification of that if it was
00:10:02.020 based off principles but these last five crossings are it's absolutely obvious it was not based off
00:10:12.500 a principle decision right this was a quid pro quo right there was a price paid um 30 silver pieces
00:10:20.260 whatever it was right you know that there was a price paid and it may not have been overt it may
00:10:25.300 have been you know whatever right but that that is you know fairly despicable in my mind right and
00:10:31.620 it's got no part of my personal calculus um we spoke with an advocate for alberta independence
00:10:39.460 there's also a lawyer jeff rath who said on this very show this week that he has it on very good
00:10:46.260 authority that the prime minister would use the emergencies act in the event of an affirmative vote
00:10:54.100 in the referendum the independence referendum that is expected to take place in alberta in
00:10:59.140 the fall in other words he would use legal aspects of the emergencies act in order to protect canada
00:11:08.820 the sovereignty of canada security of canada and in the event that albertans voted to leave
00:11:17.540 the commonwealth or to leave canada and become their own nation do you have any thoughts about
00:11:22.980 that you know even for for the prime minister carney it it seems like a bit of a reach um you
00:11:34.180 know i know that they're going to the supreme court for some clarification you know hoping for
00:11:38.180 a different ruling on the evocation of the emergencies act by trudeau uh previously and
00:11:44.180 and it's it's reaching uh i i find pretty hard to comment on you know speculation of hearsay
00:11:51.380 right so that that's the first thing so yeah it i guess that'll come out in due course i really
00:11:58.260 that would be an extraordinary and egregious overreach
00:12:04.500 are you saying that if albertans vote to separate become their own country
00:12:10.180 that the government of canada should respect that i'm not saying anything you know i'm saying i'm
00:12:17.300 I'm saying you're asking me to speculate on a hypothetical and it's, you know, so it gets pretty fuzzy all over.
00:12:23.980 And, you know, I know how polarizing this issue is.
00:12:26.400 I know how, you know, comments from people like me and where we're at, they can be leveraged, right?
00:12:34.080 And so, you know, I'm not going to add any fuel to the fire at all in that respect.
00:12:39.820 Again, you know, he said, she said, she said, it's hearsay, even whether or not it happened or not.
00:12:46.440 And then speculation, perhaps on Mr.
00:12:48.500 Rath's part as to whether what might happen.
00:12:51.360 So we'll leave it at that.
00:12:53.340 That's probably the safest thing to do.
00:12:55.500 However, on that note, I know that there are probably quite a few
00:12:59.460 people in your riding in Bow River who probably have some sympathies
00:13:04.200 towards Alberta independence and the movement in general.
00:13:07.580 I'm sure you've spoken to many of them over the years.
00:13:11.060 I mean, would you be agreeable to at least seeking some clarification
00:13:17.440 from the prime minister on this matter as to whether or not he actually said that?
00:13:23.060 What do you think?
00:13:23.320 I would love to watch him get challenged on that particular notion in question period.
00:13:28.300 Yes.
00:13:30.380 Great.
00:13:31.940 Well, I look forward to hearing your question and stand up in the House of Commons.
00:13:37.400 As you know, there's a lot of priorities here right now.
00:13:40.020 and uh you know it yeah there's a lot of balls in the air and we'll see if that percolates to
00:13:46.500 the top of the short-term priority list but if yeah we uh we should get back to the matter at
00:13:52.860 hand on my private members bill and that okay well let's let's tackle that one uh when the
00:14:01.280 bill has actually been tabled correct yeah first reading took place on tuesday this week
00:14:05.720 You know, that's a fairly routine process.
00:14:09.720 It just gets inserted into the system and the clerks handle it.
00:14:14.720 There will be copies available by all members of parliament and staff to study and start
00:14:21.720 to formulate some initial opinions and then positions related to those opinions.
00:14:27.720 And at some point in the future, it will come up for second reading.
00:14:31.720 now i'm pretty high on the priority list for private members and and i will be included in the
00:14:37.000 the next um refreshment and and so i hope that this gets uh gets to the house for second reading
00:14:45.480 before we rise for the summer break great thank you so much good luck with your uh private members
00:14:51.000 bill thank you very much for that i appreciate it it's important member for bow river if you enjoyed
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