Juno News - October 25, 2024


How “strong and united” are the Liberals?


Episode Stats


Length

38 minutes

Words per minute

167.33989

Word count

6,518

Sentence count

372

Harmful content

Misogyny

12

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

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

On this episode of Off The Record, our friends at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation join us to talk about the week that was for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his caucus meeting. We also hear from CTF Alberta Director Chris Sims and CTF Prairie Director Gage Habrick.

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 You said you had something planned for Halloween there, Chris.
00:00:02.780 What's happening with the CTF and Halloween?
00:00:05.160 So the debt, the national debt is super scary because it's something crazy now.
00:00:09.320 It's like $1.2 trillion.
00:00:11.120 It would take you like 30,000 years to count a trillion.
00:00:13.720 So we're bringing the debt clock, which is super scary, to Calgary.
00:00:17.540 And then a friend of mine, the Prairie Director, Gage Habrick, he's coming with me.
00:00:21.840 And we're going to dress up in our best Halloween gear.
00:00:24.180 And we're going to put on like a big press conference about how scary the debt is.
00:00:28.320 So I've got my best witch hat.
00:00:30.660 It has like gold and green undertones.
00:00:32.840 It really brings out my natural witchiness.
00:00:34.620 So I'm really looking forward to that.
00:00:36.540 Are you guys doing Halloween-y things?
00:00:38.260 What are you doing?
00:00:39.380 Well, I was going to add, I think that the debt keeps Canadians up at night, but I doubt it keeps Trudeau up much.
00:00:46.400 No, he, I would say Canadians have had a lot of tricks from this liberal government and precious few treats in terms of at least cost of living and keeping life affordable.
00:00:56.880 Certainly my, my life doesn't seem any more affordable.
00:01:00.080 I haven't gotten a lot of treats from this liberal government.
00:01:02.720 Well, in no time flat, people who aren't trick-or-treaters are going to be doing a lot of door knocking.
00:01:08.320 So he should keep all of that in mind.
00:01:10.040 All right, let's get this thing started.
00:01:11.720 Welcome to Off the Record here at True North.
00:01:22.120 My name is Chris Sims.
00:01:23.120 I'm the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
00:01:25.760 Our friends at True North have been very nice to let me host a few of these shows.
00:01:29.900 I'm here with my good friends, Cosman and William.
00:01:32.260 Thank you both for joining us.
00:01:34.280 It's great to be here, Chris.
00:01:35.360 Thanks for having us.
00:01:36.040 It's been quite the week for anyone who is a political nerd.
00:01:40.580 It was a big showdown leading up to the caucus meeting on Wednesday.
00:01:45.180 And quite often I find fans of True North will come up to me at events and they'll say something like,
00:01:50.600 we really want the inside scoop, like explain how these things work.
00:01:53.940 So just give me one little second here.
00:01:56.560 So I worked on Parliament Hill for way too long.
00:01:59.060 And one of the main things they do each week when the House is in session,
00:02:02.860 so when all the members of Parliament, 300 something of them, are all in Ottawa,
00:02:07.020 every Wednesday morning from around 8.30ish till around 11.30ish, sometimes later,
00:02:13.940 Wednesday morning, each party goes into these rooms by themselves,
00:02:18.040 usually with no phones even allowed, and they lock themselves in.
00:02:22.020 And that's usually where they can hash things out.
00:02:24.440 Like if you think your leader's being stupid,
00:02:26.220 if you're hearing from your constituents about something crazy that you don't want to get out,
00:02:30.140 but you want people to know, that's called caucus meeting.
00:02:33.820 And so, by the way, as a little aside,
00:02:36.140 which was a very sad anniversary for the passing of Corporal Nathan Cirillo,
00:02:39.800 that is why that terrorist, that attacker, picked Wednesday morning,
00:02:45.300 because he knew where they were all going to be.
00:02:48.940 And so that is why you had that stark image of back then,
00:02:51.880 Prime Minister Stephen Harper's caucus on one side of the hallway.
00:02:54.580 And then at the time, the opposition's NDP across the hall,
00:03:00.240 they were all in caucus, so they were all in one place in one time.
00:03:03.700 So fast forward to this past Wednesday,
00:03:06.380 this is a really critical meeting for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
00:03:09.940 because we were hearing all sorts of things.
00:03:11.960 Things like there was going to be a rebellion within caucus,
00:03:14.580 that enough Liberal members of Parliament were going to take the microphone
00:03:17.320 and stand up and be heard and speak back to Trudeau on things like affordability
00:03:22.640 and on things like the carbon tax.
00:03:24.720 At least that's what we were hoping.
00:03:26.320 So there was an awful lot of fireworks going in and out of the building.
00:03:30.680 And so I just wanted very briefly to get your impression first,
00:03:34.060 and then we'll go to the clips.
00:03:35.020 William, what was your take on this?
00:03:37.160 Did you think this turned into a nothing burger?
00:03:39.240 Do you think there's still some fire there?
00:03:41.900 Yeah, I mean, politically, I think the Prime Minister came out of it
00:03:45.420 about as well as he could have hoped for.
00:03:48.040 He seems more or less to be in the same position he was going in,
00:03:52.360 except maybe even a little bit better,
00:03:54.320 maybe some of the deflate in the sales of the Dump Trudeau movement,
00:03:58.600 because they don't appear to have made much damage in ousting the Prime Minister.
00:04:03.840 And I think we'll see a clip in just a bit where you can even see
00:04:07.860 a pretty cocky walking Prime Minister as he leaves that caucus meeting.
00:04:13.480 And, you know, it's quite telling when you get to see our Prime Minister
00:04:17.280 on full peacock display.
00:04:20.020 We have to watch that now.
00:04:21.160 You've teased it so well.
00:04:22.580 Let's roll that clip. 0.89
00:04:23.660 This is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerging from the caucus meeting.
00:04:26.860 I will point out an hour later than people were expecting.
00:04:30.520 So that was a long grind of a caucus meeting.
00:04:32.700 Watch this.
00:04:38.520 So that's quite the clip.
00:04:48.420 He is a theatre kid.
00:04:50.100 So fellow theatre kid here, you know your body language
00:04:53.700 and you know blocking and you know what you want to portray.
00:04:56.860 And so there, I think he was trying to show his sleeves rolled up.
00:05:00.580 He was cool, calm and collected and confident.
00:05:03.280 Cosmin, what was your take on this meeting?
00:05:06.200 Yeah, definitely.
00:05:06.840 He's definitely trying to portray a sense of confidence and assurance
00:05:11.380 to other members in his party that he's got things under control.
00:05:15.700 But it doesn't address the fact that most Canadians are looking at this government
00:05:21.600 as if they're not serving their interests and they're not able to pull together.
00:05:28.200 Because you still see these signs of rebellion within at least a significant,
00:05:33.980 I think I've heard numbers up to 40 Liberal MPs who don't have confidence in Trudeau.
00:05:39.940 So he must have some key supporters who are able to keep him there in place.
00:05:46.100 But whether that's actually going to translate to things working out for Canadians,
00:05:50.900 I don't think so.
00:05:52.220 One of the key issues that we were trying to push them to speak up about,
00:05:56.300 and we know for a fact that these members of Parliament,
00:05:59.280 particularly in the Liberal caucus,
00:06:01.380 were getting flooded with emails.
00:06:03.660 Hundreds, if not thousands, per email saying,
00:06:07.620 get rid of this carbon tax, for example.
00:06:10.060 And quite often when you get enough constituents pushing an MP saying,
00:06:14.380 hey buddy, your job's on the line because I'm not going to vote for you next time
00:06:17.440 unless you wake up on this stuff.
00:06:19.080 That's when you get them nervous.
00:06:20.840 And that's when you get them speaking up in caucus.
00:06:22.980 So as of right now for tape time,
00:06:25.940 we're about 24 hours out of the caucus meeting.
00:06:29.440 In my experience being a journalist on Parliament Hill,
00:06:32.600 now is kind of the time.
00:06:34.740 So the members of Parliament who had their say or didn't have slept on it,
00:06:39.420 they've thought about it a little bit more,
00:06:41.080 they might be gathering together in like secret meetings
00:06:43.380 at the pub over on Spark Street or something,
00:06:46.140 and they might be gathering courage to speak up.
00:06:49.220 William, do you think that there's still some legs to this?
00:06:52.380 Do you think that they still might find a way of pushing?
00:06:55.260 Because there was this document apparently that was going around,
00:06:57.700 I haven't seen it, of getting them to sign basically a pledge
00:07:01.440 of I will stand up to Trudeau, something like that.
00:07:05.460 Yeah, I mean, it's one thing to say to a journalist off the record
00:07:10.780 that you want to see the Prime Minister gone
00:07:13.840 and you think he's doing a terrible job.
00:07:15.860 It's another thing to actually stand up in a caucus room
00:07:18.620 and become publicly identified as an enemy of the Prime Minister
00:07:22.820 who continues to wield an awful lot of power in our system.
00:07:27.520 You know, one of the things I think Canadians
00:07:29.580 and other political watchers are going to be curious about is
00:07:32.960 what promises did the Prime Minister make
00:07:35.740 when he was in caucus to his MPs
00:07:38.260 in order to try and keep them on board?
00:07:40.520 Did he promise staff changes?
00:07:42.200 Did he promise changes on some policies?
00:07:45.620 You know, are we going to see the end of the carbon tax
00:07:48.340 before the next election?
00:07:50.320 I mean, I know all of us here would be thrilled
00:07:53.400 if we saw that carbon tax go.
00:07:55.860 But of course, you know, that was sort of his signature policy.
00:07:59.180 So, you know, that would be a real defeat for this Prime Minister.
00:08:03.460 You know, and the other one is, you know,
00:08:07.140 the last time he encountered some real trouble,
00:08:09.020 he dropped Gerald Butts, at least formally, from his office staff.
00:08:13.820 I still suspect they stay in pretty close communication
00:08:16.360 since they were best friends for decades.
00:08:21.060 You know, I know there's a lot of growing resentment
00:08:23.840 about Katie Telford, the current chief of staff to the Prime Minister.
00:08:27.740 And, you know, one of the reasons you have staff
00:08:30.140 is so you can fire them when things get rough.
00:08:32.580 And I'm curious to see if we're going to see
00:08:35.320 any policy or personnel changes
00:08:37.120 coming out of the wake of this caucus meeting.
00:08:40.120 Maybe cabinet.
00:08:41.140 Maybe he'll do a cabinet shuffle
00:08:42.740 or add a few more cabinet appointments,
00:08:45.180 dangle some of those goodies.
00:08:46.620 Because cabinet ministers,
00:08:47.740 so your average backbencher,
00:08:49.920 Member of Parliament, makes just over $200,000.
00:08:52.920 You're a cabinet minister,
00:08:53.840 you're adding, like, another $100,000 onto that, typically.
00:08:57.340 So those folks are not hurting.
00:08:59.280 So I'm keeping a very close eye on all this stuff.
00:09:02.300 It was really interesting.
00:09:04.020 So I was there when there was a press conference
00:09:07.620 and then Finance Minister Paul Martin
00:09:09.920 kind of sort of indicated
00:09:11.840 that he didn't have full confidence.
00:09:13.460 And then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien,
00:09:15.160 then all hell broke loose.
00:09:17.020 Like we've said before,
00:09:18.200 things happened gradually
00:09:19.520 and then all of a sudden.
00:09:21.120 So it really kind of felt rolling into this caucus meeting,
00:09:24.180 like that all of a sudden could be happening
00:09:25.780 because we saw some signals coming from Mark Carney,
00:09:29.560 for example,
00:09:30.580 musing about his future in politics.
00:09:33.060 And then a really strong one coming from then,
00:09:35.620 from former BC Liberal,
00:09:37.280 British Columbia Premier Christy Clark.
00:09:39.960 And it was the weirdest announcement.
00:09:42.240 It was just like,
00:09:43.600 I'm not running for leader of the Liberal Party.
00:09:47.180 The strangest thing.
00:09:48.600 And so that would be really interesting
00:09:50.260 if she wanted to make that move.
00:09:51.680 Because again,
00:09:52.860 if one of the albatrosses around Trudeau's neck
00:09:55.780 is the carbon tax,
00:09:58.100 it was the BC Liberals that invented the darn thing
00:10:00.720 in all of North America.
00:10:01.920 And that was under,
00:10:03.160 including then Christy Clark's watch.
00:10:05.560 It was Gordon Campbell before her,
00:10:06.960 but she kept it going.
00:10:08.260 So that would be really interesting
00:10:10.640 to see if they could fit that into that narrative box.
00:10:12.960 We had a clip.
00:10:14.320 And so we have a clip here
00:10:15.620 of a Member of Parliament,
00:10:17.600 Liberal Member of Parliament
00:10:18.700 from Atlantic Canada.
00:10:20.200 And this is where reporters
00:10:22.500 kind of stake out the entrances of the building
00:10:24.960 as they're going into the caucus meeting
00:10:26.980 and coming out of the caucus meeting.
00:10:28.560 So it was a field day for the press gallery.
00:10:31.060 I saw a lot of them getting their workout in yesterday.
00:10:33.400 Sorry, my apologies to our dear True North watchers.
00:10:36.320 So this is a screen grab of the actual story.
00:10:39.880 I mistook that it was a clip,
00:10:41.720 but here we have a question
00:10:44.300 of whether or not they could vote
00:10:45.780 to topple the government
00:10:46.780 and saying that it's actually not out of the question.
00:10:49.260 And this is coming from Liberal Member of Parliament,
00:10:51.640 Ken MacDonald.
00:10:52.900 And the reason why that's significant
00:10:54.280 is that he's apparently not seeking re-election.
00:10:58.120 So he feels more entitled
00:11:00.180 or maybe liberated
00:11:01.500 to be able to speak about that.
00:11:03.820 Cosman, did you want to jump in here again
00:11:05.480 to figure out,
00:11:06.660 to let people know
00:11:07.880 where your stance is on this?
00:11:09.300 Do you think this still has legs?
00:11:10.920 Or do you think this is going to be put to bed?
00:11:12.600 They're going to have a long break over Christmas.
00:11:14.440 For sure.
00:11:15.920 I'm glad that you mentioned
00:11:17.280 that Ken MacDonald is not seeking re-election
00:11:19.740 because we have so many Liberal MPs
00:11:21.980 who are refusing to run again
00:11:24.080 under the Liberal Party banner.
00:11:26.980 And you also mentioned
00:11:28.400 the prospects of a cabinet shuffle.
00:11:31.460 We actually have a cabinet shuffle coming
00:11:34.380 because another minister also said
00:11:36.960 she won't be seeking re-election.
00:11:38.820 And that was a former agriculture minister.
00:11:41.320 I forgot what her latest role was,
00:11:43.540 but it was Marie-Claude Bebeau
00:11:45.020 who said she won't be running
00:11:47.140 for the Liberals again.
00:11:48.220 We've also seen Seamus O'Regan
00:11:49.880 not want to run for the Liberals again.
00:11:52.500 So I think there needs to be more attention
00:11:54.940 paid to that
00:11:56.240 because it is a sort of unspoken
00:11:58.720 way of signaling to voters
00:12:01.560 that you don't want to participate in this party
00:12:04.400 or at least you don't have any hopes
00:12:06.520 that there are future prospects
00:12:08.340 for you to be re-elected.
00:12:09.960 Great point there.
00:12:11.880 Did we want to move on to the CBC
00:12:13.940 speaking of broadcasters and Seamus O'Regan?
00:12:17.180 So Seamus was a backstory.
00:12:19.500 Again, Seamus was at CTV for a long time
00:12:21.860 as particularly at Canada AM
00:12:23.600 and I was the parliamentary producer for Canada AM.
00:12:25.900 So I worked quite closely with Mr. O'Regan
00:12:27.860 before he jumped into politics
00:12:29.160 and I didn't know that he was part
00:12:31.120 of Justin Trudeau's wedding party at the time.
00:12:33.340 So let's shift over to our other favorite broadcaster
00:12:36.320 that takes government money, the CBC.
00:12:38.560 So Catherine Tate, she's the president and CEO of the CBC. 0.90
00:12:44.660 People might remember her from past performances
00:12:47.400 at the committee.
00:12:49.460 So again, on Parliament Hill,
00:12:52.000 there's various committees in each separate room
00:12:54.280 and on different days, they'll have different meetings.
00:12:56.600 And one of these committees is the Heritage Committee.
00:12:59.600 The Heritage Committee is the one that grills Catherine Tate
00:13:03.480 whenever enough members of Parliament on that committee
00:13:06.280 are mad about things like pay and bonuses.
00:13:09.800 So this time around, she was called to the committee carpet
00:13:12.440 again to answer for the fact that last year
00:13:15.700 they handed out about $18 million in bonus money.
00:13:19.900 This is not just pay.
00:13:21.380 This is bonus money.
00:13:23.300 And so she had to face down quite a few questions,
00:13:25.800 things like, are we getting good value for money?
00:13:28.160 I just wanted to go around the horn on this first,
00:13:30.420 just to get you with your impressions of her appearance at committee.
00:13:34.940 William, you and I are both old enough to remember
00:13:37.080 that it was pretty rare to see somebody from the CBC up that high
00:13:41.740 being asked such impertinent questions.
00:13:44.060 And now we're kind of getting the front row seat lately.
00:13:47.280 Yeah, you know, every time I watch Ms. Tate come before the committee 0.98
00:13:52.980 and answer questions, I secretly think,
00:13:55.700 is she really on the side of the defunders? 0.69
00:13:58.520 Because you couldn't have asked for a better CEO
00:14:02.440 to be the poster child for why we need to cut funding to CBC.
00:14:06.800 The level of arrogance and of being out of touch
00:14:10.120 with everyday Canadians is so breathtaking
00:14:13.220 that it borders on almost implausible.
00:14:17.820 You do have to think, you know,
00:14:19.560 if she secretly got money from, I don't know,
00:14:22.680 True North to appear before a committee just to tank the CBC.
00:14:27.420 I can say as our chief operating officer,
00:14:29.520 we are not paying Catherine Tate.
00:14:31.900 But it would be money well spent, just saying,
00:14:33.900 because she's doing a great job.
00:14:35.160 Honestly, it is just so hard to believe when you watch her,
00:14:37.860 the sheer tone deafness of her responses.
00:14:40.880 Cosman, what was your take on it
00:14:42.320 after watching some of this?
00:14:45.120 Well, it was a sense of almost a lack of self-awareness
00:14:49.580 that I got from everything she says
00:14:51.700 anytime she's at committee.
00:14:53.740 She blames everybody else except for CBC's own performance,
00:14:58.380 their obvious bias.
00:15:00.580 I mean, this is a network
00:15:01.820 that sued the Conservative Party unsuccessfully.
00:15:05.140 They are constantly demeaning Canadians, 1.00
00:15:08.820 demeaning the values of working class people 1.00
00:15:13.000 and looking down their noses in their reporting.
00:15:16.820 And so it just strikes me like she's on her way out.
00:15:21.180 She's already, a replacement has already been named. 0.93
00:15:24.560 And there might be some truth to that.
00:15:26.560 Maybe she's just burning bridges. 1.00
00:15:28.580 Maybe she's just burning everything on her way out. 1.00
00:15:30.900 It was quite the performance.
00:15:33.820 And so to give folks some numbers,
00:15:36.000 because full disclosure,
00:15:38.200 I did work at the CBC for a very brief time,
00:15:40.580 around six weeks or so.
00:15:42.060 I have no personal axe to grind.
00:15:43.720 People, they were nice to me.
00:15:45.440 It was in the Ottawa Bureau.
00:15:46.760 This is about, for the Taxpayers Federation,
00:15:50.840 money and conflict of interest.
00:15:53.160 Because number one,
00:15:54.200 this is a huge waste of money
00:15:56.000 for a network that next to nobody watches.
00:15:59.260 And two, it is a conflict of interest
00:16:02.260 for journalists to be paid by the government.
00:16:05.520 Like to have to say that out loud is kind of weird.
00:16:08.280 So for those two huge reasons of waste of money
00:16:11.260 and major accountability issues,
00:16:13.660 the CTF is one of the ones
00:16:15.060 right in the ring fighting this.
00:16:16.220 So to go by the numbers really briefly
00:16:18.440 before we get to Catherine Tate's clip,
00:16:20.360 because they are spellbinding,
00:16:22.860 the CBC this year is costing taxpayers $1.4 billion.
00:16:28.000 To put that into perspective,
00:16:29.980 that kind of money could instead pay
00:16:32.040 the full-time salaries of 7,000 paramedics
00:16:35.160 and 7,000 cops this year.
00:16:38.520 That kind of money is the equivalent
00:16:41.060 of more than 80,000 households income taxes.
00:16:47.000 So the next time she tries to say,
00:16:49.060 oh, it's only costing a few dollars per Canadian.
00:16:51.380 No, no, no, no.
00:16:52.680 80,000 homes, not people, homes.
00:16:56.020 Picture that.
00:16:56.900 That is the federal income tax bill
00:16:59.220 every year going to this organization.
00:17:02.040 It is an astonishing amount of money.
00:17:04.440 And for the lady you are about to watch,
00:17:06.880 this is CBC CEO and President Catherine Tate.
00:17:10.480 Her salary would choke a horse. 1.00
00:17:13.940 She is paid more than the Prime Minister of Canada.
00:17:16.920 For anybody who's picking up on this as a journalist,
00:17:19.580 if you're looking it up,
00:17:20.800 she is under the Crown Corporation drop-down tab.
00:17:23.760 She is CEO level 7.
00:17:25.900 That means she's paid between $468,000
00:17:29.380 and $551,000 per year.
00:17:33.960 She's entitled to a bonus of 28%.
00:17:37.160 That bonus alone, guys,
00:17:40.300 is up to $154,000.
00:17:43.540 Her bonus is more than what 0.99
00:17:47.520 the average two-person family makes in a year.
00:17:51.040 So listen to this first clip here.
00:17:53.720 Ms. Tate, you said that it's confidential,
00:17:56.000 that information,
00:17:57.380 but that just doesn't work for Canadians.
00:18:00.400 Canadians look at $18 million awarded in bonuses.
00:18:04.200 The fact that you just spent $1,000 a night
00:18:07.740 for a hotel room in Paris during the Olympics,
00:18:10.000 and we are in a situation
00:18:13.100 where you are coming to the conclusion of your term
00:18:17.060 being paid more than the Prime Minister of this country makes,
00:18:21.080 and you refuse today to rule out
00:18:25.160 that you will receive either bonuses
00:18:28.560 or so-called performance pay
00:18:30.180 or a severance package at the conclusion of your term.
00:18:34.440 It's confidential.
00:18:35.720 It doesn't cut it for Canadians. 0.91
00:18:37.280 It doesn't cut it for parliamentary oversight.
00:18:39.020 So again, I ask,
00:18:40.960 will you specifically today share with this committee
00:18:44.740 whether or not you will refuse
00:18:46.560 a severance package or bonus
00:18:49.500 at the conclusion of your term
00:18:50.740 as President and CEO of CBC?
00:18:52.740 As I've said,
00:18:53.720 I consider that to be a personal matter.
00:18:56.340 And I believe I'm protected
00:18:57.860 by the Privacy Act in that regard.
00:19:02.380 So again, gentlemen,
00:19:03.800 to both of your points,
00:19:05.080 that sounds an awful lot
00:19:06.880 like I'm entitled to my entitlements.
00:19:08.260 Very much so.
00:19:10.620 You know, a small petty part of me
00:19:12.320 did wonder for someone who's so highly paid,
00:19:14.320 you think she could have afforded a better dye job 0.99
00:19:16.720 on that sparkly red hair of hers.
00:19:19.060 Look at you, Stassi, today.
00:19:21.040 I'm sorry.
00:19:22.000 I just...
00:19:22.660 I felt it's okay.
00:19:24.040 You see her hair,
00:19:24.900 you wonder every single time she chose that color.
00:19:28.080 No, I mean, $1,000 a night
00:19:29.800 for her to go to the Paris Olympics,
00:19:32.920 to the best of my knowledge,
00:19:34.120 she wasn't competing on behalf of Team Canada.
00:19:37.540 And so why was she there?
00:19:39.680 You know, why are we paying a bonus
00:19:42.380 to someone who has overseen a massive decline
00:19:45.820 in the viewership of CBC,
00:19:49.000 in the audience,
00:19:50.380 the revenue,
00:19:52.060 the reach,
00:19:52.980 and the influence of CBC?
00:19:54.900 More Canadians than ever have said 0.92
00:19:56.400 they do not watch CBC,
00:19:58.380 they do not trust its news reporting,
00:20:00.200 they do not believe
00:20:01.280 CBC journalists are fair and impartial.
00:20:04.160 And so bonuses generally are given out
00:20:06.100 to people who exceed expectations.
00:20:08.680 It is to be given on top of a salary
00:20:10.900 in recognition of a job well done.
00:20:13.120 Rarely is it given to celebrate failure,
00:20:16.440 but that seems to be the CBC's approach to bonuses.
00:20:20.220 I have some fresh, hard data on their viewership,
00:20:24.320 which was astonishing to me.
00:20:25.920 I can get to that in a second,
00:20:26.940 but I wanted to get Cosmo's thoughts in on that clip.
00:20:31.060 You know, for an organization
00:20:32.900 that you would think values things
00:20:35.220 like transparency and being forthcoming with Canadians,
00:20:39.560 they're not transparent at all.
00:20:41.340 They're not transparent about who gets bonuses,
00:20:43.660 how much bonuses are divvied out.
00:20:45.520 They're also not transparent about what targets
00:20:48.400 they're actually meeting to achieve these bonuses.
00:20:52.300 We're talking about an organization
00:20:54.380 that's on the decline.
00:20:56.560 You're going to bring up some stats.
00:20:58.100 They're losing viewers,
00:20:59.380 they're losing advertisers,
00:21:01.020 yet they're awarding themselves for what?
00:21:04.560 Yeah, big time.
00:21:05.660 So I've got some stats here.
00:21:06.980 Forgive me while I read them off my phone,
00:21:08.680 but it's coming out in an op-ed very soon in the newspaper,
00:21:11.900 but the numbers are astonishing.
00:21:13.700 So very quickly,
00:21:16.540 Tate says that Canadians are seeing good value for money,
00:21:19.340 but how can we know if nobody's actually watching it?
00:21:22.280 So CBC News Network's share of primetime is 1.7%.
00:21:28.400 That's lower than it was last time we checked.
00:21:32.080 So put another way,
00:21:33.600 98.3% of TV viewing Canadians
00:21:36.780 are choosing to not watch it.
00:21:38.680 So that is the news side.
00:21:41.680 And if you want to say,
00:21:42.440 okay, well, what about, you know,
00:21:43.840 the comedy drama, right?
00:21:45.080 What about the art side of things,
00:21:46.560 the fiction side of things, right?
00:21:48.580 That's even, that's terrible too.
00:21:50.700 So on the entertainment side,
00:21:52.300 they're not ranking highly either.
00:21:53.900 Their top rated show
00:21:55.280 is a show called The Murdoch Mysteries,
00:21:57.820 which is not produced by the CBC.
00:22:00.140 That is produced by a private company in Toronto.
00:22:02.240 They just air it.
00:22:04.320 They have the biggest audience for that one.
00:22:06.780 It's about 800,000 people.
00:22:09.260 It's 1.9% of the population.
00:22:12.920 And what was astonishing to me
00:22:14.360 is that Tate during the committee actually said,
00:22:18.860 well, if we didn't have programming,
00:22:20.800 like the wonderful show,
00:22:22.180 Son of a Critch,
00:22:23.740 it would be, you know, bad,
00:22:25.920 like basically for the world
00:22:27.300 is what she was implying.
00:22:29.080 So I got curious
00:22:30.940 and I looked up the ratings
00:22:33.120 for Son of a Critch,
00:22:35.040 which is based off of
00:22:36.320 the government paid comedian
00:22:38.000 Mark Critch's life.
00:22:39.860 And it's in its third season.
00:22:41.800 Who knew?
00:22:42.660 But you paid for it.
00:22:44.160 So I looked up how much that total is.
00:22:46.980 Where are we here?
00:22:48.040 So last year,
00:22:49.040 that audience was around 590,000 people.
00:22:54.200 About 1.4% of Canadians
00:22:56.780 are watching that show
00:22:58.240 that the CEO just mentioned
00:23:00.360 out loud with her face in committee
00:23:02.060 as being essential.
00:23:04.240 And one of her other things
00:23:05.760 that she said under questioning
00:23:06.920 about why she went to the Paris Olympics
00:23:08.720 is that, get this,
00:23:10.320 she was already there, guys.
00:23:12.460 She was already there vacationing in France,
00:23:14.780 of course, as one does.
00:23:16.260 And so she just popped into Paris
00:23:18.040 because she thought that Canadians
00:23:20.360 would be really concerned
00:23:21.520 if she wasn't there.
00:23:24.420 Yeah, well, absolutely.
00:23:25.600 I'm up nights wondering
00:23:27.420 where president and CEO
00:23:29.480 of CBC Catherine Tate is.
00:23:31.620 Also, I've never seen
00:23:33.520 Son of a Critch.
00:23:35.280 I'm now thinking
00:23:36.500 how much enriched my life would be
00:23:38.900 if I had watched three seasons
00:23:41.100 about a mediocre comedian
00:23:43.800 who few Canadians could pick
00:23:46.300 out of a police lineup.
00:23:47.320 My favorite CBC programming story
00:23:50.500 is I would say
00:23:52.060 CBC legitimately deserves credit
00:23:54.340 for Schitt's Creek
00:23:56.140 mostly because they did it
00:23:57.940 in partnership
00:23:58.460 with the private sector
00:23:59.620 and the private sector
00:24:01.160 had this impossible
00:24:02.240 or crazy idea
00:24:04.020 that they should produce
00:24:05.000 a television show
00:24:05.980 that people actually want to watch
00:24:07.900 in the world.
00:24:10.200 And so after it was done,
00:24:11.940 you would have thought
00:24:12.640 CBC would have looked at that
00:24:13.900 and said, wow,
00:24:14.940 we produced a popular piece
00:24:17.060 of entertainment
00:24:18.060 or at least we were
00:24:19.160 marginally part of it
00:24:20.500 in partnership with Netflix.
00:24:22.600 That was great.
00:24:23.660 Well, no, actually,
00:24:24.360 what they said was,
00:24:25.100 well, we'll never do that again.
00:24:26.360 They lamented
00:24:27.620 the commercial nature
00:24:28.680 of that partnership.
00:24:30.400 The fact that it
00:24:31.600 appealed broadly
00:24:33.720 outside of Canada
00:24:34.940 to an American audience,
00:24:36.960 you know,
00:24:37.280 where there's 330 million people
00:24:39.260 who like to watch TV.
00:24:41.280 And so I just love it.
00:24:42.680 A one tiny example
00:24:44.500 of CBC success
00:24:45.840 and they said,
00:24:46.820 well, let's never do that again.
00:24:48.440 Isn't it sad?
00:24:49.200 And so, you know,
00:24:50.140 I'm not an art critic,
00:24:51.620 at least while I am privately,
00:24:52.880 but I'm not,
00:24:53.660 I'm not paid to be an art critic.
00:24:55.740 I like pictures of horses, right?
00:24:57.680 That's not my thing.
00:24:59.000 But if people want to produce
00:25:01.380 obscure, weird art
00:25:02.960 for whatever reason
00:25:04.460 and however they want to do it,
00:25:06.460 however many people
00:25:07.220 they want to see it or not,
00:25:08.360 that's great.
00:25:09.800 Pay for it yourself.
00:25:11.460 Like pay for it yourself
00:25:12.600 or do a GoFundMe
00:25:13.820 or get a sponsor.
00:25:15.440 Get people to willingly pay
00:25:17.060 for the art
00:25:17.880 that you want to produce.
00:25:19.600 But you cannot produce
00:25:20.940 weird stuff
00:25:21.820 that people aren't
00:25:22.620 actually watching
00:25:23.520 if you're using
00:25:24.620 taxpayers' money.
00:25:26.000 And I have to read you
00:25:26.780 her actual quote
00:25:27.840 because it's almost
00:25:28.580 too hard to believe.
00:25:29.840 She said,
00:25:30.440 without a show like
00:25:31.700 Son of a Critch,
00:25:33.400 it would, quote,
00:25:34.420 be a huge impoverishment
00:25:35.980 of our status
00:25:36.920 and our place
00:25:37.840 on the world stage.
00:25:40.000 Like, wow!
00:25:41.440 So again,
00:25:42.080 this lady makes 1.00
00:25:43.240 probably over
00:25:44.040 half a million dollars
00:25:45.040 and her bonus
00:25:46.340 that she's entitled to
00:25:47.600 is likely more
00:25:49.200 than what
00:25:49.640 a two-person
00:25:50.280 working family pays.
00:25:51.620 So I wanted to take
00:25:52.660 this moment
00:25:53.120 to make a fun announcement.
00:25:54.620 So we finally have
00:25:56.300 these bumper stickers printed.
00:25:58.500 It says,
00:25:59.340 for folks just listening,
00:26:00.320 it's defunded the CBC.
00:26:01.800 It's a bumper sticker.
00:26:02.780 It's black, red, and white.
00:26:04.760 We get,
00:26:05.640 we have these done.
00:26:06.740 I have the box upstairs.
00:26:08.680 I'm going to be giving them out
00:26:10.280 at True North Nation
00:26:12.120 coming up this Saturday.
00:26:14.820 So I imagine
00:26:15.600 that they're going
00:26:16.140 to be pretty popular.
00:26:17.600 And you're both right.
00:26:20.220 She is really making
00:26:21.600 a solid argument
00:26:22.520 as to why we need
00:26:24.020 to defund the CBC.
00:26:25.900 Did we want to get
00:26:26.740 to our other story here
00:26:27.800 about,
00:26:28.280 this was a Parks Canada story,
00:26:30.500 Cosman,
00:26:30.940 that you had?
00:26:31.500 Do you want to move
00:26:31.980 on to there?
00:26:33.820 Yeah, that's right.
00:26:35.100 Parks Canada
00:26:35.820 is about to undergo
00:26:37.260 an apology tour.
00:26:38.940 They've flagged
00:26:39.700 27 different national parks
00:26:41.820 across the country,
00:26:43.300 including Banff,
00:26:44.280 including Pacific Rim,
00:26:46.100 Jasper as well,
00:26:47.900 to apologize
00:26:48.760 for the department's role,
00:26:51.440 supposed role,
00:26:52.680 in colonialism
00:26:53.620 and all of this damage
00:26:55.540 that that has caused,
00:26:56.920 supposedly.
00:26:58.060 And it's astounding to me
00:26:59.940 because Parks Canada
00:27:01.620 preserves natural sites.
00:27:03.720 Why is the Canadian government,
00:27:05.600 why do they think
00:27:06.460 that we need to apologize
00:27:07.780 for preserving the environment,
00:27:10.040 creating spaces
00:27:10.920 that everybody can enjoy,
00:27:12.960 First Nations,
00:27:14.360 everybody can enjoy
00:27:15.760 these spaces.
00:27:16.900 So we came across this story
00:27:18.640 because we filed an ATIP
00:27:20.400 and it was actually
00:27:21.300 at the tail end
00:27:22.580 of this 800-page document.
00:27:24.560 They had this map laid out
00:27:25.940 with all of the locations
00:27:27.320 that they plan on
00:27:28.360 having place-based apologies.
00:27:30.900 Now, I'm not 100% sure
00:27:32.540 exactly what that means
00:27:33.780 because Parks Canada
00:27:34.820 wasn't very forthcoming
00:27:36.500 when I asked them
00:27:37.320 for comment and clarification.
00:27:38.920 But the first location
00:27:40.640 flagged for this apology tour
00:27:42.680 was Jasper.
00:27:44.160 And this was supposed
00:27:44.920 to happen before,
00:27:47.000 it was determined
00:27:48.460 before the wildfires
00:27:49.940 actually broke out,
00:27:51.120 those devastating wildfires
00:27:52.660 that destroyed
00:27:53.380 a huge part of this town
00:27:55.360 and the surrounding area
00:27:56.520 and impacted
00:27:57.160 the national park itself.
00:27:58.880 But there was supposed
00:27:59.640 to be a exhibit opening
00:28:02.600 this September,
00:28:04.020 which was delayed.
00:28:06.040 So it still remains
00:28:07.620 to be the first place
00:28:08.780 that they want to initiate
00:28:09.980 this apology tour.
00:28:11.160 But Chris,
00:28:11.860 I want to turn it to you
00:28:13.620 specifically with regards
00:28:16.400 to the potential costs
00:28:18.160 of starting exhibits,
00:28:20.540 sending government officials,
00:28:22.080 all of the consulting
00:28:22.960 that goes behind
00:28:23.780 these procedures.
00:28:24.580 And something so grandiose
00:28:26.140 as touching the entire country,
00:28:28.560 you know, 27 parks
00:28:29.780 is a huge number.
00:28:31.640 Yeah, that'll be interesting
00:28:32.480 to see how much that costs
00:28:34.000 because Parks Canada
00:28:35.600 has been amazing
00:28:37.500 at wasting money.
00:28:39.040 Like folks might remember
00:28:39.980 very recently where
00:28:40.980 I forget how much money
00:28:41.900 we wasted.
00:28:42.620 I think there's tons
00:28:43.680 and tons of money
00:28:44.400 hiring sharpshooters
00:28:46.300 from overseas
00:28:46.960 to shoot deer
00:28:47.900 out of a helicopter
00:28:48.700 on some tiny little
00:28:50.100 Gulf Island
00:28:50.820 off British Columbia.
00:28:51.700 I'm already getting
00:28:52.920 all these alarm bells
00:28:53.760 from so many people
00:28:54.720 who live in that area
00:28:55.720 going, what?
00:28:56.480 Why?
00:28:56.880 Wait.
00:28:57.760 So we will,
00:28:58.960 I will definitely look
00:28:59.860 into how much
00:29:00.480 that is costing
00:29:01.180 because I bet you
00:29:02.100 it's a spectacular
00:29:03.040 amount of money.
00:29:04.620 And just to say
00:29:05.760 the Taxpayers Federation,
00:29:07.320 we try to help
00:29:08.180 everybody out.
00:29:09.400 And we hear from
00:29:11.140 First Nations people
00:29:11.880 all the time.
00:29:12.740 They want the same thing
00:29:13.600 that everybody else does
00:29:14.620 living in smaller towns
00:29:15.680 included,
00:29:16.280 like really good
00:29:17.360 accountable government,
00:29:18.580 nice, safe,
00:29:19.120 clean drinking water,
00:29:19.940 good schools
00:29:20.380 for their kids.
00:29:21.240 I have not had
00:29:22.120 one email
00:29:23.040 saying,
00:29:24.640 you know what
00:29:25.160 keeps me up at night
00:29:26.300 is making sure
00:29:27.280 that I get this
00:29:28.140 paid for
00:29:28.660 and all done
00:29:29.280 by the government
00:29:29.860 and bureaucrats
00:29:30.620 involved.
00:29:31.220 Like,
00:29:32.000 this just seems
00:29:32.600 like such a personal
00:29:33.380 strange thing.
00:29:34.400 William,
00:29:34.920 what was your take
00:29:35.460 on this?
00:29:37.160 Well, look,
00:29:38.460 Parks Canada
00:29:39.080 should show up
00:29:40.260 in Jasper
00:29:40.880 and apologize,
00:29:42.060 but they should
00:29:42.580 apologize for allowing
00:29:43.940 a huge chunk
00:29:44.860 of the town
00:29:45.420 to burn down
00:29:46.200 because of their
00:29:47.160 terrible policies
00:29:48.940 in that regard.
00:29:50.520 They dropped the ball
00:29:51.820 on maintaining
00:29:52.740 anti-fire provisions.
00:29:55.000 They weren't clearing
00:29:55.640 away the dead brush
00:29:56.780 that had been recommended.
00:29:58.140 They were silencing
00:29:59.060 internal criticism
00:30:00.200 of their policy.
00:30:01.700 They did not work
00:30:02.580 as full partners
00:30:03.440 in the fighting
00:30:04.280 of the fire,
00:30:05.020 turning down resources
00:30:06.180 that were available
00:30:07.040 to them
00:30:07.580 because they were
00:30:08.560 playing fiefdom
00:30:09.700 over that particular area.
00:30:11.620 So the people
00:30:12.860 of Jasper,
00:30:13.660 the people of Alberta,
00:30:14.800 and the people
00:30:15.220 of Canada
00:30:15.760 all deserve apologies
00:30:17.060 from Parks Canada,
00:30:18.340 but it's because
00:30:19.100 of their sheer incompetence
00:30:20.700 that allowed
00:30:21.260 a jewel like Jasper
00:30:22.820 to be consumed
00:30:24.000 by flame
00:30:24.760 rather than
00:30:25.780 an anti-colonial
00:30:28.460 feel-good
00:30:29.820 park nonsense
00:30:31.200 tour that they
00:30:31.860 seem to be
00:30:32.280 planning instead.
00:30:33.280 That I just
00:30:34.140 don't see people
00:30:35.080 rallying in the streets
00:30:36.100 asking for.
00:30:37.480 Like, really,
00:30:38.380 people are worried
00:30:39.000 about being able
00:30:39.520 to afford groceries
00:30:40.440 and their heat bill.
00:30:41.360 Like, it's just
00:30:41.940 mind-boggling.
00:30:43.460 You had another
00:30:44.520 real head-scratcher
00:30:45.580 there, William.
00:30:46.260 What was the story
00:30:47.120 coming out of
00:30:47.640 a med school
00:30:48.220 in Toronto?
00:30:49.040 I just saw
00:30:49.500 the headline of it.
00:30:50.640 Yeah, I, you know,
00:30:52.120 every once in a while
00:30:52.880 you run into a new story
00:30:54.180 that you have to read
00:30:55.100 at least twice
00:30:55.780 in order to make sure
00:30:57.180 that either
00:30:58.260 it isn't a parody
00:30:59.200 or that
00:31:00.860 what you're reading
00:31:01.900 is actually true.
00:31:03.840 And in the case
00:31:04.900 of Toronto
00:31:05.960 Metropolitan University,
00:31:07.300 which I think
00:31:08.380 most people still
00:31:09.180 remember as
00:31:09.800 Ryersing University.
00:31:11.180 Oh, okay.
00:31:12.540 I didn't understand
00:31:13.480 where it was.
00:31:14.380 Until Toronto
00:31:15.820 Metropolitan University
00:31:16.840 decided that it
00:31:17.660 wanted to be
00:31:18.300 Canada's wokest
00:31:19.540 university.
00:31:20.980 And as part of that,
00:31:22.380 they are opening
00:31:23.380 a new medical school.
00:31:25.300 But this new
00:31:27.140 medical school
00:31:27.920 is going to be
00:31:29.340 for racialized,
00:31:31.540 indigenous,
00:31:32.440 and quote-unquote
00:31:33.240 equity-deserving
00:31:35.400 applicants.
00:31:36.420 And in case
00:31:38.580 you're wondering
00:31:39.020 what an equity-deserving
00:31:40.720 applicant is,
00:31:41.800 I have a list.
00:31:42.940 It is racialized 0.98
00:31:44.720 people,
00:31:45.700 racialized immigrants,
00:31:47.100 and children
00:31:47.680 of racialized immigrants,
00:31:49.840 people with disabilities,
00:31:51.500 neurodivergence,
00:31:52.860 or those living
00:31:53.520 with chronic
00:31:54.040 health conditions,
00:31:55.740 people who identify
00:31:56.620 as part of
00:31:57.820 the 2SLGBTQ 0.56
00:31:59.920 plus community,
00:32:01.060 or gender,
00:32:02.220 or sexual minority.
00:32:04.240 So that's
00:32:06.440 their target
00:32:07.060 for their new
00:32:07.620 medical school.
00:32:08.660 That means
00:32:09.180 out of the 94
00:32:10.020 positions they're
00:32:11.000 opening,
00:32:11.880 75% of them
00:32:13.600 are being held
00:32:14.680 for those
00:32:15.520 specific groups.
00:32:16.840 Only 25%
00:32:18.300 are going to be
00:32:19.480 made available
00:32:20.180 to, you know,
00:32:22.980 the student
00:32:23.600 population at large.
00:32:25.560 They're also doing
00:32:26.340 a couple other things
00:32:27.080 that I think people
00:32:27.640 will find interesting.
00:32:28.700 The normal GPA
00:32:29.640 needed to get
00:32:30.500 into a medical school
00:32:31.720 is 3.9 out of 4.
00:32:34.040 I mean, you know,
00:32:35.220 medical school
00:32:35.800 is a tough gig.
00:32:36.720 There's a joke
00:32:37.360 why so many parents
00:32:38.880 want their children 0.99
00:32:39.760 to go become doctors.
00:32:41.520 It's a hard gig
00:32:42.440 to get.
00:32:43.420 But for these
00:32:44.100 equity-deserving
00:32:45.840 applicants,
00:32:46.760 they'll only need
00:32:47.500 a GPA of 3.3.
00:32:49.720 So far below
00:32:51.080 what non-equity
00:32:53.220 group applicants
00:32:54.440 are going to need.
00:32:56.020 But they also
00:32:57.000 will have to,
00:32:57.880 right here it says,
00:32:58.860 a 500 to
00:33:00.080 1,000-word essay.
00:33:01.720 about their identity
00:33:04.060 as members
00:33:05.140 of those groups
00:33:05.960 in order to be
00:33:06.880 considered
00:33:07.380 for application.
00:33:09.420 So the concern,
00:33:10.960 of course,
00:33:11.260 being when you
00:33:12.200 go to a doctor,
00:33:12.960 it's usually
00:33:13.980 under some
00:33:15.520 pretty difficult
00:33:16.560 circumstance.
00:33:17.140 You're either
00:33:17.880 injured,
00:33:19.380 sick,
00:33:20.140 could be facing
00:33:20.940 a life-threatening
00:33:21.840 condition.
00:33:22.900 You expect
00:33:23.640 your doctor
00:33:24.280 to know
00:33:25.040 everything there
00:33:26.360 is to know
00:33:27.040 about your body,
00:33:29.340 about your
00:33:29.920 medical treatment
00:33:31.840 and about
00:33:33.020 medicine in general.
00:33:34.220 You don't expect
00:33:34.980 them to kind
00:33:35.680 of know it
00:33:36.100 and you don't
00:33:36.540 expect them
00:33:37.060 to have gotten
00:33:37.720 into the program
00:33:38.540 and become a doctor
00:33:39.440 because of some
00:33:40.740 personal characteristic
00:33:41.860 that represents
00:33:42.980 on them.
00:33:43.620 I mean,
00:33:44.080 you know,
00:33:44.820 my question for,
00:33:45.840 I think,
00:33:46.180 both of you is,
00:33:47.300 if you found out
00:33:48.280 that your doctor
00:33:49.140 went to medical
00:33:50.060 school as a
00:33:51.220 diversity candidate
00:33:52.400 rather than one
00:33:53.300 based on merit,
00:33:54.440 would you have
00:33:55.860 concerns about
00:33:57.640 that particular
00:33:58.360 doctor?
00:34:00.760 Well,
00:34:01.560 so I'm a huge
00:34:04.120 Star Trek fan.
00:34:05.540 Like,
00:34:05.980 I don't care
00:34:07.020 if you're a
00:34:07.480 purple Klingon.
00:34:08.480 I want you to be
00:34:09.400 really,
00:34:09.900 really good at
00:34:10.340 your job.
00:34:11.100 Like,
00:34:11.320 no,
00:34:11.700 straight up.
00:34:12.280 Like,
00:34:12.640 I do not care.
00:34:14.800 What I desperately
00:34:16.380 care about is
00:34:17.440 merit because
00:34:18.760 that has results
00:34:20.120 because that is
00:34:21.380 what determines
00:34:22.060 a good outcome
00:34:22.840 or a bad outcome
00:34:23.660 in most things,
00:34:24.660 not just medicine.
00:34:26.340 But in this case,
00:34:27.400 you'd be directly
00:34:28.400 affecting patients
00:34:29.320 and their families.
00:34:30.920 And again,
00:34:31.400 there is an
00:34:31.860 accountability level
00:34:32.800 here of we all
00:34:34.240 pay for health care
00:34:35.380 in Canada.
00:34:36.280 Taxpayers do.
00:34:37.580 We all do.
00:34:38.900 So again,
00:34:39.900 I always go back
00:34:40.800 to this,
00:34:41.300 folks,
00:34:41.540 if you don't like
00:34:42.120 this,
00:34:43.120 contact your member
00:34:43.920 of parliament
00:34:44.480 and let them know
00:34:45.420 that you're opposed
00:34:46.780 to something like
00:34:47.380 this.
00:34:47.680 Cosman,
00:34:47.980 go ahead there.
00:34:49.460 The other
00:34:50.120 consequences of this
00:34:51.340 is that it
00:34:51.800 actually harms
00:34:52.800 the credibility
00:34:53.580 of the entire
00:34:54.860 industry itself,
00:34:56.340 the entire
00:34:56.800 medical profession.
00:34:57.800 When you are
00:34:58.940 causing doubt
00:35:00.840 within patients
00:35:02.060 about the,
00:35:02.820 you know,
00:35:03.240 competence
00:35:03.720 of their doctors
00:35:05.560 because of
00:35:06.860 programs like this
00:35:08.560 introduced by
00:35:09.420 universities,
00:35:10.400 probably encouraged
00:35:11.680 by diversity,
00:35:12.660 equity,
00:35:13.080 inclusion departments.
00:35:14.880 And it doesn't
00:35:16.300 really sense
00:35:18.740 that it doesn't
00:35:19.340 give the sense
00:35:19.980 that this is rooted
00:35:20.840 in actual
00:35:21.760 problems.
00:35:23.120 And these
00:35:24.280 initiatives don't
00:35:25.480 address the
00:35:26.640 endemic issues
00:35:27.960 that Canadian 0.98
00:35:28.600 health care has
00:35:29.700 with retaining
00:35:31.100 doctors,
00:35:31.920 hiring doctors.
00:35:33.320 We shouldn't
00:35:34.240 lower our standards.
00:35:35.300 We should make
00:35:36.040 it more desirable
00:35:37.040 to become a doctor
00:35:38.240 in Canada.
00:35:39.520 You know,
00:35:40.320 I just have to think,
00:35:41.320 if I was a student,
00:35:42.720 I had worked
00:35:43.840 so hard
00:35:45.000 in my undergraduate,
00:35:46.260 I put in all
00:35:47.280 of that extra
00:35:47.800 time and effort.
00:35:48.780 I have a 4.0 GPA.
00:35:50.820 I have a lifelong
00:35:51.520 dream of going
00:35:52.300 to medical school.
00:35:53.500 But then I find
00:35:54.620 out that actually
00:35:55.920 the position
00:35:56.660 that I would
00:35:57.300 have earned
00:35:57.800 under the merit
00:35:58.920 approach to
00:35:59.780 choosing doctors
00:36:00.700 was given away
00:36:01.940 to someone
00:36:02.500 less qualified
00:36:03.500 with, you know,
00:36:05.360 less skills,
00:36:06.300 less knowledge,
00:36:06.980 and less ability
00:36:07.560 for an entirely
00:36:09.080 superficial
00:36:10.640 personal characteristic
00:36:12.480 beyond their control.
00:36:13.780 It would be
00:36:14.800 maddening
00:36:15.580 to do that.
00:36:16.540 And what message
00:36:17.140 are you sending
00:36:17.740 to university students
00:36:19.660 where it says
00:36:20.740 how you were born
00:36:21.920 is more important
00:36:23.680 than your ability
00:36:25.280 and work ethic
00:36:26.540 when it comes
00:36:27.640 to your career?
00:36:28.640 I just think
00:36:29.480 what an awful message
00:36:31.300 we're sending
00:36:31.800 to young people
00:36:32.640 and potentially now
00:36:34.240 a very dangerous one too
00:36:35.800 if we're going to end up
00:36:36.660 with a bunch
00:36:37.040 of medical professionals
00:36:38.000 who really aren't
00:36:39.160 as qualified
00:36:39.680 as they could
00:36:40.440 or should be.
00:36:41.880 I am an eternal
00:36:43.360 optimist.
00:36:44.340 Again, why I'm
00:36:45.040 a Star Trek fan
00:36:45.820 and I think
00:36:46.620 if enough people
00:36:47.300 speak up calmly
00:36:48.420 and firmly
00:36:49.160 and genuinely
00:36:50.580 from a position
00:36:52.200 of concern
00:36:52.800 and love really
00:36:53.620 and they contact
00:36:54.480 their member of parliament
00:36:55.260 and they say
00:36:55.720 listen folks
00:36:56.320 this is why
00:36:56.960 I oppose this
00:36:57.880 for A, B, and C reasons
00:36:59.620 I do think
00:37:01.100 that people will change
00:37:02.180 and I do think
00:37:02.920 that if they want to
00:37:03.880 they can change
00:37:04.620 an enrolment policy
00:37:05.480 like this.
00:37:06.040 So I just want
00:37:06.780 to encourage people
00:37:07.540 don't give up
00:37:08.660 if you feel like
00:37:09.700 everything's closing
00:37:10.420 in around you
00:37:11.120 don't
00:37:11.880 because there's
00:37:13.420 so many people
00:37:14.620 who feel the same
00:37:15.380 way you do
00:37:15.920 you just need
00:37:16.920 to get off the bench
00:37:17.920 and get into the arena
00:37:19.120 and you can actually
00:37:20.160 make an amazing amount
00:37:21.300 of change happen.
00:37:22.660 It's one of the reasons
00:37:23.300 we're having our gathering
00:37:24.740 this coming Saturday
00:37:25.800 so do check out
00:37:27.360 True North Nation
00:37:28.740 basically you get this
00:37:30.660 but on very good
00:37:32.860 and healthy steroids
00:37:33.900 if that's a term
00:37:34.980 and we're all on stage
00:37:37.220 and we're all there together
00:37:38.580 and there'll be
00:37:39.760 a booth set up
00:37:40.620 the Taxpayers Federation
00:37:41.540 will have a booth
00:37:42.160 I'm not sure
00:37:42.680 who else will be there
00:37:43.760 there's going to be
00:37:44.640 things like t-shirts
00:37:45.500 and bumper stickers
00:37:46.300 and bracelets
00:37:46.820 and all that fun stuff
00:37:47.800 and you can meet
00:37:48.560 all your favorite
00:37:49.260 True North personalities
00:37:50.460 and listen to some of us
00:37:51.860 try to make some sense
00:37:53.160 on air
00:37:53.520 so click the link
00:37:55.000 there are still
00:37:55.680 apparently a few tickets left
00:37:57.260 and it's coming up
00:37:58.180 this Saturday
00:37:59.120 in Calgary
00:38:00.380 William and Cosman
00:38:02.340 thank you so much
00:38:03.060 for your time today
00:38:03.800 Oh well thanks for having us
00:38:05.560 it's always fun
00:38:06.320 you bet
00:38:07.080 and remember
00:38:07.660 everything is off the record
00:38:09.140 you just have to
00:38:19.860 scratch your head
00:38:20.660 over the doctor wine
00:38:21.640 you know
00:38:22.040 as we were joking
00:38:23.420 a little bit before
00:38:24.300 there are some jobs
00:38:25.680 where you don't really
00:38:26.900 have to know everything
00:38:28.180 about everything
00:38:29.120 in order to be good at it
00:38:30.140 you can make it
00:38:30.680 I would suggest respectfully
00:38:32.760 that in my job
00:38:33.860 you know
00:38:34.400 if I don't fully know something
00:38:36.080 you know
00:38:37.340 maybe something
00:38:37.900 doesn't perform
00:38:38.640 as well as it's short
00:38:39.460 or maybe
00:38:39.880 you know
00:38:40.680 it doesn't execute
00:38:42.540 as brilliantly
00:38:43.360 as we would have hoped
00:38:44.180 but very few people die
00:38:45.420 as if you know
00:38:49.040 most people die
00:38:50.980 in your youth
00:38:51.880 don't get it
00:38:52.560 because you know
00:38:53.300 you know
00:38:54.200 you know
00:38:54.540 you
00:38:54.980 you
00:38:55.200 you
00:38:55.300 you
00:38:55.480 you
00:38:56.160 you
00:38:56.200 you