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


Summary


Transcript

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.
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.
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
00:13:52.980 and answer questions, I secretly think,
00:13:55.700 is she really on the side of the defunders?
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,
00:15:08.820 demeaning the values of working class people
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.
00:15:24.560 And there might be some truth to that.
00:15:26.560 Maybe she's just burning bridges.
00:15:28.580 Maybe she's just burning everything on her way out.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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