Juno News - June 09, 2022


Is Marco Mendicino a fibber or a fool？


Episode Stats


Length

31 minutes

Words per minute

184.99834

Word count

5,745

Sentence count

347

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Toxicity

14

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

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

For months, Marco Mendicino has told us that it was the police who requested the Emergencies Act, but now apparently we all misunderstood him. Plus, independent Ontario legislator Bobby Ann Brady joins us to talk about the new era of independent politics in Ontario.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show. This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.
00:00:10.740 Coming up for months, Marco Mendicino has told us that it was police who requested the Emergencies Act, but now apparently we all misunderstood him.
00:00:18.700 Plus, independent Ontario legislator Bobby Ann Brady.
00:00:21.780 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:25.040 Hello and welcome to you all. This is another edition of Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show, the Andrew Lawton Show, here on True North.
00:00:32.940 Thursday, June 9th, 2022. If you have not been able to tell, we are doing another on...
00:00:39.220 I don't even want to say on location, because I'm not in a particularly exceptional location.
00:00:43.740 I'm just not where I usually am, which if you're listening on the podcast, you're wondering, like, what is everyone talking about?
00:00:49.800 We also do this in video form. Some people listen to the podcast. I love it. I'm so grateful to people that watch or listen however they choose to, but we are also on video as well.
00:01:00.120 So, sometimes I make visual references that might be lost to the podcast audience, but we'll try to describe them as best as we can when these things come up.
00:01:09.480 Later on, I'm going to be just dipping back in ever so slightly to Ontario politics, but there's a bigger picture to it that I want to tackle, which is the era of the independence.
00:01:19.560 Is this something we're entering into? Because there is an independent that was elected in the last Ontario election, defeating the Progressive Conservative Party that she had tried to be a candidate for.
00:01:31.560 They didn't want to have her as a candidate, so she said, all right, well, I'm just going to do it my way as an independent, and she won, which I think is tremendous.
00:01:39.760 We talked about her last week, Bobby Ann Brady, the longtime assistant of a longtime PC MPP, Toby Barrett.
00:01:46.520 So, Bobby Ann Brady will join us later on in the program, but I have to begin by talking about this Marco Mendicino flare-up that in some ways is hilarious, but it's also infuriating because this is what's passing for policy.
00:02:02.320 This is what's passing for government.
00:02:03.820 Now, the public safety minister in Canada is a very important role.
00:02:09.100 This is the person that oversees Canada's national security, public safety.
00:02:14.280 It used to be part of emergency preparedness.
00:02:16.420 Now, they've split that off and let Bill Blair have his little sandbox.
00:02:19.960 But the public safety minister is the one responsible for overseeing a lot of the domestic security agencies, and we have Marco Mendicino.
00:02:28.880 Now, he was saying things throughout the course of the Freedom Convoy that were simply not true.
00:02:35.560 One of the most notable examples of this was this press conference where Marco Mendicino got up,
00:02:40.300 and he started talking about all the evidence he had of a violent conspiracy and a network of people in Ottawa
00:02:46.000 that were connected to the group of people charged with firearms offense in Coots, Alberta,
00:02:50.660 and that they were all planning some very terrible things in Ottawa.
00:02:53.420 And when reporters at this press conference asked him for details,
00:02:58.720 he kept walking back the claim so much, so much, so much.
00:03:03.000 And then by the end of it, after reporters, to their credit, quite doggedly pursued this,
00:03:07.120 by the end of it, he had completely walked it back, and he had, like, walked so far back,
00:03:11.360 I think he was in, like, the year 1994.
00:03:13.720 And then he said, well, you know, I've seen some rhetoric on Twitter.
00:03:16.500 That was basically how it ended.
00:03:17.900 So I don't think he's that bright, or I just don't think he's all that prepared,
00:03:23.740 or it might be a combination of both.
00:03:25.300 Because ministerial staffers, they do all these briefing notes and briefing memos,
00:03:29.480 and they try to get their bosses to read them and memorize the talking point,
00:03:33.100 and I don't think he even reads those.
00:03:35.100 Because I don't think a staffer in their right mind would put a minister out
00:03:40.300 that cannot answer such fundamentally basic questions.
00:03:43.560 So this is all a lengthy preamble to what happened this week.
00:03:47.500 When Marco Mendicino's own deputy minister,
00:03:51.020 now a deputy minister is a bureaucrat who is ideally non-partisan,
00:03:55.720 and is there regardless of who the minister is,
00:03:58.080 and they're the ones that handle the civil service side of the department.
00:04:02.000 Marco Mendicino's deputy minister said to the parliamentary committee
00:04:06.200 investigating the Emergencies Act
00:04:07.960 that Marco Mendicino was misunderstood,
00:04:12.200 not mistaken, was misunderstood
00:04:14.080 when we all thought, because we were misunderstanding him,
00:04:18.600 so he was misunderstood and we misunderstood him
00:04:20.820 when we thought that he was saying
00:04:23.420 that law enforcement asked for the Emergencies Act.
00:04:28.080 Now this has been an ongoing trend,
00:04:30.540 and I just want to play some of the greatest hits.
00:04:32.620 Now this is not an exhaustive clip,
00:04:34.920 but here's just a sampling of what Marco Mendicino has said
00:04:38.880 on this specific issue.
00:04:40.540 We invoked the act
00:04:42.580 because it was the advice
00:04:44.920 of non-partisan professional law enforcement.
00:04:47.860 That's the reason why we had to invoke the Emergencies Act,
00:04:50.560 and we did so on the basis of non-partisan professional advice
00:04:53.880 from law enforcement.
00:04:54.580 We were following the advice
00:04:56.940 of various levels of law enforcement,
00:05:00.800 including the RCMP.
00:05:01.880 After calling upon the police forces,
00:05:03.340 we invoked the Emergency Measures Act.
00:05:05.420 We wanted to be sure at bottom
00:05:08.080 that we were giving law enforcement
00:05:10.260 all of the tools and the resources that they needed.
00:05:14.720 It was only after police told us
00:05:17.300 that they needed this special power.
00:05:19.840 The Ontario Association,
00:05:21.500 the Canadian Association,
00:05:23.440 law enforcement was very strong.
00:05:27.740 I don't want to speak for every last serving member
00:05:30.880 of law enforcement,
00:05:32.680 but there was a very strong consensus
00:05:34.140 that we needed to invoke the act.
00:05:36.020 Did you misunderstand that?
00:05:37.740 I understood it perfectly clearly.
00:05:40.240 I understood that so clearly.
00:05:42.020 He's saying that law enforcement
00:05:43.900 asked for the Emergencies Act.
00:05:45.820 The government asked law enforcement
00:05:47.100 what they thought.
00:05:48.020 Law enforcement said,
00:05:48.820 we want the Emergencies Act.
00:05:49.980 He says it over and over again.
00:05:51.580 He said it at press conferences.
00:05:53.160 He said it at the House of Commons.
00:05:54.720 He said it on committee.
00:05:57.260 And then you fast forward to this week
00:05:59.020 and the Deputy Minister is saying,
00:06:00.620 no, no, no, he was misunderstood.
00:06:01.880 What he actually meant,
00:06:03.300 what he meant to say
00:06:04.820 was that law enforcement
00:06:06.360 asked for some of the tools
00:06:08.160 in the Emergencies Act.
00:06:11.620 Okay, well, first off,
00:06:13.300 that's not what he said.
00:06:14.900 And secondly,
00:06:15.840 that's also not what law enforcement has said.
00:06:19.740 Brenda Luckey.
00:06:20.760 Did you ask the government
00:06:21.960 or representatives
00:06:23.180 for the invocation of the Emergencies Act?
00:06:27.280 No, there was never a question
00:06:28.640 of requesting the Emergency Act.
00:06:31.200 There was a question
00:06:31.940 that we consulted with.
00:06:32.080 Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt,
00:06:33.400 but I'm sorry.
00:06:34.600 So you never asked for it.
00:06:35.940 Do you know of any other police leadership
00:06:37.460 that asked specifically the government
00:06:39.480 for the invocation?
00:06:42.180 No, we actually reached out
00:06:43.660 to various police agencies
00:06:44.900 when there was talk
00:06:45.820 about some of the authorities
00:06:47.080 that they were proposing.
00:06:49.220 And of course, we were consulted
00:06:50.680 because we were the ones
00:06:52.320 who would be using those authorities.
00:06:54.180 So we were consulted
00:06:55.100 to see if they would be
00:06:56.100 of any use to police
00:06:57.980 in the context
00:06:59.400 of the Freedom Convoy.
00:07:01.180 Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell.
00:07:03.240 Did the Ottawa Police
00:07:04.520 make a request
00:07:05.340 to the federal government
00:07:06.040 to invoke
00:07:06.540 the Emergencies Measures Act,
00:07:07.840 yes or no?
00:07:08.720 So we were involved
00:07:09.960 in conversations
00:07:10.760 with our partners
00:07:11.640 and with the political ministries.
00:07:16.260 We didn't make a direct request
00:07:18.100 for the Emergencies Act.
00:07:20.020 Former Ottawa Police Chief
00:07:21.360 Peter Slowly.
00:07:22.860 Did yourself or anyone
00:07:23.800 in the OPS request
00:07:25.260 the invocation
00:07:26.800 of the Emergency Act?
00:07:28.380 I did not make that request.
00:07:29.880 I'm not aware of anybody else
00:07:30.900 in the Ottawa Police Service
00:07:31.680 who did.
00:07:32.380 Pretty much every single member
00:07:34.580 of the law enforcement community
00:07:36.460 over the last however many months
00:07:37.980 we've been doing this
00:07:38.840 has rejected,
00:07:40.200 has outright rejected
00:07:41.560 what the government has said
00:07:42.920 which is that
00:07:43.460 law enforcement was pushing
00:07:45.100 for the Emergencies Act.
00:07:47.620 And it's actually shameful.
00:07:49.360 I mentioned earlier
00:07:50.100 that a deputy minister
00:07:51.040 is supposed to be non-partisan.
00:07:53.240 It's quite shameful
00:07:54.200 that a deputy minister
00:07:55.260 is right now shilling
00:07:57.000 and running political spin,
00:07:59.400 running political interference
00:08:00.600 for the minister.
00:08:03.000 Because all of these police officers,
00:08:05.200 they appeared
00:08:06.020 and they knew
00:08:06.760 what they were saying
00:08:07.600 was the wrong answer
00:08:08.960 to the government.
00:08:09.700 They knew it was
00:08:10.240 an inconvenient answer
00:08:11.680 to the government
00:08:12.220 but they said it anyway
00:08:13.140 because it was the truth.
00:08:15.220 They didn't mince words.
00:08:16.480 They didn't jump around
00:08:17.380 and say like,
00:08:17.820 well, I may maybe
00:08:19.100 what he was referring to.
00:08:20.100 They just said,
00:08:20.460 did you ask for this?
00:08:21.440 No.
00:08:22.500 Did you know anyone
00:08:23.500 who asked for this?
00:08:24.280 No.
00:08:25.100 Did anyone in your office
00:08:26.200 ask for this?
00:08:26.860 No.
00:08:27.240 That was what they were saying.
00:08:29.780 Because you can't find
00:08:31.380 a middle ground
00:08:32.220 on a binary thing.
00:08:33.580 Binary?
00:08:34.080 Did law enforcement
00:08:34.820 ask for it?
00:08:35.400 Yes or no?
00:08:35.900 Marco Mendocino says,
00:08:37.600 yes,
00:08:38.160 every member
00:08:38.880 of the law enforcement
00:08:39.800 community
00:08:40.360 who's been asked
00:08:41.040 this question
00:08:41.620 says no.
00:08:43.660 So the deputy minister
00:08:44.960 should have also
00:08:45.660 come right out
00:08:46.260 and said,
00:08:46.740 I don't know
00:08:47.440 what he was talking about
00:08:48.300 or you'll have to ask him.
00:08:50.240 Because the context
00:08:51.380 of this was that
00:08:52.000 the deputy minister
00:08:52.700 also knew
00:08:53.480 that law enforcement
00:08:54.740 were not asking for this.
00:08:56.900 So government
00:08:57.740 was proactively
00:08:58.760 pushing this.
00:09:00.820 And that's the part
00:09:02.080 that the government
00:09:02.680 doesn't want us to know.
00:09:04.660 One of the whole problems
00:09:06.160 with this inquiry
00:09:07.200 as we've talked about
00:09:07.980 in the past
00:09:08.480 is that they do not want
00:09:10.000 this so-called independent,
00:09:11.820 broad, in-depth inquiry
00:09:13.120 to have access to
00:09:14.220 cabinet documents.
00:09:15.660 Now cabinet documents
00:09:16.680 are these documents
00:09:17.580 that are normally protected
00:09:19.340 as secret.
00:09:20.300 Cabinet secrets.
00:09:20.980 It's an ongoing thing.
00:09:22.140 It's not exclusive
00:09:23.180 to the liberals.
00:09:24.380 And there are very,
00:09:25.660 very narrow circumstances
00:09:27.020 in which you'd violate
00:09:28.300 or compromise
00:09:29.140 the secrecy
00:09:30.440 and the sanctity
00:09:31.260 of cabinet.
00:09:33.100 And one of them
00:09:34.200 is if the government
00:09:35.260 is willing
00:09:35.980 to do it voluntarily.
00:09:38.280 Which,
00:09:38.860 if you're talking
00:09:39.580 about a broad inquiry
00:09:40.560 that you want
00:09:41.220 to have access
00:09:41.800 to everything
00:09:42.420 to leave no stone unturned,
00:09:43.920 they should have access
00:09:45.020 to secret cabinet documents.
00:09:47.480 Especially when we know
00:09:48.540 this was a decision.
00:09:50.160 The decision
00:09:50.760 to invoke
00:09:51.220 the Emergencies Act
00:09:52.160 that came entirely
00:09:53.600 from cabinet,
00:09:54.380 not from law enforcement,
00:09:55.540 not from the civil service.
00:09:57.320 It came from government.
00:09:58.580 So they don't want people
00:09:59.820 to see the cabinet documents
00:10:01.120 because I think
00:10:01.660 what people will see
00:10:02.620 is that it was
00:10:03.740 the liberals
00:10:04.380 that wanted this.
00:10:05.740 It was the government
00:10:06.560 that wanted this.
00:10:07.320 It was Justin Trudeau,
00:10:08.540 maybe Marco Mendicino,
00:10:09.720 maybe he's just a passenger
00:10:10.840 along for the ride.
00:10:11.740 I don't know.
00:10:12.860 I don't look at him
00:10:14.080 and see
00:10:14.900 Einsteinian levels
00:10:17.040 of genius here.
00:10:19.060 In fact,
00:10:19.520 I look at him
00:10:20.100 and see quite the opposite.
00:10:22.040 I feel that Canada,
00:10:23.460 if you're looking to him
00:10:24.440 as the one
00:10:25.060 that's going to keep you safe,
00:10:26.160 you should be looking around
00:10:26.980 and being like,
00:10:27.480 maybe I should keep
00:10:28.200 myself safe first.
00:10:29.120 So that's,
00:10:30.180 I mean,
00:10:30.400 you can laugh
00:10:30.980 all you want at it
00:10:31.960 and I would encourage
00:10:32.780 you to do that
00:10:33.500 but also understand
00:10:34.380 the seriousness of this
00:10:35.500 and that we right now
00:10:36.840 have a government
00:10:37.440 that's trying to
00:10:38.260 just pull one over on us.
00:10:40.620 That's trying to pretend
00:10:42.140 that police were demanding,
00:10:43.760 and by the way,
00:10:44.640 I should say,
00:10:45.580 even if police
00:10:46.640 were demanding this,
00:10:48.300 that doesn't make it right.
00:10:49.720 Even if police,
00:10:50.300 because police all the time
00:10:51.400 would love to have powers
00:10:52.820 that are overzealous,
00:10:54.800 that are sweeping,
00:10:55.880 that may make
00:10:56.580 their jobs easier,
00:10:57.600 that would come
00:10:58.360 at the expense
00:10:59.000 of civil liberties
00:10:59.760 or due process.
00:11:00.880 Because again,
00:11:01.700 police don't want
00:11:02.280 to be hampered
00:11:02.800 by a lot of these things
00:11:04.580 that they would probably see
00:11:05.760 as getting in the way
00:11:06.420 of their jobs,
00:11:07.040 even though these things
00:11:07.780 are overwhelmingly
00:11:08.560 part of the system
00:11:09.680 and required
00:11:10.780 in a just
00:11:12.080 and rule-of-law-based society.
00:11:14.100 But the point of this
00:11:15.700 is that even if police
00:11:17.640 asked for it,
00:11:18.160 it wouldn't justify it.
00:11:19.160 But the fact that police
00:11:20.260 didn't ask for it
00:11:21.780 pulls the rug out
00:11:23.580 from under the liberal narrative
00:11:24.940 that this was not
00:11:26.220 a partisan thing,
00:11:27.220 that this was not
00:11:27.900 something they wanted.
00:11:28.920 They were just saying,
00:11:29.660 oh, we asked the experts.
00:11:32.100 It's the same as,
00:11:32.660 oh, the doctors wanted us
00:11:33.840 to lock down.
00:11:34.420 We didn't want to lock down.
00:11:36.360 Oh, Teresa Tam
00:11:37.380 wants the vaccine.
00:11:38.420 Okay, we didn't do that.
00:11:40.140 It's them trying
00:11:40.800 to abdicate responsibility
00:11:42.240 for their unpopular decisions
00:11:43.800 to other people
00:11:44.640 and not have to bear
00:11:46.480 the consequences of that.
00:11:49.020 But when those,
00:11:49.940 I mean, this is like
00:11:50.580 the equivalent
00:11:51.080 of the government saying,
00:11:52.200 well, we didn't want to
00:11:54.000 put a vaccine mandate
00:11:55.640 for air travel,
00:11:56.500 but you know what?
00:11:58.140 Doctors told us.
00:11:59.860 And then every doctor
00:12:01.100 that comes before the committee
00:12:02.200 said, I didn't say it.
00:12:03.060 I didn't say it.
00:12:03.520 I didn't say it.
00:12:03.940 Did you say that?
00:12:04.480 No, I didn't say it.
00:12:05.420 That's what they're doing here.
00:12:06.580 They're saying, oh yeah,
00:12:07.100 well, law enforcement told us.
00:12:08.680 Well, who?
00:12:09.460 If not the Ottawa police,
00:12:10.720 not the OPP,
00:12:11.660 not the RCMP,
00:12:13.520 none of the people they know,
00:12:15.400 it's almost like
00:12:16.660 it's a complete work of fiction.
00:12:19.480 Not almost, it is.
00:12:21.680 And Marco Mendocino
00:12:22.500 has been selling this line.
00:12:24.680 Not convincingly,
00:12:25.560 but he's been selling the line.
00:12:27.020 And now his deputy minister,
00:12:28.600 I mean,
00:12:29.000 ultimately has thrown him
00:12:30.460 under the bus,
00:12:31.100 but his deputy minister
00:12:32.160 wouldn't,
00:12:34.140 and this is the part
00:12:35.120 that I think
00:12:35.620 should be very frustrating,
00:12:37.040 shouldn't have
00:12:37.900 tried to spin the line.
00:12:41.260 The deputy minister
00:12:42.000 tried to cover
00:12:42.720 for Marco Mendocino.
00:12:44.760 And it's our problem.
00:12:45.960 It's like the Trudeau thing
00:12:47.040 of like everything's
00:12:47.820 a learning opportunity
00:12:48.620 for other people.
00:12:49.400 No, no, no.
00:12:49.760 You all misunderstood him.
00:12:52.180 To adapt that old line,
00:12:53.560 who are you going to believe, 0.95
00:12:54.920 me or your lying ears? 0.99
00:12:56.420 Not eyes this time. 0.98
00:12:57.400 Me or your lying ears.
00:12:58.360 And they want us 0.93
00:12:59.180 to believe them.
00:13:00.040 They want us to believe
00:13:00.740 Marco Mendocino.
00:13:01.660 They want us to believe
00:13:02.320 what he says now,
00:13:03.640 not what he said
00:13:04.440 at every other point
00:13:05.540 in the process.
00:13:06.720 Dane Lloyd,
00:13:07.640 who is a conservative
00:13:08.720 shadow minister,
00:13:10.080 asked Marco Mendocino
00:13:11.340 directly about this.
00:13:13.040 This is a thing
00:13:14.100 where I actually
00:13:14.700 did misunderstand
00:13:15.660 what Marco said
00:13:17.260 in response.
00:13:17.860 For Sturgeon River Parkland.
00:13:20.620 Mr. Speaker,
00:13:21.400 our memories are very clear
00:13:22.600 on this side of the house.
00:13:23.940 The minister repeatedly stated
00:13:25.620 that police recommended
00:13:27.520 that the government
00:13:28.220 invoke the Emergencies Act.
00:13:29.960 But now we know
00:13:30.800 that not a single police force
00:13:33.140 in this country
00:13:33.960 made that recommendation.
00:13:35.900 The minister has had
00:13:36.700 multiple opportunities
00:13:37.880 to clarify,
00:13:39.080 but he stood by his statement.
00:13:40.500 And now his deputy minister
00:13:41.940 is saying,
00:13:42.900 well, the minister
00:13:43.440 was misunderstood.
00:13:44.700 Who is telling the truth?
00:13:45.980 The public safety minister
00:13:47.460 or his most senior
00:13:48.540 public servant?
00:13:50.320 The Honourable Minister
00:13:51.480 for public safety.
00:13:53.780 Mr. Speaker,
00:13:55.280 I want to be absolutely clear
00:13:56.780 that last winter
00:13:58.060 when we saw
00:13:58.860 an unprecedented
00:13:59.900 public order emergency
00:14:01.220 in the opinion
00:14:02.260 of law enforcement,
00:14:03.860 we filled the gaps
00:14:04.840 that existed
00:14:05.480 within authorities
00:14:06.800 which were not effective
00:14:07.980 at the time
00:14:08.500 to restore public safety.
00:14:09.940 Prior to invoking
00:14:10.620 the Emergencies Act,
00:14:11.480 we sought the advice
00:14:12.500 as any responsible government
00:14:14.180 would do prior
00:14:15.140 to invoking the act.
00:14:16.140 And you heard
00:14:16.540 Commissioner Luckey say
00:14:17.540 that we needed,
00:14:18.600 for example,
00:14:19.120 power to compel tow trucks
00:14:20.480 as a result of protesters
00:14:22.400 who wouldn't leave.
00:14:23.400 I wonder why
00:14:24.020 they wouldn't leave,
00:14:24.580 Mr. Speaker.
00:14:25.000 They wouldn't leave
00:14:25.560 because conservatives
00:14:26.320 were egging them on to stay.
00:14:28.060 That was wrong
00:14:28.820 and we invoked it
00:14:29.820 to protect Canadians,
00:14:30.820 Mr. Speaker.
00:14:31.900 Ah, did you hear that?
00:14:32.840 That's the sound
00:14:33.520 of goalposts moving
00:14:34.780 rather rapidly.
00:14:35.900 It's no longer
00:14:36.520 about law enforcement
00:14:37.440 asking as well.
00:14:38.420 They asked us
00:14:39.420 to do some stuff
00:14:40.400 and they wanted
00:14:40.880 some of the stuff
00:14:41.560 and we can only do
00:14:42.200 that stuff
00:14:42.660 in the Emergencies Act.
00:14:43.700 No, it's a load 0.91
00:14:44.960 of nonsense. 0.87
00:14:46.080 It is an absolute 0.98
00:14:47.320 load of nonsense 0.99
00:14:49.220 and they still think 1.00
00:14:51.140 we are stupid enough 1.00
00:14:52.660 to believe it. 1.00
00:14:54.540 And I mentioned last week,
00:14:56.220 I have a book
00:14:57.120 coming out
00:14:57.700 on June 24th
00:14:59.080 called
00:14:59.300 The Freedom Convoy,
00:15:00.620 the inside story
00:15:01.500 of three weeks
00:15:02.340 that shook the world
00:15:03.140 and the title
00:15:04.020 is about the convoy
00:15:05.280 and I'm not doing
00:15:06.320 an inside story
00:15:07.720 about law enforcement.
00:15:09.580 I'm not writing
00:15:10.160 about the ins
00:15:11.040 and outs
00:15:11.400 of the police response.
00:15:12.800 I'm actually writing
00:15:13.600 about the organizers
00:15:14.500 and about how
00:15:15.160 they experienced
00:15:16.460 the convoy,
00:15:17.280 how it came about
00:15:18.160 from inception
00:15:19.020 right through
00:15:20.260 to the end
00:15:20.980 when you had
00:15:21.480 bank accounts
00:15:22.120 frozen,
00:15:22.600 the Emergencies Act
00:15:23.440 being invoked.
00:15:24.100 So when I talk
00:15:25.220 about the law
00:15:25.780 enforcement response,
00:15:26.660 I'm talking about
00:15:27.400 it from a bit
00:15:27.940 of a bigger picture
00:15:28.620 perspective
00:15:29.180 and also as it
00:15:30.600 pertained to the
00:15:31.280 people on the ground
00:15:32.200 that were part
00:15:33.160 of the protest,
00:15:33.860 people that I interviewed
00:15:34.780 and a lot of those
00:15:36.440 interviews as I was
00:15:37.720 writing the book.
00:15:38.340 But when I talked
00:15:40.620 about this kind
00:15:42.400 of internally,
00:15:43.180 just in my own
00:15:43.820 mind, it's a very
00:15:44.860 weird conversation
00:15:45.780 sometimes, but when
00:15:47.120 I talked about this
00:15:48.100 and thought about
00:15:48.700 this as I was
00:15:49.180 writing the book,
00:15:49.960 I went over a lot
00:15:51.300 of things Marco
00:15:51.980 Mendicino had said
00:15:53.020 and I always assumed
00:15:55.620 that we would get
00:15:57.280 the story at some
00:15:58.800 point that all of
00:16:00.200 it was made up
00:16:00.980 and I didn't know
00:16:01.860 we'd get it this
00:16:02.400 quickly.
00:16:02.800 I thought we might
00:16:03.280 need to wait until
00:16:03.860 the inquiry was done
00:16:04.760 to find that the
00:16:05.740 whole police were
00:16:06.600 asking for this
00:16:07.280 thing was a load of 0.96
00:16:07.960 nonsense.
00:16:08.600 I'm actually quite
00:16:09.620 grateful that it
00:16:10.700 only took us,
00:16:11.600 that convoy ended
00:16:12.680 in February,
00:16:13.380 so March,
00:16:13.780 April,
00:16:14.000 May,
00:16:14.200 June,
00:16:14.320 it only took us
00:16:14.980 like three and a
00:16:15.640 half months for us
00:16:17.080 to realize that it
00:16:18.720 was only the liberal
00:16:20.140 government that was
00:16:21.480 pushing the emergency
00:16:22.460 sack.
00:16:23.100 And I will say,
00:16:23.760 just since I mentioned
00:16:24.400 the book,
00:16:24.880 it is available for
00:16:25.760 pre-order.
00:16:26.340 We were very high up
00:16:27.740 on the Amazon
00:16:28.200 bestseller list right
00:16:29.560 away, which I'm told
00:16:30.380 is quite rare for
00:16:31.560 pre-orders.
00:16:32.140 I think we've
00:16:32.440 slipped down a little
00:16:33.100 bit now.
00:16:33.820 There's an animated
00:16:34.720 book about Justin
00:16:36.080 Trudeau and the
00:16:36.620 emergency sack that
00:16:37.680 is at number one
00:16:38.740 right now, which is
00:16:39.580 a children's book.
00:16:40.520 So I'm not going to
00:16:41.260 tell you to not buy
00:16:41.920 that one.
00:16:42.320 I'm just going to
00:16:42.700 say buy one for the
00:16:43.420 kids and one for you.
00:16:44.320 So you can buy the
00:16:45.100 My Freedom Convoy
00:16:46.180 book for yourself and
00:16:47.040 then buy the animated
00:16:48.100 book or the picture
00:16:49.680 book for your kid or
00:16:50.920 buy your picture book
00:16:51.800 for your favorite
00:16:52.960 public safety minister
00:16:53.980 because it might be the
00:16:55.140 one that's at their
00:16:55.780 level.
00:16:56.400 We've got to take a
00:16:57.420 quick break here.
00:16:58.120 When we come back in a
00:16:59.020 couple of moments'
00:16:59.520 time, we'll talk to
00:17:00.280 Bobby Ann Brady, the
00:17:01.420 independent member of
00:17:02.480 Provincial Parliament.
00:17:06.420 You're tuned in to
00:17:07.680 The Andrew Lawton
00:17:08.700 Show.
00:17:11.540 Welcome back to The
00:17:12.840 Andrew Lawton Show.
00:17:13.760 Well, even though the
00:17:14.800 provincial election is
00:17:16.180 behind us, one thing we
00:17:17.580 know is that there was a
00:17:18.740 significant lack of
00:17:19.820 enthusiasm in voter
00:17:22.080 turnout.
00:17:22.600 We saw this across the
00:17:23.720 board, depressed voter
00:17:24.700 turnout.
00:17:25.220 A lot of people in the
00:17:26.540 media have been wringing
00:17:27.240 their hands wondering
00:17:28.060 what that means.
00:17:28.920 Is it just general
00:17:29.760 political complacency or
00:17:31.660 is it dissatisfaction with
00:17:33.300 the options that were on
00:17:34.900 offer?
00:17:35.540 For the most part, we
00:17:36.620 saw a lot of PCs get
00:17:37.980 re-elected.
00:17:38.720 We saw a little bit of a
00:17:39.680 change in some liberal
00:17:41.180 and NDP seats.
00:17:42.240 Not a huge overwhelming
00:17:43.880 change in the numbers.
00:17:45.500 Doug Ford went into the
00:17:46.500 election with a majority,
00:17:47.940 came out of it with a
00:17:48.840 majority.
00:17:49.700 But one of the
00:17:50.260 interesting stories to
00:17:51.260 emerge was in a riding
00:17:52.620 not far from where I live,
00:17:53.900 Haldeman, Norfolk in
00:17:55.480 southwestern Ontario, where
00:17:57.720 an independent MPP,
00:17:59.520 Bobbie Ann Brady, won 1.00
00:18:01.240 very handily above the
00:18:02.680 PCs.
00:18:03.580 She is the executive
00:18:04.580 assistant or was the
00:18:05.760 executive assistant to
00:18:06.960 Toby Barrett, a long
00:18:08.060 time progressive
00:18:09.080 conservative MPP, but
00:18:10.900 ultimately ran as an
00:18:12.040 independent and got
00:18:12.920 elected as an
00:18:14.240 independent, which as
00:18:15.180 we'll talk about, is not
00:18:16.340 an easy thing to do in
00:18:17.480 Canadian politics.
00:18:18.880 She joins me now.
00:18:20.140 Bobbie Ann, good to 0.99
00:18:20.840 talk to you.
00:18:21.600 Congratulations and
00:18:22.400 thanks for coming on
00:18:23.140 today.
00:18:23.920 Oh, thanks for having
00:18:24.640 me, Andrew.
00:18:25.040 So let's just set the
00:18:27.400 stage here for people in
00:18:29.180 Ontario and even outside
00:18:30.340 of Ontario who are
00:18:31.240 tuning in.
00:18:32.240 You worked with a long
00:18:33.500 time progressive
00:18:34.460 conservative MPP.
00:18:36.260 How on earth did you end
00:18:37.420 up running against the
00:18:38.600 PCs and running as an
00:18:39.760 independent?
00:18:41.380 Well, I've been the
00:18:43.360 Riding Association
00:18:43.940 president locally for
00:18:45.820 over 20 years and I
00:18:48.500 knew that Toby was not
00:18:50.320 going to seek re-election
00:18:51.680 in 2022.
00:18:53.300 In fact, he sat down
00:18:54.640 with the premier's
00:18:55.540 office after the 2018
00:18:57.600 election and told them
00:18:58.900 that this would be his
00:19:00.020 last run.
00:19:01.260 So come January, I
00:19:03.180 started going to the
00:19:04.020 party and asking, you
00:19:05.280 know, when can we have a
00:19:06.140 nomination night?
00:19:07.100 Keep in mind, nomination
00:19:08.720 nights can no longer be
00:19:09.880 had unless you have the
00:19:11.500 blessing from the party.
00:19:12.960 And I was told I had to
00:19:14.080 wait.
00:19:14.520 That made sense.
00:19:15.520 You know, COVID had 0.63
00:19:16.200 reared its ugly head
00:19:16.980 again and, you know, I 0.97
00:19:19.540 understood.
00:19:20.100 So February, I go back
00:19:21.380 and they tell me the
00:19:22.340 same story.
00:19:23.280 March, I go back, same
00:19:24.840 story again.
00:19:25.460 And that's when I went to
00:19:26.200 Toby and said, Toby, you
00:19:27.600 need to make a phone call
00:19:28.600 because something's very
00:19:29.900 wrong here.
00:19:31.160 So Toby picked up the
00:19:32.040 phone and he called the
00:19:32.900 premier.
00:19:34.080 And keep in mind that all
00:19:35.800 outgoing MPPs were
00:19:37.120 afforded one of two
00:19:38.540 things.
00:19:38.800 They could either appoint
00:19:39.680 their successor or they
00:19:41.300 could host a nomination
00:19:42.640 night.
00:19:43.380 So the premier did say to
00:19:44.560 Toby, you know, who would
00:19:46.100 you appoint?
00:19:46.740 And Toby said, well, I
00:19:47.540 would appoint Bobby Ann 0.94
00:19:48.380 Brady, my EA of 23 years.
00:19:51.200 The premier said, OK, well,
00:19:52.240 I'll get back to you.
00:19:53.120 And he did get back a while
00:19:54.660 later.
00:19:54.980 And he said, we won't be
00:19:56.780 appointing Bobby Ann
00:19:57.700 Brady and we will appoint
00:20:00.160 the mayor of Haldeman
00:20:01.500 County.
00:20:02.420 And Toby said, I cannot
00:20:04.120 condone that.
00:20:04.980 I'm sorry, Mr.
00:20:05.820 Premier, but I cannot
00:20:06.580 condone that.
00:20:07.780 And largely that's because
00:20:09.700 the mayor of Haldeman
00:20:11.080 County has worked against
00:20:12.380 us for several years as
00:20:14.240 conservatives.
00:20:14.720 He's never held a PC
00:20:16.660 membership.
00:20:17.340 He's never come to an
00:20:18.100 event.
00:20:18.500 He's never donated.
00:20:19.720 And he ran federally for
00:20:21.840 the Liberal Party.
00:20:22.780 So we don't recognize him
00:20:24.140 as a conservative.
00:20:26.080 So we went back to the
00:20:27.340 party and we said, you
00:20:28.160 know, the premier has said
00:20:29.020 he's going to appoint to
00:20:30.220 the mayor of Haldeman
00:20:31.260 County and we can't
00:20:32.220 condone this.
00:20:33.180 Please afford us a
00:20:33.960 nomination.
00:20:34.940 If the premier wanted me
00:20:36.260 to, you know, run off
00:20:38.060 against his candidate in a
00:20:40.120 nomination, I would have
00:20:41.480 had no problem doing so.
00:20:42.760 And the proof is in the
00:20:43.540 fact that I put my name
00:20:44.920 on the ballot for the
00:20:45.760 general election and we
00:20:47.680 were told we could not
00:20:48.640 hold a nomination.
00:20:50.700 And that's when I
00:20:51.480 decided, you know what,
00:20:52.600 democracy is being
00:20:53.440 sidelined here.
00:20:54.880 As the writing
00:20:55.480 association president,
00:20:56.620 how do I attract and
00:20:57.600 retain volunteers to sit 0.98
00:20:59.340 around the PC board
00:21:00.900 table when the single
00:21:03.220 most important decision
00:21:04.220 that they can make every
00:21:05.100 four years is taken out
00:21:06.340 of their hands?
00:21:07.400 So I said, we have to
00:21:08.240 challenge this and we
00:21:09.100 have to do it so that
00:21:10.780 democracy is upheld.
00:21:12.040 And that's how I
00:21:13.340 became an independent
00:21:14.140 candidate.
00:21:15.700 I know oftentimes when
00:21:17.600 people have been in your
00:21:18.880 situation and then run as
00:21:20.180 an independent or with a
00:21:21.820 less major party, they're
00:21:23.220 doing it really because
00:21:24.140 they want to make a point
00:21:25.220 or maybe they just want to
00:21:26.660 spite the party that
00:21:28.060 scorned them and actually
00:21:29.340 try to be a spoiler on
00:21:30.480 the ballot.
00:21:31.220 Did you go into this
00:21:32.340 thinking that you had a
00:21:33.760 shot at winning or were
00:21:34.640 you just trying to make
00:21:35.560 that point and make things
00:21:37.080 a little difficult for the
00:21:37.960 PCs?
00:21:39.000 No, I went in it
00:21:40.260 believing that I could
00:21:41.620 win.
00:21:42.520 And the reason that I
00:21:43.920 believed I could win is
00:21:45.840 because of my 23 years of
00:21:48.220 experience working for
00:21:50.020 Toby, all of the people
00:21:51.940 that I had helped,
00:21:52.860 thousands and thousands
00:21:53.700 of people that I had
00:21:54.720 helped to have a good
00:21:55.540 reputation in the
00:21:56.460 community.
00:21:57.640 And then, of course, my
00:21:58.500 20 years as the PC
00:21:59.780 writing association
00:22:00.700 president, local
00:22:02.040 conservatives knew the
00:22:03.920 work I had been doing
00:22:05.040 and knew or felt that I
00:22:07.980 should have been the
00:22:08.700 candidate.
00:22:09.300 So I remember, you
00:22:11.500 know, somebody saying to
00:22:12.420 me in the first week,
00:22:13.540 you know, what do you
00:22:14.000 think you're doing?
00:22:14.560 And I said, I'm going to
00:22:15.260 win.
00:22:16.360 And I believed that.
00:22:18.540 I wholeheartedly believed
00:22:19.720 that the team that I had
00:22:21.020 around me, surrounding me,
00:22:22.880 that we could pull it off.
00:22:25.120 And we certainly did.
00:22:27.860 You know, if there were a
00:22:29.020 candidate that were more
00:22:30.820 conservative, because I
00:22:32.040 mean, going off of the
00:22:33.420 issues that you flagged with
00:22:35.000 the candidate, the PCs
00:22:36.000 fielded, would you have
00:22:37.220 still done this?
00:22:38.080 Or was your fight, your
00:22:39.900 seeking the candidacy or
00:22:42.100 being the candidate as an
00:22:43.200 independent, was that
00:22:44.220 really more about that
00:22:45.000 fundamental idea that it's
00:22:46.260 the members and the
00:22:47.080 voters that should have a
00:22:48.120 say, not the party?
00:22:49.980 Absolutely.
00:22:51.280 I go back to the idea that
00:22:53.980 how do we attract
00:22:55.140 volunteers to the PC
00:22:56.940 party when the grassroots
00:22:58.980 voice no longer matters?
00:23:00.440 And it's something that I've
00:23:01.620 been seen, that I've seen
00:23:02.880 over the past, you know,
00:23:04.600 few years where the
00:23:05.620 grassroots opinion doesn't
00:23:07.520 really matter anymore.
00:23:09.080 The decisions are being
00:23:10.340 made by one, two, three
00:23:11.880 people.
00:23:13.080 And that is wrong.
00:23:15.120 You can't take the
00:23:16.860 electorate.
00:23:17.300 You can't take your
00:23:18.140 grassroots, their vote,
00:23:19.940 their money, their time.
00:23:21.500 You can't take that for
00:23:22.320 granted.
00:23:23.000 You can't take advantage of
00:23:24.100 people and expect to be
00:23:25.860 continually rewarded.
00:23:29.180 Looking forward now, I
00:23:30.800 mean, obviously you've been
00:23:31.560 working for a PCMPP for, as
00:23:35.120 you've said, 23 years.
00:23:36.940 Is your intention to
00:23:38.300 continue serving out your
00:23:39.640 term for the next four
00:23:40.720 years as an independent or
00:23:42.340 would you join the PC
00:23:43.360 caucus?
00:23:44.560 So that's a very, that's
00:23:46.420 an interesting question.
00:23:47.460 One that I was asked quite a
00:23:48.700 bit on the campaign trail.
00:23:50.280 I would say two things.
00:23:52.180 First and foremost, I will
00:23:53.840 not rejoin the PC party until
00:23:55.540 they get their house in
00:23:57.580 order.
00:23:57.840 You've got to do some
00:24:00.520 cleanup and you've got to
00:24:01.660 make sure that the respect
00:24:02.940 is restored.
00:24:04.500 We need to be a respectful
00:24:05.720 party.
00:24:07.040 And secondly, I won't walk
00:24:09.900 through the front door of the
00:24:11.000 PC family home once it is
00:24:13.440 clean until the people of 0.99
00:24:14.680 Haldeman Norfolk tell me that
00:24:16.620 it's time to do so.
00:24:17.940 So that's not a decision I'd
00:24:19.460 make on my own.
00:24:20.680 It's a decision that the
00:24:21.740 people of Haldeman Norfolk
00:24:22.920 would have to make with me.
00:24:25.480 Do you see yourself in a way
00:24:27.420 as part of the opposition?
00:24:29.220 And I don't mean that in the
00:24:30.700 sense of you being a
00:24:31.600 demagogue, but you actually
00:24:32.740 using your place as an
00:24:33.940 independent, not under the
00:24:35.040 power of any party whip to
00:24:36.880 hold the PCs to account in
00:24:38.540 the legislature?
00:24:40.400 Absolutely.
00:24:41.260 And I believe that there is
00:24:42.780 no monopoly on a good idea.
00:24:44.760 So if the PCs have a good
00:24:46.080 idea, then I will support it.
00:24:48.100 Of course I will.
00:24:49.200 If the Liberals have a good
00:24:50.340 idea or the NDP have a good
00:24:51.660 idea, I can support them as
00:24:53.300 well.
00:24:53.580 And it gives me an
00:24:54.920 opportunity to represent
00:24:56.860 Haldeman Norfolk in a way
00:24:58.100 that it's never been
00:24:59.060 represented before.
00:25:00.600 You know, let's be honest.
00:25:01.660 We see a lot of good ideas
00:25:03.140 pass through, you know, the
00:25:05.640 chambers and they're passed
00:25:07.680 up because of party politics.
00:25:09.640 And we have to stop that.
00:25:11.480 All parties have to stop that
00:25:12.980 because it's not good for you
00:25:14.540 and I as the taxpayer.
00:25:16.700 You know, I think there's just
00:25:17.860 a lot of a lack of decorum in
00:25:20.660 the House these days.
00:25:21.680 There's there's a lot of
00:25:22.720 anger and we would just get
00:25:24.500 to such a better deal as
00:25:26.620 that for, you know, for the
00:25:27.580 taxpayer if we could, you
00:25:29.780 know, work together instead of
00:25:31.840 just continually worrying about
00:25:33.500 party lines.
00:25:35.400 Just looking at that party
00:25:36.920 dimension, I mentioned in the
00:25:38.560 intro here that independents
00:25:40.600 have a very, very difficult
00:25:42.300 time getting elected in
00:25:43.740 provincial politics in
00:25:44.740 Ontario, in federal politics.
00:25:47.040 Maybe you'll have an
00:25:47.940 exceptional case where someone
00:25:49.260 will do fairly well, but
00:25:51.180 they still fall short of
00:25:52.220 victory.
00:25:52.720 You did it.
00:25:53.160 You crossed the finish line
00:25:54.220 and obviously nothing is a
00:25:56.140 given.
00:25:56.440 You had to work for every
00:25:57.320 vote.
00:25:57.660 You had a team around you,
00:25:58.860 but you did something that's
00:26:00.180 very difficult to do in
00:26:01.460 Canada.
00:26:02.060 And I'm wondering if you
00:26:02.880 think that things are
00:26:03.740 changing and there is more
00:26:05.980 of a regard for
00:26:06.840 independence or do you think
00:26:07.760 your case was really just
00:26:09.180 the perfect circumstances,
00:26:11.040 the perfect storm at this
00:26:12.200 time that you were able to
00:26:14.300 win with?
00:26:15.760 I hope it's changing.
00:26:17.320 You know, as much as it's
00:26:19.500 great that Hulman Norfolk
00:26:20.740 made history and we did it
00:26:23.240 the old fashioned way, people
00:26:24.680 going out into their
00:26:25.600 community and talking to
00:26:26.740 their friends, neighbours,
00:26:27.720 relatives, because running
00:26:28.660 as an independent, the odds
00:26:30.600 are really stocked, you know,
00:26:32.080 stacked against you.
00:26:33.260 You can't spend money.
00:26:34.840 You can't raise money until
00:26:35.920 the writ is dropped.
00:26:36.860 You can't do anything.
00:26:38.380 And other campaigns had weeks
00:26:40.080 on top of me, right?
00:26:41.740 They were out there already
00:26:42.700 knocking on doors, putting up
00:26:44.200 signs as soon as the writ
00:26:45.880 dropped.
00:26:46.300 I had to wait two and a
00:26:47.400 half weeks for my signs.
00:26:48.860 So I really do hope that
00:26:50.760 this is changed because one
00:26:52.760 of the things that I said
00:26:53.560 on the campaign trail over
00:26:54.880 and over again is, you know
00:26:56.300 what, I haven't seen anyone
00:26:57.180 be brave.
00:26:58.840 You know, be brave, stand up,
00:27:00.720 do the right thing.
00:27:02.020 And, you know, the people of
00:27:04.000 Hulman Norfolk behind me
00:27:05.980 did the brave thing.
00:27:07.040 And I kept saying to them,
00:27:08.040 you know what, courage can be
00:27:09.960 contagious.
00:27:11.060 And I really think that if
00:27:12.620 Hulman Norfolk, little
00:27:13.660 old Hulman Norfolk can send,
00:27:15.060 you know, Bobby and Brady to
00:27:17.420 the Ontario legislature as an
00:27:18.780 independent, we can serve as
00:27:20.500 hope that, look, you know
00:27:21.700 what, you don't have to be
00:27:22.500 taken for granted.
00:27:23.300 You don't have to go to the
00:27:24.500 ballot box and tick off the
00:27:26.600 box that all, you know, the
00:27:28.540 major parties expect you're
00:27:29.880 going to tick off.
00:27:31.400 You can make your own
00:27:32.360 decision.
00:27:33.000 You can vote for that guy or
00:27:34.920 gal who represents you, you
00:27:37.840 know, at the community level.
00:27:39.180 And I really do hope that this
00:27:42.960 campaign will serve as hope for
00:27:45.080 folks right across our nation
00:27:46.500 because one of the things that
00:27:48.600 folks have been saying to me
00:27:49.820 over the past three years when
00:27:52.260 they call into the office is,
00:27:53.680 Bobby, we're worried.
00:27:55.260 They're not quite sure what
00:27:56.240 they're worried about.
00:27:57.280 But then they follow that
00:27:58.420 statement up with, we've lost
00:28:00.020 hope.
00:28:00.640 They've grown cynical of
00:28:01.800 leaders.
00:28:02.360 They've grown cynical of
00:28:03.600 governance.
00:28:04.380 And rightfully so.
00:28:06.160 Much of what we've seen, you
00:28:07.600 know, shows that government no
00:28:11.580 longer respects us.
00:28:12.840 And we are the taxpayer.
00:28:14.820 Their money, it's not their 0.89
00:28:16.300 money.
00:28:16.860 It's our money.
00:28:18.100 And I think governments and
00:28:19.440 political parties often lose
00:28:20.780 sight of that.
00:28:22.600 One thing I saw in looking at
00:28:25.080 your campaign from afar was how
00:28:26.740 many longtime party stalwarts you
00:28:29.700 had backing you up.
00:28:31.140 So it wasn't just you and Toby.
00:28:33.020 Like you had a lot of people that
00:28:34.020 had worked for years and years
00:28:35.600 in some cases in some pretty
00:28:37.140 key positions within the
00:28:38.360 progressive conservative party
00:28:39.600 that said, no, we're going with
00:28:41.540 the independent this time
00:28:42.500 around.
00:28:43.900 Yeah, I had lots of PCs behind
00:28:46.100 me, especially the ones that I
00:28:47.520 had worked with.
00:28:48.460 So, you know, between Toby and
00:28:49.700 I, that's 50 years of service.
00:28:51.660 And so a lot of folks who
00:28:53.040 respected Toby and said, you
00:28:54.820 know, Toby was disrespected in
00:28:56.380 this process.
00:28:57.640 And so they surrounded us.
00:28:59.200 But the other interesting aspect of
00:29:01.600 the campaign was that we had
00:29:03.320 liberals and NDPs who came to our
00:29:06.420 campaign and worked on it as well
00:29:08.440 because they they realized
00:29:10.520 they're good community minded
00:29:11.740 people.
00:29:12.360 Sure, they may have worked against
00:29:13.420 us on past campaigns, but
00:29:15.920 they're good community minded
00:29:17.100 people who said, no, this isn't
00:29:19.180 right.
00:29:19.500 This is not the way democracy
00:29:20.960 should be done.
00:29:22.100 And they joined my campaign.
00:29:24.220 And, you know, there was an
00:29:25.540 instance last week where one of
00:29:27.280 the biggest liberals in
00:29:29.320 Haldum and Norfolk was standing
00:29:30.860 in my campaign office alongside one
00:29:32.660 of the biggest NDP members.
00:29:34.820 And it was a rainy, blustery day.
00:29:37.680 And Toby was in there as well.
00:29:39.420 And I looked at Toby and I said, you
00:29:40.740 feel like you're in the twilight
00:29:41.780 zone.
00:29:42.480 And everybody had a good laugh.
00:29:44.440 But, you know, I truly believe
00:29:47.640 that, you know, it was it was
00:29:50.160 really an effort of all of us in
00:29:54.080 Haldum and Norfolk who were just
00:29:55.600 not OK with democracy being
00:29:58.380 sidelined.
00:29:59.160 And they had just had enough.
00:30:00.340 And they said, we've got to stand
00:30:01.400 up to this.
00:30:03.880 Bobby and Brady, the independent
00:30:05.860 MPP elect for Haldum and Norfolk
00:30:07.640 in Ontario.
00:30:08.960 Congratulations again.
00:30:09.980 And thanks so much for coming on
00:30:11.100 today.
00:30:11.960 Thank you so much.
00:30:13.520 Independent MPP elect Bobby and
00:30:15.500 Brady.
00:30:15.960 As I've always said, I find
00:30:17.020 elections tend to get very
00:30:18.280 routine in things that happen.
00:30:20.440 So I like surprises.
00:30:21.440 I like things that come about that
00:30:23.480 aren't part of that major
00:30:24.460 narrative, especially in as we've
00:30:26.180 talked about this uneventful,
00:30:28.080 notoriously uneventful election.
00:30:30.260 So my thanks to her for coming
00:30:31.820 on.
00:30:32.120 And my thanks to you for tuning
00:30:33.420 in today.
00:30:34.160 That does it.
00:30:34.920 We will talk to you later on with
00:30:36.420 more of Canada's most irreverent
00:30:38.320 talk show.
00:30:38.740 I think I'm going to be back in the
00:30:39.640 studio for the next show, but I
00:30:41.360 try not to make any guarantees
00:30:42.600 because, well, if you've seen the
00:30:44.000 airport delays, I might not even
00:30:45.240 make it back to the studio before
00:30:47.020 long as we talked about yesterday.
00:30:48.920 But we will see.
00:30:50.100 Wish me luck.
00:30:50.780 Keep me in your prayers.
00:30:51.720 And I will do the same for all of
00:30:52.920 you.
00:30:53.480 Thank you.
00:30:54.000 God bless.
00:30:54.560 And good day to you all.
00:30:55.380 Thanks for listening to the Andrew
00:30:56.740 Lawton Show.
00:30:57.800 Support the program by donating to
00:30:59.420 True North at www.tnc.news.