Juno News - Liberals still have no message, but plenty of gaffes

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:06.660 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.980 Coming up another day, another Liberal campaign gaffe,

00:00:16.060 exclusion from debate, and a maverick candidate who fell in love with Alberta

00:00:20.020 after visiting the Calgary Stampede.

00:00:23.580 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:27.100 Hello and welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:33.280 This is the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:36.140 It is Thursday, August 26, 2021.

00:00:39.660 I've lost count of what day we're at in the campaign,

00:00:42.260 but we do still have a couple of weeks left.

00:00:45.500 And I'm not sure the Liberals have had a single good day in the entirety of the campaign.

00:00:51.240 They've had days where they've been trying, you know,

00:00:53.340 by trying to make it seem like Aaron O'Toole is going to force everyone to pay for health care

00:00:58.940 or trying to pretend that Aaron O'Toole, who keeps saying he's pro-choice,

00:01:03.000 is actually a secret closet pro-lifer.

00:01:05.680 And one of the greatest levelers of that accusation

00:01:09.300 was Liberal candidate and Liberal Minister for Women and Gender Equality,

00:01:14.800 Miriam Monsef.

00:01:16.420 Now, Miriam Monsef, you know where I'm going with this,

00:01:18.740 if you've been paying attention to the news in the last 24 hours,

00:01:22.640 Miriam Monsef has not exactly endeared herself to people who,

00:01:27.740 you know what, opposed the terrorist group, the Taliban.

00:01:31.140 Here's what she said as a minister, not even as a Liberal candidate,

00:01:34.720 as a minister at a government briefing yesterday.

00:01:38.100 I want to take this opportunity to speak to our brothers, the Taliban. 0.95

00:01:45.960 We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual

00:01:51.900 in Afghanistan, out of the country.

00:01:56.240 We call on you to immediately stop the violence, the genocide, the femicide, 0.75

00:02:02.080 the destruction of infrastructure, including heritage buildings.

00:02:08.440 We call on you to return immediately to the peacekeeping table,

00:02:13.300 to the peace deal that was negotiated,

00:02:16.640 and to ensure women and minorities' voices are part of that discussion

00:02:22.020 in a meaningful way.

00:02:23.900 Oh, brother.

00:02:25.260 Our brothers, the Taliban.

00:02:28.160 Our brothers.

00:02:29.040 I mean, I don't even need to editorialize on that one.

00:02:32.780 This is a woman who calls the Taliban our brothers 0.97

00:02:36.720 before going on to talk about all the terrible things they do

00:02:39.500 and all the terrible things that they really want to do

00:02:42.580 and will continue to do,

00:02:43.920 from femicide to a lack of rights and all of that. 0.56

00:02:47.460 And she calls them her brothers.

00:02:49.760 Now, this was seized rather quickly by people,

00:02:53.160 I would say left and right,

00:02:55.460 who were just absolutely baffled.

00:02:57.600 Like, my first reaction when I saw this was,

00:02:59.980 oh, is this one of those deepfake videos

00:03:01.660 where someone is made to look like they did something

00:03:04.700 or said something when they actually didn't?

00:03:06.420 If so, you know, AI is getting pretty rough.

00:03:08.360 No, I think there's actually more intelligence in AI

00:03:10.400 than there was in that clip of Mary Amonsef.

00:03:12.900 But the reality is, this is what she actually said.

00:03:15.540 That was actually a clip from her.

00:03:17.020 Now, thankfully, an astute reporter soon after pointed it out to her

00:03:21.580 and had her respond.

00:03:23.480 And this is what she said in response to that.

00:03:26.120 I have a follow-up.

00:03:27.260 This is for Minister Monsef.

00:03:29.700 In your statement, you referred to the Taliban as our brothers.

00:03:34.440 Can you clarify your remarks?

00:03:36.560 Is this an indication of the government positioning,

00:03:38.960 positioning, softening on the Taliban?

00:03:40.820 Hardly. 0.97

00:03:43.400 The Taliban are a terrorist group, and yet they claim to be Muslims. 0.99

00:03:49.700 We're calling on them to immediately allow for the safe passage 0.59

00:03:54.300 of any individual who is in Afghanistan out of the country.

00:03:58.880 We are calling on them to immediately cease the violence, the femicide, the genocide,

00:04:05.540 the rapes, the lootings, and to return immediately to the peace negotiation table

00:04:10.960 in an inclusive and meaningful way.

00:04:13.940 If they will ever be recognized as a legitimate party, this is the starting point.

00:04:20.400 The reference to brothers is a cultural reference, of course,

00:04:23.160 but let me be very clear.

00:04:25.420 We do not support the Taliban.

00:04:26.900 We are horrified that the hard-won gains of the past 20 years are at stake like this

00:04:33.740 and being eroded like this.

00:04:36.140 We are horrified that our women and men in uniform had to move forward with a difficult operation

00:04:44.940 that was only made more difficult by their actions and deeply disappointed

00:04:50.140 that their threats of ongoing violence have led to the international community,

00:04:57.040 particularly the Americans, saying we're going to leave on the 31st due to these threats of violence.

00:05:03.080 So she says, oh no, of course they're a terrorist group, and yeah, they're doing terrible things,

00:05:07.360 and we don't like them, and it's just cultural.

00:05:09.720 That's how she defended it.

00:05:10.800 It's just cultural.

00:05:11.880 Well, one reporter, Tom Korski of Blacklock's Reporter,

00:05:16.300 they do some fantastic work during parliament sessions and also during the election campaign,

00:05:21.160 Tom Korski actually gave her an out.

00:05:23.820 He jumped in and, as you'll hear, said, listen, I'm prepared to let you just take this back right now.

00:05:29.240 Do you want to mulligan on this answer?

00:05:31.900 She didn't take it.

00:05:32.840 Thank you.

00:05:33.580 Minister Monsef, I'd like to follow up on this brother business.

00:05:38.360 Frankly, if there's some cultural nuance here, I'm not getting it.

00:05:41.260 I've never heard you refer to a Muslim Canadian member of the Conservative Party as your brother.

00:05:46.340 Everyone is aware of the Taliban's human rights atrocities.

00:05:49.620 It's just a really jarring phrase.

00:05:51.980 Do you just want to walk that back now?

00:05:54.720 Could you just take that back, or do you really think the Taliban are our brothers?

00:05:58.820 I think this whole situation is jarring, sir, that there are terrorists taking over my beloved ancestral land.

00:06:09.720 In terms of the terminology, if you go to masjids across the country, Muslims refer to one another as brothers and sisters.

00:06:16.940 So, you know, rest assured, I continue to believe deeply that the Taliban are a terrorist organization.

00:06:25.480 Our government believes so.

00:06:27.360 We'll continue to protect women, Hazaras, Shias, Hindus, Sikhs.

00:06:31.940 We'll continue to do everything we can to get as many people out of their grasp in Afghanistan. 1.00

00:06:39.160 And we'll continue to do everything we can with our global partners to make sure that the hard-won gains of the past two decades are not lost to these individuals whose mandate is not to govern.

00:06:52.580 Their mandate is to oppress and to kill, and we condemn that entirely.

00:06:57.980 Now, here's the thing.

00:06:59.560 She is a refugee from Afghanistan.

00:07:02.680 I know she wasn't born there.

00:07:03.760 She was born in Iran, as a lot of you are familiar with.

00:07:06.260 But she is a refugee from Afghanistan.

00:07:08.220 Her family fled Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

00:07:12.300 She knows full well what they're capable of.

00:07:14.880 I do not believe for a second, lest there be any doubt, that she is pro-Taliban. 0.56

00:07:19.560 I don't believe that she is actually one of these people that thinks they are her brothers.

00:07:24.600 I don't buy that for a second.

00:07:26.240 I think that this is showing her naivete and her attempts at making it look like something is happening that isn't actually happening.

00:07:35.140 And I want to explain that.

00:07:36.480 She is not speaking to the Taliban.

00:07:39.260 She's not speaking in Pashto.

00:07:41.640 She's not speaking on a Taliban network.

00:07:43.940 She's not covering her head, which is the only way most of these thugs will actually listen to a woman if they do at all. 0.99

00:07:49.360 She's speaking to a Canadian audience and in doing so, pretending to speak to the Taliban.

00:07:56.360 Pretending like she's making this dramatic appeal on behalf of Afghans and Canadians to the Taliban to get them to be nice to Canada.

00:08:05.160 She's pretending to Canadians like she's actually doing something. 0.82

00:08:08.860 Now, my view is if you're going to play the theatrical game, if you're going to engage in theatrics,

00:08:14.640 at least get the theatrics right.

00:08:16.600 Don't do the my brothers, our brothers, the Taliban shtick when you're not even speaking to them.

00:08:23.500 And this idea that, oh, yeah, well, you know, brothers and sisters, this is just how we talk to each other.

00:08:27.760 This is how Muslims talk to each other.

00:08:29.620 If you go to masjids across the country. 1.00

00:08:31.780 Well, there's a difference between, I'd say, Muslims talking to each other at a masjid and addressing a terrorist organization,

00:08:38.360 a group, the government of Canada and Mariam Monsef view as a terrorist organization and for good reason. 1.00

00:08:47.680 So the thing about this that I would argue people need to pay closer attention to is just the utter naivete

00:08:54.280 of her not realizing how calling a terrorist group your brothers is anything but benign.

00:09:02.920 And incidentally, Fatima Syed, who is a left-wing journalist and a Muslim woman herself, took aim at this.

00:09:10.740 She tweeted out, and I thought this was very valuable.

00:09:13.260 She said, there aren't a lot of Muslim political journalists in Canada,

00:09:16.080 so I have to regrettably say something about Mariam Monsef.

00:09:19.520 She doesn't want to be mean to Mariam Monsef.

00:09:21.620 She says, fact, brothers, is a term of respect.

00:09:24.720 False Muslims call the Taliban brothers opinion. 1.00

00:09:28.020 This was dumb. 1.00

00:09:29.280 Solution, move on. 0.98

00:09:30.240 Now, I actually think moving on is a little bit too abrupt a conclusion to take there,

00:09:35.460 but I do take Fatima Syed's words here that, no, this is a term of respect.

00:09:39.600 It's not just what you call a Muslim because you happen to be a Muslim.

00:09:44.800 Here's the thing.

00:09:45.500 I don't remember anyone saying, oh, you know, my brother bin Laden or our brothers in ISIS.

00:09:51.620 Or my brother in Al-Qaeda.

00:09:54.080 This was just not what people said.

00:09:56.220 Because generally speaking, I would say all of us can agree.

00:09:59.220 And if not, we should agree.

00:10:00.680 Those who are terrorists do not deserve any respect, cursory or otherwise.

00:10:05.320 As a Christian, I know the term my brother in Christ, my sister in Christ.

00:10:08.860 I would not use that to someone who was distorting and twisting my faith to pretend that it justified

00:10:16.760 whatever a violent crusade they were on.

00:10:19.580 So this idea that, you know, we call them our brothers is just not even valid within the

00:10:24.060 Muslim community from all of the commenting that I'm seeing here.

00:10:27.460 But it's all the white liberals that are saying, oh, oh, you know, we have to be culturally

00:10:31.720 sensitive and understand the cultural nuance.

00:10:34.060 And I was glad that Tom Gorski in his question took aim at that.

00:10:37.720 He said, you know, maybe there's a cultural nuance I'm missing here.

00:10:40.640 And she said that that's just what we say.

00:10:42.520 Well, even your own brothers in Islam and your sisters in Islam are pointing out, Minister

00:10:48.020 Monsef, that that is not in fact the case.

00:10:51.160 And the idea that she is speaking to the Taliban, the idea that her words carry any weight there

00:10:57.500 is absolutely out to lunch.

00:11:00.520 I want to play this clip I came across.

00:11:02.380 It's not Canadian and it's actually a couple of months old.

00:11:05.220 It's not something that's come about in the U.S. withdrawal period of the last few weeks

00:11:10.280 in particular.

00:11:11.360 But a female journalist who was forced to cover her hair for this interview was speaking 1.00

00:11:16.140 with a couple of Taliban commanders who had said that, yes, of course, there are women's 0.98

00:11:20.900 rights and we're going to have democracy and all of that.

00:11:23.420 Clearly, they don't buy it.

00:11:24.460 But she asks them if someone using their democratic right could vote a female into a position of 1.00

00:11:31.320 leadership.

00:11:31.740 They had to end the interview because they were laughing so hard.

00:11:36.300 Taliban president.

00:11:41.240 Would that still include women's rights and a democracy? 0.89

00:11:45.140 So would you believe in the democratic vote, though?

00:11:52.940 So would people be allowed to vote in women politicians? 1.00

00:12:03.140 Stop being.

00:12:04.180 Okay, that's fine.

00:12:04.880 He doesn't want to answer.

00:12:06.040 That's all right.

00:12:07.580 It made me laugh.

00:12:10.960 He couldn't even entertain the idea of a woman in a position of leadership, had to cut it, 0.82

00:12:15.760 had to cut the filming, cut rolling, cut tape, whatever you want to call it, because that

00:12:19.640 was just so absurd.

00:12:20.620 So the idea that Mary Amonsef is accomplishing anything right now in her feigned appeal to

00:12:25.920 the Taliban is just not accurate, not even close to being accurate, not even close to being 0.91

00:12:31.780 within the realm of possibility.

00:12:34.020 So no, I don't believe that she is a Taliban apologist.

00:12:37.620 But I believe that she's so hell-bent on projecting this image of being the mediator,

00:12:43.400 the peacemaker, that she is essentially deceiving Canadians by making it seem like she's accomplishing

00:12:49.440 something here, and in doing so is so completely and utterly out of touch with how her words

00:12:55.360 come across.

00:12:56.540 We've got to take a quick break.

00:12:58.200 When we come back, more of The Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:13:01.140 Stay tuned.

00:13:02.960 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:13:07.620 Welcome back to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:13:10.480 I want to talk about debates for a couple of moments here, because we know that debates

00:13:15.320 are, in a lot of cases, very key in accessing undecided voters.

00:13:19.980 I do think it's possible that people overstate the influence of debates, certainly at the local

00:13:24.820 level.

00:13:25.280 I know a few years ago when I ran as a candidate in Ontario's provincial election, a vast majority

00:13:30.660 of the people who tuned into debates had already made up their minds, certainly the ones

00:13:34.120 that were held by community groups that had in-person attendance.

00:13:37.260 It was just about who could bring out the biggest cheering squad.

00:13:40.400 I do think at the national level, debates have a significant influencing effect, or can.

00:13:46.220 At the very least, if you are on the stage, you are in the wheelhouse, as we say.

00:13:51.680 Here's the problem.

00:13:52.620 In 2019, Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People's Party of Canada, was invited onto the debate stage.

00:13:59.120 Fast forward two years, the PBC has been excluded from the official government-run leaders' debates

00:14:06.760 hosted by the Leaders' Debates Commission.

00:14:10.340 Now, the commission had three criteria if you wanted to be invited, and they lay it out

00:14:14.420 clearly on their website here.

00:14:15.620 You have to have either elected someone under that party's banner in the last federal election,

00:14:21.040 received at least 4% of the vote nationally in the last election, or are polling at 4% or

00:14:28.220 above, based on a bunch of polls that they decide to curate in the current cycle.

00:14:33.940 And the reason they do that is so that a new party could conceivably, if they capture

00:14:37.700 a lot of support, find its leader in the debate.

00:14:41.080 Now, here's the thing.

00:14:42.000 The PBC support has been getting stronger and stronger in the last week or so.

00:14:46.640 There was one poll done by iPolitics with Main Street that found the PBC at 7% support.

00:14:54.020 Now, that's massive, especially considering the party had what was at 1.6% of the vote

00:14:59.640 last time nationally.

00:15:01.380 Now, this is obviously an outlier because polls, generally speaking, you can't trust the ones

00:15:07.400 that are really high or really low, but it would have brought the average up significantly.

00:15:11.620 And if you look, the Leaders' Debates Commission said the PBC was only a fraction of a percent

00:15:17.320 behind reaching that four percent threshold, if they had done their assessment a few days

00:15:23.500 later, it's very likely the PBC would have made it in.

00:15:27.400 Now, Maxime Bernier responded, and he didn't actually blame the commission.

00:15:30.940 He said the commission laid out clear criteria.

00:15:33.340 He blamed the media.

00:15:34.700 He blamed the political establishment cartel that have been hell-bent on saying the PBC do

00:15:39.840 not have a place in the discussion, do not have a place in politics.

00:15:43.680 But I wanted to actually shine a light here on Jagmeet Singh's response.

00:15:48.860 Now, he was asked what he thought of Maxime Bernier not being invited, and this is what

00:15:54.380 he said.

00:15:55.240 Mr. Singh, I'm wondering, should Maxime Bernier be able to participate in the National Leaders

00:16:00.120 Debate, and do you think the criteria for this debate should be changed at all?

00:16:04.400 No, and I've written a letter explaining how I do not believe he should be allowed.

00:16:10.340 He's someone that is a post-science, that puts out very dangerous and divisive rhetoric,

00:16:16.320 and is someone that is putting out messages that are discouraging the public health response

00:16:21.860 to this pandemic.

00:16:22.820 I think it would be the wrong thing to do, very much the wrong thing to do, to give him

00:16:26.920 a platform to promote very divisive and hurtful, frankly, messaging that is counter to science,

00:16:33.700 counter to people's health.

00:16:35.380 What a classless response.

00:16:37.280 I mean, it's also politically wrong, but actually classless.

00:16:41.600 If I were Jagmeet Singh, this is what I would say.

00:16:45.200 Listen, I think the rules are what they are.

00:16:48.520 I am not afraid of debating Maxime Bernier.

00:16:51.320 I don't think Canadians want what he's selling.

00:16:53.540 I'm going to sell Canadians what we're selling, and I think they're all going to buy it more 0.99

00:16:57.080 than they'll buy whatever he is.

00:16:58.440 Now, I mean, you can word it more eloquently, but basically what Jagmeet Singh should have

00:17:02.000 said is, screw it, I'm not afraid of Maxime Bernier.

00:17:06.240 Instead, he goes down the censorship road of saying, oh, well, that's divisive and hateful,

00:17:11.260 and we can't give that a platform, and I don't want Canadians to be exposed of it.

00:17:14.780 Can you imagine in what world politicians should be able to say, I don't want Canadians 1.00

00:17:21.120 exposed to what my opponent is saying?

00:17:25.580 Well, sure, every politician would say that, because if they're not exposed to the opposition,

00:17:30.400 to the opposing candidates, the alternatives, then they're going to have to vote for you

00:17:34.620 because you're the only shot.

00:17:37.080 But it's terrifying that that's the default NDP position, censoring the opposition.

00:17:42.660 Now, I have no doubt that the Liberals would be in the same boat.

00:17:45.140 I didn't happen to hear Justin Trudeau ask this question, but the answer to that should

00:17:50.580 have been, I'm not afraid of a little competition.

00:17:53.180 Who is?

00:17:54.400 Now, people can debate whether the rules are right or wrong.

00:17:57.840 I'm inclined to believe if you look at the numbers that they set, those 4% thresholds,

00:18:02.400 they were trying to include the Greens and exclude the PPC.

00:18:06.340 That's the reality.

00:18:07.260 They've got to put that number low enough that the Green Party can clear it, but high enough

00:18:11.100 that all those pesky right-of-center parties don't make it in.

00:18:14.340 Like, the Mavericks weren't even close because they're only running candidates in one province.

00:18:19.040 So the idea of having 4% nationally would need a huge amount of support in just Alberta alone.

00:18:25.320 So that clearly wasn't going to happen this time around.

00:18:29.040 And look, I know that our audience is very split.

00:18:31.660 We've got people that love Maxine Bernier, people that love Erin O'Toole, people that maybe

00:18:35.900 don't love the Conservative Party of Canada, but trust it to achieve the goal,

00:18:41.100 of ousting Trudeau more than they trust voting for another party.

00:18:44.640 So you get the Grin and Barrett types.

00:18:46.680 I don't have a team.

00:18:47.760 I get asked all the time, well, why aren't you doing enough to support X or support Y?

00:18:51.860 I'm about the issues.

00:18:53.220 I'm about the issues that I care about being advanced.

00:18:55.880 And I like when people of any party or no party at all decide they're going to advance these things.

00:19:01.500 I'm all about more freedom.

00:19:03.100 More freedom is better.

00:19:04.440 When you have this Leaders Debates Commission, which effectively nationalizes the privilege

00:19:09.520 of debating, it becomes the government's role to answer for it.

00:19:14.540 If an individual media company said, ah, you know what, we want to draw a line here and

00:19:18.880 these candidates are in and these candidates are out, it's a lot harder to object to it

00:19:23.080 than when it's a government doing it.

00:19:26.020 But here's the thing.

00:19:27.000 I do want to talk about the exception to that because at a local level in my city, there

00:19:30.780 are some debate shenanigans going on.

00:19:33.040 Rogers Television has, like in many communities across Canada, a local station in London, Ontario,

00:19:39.060 which has always broadcasted debates for the candidates in the four London ridings.

00:19:44.980 London West, London Fanshawe, London North Centre, and Elgin Middlesex, London.

00:19:48.540 I don't share that with you because it matters to you, just to show off that I know them.

00:19:52.280 But anyway, Rogers always broadcast these and the rule is they invite every candidate.

00:19:57.020 If you're the communist, the PPC, the libertarian, the conservative, the liberal, they invite all

00:20:02.080 of the registered candidates in a particular riding.

00:20:04.460 Now, I broke a story yesterday, which I learned about from Mark Emery, who is the People's

00:20:10.180 Party candidate in London North Centre.

00:20:13.780 And what's interesting here is that Mark Emery tweeted out an invitation that he received

00:20:19.720 to the debate.

00:20:20.600 And in the invitation, you can see it in his tweet there, they say that the venue at which

00:20:25.000 they're holding these debates requires anyone attending, anyone going in person to be double

00:20:30.320 vaccinated against COVID.

00:20:32.320 Mark Emery says he's not vaccinated, he will not get vaccinated, and he's objecting to this

00:20:37.880 idea that only fully vaccinated people can participate in Canadian democracy.

00:20:44.100 And I spoke to another candidate who reached out actually after I was tweeting about the

00:20:48.780 Mark Emery stuff.

00:20:49.820 He's the London Fanshawe PPC candidate.

00:20:52.060 And he told me that, you know what, he has an exemption, so he's going to go and he thinks

00:20:57.680 that they're going to have to honour that exemption.

00:20:59.420 Now, what's going to happen, they're filming these things next week, I don't know, and

00:21:03.240 perhaps they could backtrack on this altogether by moving the venue or doing it in some other

00:21:08.460 way.

00:21:09.080 But it is interesting, Ontario does not have a vaccine passport, Ontario does not have

00:21:14.340 a vaccine mandate for the general population.

00:21:17.360 But now, if you want to be invited to the debate where you as a candidate would get to

00:21:22.180 show off your message to voters, you have to be vaccinated if you want to be in the 0.98

00:21:26.720 building.

00:21:27.000 It's not clear if they're going to allow you to zoom in or participate remotely.

00:21:32.440 And I reached out to Rogers, the broadcaster, and they have as of yet not responded to me

00:21:38.060 at all.

00:21:38.640 And to be honest, at this point, I'm probably not holding out hope that they will.

00:21:43.540 And you know where I stand on this.

00:21:45.060 I've said I don't think it's right to stratify society.

00:21:47.860 It's certainly not right to make it a requirement to be a candidate, which is effectively what

00:21:54.520 they're saying.

00:21:54.920 I mean, no, he can be a candidate and he can go and knock on doors and be on the ballot.

00:21:59.080 But they're saying that we're inviting every candidate.

00:22:01.960 But if you're not vaccinated, you can't come into the building.

00:22:05.620 Private business, private broadcaster, they can do what they want.

00:22:09.060 Sure, that doesn't mean they should.

00:22:12.520 And interestingly enough, the broadcast regulations require broadcasters to give equitable coverage

00:22:19.800 to all parties.

00:22:21.300 Now, this does not mean equal coverage.

00:22:23.020 And I remember when I did a daily radio show that you'd every now and then get someone from

00:22:27.020 some no-name party that says you have to give me, you know, minute for minute equal coverage.

00:22:31.200 No, it's not it.

00:22:31.920 It has to be equitable.

00:22:32.960 It has to be basically fair.

00:22:35.260 I'm not sure if you could make a case that this is fair when you're excluding someone based

00:22:40.200 on something like this.

00:22:41.780 I don't know.

00:22:42.420 I'm not approaching this from a legal perspective, but I'm saying that there could be a complaint

00:22:46.620 one could make there about this.

00:22:49.660 But the reality is that the vaccine passport discussion in Canada and in Ontario specifically

00:22:55.160 is one that eventually leaves situations like this where, sure, you are a

00:23:01.180 allowed to do something.

00:23:03.260 But all of these barriers and roadblocks and restrictions make it impractical for you to

00:23:08.500 do it.

00:23:09.080 In this case, running for office.

00:23:10.640 Yeah, you can knock on doors.

00:23:11.940 You could stand as a candidate.

00:23:13.300 You could get votes.

00:23:14.080 You could even win.

00:23:15.240 You could even win and serve in parliament if you wanted.

00:23:18.420 But if all of a sudden groups are saying, oh, you have to be vaccinated to be in this

00:23:22.500 debate.

00:23:22.920 You have to be vaccinated to be able to communicate your message to voters.

00:23:26.800 You are creating this segregated society where this choice that people are supposedly having

00:23:34.320 about vaccination isn't really all that much of a choice at all.

00:23:40.560 We've got to take a quick break.

00:23:42.260 When we come back, more of The Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:23:45.120 Stay tuned.

00:23:46.440 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:23:49.240 Welcome back to The Andrew Lawton Show, Canada's most irreverent talk show here on True North.

00:23:56.300 I don't know if I've mentioned this in the past.

00:23:58.580 Obviously, with 338 ridings in Canada and more parties than I can count, we can't interview

00:24:05.280 every candidate in every riding.

00:24:07.200 But I also, at the same time, know that sometimes local candidates are a tremendous part of the

00:24:13.100 story of Canadian politics.

00:24:14.800 Indeed, Canadians elect candidates.

00:24:16.960 They don't elect prime ministers.

00:24:18.900 They don't elect parties per se.

00:24:20.820 They elect individual members of parliament at the local level.

00:24:24.000 So what I've decided to do on this show in the next few weeks of the campaign is find

00:24:29.220 the ridings where something interesting is happening, individual candidates who have a

00:24:33.540 great story to tell or who I think are personally interesting or compelling, and also just people

00:24:39.760 that may come across our radar for whatever reason in the campaign.

00:24:43.800 I don't want to box ourselves in here.

00:24:45.520 But I will say one of the interesting stories that I've come across has been that of Tarek

00:24:50.180 El Naga, who's running for the Maverick Party in Banff, Airdrie.

00:24:54.240 Now, as we'll talk about in a moment, Banff, Airdrie is shaking up to be a pretty crowded

00:24:59.720 field with a lot of candidates who you'd think would be going after the same voters.

00:25:04.300 But only one of them has moved to Alberta because they fell in love with the Calgary

00:25:10.920 Stampede.

00:25:11.580 And that's Tarek El Naga, who joins me on the line now.

00:25:14.840 Tarek, thanks for coming on.

00:25:16.040 It's great to talk to you.

00:25:17.260 Andrew, likewise.

00:25:18.000 Thank you for having me.

00:25:19.040 Now, as I mentioned just in the introduction to this segment, I'm trying to find candidates

00:25:23.580 across the country who have unique stories, unique perspectives on things.

00:25:27.580 And when I learned about what brought you to where you are today, living in Alberta and

00:25:32.420 also running as a Maverick Party candidate, I said, OK, I have to talk to him.

00:25:36.740 I have to get him on the show.

00:25:38.340 You actually are a relatively new Canadian.

00:25:41.220 I know you became a citizen about five years ago.

00:25:44.060 But tell me what happened when you visited Alberta in 2010.

00:25:48.400 So, yeah, I was here on vacation and I usually travel on vacation to go to a certain event,

00:25:53.820 a sporting spectacle, a festival, a concert, etc.

00:25:56.340 And I'd never been to a rodeo in my life and have zero animal experience.

00:26:01.880 And I'd come to the Calgary Stampede in 2010 and I sat in the stands and I watched the rodeo

00:26:07.340 and I thought, man, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

00:26:09.580 I'm going to do exactly that.

00:26:10.780 I'm going to be on the other side of that fence.

00:26:12.720 And something happened and I decided this was going to be it.

00:26:16.080 I went home.

00:26:16.780 I quit my job, sold the house, sold the car and made plans to move to Alberta to start

00:26:21.640 to get into rodeo.

00:26:22.820 Now, home at the time was the United Arab Emirates, which I'm guessing...

00:26:26.340 It's not a big rodeo spot.

00:26:28.280 It is not.

00:26:29.140 No, no.

00:26:30.160 So born and raised in Dubai, pretty much as city kids.

00:26:33.660 What it is where the similarities are is actually it's a big oil and gas economy, too.

00:26:38.400 And we could chat about that in a little while.

00:26:40.580 But, you know, my corporate career as an engineer was relatively easy to transfer in

00:26:46.500 the sense of I grew up in an oil and gas world.

00:26:48.920 But my recreational, personal and now athletic life is completely different.

00:26:56.180 I know Dubai is a city that has lots going on, very, very worldly.

00:27:00.560 You obviously had traveled the world.

00:27:02.560 What was it about the Alberta rodeo experience that grabbed you and made you say, I want to

00:27:07.680 move there in a way that other places you had visited hadn't up until that point?

00:27:12.120 I think it was how unclinical it was.

00:27:15.860 So the thing is, you know, Dubai is a pretty pristine city growing up.

00:27:19.160 It's very, very pristine, very modern, very new and very Western, too, in a sense of like

00:27:23.520 just modern.

00:27:24.960 But there was something about the dirt, like something about the grit and the perseverance

00:27:29.640 of cowboy culture.

00:27:31.960 And that grit that you see very rarely anywhere else.

00:27:37.380 And I was like, man, there's something about that.

00:27:39.020 There's something about that value of like you see people getting bucked off pretty hard

00:27:42.760 at a rodeo and they're like, you know what?

00:27:44.260 We're getting right back on, you know?

00:27:45.900 So and there was a level of authenticity and the mystique of the Western culture, but also

00:27:52.700 the values that it represents that were really attractive.

00:27:55.840 And, you know, we talked about grit, but perseverance is another one.

00:27:59.040 Risk taking is another.

00:28:00.480 Hard work is one.

00:28:01.960 And it's also a culture that's built around community and respect.

00:28:06.000 And those are all values that I'm like, this speaks to me, right?

00:28:08.860 And it's very different than everything I've used to.

00:28:11.080 And if there's one way to do it, then put myself entirely out of my comfort zone, Alberta

00:28:16.140 was going to be it.

00:28:17.200 I know even though I agree with most Albertans on most things politically, I still get it

00:28:22.880 when I'm there being from Ontario, being viewed just as an Easterner.

00:28:26.520 And I'm curious how you felt in adjusting to being a Westerner.

00:28:30.880 If you felt immediately accepted or even to this day accepted as a Westerner in a group

00:28:35.620 of people that are very leery of even people that come from cities, let alone from another

00:28:40.200 country and want to jump into this lifestyle.

00:28:43.060 Andrew, I'll tell you, the reception was amazing.

00:28:45.560 So I did three things on my first three days in Alberta.

00:28:49.180 So I didn't know a soul in the province.

00:28:51.080 And in the first three days, I bought a pair of cowboy boots.

00:28:54.200 I bought a set of power tools and I bought a pickup truck.

00:28:57.100 And I thought, you know, I've got my Alberta starter pack ready here.

00:29:00.920 But now you fast forward and the pickup trucks are like the things that are under attack now.

00:29:05.380 No one's allowed to drive them, they say.

00:29:06.900 Exactly, exactly.

00:29:09.080 But then on the fourth day, I reached out to the local Ag Society in Airdrie here.

00:29:13.400 And I said, hey, I want to get into the Western way of life.

00:29:15.940 What do I do?

00:29:16.840 And then instantly doors started opening where I had volunteer opportunities to be at the

00:29:21.860 back end of a rodeo, learned how to ride, learned how to drive tractor, how to drive combine,

00:29:26.060 et cetera.

00:29:26.680 So I'm incredibly welcoming community.

00:29:28.780 I can tell you after eight or nine years of being here, there isn't a rodeo I could go

00:29:33.520 in a 500 kilometer radius where I don't know at least 200 people there and I feel 100% at

00:29:40.020 home.

00:29:40.340 Like I feel so unbelievably accepted.

00:29:44.100 Just recently, the Western Horse Review, which is the biggest equestrian magazine in Canada,

00:29:49.360 reached out and did an interview and featured me on the cover.

00:29:54.420 You know, it's just exceptional the level of doors that are open here.

00:29:57.940 And I will say this, as long as you come with a level of authenticity and respect around

00:30:02.880 Western culture, the West welcomes all.

00:30:05.380 Like it's a very inclusive, very welcoming community.

00:30:08.160 They don't care what your background is.

00:30:10.800 What it is, is are you willing to put in the hard work and live the way of life?

00:30:14.300 So it's been an amazing trip.

00:30:16.020 Like I've never once, never once in nine years of being here ever felt on the outside.

00:30:22.320 I know that you became, as we mentioned, a citizen in 2016, but you're also identifying

00:30:27.920 with a party that is very much Albertan over Canadian, a lot of people would argue.

00:30:32.920 And I'm wanting you to explain, if you can, about that dynamic, because you've talked about

00:30:37.440 in other materials and online, this thing that a lot of Canadians who are from Ontario

00:30:43.220 and Quebec and BC don't get, which is this Western alienation.

00:30:47.040 But I'm curious how you first, first off, acknowledge this was a thing and why you wanted

00:30:53.100 to go where you are now, which is actually running as a candidate for this party.

00:30:58.340 You bet.

00:30:59.220 So thanks for that question, Andrew.

00:31:00.900 And one, you know, we're a West focus party rather than just Alberta.

00:31:05.280 So the four Western provinces, I think Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and BC.

00:31:08.660 But this comes from my professional life where I'm in oil and gas.

00:31:14.380 And very quickly, within the first 10 minutes, and I grew up in the Middle East.

00:31:18.420 So there's a perspective.

00:31:19.780 I lived through Gulf War I and Gulf War II.

00:31:21.980 And Gulf War I was 100% a commodity at war.

00:31:25.020 It was Saddam invaded Kuwait for their oil resources.

00:31:27.580 And I remember my parents taping down the window seams because they were worried about a

00:31:32.900 biological attack the night before Gulf War I started.

00:31:35.800 And then so very quickly, you learn that oil is a precious commodity.

00:31:40.700 And then I move here and we're given the gift of the third biggest, largest, third largest

00:31:45.080 resource or third largest oil resources rather in the world.

00:31:49.460 And we've decided as a country, you know what?

00:31:51.420 Keep it in the ground.

00:31:52.340 We don't want to use it.

00:31:53.400 We'd rather buy the Saudis. 1.00

00:31:54.900 We'd rather buy foreign oil.

00:31:56.320 And that became apparent within 10 minutes.

00:31:59.340 Yet that's the resource that provides wealth and prosperity to build all the social programs

00:32:04.480 that we love as Canadians.

00:32:06.260 So that's, you know, our health care systems, our education systems, our social support systems,

00:32:11.980 et cetera.

00:32:13.060 And I looked at that and I said, we are getting completely battered.

00:32:17.740 We pay a gigantic amount of our wealth.

00:32:21.180 80% of Canada's wealth is generated in the West.

00:32:24.300 85% of it is spent in the East.

00:32:26.900 So we generate this wealth.

00:32:28.420 The East continues to take from that wealth, but shuts down our industries.

00:32:33.180 So one of the two things has to give.

00:32:35.240 Either you, we have trade barriers within our own country.

00:32:38.280 I mean, heck, you couldn't bring in a case of wine from BC into Alberta.

00:32:41.280 That's illegal.

00:32:42.680 So we've got trade barriers within our own country.

00:32:45.520 So the question becomes either those trade barriers open up and it's a fair trading system

00:32:49.920 within Canada, or we start to say, well, that wealth that you're taking, let's keep it

00:32:56.420 here because as it is, our industry has been battered over the last eight or nine years

00:33:00.120 that I've been here.

00:33:02.240 So, I mean, a long answer, but the reason why I'm looking at a West-only party is I've

00:33:08.900 always, and this is no secret, it's on the internet and so on.

00:33:11.780 I've always been, as soon as I was a Canadian citizen, a CPC supporter.

00:33:16.680 And the CPC, well, we've seen what the 2019 election looks like, but there's all these

00:33:21.460 spending commitments that they continue to pander to Quebec for.

00:33:24.380 And then the straw that broke the camel's back and really why the Maverick party is

00:33:28.320 the carbon tax.

00:33:29.580 So Aaron O'Toole comes in with his own carbon levy.

00:33:32.040 There's four major industries in my writing here, oil and gas, agriculture, tourism, and

00:33:37.420 aviation, all massively impacted by a carbon tax.

00:33:41.300 And I'm all for environmental responsibility.

00:33:44.300 But Andrew, I think a carbon tax, it's naive to think that that's what's going to save the

00:33:47.660 planet.

00:33:47.920 You know, so, and all it does is it punishes our industries and then continues to support

00:33:55.460 foreign industries.

00:33:56.720 Oil companies are mobile.

00:33:58.160 If they're not going to produce in Alberta, they're going to move somewhere else.

00:34:01.700 Or it shocks me that we still buy 60 to $65 million a day of foreign oil a day in Canada

00:34:08.200 when we've got it right here.

00:34:09.880 Let's talk about your writing for a moment, because the Banff Airdrie is shaping up to

00:34:16.240 be one of the more unique ones.

00:34:17.600 You've got a conservative with a very strong margin in 2019 that's seeking re-election.

00:34:23.660 You've got a PPC candidate going after right-of-center voters.

00:34:27.140 You've got the Maverick party, which generally is going after right-of-center voters.

00:34:30.840 You've got an independent in Derek Sloan, who's going after generally right-of-center voters.

00:34:35.720 And even though that conservative support in 2019 for the CPC was very strong, is there

00:34:41.820 a risk that all of these people going forward saying that, you know what, we want to do

00:34:45.740 things differently than the conservative incumbent wants to do things, do you think that actually

00:34:49.520 risks someone getting in that is very similar to the things that you oppose, pro-carbon tax,

00:34:56.460 anti-oil, anti-Alberta?

00:34:58.520 Right.

00:34:58.860 So, Andrew, it's a great question.

00:35:00.080 And I'll say, one, let's celebrate that it's a democracy, because if you only had one choice,

00:35:04.440 then it wouldn't be.

00:35:05.720 So, you know, this is still the free West, and we celebrate that people have a choice.

00:35:11.260 Now, in terms of where my opponents are and the fellow candidates, you're absolutely right.

00:35:16.700 We have a long-serving conservative candidate, 13 years in office, who also happens to be,

00:35:21.280 and I'm not one to do character attacks on any of my opponents.

00:35:24.160 So I strictly speak on policy and platform.

00:35:28.000 So we've got, who happens to be the chief whip of Aaron O'Toole.

00:35:32.220 Aaron O'Toole doesn't represent the conservative interests of the West anymore.

00:35:35.540 And this is the reason why you're starting to see more conservative options in that field,

00:35:40.620 is because, sadly, the conservative party, I think, is a lot.

00:35:43.640 Alberta and Saskatchewan could not get any more blue.

00:35:47.940 Every riding except one went blue in the last election.

00:35:52.320 But I look at it and I say, have they really taken our vote for granted?

00:35:55.920 And then for our loyalty, they give us a carbon tax.

00:35:59.340 Aaron O'Toole's first meeting with Premier Legault says,

00:36:01.860 Energy East is off the table.

00:36:03.600 This is a pipeline that's already 70% in the ground and will create jobs across Canada.

00:36:10.000 So that Quebec pandering is what really turned me off from the CPC.

00:36:14.460 And then I look at the other two parties.

00:36:16.560 So one is still a federalist party that is run by a Quebecer.

00:36:20.120 And for them to truly secure seats in Quebec,

00:36:23.220 then they're still going to still have to need to rely on that Alberta wealth.

00:36:27.140 No more, right?

00:36:28.340 There's no more pandering is where I'm saying.

00:36:31.260 Now, the independent candidate, and I'll talk about myself.

00:36:34.300 So the independent candidate, he's never lived a day in the West,

00:36:38.880 never lived a day in this riding, never worked in a Western industry.

00:36:42.760 And if I was one of his constituents on Ontario, and I'd say,

00:36:47.800 I believe in your message, and I'm voting for you,

00:36:50.940 and suddenly you've abandoned me and moved halfway across the country

00:36:54.900 in an area which you've never lived in,

00:36:57.900 because you have a lot of your policies ready-made,

00:37:00.660 like Alberta's more open than everyone else, etc.,

00:37:03.000 and say, well, here it is, I would feel disappointed.

00:37:06.540 I would feel betrayed by my own MP to say,

00:37:09.380 hey, you're the person I voted for,

00:37:11.520 and you've just left and deserted me.

00:37:13.120 Like, I'm pretty sure if I ran in this riding,

00:37:15.880 my constituents would say the exact same thing if I moved to Ontario, right?

00:37:18.940 You've just deserted us.

00:37:20.760 And then the difference between the Maverick Party, Andrew,

00:37:23.500 and all the other three candidates

00:37:24.800 is that we're the only party that speaks exclusively for the West.

00:37:28.840 We have zero votes to lose in Ontario and in Quebec and in the Maritimes.

00:37:33.420 And the premise of the party is incredibly simple and beautiful.

00:37:37.180 If it's good for the West, it's good for us. 0.98

00:37:39.660 And that's our job.

00:37:40.920 My job is to speak only and exclusively for a Western constituent.

00:37:46.060 One of the challenges we see in politics in Canada

00:37:49.440 is that the only region that's really allowed to do that is Quebec.

00:37:53.080 And in a lot of cases, politicians encourage it

00:37:55.820 when Quebec asserts its independence.

00:37:57.300 But when the West does it, you get people saying,

00:37:59.660 oh, yeah, they're just whining, they're just complaining, and all of that.

00:38:02.740 And I'm curious, though, when you see and hear the anger

00:38:05.560 coming from a lot of people in the West,

00:38:07.400 and when I've been out there speaking, interviewing people,

00:38:09.780 I hear it as well.

00:38:11.160 Do you get a sense that people want to make things better?

00:38:14.620 Or is it just we want out?

00:38:16.500 We want to separate?

00:38:17.540 Because I know even in the more independence-minded community in Alberta,

00:38:21.960 this is a big challenge.

00:38:23.160 You get some people that are saying,

00:38:24.620 Canada's done, Confederation's done,

00:38:26.420 we want an independent Alberta,

00:38:27.960 and others that say, okay, let's try to fix it first.

00:38:30.760 Let's try to tiptoe our way forward,

00:38:32.700 start with equalization,

00:38:34.160 maybe we do an Alberta police force,

00:38:36.080 an Alberta pension, and so on.

00:38:38.680 So the beauty of the Maverick Party is

00:38:40.700 it takes both folds in.

00:38:42.840 So we have what we call our twin track approach,

00:38:46.200 track A and track B.

00:38:47.720 And I'll tell you the politics behind it,

00:38:50.440 and also the general language that I use in my town halls with folks.

00:38:53.320 So track A is to bring what you talked about,

00:38:56.200 is fairness and equity back to the West,

00:38:58.780 and say these are the things that we want to bring representation,

00:39:03.240 equalization, manage our own resources,

00:39:06.040 and have provincial autonomy on not just money,

00:39:08.820 but things like law enforcement,

00:39:10.480 and you touched upon that,

00:39:12.040 even things like firearms laws.

00:39:13.680 So I look at it and I say,

00:39:15.760 this is a very different approach than any of the other federal parties.

00:39:18.880 Even the conservatives are saying,

00:39:20.120 well, you're going after illegal gun owners.

00:39:21.740 I'm like, you know what?

00:39:23.320 Toronto dictates a lot of that policy for the rest of the country.

00:39:27.320 If Toronto want to ban all their guns,

00:39:29.960 have at her. 0.99

00:39:30.520 It's none of my business.

00:39:31.760 But for the West,

00:39:32.920 we want our own regional chief firearms officer,

00:39:35.420 which right now sits in Miramichi, New Brunswick,

00:39:38.060 and, you know,

00:39:40.080 administers firearms laws for the entire country.

00:39:42.580 No, we're looking at a regionalized approach

00:39:44.700 for any of those things,

00:39:46.180 including representation, fairness, and so on.

00:39:48.120 That's track A.

00:39:48.840 Now, if that is not enough,

00:39:51.760 and we go out into our constituents and say,

00:39:54.160 it's not what Tarek said,

00:39:55.140 it's not what the Maverick Party says,

00:39:56.700 but if our constituents say that is not enough,

00:39:59.320 then track B is a push for independence.

00:40:02.260 And we have, yes,

00:40:04.000 members that want independence right away,

00:40:05.840 and we have members that are still very attached to the maple leaf,

00:40:10.340 but not necessarily attached to Ottawa.

00:40:12.160 So the way I say it,

00:40:13.480 and the way I kind of, you know,

00:40:15.460 differentiate track A and track B,

00:40:16.960 is one is a divorce of Ottawa,

00:40:18.840 which all of our members agree on.

00:40:21.160 So they're all very much in favor of.

00:40:24.220 The second one, which is a divorce of Canada,

00:40:26.800 some are there, some aren't there yet,

00:40:28.640 and I think it will depend on

00:40:30.480 what our constituents want once track A is done.

00:40:33.840 Where are you, though?

00:40:35.600 So I sit on both,

00:40:38.140 and I say, you know,

00:40:39.020 I mean, I'm glad that you asked,

00:40:40.100 but I sit on both,

00:40:41.260 and I say that if track A is enough

00:40:43.500 to make Western Canada

00:40:45.520 an equal and well-represented partner in Canada,

00:40:49.040 great,

00:40:49.780 and then I think we've accomplished

00:40:52.060 a very solid part of what we want to do.

00:40:54.340 But if that's not enough,

00:40:55.900 then I am not afraid in any way, shape, or form

00:40:58.760 to push for independence.

00:41:00.800 It's the platform I'm running on.

00:41:02.520 It will be my job,

00:41:03.880 and I am not afraid to do it.

00:41:05.680 So it really depends on...

00:41:06.240 But you're saying you want to try to make it work first.

00:41:09.100 Exactly.

00:41:09.500 So, I mean,

00:41:10.300 and our track is very transparent,

00:41:12.720 is, yes.

00:41:13.440 So rather than push for independence

00:41:15.400 from the first five minutes,

00:41:17.040 even laying the foundations of independence,

00:41:19.080 the right way to do it

00:41:20.260 would be to do track A first,

00:41:21.780 which is to get, you know,

00:41:23.160 provincial autonomy back.

00:41:24.480 Let us manage our own affairs,

00:41:25.900 because then that makes the push

00:41:27.540 for independence much easier.

00:41:29.120 So it is the first logical step of it.

00:41:32.000 Banff Airdrie in Alberta

00:41:34.140 has a number of candidates.

00:41:35.700 The Maverick Party candidate there

00:41:37.160 is Tarek Elnega,

00:41:38.620 who joins me now.

00:41:39.520 Tarek, thanks very much for coming on

00:41:41.200 and sharing a bit about your background

00:41:42.760 and what you hope for the riding.

00:41:44.140 Very much appreciated.

00:41:45.260 My pleasure, Andrew.

00:41:46.100 I've been following you for a long time,

00:41:47.540 so you're an absolute rock star.

00:41:49.040 Thank you so much for having me.

00:41:50.360 Thank you.

00:41:50.700 Well, that is very kind of you to say, Tarek.

00:41:53.580 Thanks very much.

00:41:54.480 And that does it for us for today.

00:41:55.900 Thanks to all of you for tuning in.

00:41:57.960 As mentioned earlier,

00:41:59.080 the coverage is going to look a bit different

00:42:01.000 in the next couple of days

00:42:02.180 as I am joining the Conservative Party of Canada tour

00:42:05.220 to report on what's happening there.

00:42:07.680 But we will be back with another show early next week.

00:42:10.840 This is Canada's most irreverent talk show

00:42:13.120 here on True North,

00:42:14.280 The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:42:15.220 Thank you, God bless,

00:42:16.200 and good day to you all.

00:42:17.160 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:42:19.120 Support the program by donating to True North

00:42:21.420 at www.tnc.news.

Juno News - August 26, 2021

Liberals still have no message, but plenty of gaffes

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