Juno News - Mainstream media is starting to regret ignoring the People's Party

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.

00:00:12.740 Coming up, an in-depth look at the People's Party of Canada's surge in the 2021 election,

00:00:18.320 including a one-on-one interview with PPC leader Maxime Bernier.

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.

00:00:33.300 This is The Andrew Lawton Show here on Wednesday, September 15th, 2021.

00:00:38.260 Five days to go until the 2021 election. That's coming up on Monday.

00:00:43.320 If you haven't voted yet, you can vote on Monday or you can also head out.

00:00:46.900 The advance polls are done, but you can head out to vote by special ballot if you're so inclined,

00:00:51.380 which is just writing, you know, I don't even worry about it, just vote on election day.

00:00:54.740 I feel like devoting like the first three minutes of the show to explaining special ballots

00:00:58.740 isn't the most judicious use of time.

00:01:01.120 In any case, hope you all had a great weekend.

00:01:04.160 I was actually, as you'll learn in the next little while, spending my time out west.

00:01:09.000 I was doing a bunch of coverage in the Calgary area, which will come out next show.

00:01:13.260 And then I went up to the Edmonton area and I went all the way out to Lloydminster and back

00:01:18.020 covering the People's Party of Canada as Maxime Bernier did a tour through Alberta.

00:01:24.260 And a lot of people a couple of weeks back when I was on the road with the Conservatives said,

00:01:28.200 well, why aren't you covering the PBC?

00:01:29.720 I said, we are, we're going to cover them.

00:01:31.880 This was always the plan.

00:01:33.060 We were just waiting for the right moment.

00:01:34.820 And I had been in touch with the People's Party media team and said, okay, where's a good time?

00:01:39.620 And they said, well, why don't you come on out when we're doing a swing through Alberta?

00:01:42.800 So I did exactly that.

00:01:44.500 And I'm just going to preface this right out of the gate by saying, I do not have a team.

00:01:49.580 When I was reporting on the Conservatives, people were saying, why are you shilling for

00:01:53.680 the Conservatives?

00:01:54.420 When I've reported on the PBC, people tell me, why are you shilling for the PBC?

00:01:58.960 When you're going to hear me next show, go into the Maverick Party a little bit.

00:02:02.200 I know I'm going to get the same thing.

00:02:03.460 Why are you shilling for the Mavericks?

00:02:04.960 I am reporting it so you can decide for yourself.

00:02:08.800 All of these are part of the Canadian political establishment.

00:02:11.940 And none of them get a fair shake from the media.

00:02:15.160 So that's the whole point.

00:02:16.060 We're just trying to spotlight these parties, these politicians, and the ideas that they're

00:02:20.160 bringing into the campaign so that people who are interested can enter this in good faith

00:02:24.680 and have a sense of what is all happening.

00:02:28.260 And I should say the People's Party story has been, no matter who you are, quite a fascinating

00:02:32.760 one.

00:02:33.220 This is a party that in 2019 got 1.6% of the vote nationally.

00:02:37.760 And I would say that at the time, I did say actually, that they were more likely to do

00:02:43.280 better than they would in a subsequent election because that was the test election.

00:02:48.620 That was the one where people were not sure what it was going to be.

00:02:51.860 It had momentum.

00:02:52.780 It had a lot of media attention.

00:02:54.240 He was in the debates.

00:02:55.100 And it seemed like, okay, the PPC is going to have an uphill battle trying to capture

00:03:00.160 that or improve upon it in the next election.

00:03:03.760 Something very fundamental changed between 2019 and 2021, however, and that is the COVID

00:03:09.980 pandemic and specifically the assaults on liberty that have been taking place in pretty

00:03:14.880 much every jurisdiction in Canada that have become really the backbone of the PPC campaign.

00:03:21.540 And I'm going to play an interview very shortly with Maxime Bernier that I did on the road

00:03:25.980 in, I believe it was in Mundare, Alberta.

00:03:28.520 It was in Mundare, actually.

00:03:29.460 I know for a fact it was in Mundare.

00:03:31.100 And actually, quite a beautiful venue.

00:03:32.640 It was an old hospital that's been converted to a private residence.

00:03:35.960 And they were hosting a rally there.

00:03:37.420 And we went inside.

00:03:38.700 And we're actually in the operating system, which has been converted into a library.

00:03:43.360 None of this is relevant at all.

00:03:44.580 But I found it very interesting.

00:03:46.120 So I wanted to share it.

00:03:47.520 But Maxime Bernier says this election is a referendum on vaccine passports and vaccine

00:03:53.340 mandates.

00:03:54.060 And it was very easy to see how that was the case.

00:03:57.400 Before I get to the Bernier interview, I want to give you a bit of context on the PPC.

00:04:01.660 Because in the first week of the campaign, people were starting to see, you know, three,

00:04:05.900 four percent.

00:04:06.760 And that was looking a little bit higher than most were expecting.

00:04:09.900 And no one really paid attention to it in the legacy media because they assumed it was

00:04:15.160 a blip.

00:04:15.660 And then it held up.

00:04:17.560 And then it started increasing and increasing.

00:04:20.100 And then you had polls showing the People's Party at 9%, 10%, 11%.

00:04:24.100 If you look at Alberta, some polls had them at like 20% and 21%.

00:04:28.300 And they have actually held this.

00:04:31.220 They've sustained this for the entirety of the campaign.

00:04:34.940 And for the most part, have only improved.

00:04:36.640 Now, some pollsters like ECOS have had higher numbers than others have.

00:04:41.220 But at the same time, we're looking at a party here whose momentum, while still small relative

00:04:47.320 to other parties, its vote share rather, has momentum that other parties don't necessarily

00:04:53.000 have.

00:04:53.580 So the reason I think this is important is because no one in the media was talking about

00:04:58.560 the PPC, in the mainstream media anyway, whereas we always have been, because we always knew

00:05:04.040 there was something happening here.

00:05:05.620 And again, I'm not under any delusion.

00:05:07.700 I'm not saying that the PPC is going to form a majority government.

00:05:10.400 Even Maxime Bernier is not saying that.

00:05:12.540 But there was something happening here that was being missed.

00:05:15.340 And interestingly enough, the CBC had a couple of people at an Edmonton rally that Bernier

00:05:21.840 did on Saturday, but they didn't have anyone following him.

00:05:25.500 And I asked Maxime this when we were out on the road.

00:05:27.480 I said, have there been any other journalists from any other media outlet at any point of

00:05:32.540 the campaign that have followed you on your tour like I'm doing right now?

00:05:35.620 He said, not one, not one.

00:05:37.180 So as it stands, and this may change in the next five days, True North is the only media

00:05:42.620 outlet in Canada that has actually covered Maxime Bernier's tour.

00:05:47.300 Individual events here and there, interviews, sure.

00:05:49.520 But the only outlet that's covered the actual tour is True North.

00:05:53.520 And I'm wondering, what is it that people are not seeing?

00:05:56.140 Because CBC ran a story about an event they weren't even at.

00:06:01.040 And you can see it on the screen here.

00:06:02.860 They embedded my tweet because I did a video of it.

00:06:05.580 They embedded my tweet of the event because they didn't have anyone there.

00:06:08.960 And that's fair game.

00:06:10.040 I mean, you're allowed to embed tweets.

00:06:11.340 But it just goes to show that you get part of the story if you actually show up and if

00:06:15.720 you're on the ground.

00:06:16.760 And even the CBC seems to be conceding that there's a story around the People's Party.

00:06:22.460 And John Ibbotson in the Globe and Mail, who I've interviewed before, I've always thought

00:06:25.780 him to be very fair.

00:06:26.660 I don't always agree with him, but I don't need to to like or respect someone, has written

00:06:30.660 a story here where he says the People's Party is far outside the mainstream of Canadian

00:06:35.520 politics, but it deserves representation.

00:06:37.800 And he says that the People's Party is, yeah, they're out there.

00:06:42.180 They don't align with where a lot of the other parties do.

00:06:45.260 For example, you had the Green Bloc, Liberal, NDP, Conservative leaders all join together to

00:06:51.820 do a vaccine PSA because they could all agree on this and say that we're all in this together.

00:06:57.120 And then you had Maxime Bernier saying, ah, screw that.

00:07:00.760 That's dumb.

00:07:01.520 I don't want to.

00:07:02.120 I wouldn't want any part of that if he were even invited.

00:07:05.320 So the whole point of this is, yeah, the PPC is really standing alone on a lot of key

00:07:10.220 issues.

00:07:10.740 And that's been part of their pitch.

00:07:12.820 I remember when Bernier launched his campaign and he said, vote for us because the other parties

00:07:17.760 all suck. 0.94

00:07:18.600 But that at the time seemed like just a cheap joke to a lot of people, but now has become

00:07:25.460 the quintessential part of the PPC success because everyone always talks about vote splitting.

00:07:31.900 But right now you have a lot of people in Canada who think that all of the major mainstream

00:07:37.500 parties are fundamentally the same on a lot of key issues or maybe not even a lot of key

00:07:41.940 issues on one or two key issues.

00:07:44.180 Because the coalition that is behind the People's Party right now is not a conservative coalition

00:07:52.160 necessarily.

00:07:54.000 This is what I've seen, again, very anecdotally.

00:07:57.200 But I'm a firm believer in picking up just a sense of things when you're on the ground.

00:08:02.140 For example, the Trump election, people who are driving around in Michigan and Ohio in

00:08:05.820 2016 knew Trump was going to win.

00:08:08.260 The polls didn't show that, but people on the ground were sensing something was there.

00:08:12.240 When I was at the Bernier event, specifically in Edmonton, I was seeing a group of people

00:08:17.000 that were not a replication of what I've seen when I've covered conservative rallies.

00:08:22.160 Just to give one example here, and I'm not saying this to make fun of the woman.

00:08:25.620 I had a lovely conversation with her.

00:08:27.220 I'm actually saying it because she represents something very important in Canadian politics

00:08:31.000 right now.

00:08:31.960 She was dressed in very, I'll say, earthy clothing.

00:08:35.080 She had sort of a long gown.

00:08:36.840 She was wearing, I don't know the proper name for it, but she had a gemstone on her forehead.

00:08:40.460 And I was chatting with her and she was a Reiki energy healer.

00:08:44.580 She was homeschooling her children because she wanted to, and I'm paraphrasing this,

00:08:49.060 but sort of teach them in a way that was, I believe she called it new earth education.

00:08:53.500 Not familiar with it.

00:08:54.940 Very nice woman.

00:08:55.860 Wish me blessings as I went on my way.

00:08:58.080 This is not a woman who you'd expect to see at a Conservative Party of Canada event.

00:09:03.480 But she was a diehard Maxime Bernier supporter, a PPC supporter.

00:09:08.080 She was there.

00:09:09.440 And the reason, she told me, was freedom.

00:09:13.540 Chief Calvin Bruno of the Papa's Chase First Nation was there.

00:09:17.500 He said that he aligned with the PPC view of freedom.

00:09:22.820 He said, indigenous Canadians have had their freedoms taken away.

00:09:25.840 They know what it's like.

00:09:26.940 They see what's happening to the rest of Canada and Canadians, and they stand with you.

00:09:31.300 That was what he said.

00:09:33.460 He presented Maxime Bernier with a ceremonial blanket.

00:09:36.400 Now, interestingly enough, I reported on this because I did an interview with him,

00:09:40.680 and he had said, and you can see it in the story here, that he supports the People's Party's plan,

00:09:45.820 the People's Party's vision.

00:09:47.600 And then there was another story that came out from, I think, an indigenous aligned media organization

00:09:52.720 that said, no, just because they give a blanket doesn't mean they support the PPC.

00:09:57.120 But that's not actually what the guy said when he was there.

00:10:00.380 So, again, there was a lot of, I think, pushback, because people didn't want to see

00:10:04.680 a legitimization of that nature of Maxime Bernier and the People's Party,

00:10:09.640 because the media right now has been hell-bent on just keeping them on the fringes,

00:10:13.840 keeping them on the margins, which is why they weren't in the national televised debate.

00:10:19.480 So all of that is to say that there's this perception, and I think in 2019 this was mostly the case,

00:10:25.060 that People's Party was where disgruntled conservatives went.

00:10:28.460 People who were on the right side of the conservative party that thought the conservative

00:10:32.280 party had gone too far left.

00:10:33.960 They would vote PPC.

00:10:35.700 And you have a lot of that.

00:10:37.100 Certainly when we got out to rural Alberta, a lot of the people that I talked to,

00:10:40.220 almost all of them were former Conservative Party of Canada voters.

00:10:43.820 Some of them were former non-voters, and we'll talk about them later on.

00:10:47.340 But moreover, the people coming out to vote for the PPC are not traditionally Conservative

00:10:55.260 Party of Canada voters.

00:10:56.660 And this is a very important point.

00:10:58.480 And this is how you can have the PPC polling at 10% while the Conservative Party of Canada

00:11:03.660 is polling in the lead above the Liberals.

00:11:06.220 It's a, well, hang on, where did all those votes come from?

00:11:09.200 It's not a surprise to me that Green votes are low.

00:11:13.140 Remember, a Green voter is someone who's already sort of accepted

00:11:16.460 that they're okay voting for a party who has no chance of winning.

00:11:20.120 They've already accepted that voting for someone outside the political establishment

00:11:23.860 is fine and is perhaps desirable.

00:11:26.720 So it's not out of the realm of possibility that a lot of Green voters

00:11:30.160 or traditional Green voters have gone over to the PPC.

00:11:34.160 And some polling, Matt Gurney did a great breakdown of this in the line.

00:11:38.400 Matt Gurney points out that some of the numbers here are suggesting that non-voters,

00:11:42.880 people that normally don't vote, make up quite a significant portion.

00:11:46.460 of the PPC's base right now.

00:11:49.200 And all of this, all of this has to be looked at through the perspective

00:11:53.300 of what is the anti-lockdown movement saying?

00:11:56.400 What is the anti-vaccine mandate movement saying?

00:11:58.860 There's a reason that we have tens of thousands of people

00:12:02.200 showing up in rallies around the country

00:12:04.040 because they don't feel there is a voice in politics.

00:12:08.860 Liberal, Conservative, NDP, they don't feel there's a voice in politics

00:12:11.760 that is hearing them.

00:12:14.120 That they've had enough of lockdowns.

00:12:15.780 They've had enough of these civil liberties infringements.

00:12:18.660 They've had enough of vaccine passports and vaccine mandates.

00:12:21.980 And all of this is creating this new wave of single-issue voters

00:12:27.000 that only one party is really prepared to capture.

00:12:30.840 And that's the People's Party.

00:12:32.140 Now, how well they get the vote out?

00:12:35.720 How well they actually get these people to the polls?

00:12:37.960 I don't know.

00:12:39.520 One thing you may not realize if you've never been involved in politics before

00:12:43.000 is that parties spend a lot of money,

00:12:45.200 a lot of money on something called GoTV,

00:12:47.800 G-O-T-V, Get Out the Vote, 1.00

00:12:49.540 which is taking people you know are your supporters

00:12:51.700 and actually facilitating as best as you can

00:12:55.680 getting them to the polls,

00:12:57.420 bombarding them with phone calls,

00:12:58.920 knocking on their doors,

00:13:00.460 in some cases offering to drive them to the polls,

00:13:02.840 hanging up a little door hanger on their front doors.

00:13:05.360 All of these things, this is part of a GoTV campaign.

00:13:07.940 You need people to do that.

00:13:09.280 You need money to do that.

00:13:10.740 I don't know if the People's Party has that organization.

00:13:13.860 The push that I was hearing from them

00:13:15.880 was that they wanted volunteers to help scrutineer.

00:13:18.620 They wanted volunteers to supervise the ballot process

00:13:21.080 because people are concerned about fraud.

00:13:23.820 This is not an election in Canada.

00:13:25.740 Canadian elections are fairly fraud proof.

00:13:28.740 I'm not going to say it can't happen,

00:13:30.440 but the issues that you see in the U.S. are not here.

00:13:34.040 You vote, it's a simple ballot.

00:13:35.860 Ballots are counted where they're cast.

00:13:37.660 We don't use electronic voting machines at the national level,

00:13:40.760 at the federal level in Canada,

00:13:42.320 but it's an issue for people

00:13:43.800 and that's why parties and candidates

00:13:46.000 can send scrutineers to supervise this.

00:13:48.280 So the People's Party, from what I saw,

00:13:52.220 was not pushing for volunteers to help get out the vote.

00:13:54.800 They were pushing for scrutineers.

00:13:57.120 So it's entirely possible that the PPC may have all these people

00:14:00.400 that are ready to support them,

00:14:01.700 but they haven't identified them

00:14:03.360 and don't have a plan to get them out.

00:14:05.840 Just purely, again, anecdotally,

00:14:07.760 I had a number of people come up to me

00:14:09.320 who are people who eschew the mask mandates,

00:14:12.060 who were saying,

00:14:13.000 yeah, I tried to vote in the advanced polls

00:14:14.580 and when I showed up,

00:14:15.300 they wouldn't let me vote because I wasn't wearing a mask.

00:14:18.080 And in one of those cases,

00:14:19.480 the guy just voted anyway

00:14:20.920 and in another couple of cases,

00:14:22.660 the people were actually turned away.

00:14:24.240 So I don't know.

00:14:25.060 Are they going to go back wearing a mask?

00:14:26.700 Are they going to go back and fight it?

00:14:28.340 Are they happy not voting?

00:14:30.180 So, I mean, these are, again,

00:14:31.380 things that could depress or suppress the PPC vote.

00:14:36.180 But make no mistake,

00:14:37.460 that vote is there.

00:14:40.120 And if you have that portion of the country

00:14:41.960 that's feeling disenfranchised by the status quo,

00:14:44.940 there's something that needs to be addressed.

00:14:46.900 And when Trudeau just gets increasingly snide

00:14:49.180 about anti-vaccine mandate protesters

00:14:52.640 and anti-vaccine passport protesters

00:14:54.740 and just starts mocking them

00:14:56.380 and scoffing at them

00:14:57.660 and saying to that one woman the other day,

00:14:59.620 oh, isn't there a hospital you should be protesting at

00:15:01.520 because she heckled him?

00:15:02.600 All of this stuff only furthers that divide.

00:15:06.420 I'll have a little bit more analysis in a moment,

00:15:08.760 but I wanted to share with you my one-on-one

00:15:11.100 recorded in Mundare, Alberta,

00:15:13.380 just on Sunday with Maxime Bernier,

00:15:15.680 leader of the People's Party of Canada.

00:15:18.180 Pierre, so how's the campaign going so far?

00:15:20.300 It's going well, you know.

00:15:22.080 I didn't expect that in the beginning.

00:15:24.620 Our goal was to maybe have 4% of the vote,

00:15:28.340 more than triple what we had at the last election.

00:15:30.880 I think it would be doable right now

00:15:32.700 and we may have more than that.

00:15:34.560 So I can tell you,

00:15:35.960 since the beginning of that campaign,

00:15:37.560 the momentum is bigger and bigger every day

00:15:39.820 and when I'm saying that this campaign

00:15:44.880 will be for us a referendum

00:15:46.780 on the COVID-19 hysteria and the vaccine passport,

00:15:50.500 I believe it would be that.

00:15:52.060 That's giving us a big momentum

00:15:53.780 because people understand that, you know,

00:15:55.980 individual freedom and personal responsibility,

00:15:58.500 that's two of our main principles,

00:16:02.100 funding principles of this party

00:16:03.780 and we always fought for that.

00:16:06.360 I spoke against lockdowns in the beginning of that pandemic

00:16:09.440 with Randy Hillier in Ontario

00:16:11.800 that is supporting us also and helping us.

00:16:14.520 It's going well

00:16:15.600 and people want to have their life back,

00:16:18.940 like before COVID.

00:16:21.480 When the People's Party was founded in 2019,

00:16:24.500 a lot of people certainly perceived it

00:16:26.680 to be a very conservative party,

00:16:28.940 a more conservative version of the Conservative Party.

00:16:31.160 The support you have now

00:16:33.100 doesn't seem to be coming

00:16:34.300 only from traditional Conservatives.

00:16:36.040 I've met a lot of people

00:16:36.940 that would align with the left

00:16:39.120 but are supporting the PPC

00:16:40.460 and I'm curious if you could describe

00:16:42.320 where this support is coming from right now.

00:16:45.300 Yeah.

00:16:45.640 First of all,

00:16:46.640 it's not scientific

00:16:48.100 because we don't know any pollings about that

00:16:50.820 but I can tell you that in Saskatoon,

00:16:54.560 our organization there,

00:16:56.300 it's people that work

00:16:58.400 and were volunteers for the NDP

00:17:00.600 and they are coming on side with us

00:17:03.140 and helping us

00:17:03.900 and helping our candidates over there

00:17:07.480 because for them,

00:17:08.720 the most important now

00:17:09.900 is the violation of our freedoms in this country

00:17:13.980 and they understand

00:17:15.040 that we are there to fight for them

00:17:16.980 and we are the only party

00:17:18.200 that will fight for them.

00:17:19.560 That's why I said in New Brunswick,

00:17:21.120 I was surprised

00:17:21.920 when I did rallies over there.

00:17:24.120 We had a lot of people that came

00:17:25.980 and you're right.

00:17:27.340 I think we can unite this country

00:17:30.540 and Canadians

00:17:31.240 under the freedom umbrella

00:17:32.600 and the mainstream political parties

00:17:36.060 have the same position

00:17:37.740 on COVID-19 lockdowns,

00:17:39.880 vaccine passport,

00:17:41.580 the Conservatives

00:17:42.480 and O'Toole was very clear about that.

00:17:45.320 You know,

00:17:45.460 he said to one of his candidates

00:17:47.080 in Yukon

00:17:47.880 that was against a vaccine passport,

00:17:50.300 he said,

00:17:50.740 okay,

00:17:50.960 you cannot be a candidate

00:17:52.000 and now he wants to have a registry

00:17:54.300 and doing tests every day

00:17:56.940 and a vaccine passport

00:17:58.380 is like Trudeau.

00:17:59.640 So they understand

00:18:00.420 that if they want to live

00:18:02.620 in a free society,

00:18:03.800 we are there.

00:18:04.920 So yes,

00:18:05.440 you're right by saying

00:18:06.440 that it's not only

00:18:07.400 former Conservatives

00:18:08.420 that are coming on board

00:18:09.520 but also people who voted

00:18:11.120 for the Liberals

00:18:11.800 or the NDP.

00:18:12.480 I cannot tell you

00:18:14.360 if it's a big part

00:18:15.440 of our supporters or not

00:18:16.700 but when I'm traveling,

00:18:18.480 I have people that came to me

00:18:19.680 and are telling me that

00:18:20.920 and also some people

00:18:22.220 that didn't vote.

00:18:23.740 I met a guy yesterday

00:18:25.560 that he said,

00:18:26.200 you know,

00:18:26.380 I'm 55 years old

00:18:27.560 and that will be the first time

00:18:28.600 that I will vote

00:18:29.280 and I will vote for you.

00:18:30.920 And don't forget,

00:18:31.860 in Canada,

00:18:32.640 about, you know,

00:18:34.180 28% of the population

00:18:35.880 didn't vote

00:18:36.860 at the last election.

00:18:37.940 If only half of them

00:18:39.580 are voting for the PPC,

00:18:41.020 we'll be around more,

00:18:43.040 we'll have a support

00:18:44.080 that will grow

00:18:44.740 and that can happen.

00:18:46.360 I believe that people

00:18:47.440 who didn't vote,

00:18:48.440 people who voted

00:18:49.140 for other political parties,

00:18:51.840 Liberal or Conservative

00:18:53.480 are coming with us.

00:18:55.180 But I believe

00:18:55.820 that the majority

00:18:56.560 of our support

00:18:57.480 is coming from

00:18:58.620 former Conservatives.

00:18:59.960 It's not just about

00:19:01.280 opposition to vaccine passports.

00:19:03.180 I'm hearing a lot of people

00:19:04.320 that are against vaccines themselves.

00:19:06.300 You yourself have talked

00:19:07.540 about not being vaccinated

00:19:08.600 and because of that,

00:19:09.380 you can't even campaign

00:19:10.320 in certain provinces,

00:19:11.580 especially in Atlantic Canada.

00:19:14.620 You have a party right now

00:19:15.980 that's being defined

00:19:16.760 as an anti-vaccine party

00:19:18.220 by a lot of people.

00:19:18.960 Are you happy with that?

00:19:20.360 No, I'm not.

00:19:21.680 That's the mainstream media.

00:19:23.200 The mainstream media,

00:19:24.160 every time that I'm doing

00:19:24.980 an interview with them,

00:19:26.000 they're saying,

00:19:26.420 oh, this party is anti-mask

00:19:28.480 and anti-vaccine.

00:19:29.520 No, if you believe in freedom,

00:19:31.120 you believe in freedom of choice

00:19:32.320 and everybody must be free

00:19:35.300 to decide if they want

00:19:36.240 to have the vaccine or not

00:19:37.280 with the right information,

00:19:39.040 informed consent.

00:19:40.420 And personally,

00:19:41.280 I decided not to take the vaccine.

00:19:43.000 Like I said,

00:19:43.520 I'm 58 years old

00:19:44.500 and my chance of dying

00:19:45.680 if I have COVID

00:19:46.440 are only 0.5%.

00:19:48.580 So I have the data

00:19:49.740 and the statistics on my side.

00:19:51.740 I have 99.5% chances of surviving.

00:19:54.340 So that's why I decided

00:19:55.180 not to take the vaccine.

00:19:56.480 But my dad is 87 years old

00:19:58.480 and diabetic

00:19:59.360 and he has comorbidities.

00:20:02.140 So I encourage him

00:20:04.560 to take the vaccine

00:20:05.460 because he's at risk.

00:20:07.200 So everybody must be able

00:20:08.800 to take that decision.

00:20:10.320 So we have people in our party,

00:20:13.160 our supporters that decided,

00:20:14.920 like me,

00:20:15.260 not to take the vaccine.

00:20:16.320 But we have people also

00:20:17.440 that took the two shots 0.98

00:20:20.040 and are with us

00:20:20.860 because they know

00:20:21.720 that they don't want

00:20:22.520 to show a vaccine passport

00:20:24.160 for everything

00:20:24.900 that they would do

00:20:25.700 in civil society.

00:20:28.360 What is it that you see

00:20:29.640 as being the future

00:20:30.500 of the PPC?

00:20:31.360 Because you are polling

00:20:32.140 right now

00:20:32.660 at significantly higher numbers

00:20:34.080 than you were in 2019.

00:20:35.720 But in the first-past-the-post system,

00:20:37.680 even if you have 10% nationally

00:20:39.400 in individual ridings,

00:20:40.540 that could still be zero seats.

00:20:42.580 I know you don't do

00:20:43.200 internal polling

00:20:43.920 and you talk about that regularly,

00:20:45.360 but are there individual ridings,

00:20:47.040 are there your own in BOSA

00:20:48.280 or other ridings

00:20:49.000 where you think

00:20:49.500 that there could be

00:20:50.240 a few PPC candidates

00:20:51.580 elected this time?

00:20:52.920 I believe that,

00:20:53.860 you know,

00:20:54.220 in my riding,

00:20:55.160 I'm doing my best

00:20:55.880 to be reelected

00:20:56.640 to gain back that riding.

00:20:58.000 Like I said publicly,

00:20:58.940 we started the campaign,

00:21:00.240 I was 10 points behind

00:21:01.280 and now I'm about

00:21:03.460 two or three points behind

00:21:04.780 and we have the same momentum

00:21:06.180 in BOSA

00:21:06.740 that we have

00:21:07.940 all across the country.

00:21:09.520 So it will be a tough fight,

00:21:11.840 but I believe

00:21:12.300 I can win back that riding.

00:21:14.120 And also in Ontario,

00:21:15.560 Northern Ontario

00:21:16.340 and the South near Niagara,

00:21:18.760 we have great organization,

00:21:20.160 good candidates there.

00:21:21.140 We may win

00:21:22.000 maybe one or two seats,

00:21:23.320 I don't know.

00:21:24.020 And in Alberta also,

00:21:25.740 as you may know,

00:21:27.820 in Fort McMurray,

00:21:30.060 we have a great candidate

00:21:31.760 and we have all the support

00:21:33.640 of the executive

00:21:34.840 of the riding association

00:21:36.860 for the Conservative Party of Canada

00:21:39.240 that are working

00:21:40.620 with our candidate.

00:21:41.860 So I really don't know where,

00:21:43.500 but I believe

00:21:44.060 that we can have

00:21:44.880 some candidates

00:21:46.700 in Alberta,

00:21:47.860 in Ontario

00:21:48.640 and me in Quebec

00:21:50.180 or in other provinces,

00:21:51.780 maybe in BC also.

00:21:53.100 Our surprise

00:21:53.740 of our support in BC.

00:21:55.640 So it's very difficult,

00:21:56.920 but because of

00:21:58.160 that electoral system,

00:21:59.640 it is harder for us,

00:22:01.020 yes,

00:22:01.280 to have people elected.

00:22:03.080 But I believe

00:22:03.940 that we'll have

00:22:04.940 that freedom voice

00:22:06.120 in Ottawa

00:22:06.500 after this election.

00:22:07.860 On one of my last trips

00:22:08.900 to Alberta,

00:22:09.600 I moderated a discussion

00:22:10.860 between you

00:22:11.580 and Derek Sloan,

00:22:12.540 who at the time

00:22:13.060 was still a member

00:22:13.800 of Parliament

00:22:14.280 and hadn't yet announced

00:22:15.640 what he was going to do.

00:22:17.040 We fast forward to now,

00:22:18.160 he has not joined

00:22:18.920 the People's Party.

00:22:19.740 He says he's founding

00:22:20.520 his own party,

00:22:21.240 but right now

00:22:21.840 is running as an independent.

00:22:23.720 I know you had reached out

00:22:24.920 to Derek

00:22:25.320 and tried to get him

00:22:26.280 to seek a PPC candidacy,

00:22:28.540 but when you are a party

00:22:29.980 that has splintered off

00:22:31.060 from a mainstream party

00:22:32.180 and then other people

00:22:33.400 that have very similar values

00:22:34.720 are not joining the PPC,

00:22:37.060 what are people

00:22:37.720 to take from that?

00:22:38.500 That this movement

00:22:39.380 that is this sort of

00:22:40.320 independent alternative

00:22:41.280 to the Conservative movement

00:22:42.400 can't itself be unified.

00:22:44.440 But, you know,

00:22:45.260 I told Derek

00:22:47.400 that he will come

00:22:48.420 in our party

00:22:49.000 and we had a discussion.

00:22:50.140 That was his decision.

00:22:51.980 I cannot force him to come.

00:22:54.220 And I was surprised

00:22:55.540 that he decided

00:22:56.700 to run as an independent.

00:22:57.900 But I told him

00:22:58.680 it's very hard

00:22:59.280 to create a new party

00:23:00.220 and now he doesn't

00:23:01.860 have a new party.

00:23:02.920 So he's running

00:23:04.200 in a riding

00:23:04.740 and we had a discussion.

00:23:06.640 He called me

00:23:07.360 a couple of days

00:23:08.660 after when the election

00:23:09.960 was launched

00:23:10.680 and he told me

00:23:11.920 that he wants

00:23:12.360 to run in that riding.

00:23:13.420 And at that time

00:23:14.240 we had a great candidate,

00:23:15.940 Nadine.

00:23:16.700 She was our candidate

00:23:17.480 in 2019.

00:23:18.540 She's our candidate now. 0.98

00:23:19.760 And I told him,

00:23:20.700 you know,

00:23:21.040 I will support my candidate.

00:23:22.680 You took that,

00:23:23.320 your decision

00:23:23.860 not to come with us.

00:23:26.080 I will support our candidates.

00:23:28.420 It's too bad.

00:23:30.000 But it was his decision.

00:23:31.980 And so...

00:23:32.440 Just to confirm,

00:23:32.940 so he didn't want

00:23:34.540 to run for the PPC

00:23:35.280 but he wanted you

00:23:36.000 to not run a candidate.

00:23:37.160 Yes, absolutely.

00:23:38.780 And I said,

00:23:39.320 you know,

00:23:39.700 first of all,

00:23:40.400 we have a candidate

00:23:41.160 and our candidate,

00:23:42.280 Nadine,

00:23:42.600 was the first one

00:23:43.580 approved by Election Canada

00:23:45.200 for a party

00:23:46.060 all across the country.

00:23:47.740 So when he called me,

00:23:48.800 she was an approved candidate.

00:23:50.380 So, you know,

00:23:50.920 I will support my candidate.

00:23:52.520 We'll see.

00:23:53.220 We'll see what will happen.

00:23:55.160 But yeah,

00:23:56.060 it's too bad.

00:23:56.720 But also,

00:23:57.540 you know,

00:23:57.920 I was working

00:23:58.780 with the

00:23:59.320 and the lockdown caucus

00:24:00.940 and Randy Hillier

00:24:02.100 is with us

00:24:03.500 and actually his daughter,

00:24:06.060 she's running 0.69

00:24:06.780 also with us.

00:24:07.600 So we have the support

00:24:09.300 of a lot of people

00:24:10.720 and the lockdown caucus,

00:24:13.220 police on guard

00:24:14.800 and nurses 0.99

00:24:15.680 because they know.

00:24:18.040 They know that

00:24:18.680 we are the only option.

00:24:20.220 So it's too bad

00:24:20.980 that the director

00:24:21.540 took that decision

00:24:22.460 and I respect that.

00:24:24.560 You've said

00:24:25.300 that you don't expect

00:24:26.120 to be prime minister

00:24:26.920 after this coming election.

00:24:28.240 So you do have

00:24:28.940 a level of realistic,

00:24:30.380 a realistic approach

00:24:31.460 to this.

00:24:31.980 But I want to know

00:24:33.060 about what the party

00:24:33.840 will look like.

00:24:34.600 Will you,

00:24:35.440 for example,

00:24:35.920 subject yourself

00:24:36.760 to a leadership review?

00:24:38.380 Why not?

00:24:39.200 Maybe.

00:24:39.900 I don't know.

00:24:41.280 But I'm open to that.

00:24:42.860 Absolutely.

00:24:44.020 After the election,

00:24:45.380 I think,

00:24:45.900 you know,

00:24:46.500 our platform

00:24:47.220 was approved

00:24:49.400 by 49%

00:24:50.960 of the conservative

00:24:51.720 because,

00:24:52.460 as you know,

00:24:52.780 the People's Party platform

00:24:54.360 is the platform

00:24:55.900 that I ran on

00:24:56.900 during the leadership

00:24:57.660 of the conservative party

00:24:58.720 in 2017.

00:24:59.960 So that was,

00:25:00.600 it was easier

00:25:01.400 for us to build a party

00:25:02.520 with ideas.

00:25:03.480 I took that platform.

00:25:04.360 So that platform

00:25:05.820 was very well-received

00:25:08.600 by conservative members

00:25:10.500 at that time

00:25:11.220 and now it's well-received

00:25:12.520 with a lot of Canadians.

00:25:14.160 But yes,

00:25:15.000 my leadership,

00:25:15.920 I believe that

00:25:16.580 after the election,

00:25:17.880 I'm ready to ask

00:25:19.740 a question to our members

00:25:20.840 if they want me

00:25:21.800 as a leader or not.

00:25:23.200 I think you're right.

00:25:24.960 It would be a good time

00:25:26.060 to do that.

00:25:27.620 What is it that you think

00:25:29.060 is the real driving force

00:25:31.240 of your support

00:25:32.120 this election?

00:25:32.660 Because you weren't

00:25:33.240 in the debates

00:25:33.740 and as you know,

00:25:34.680 this is something

00:25:35.480 where millions

00:25:36.020 and millions

00:25:36.440 of Canadians tune in.

00:25:37.600 You were in 2019

00:25:38.660 and still managed

00:25:39.600 to get 1.6%

00:25:40.820 of the vote nationally.

00:25:42.220 This time around,

00:25:43.020 how is your message

00:25:43.900 getting out to people

00:25:44.960 when you haven't

00:25:45.900 for the most part

00:25:46.960 been given the attention

00:25:47.800 by the mainstream media?

00:25:48.820 It's very difficult.

00:25:50.280 It's very difficult.

00:25:51.800 Actually,

00:25:52.820 the mainstream media

00:25:54.360 in your host

00:25:55.920 in the beginning

00:25:56.860 of that campaign

00:25:57.600 and now they are doing,

00:25:59.560 they try to give us

00:26:01.200 more visibility

00:26:02.160 or coverage,

00:26:03.420 but it's not fair.

00:26:05.560 It's not a fair coverage.

00:26:07.060 They are covering

00:26:08.480 the Green Party of Canada

00:26:09.880 that right now

00:26:10.900 they're around 4%

00:26:11.960 in the polls.

00:26:13.080 They have 240 candidates.

00:26:15.260 We have 312 candidates

00:26:17.200 all across this country.

00:26:18.940 And the Green Party

00:26:20.340 and all the other

00:26:21.300 establishment political parties

00:26:23.480 share the same views

00:26:25.520 on the most important issues

00:26:26.780 for this country.

00:26:28.020 So it's an unfair coverage.

00:26:30.520 It's very difficult for us,

00:26:31.840 but we are using social media.

00:26:34.000 I'm speaking to you,

00:26:35.580 with you right now

00:26:36.600 and I try to be present

00:26:39.060 with the alternative

00:26:40.020 and independent media.

00:26:41.940 And I believe that

00:26:43.160 every media must be independent

00:26:44.580 and that's part of our proposal

00:26:46.180 to cut the fundings

00:26:47.380 to these media.

00:26:49.080 They must be independent

00:26:50.220 and not dependent

00:26:51.400 on the government.

00:26:52.640 It's more difficult.

00:26:53.600 That's why I'm doing rally

00:26:55.200 and that's why

00:26:55.980 I'm doing rallies

00:26:56.940 in little town

00:26:58.380 because I can have coverage

00:27:01.300 from the local newspaper,

00:27:03.540 the local traditional media

00:27:05.040 or the local radio station.

00:27:07.340 So for me,

00:27:08.000 the way to bypass

00:27:09.200 the mainstream media

00:27:10.660 is to travel

00:27:11.780 and do interviews

00:27:12.780 with local traditional

00:27:14.220 mainstream media

00:27:15.280 or local radio station

00:27:17.220 and with also independent media

00:27:19.320 like your media.

00:27:20.800 Thank you for your time.

00:27:21.920 Thank you.

00:27:22.340 I appreciate that.

00:27:23.080 Have a nice day.

00:27:23.560 That was PPC leader

00:27:25.980 Maxime Bernier

00:27:26.720 sitting down with me

00:27:27.940 in Alberta.

00:27:29.340 And as mentioned,

00:27:30.240 this is a PPC episode

00:27:31.540 of the show

00:27:32.060 delving into this phenomenon here.

00:27:33.820 But this is not an endorsement.

00:27:35.420 We've done this

00:27:35.920 with the Conservatives

00:27:36.740 and next week

00:27:37.340 we're going to focus

00:27:37.980 on the Maverick Party

00:27:39.440 a little bit.

00:27:40.300 But keeping along this theme,

00:27:41.620 I want to drive

00:27:42.540 into a riding here,

00:27:44.220 I guess literally

00:27:44.780 and figuratively

00:27:45.420 because I did drive

00:27:46.220 through the riding

00:27:46.880 on Friday,

00:27:48.340 that has been

00:27:49.460 one of the fascinating ones

00:27:50.880 and it's called Banff Airdrie

00:27:52.540 and this is a crowded,

00:27:54.460 crowded field.

00:27:56.060 You have the major parties

00:27:57.400 of course all running candidates

00:27:58.760 then you've also got

00:27:59.560 the People's Party,

00:28:00.840 the Maverick Party,

00:28:01.840 you have Derek Sloan

00:28:02.840 running as an independent,

00:28:04.240 you also have two others

00:28:05.560 that are running

00:28:06.040 as independent,

00:28:06.540 so I think you've got

00:28:07.360 nine candidates in total

00:28:09.120 that are in this riding

00:28:10.620 and many of them

00:28:12.180 are taking

00:28:12.800 very conservative positions.

00:28:14.720 The incumbent

00:28:15.700 is a conservative

00:28:17.140 by the name of

00:28:18.360 Blake Richards

00:28:19.140 and I reached out

00:28:20.440 to Blake Richards

00:28:21.140 numerous times,

00:28:22.080 tried to get him

00:28:22.620 to do an interview

00:28:23.220 and would not even

00:28:24.560 give me the courtesy

00:28:25.340 of a reply,

00:28:26.360 so take from that

00:28:27.400 what you will.

00:28:28.180 But I am interested

00:28:29.000 in this riding

00:28:29.680 because it's a riding

00:28:30.600 where a conservative voter

00:28:32.040 has more choice

00:28:33.160 than anywhere else

00:28:34.300 in the country

00:28:35.080 and I spoke to

00:28:36.260 a couple of the candidates

00:28:37.200 who are vying

00:28:38.240 for that seat.

00:28:39.620 One of them is

00:28:40.320 Nadine Wellwood

00:28:41.540 who is the People's Party

00:28:42.580 candidate there.

00:28:43.600 Here's a bit of our chat.

00:28:44.920 So who are you

00:28:45.460 and what are you doing?

00:28:46.120 What are you running for?

00:28:47.460 Who am I?

00:28:48.520 Nadine Wellwood,

00:28:50.280 People's Party of Canada

00:28:51.200 candidate for Banff Airdrie

00:28:52.500 and what am I doing?

00:28:54.120 I asked myself

00:28:54.960 that many times.

00:28:57.600 We needed a change.

00:28:59.260 We have to have somebody

00:29:00.280 who's going to defend

00:29:01.140 our freedoms

00:29:01.980 and our rights.

00:29:03.420 I'm a chartered

00:29:04.140 investment manager.

00:29:05.220 Every time I listen

00:29:06.040 to Trudeau sing

00:29:07.680 Aaron O'Toole

00:29:09.020 make more promises

00:29:09.940 with money

00:29:10.440 we don't have,

00:29:11.440 it just hurts me.

00:29:13.580 So we have to get back

00:29:15.480 to less government,

00:29:16.660 not more

00:29:17.160 and, you know,

00:29:18.820 decided that

00:29:19.560 in 2019

00:29:20.860 I understood

00:29:22.200 the direction

00:29:22.820 that Canada

00:29:23.300 was headed in

00:29:24.000 and got involved.

00:29:25.080 When I heard

00:29:25.640 Maxime speak

00:29:27.240 I just kind of went,

00:29:28.100 I did,

00:29:28.660 I called him

00:29:29.060 my unicorn of politics

00:29:30.200 because I went

00:29:30.760 this guy's a politician,

00:29:31.920 he doesn't sound

00:29:32.740 like a politician,

00:29:33.680 he's not speaking

00:29:34.420 like a politician,

00:29:36.280 common sense

00:29:37.400 was prevailing

00:29:38.360 and, you know,

00:29:40.600 here I am again

00:29:41.300 in 2021

00:29:42.100 doing it all over

00:29:43.380 and with a much

00:29:44.940 bigger reception

00:29:46.500 this time around

00:29:47.520 as people I think

00:29:48.420 realize that

00:29:49.460 Canada is at a crossroads.

00:29:52.240 Well let me ask you

00:29:52.840 about that

00:29:53.240 because in 2019

00:29:54.360 the PPC was new,

00:29:55.820 Maxime Bernier

00:29:56.380 had a fair bit of momentum,

00:29:57.540 I think there was

00:29:58.020 a lot of curiosity

00:30:00.160 about what this party

00:30:01.100 was going to be

00:30:01.860 and the result of it

00:30:02.880 was Maxime losing his seat

00:30:04.240 and the party getting

00:30:05.000 I think 1.6% of the vote.

00:30:06.820 1.2.

00:30:07.480 1.2%,

00:30:08.280 alright,

00:30:09.240 an honest politician then,

00:30:10.480 but why do you think

00:30:11.580 it's different

00:30:12.160 two years later

00:30:13.400 sufficiently that

00:30:15.080 things could turn

00:30:16.040 and again I should

00:30:16.760 preface that by saying

00:30:17.440 we are seeing in the polls

00:30:18.480 much higher support

00:30:19.640 for PPC

00:30:20.140 but I'm curious about

00:30:22.260 why two years later

00:30:23.880 that is different

00:30:24.500 you think?

00:30:25.120 Well for one,

00:30:25.740 we're not a new party anymore.

00:30:27.480 You know,

00:30:27.700 people have

00:30:28.480 and are hearing

00:30:29.620 about us again and again.

00:30:31.340 For two,

00:30:32.020 Max has been

00:30:32.920 out on the road

00:30:34.100 all throughout Canada

00:30:35.360 and promoting

00:30:37.160 the no more lockdowns

00:30:38.860 you know,

00:30:39.200 and fighting for

00:30:40.300 individuals' rights

00:30:41.320 and freedoms.

00:30:42.460 So people I think

00:30:43.120 are beginning to understand

00:30:44.060 this is not about politics.

00:30:45.720 There's something

00:30:46.100 much bigger at play here

00:30:47.380 and you know,

00:30:48.740 right now

00:30:49.560 this election

00:30:50.120 is not about NDP,

00:30:51.440 it's not about Conservative,

00:30:52.440 it's not about Liberal,

00:30:53.380 it's not about the Green Party.

00:30:54.940 The PPC

00:30:55.820 is consolidating

00:30:57.260 all of the votes

00:30:59.100 across Canada.

00:31:00.380 People who want

00:31:01.240 to maintain

00:31:02.560 what made Canada great,

00:31:04.200 what makes us great

00:31:05.260 and that's our

00:31:05.800 individual rights

00:31:06.540 and freedoms.

00:31:07.520 I mean,

00:31:07.720 if you look at

00:31:08.240 John Diefenbaker,

00:31:10.020 the Honorable John

00:31:10.740 Diefenbaker,

00:31:11.340 in 1960,

00:31:12.360 he delivered

00:31:12.780 one of the most

00:31:13.520 powerful speeches.

00:31:15.080 You know,

00:31:15.360 I am Canadian,

00:31:16.660 I'm not afraid,

00:31:18.040 you know,

00:31:18.360 and that's what

00:31:20.260 we're up against today.

00:31:21.380 We have every politician,

00:31:23.320 Aaron O'Toole,

00:31:24.220 every leader

00:31:24.780 of every mainstream

00:31:26.020 party

00:31:27.120 that has said,

00:31:28.480 you don't have the right

00:31:29.420 to make the choice,

00:31:30.340 your own medical choices.

00:31:31.920 And Max is the only one

00:31:33.240 that's standing up

00:31:33.920 against that

00:31:34.560 and we are consolidating

00:31:36.120 votes all across

00:31:37.200 the country,

00:31:37.780 not just the West,

00:31:39.040 not just the East,

00:31:40.060 the entire country

00:31:41.140 based upon values,

00:31:42.840 based upon principles,

00:31:44.140 common sense principles.

00:31:45.580 And people are

00:31:46.300 relating to that.

00:31:47.580 I think in 2019,

00:31:48.520 there was a perception

00:31:49.600 of the People's Party

00:31:50.620 that it was this

00:31:51.440 sort of ultra-conservative

00:31:53.200 splinter from the

00:31:54.340 Conservative Party of Canada.

00:31:56.000 And obviously,

00:31:57.060 Maxime Bernier

00:31:57.660 has used the line

00:31:58.520 that the Conservative Party

00:31:59.320 of Canada

00:31:59.680 isn't a Conservative Party

00:32:00.780 anymore.

00:32:01.100 But the coalition

00:32:02.860 seems to be very different

00:32:04.080 this time around.

00:32:05.060 And I think you can see

00:32:05.860 that in the polling numbers.

00:32:06.860 Conservatives are

00:32:07.500 leading the polls

00:32:08.520 in a lot of cases,

00:32:09.440 but PBC is still

00:32:10.300 managing to get,

00:32:11.180 you know,

00:32:11.560 10, 11, 12 percent

00:32:12.720 in some cases,

00:32:13.520 certainly when you

00:32:14.160 look in Alberta.

00:32:15.440 Where is that support

00:32:16.380 coming from?

00:32:16.940 Because it can't just be

00:32:17.880 from right-of-center voters.

00:32:19.700 No, it's not.

00:32:20.820 It's values-based.

00:32:22.100 It's principled-based.

00:32:23.120 So people this time around

00:32:24.300 understand that

00:32:25.300 this is not an election

00:32:26.660 of, you know,

00:32:28.120 Justin Trudeau

00:32:28.740 or Aaron O'Toole.

00:32:29.580 This is an election

00:32:30.240 of whether or not

00:32:30.760 we choose to live

00:32:31.520 in a free country

00:32:32.340 or you're going to choose

00:32:33.800 to live under

00:32:34.500 a totalitarian government.

00:32:36.640 And that's the part

00:32:37.700 that is rallying,

00:32:38.960 I think,

00:32:39.520 our numbers.

00:32:41.260 We're uniting people

00:32:42.740 from across

00:32:43.480 all political spectrums.

00:32:45.160 That's the beauty of this.

00:32:46.660 You know,

00:32:46.860 whereas Justin Trudeau

00:32:48.040 and Aaron O'Toole

00:32:48.760 are saying they're all

00:32:49.440 trying to divide the country

00:32:50.540 into vaccinated,

00:32:51.460 unvaccinated,

00:32:52.280 east versus west.

00:32:53.860 And the PPC has said

00:32:56.040 we're not going to do that.

00:32:57.580 You know,

00:32:58.000 we stand for values.

00:32:59.280 We stand for principles.

00:33:01.080 The founding principles,

00:33:02.980 you know,

00:33:03.460 of Canadian values,

00:33:05.520 freedom,

00:33:05.960 fairness,

00:33:06.360 respect,

00:33:06.680 and responsibility.

00:33:07.980 And that's what people

00:33:09.160 are attracted to

00:33:10.380 and that's what people

00:33:11.060 are coming,

00:33:12.080 you know,

00:33:12.960 in support of.

00:33:14.220 One of the reasons

00:33:15.040 I'm interested

00:33:15.760 in BAM Fairjury

00:33:16.860 as a riding

00:33:17.520 is because of just

00:33:18.260 how many choices

00:33:19.060 voters have here.

00:33:20.540 It's getting a little bit crazy.

00:33:22.040 You've not just got

00:33:22.820 the Conservative Party,

00:33:23.980 the Liberal,

00:33:24.380 the NDP,

00:33:24.760 the PPC,

00:33:25.640 you've got

00:33:25.960 the Maverick Party,

00:33:27.140 you've got,

00:33:27.500 I think,

00:33:27.680 three independents,

00:33:28.620 including one who's

00:33:29.420 fairly high profile

00:33:30.820 within the Conservative movement

00:33:31.880 and that's Derek Sloan.

00:33:33.580 First off,

00:33:34.400 why has BAM Fairjury

00:33:35.560 just become this

00:33:36.480 clown car of candidates

00:33:37.900 to use a semi-pejorative term?

00:33:40.040 I think there's a number

00:33:43.180 of reasons.

00:33:44.520 You know,

00:33:44.940 Derek Sloan parachuted

00:33:46.080 his way in here

00:33:46.960 from Ontario.

00:33:48.080 You know,

00:33:48.220 he has one foot in Ontario

00:33:49.380 still with his wife

00:33:50.340 running in his old riding.

00:33:52.640 He abandoned

00:33:53.420 his constituents there

00:33:55.920 because he didn't feel

00:33:57.400 he could win

00:33:58.280 and, you know,

00:33:59.900 he's here to use

00:34:01.020 Albertans

00:34:01.780 and the Albertan

00:34:02.840 Conservative vote

00:34:03.720 and he has a personal vendetta

00:34:05.620 and he has said this himself

00:34:07.180 on a number of interviews.

00:34:09.440 He has a personal vendetta

00:34:10.600 with Blake Richards

00:34:11.360 and I agree,

00:34:13.480 Blake Richards has to go.

00:34:15.100 He has offered

00:34:16.080 no value

00:34:17.260 to this riding.

00:34:18.780 He's running for a fifth term.

00:34:20.960 You know,

00:34:21.380 what more does he have to offer?

00:34:23.780 What can he contribute from here?

00:34:26.040 Very little.

00:34:27.220 Very little.

00:34:27.940 And he's the whip.

00:34:28.960 So not only has he

00:34:30.280 taken the voice away

00:34:31.520 from Banff-Airdrie

00:34:33.480 constituents and residents,

00:34:35.120 but he's the one

00:34:36.660 responsible for silencing

00:34:37.960 our other 33

00:34:38.980 MPs,

00:34:40.900 Albertan MPs

00:34:41.940 and, you know,

00:34:42.900 we only get 34 seats.

00:34:45.400 That's it.

00:34:45.880 That's all Alberta gets

00:34:46.700 and we were already

00:34:47.180 complaining about

00:34:47.780 not getting enough representation

00:34:48.840 and Derek Sloan

00:34:50.320 comes to take one.

00:34:51.900 You know,

00:34:52.240 I was very clear

00:34:53.460 in my response

00:34:55.860 to Derek Sloan

00:34:56.620 in his announcement.

00:34:57.540 You know,

00:34:57.780 people say I was a bit harsh.

00:34:59.300 No, it wasn't.

00:35:00.200 It really wasn't.

00:35:01.120 I'm not going to stand by

00:35:02.160 as an Albertan

00:35:02.940 of 16 years.

00:35:03.960 I've raised my family here.

00:35:05.720 You know,

00:35:05.900 my husband was born

00:35:06.720 and raised in Calgary.

00:35:08.340 This is my home.

00:35:09.860 These are,

00:35:10.220 this is my family.

00:35:11.600 And I'm not going

00:35:12.420 to allow anybody

00:35:13.080 from Ontario

00:35:13.820 come in and say,

00:35:14.840 oh, well,

00:35:15.140 I'm here to save you.

00:35:16.460 Step aside.

00:35:17.760 So he underestimated,

00:35:20.420 I think,

00:35:21.340 the strength of Albertans

00:35:22.300 and the grit

00:35:22.760 we actually have.

00:35:24.140 But yeah,

00:35:24.720 he has a personal

00:35:25.440 vendetta with Blake Richards.

00:35:27.480 It's all about

00:35:28.260 Derek Sloan,

00:35:29.160 regrettably.

00:35:29.800 And he'll have to answer

00:35:30.900 for that in day 34.

00:35:32.040 You know,

00:35:32.560 if he costs,

00:35:33.520 you know,

00:35:34.080 somebody like myself,

00:35:35.060 for example,

00:35:36.220 the opportunity

00:35:37.660 to have uprooted

00:35:39.080 Blake Richards.

00:35:40.800 Now,

00:35:41.260 when you talk about

00:35:42.300 an Ontarian coming in 0.99

00:35:43.840 and taking something

00:35:44.960 from Alberta

00:35:45.540 or trying to speak

00:35:46.140 for Albertan,

00:35:46.780 certainly something

00:35:47.620 we've seen in Canadian

00:35:48.380 politics time and time again,

00:35:50.100 the Maverick Party

00:35:51.100 makes the same claim

00:35:51.980 about the PPC,

00:35:52.820 that at the end of the day,

00:35:53.580 your leader,

00:35:54.020 Maxime Bernier,

00:35:54.740 is a Quebecer,

00:35:55.460 not someone who's going

00:35:56.380 to be looking out

00:35:56.980 for the Western interest.

00:35:58.500 So what is your response

00:35:59.320 to that?

00:36:00.040 Jay Hill's from BC.

00:36:00.720 What does BC have to do

00:36:03.340 in common,

00:36:04.000 anything in common?

00:36:05.180 So let's take a look

00:36:06.080 at the Lower Mainland

00:36:07.000 in BC.

00:36:08.020 What does that have to do

00:36:08.940 anything in common

00:36:10.360 with Alberta,

00:36:11.340 rural Alberta?

00:36:12.240 Absolutely nothing.

00:36:13.600 Right?

00:36:13.820 I am not.

00:36:15.120 So this is the thing.

00:36:16.140 Max props me up.

00:36:18.160 Max supports me.

00:36:19.180 Max comes here

00:36:20.180 and says,

00:36:20.940 Nadine,

00:36:21.280 you're on the stage.

00:36:22.040 We stand side by side.

00:36:24.560 Right?

00:36:25.140 And he supports that.

00:36:26.320 He's supporting his candidates.

00:36:27.780 He's not here

00:36:30.020 promoting himself

00:36:30.940 necessarily as the leader.

00:36:32.740 Of course he is.

00:36:34.060 You know,

00:36:34.240 he's the leader of the party,

00:36:35.300 but he's not,

00:36:36.240 he doesn't take

00:36:37.140 all the limelight.

00:36:39.000 Right?

00:36:39.280 He's propping up

00:36:40.100 the Alberta

00:36:40.720 and he says,

00:36:42.240 you know,

00:36:42.560 I asked him,

00:36:43.400 I said,

00:36:43.540 Max,

00:36:43.700 you're going to silence me?

00:36:44.840 You know,

00:36:45.060 in our video,

00:36:45.800 Max is like,

00:36:46.320 good luck with that.

00:36:48.720 No,

00:36:49.240 of course not.

00:36:50.020 You know,

00:36:50.160 he gives his MPs

00:36:51.040 the freedom to speak.

00:36:52.140 I can sit here

00:36:52.780 and have whatever conversation

00:36:53.880 I want with you.

00:36:55.620 Max doesn't need to vet it.

00:36:57.140 He doesn't have to approve it.

00:36:59.900 As long as I agree

00:37:01.120 with freedom,

00:37:01.860 fairness,

00:37:02.220 respect,

00:37:02.500 and responsibility,

00:37:03.940 you know,

00:37:04.820 he understands that,

00:37:05.900 you know,

00:37:06.300 MPs have the right

00:37:07.420 to represent their constituents

00:37:08.580 and their province first.

00:37:10.180 And that's what I will do.

00:37:11.300 So the Maverick Party,

00:37:12.380 regrettably,

00:37:13.380 they're dividing the country.

00:37:16.100 East versus West.

00:37:17.160 The issues as they relate

00:37:18.760 specifically to this election

00:37:20.400 are not East versus West issues.

00:37:23.700 Some of the most strict lockdowns

00:37:26.980 occurred in the East,

00:37:28.400 Ontario and Quebec.

00:37:30.280 And what the PPC again is doing

00:37:32.100 is we are uniting

00:37:33.380 all those voices

00:37:34.960 across the country.

00:37:37.800 And we are bringing

00:37:39.000 everybody together.

00:37:40.200 Why would we alienate friends

00:37:41.940 that we have

00:37:42.760 in Eastern Canada

00:37:44.060 or the Atlantic Canada

00:37:45.760 or the Maritime?

00:37:47.160 or in BC?

00:37:49.820 So that's the big difference.

00:37:51.560 And for me,

00:37:52.260 I'm not a Western MP.

00:37:53.780 I have nothing in common

00:37:54.780 with the lower mainland of BC.

00:37:57.380 I'm here to represent

00:37:58.340 my constituents.

00:37:59.340 I'm here to represent

00:37:59.940 my province.

00:38:00.820 And then everything else

00:38:01.960 comes thereafter.

00:38:03.520 One of the challenges

00:38:04.700 in being a new party,

00:38:06.740 being a young party,

00:38:07.540 is that the opportunities

00:38:08.400 to get your message out

00:38:10.620 aren't there.

00:38:11.060 We look at this week,

00:38:12.220 of course,

00:38:12.840 Maxime Bernier being excluded

00:38:14.140 from the leaders debate.

00:38:16.080 He's also,

00:38:17.160 running as an outsider

00:38:18.100 at the same time.

00:38:19.060 And in some cases,

00:38:19.920 it may be entirely possible

00:38:21.120 that not being in the debate

00:38:22.080 works out better for him.

00:38:23.220 But I'm curious

00:38:24.200 if you're finding

00:38:25.140 people are actually aware

00:38:26.960 of the PPC

00:38:27.580 or if you're having to,

00:38:28.780 when you go knocking on doors,

00:38:30.440 introduce this party

00:38:31.400 and this idea to them.

00:38:33.000 Yeah,

00:38:33.260 there's not as much.

00:38:36.140 We're seeing more

00:38:37.320 and more support.

00:38:38.100 I have people coming

00:38:39.120 to find me,

00:38:40.440 which that didn't happen

00:38:41.640 the last time around.

00:38:43.200 So I'd say there's still

00:38:44.440 probably about 30,

00:38:45.320 40% of people

00:38:46.780 who have not heard

00:38:47.960 of the PPC,

00:38:48.880 which is probably

00:38:49.440 our biggest challenge.

00:38:50.840 Because once we have

00:38:52.040 an opportunity

00:38:52.520 to speak to people

00:38:53.580 and they see our platform,

00:38:55.780 you know,

00:38:56.000 CBC, for example,

00:38:57.260 and their,

00:38:58.000 you know,

00:38:58.640 the National,

00:38:59.440 their little clip

00:39:00.280 that they did,

00:39:01.280 you know,

00:39:01.580 they're sitting there

00:39:02.240 and they're talking

00:39:02.700 to people

00:39:03.040 and the one gentleman,

00:39:03.980 he's a veteran,

00:39:04.880 looking at our platform

00:39:05.920 and he's like,

00:39:06.400 yes, yes, yes.

00:39:07.520 It's kind of hard

00:39:08.080 to disagree with freedom,

00:39:09.140 fairness, respect

00:39:09.760 and responsibility.

00:39:10.720 It's hard to disagree

00:39:11.400 with giving people

00:39:12.280 the right to make

00:39:13.020 their own medical choices.

00:39:14.380 It's hard to disagree

00:39:15.180 with fiscal responsibility.

00:39:17.160 You know,

00:39:17.320 we can kill this country

00:39:18.200 one of two ways.

00:39:19.480 The first is to destroy

00:39:20.720 its freedoms

00:39:21.320 and that's the destruction

00:39:22.740 of democracy

00:39:23.400 very quickly.

00:39:24.460 The other one

00:39:25.060 is the destruction

00:39:25.940 of fiscal responsibility.

00:39:27.720 And if you look

00:39:28.380 at even Aaron O'Toole,

00:39:29.340 who's going to print

00:39:30.080 another $100 billion

00:39:31.080 and spend $100 billion

00:39:34.720 in the next 10 years

00:39:35.720 and then he claims

00:39:36.320 he can balance

00:39:36.960 the budget after that

00:39:38.080 without making any cutting

00:39:39.000 any expenses,

00:39:42.020 I sit here

00:39:42.620 as a chartered

00:39:43.120 investment manager

00:39:43.840 and it just baffles me.

00:39:45.120 He's like,

00:39:45.260 explain that to me

00:39:46.180 because there's revenues

00:39:47.260 and there's expenses.

00:39:48.760 So if you're not

00:39:49.460 going to cut expenses,

00:39:50.380 then what you're saying

00:39:51.000 is you're going

00:39:51.360 to increase taxes

00:39:52.420 or you're going

00:39:53.700 to continue to print money.

00:39:54.980 Well, printing money

00:39:55.740 is the cause of inflation.

00:39:57.620 So you have 31% increase

00:39:59.120 right now in food expenses.

00:40:01.220 You have fuel gone up

00:40:03.120 because of carbon taxes.

00:40:05.040 You've got housing.

00:40:06.760 Housing is a direct,

00:40:07.680 you could cut 20 to 40%

00:40:09.160 of housing costs tomorrow

00:40:10.560 by getting the government

00:40:11.380 out of the way.

00:40:12.380 None of them are proposing

00:40:13.820 smaller, less government.

00:40:16.120 Government is the biggest expense

00:40:17.500 to Canadians.

00:40:18.520 So let's cut it.

00:40:19.860 Let's cut it.

00:40:20.860 And that's how we get back

00:40:22.200 to affordable living.

00:40:24.140 You mentioned earlier

00:40:25.320 the possibility that,

00:40:26.760 you know,

00:40:27.000 Derek Sloan is one example

00:40:28.200 could split enough votes

00:40:29.220 from you that it cost you

00:40:30.500 the chance to take down

00:40:32.180 Blake Richards.

00:40:32.760 With so many candidates here,

00:40:34.580 vote splitting is a very real concern

00:40:37.140 beyond what it could be

00:40:38.300 in other ridings.

00:40:39.320 And I'm curious

00:40:39.880 what the nightmare scenario

00:40:41.360 for you is here.

00:40:42.240 Is it that the anti-Blake Richards

00:40:44.160 vote is split

00:40:44.900 and Blake Richards loses?

00:40:46.540 Or is it that

00:40:47.120 the conservative vote

00:40:48.220 is split

00:40:48.820 and something really crazy

00:40:49.920 happens in Banff Airdrie,

00:40:51.160 which is the election

00:40:52.100 of an NDP or a Liberal?

00:40:53.980 Yeah, I don't see

00:40:55.020 the election of an NDP

00:40:56.100 or a Liberal here.

00:40:57.080 They did get 10%

00:40:58.460 and 11% respectively

00:41:00.080 in the last election.

00:41:01.880 And I don't think

00:41:02.500 the candidates here

00:41:03.380 are strong,

00:41:04.240 to be honest.

00:41:05.960 So, and I think people

00:41:07.600 in Alberta

00:41:08.140 are pretty angry

00:41:09.380 and upset with,

00:41:10.400 you know,

00:41:10.600 the socialist ideology,

00:41:12.380 especially with the Liberal

00:41:13.860 and the Conservative.

00:41:14.860 I think people

00:41:15.440 have a hard time

00:41:16.280 realizing that Aaron O'Toole

00:41:17.820 shares that same ideology.

00:41:19.340 And I think that's just more,

00:41:20.700 you know,

00:41:21.460 deliberate willingness

00:41:23.480 to overlook

00:41:24.340 because they want

00:41:25.500 to think that

00:41:26.340 the Conservative Party

00:41:27.100 is still Conservative.

00:41:28.980 But in reality,

00:41:30.900 seeing a Liberal

00:41:32.000 or a Conservative

00:41:32.820 or an NDP

00:41:34.620 get into this writing,

00:41:35.820 Blake had 71%

00:41:36.980 of the vote.

00:41:38.100 So the bigger concern

00:41:39.900 is it would have been nicer

00:41:41.740 to have the People's Party

00:41:43.380 of Canada.

00:41:43.860 We now are polling

00:41:44.920 at 19% in Alberta.

00:41:47.220 You know,

00:41:47.560 like I said to you earlier,

00:41:50.120 you know,

00:41:50.380 for example,

00:41:50.900 with Derek Sloan,

00:41:51.980 if I were to collect,

00:41:53.140 let's say,

00:41:53.420 28% of the vote

00:41:54.660 and Derek Sloan collects

00:41:56.700 eight.

00:41:57.760 That's 36%.

00:41:58.940 That's,

00:41:59.740 you know,

00:42:00.300 half plus one

00:42:01.420 and Blake Richards

00:42:03.240 would have been out.

00:42:04.360 He's the one

00:42:04.980 that will have to answer

00:42:06.140 to Albertans

00:42:07.080 for having cost them

00:42:08.060 their opportunity

00:42:08.800 to have a strong voice

00:42:10.040 in Ottawa.

00:42:11.640 That was Nadine Wellwood,

00:42:13.680 one of the candidates

00:42:14.400 in the very crowded riding

00:42:16.140 of Banff Airdrie,

00:42:17.300 specifically

00:42:17.820 the People's Party candidate.

00:42:19.700 We'll talk to

00:42:20.360 Tarek Alnaga

00:42:21.160 of the Maverick Party

00:42:22.240 at his ranch

00:42:23.560 and I'll give you a warning.

00:42:24.460 It involved me getting

00:42:25.220 on a horse,

00:42:25.860 but that'll be next episode.

00:42:27.420 I made it off the horse.

00:42:28.280 That's how I'm back here

00:42:29.460 in the studio

00:42:29.940 to live to tell the tale,

00:42:31.820 as we say.

00:42:32.780 And just while we're

00:42:33.440 on the topic

00:42:33.960 of Alberta politics,

00:42:35.120 Alberta was the one holdout

00:42:36.880 of the vaccine passport.

00:42:38.860 Jason Kenney has said

00:42:39.860 on numerous occasions

00:42:41.060 he doesn't support it,

00:42:42.480 he won't allow it.

00:42:43.660 And then just this week,

00:42:45.260 yesterday,

00:42:45.740 as a matter of fact,

00:42:46.520 this press release

00:42:47.340 came out

00:42:47.860 from the Alberta government.

00:42:49.200 New card-sized

00:42:52.120 COVID-19 vaccination record.

00:42:55.320 Albertans can soon

00:42:56.220 get their proof

00:42:56.820 of vaccination

00:42:57.300 on a new convenient

00:42:58.260 card-sized printout

00:42:59.520 through My Health Record.

00:43:00.880 So it's not a vaccine passport,

00:43:02.360 it's a new card-sized

00:43:04.180 COVID-19 vaccination record.

00:43:06.300 Totally different thing.

00:43:07.420 Not a passport at all.

00:43:08.640 It's card-sized.

00:43:09.640 Passports aren't card-sized,

00:43:10.800 right?

00:43:11.380 Yeah.

00:43:12.160 So even Alberta

00:43:12.960 is now distributing

00:43:13.800 a vaccine passport

00:43:14.800 by another name.

00:43:16.760 Now, I'm not going to get

00:43:18.040 too outraged at this

00:43:19.420 because the provincial government

00:43:21.680 basically had no choice.

00:43:23.640 And before you jump down

00:43:24.980 my throat on this,

00:43:25.860 just hear me out.

00:43:27.080 I'm against the stratification

00:43:28.880 of society.

00:43:29.640 I'm against the segregation

00:43:30.480 of society,

00:43:31.440 especially down the lines

00:43:33.580 of vaccination status.

00:43:35.020 However, as I've said,

00:43:36.880 it was always going to be

00:43:38.100 inevitable for international travel.

00:43:40.320 Canadians shouldn't be denied

00:43:41.760 the right to go to countries

00:43:42.920 that do require proof

00:43:43.980 of vaccination

00:43:44.480 vaccination if they want to

00:43:46.060 and if those countries

00:43:46.860 are otherwise prepared

00:43:47.840 to allow them

00:43:48.540 because they don't have

00:43:49.580 the ability to prove it.

00:43:52.000 Now, the problem is

00:43:53.180 the federal government

00:43:54.160 has used this

00:43:55.240 as a bit of a weapon.

00:43:56.280 The Trudeau government

00:43:57.060 has turned to the provinces

00:43:58.120 and said,

00:43:58.860 well, it's going to take us

00:43:59.660 a while to come up

00:44:00.360 with a national one,

00:44:01.400 so why don't you guys

00:44:02.640 come up with provincial ones

00:44:03.820 and then we'll put

00:44:04.860 like a federal sticker

00:44:06.080 on it basically.

00:44:06.960 Not a sticker,

00:44:07.600 but we'll put a federal

00:44:08.440 endorsement on it

00:44:09.460 that says,

00:44:10.060 yes, the government of Canada

00:44:11.200 has certified your

00:44:12.040 vaccination status,

00:44:13.100 which meant all of a sudden

00:44:14.920 Trudeau was staring

00:44:15.760 at Jason Kenney

00:44:16.620 and saying,

00:44:17.700 well, if you're not

00:44:18.400 going to do something,

00:44:19.360 then I guess Albertans

00:44:20.580 just aren't going

00:44:21.000 to be able to travel

00:44:21.740 and at a certain point

00:44:22.860 you need to be able

00:44:23.760 to prove this

00:44:24.420 in certain contexts.

00:44:26.060 Now, what Alberta

00:44:27.440 better not do

00:44:28.560 is go the route

00:44:29.500 of Quebec

00:44:30.300 and Ontario

00:44:31.180 and other provinces

00:44:32.020 and start making

00:44:33.140 your ability

00:44:33.720 to dine at a restaurant

00:44:35.000 contingent

00:44:35.740 on your vaccination status.

00:44:37.360 That's the real

00:44:38.360 sort of vaccine passport fight

00:44:39.980 is governments

00:44:41.100 that insist on controlling.

00:44:43.500 Governments that insist

00:44:44.380 on controlling

00:44:45.000 where the vaccinated

00:44:45.940 and unvaccinated

00:44:46.880 are allowed

00:44:47.960 or not allowed to go.

00:44:50.000 But it also means

00:44:51.020 you have to be on guard

00:44:51.920 for these things.

00:44:52.620 I mean, even if I've given

00:44:53.720 somewhat of a defense,

00:44:55.120 not an enthusiastic defense,

00:44:56.800 but somewhat of a defense

00:44:58.120 of what Alberta's done,

00:44:59.600 at the end of the day,

00:45:00.660 just call a spade a spade.

00:45:02.040 This is not a card-sized

00:45:03.320 COVID-19 vaccination record.

00:45:05.240 It's a vaccine passport 0.99

00:45:06.440 through and through.

00:45:07.600 We've got to wrap things up here.

00:45:08.860 We will have more

00:45:09.720 federal politics talk

00:45:10.840 on the next edition

00:45:11.920 of The Andrew Lawton Show

00:45:13.020 as we count down

00:45:14.300 the few remaining days

00:45:15.720 to the election on Monday.

00:45:17.940 Thank you, God bless,

00:45:18.980 and good day to you all.

00:45:20.580 Thanks for listening

00:45:21.220 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:45:22.740 Support the program

00:45:23.460 by donating to True North

00:45:24.700 at www.tnc.news.

Juno News - September 15, 2021

Mainstream media is starting to regret ignoring the People's Party

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