Juno News - Marco Mendicino is spreading falsehoods to justify Emergencies Act

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

00:00:05.280 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:10.780 Coming up, the Liberals are making things up to justify their invocation of the Emergencies Act.

00:00:15.900 We'll talk to Conservative MP Raquel Dancho,

00:00:18.460 and later we'll look at the Maverick leadership race in Alberta with candidate Tarek Elnega.

00:00:23.540 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:27.020 Hey, welcome along.

00:00:29.120 This is Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show here on True North, the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:00:34.180 Going back to a pre-taped edition of the program, because right now I'm actually on my way back to Alberta.

00:00:39.980 I was just there last week for one conference.

00:00:41.880 Now I'm going back for another conference, as I'll talk about later on today.

00:00:46.100 This is why people oftentimes assume that I am an Albertan, and I say no, it's just the Alberta sensibility.

00:00:52.100 But because I was going to be on a plane, I didn't think my seatmate would like it

00:00:54.820 if I started doing a live podcast on, you know, Air Canada's Wi-Fi,

00:00:58.940 if that is good enough to sustain a live podcast,

00:01:01.580 which I highly doubt if it's as good as other aspects of airline service.

00:01:05.700 But nevertheless, we decided to make sure we had a show today.

00:01:08.840 We'd pre-record something for you.

00:01:10.380 And that show is today, and there is a lot to talk about

00:01:13.760 because we have the Emergencies Act inquiry,

00:01:16.500 which we discussed a little bit a couple of days ago.

00:01:18.860 But it's been fascinating to hear how the Liberals are defending the inquiry,

00:01:24.440 specifically Marco Mendicino.

00:01:26.920 Now, Marco Mendicino, he's the public safety minister.

00:01:29.840 He took over for Bill Blair.

00:01:32.360 And actually, he is a strong contender for being even worse than Bill Blair

00:01:37.860 as public safety minister, which I was not convinced was possible.

00:01:42.040 But part of it is because he just makes things up.

00:01:45.080 He just makes things up.

00:01:46.240 I remember during the Freedom Convoy, after the Emergencies Act had been invoked,

00:01:51.120 he gave this press conference, and I can't play the clip because it's like six minutes long.

00:01:55.640 But at the beginning, he talks about how there was this violent cell

00:01:59.420 that the government had evidence of that was going to be committing acts of violence in Ottawa,

00:02:04.060 and they had access to weapons, and it was going to be terrible.

00:02:06.940 And when reporters asked him about it, it took a few tries.

00:02:11.320 He eventually walked it back for evidence.

00:02:14.140 He said, well, I've seen some stuff on social media.

00:02:18.040 Really?

00:02:18.480 That was enough.

00:02:20.220 Okay.

00:02:20.920 Well, now we have Marco Mendicino citing things that are demonstrably false.

00:02:26.320 Take a look at this line he gave in the House of Commons committee hearing the other day.

00:02:31.580 When residents can't get to work, when they can't take their children to school,

00:02:37.040 when seniors can't get around because public transportation can't get to them,

00:02:41.840 when people who live in apartment buildings find that their front doors are locked

00:02:47.480 and that fires are set in the hallways and corridors.

00:02:51.780 Point of order, Speaker.

00:02:52.640 It is...

00:02:53.580 Yes, Mr. Mott.

00:02:56.120 That statement right there has been proven false by the Ottawa Police Service,

00:03:01.140 and there is no connection to the protesters whatsoever,

00:03:03.720 and for this minister to suggest that is absolutely unacceptable of this committee.

00:03:07.820 Now, that was Conservative MP from Medicine Hat, Glenn Motts,

00:03:11.360 who jumped in there and pointed out, and I'm glad he did,

00:03:14.040 that Ottawa police themselves have said this is a complete load of nonsense.

00:03:18.520 They didn't use those words, but they said this arson incident

00:03:21.460 had absolutely nothing to do with the convoy.

00:03:25.340 This was a myth that was perpetuated by the media.

00:03:28.440 It was repeated time and time again by Liberal members of Parliament.

00:03:31.680 Just take a look at this reel that my colleague Cosman Georgia did over at True North.

00:03:37.120 Of all of the politicians who cited this fake thing, this fake story as fact.

00:03:44.980 Violence is commonplace.

00:03:48.080 We saw an example of this violence, an attempted arson downtown of an apartment building

00:03:54.260 where people started a fire.

00:03:57.800 When they exited, they taped the door.

00:04:01.680 And an attempted arson, all of which, Madam Speaker, was caught on video.

00:04:06.780 It has been an illegal occupation that has been harassing people in residential areas of Ottawa.

00:04:12.360 People don't feel safe in their own homes.

00:04:14.520 There have been reports of attempted arson.

00:04:16.720 Canadians are also concerned hearing reports of an attempted arson

00:04:21.300 in the lobby of a residential apartment building.

00:04:24.300 Because we see hate speech, we see illegal acts such as arson.

00:04:29.980 The incessant honking, the arson attempts.

00:04:33.900 The incessant honking, the arson attempts.

00:04:37.620 An attempted arson of a residential building in the occupation area.

00:04:41.540 We've seen the active sabotage of 911 emergency call lines and even an attempted arson.

00:04:47.900 Other alleged crimes have even been more egregious.

00:04:51.100 Ottawa police are investigating the attempted arson of a downtown apartment building.

00:04:54.320 The situation persists, fuelled in part by foreign funding.

00:04:57.780 We saw reports of attempted arson in some of the buildings.

00:05:00.880 And it certainly does not include arson or pushing into a residential apartment building

00:05:05.760 and barricading the exits with handcuffs.

00:05:08.280 The arrests for conspiracy to murder attempted arson of a residential building.

00:05:12.820 Over the past three weeks, we have watched assaults attempted arson.

00:05:16.420 They have been living in fear.

00:05:18.740 Fear that their apartment buildings may be torched by arson.

00:05:21.960 We've seen assaults, attempted arson, widespread harassment.

00:05:25.340 There's been attempted arson with the attempt of handcuffing doors shut

00:05:30.460 so that if a fire started, people would be burned alive.

00:05:34.020 Death threats, an attempted arson.

00:05:37.380 A building had an attempted arson where the doors were taped shut.

00:05:42.200 Another building had occupiers attempting to handcuff the doors.

00:05:46.140 There are reports of attempted arson, bomb threats.

00:05:48.780 Hate crimes, misogyny, arson.

00:05:51.960 Horns honked all night long.

00:05:54.660 We saw thefts and attempted arson.

00:05:57.880 I absolutely love that reel, by the way.

00:06:00.300 But to their credit, and I'm not going to give them much credit,

00:06:02.800 but to their credit compared to Marco Mendicino,

00:06:05.020 a lot of them said that before Ottawa police came out and said,

00:06:07.820 yeah, no, no, no, this had nothing to do with the convoy.

00:06:10.420 Mendicino should know better.

00:06:11.960 So he either doesn't know, and he's probably the worst public safety minister you could have

00:06:16.520 in a period which the government says is a national emergency,

00:06:19.720 or he doesn't care, which means he is making it up.

00:06:24.300 He is throwing around and uttering falsehoods, things he knows to be false,

00:06:28.360 because the government has its back up against a wall

00:06:30.720 and has to justify its invocation of the Emergencies Act,

00:06:34.100 and to do so, they evidently need to concoct evidence

00:06:36.980 because they don't have any real evidence.

00:06:40.980 You can say it was disruptive, which it was.

00:06:43.680 You can say it was annoying, which to a lot of people it was.

00:06:46.900 But what you can't say is that the convoy created a national emergency.

00:06:51.580 Even if you want to say that what happened at the border crossings in Cootes,

00:06:55.080 in Emerson, in Windsor, rose to the level of an emergency,

00:06:58.620 that would be a tough case to make,

00:07:00.180 because provinces and municipalities cleared those out on their own.

00:07:04.280 People need to remember this.

00:07:05.420 Those things were done.

00:07:07.020 The Windsor-Detroit border was done by the time

00:07:09.940 the Federal Emergencies Act was invoked.

00:07:12.580 So the Emergencies Act was invoked to deal with a bunch of cars and trucks

00:07:16.020 on Wellington Street, on one stretch of street in downtown Ottawa,

00:07:19.960 which has no residential addresses on it.

00:07:23.800 That was it.

00:07:25.240 That was it.

00:07:25.820 This is what the government said was a national emergency,

00:07:28.060 which, as was mentioned by, I believe, Christine Van Gein on Tuesday's show,

00:07:33.160 is supposed to come when provinces lack the resources to deal with it on their own,

00:07:38.980 which wasn't the case.

00:07:40.780 It did not rise to that level.

00:07:44.000 So if the government is going to continue to allude to things that might make it

00:07:48.740 conceivably an emergency, like, oh, there was a violent threat,

00:07:52.000 there was sedition, there was terrorism.

00:07:54.400 I mean, they've never said terrorism, but an NDP member of parliament

00:07:57.820 was trying to plant that word in Marco Mendicino's mouth at that committee,

00:08:01.920 saying, hey, are you talking about domestic terrorism here?

00:08:04.780 Which, you know, it's for a political end.

00:08:06.840 I don't know.

00:08:07.500 What do you think?

00:08:08.060 And, I mean, Mendicino didn't take the bait.

00:08:10.740 But this is the form of rhetoric you're getting from people about the convoy.

00:08:14.320 And, I mean, the charges, the criminal charges against people like Chris Barber and Tamara Leach,

00:08:20.280 no idea if those are going to result in convictions.

00:08:23.440 But we're talking about mischief charges, which are relatively minor offenses.

00:08:28.300 There was no property damage.

00:08:29.860 There was no violence.

00:08:31.500 There was no threat.

00:08:32.420 There was no treason.

00:08:33.740 There was no sedition.

00:08:34.980 There were, however, bouncy castles and pig roasts and saunas and hot tubs.

00:08:40.720 So, if those are all proxies now for sedition and violence,

00:08:45.620 then I guess we did have a national emergency on our hands.

00:08:49.000 But I don't think one can say that we got there.

00:08:52.620 So, the question to the government is, show us the evidence.

00:08:57.040 Still, days after announcing the inquiry, the government has not agreed to waive cabinet confidence.

00:09:02.260 So, we won't even see necessarily, the inquiry will not see,

00:09:06.000 the documents that the governments were sharing with each other

00:09:09.120 as they discussed the Emergencies Act.

00:09:11.680 All we're being told is that, well, you know, we consulted experts

00:09:14.720 and, you know, we made sure we were on solid footing.

00:09:17.320 I mean, for all we know, there was a cabinet minister that said to Trudeau,

00:09:20.240 yeah, don't do this.

00:09:22.120 And we won't see that.

00:09:23.740 Because they don't want us to see the internal cabinet documents.

00:09:26.780 And I have to wonder if there were members of the cabinet that were saying,

00:09:29.680 if you pop this cork, you can't put it back in.

00:09:32.180 And that's what they don't want us to see.

00:09:34.160 Perhaps there aren't necessarily sycophants in that cabinet,

00:09:37.680 or you have one or two independent thinkers.

00:09:39.700 I don't want to, you know, speculate here,

00:09:42.680 but I do know that there were a lot of backbench MPs that were clear in their discomfort

00:09:47.780 and only went along with it because they knew it was a confidence motion,

00:09:50.940 because Justin Trudeau said that.

00:09:53.080 So, it could be you had a couple of principled cabinet members

00:09:55.720 that were trying to stop this and were unsuccessful.

00:09:58.940 But that would explain why the Liberals don't want us to see the cabinet documents

00:10:03.160 or because they just don't have any evidence.

00:10:06.620 Maybe they want to believe that if they don't show them to us,

00:10:09.240 we'll assume, well, they must have known something.

00:10:10.980 They must have had some information.

00:10:12.600 As though they've deserved at this stage, two years into pandemic theater,

00:10:16.860 like they get the benefit of the doubt,

00:10:18.440 which certainly is not something I'm going to afford them.

00:10:21.860 I want to welcome into the show here Raquel Dancho,

00:10:23.960 who is a Conservative Member of Parliament,

00:10:26.220 also the public safety critic for the Conservatives.

00:10:28.700 So, she's been very active on this file.

00:10:31.460 Thanks for coming on today. Good to speak to you.

00:10:33.880 Great to be with you, Andrew.

00:10:35.420 So, explain to me your reaction to this inquiry,

00:10:38.800 because I think a lot of people assumed that the focus of it was going to be

00:10:42.360 looking into the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act,

00:10:46.960 what happened when it did.

00:10:48.660 Justin Trudeau's announcement, as I was talking about the other day,

00:10:51.360 makes it sound like he's more interested in an inquiry about everyone else,

00:10:54.480 about the protests, about the protesters, the organizers,

00:10:57.120 which isn't the point of it, as I understood.

00:11:00.380 Yeah, that's correct.

00:11:01.700 The point of the built-in inquiry in the Emergencies Act

00:11:05.420 is to hold the government accountable for invoking it,

00:11:08.460 to ensure that, in fact, the very high threshold

00:11:11.460 needed to invoke this very, very powerful law was met.

00:11:15.580 So, that's the point of the inquiry.

00:11:17.500 But just as you've said, the way that the Liberals are approaching this is,

00:11:21.100 no, no, no, don't look over here.

00:11:22.960 Look at the protesters again.

00:11:24.060 Let's talk about them again.

00:11:25.420 But no, no, no, this inquiry is to hold them accountable.

00:11:28.640 That's the purpose of it,

00:11:29.780 and they're not really living up to the spirit of the act.

00:11:32.760 Now, I know that we had Ministers Marco Mendicino and David Lamedi

00:11:37.440 appearing before committee.

00:11:39.300 One of the notable examples of this the other day

00:11:41.720 was Minister Mendicino citing now a very debunked myth

00:11:46.840 about the convoy that had been involved in as apartment arson.

00:11:50.520 Even the Ottawa police have said that's not true.

00:11:53.180 So, I mean, my question is,

00:11:54.360 if they're still citing things that are fiction

00:11:57.020 as their basis for the Emergencies Act,

00:11:59.900 what is it that's in these cabinet documents

00:12:02.600 they don't seem to want the inquiry to have access to?

00:12:05.120 I'd really like to know.

00:12:06.740 I would really like to know.

00:12:07.800 And I think Canadians would like to know.

00:12:09.120 Look, the threshold to invoke this is incredibly high, as I said,

00:12:12.780 because the Emergencies Act has such powerful powers

00:12:15.740 that it can infringe upon charter rights.

00:12:18.180 So, it has this built-in checks and balance

00:12:20.660 to ensure that the government who invoked it is held accountable.

00:12:24.460 So, it's a very big deal for charter rights.

00:12:26.440 It's the precedent it sets is very, very, very much a big deal.

00:12:31.240 Canadians need to be paying very close attention to this.

00:12:33.700 Regardless of how you view the protest,

00:12:36.520 what's important right now is the precedent this is setting.

00:12:40.180 So, we need to be able to hold the government accountable.

00:12:42.440 Did they meet that high threshold?

00:12:43.960 And, Andrew, that threshold is whether there was

00:12:46.360 a national threat to national security.

00:12:49.220 Was there a national threat to the economy?

00:12:51.320 Was there a national threat to public safety?

00:12:54.740 Well, if we take the economy, we know that the border blockades

00:12:58.080 at the Ambassador Bridge and at Coots, Alberta,

00:13:00.540 were cleared before the invocation of the Emergencies Act.

00:13:04.380 The police did a great job.

00:13:05.720 They didn't need the powers there to clear those blockades.

00:13:09.680 So, for me, that's out.

00:13:11.240 Now, if you look at the, if it was a national threat

00:13:13.940 to public safety, well, frankly, Andrew,

00:13:16.380 I walked through that protest every day for three weeks.

00:13:20.460 If it was so dangerous, how in the world

00:13:23.040 did they allow members of parliament, staff,

00:13:26.360 members of the public to get anywhere near this protest?

00:13:29.420 So, their argument has not been convincing

00:13:31.980 that they've met that threshold.

00:13:33.900 It's still within question.

00:13:35.740 So, that's the purpose of this inquiry,

00:13:37.580 to find out if that threshold was met.

00:13:39.580 We don't believe it was.

00:13:41.340 Does the government need to,

00:13:43.140 and perhaps this question may need to be answered

00:13:45.280 by courts eventually,

00:13:46.420 does the government need to prove

00:13:47.500 that there was a documented, demonstrable threat

00:13:50.820 or that it believed there was

00:13:52.420 or that it believed there could have been

00:13:54.300 if it had gone on further?

00:13:56.920 You know, I'm not quite sure.

00:13:58.500 What I do know is that the inquiry,

00:14:00.620 it has to look to see if there was a national threat

00:14:04.340 to public safety over the economy.

00:14:06.100 We don't believe from the evidence

00:14:07.360 that has been released to the public

00:14:08.640 that that was met.

00:14:09.600 It's not to say it wasn't disruptive,

00:14:11.420 wasn't to say that the blockades weren't illegal,

00:14:13.460 but was it a threat to national security?

00:14:16.500 Again, a very high bar.

00:14:18.620 And we need to find that out.

00:14:20.480 That's what we're trying to find out.

00:14:22.500 Yeah, and one of the civil liberties lawyers

00:14:25.020 I spoke to on the show the other day

00:14:26.480 had pointed out that since the Emergencies Act

00:14:28.580 was put into place in law in the 1980s,

00:14:32.540 we've had 9-11, we've had a global pandemic,

00:14:35.660 we've had, you know, other terrorist attacks,

00:14:38.220 and none of that has warranted

00:14:40.220 the invocation of the act.

00:14:42.000 Yeah, you know, you raise a really good point.

00:14:44.620 The purpose of this act,

00:14:46.120 which is really the most powerful law in the land,

00:14:48.880 is if there's an invasion,

00:14:50.940 if there's a mass breakdown in our telecommunications,

00:14:54.240 our economy crashes, something,

00:14:55.880 or perhaps a pandemic.

00:14:57.840 Never use this for the pandemic.

00:14:59.840 So again, those are the types of things

00:15:02.280 this Emergency Act was built to address.

00:15:05.380 And because maybe in those extreme circumstances,

00:15:09.000 circumstances, perhaps charter rights

00:15:12.060 will be infringed upon.

00:15:13.540 That's why this act is so serious

00:15:15.720 and left for the absolute worst case scenarios.

00:15:19.080 Not a number of people parked illegally

00:15:21.120 in downtown Ottawa

00:15:22.080 where people could easily travel to work.

00:15:24.580 Members of Parliament, again,

00:15:25.620 we went into West Block every single day,

00:15:28.040 had to walk by the protests.

00:15:29.740 So again, for us,

00:15:31.700 this wasn't, it's not,

00:15:33.460 no one seems to be convinced

00:15:34.700 that this was a national threat to public safety.

00:15:37.240 So that's what they need to prove.

00:15:38.820 Did they meet that threshold?

00:15:40.240 And it's high, again, for a reason,

00:15:42.080 because we're talking about infringement

00:15:43.740 on charter rights

00:15:44.700 and the precedent this sets.

00:15:46.520 This will ricochet

00:15:47.740 and make waves through the generations,

00:15:50.740 the determination in this inquiry.

00:15:52.240 So that's why we're being so tough on them about this

00:15:54.860 and saying, look, if you're so confident,

00:15:56.860 then tell us what you know,

00:15:58.520 because we're obviously not hearing the whole story

00:16:00.160 because we're not convinced

00:16:01.100 the national security threat was met.

00:16:03.760 So you have the judicial inquiry

00:16:05.820 that was announced this week.

00:16:06.860 There's also a parliamentary committee

00:16:08.720 that's been assembled

00:16:09.980 to look into this too, correct?

00:16:11.540 I mean, are you optimistic

00:16:12.680 that either is capable of getting into this

00:16:16.180 if you don't have a government

00:16:17.040 that wants to be cooperative?

00:16:19.240 You know, it's a great question.

00:16:20.660 It's pretty frustrating.

00:16:21.640 I mean, this government continues

00:16:23.480 to basically be saying,

00:16:25.400 oh, we have everything in hand.

00:16:26.820 We have Canadians' backs.

00:16:28.460 Just trust us.

00:16:30.140 Well, this is a government whose leader,

00:16:32.160 the prime minister,

00:16:32.980 has violated ethics laws multiple times.

00:16:36.440 We're learning more things, Andrews.

00:16:37.680 I'm sure you've heard

00:16:38.440 about the Aga Khan billionaire island scandal

00:16:41.400 where the prime minister took a $200,000 vacation

00:16:44.560 and gave the owner of that island

00:16:47.380 a multimillion dollar government grant,

00:16:49.780 clear violation of ethics laws.

00:16:51.220 The SNC-Lavalin scandal,

00:16:53.060 the WE charity.

00:16:54.060 This is an area where the government has,

00:16:56.240 where Trudeau has no,

00:16:57.900 there's no good credit built up.

00:16:59.820 So there's no reason Canadians 1.00

00:17:01.040 should just trust him

00:17:02.060 that he will hold the letter of the law

00:17:04.520 to the spirit that it requires.

00:17:06.940 And that's holding him accountable

00:17:08.600 for invoking this dangerous law.

00:17:10.500 I know the NDP ultimately gave

00:17:13.480 the Emergencies Act a rubber stamp.

00:17:15.560 And of course,

00:17:16.060 when we learned about this

00:17:16.960 Supply and Confidence Agreement,

00:17:18.220 I had to wonder if those two were related

00:17:20.600 because the NDP is going to keep

00:17:22.260 the Liberals in until 2025.

00:17:24.400 The Bloc Évecois, to its credit,

00:17:26.060 was very critical of the Emergencies Act.

00:17:28.440 Have you found any interest

00:17:30.500 from the NDP after this,

00:17:32.440 now that the dust has settled,

00:17:33.980 to really have a robust parliamentary inquiry here?

00:17:37.160 Or is your sense that they're still just going to go

00:17:39.360 and keep just going along

00:17:40.820 with the Liberal narrative on this act?

00:17:43.860 You know, when it first,

00:17:45.280 when the committee was first struck,

00:17:46.940 we were very skeptical

00:17:48.320 with the power the NDP had.

00:17:50.180 In fact, they get to vice chair the committee,

00:17:52.480 as does the Bloc Québécois,

00:17:54.020 whereas Conservatives,

00:17:55.800 Her Majesty's official opposition

00:17:57.200 tasked with holding this government to account,

00:17:59.740 was not permitted to have a leading role

00:18:01.660 on that campaign,

00:18:02.760 or on that committee, pardon me.

00:18:04.420 So we were very skeptical.

00:18:05.900 But I do have to say

00:18:07.020 the Bloc Québécois and the NDP

00:18:08.820 are doing their duty.

00:18:10.260 They're upholding their duty

00:18:11.300 to hold the government to account.

00:18:12.540 So that is actually very good news for Canadians.

00:18:15.160 They're not pulling any punches.

00:18:17.300 They're being tough on the government.

00:18:18.420 I did a panel with the NDP, Matthew Green,

00:18:21.000 who him and I probably agree on nothing

00:18:22.940 except for this.

00:18:24.380 We were in full lockstep on our position

00:18:27.020 that the government needs to waive cabinet confidence

00:18:29.760 so that all those cabinet documents

00:18:31.920 that inform this decision to invoke the act

00:18:34.260 are released into the inquiry

00:18:35.840 so they can be part of the investigation.

00:18:38.100 We're very firm on that.

00:18:39.360 Waiving cabinet confidence

00:18:40.520 means we may have an inquiry worth something

00:18:43.160 that may actually do its job

00:18:44.880 and hold the government accountable.

00:18:45.940 But so far, they've refused.

00:18:47.880 And it's very odd

00:18:48.660 because they're very confident

00:18:49.660 in invoking this.

00:18:51.200 And yet, if they were so confident,

00:18:52.680 just show us what's in that cabinet confidence then.

00:18:55.440 Right?

00:18:55.920 So we're calling their bluff a little bit.

00:18:57.600 Yeah.

00:18:57.980 Yeah.

00:18:58.400 Show us the receipts,

00:18:59.300 as I think they say on Twitter.

00:19:01.960 Raquel Dancho,

00:19:02.700 Conservative Public Safety Critic.

00:19:04.240 Great to talk to you.

00:19:04.900 Thanks for coming on today.

00:19:06.420 Thanks for having me, Andrew.

00:19:08.000 That was Raquel Dancho

00:19:09.740 here on The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:19:11.640 We've got to take a quick break.

00:19:13.200 When we come back,

00:19:13.880 we'll be shifting gears

00:19:14.900 into Alberta politics,

00:19:16.460 a favourite pastime of mine,

00:19:17.660 despite not actually living in Alberta.

00:19:20.060 That's coming up next

00:19:21.080 here on The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:19:22.760 Stay tuned.

00:19:23.240 You're tuned in

00:19:27.580 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:19:31.620 Hey, welcome back.

00:19:32.740 This is The Andrew Lawton Show

00:19:34.380 on True North.

00:19:35.480 A lot of the Albertans

00:19:37.120 in the audience,

00:19:38.140 of which there are a great many of you,

00:19:39.320 and I thank you for that,

00:19:40.120 telling me that they

00:19:40.820 see me more often in Alberta

00:19:43.200 than anywhere else

00:19:44.780 just when I pop up on social media

00:19:46.740 speaking at this event

00:19:47.760 or that event.

00:19:48.620 And I've always loved it.

00:19:49.720 I used to host, or guest host rather,

00:19:52.020 for Danielle Smith

00:19:53.040 on a radio station in Calgary.

00:19:54.900 I've always enjoyed being out there

00:19:56.160 and I've always enjoyed

00:19:57.340 that Alberta sensibility.

00:19:58.700 So I have a strong interest

00:20:00.780 in Alberta politics.

00:20:02.020 That's why I've had

00:20:02.700 Premier Kenny on the show.

00:20:04.100 That's why I've been covering

00:20:04.880 the UCP Leadership Review.

00:20:07.420 And it's why I wanted

00:20:08.500 to spend a moment

00:20:09.200 talking about the Maverick Party's

00:20:11.160 leadership race right now.

00:20:13.020 It's not just the Conservative Party

00:20:14.580 of Canada having a leadership race,

00:20:16.640 but also the Mavericks,

00:20:17.700 formerly the Wexit Party.

00:20:20.700 They ran in the last federal election

00:20:22.620 and only got a small percentage

00:20:24.740 of the vote.

00:20:25.360 It was their first election

00:20:26.420 and they had an interim leader,

00:20:28.340 Jay Hill,

00:20:29.060 the former Conservative Cabinet member,

00:20:31.480 who was only an interim leader.

00:20:33.320 He said he had his fun in the sun.

00:20:35.340 He wasn't there.

00:20:36.340 He was trying to help the party

00:20:37.360 get off the ground.

00:20:38.200 So now the party is looking forward.

00:20:40.340 And one of the candidates

00:20:41.360 is an Andrew Lawton show favorite.

00:20:43.560 We had him on the show last election.

00:20:45.620 I actually went out

00:20:46.120 and visited him on his ranch.

00:20:47.500 Tarek Al-Naga,

00:20:48.680 the cowboy from the United Arab Emirates,

00:20:52.080 now seeking the Maverick leadership.

00:20:54.060 Tarek, good to talk to you again.

00:20:55.200 Thanks for coming on the show.

00:20:56.560 Likewise.

00:20:56.960 Thanks for having me on.

00:20:58.300 You and I have spoken

00:20:59.360 a couple of times.

00:21:00.380 I went out to visit you

00:21:01.160 on your ranch in Alberta

00:21:02.940 back during the election.

00:21:04.620 And in that election,

00:21:05.880 the Maverick Party

00:21:06.620 didn't really make

00:21:07.840 too much of an impact here.

00:21:09.220 But obviously the party

00:21:10.120 is going through

00:21:10.920 a bit of a change.

00:21:11.940 One of those

00:21:12.440 is this leadership race.

00:21:14.160 Why did you decide

00:21:15.560 to step up

00:21:16.400 and seek the leadership

00:21:17.320 of this party?

00:21:18.620 So I really believe

00:21:19.920 in the message.

00:21:20.660 And I really think

00:21:21.480 that things are not going

00:21:22.900 to change for Western Canada.

00:21:24.420 So we saw it in 2015,

00:21:26.060 2019, and 2021.

00:21:27.800 And I think 2021,

00:21:29.200 to your point,

00:21:29.960 was the last time

00:21:30.860 Westerners were like, 1.00

00:21:31.600 oh, we're going to try

00:21:32.160 this one more time

00:21:33.220 to get Trudeau out.

00:21:34.960 But the fact is,

00:21:35.920 in those three elections,

00:21:37.140 the election was called

00:21:38.060 way before Manitoba

00:21:39.440 started counting its votes.

00:21:41.260 And way before,

00:21:42.280 obviously the area

00:21:43.000 we live in here

00:21:43.800 started counting votes.

00:21:45.740 So the fact is,

00:21:46.720 just because of the seat count,

00:21:48.660 we will never determine

00:21:49.860 who forms government

00:21:50.760 in Western Canada.

00:21:52.080 All we have the statistical power

00:21:54.980 or control on

00:21:55.840 is whether it's a minority

00:21:57.120 or majority government.

00:21:58.360 That's it.

00:21:59.220 But who's prime minister

00:22:01.160 won't make a difference.

00:22:02.520 So I was in Ottawa,

00:22:04.420 actually,

00:22:04.820 for a portion

00:22:05.460 of the freedom protest.

00:22:07.720 And I looked up

00:22:09.040 at Parliament Hill,

00:22:09.880 and here's 20 acres

00:22:10.920 that makes decisions

00:22:12.120 for my life

00:22:13.720 and our Western lives

00:22:15.240 that has no idea

00:22:16.420 how we live,

00:22:17.460 nor cares about how we live.

00:22:19.400 So that was the inspiration.

00:22:20.580 I looked up at Parliament Hill

00:22:21.540 and I said,

00:22:22.100 we can't continue

00:22:23.060 to be managed

00:22:23.640 by this building.

00:22:24.480 We need self-management.

00:22:25.880 And that's the inspiration

00:22:27.240 of why I came back to run.

00:22:29.060 Now, when you say self-management,

00:22:30.820 are you trying to advance

00:22:32.380 the deal that Quebec has

00:22:33.900 in Alberta,

00:22:34.980 which is basically running

00:22:36.100 all of these things

00:22:37.040 like income tax collection,

00:22:39.240 provincial police,

00:22:39.920 and all of that?

00:22:40.600 Or is self-management

00:22:41.640 to you separation,

00:22:42.920 like just get out

00:22:43.660 of the Confederation altogether?

00:22:45.380 Great question.

00:22:46.080 I'll answer that in two ways.

00:22:47.320 So my baseline

00:22:48.260 is complete autonomy.

00:22:49.980 So rather than necessarily

00:22:51.320 form a separate country,

00:22:52.920 it's full and complete autonomy.

00:22:54.780 I always say,

00:22:55.520 like, if my political legacy

00:22:56.980 in Canada

00:22:57.560 that I could retire on

00:22:58.900 is that I've made Ottawa

00:23:00.520 irrelevant in the lives

00:23:01.980 of Western Canadians,

00:23:03.040 then I've done my job.

00:23:04.380 Now, it's not up to me.

00:23:05.560 It's up to Western Canadians 1.00

00:23:06.700 to say,

00:23:07.620 do we want out or not?

00:23:09.120 If they want out

00:23:10.280 through a referendum, 0.93

00:23:11.540 then my job is to execute

00:23:13.080 on their wishes.

00:23:14.440 Like, again,

00:23:14.860 it's government works

00:23:15.700 for the people,

00:23:16.880 not the other way around.

00:23:18.460 But the platform

00:23:19.740 I'm running on

00:23:20.720 is a complete,

00:23:22.520 essentially not dissimilar

00:23:24.160 to how you mentioned it

00:23:25.040 for Quebec,

00:23:25.800 is a complete self-management

00:23:27.640 of all day-to-day affairs

00:23:29.480 in the West,

00:23:30.180 whether that's taxation,

00:23:31.420 immigration,

00:23:32.080 money,

00:23:33.240 aviation,

00:23:34.340 industrial development,

00:23:35.840 resource development,

00:23:36.840 trade deals,

00:23:37.880 et cetera.

00:23:38.800 I think we're in

00:23:39.460 a much better position

00:23:40.460 to negotiate

00:23:41.100 and deal for ourselves

00:23:42.400 and our own selves

00:23:43.340 rather than rely on Ottawa,

00:23:45.680 which has now shown us

00:23:47.580 for the last seven

00:23:48.300 or eight years

00:23:48.980 we'll completely step

00:23:50.560 on our way of life,

00:23:51.720 step on our industry,

00:23:52.660 step on our economy,

00:23:53.460 and there's no votes

00:23:54.820 to lose here.

00:23:55.780 Again,

00:23:56.400 government is determined.

00:23:57.840 I mean,

00:23:58.140 the GTA alone

00:23:59.200 has more seats

00:24:00.360 than Alberta and Saskatchewan

00:24:01.440 put together.

00:24:02.540 So that's,

00:24:03.440 if you win Toronto,

00:24:04.820 you essentially

00:24:05.500 become prime minister.

00:24:06.620 That's the way that works

00:24:07.500 and you win the rest

00:24:08.820 of the country.

00:24:09.380 So it doesn't really matter

00:24:10.360 how we vote.

00:24:11.700 So that's why I'm saying

00:24:12.880 let's vote for what

00:24:13.680 we really want

00:24:14.400 and let's vote for

00:24:15.200 autonomy and self-management.

00:24:17.040 In what you're saying there,

00:24:18.460 which I think is

00:24:19.100 completely accurate,

00:24:19.940 you just have to look

00:24:20.560 at the map on election night,

00:24:22.060 is the Maverick Party

00:24:23.220 not then self-defeating?

00:24:24.920 Because your whole point

00:24:25.800 is that you have to have

00:24:26.720 this party to advocate

00:24:28.360 for Western interests

00:24:29.320 that you say are not

00:24:30.040 represented in the federal system.

00:24:32.100 So how can,

00:24:32.780 I mean,

00:24:32.920 even if the Maverick Party

00:24:33.980 were to elect

00:24:34.500 a bunch of candidates,

00:24:35.560 that still is going

00:24:36.700 to be dwarfed

00:24:37.340 by the power

00:24:38.100 of the Ontario

00:24:39.160 and Quebec candidates.

00:24:40.520 So you're,

00:24:41.820 so here's,

00:24:42.620 here's the difference.

00:24:43.500 And this is kind of

00:24:44.380 where I say,

00:24:45.440 look at the effectiveness

00:24:46.540 of these parties

00:24:47.540 that have not formed government.

00:24:49.440 One is the Bloc Quebecois.

00:24:50.880 So 31 seats,

00:24:52.420 wildly effective

00:24:53.440 at getting what they want.

00:24:54.900 And we'll make deals

00:24:56.360 in the House

00:24:56.920 openly saying,

00:24:57.800 you want our 31 seats

00:24:58.920 on this bill

00:24:59.680 or this movement?

00:25:00.440 Well,

00:25:00.960 what's in it for Quebec?

00:25:02.240 So can you imagine

00:25:02.940 50 Maverick seats?

00:25:04.220 I'm going to be conservative here.

00:25:05.280 There's 104 writings

00:25:06.500 in Western Canada.

00:25:08.000 Let's say we get half of them.

00:25:09.440 50 Maverick seats.

00:25:10.460 Can you imagine

00:25:11.080 the power they would have

00:25:12.820 to hold the balance of power?

00:25:14.260 Not dissimilar

00:25:14.920 to what Jagmeet Singh

00:25:16.440 has done with Justin Trudeau

00:25:18.060 and said,

00:25:19.220 hey,

00:25:19.680 you want my support

00:25:20.720 until 2025?

00:25:21.980 This is what,

00:25:22.520 these are the things

00:25:23.200 I'm looking for.

00:25:24.120 And it was free dental care,

00:25:25.940 free pharma care,

00:25:26.780 what have you.

00:25:27.100 And I say free in quotation marks

00:25:28.760 because you and I

00:25:29.720 pay for it.

00:25:30.720 But the thing is,

00:25:32.380 there is an immense amount

00:25:33.980 of power

00:25:34.740 in holding the balance of power.

00:25:36.480 Now,

00:25:36.840 in the next election,

00:25:38.580 whoever wins,

00:25:39.680 again,

00:25:40.060 Toronto decides that.

00:25:41.120 I have no control over that.

00:25:42.500 But assuming by some miracle,

00:25:44.580 the Conservatives win

00:25:45.660 Toronto,

00:25:47.300 right?

00:25:47.520 Now,

00:25:48.280 if they do,

00:25:49.840 and if they win Montreal,

00:25:51.860 and they're looking

00:25:52.860 for a balance of power,

00:25:53.780 can you imagine the power

00:25:54.760 to go to tell someone

00:25:56.760 like Pierre Palliev,

00:25:57.920 hey,

00:25:58.280 you want to become

00:25:58.780 Prime Minister?

00:25:59.480 We got you.

00:26:00.560 We'll make you Prime Minister.

00:26:01.700 We'll give you our seats

00:26:02.760 in a minority government.

00:26:04.140 But here's a list of demands

00:26:05.380 for Western autonomy.

00:26:07.140 And that essentially

00:26:08.060 is just a destruction

00:26:09.860 of federal overreach

00:26:11.300 and pushing it back

00:26:12.400 into provincial control.

00:26:14.000 That's all I'm asking for.

00:26:15.700 Your story,

00:26:16.660 we talked about this

00:26:17.640 when I interviewed you

00:26:18.800 for the first time back

00:26:19.600 in the federal election.

00:26:20.420 It's a fascinating one.

00:26:21.620 You're from

00:26:22.000 the United Arab Emirates.

00:26:23.500 You visited Calgary

00:26:24.560 to see the Stampede

00:26:25.720 and just fell in love

00:26:26.520 with the province.

00:26:27.220 And I think it was

00:26:27.800 10 years ago

00:26:28.500 that you decided

00:26:29.520 to sell your house,

00:26:30.620 move to Alberta,

00:26:31.600 buy the horse,

00:26:32.380 buy the farm,

00:26:33.080 and all of that.

00:26:34.340 When was it that you,

00:26:36.060 as a new Canadian,

00:26:37.080 as an immigrant,

00:26:37.700 first realized,

00:26:38.660 you know what,

00:26:39.080 things aren't working

00:26:39.660 for the West?

00:26:40.980 It was incredibly obvious

00:26:43.220 in my professional life.

00:26:44.620 So my recreational life

00:26:46.320 is, again,

00:26:47.380 and my lifestyle,

00:26:48.860 if you want to call it,

00:26:49.580 around ranching

00:26:50.460 and agriculture

00:26:51.080 and rodeo.

00:26:51.840 That's all new to me

00:26:53.060 and exotic.

00:26:53.860 But growing up

00:26:55.460 in the Middle East

00:26:56.160 means that oil and gas

00:26:57.400 runs in my blood.

00:26:58.380 And I grew up

00:26:59.020 in the heart

00:26:59.720 of oil and gas central.

00:27:02.020 And not just that,

00:27:02.800 but I've lived through

00:27:03.720 Gulf War I

00:27:04.440 and Gulf War II.

00:27:05.140 And those were both

00:27:06.900 resource wars

00:27:07.820 in which Saddam 0.74

00:27:08.960 essentially,

00:27:09.920 A, invaded Kuwait, 0.97

00:27:10.940 and then B,

00:27:12.100 the second war

00:27:13.000 I call the Halliburton War,

00:27:14.480 in which,

00:27:15.080 you know,

00:27:15.800 U.S. interests

00:27:17.580 in the region

00:27:18.340 were pretty important.

00:27:20.300 Now,

00:27:21.540 I move here

00:27:22.600 where we,

00:27:23.800 and I professionally,

00:27:24.600 I'm an engineer

00:27:25.000 by education.

00:27:25.740 I professionally work

00:27:26.440 in oil and gas.

00:27:27.820 And we're given

00:27:28.720 the gift of

00:27:29.660 the third biggest

00:27:30.900 proven oil reserves

00:27:31.820 in the world.

00:27:32.600 And we have a government

00:27:34.000 that is actively saying

00:27:35.580 we do not want

00:27:36.820 the prosperity of it.

00:27:37.960 Let us put Canadians 1.00

00:27:38.740 out of work.

00:27:39.780 Let us wreck

00:27:40.680 our economy

00:27:41.280 intentionally

00:27:42.060 to appear good

00:27:43.480 on the world stage

00:27:44.260 while we buy

00:27:44.920 $20 million

00:27:45.460 of foreign oil

00:27:46.500 a day in Canada.

00:27:48.140 So this was apparent

00:27:49.360 to me within,

00:27:50.120 I'd say,

00:27:50.420 the first 15 minutes

00:27:51.580 of working professionally

00:27:52.660 in Alberta,

00:27:53.500 relatively 15 minutes.

00:27:54.840 And I'm thinking,

00:27:55.660 how?

00:27:56.560 Why are we doing this?

00:27:57.700 Why are we

00:27:58.440 intentionally destroying

00:28:00.040 our local economy

00:28:01.200 in favor of

00:28:02.580 shipping Canadian dollars

00:28:03.880 and Canadian jobs

00:28:05.000 abroad?

00:28:06.100 And that's kind

00:28:07.280 of where the,

00:28:08.060 where this isn't working

00:28:09.380 kind of mix

00:28:10.040 showed up right away.

00:28:11.360 Why am I paying

00:28:12.440 in my first year

00:28:13.520 of paying income taxes

00:28:14.600 when I moved here?

00:28:15.840 Why is a very

00:28:16.880 significant portion

00:28:17.760 of my federal taxes

00:28:18.920 going to pay for

00:28:20.440 road schools

00:28:21.300 and hospitals

00:28:21.900 in Quebec,

00:28:22.940 which is fine

00:28:24.160 on paper,

00:28:25.560 but then the Quebec

00:28:26.580 government provincially

00:28:28.040 is saying,

00:28:28.640 actually, Alberta,

00:28:29.660 we don't want

00:28:30.380 your resources,

00:28:31.200 but we'll take

00:28:31.760 your money.

00:28:33.300 You've got,

00:28:34.320 I mean,

00:28:34.580 the Conservative Party,

00:28:35.680 which is down to,

00:28:36.540 I think,

00:28:36.700 like 99 or 100 seats

00:28:38.060 right now,

00:28:39.080 would be dead

00:28:40.140 without Alberta

00:28:41.180 and Saskatchewan seats,

00:28:42.600 where they tend

00:28:43.140 to get,

00:28:43.680 you know,

00:28:43.880 a pretty sizable

00:28:44.960 chunk of their caucus 0.98

00:28:45.960 and influence from.

00:28:47.380 You've got,

00:28:48.220 in the leadership race

00:28:49.420 right now,

00:28:50.040 no one really coming

00:28:51.380 from the West.

00:28:52.320 You've got one guy

00:28:53.400 from BC,

00:28:54.200 you've got one guy

00:28:55.300 from Saskatchewan,

00:28:56.260 Joseph Borgel,

00:28:57.000 though he's unlikely

00:28:57.880 to make the ballot

00:28:58.580 at this point.

00:28:59.340 So you don't even have

00:29:00.040 Western interests

00:29:00.780 represented in the

00:29:02.080 Conservative leadership

00:29:02.940 race.

00:29:03.760 Why,

00:29:04.260 in your view,

00:29:05.000 is it that the

00:29:05.740 Conservatives can't

00:29:07.180 or have not shown

00:29:08.500 an interest in being

00:29:09.560 that voice for the West

00:29:10.960 when they have the

00:29:11.680 base of power there

00:29:12.640 and they're not at risk

00:29:13.560 of getting ousted?

00:29:14.360 I mean,

00:29:14.500 even with the PPC

00:29:15.740 and the Mavericks,

00:29:16.520 you had Conservative MPs

00:29:17.740 winning out there

00:29:18.320 with 50,

00:29:19.020 60% of the vote.

00:29:20.080 So it's a great question

00:29:21.780 and it's a number

00:29:23.260 of things.

00:29:23.960 One,

00:29:24.620 it is decades-long

00:29:26.340 generational attachments

00:29:28.060 to the colour of blue

00:29:29.320 and we need to,

00:29:31.040 I need to,

00:29:32.220 tell Westerners

00:29:33.540 it's okay to vote

00:29:34.580 differently

00:29:35.000 and a big portion

00:29:35.940 of that

00:29:36.420 is the reason

00:29:37.180 why we vote blue

00:29:38.420 is,

00:29:38.940 well,

00:29:39.120 we want to get

00:29:39.640 Trudeau out

00:29:40.280 because we do,

00:29:41.980 we have no love

00:29:43.280 for Justin Trudeau

00:29:44.160 in Western Canada.

00:29:44.940 You know that,

00:29:45.500 I know that,

00:29:46.000 Westerners know that.

00:29:46.760 But the thing is,

00:29:49.220 our seats

00:29:50.120 don't make a difference.

00:29:52.300 So what happened

00:29:53.020 is the establishment

00:29:54.260 Conservative Party

00:29:55.100 have now taken

00:29:55.720 our votes for granted.

00:29:56.780 We're not going to vote,

00:29:57.480 you're going to vote

00:29:57.900 for us anyways.

00:29:58.840 Who else are you

00:29:59.320 going to vote for?

00:30:00.080 Right?

00:30:00.880 And there's this

00:30:02.080 immense fear of saying,

00:30:03.520 well,

00:30:03.600 if you don't vote for us,

00:30:05.280 we'll get Trudeau.

00:30:06.180 Well,

00:30:06.340 we have.

00:30:07.100 Saskatchewan,

00:30:07.580 for example,

00:30:08.040 could not have been

00:30:08.760 any more blue.

00:30:09.540 Every single one

00:30:10.260 of the 14 ridings

00:30:11.200 in Saskatchewan

00:30:11.900 went blue.

00:30:12.960 All but four

00:30:13.980 of the ridings

00:30:14.720 in Alberta

00:30:15.260 went blue too.

00:30:16.760 What did we get?

00:30:17.940 Right?

00:30:18.120 It was called

00:30:18.820 before Manitoba

00:30:19.720 started counting.

00:30:21.480 So the thing is,

00:30:23.040 it's now telling

00:30:24.820 Westerners

00:30:25.540 that it's okay.

00:30:26.680 You're absolutely right.

00:30:28.120 Whether it's Pierre,

00:30:29.140 Jean Charest,

00:30:29.940 Lesley Lewis,

00:30:30.740 et cetera,

00:30:31.180 who may have

00:30:31.980 certain policies

00:30:32.840 that are okay,

00:30:34.400 but they've taken

00:30:35.020 the West for granted

00:30:35.880 saying,

00:30:36.220 you're going to vote

00:30:36.620 for us anyways.

00:30:37.780 Plus,

00:30:38.220 my worry isn't

00:30:39.060 them campaigning

00:30:39.980 now for leadership

00:30:41.240 of the Conservatives.

00:30:42.440 It's when one of them

00:30:44.140 becomes leader

00:30:45.060 of the Conservatives

00:30:45.940 and they're going

00:30:46.840 to try to court

00:30:47.720 the Toronto vote

00:30:48.820 or the Montreal vote.

00:30:50.460 Not dissimilar

00:30:51.180 to Aaron O'Toole.

00:30:52.220 How far left

00:30:53.000 are they going to move?

00:30:54.220 How far anti-West

00:30:56.820 are they going to be?

00:30:58.020 Like Aaron O'Toole

00:30:59.320 sitting in his first meeting

00:31:00.440 with Francois Legault

00:31:01.700 and telling him,

00:31:02.300 hey,

00:31:02.540 Energy East

00:31:03.020 is off the table.

00:31:03.920 It's okay.

00:31:05.000 Well,

00:31:05.660 excuse me.

00:31:06.860 So that's kind of

00:31:07.800 where we're taken

00:31:09.600 for granted.

00:31:10.340 So I have a huge job

00:31:11.720 if I win this

00:31:12.700 over the next three years

00:31:14.140 is telling Westerners

00:31:15.140 it's okay to vote otherwise.

00:31:17.600 And the other thing

00:31:18.300 as well is

00:31:18.880 if the Conservatives,

00:31:20.180 I truly think

00:31:20.940 if Pierre wins it,

00:31:22.320 wins the leadership

00:31:22.980 and by some chance

00:31:25.460 he wins Toronto,

00:31:27.160 I will comfort Westerners

00:31:29.100 saying he will be

00:31:30.820 a much better

00:31:31.600 Prime Minister

00:31:32.240 than Justin Trudeau.

00:31:33.740 Let me hold

00:31:34.460 the balance of power

00:31:35.200 and I can do that

00:31:36.180 with 50 seats easily.

00:31:37.900 I mean,

00:31:38.180 if Jagmeet Singh

00:31:39.420 can do it with 20 X seats

00:31:40.740 and the block

00:31:41.240 can do it for

00:31:41.820 with 31 seats,

00:31:43.560 we can too.

00:31:45.640 I know that a few people

00:31:46.880 I was actually talking

00:31:47.760 to a bunch of Albertans

00:31:48.940 last weekend

00:31:49.700 at a conference

00:31:50.780 are still a little bit uneasy

00:31:52.440 with the name

00:31:53.040 Maverick Party.

00:31:53.880 Some people just long

00:31:54.720 for the Wexit name.

00:31:56.140 Is a name change

00:31:56.820 on the table

00:31:57.400 or do you like Maverick?

00:31:58.800 I'm glad that you asked that.

00:32:00.240 So in our leadership

00:32:01.520 bid,

00:32:03.280 we,

00:32:03.680 in our leadership,

00:32:04.300 so in addition

00:32:05.080 to choosing

00:32:05.600 which candidate

00:32:06.260 you're looking for,

00:32:07.460 there will be a question

00:32:08.480 of would you like

00:32:09.200 to continue

00:32:09.720 with the name

00:32:10.360 Maverick or not

00:32:11.240 to our members.

00:32:12.120 So we'll put that

00:32:12.660 back out to our members.

00:32:14.000 Now,

00:32:14.620 personally for me,

00:32:15.480 I'm married to the mission

00:32:16.540 of Western autonomy,

00:32:17.900 not the name.

00:32:18.740 So send me to Ottawa

00:32:19.700 with the name Maverick

00:32:20.900 on my shirt,

00:32:21.780 Frontier,

00:32:22.820 Western Party,

00:32:23.840 Western Prosperity,

00:32:25.280 what a new West party,

00:32:26.580 you call it

00:32:27.000 what you want to call it.

00:32:28.140 I'm married to the mission

00:32:29.440 of Western autonomy

00:32:30.420 and one of my followers

00:32:31.500 said this,

00:32:32.100 we're arguing

00:32:32.940 over what we're going

00:32:34.200 to name the ball

00:32:34.880 rather than getting

00:32:35.620 the ball rolling.

00:32:36.900 So my mission

00:32:38.480 is to get the ball rolling.

00:32:39.600 Now,

00:32:39.820 that being said,

00:32:40.800 if we were going

00:32:41.440 to change the name,

00:32:42.340 the color palette,

00:32:43.200 et cetera,

00:32:44.020 I'd engage a marketing

00:32:45.100 professional

00:32:45.540 because marketing counts.

00:32:47.100 So rather than say,

00:32:48.660 you know,

00:32:48.940 willy nilly pull out

00:32:49.820 names from nowhere,

00:32:51.400 let's go out

00:32:52.280 and ask them

00:32:52.860 our own professional,

00:32:53.960 what would be

00:32:54.580 the right SEO,

00:32:55.900 the social media links,

00:32:57.180 the right branding,

00:32:57.980 the most recognizable logo,

00:32:59.520 color,

00:32:59.880 et cetera.

00:33:01.040 So that's the way

00:33:02.140 I would do it

00:33:02.660 is bring in

00:33:03.580 my corporate

00:33:04.360 professional expertise

00:33:05.440 into branding it

00:33:06.640 the same way

00:33:07.320 when you name

00:33:08.200 a new product,

00:33:08.940 let's say a car company

00:33:09.760 is picking up

00:33:10.360 a new model name.

00:33:11.520 They do an immense

00:33:12.220 amount of research,

00:33:13.100 still the same car,

00:33:14.360 but they do an immense

00:33:15.200 amount of research

00:33:15.900 as to what they're

00:33:16.640 going to call that car.

00:33:17.820 So I do the same thing.

00:33:19.640 Maverick leadership

00:33:20.480 candidate,

00:33:21.100 Tarek El Nega.

00:33:21.800 Tarek,

00:33:22.140 always good to talk to you.

00:33:23.060 Thanks for coming on today.

00:33:24.340 Thank you, Andrew.

00:33:25.080 Thanks for having me.

00:33:26.300 Tarek El Nega.

00:33:27.440 And the membership cut off

00:33:28.620 if you are in Alberta

00:33:29.740 and you want to get in

00:33:30.420 on the Maverick Party

00:33:31.440 leadership race.

00:33:32.500 It's coming up.

00:33:33.140 I think it's just on April 30th.

00:33:34.600 So you've got to act quickly

00:33:35.900 if you want to get in that.

00:33:36.780 I'm just going to be watching it

00:33:37.680 from afar in Ontario.

00:33:39.380 But I do thank you very much,

00:33:41.060 all of you,

00:33:41.740 for tuning in today.

00:33:42.640 We've got to end things there.

00:33:44.640 Tomorrow,

00:33:45.240 we've got a special edition

00:33:46.660 of the program,

00:33:47.380 a deep dive into

00:33:48.180 modern conservatism.

00:33:49.640 And does that mean

00:33:50.480 progressive conservatism

00:33:52.100 or does it mean

00:33:52.720 something else?

00:33:53.940 And if it's something else,

00:33:55.060 how do we capture that?

00:33:56.080 It's going to be a great discussion

00:33:57.160 with Brian Lee Crowley

00:33:58.820 of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

00:34:00.900 That'll do it.

00:34:01.520 Hope you all have a great weekend.

00:34:02.600 We'll talk to you soon.

00:34:03.540 Thank you.

00:34:04.080 God bless.

00:34:04.680 And good day to you all.

00:34:05.740 Thanks for listening

00:34:06.440 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:34:08.140 Support the program

00:34:08.940 by donating to True North

00:34:10.180 at www.tnc.news.

00:34:13.580 www.tnc.wt.com

00:34:15.080 ram

00:34:23.860 and

00:34:23.980 com

00:34:24.180 We'll see you soon.

00:34:24.440 I'll see you soon.

00:34:24.920 Bye-bye.

00:34:26.820 Bye-bye.

00:34:26.900 Bye-bye.

00:34:27.580 Bye-bye.

00:34:28.040 Bye-bye.

00:34:28.260 Bye-bye.

00:34:28.720 Bye-bye.

00:34:29.920 Bye-bye.

00:34:30.000 Bye-bye.

00:34:30.900 Bye-bye.

Juno News - April 28, 2022

Marco Mendicino is spreading falsehoods to justify Emergencies Act

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