Juno News - Pierre Poilievre says he's running on cost of living and freedom

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's most irreverent talk show. This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.580 Coming up, Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Paulyev stops by for a wide-ranging discussion about why he's running and what he's going to do if he wins.

00:00:23.000 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:26.540 Hello and welcome to you. This is Canada's most irreverent talk show here on True North, Friday, March 11th, 2022.

00:00:37.300 Doing things a little bit different on the show today from how we normally do them because we are starting an unofficial series as we kick off the Conservative leadership race and our coverage of it.

00:00:48.640 Talking to the candidates, having in-depth, substantive conversations about who they are, why they're running, what it is they want to do, not just as leader of the Conservative Party, but also if they win this race and then win the general election as Prime Minister.

00:01:03.120 And as I've mentioned in the past, I'm not going to get immersed in the horse race of, oh, who's polling this much and who's polling this little and, ooh, what did this person do at a town hall in Burnaby South or something like that.

00:01:15.140 But we are going to talk to the candidates, we are going to cover the races, and we're going to talk about some of the big-picture ideas right now that are in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Conservative Party of Canada members.

00:01:27.060 And we are going to be having an in-depth series of one-on-one in-person interviews with all of the candidates, at least we're going to invite all of them once the race is fully in gear.

00:01:38.380 But in the meantime, we're going to be talking to the candidates as they launch, getting them to give a sense of why they're running.

00:01:44.380 And the first candidate to announce very quickly after, basically days after there was an opening for Conservative Party of Canada leader, was Pierre Polyev, long-time Conservative Member of Parliament from Carleton.

00:01:57.060 I think I last spoke to him in Carleton during the 2021 election, but Pierre Polyev joins me now.

00:02:03.900 Pierre, always good to talk to you. Thanks for coming on today.

00:02:07.020 Great to be with you, Andrew.

00:02:08.740 Let's start with your campaign here. You were out of the gate very quickly and a very ambitious slogan for your campaign.

00:02:15.740 It was Pierre for Prime Minister. So you're already bypassing the Conservative leadership in some ways, and you're running against Trudeau, right?

00:02:22.660 Well, the end game is to become Prime Minister, give Canadians back control of their lives by making Canada the freest place on Earth.

00:02:31.900 So my view is, let's just tell it like it is. That's my plan. That's my purpose. And that's why I'm running.

00:02:38.120 When you look at the Conservative Party's trajectory, specifically since 2015, that was when you went from having a majority government under Stephen Harper,

00:02:46.560 to Justin Trudeau winning with a majority, and then you go to the subsequent elections since then,

00:02:52.480 where do you feel is the benefit that you're going to bring and you can bring to the party as leader

00:02:57.720 that will correct what's happened in those last three elections?

00:03:00.660 Well, I'm going to win the election on the issue of cost of living. The Canadian people feel like they've lost control of their lives.

00:03:09.900 And the reason is that the average Canadian can't choose where they live anymore because the typical house costs $836,000,

00:03:18.860 meaning you have 32-year-old men and women living in their parents' basement or permanently renters paying someone else's mortgage.

00:03:26.540 They can't choose where they eat anymore or what they eat anymore because of food price inflation.

00:03:33.720 And so you have single moms who can't choose the foods they want to put on their children's plates. 1.00

00:03:40.420 And then, of course, they can't choose where to go.

00:03:43.480 Freedom, mobility is gone when you can't afford a buck, 80 a liter or $2 a liter gas.

00:03:48.920 So with the carbon tax that Jean Charest and Justin Trudeau brought in and the increases in the sales tax that Charest imposed on hardworking Quebecers,

00:04:03.400 people feel like they've lost control of their money.

00:04:06.360 I want to give people back control of their lives.

00:04:08.980 I will counter what I'm calling just inflation.

00:04:12.100 And I'll do it three ways.

00:04:14.460 One, I'll get rid of the carbon tax.

00:04:16.440 Two, I'll rein in government spending so that we no longer print cash to pay our bills.

00:04:21.760 And three, I'm going to unleash the productive forces of our economy to produce more energy, build more houses, and grow more nutritious food.

00:04:32.380 In other words, instead of creating more cash, let's create more of what cash buys.

00:04:36.440 And when we do that, we'll have more affordable goods that will protect the purchasing power of paychecks.

00:04:42.780 That is the single most important issue in Canada's suburbs, and I will win a majority government on that issue.

00:04:49.800 Cost of living important, inflation important, no argument for me there.

00:04:54.620 Just to go back to the question I asked, though, I asked how you would bring the Conservative Party to a different result than the last three elections.

00:05:01.740 And looking at Andrew Scheer's campaign in 2019, Aaron O'Toole's campaign in 2021, they did seem like campaigns that defaulted to what I think is the safe Conservative position of let's focus on the pocketbook issues, let's focus on cost of living.

00:05:16.380 Why do you think that message is going to be something that resonates more this time around than it did the last two times?

00:05:23.240 Do you think the climate's different, or do you think that the predecessors that you would like to follow weren't selling it all that well?

00:05:29.120 I think that the climate is definitely different.

00:05:34.180 The inflation is at a 30-year high, housing inflation is at record highs, and energy prices are more expensive than they've ever been.

00:05:43.860 Why is that happening?

00:05:44.980 Well, one thing is the cost of government is driving up the cost of living.

00:05:50.560 You know, when governments overspend, then they have to overtax, and that drives up the cost of everything.

00:05:55.940 The cost of money printing, which means the government's put $400 billion of new cash out into the economy, and that those dollars have gone out and bid up the price of goods and services, and to the benefit of the very rich at the expense of the working class wage earner.

00:06:12.640 And then third, regulatory red tape blocks production.

00:06:16.780 So the governments are ballooning demand without allowing the free market to match with supply.

00:06:24.000 So I'm the only candidate who has any credibility on this issue.

00:06:27.600 Of course, Patrick Brown supports a carbon tax after saying he wouldn't.

00:06:32.460 And Jean Charest brought in a carbon tax, a fuel tax, a sales tax hike in Quebec.

00:06:39.900 Look, I can't even imagine us running in suburban Canada on the issue of cost of living with a leader who raised the sales tax.

00:06:47.600 Trudeau hasn't even yet done that.

00:06:50.100 And he will, obviously, but he hasn't yet done it.

00:06:53.000 And that would put us at a major strategic disadvantage.

00:06:57.000 If I'm leader, I have a record of cutting the cost of living by lowering the GST and pushing other tax cuts through Parliament.

00:07:06.020 So I'm the only candidate that can make Canadians' paychecks go further and counter what I call just inflation.

00:07:13.000 You mentioned Jean Charest and Patrick Brown.

00:07:17.220 So let's talk about the internal race here in the Conservative Party.

00:07:21.120 A lot of the time, I mean, everyone knows the saying, the big blue tent.

00:07:24.240 And underneath that, you've got your red Tories, your blue Tories, your libertarians, your social conservatives, your foreign policy people, your populace.

00:07:32.120 I mean, you have all of these different people here.

00:07:34.360 Where do you fit yourself?

00:07:36.320 And more importantly, what are you going to do to keep that tent together, to keep that family happy?

00:07:40.500 Which, as we've seen in the last couple of years, isn't always a given.

00:07:45.240 Where do I fit?

00:07:46.260 I'm a conservative, a real conservative.

00:07:48.640 And I haven't left the Conservative Party to become a liberal for a decade like Jean Charest did.

00:07:54.540 I'm a conservative.

00:07:56.140 How do I keep everyone together?

00:07:57.980 Well, let's break it down.

00:08:00.440 And let's focus on the principle that unites all the different groups that you just listed.

00:08:05.100 And that principle is freedom.

00:08:07.420 So progressive conservatives want women, gays, minorities, immigrants, First Nations to have the freedom to pursue their own path and achieve their potential free from discrimination.

00:08:23.000 Fiscal conservatives want economic freedom, that is, control over your own money, the ability to start a business unimpeded by government gatekeepers.

00:08:34.160 Social conservatives want religious freedom to raise their kids with their own traditional values and preach their faith without censorship.

00:08:40.820 Rural and firearms conservatives want the freedom to own their own property legally without undue government confiscation or penalties, like when Jean Charest supported the long gun registry that wasted a billion dollars.

00:08:56.560 And so if you look across the board at all of the different branches of conservatism, all of them, they disagree on many things, but they all agree on one thing, and that is that we need more freedom.

00:09:11.920 That's why I'm running for prime minister to put people back in control of their lives and make Canada the freest country on earth.

00:09:17.620 In the last election in particular, we saw a lot of people who went to the People's Party of Canada, who admittedly many of them were traditionally not conservative voters or traditional non-voters.

00:09:30.380 But a lot of them were disgruntled conservative voters who didn't feel, especially on vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, the conservatives were doing enough.

00:09:39.200 And I know you have taken a very firm position, especially in recent weeks, against vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

00:09:45.900 And I reported on the letter you sent to Justin Trudeau this week saying as much.

00:09:50.080 But more broadly, is re-engaging PPC members with the Conservative Party, bringing people in that have in the past thrown in the towel on your party, is that a priority for you if you're the leader?

00:10:01.580 And how do you do that?

00:10:03.200 Well, I do welcome people from the People's Party back into the Conservative Party.

00:10:08.760 These are good.

00:10:10.160 The average PPC voter that I met on the doorsteps in the last election were concerned about losing freedoms.

00:10:17.520 And it turned out that was a legitimate concern.

00:10:21.420 So that's why I said earlier, we can unite a conservative coalition around freedom, the freedom to make your own bodily and health decisions, the freedom to control your money, the freedom of speech and of commerce.

00:10:38.580 And those freedoms will bring many people back to the fold who hadn't been in our party in the past or who had strayed away because they were dissatisfied.

00:10:49.800 I think people, Andrew, feel like they've lost control of their lives.

00:10:52.820 I see that when I talk to people, whether it's the excessive government, the pandemic power trip, as I call it, the vaccine vendetta, or whether it's economic issues like people can't afford to choose where to live, what to eat, or where to drive.

00:11:09.160 Those people that feel like they're losing control of their lives, I'm going to reverse that trend.

00:11:16.240 I'm going to bring in more freedom through less government so that people control their own destinies and Canada's the freest country on earth.

00:11:24.160 Let's talk a little bit about your competition specifically.

00:11:29.080 You've mentioned Jean Charest a few times here.

00:11:31.700 Here's a guy, again, took the position of leading the progressive conservatives back when that party existed, went into Quebec politics as a liberal, has come back now.

00:11:41.440 Do you think that he is someone who at all is someone that you need to be worried about or someone that you see as a formidable opponent?

00:11:48.380 Do you think that the idea of him even being in this race is a joke?

00:11:52.180 Because you're being very dismissive of it.

00:11:53.880 I'm not saying you don't have a reason to with the litany of policies you mentioned in Quebec, but do you see him as a legitimate opponent in this race?

00:12:01.400 I always view every candidate as a legitimate contender, and so I never take anything for granted.

00:12:11.380 I just respectfully disagree with Jean Charest's liberal policies.

00:12:15.280 Charest increased the sales tax twice in Quebec by over two percentage points, making life more expensive for customers.

00:12:25.720 Hardworking people see their paychecks, purchasing power go down because of Charest tax hikes.

00:12:32.100 He raised the carbon tax, the fuel tax, the health and other health tax.

00:12:36.820 Hard to think of a single tax he hasn't raised.

00:12:39.560 I'm for lower taxes, and that is, I think, the big disagreement between Mr. Charest and I.

00:12:45.680 He's for high taxes and big government.

00:12:47.680 I'm for low taxes and small government.

00:12:50.140 He also supported the billion-dollar liberal long gun registry, which went after law-abiding duck hunters and farmers,

00:12:58.200 rather than targeting violent criminals, gun smugglers and gangsters.

00:13:03.880 So I, again, disagree with his liberal approach to that.

00:13:08.260 So it's an honest but amicable policy disagreement that will animate our debate in this leadership.

00:13:18.860 You've talked about your position on Jean Charest, on Patrick Brown,

00:13:22.660 just to complete the set here of the candidates who we know are going to be in this race.

00:13:26.980 What's your view of Leslyn Lewis?

00:13:28.460 I think she's a great Canadian.

00:13:32.100 I admire her work, and I've enjoyed getting to know her a little bit.

00:13:37.540 I don't know her that well, but I have gotten to know her a little bit on Parliament Hill,

00:13:40.720 and what I have seen is a good, hardworking, and extremely intelligent Canadian.

00:13:48.480 She obviously appeals to the social conservative wing of the party,

00:13:52.480 and you mentioned earlier this is a wing that your view is seeking religious freedom,

00:13:56.620 the right to make their own decisions, and I know this comes up in every single election,

00:14:00.860 and I know the media obsesses about this, but I also know that it's of concern to conservative members

00:14:06.800 who are socially conservative and other members how a party is going to do that.

00:14:10.900 So specifically, what is it that you will offer socially conservative voters that come to you

00:14:16.020 and they say, I'm pro-life, this is a big issue for me, it's why I'm in the conservative party,

00:14:20.720 because I've always felt like I have a home here.

00:14:22.580 What's your pitch to that voter?

00:14:23.920 Freedom. I believe that people of faith should have the freedom to espouse their faith.

00:14:32.140 They should have the freedom to teach their kids their own values,

00:14:35.100 and my policies will recognize that freedom.

00:14:39.160 I'm not proposing legislation on abortion.

00:14:42.520 I'm being very honest about that up front.

00:14:44.440 I'm not going to promise something during leadership that I cannot deliver on

00:14:48.200 and that I will not deliver on after the leadership,

00:14:50.600 but what I will propose are ways that we can help women who want and who have chosen

00:14:58.180 to put up their child for adoption.

00:15:01.660 I'm personally adopted myself.

00:15:03.560 I think the system, both for maternity benefits and for other benefits and supports could be made fairer

00:15:12.380 to help those women who choose adoption with the costs and the struggles that come along with that choice.

00:15:21.660 So that's what real free choice means.

00:15:23.820 It means that all different choices are supported and then that a woman can decide which choice she wants to make.

00:15:33.500 And I think that kind of approach, which enables and empowers women,

00:15:37.600 is the best approach in a free and democratic country.

00:15:42.060 You mentioned a couple of moments ago that you're not going to make a pledge in the leadership

00:15:47.220 that you then roll on in the future.

00:15:50.460 Let's talk about what happened in a lot of people's eyes during the last election

00:15:54.860 when Aaron O'Toole, who had run on a very red meat, true blue conservative platform,

00:15:59.240 had promised, and we spoke about it on this very program,

00:16:02.660 defunding CBC was one notable example.

00:16:05.680 Scrapping the carbon tax was another.

00:16:07.400 And those two were, and also firearms, repealing the Liberal government's order in council,

00:16:13.740 prohibiting a number of variants of firearms.

00:16:15.900 And all three of those, by the end of the campaign,

00:16:18.240 were not represented in what the Conservatives were seeking.

00:16:21.160 So what's the accountability measure that you can offer?

00:16:24.080 How do people know that you're not going to do what's been done before,

00:16:26.780 very recently, when you make these commitments in the leadership race?

00:16:30.440 Well, look at my past, Andrew.

00:16:31.780 You look back at my 17 years in Parliament.

00:16:36.600 I've been extremely consistent on those policy issues.

00:16:42.300 I opposed the Long Gun Registry, voted to repeal it again and again and again.

00:16:46.900 I opposed the carbon tax.

00:16:49.300 I voted against it in Parliament when it came up,

00:16:52.720 and I never wavered or flip-flopped on that issue either.

00:16:56.620 Basically, everything you see me running on in this platform now is what I've been running on

00:17:04.020 and fighting for for 17 years, and you'd be hard-pressed to find any examples to the contrary.

00:17:11.880 By contrast, I know Mr. Brown, for example, he ran for the PC leadership in Ontario,

00:17:18.580 promising that he would be a true blue Conservative,

00:17:21.060 and he then suddenly flip-flopped and became the carbon tax candidate.

00:17:26.100 And we don't need that kind of flip-flopping.

00:17:29.180 What that actually does is cost us the election,

00:17:31.620 because voters then don't believe in what we're saying.

00:17:35.380 They look at our agenda and say,

00:17:37.620 well, you said one thing to become leader and now another afterwards,

00:17:41.880 and so you can't be trusted with your general election platform.

00:17:47.740 And that's why I'm only promising things during the leadership race

00:17:52.680 that I could fulfill both as leader and as Prime Minister.

00:17:56.120 And just to finish the third example I gave there,

00:18:00.300 what is your position on both CBC privatization

00:18:02.980 and also the $600 million media bailout fund that Justin Trudeau set up?

00:18:08.600 Well, I will defund the CBC.

00:18:11.060 I'll have very specific proposals to do that as the leadership race unfolds.

00:18:15.820 And that will, you know, it's a colossal waste of money,

00:18:19.740 over a billion dollars for a bloated corporation

00:18:23.780 that is becoming increasingly just a communications bureau for the PMO.

00:18:29.720 So I will defund CBC and I will have specific policy proposals to achieve that.

00:18:35.240 I have always opposed subsidies for the media.

00:18:39.780 I believe that media should make their earnings

00:18:44.000 by selling subscriptions, sponsorships, advertising.

00:18:47.980 And that also I believe that every media outlet

00:18:52.360 should be treated equally.

00:18:55.540 I don't think we should,

00:18:56.580 the government should have a set of media policies

00:18:59.240 for favored media at the expense of others.

00:19:02.300 I noticed that this current government seems to want to

00:19:04.560 exclusively support the legacy media

00:19:08.480 because most of it, not all,

00:19:11.060 but most of the Parliament Hill press gallery is liberal,

00:19:15.280 but they want to shut out the independent media voices.

00:19:19.560 I take the opposite view.

00:19:21.120 I think that every single media outlet

00:19:22.940 should have a fair chance to report the facts

00:19:26.080 and inform Canadians.

00:19:27.420 Let's talk about some of the bigger picture issues

00:19:31.100 that I've heard a lot of concerns about

00:19:32.980 from Conservative members and Conservative supporters.

00:19:35.900 And I'd say people that are potentially available to you

00:19:38.860 as a leadership candidate seeking support

00:19:40.900 in the next few months.

00:19:42.400 And one big one,

00:19:43.220 which admittedly I have talked about for years,

00:19:45.620 and I think it's only in the last couple of months

00:19:47.260 that it's gained a lot more traction,

00:19:49.400 I think outside of a small group of people

00:19:52.120 that have been working on it,

00:19:53.180 is some of the global influences we see

00:19:55.820 in a lot of Justin Trudeau's policy.

00:19:58.400 And I want to be clear,

00:19:59.220 I'm not talking about conspiratorial thinking here.

00:20:01.520 I'm not talking about global cabals,

00:20:03.260 but you do have, for example,

00:20:04.800 the World Economic Forum,

00:20:05.980 a group that Justin Trudeau

00:20:07.180 and many people in his cabinet

00:20:08.460 have actually promoted and actively participated in.

00:20:11.980 We've got the Great Reset,

00:20:13.940 Stakeholder Capitalism, all of these things.

00:20:16.000 And you've spoken out,

00:20:17.220 I think about some of these,

00:20:18.100 even on the floor of the House of Commons.

00:20:19.920 I've had people that have said

00:20:21.540 that you yourself are connected

00:20:23.840 to the World Economic Forum.

00:20:25.260 And I wanted to give you an opportunity

00:20:26.940 to address this head-on,

00:20:28.340 because I'm sure you've seen it as well.

00:20:30.460 Is there a connection there?

00:20:31.840 Have you ever spoken

00:20:32.620 at a World Economic Forum event?

00:20:35.560 No, I have not.

00:20:37.420 No, I've never been to Davos.

00:20:40.200 I've never been part of the organization.

00:20:43.580 And I don't agree

00:20:45.440 with its publicly stated policy objectives.

00:20:50.600 My policies are different.

00:20:52.760 I obviously support small government,

00:20:55.720 more freedom,

00:20:56.960 and individual independence.

00:20:59.880 So I just have a fundamental disagreement

00:21:02.800 with the organization's policy outlook.

00:21:06.280 And that is something

00:21:08.040 that you can look at my track record.

00:21:09.760 I've said that on the floor

00:21:10.820 of the House of Commons.

00:21:11.800 I've said it in parliamentary committees.

00:21:14.340 I've said it in comments

00:21:16.580 that I've made online for years.

00:21:18.960 So anybody who wants to know my position

00:21:21.340 on that subject can simply check it out

00:21:24.180 and look up what I've actually said,

00:21:27.620 because I've been deadly consistent

00:21:29.160 on that issue.

00:21:29.920 Do you think that Justin Trudeau's government

00:21:32.920 has been far too deferential,

00:21:34.960 not just to the World Economic Forum,

00:21:36.700 but in general,

00:21:37.860 to some of these more internationalist bodies,

00:21:40.680 like the World Health Organization?

00:21:42.320 You could include the WEF,

00:21:44.240 the Pursuit of the UN Security Council seat

00:21:46.480 at great cost.

00:21:47.500 Do you think that's a significant problem

00:21:49.220 in Trudeau's government

00:21:50.100 that you as prime minister

00:21:51.620 would change course on?

00:21:53.140 Well, I think that he's just got

00:21:57.420 the wrong idea on foreign policy.

00:21:59.700 He spent all kinds of money

00:22:01.140 and virtue signaled all around the world

00:22:03.340 to try and get a UN Security Council seat.

00:22:05.720 And then he didn't get it.

00:22:06.760 He actually got fewer votes

00:22:07.940 than I think Harper had received.

00:22:09.860 Even though Harper,

00:22:11.040 one, had taken principled

00:22:12.360 foreign policy stands

00:22:13.620 and two, had not spent all the money

00:22:18.240 trying to buy international votes

00:22:20.340 from dictators.

00:22:21.060 So I would not have gone down that road.

00:22:25.340 I'm going to take a principled

00:22:26.600 foreign policy position

00:22:28.060 and I'm not going to go on vote-buying schemes

00:22:31.480 that put taxpayers' money out the window

00:22:35.240 to try and win votes

00:22:37.020 from dictators at the UN.

00:22:40.280 Let's talk about one consideration

00:22:42.040 that a lot of people in leadership races

00:22:44.120 do take very seriously,

00:22:45.540 which is electability.

00:22:47.100 I know it's the old William F. Buckley thing

00:22:48.900 of you should vote for the most conservative,

00:22:50.800 if most electable candidate.

00:22:52.160 Now, whether that guides a lot of people's views

00:22:54.640 in Canadian conservative politics,

00:22:56.340 I don't know.

00:22:57.540 But there does seem to be this battle

00:22:59.580 among conservative strategists

00:23:01.780 that say, OK, well, we've got a breakthrough

00:23:03.880 in the so-called vote-rich GTA

00:23:05.820 or we've got a breakthrough in Quebec.

00:23:07.500 We can't just win on the red meat issues 0.69

00:23:09.840 going after the Alberta, Saskatchewan voters

00:23:11.900 that are already there.

00:23:13.260 I know it's early

00:23:14.240 and you aren't yet the leader,

00:23:15.560 but do you have a path to victory

00:23:17.480 for that majority

00:23:18.280 that you said you're going to win?

00:23:20.120 And how do you get from step A

00:23:22.200 of you running for leadership

00:23:23.400 and step C of you being prime minister

00:23:25.980 and make that vision happen?

00:23:29.760 Well, it's pretty simple.

00:23:30.920 People are going to vote

00:23:31.840 in the next election

00:23:32.620 on the cost of living.

00:23:34.100 That's the issue.

00:23:36.480 Andrew, I've been elected seven times

00:23:39.400 in a big city Ontario riding.

00:23:43.200 Admittedly, a fairly rural riding, though, correct?

00:23:46.740 It's predominantly suburban.

00:23:48.520 The population is predominantly suburban.

00:23:50.780 In my riding, I have enormous suburbs

00:23:52.720 like Stittsville, Finley Creek

00:23:54.980 and Riverside South.

00:23:56.880 Finley Creek being a slightly smaller one,

00:23:59.040 but the two others are very big suburbs

00:24:00.760 and they're all in the nation's capital

00:24:02.380 and I'm the only conservative

00:24:03.520 to win this seat since 1984.

00:24:05.860 I'm also the only conservative

00:24:07.240 elected in the nation's capital.

00:24:09.120 I twice got the biggest vote count

00:24:11.040 of any candidate in all of Ontario.

00:24:13.200 And when I was 25,

00:24:14.620 I beat the defense minister

00:24:15.980 to win the seat in the first place.

00:24:20.360 You know, Jean Charest has a record of losing.

00:24:22.820 When he was a PC leader,

00:24:24.820 he finished last, dead last.

00:24:27.280 Five parties, he finished fifth

00:24:29.500 behind the liberals,

00:24:31.320 behind the Reform Party,

00:24:33.220 behind the NDP

00:24:33.960 and behind the Bloc Québécois.

00:24:35.980 We don't need another last place finish,

00:24:37.860 but that's what we'll get

00:24:38.700 if he's the leader.

00:24:39.540 And the reason for that

00:24:42.140 is that his liberal policies

00:24:43.300 are very unpopular.

00:24:45.520 And my conservative policies

00:24:47.100 are very popular.

00:24:48.120 That's why I win

00:24:48.740 in the suburbs of Ontario, right?

00:24:50.500 People are going to be voting

00:24:51.640 on the following question.

00:24:52.800 Who can make my paycheck go further

00:24:54.960 so that my 32-year-old son

00:24:57.800 can move out of the basement,

00:24:58.900 get his own house,

00:25:00.420 so that I can buy gas

00:25:02.100 and go where I need to get,

00:25:03.180 and so I can afford nutritious food

00:25:05.440 at the grocery store.

00:25:07.140 I have a track record

00:25:08.440 of lowering the cost of living.

00:25:09.940 I voted to cut the GST

00:25:11.020 and other taxes,

00:25:12.580 and I'm the leading voice

00:25:13.760 in Canada against inflation.

00:25:16.420 Jean Charest has a track record

00:25:17.800 of making life more expensive.

00:25:19.340 He voted,

00:25:19.960 he personally raised the sales tax,

00:25:22.500 raised the fuel tax,

00:25:24.120 raised the carbon tax,

00:25:25.680 and he brought in a new health tax.

00:25:29.160 So I think if we have

00:25:31.700 a high-tax,

00:25:33.600 ultra-expensive leader

00:25:35.560 in the next election

00:25:38.020 on the cost of living issue,

00:25:40.400 we would get creamed

00:25:41.300 in the Canada suburbs.

00:25:43.860 I will win the suburbs

00:25:45.220 by giving people

00:25:47.240 control of their money

00:25:48.300 and control of their lives

00:25:49.320 so they can afford to get ahead.

00:25:51.760 Is Quebec something 0.66

00:25:53.220 that you would have

00:25:54.160 a specific strategy

00:25:55.460 to hopefully win votes in,

00:25:56.980 or do you see yourself

00:25:58.020 fitting into that

00:25:58.780 Stephen Harper,

00:25:59.960 2011 winning coalition

00:26:01.920 that managed to get a majority

00:26:03.360 without really having

00:26:04.680 a breakthrough in Quebec?

00:26:06.900 Well, I can win in Quebec.

00:26:09.360 You know, I'm probably

00:26:10.960 the most winnable candidate

00:26:12.240 in this race for Quebec.

00:26:14.560 More than the former

00:26:15.320 Premier of Quebec?

00:26:16.840 Well, he lost,

00:26:17.780 he got trounced

00:26:18.900 in the most recent election

00:26:20.120 where he ran as a Liberal there.

00:26:22.560 And polling data still shows

00:26:24.460 he's very unpopular in Quebec

00:26:25.920 because people reject

00:26:27.640 his high-tax record.

00:26:30.900 And by contrast,

00:26:32.460 I can appeal to the hardworking,

00:26:34.340 middle-class,

00:26:35.120 entrepreneurial Quebecer

00:26:36.580 that can win us seats

00:26:38.580 right across the province,

00:26:40.240 but in particular

00:26:40.920 in Quebec City,

00:26:42.760 around the Beauce,

00:26:44.500 Livy,

00:26:45.440 and elsewhere

00:26:46.880 where you see

00:26:48.020 high levels of entrepreneurship,

00:26:50.500 working-class people

00:26:51.700 tired of paying high taxes.

00:26:53.180 And my view on winning in Quebec

00:26:55.660 is that we shouldn't try

00:26:56.840 to blend in

00:26:57.600 with the other parties.

00:26:59.000 We should try to stand out,

00:27:00.660 stand out as the only party

00:27:02.660 that will fight inflation,

00:27:04.900 the only party

00:27:05.800 that believes in low taxes,

00:27:09.660 the only party

00:27:10.820 that will go after gun criminals 0.63

00:27:13.220 rather than law-abiding

00:27:14.480 and licensed hunters

00:27:15.600 and farmers.

00:27:16.840 By standing separate

00:27:18.480 from the left-of-centre parties,

00:27:24.080 we can really win

00:27:27.140 the support

00:27:28.240 of a group of voters

00:27:29.520 who've had no voice

00:27:31.540 at a federal level

00:27:33.020 in that province,

00:27:34.120 and that's what I intend to do.

00:27:36.560 Just on the note

00:27:37.400 of election readiness,

00:27:38.500 we are in a minority

00:27:39.640 government situation here,

00:27:41.120 and the nature of those

00:27:41.980 is that there could be

00:27:42.800 an election at any point

00:27:43.820 because the government falls,

00:27:45.000 or we could see

00:27:46.000 what happened in 2021,

00:27:47.620 which is Justin Trudeau

00:27:48.480 just wakes up one day

00:27:49.340 and says,

00:27:49.940 you know,

00:27:50.180 I think the polling

00:27:50.800 is right for me.

00:27:51.480 Let's have an election now. 0.82

00:27:52.680 But you've got to be ready

00:27:53.820 to hit the ground running,

00:27:54.980 and I know that you'll try

00:27:56.000 to do your best

00:27:56.620 to transition a leadership campaign

00:27:58.180 into a general election campaign

00:28:00.360 if you're successful,

00:28:01.240 but would you be pushing

00:28:03.300 for an election

00:28:04.180 at the earliest

00:28:04.800 available opportunity?

00:28:08.020 Well, my goal is to

00:28:10.120 maximize the chance

00:28:12.820 that we get a new

00:28:13.980 and different government

00:28:14.780 after the next election.

00:28:16.740 So I'm not going

00:28:18.580 to give Justin Trudeau

00:28:20.100 a heads up

00:28:20.720 on my precise strategy,

00:28:22.200 but having been part

00:28:24.600 of Stephen Harper's

00:28:26.160 two minority governments

00:28:27.440 and a part of the opposition

00:28:29.320 in 2004

00:28:30.480 to the Martin government,

00:28:31.880 I have a lot of experience

00:28:33.100 with minorities,

00:28:33.980 and I know how to plan

00:28:36.640 a parliamentary strategy

00:28:38.100 that will allow us

00:28:39.920 to defeat Trudeau

00:28:41.260 at the right time

00:28:42.100 in a confidence vote

00:28:43.060 and defeat him soon after

00:28:44.800 in an election.

00:28:46.860 So you're not worried

00:28:47.960 about going up

00:28:48.500 against Trudeau.

00:28:49.240 Even though he's defeated

00:28:50.440 three conservative leaders,

00:28:51.700 do you think you can be

00:28:52.380 the ones to turn that around?

00:28:54.260 I will be Justin Trudeau.

00:28:56.580 Pierre Polyev,

00:28:57.520 conservative leadership candidate,

00:28:58.880 will certainly touch base

00:28:59.720 with you again

00:29:00.240 as you go through the campaign,

00:29:01.780 but I do appreciate

00:29:02.360 your time today, sir.

00:29:03.660 Great to be with you.

00:29:04.440 Thanks very much.

00:29:05.980 Pierre Polyev,

00:29:07.020 and as I mentioned at the top,

00:29:08.260 we're going to do this

00:29:08.920 with all of the candidates.

00:29:10.100 We're going to invite them at least.

00:29:11.120 I don't know if all of them

00:29:11.860 are going to do it.

00:29:12.680 I certainly hope they do,

00:29:13.640 and we won't have a repeat

00:29:15.080 of the Peter McKay situation

00:29:16.800 of 2020.

00:29:18.400 But again,

00:29:18.780 we move onward,

00:29:19.560 we move upward.

00:29:20.460 My thanks again

00:29:21.120 to Pierre Polyev.

00:29:22.220 We will talk to you soon.

00:29:23.640 This is Canada's

00:29:24.480 most irreverent talk show.

00:29:26.180 More coming up

00:29:26.920 in the days ahead

00:29:27.600 here on True North.

00:29:28.560 Thank you,

00:29:29.060 God bless,

00:29:29.620 and good day.

00:29:30.660 Thanks for listening

00:29:31.300 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:29:32.820 Support the program

00:29:33.540 by donating to True North

00:29:34.780 at www.tnc.news.

00:29:37.940 The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:29:42.320 Thank you.

00:29:46.680 The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:29:47.680 The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:29:48.100 Thank you.

00:29:48.480 And we'll see you soon.

00:29:48.520 We'll see you soon.

00:29:48.720 Bye-bye.

00:29:49.840 Have a great day.

00:29:50.820 See you soon.

00:29:51.960 I'll see you soon.

00:29:53.300 Bye-bye.

00:29:53.880 Bye-bye.

00:29:54.840 Bye-bye.

00:29:55.300 Bye-bye.

00:29:55.560 Bye-bye.

00:29:56.620 Bye-bye.

00:29:56.780 Bye-bye.

00:29:57.320 Bye-bye.

00:29:57.720 Bye-bye.

00:29:58.080 Bye-bye.

00:29:58.740 Bye-bye.

00:29:58.940 Bye-bye.

00:29:59.480 Bye-bye.

00:30:00.180 Bye-bye.

00:30:01.900 Bye-bye.

00:30:03.740 Bye-bye.

00:30:03.880 Bye-bye.

00:30:05.780 Bye-bye.

Juno News - March 11, 2022

Pierre Poilievre says he's running on cost of living and freedom

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