Juno News - November 26, 2021


Politician says only ＂anti-vaxxers＂ oppose mandatory vaccination


Episode Stats

Length

37 minutes

Words per Minute

184.18048

Word Count

6,828

Sentence Count

319

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

7


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.
00:00:06.740 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.
00:00:11.640 Coming up, the rise of fully vaccinated anti-vaxxers, somehow.
00:00:16.340 Mixed messaging on childhood vaccination and a look at the new government throne speech.
00:00:23.440 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:30.000 It is great to have you aboard the program today on this momentous occasion.
00:00:36.340 No, I'm not talking about Thanksgiving, American Thanksgiving,
00:00:39.480 although I do wish our American viewers and listeners a happy Thanksgiving.
00:00:44.140 We have discovered yet another variant.
00:00:47.080 I know this one is in South Africa, courtesy of Botswana.
00:00:52.160 The researchers are saying they don't yet know how bad it's going to be.
00:00:55.780 It could be nothing. It could be something.
00:00:57.900 We don't know. We won't until we see it.
00:00:59.540 It could pop up in a few other places.
00:01:01.840 I don't even know. I lost track in the Greek alphabet of where we are.
00:01:05.940 You'd think it stopped at Delta, but we actually went all the way up to,
00:01:09.320 I think, like Mu and Nu or something like that.
00:01:12.300 Maybe this is Omega. Maybe it's Kappa Alpha Theta.
00:01:15.380 Maybe it's the Sigma Chi variant. I don't know.
00:01:17.320 It's just when you look at the public health press releases,
00:01:20.260 it's just like a nice stroll down sorority or fraternity row in a college town.
00:01:24.900 As I've said, you have to get through the Greek alphabet at least once before the pandemic ends.
00:01:28.660 Those are the rules. I don't make them up.
00:01:31.380 And the never-ending pandemic continues, especially in Australia.
00:01:35.940 We did Austria last episode. We're doing Australia today.
00:01:39.960 I don't think they're the same place. They just sound very similar.
00:01:43.320 Although when I was in Austria a couple of weeks ago, I did see they had an Australian pub,
00:01:47.800 which I probably thought was good to confuse a couple of wayward travelers.
00:01:51.080 In any case, in Australia, which is just permanently locked down, it feels like,
00:01:55.980 especially in some provinces and some inter-regional travel in Australia as well.
00:02:00.940 You can't necessarily, as an Australian, go across the country
00:02:04.800 because their different districts have their own rules on this.
00:02:08.160 So it's incredibly locked down, and it's an island, so in a lot of cases, citizens are trapped.
00:02:14.120 But then you hear this sort of rhetoric from their overseers.
00:02:18.560 Now, this gentleman is the chief minister of the Northern Territory in Australia.
00:02:24.140 So, for lack of a better term, the premier of this particular region.
00:02:28.420 And his name is Michael Gunner, and he has overseen a very significant vaccine mandate,
00:02:35.200 which doesn't quite go so far as Austria's does to mandate vaccination for everyone.
00:02:40.380 But it comes pretty close, because the Northern Territory vaccine mandate basically applies
00:02:46.260 to anyone who has a public-facing role.
00:02:50.700 As the government's website says, it is mandatory for workers in certain settings
00:02:55.000 to get the COVID-19 vaccination and show evidence of this to their employer
00:02:59.620 to continue working in the same role.
00:03:02.720 And as far as workers requiring vaccination, they include people who work with children,
00:03:08.620 also people who work in customer-facing roles.
00:03:11.380 So retail, finance, hospitality, veterinarian, beauty, gym.
00:03:16.660 So basically, anything you do that involves you interacting with someone
00:03:22.020 will have you forced to get the vaccination.
00:03:25.320 So quite a sweeping vaccine mandate.
00:03:27.340 Now, I have been firmly against vaccine mandates.
00:03:29.980 I believe vaccination is a matter of personal choice.
00:03:33.920 Despite being fully vaccinated, this is my belief.
00:03:37.860 And the reason I share my vaccination status with you is because despite being fully vaccinated,
00:03:43.040 despite having the double Pfizer, to Michael Gunner in Australia,
00:03:47.700 I am an anti-vaxxer.
00:03:49.820 Take a look.
00:03:50.880 There was a time in Parliament where you called people anti-vaxxers because they,
00:03:55.280 if you were vaccinated because they had opposition to the mandate,
00:03:57.980 you called Federal Senator Malandiri-McCarthy a champion of the vaccine and anti-vaxxer
00:04:02.420 because it wasn't 100% supportive of your mandate.
00:04:05.440 I wonder, do you think at all that your rhetoric around calling people anti-vaxxers,
00:04:10.500 some of whom were vaccinated, has had an impact at all on vaccine take-up in parts of the territory?
00:04:16.660 No, I don't want to repeat it.
00:04:18.920 If you are anti-mandate, you are absolutely anti-vaxx.
00:04:21.760 I don't care what your personal vaccination status is.
00:04:23.880 If you support, champion, give a green light, give comfort to, support anybody who argues against the vaccine,
00:04:30.780 you are an anti-vaxxer.
00:04:32.120 Absolutely.
00:04:33.200 Your personal vaccination status is utterly irrelevant.
00:04:35.860 If you campaign against the mandate, if you campaign against people being vaccinated in vulnerable settings,
00:04:43.540 teachers in classrooms, I'll be really clear, at that point in time,
00:04:46.440 people were actually supporting the idea of a teacher being unvaccinated in a remote community classroom
00:04:52.560 with kids who cannot be vaccinated.
00:04:54.840 I reject that.
00:04:56.040 I still reject it.
00:04:57.500 And if you are out there in any way, shape or form campaigning against this mandate,
00:05:02.240 you are absolutely anti-vaxx.
00:05:03.980 If you say pro-persuasion, stuff it, shove it.
00:05:08.480 We are absolutely going to make sure as many territories as possible are vaccinated.
00:05:13.040 That is our best protection against this thing.
00:05:15.480 And if you look at the Doty model, and it's only come out since,
00:05:17.700 that says we have to double dose 80 in remote communities, five and up,
00:05:21.520 I think you'll see our vaccine mandate is absolutely crucial to protecting lives,
00:05:25.460 particularly Aboriginal lives.
00:05:26.880 And I will never back away from supporting vaccines.
00:05:29.920 And anyone out there who comes for the mandate, you are anti-vax.
00:05:34.500 You may remember a few weeks back, I spoke about Merriam-Webster Dictionary
00:05:39.060 deciding that anyone who was against mandatory vaccination was an anti-vaxxer.
00:05:44.000 And this is why that story was relevant, because this sort of rhetoric and language
00:05:49.020 and ideology creeps into the political realm.
00:05:53.400 So Chief Minister Michael Gunner says,
00:05:55.080 It doesn't matter if you're fully vaccinated or not.
00:05:57.720 If you think that your vaccination status has anything to do with being an anti-vaxxer,
00:06:02.140 you're out to lunch.
00:06:03.480 I mean, this is something that sounds comical.
00:06:06.380 Like that could be a line right out of some politician from Monty Python.
00:06:10.360 If you think whether you're vaccinated has anything to do with being an anti-vaxxer,
00:06:15.440 I'm like, well, yeah, I think it actually has quite a bit to do with it.
00:06:18.600 So if you're pro-civil liberties, if you're pro-personal choice,
00:06:23.720 if you're for individual decision-making with health,
00:06:27.380 you are just a dirty, filthy, stinking anti-vaxxer.
00:06:31.020 Even if you're fully vaccinated.
00:06:32.980 Even if you think that vaccines are God's gift to the world,
00:06:35.540 you support the miracle of modern medicine, you were first in line,
00:06:38.660 you're just an anti-vaxxer if you support choice.
00:06:41.180 This is the realm that they're trying to push people to.
00:06:44.760 And when you look at the Northern Territory vaccine mandate,
00:06:47.520 which goes beyond just people that work for the government,
00:06:50.060 anyone in a public-facing role,
00:06:53.500 what they're actually doing is trying to mandate vaccination population-wide.
00:06:59.680 This is what Canada has done as well.
00:07:02.240 They know they won't have a mandate to make vaccination mandatory a la Austria.
00:07:07.000 So they take any realm of society they can control
00:07:11.060 and they make vaccination required for that particular function.
00:07:15.140 So working in the public service, working in a federally regulated sector,
00:07:19.160 boarding an airplane or a train.
00:07:20.900 These are the things that the federal government is within its legal mandate to do in Canada,
00:07:25.380 or so it believes anyway.
00:07:27.100 And they get away with it.
00:07:28.540 But what they're actually trying to do is get to 100% vaccination.
00:07:32.380 They just know that they can't get away with showing up on people's doorsteps
00:07:35.500 and shoving the needles in their arms.
00:07:37.420 But that's why I pointed out in the previous show,
00:07:39.900 what's happening in Austria is so important.
00:07:42.140 Because if you don't believe that this could happen in Canada,
00:07:45.520 you are very sorely mistaken.
00:07:47.660 This is something that we see more and more countries pushing the line,
00:07:51.900 pushing the line forward.
00:07:53.560 And the Northern Territory example is this.
00:07:56.560 When they're mandating vaccination,
00:07:58.320 again, you look at the sectors on here.
00:08:00.920 Basically anyone who works outside of a closed-off office
00:08:06.420 or outside of self-employment is covered by this.
00:08:09.980 If you're going to engage in any work with an Aboriginal community,
00:08:13.960 with vulnerable people, with customers, with children,
00:08:18.200 I mean, basically they're trying to cover everything.
00:08:20.360 There are very few jobs that aren't on that list.
00:08:23.580 And I've long said now,
00:08:24.780 this isn't really an original thought by any stretch,
00:08:27.160 that this is all about control more than it is about specific public health guidance.
00:08:32.500 And that's why, just as one notable example,
00:08:34.700 the federal government in Canada extended its vaccine mandate,
00:08:38.460 even to those who are working from home,
00:08:40.720 who will not come into contact with a single person,
00:08:42.800 except for maybe their cat or dog,
00:08:44.380 but certainly not anyone else in the public service,
00:08:46.800 and still at risk of losing their jobs because of vaccination status.
00:08:51.360 And I want to actually turn to the government's doubling down
00:08:55.320 on refusing to pay out EI benefits for people who have been fired
00:09:00.060 or are going to be fired because of not being vaccinated.
00:09:03.840 This is a clip from Power and Politics on CBC with Carla Qualtrough,
00:09:08.380 who is the Minister of Employment.
00:09:10.840 And again, not surprising, but still very angering.
00:09:15.500 We had you on this program before the new cabinet was announced,
00:09:18.360 and we asked you then whether those individuals would qualify for employment insurance.
00:09:22.860 You said you were of the view that that would be the case.
00:09:26.040 So I want to follow up.
00:09:27.480 Do people who lose their job because they refuse to meet a vaccine mandate qualify for EI?
00:09:33.520 Well, certainly it's not up to me to determine individual outcomes for individual cases.
00:09:37.860 But as a matter of policy, Katie, if an employer has a policy that requires a vaccine,
00:09:42.420 if a worker does not adhere to that policy,
00:09:44.820 and as a result their employment is terminated,
00:09:46.700 they would not qualify for EI.
00:09:48.440 Now, after we did that interview, we had an employment lawyer, Paul Champ, on the program.
00:09:53.900 Here's what he said to that.
00:09:55.600 Have a listen.
00:09:56.860 There's no question that an employee can be terminated for it,
00:09:59.780 but can they be denied employment insurance benefits?
00:10:03.160 I disagree with the minister.
00:10:05.740 The provisions in the EI Act say that people are disentitled to benefits
00:10:10.100 if they're terminated for misconduct.
00:10:11.700 And I think refusing or declining to get a vaccine in most workplaces is not misconduct.
00:10:21.200 So what do you say to his argument there?
00:10:23.400 Well, I think this will be tested, Katie, for sure, and it will be tested in court.
00:10:27.400 The advice I've received from justice and justice lawyers is that we're on solid ground here,
00:10:32.860 that if you, it would constitute, I guess, misconduct.
00:10:35.740 But certainly, I'm not giving a legal opinion here,
00:10:38.240 and we'll have to see how this plays out in the Social Security Tribunal and in the courts.
00:10:42.320 But as a matter of policy, our position is that people would not be eligible.
00:10:46.260 Now, of course, there will be extenuating circumstances,
00:10:48.560 but as a matter of course, ineligibility.
00:10:51.080 And I'm glad CBC featured in that package, by the way,
00:10:54.540 and forced the minister to respond to it,
00:10:56.480 the labor lawyer saying, well, hang on here.
00:10:58.880 I mean, why are you able to deny them benefits?
00:11:02.000 Benefits into which they have paid.
00:11:03.680 Benefits into which they have paid, as all Canadians do.
00:11:07.240 But the reason is that the government is viewing this as a with-cause termination.
00:11:11.480 They're viewing it as though you basically stole something on the job
00:11:14.680 and you're getting fired immediately without any recourse or any severance.
00:11:18.960 What's missing from this is that the government has changed the definition
00:11:22.620 after these employees started.
00:11:25.340 Now, I'm against the vaccine mandate through and through.
00:11:28.580 I'm going to keep saying it because I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression here,
00:11:31.580 but I'm against it.
00:11:32.720 It's wrong.
00:11:33.340 It's not particularly effective.
00:11:35.000 But if you were to get a job now, when the vaccine mandate is in effect,
00:11:38.700 you're going to have a lot less recourse available to you
00:11:42.200 if you get fired before your termination or your probation period is up
00:11:46.040 because you're not vaccinated.
00:11:47.500 For someone who joined the civil service before this vaccine mandate existed,
00:11:52.040 for the rules of employment to be changed,
00:11:55.260 and then for the government to say,
00:11:56.780 we're going to fire you for not doing this thing you never knew you were going to have to do
00:12:01.600 until we just decided it a couple of months ago,
00:12:04.080 and we're not even going to pay you your severance is unconscionable.
00:12:08.680 But the government does not want to look after these people.
00:12:12.960 The government doesn't want to look after the unvaccinated.
00:12:15.580 The government deplores them.
00:12:17.240 The government deplores people that for whatever reason are making that choice for themselves.
00:12:21.860 They're trying to make it as inconvenient and untenable as possible
00:12:25.700 to live and work and exist in Canadian society as an unvaccinated person
00:12:31.420 so that you will get the job.
00:12:33.120 That's their goal.
00:12:35.180 That's their goal.
00:12:35.920 They're trying to make it so that you can't go out to restaurants,
00:12:38.120 you can't board a plane.
00:12:39.040 Well, good, because you can't afford to do those things
00:12:40.860 if you're not allowed to work either.
00:12:44.120 And as many stories as we see about labor shortages,
00:12:47.440 people not having the staff available,
00:12:49.080 we still have government's intent on putting these mandates forward
00:12:53.800 that even further shrink the workforce.
00:12:56.360 And I want to say I do not care what decisions you make for yourself.
00:13:02.400 That's the whole point.
00:13:03.400 We did a segment the other day on libertarianism.
00:13:05.840 And not that I'm a libertarian party of Canada supporter
00:13:08.780 in the sense that I don't have any political party.
00:13:11.080 But you know what?
00:13:12.160 Small L libertarian ideals, I think,
00:13:14.700 would make the world go a long way in the direction it needs to go.
00:13:18.460 So my view on this is make up the decision for yourself.
00:13:21.240 Let businesses decide for themselves
00:13:22.860 what rules they want to have for vaccination status or other things.
00:13:26.880 But when government is making that determination,
00:13:30.660 a government that has locked down industry
00:13:32.740 and prevented people from making money,
00:13:34.380 a government that has locked down people in their own homes effectively
00:13:37.780 by shutting off all the things they could do,
00:13:40.260 and now a government that is hell-bent on closing off
00:13:42.880 as many aspects of the Canadian life as it can
00:13:46.280 to unvaccinated people.
00:13:48.720 And the number of people in this country
00:13:52.380 who, because they do not like or agree with
00:13:55.960 or respect the decision of unvaccinated people,
00:13:59.320 do not care about their civil liberties,
00:14:02.160 is, I don't want to say shocking,
00:14:04.140 because I think this has been a long time coming,
00:14:06.400 but it's very upsetting.
00:14:08.640 It's very upsetting.
00:14:09.640 All the people who say,
00:14:10.500 because, well, I'm vaccinated,
00:14:12.340 so I don't care what happens to them.
00:14:14.080 Well, you should care.
00:14:15.520 You should care,
00:14:16.220 because when this becomes an annual thing
00:14:18.020 and you don't want to play ball with it anymore,
00:14:19.820 when the booster shots become mandated
00:14:21.800 and you don't want to get your booster shot,
00:14:23.580 when COVID-21 or COVID-22 or, I don't know,
00:14:26.700 COVID-97 come around
00:14:28.420 and you don't want to play ball with it
00:14:30.140 and you don't want to do all this stuff anymore,
00:14:32.740 you're going to be the one
00:14:34.120 that is under the boot of government then.
00:14:36.700 Everyone should support the civil liberties of everyone else,
00:14:39.680 even if you think that you're safe for the time being,
00:14:42.120 because the nature of civil liberties
00:14:43.600 is that as the whims of government change,
00:14:46.940 so do those in its crosshairs.
00:14:50.180 And if it's not you now,
00:14:51.820 it will be you next.
00:14:54.360 And there's a reason I'm talking about Australia in this show
00:14:57.860 and that I was talking about Austria and Italy
00:14:59.720 and the Netherlands a few days ago,
00:15:01.580 because all of these responses are interconnected.
00:15:05.440 And when government realizes what it can get away with
00:15:08.380 by looking at the experiences of others,
00:15:10.740 well, all that does is add another tool to the toolkit.
00:15:16.120 And unless you have a government
00:15:17.760 that believes there is a strong base of support
00:15:20.260 for civil liberties
00:15:21.080 that is going to ground its responses in that,
00:15:24.080 you don't really have the ability to rely on
00:15:27.400 the fact that freedom is going to be there,
00:15:29.080 because there's no guarantee of that.
00:15:31.300 The Canadian pandemic response for the last two years
00:15:33.900 has showed us there is no base of support
00:15:35.720 for civil liberties.
00:15:36.860 In fact, if you wanted to reduce it
00:15:38.580 to a majoritarian position,
00:15:40.000 if you were to have a true democracy,
00:15:42.680 I think most Canadians,
00:15:44.560 most Canadians would vote for lockdowns.
00:15:47.420 Most Canadians would vote for restricting the rights
00:15:49.680 to the unvaccinated.
00:15:51.460 Most Canadians would vote against liberty
00:15:55.180 because a lot of them are not paying attention.
00:15:59.840 And more importantly,
00:16:00.800 there are a lot of them are not aware
00:16:02.120 of what precedent that sets for the future.
00:16:05.080 Just look at the flu shot.
00:16:07.960 I've not gotten a flu shot this year.
00:16:09.600 The reason I have is because
00:16:10.780 I have not felt the need to.
00:16:12.680 I'm just not.
00:16:14.460 I'm not against the flu shot.
00:16:16.020 I'm not anti-flu shot.
00:16:17.280 I'm not contrary to
00:16:18.640 the Australian Northern Territory position,
00:16:21.160 an anti-vaxxer.
00:16:22.140 I just haven't felt the need to get it.
00:16:24.360 How long until the flu shot
00:16:25.760 is part of the vaccine passport?
00:16:28.940 How long until lawmakers say,
00:16:30.720 oh, this flu looks to be a bit of a rough one this year?
00:16:32.680 Okay, all of a sudden,
00:16:34.060 if you want to go to a restaurant,
00:16:35.100 you've got to show
00:16:35.740 that you've received your flu shot.
00:16:38.560 And there are some people saying,
00:16:39.800 well, what's the big deal?
00:16:41.040 Yeah, what's the big deal?
00:16:41.940 Why not?
00:16:43.140 But these are the same people
00:16:44.240 who don't care about their right to privacy.
00:16:46.340 The same people who say,
00:16:47.640 well, if you have nothing to hide,
00:16:49.640 you don't need to worry about it.
00:16:52.020 The same people who say,
00:16:53.300 well, a mask isn't that much of an inconvenience,
00:16:55.400 so it's fine.
00:16:56.500 But all of these little things,
00:16:58.260 these things that are perceived to be little,
00:17:00.220 are not actually little at all.
00:17:03.400 When you start talking about putting barriers
00:17:05.580 and roadblocks in place
00:17:07.160 for you to enjoy life
00:17:08.900 as a supposedly free citizen,
00:17:10.600 you are not actually enjoying that life.
00:17:13.820 Freedom is not supposed to be conditional.
00:17:17.640 In fact, freedom is not conditional,
00:17:20.360 except insofar as the condition
00:17:22.040 to not infringe on someone else's freedom
00:17:24.720 or to not infringe
00:17:26.120 on someone else's fundamental rights.
00:17:27.680 But short of that,
00:17:29.640 freedom is unconditional.
00:17:31.560 So there's no such thing
00:17:32.660 as you're free to do what you want,
00:17:34.020 but you have to wear a mask.
00:17:35.920 Or you're free to do what you want
00:17:37.280 if you're vaccinated.
00:17:39.040 Or you're free to do what you want
00:17:40.400 if you provide proof of vaccination.
00:17:43.020 That is not freedom.
00:17:44.160 When you start qualifying it
00:17:45.520 and applying conditions,
00:17:46.740 you've lost sight
00:17:47.680 of what fundamental freedom is.
00:17:51.540 And I'm so sick and tired
00:17:53.180 of people in this country
00:17:54.380 who do not understand
00:17:56.380 or even care about that,
00:17:58.500 who believe that the government
00:18:00.060 is out for them.
00:18:03.020 Government is not.
00:18:04.220 I mean, government is the barrier to freedom.
00:18:06.940 Government is the impediment to freedom.
00:18:08.620 Government is not the body
00:18:10.160 that's going to let you access the good life.
00:18:13.400 It's not.
00:18:15.080 And the deference and reliance
00:18:17.600 that we see between Canadians
00:18:19.760 and their government
00:18:20.840 has been the most disheartening
00:18:23.360 through the pandemic.
00:18:24.520 And this is not, again,
00:18:25.760 there's going to be some people
00:18:27.000 that are saying,
00:18:27.480 are you an anarchist?
00:18:28.300 No, I'm not.
00:18:30.320 I realize that there is a place
00:18:32.380 for the state,
00:18:33.640 but that place is best kept
00:18:36.280 constrained and confined
00:18:38.020 to the things that only government can do.
00:18:43.240 And the social contract
00:18:45.180 between government and citizens
00:18:46.580 is that government agrees
00:18:48.180 to make decisions
00:18:49.300 that allow citizens
00:18:50.760 the opportunity to live their lives,
00:18:52.580 not to live their lives for them
00:18:54.420 or just deny them the right
00:18:56.340 to live their lives altogether.
00:18:59.960 And I know this is a big picture concern.
00:19:02.880 I get that.
00:19:05.080 But if you get so focused on the micro,
00:19:08.380 you lose sight of that big picture.
00:19:10.680 And I fear that's where we are as a country.
00:19:12.620 That's where we are as Western society.
00:19:14.660 And that's the trend
00:19:17.340 that allows people to say,
00:19:18.460 well, it's just a mask.
00:19:19.840 It's just a mask.
00:19:20.820 It's fine.
00:19:22.660 You know, I did a little poll
00:19:24.000 and I think I may have talked about this
00:19:25.200 on the show in the past on Twitter,
00:19:26.700 not a formal poll by any stretch.
00:19:28.520 I said, I fear that unmasked air travel
00:19:30.680 is never coming back.
00:19:31.960 And I got a lot of response
00:19:33.360 that say, yeah, I agree with you.
00:19:34.540 I'm kind of pessimistic too.
00:19:35.800 And then I got a lot of pushback
00:19:37.400 from that saying, well,
00:19:38.400 well, I mean,
00:19:38.820 if that's the cost of reopening,
00:19:40.640 if that's the cost
00:19:41.360 of getting back to normal,
00:19:42.440 then that's fine.
00:19:43.400 And I'm, I mean,
00:19:45.640 Twitter is not conducive
00:19:46.720 to having substantive
00:19:48.180 or real discussions.
00:19:49.220 So I didn't, you know,
00:19:50.140 get into this, you know,
00:19:51.220 97 tweet thread
00:19:52.360 or whatever about it.
00:19:53.120 But I was thinking,
00:19:53.880 I said, you can't actually say that
00:19:55.900 with a straight face and mean it.
00:19:57.840 If wearing a mask
00:19:59.040 is the price of returning to normal,
00:20:01.420 because that is not inherently normal.
00:20:04.300 Covering your face
00:20:05.160 when you're out in public
00:20:06.000 is not inherently normal.
00:20:09.980 Especially at restaurants.
00:20:11.160 You know,
00:20:12.720 this is something that
00:20:14.460 a lot of people
00:20:15.620 fail to understand.
00:20:17.420 Because if you go to a restaurant,
00:20:18.900 you have to wear your mask
00:20:20.000 to go from the front door
00:20:21.460 to the table.
00:20:23.080 And then you sit down
00:20:23.860 and take the mask off
00:20:24.880 and everything's fine.
00:20:25.840 There's no COVID
00:20:26.460 when you're seated,
00:20:27.500 as we remember it.
00:20:28.220 It all goes above your heads.
00:20:29.800 But the service staff
00:20:31.360 are all wearing masks.
00:20:33.360 The people working in the kitchen
00:20:34.360 are all wearing masks.
00:20:36.380 So talk about
00:20:37.540 a classist element of this.
00:20:40.240 That, you know,
00:20:40.660 if you can dine out,
00:20:41.700 you're fully vaccinated,
00:20:42.700 you can sit down
00:20:43.460 and take off your mask
00:20:44.400 and you can talk
00:20:45.480 as much as you want
00:20:46.320 and drink and eat
00:20:47.060 and be merry.
00:20:47.860 But the people serving you,
00:20:49.560 the people serving you,
00:20:50.900 oh, they've got to wear masks.
00:20:53.860 And again,
00:20:54.380 that's just one example
00:20:55.560 of this.
00:20:56.800 And again,
00:20:57.160 if they want to, fine.
00:20:58.800 Some people enjoy
00:20:59.760 wearing a mask.
00:21:00.420 I've had people say,
00:21:01.380 well, you know what?
00:21:01.880 I haven't gotten a cold
00:21:02.740 in the last two years,
00:21:03.680 so I like wearing a mask.
00:21:04.620 Although I would contend
00:21:05.420 that you probably
00:21:06.180 haven't gotten a cold
00:21:06.780 because you haven't been
00:21:07.440 allowed to go anywhere.
00:21:08.540 But nevertheless,
00:21:09.440 if you enjoy it, fine.
00:21:11.540 I've been in Vermont
00:21:12.660 since their mask mandate
00:21:14.580 was lifted.
00:21:15.720 I was there,
00:21:16.280 I think a couple of times
00:21:17.340 and it was great.
00:21:19.700 Basically,
00:21:20.220 no one wore masks.
00:21:21.680 Absolutely no one
00:21:22.740 except for like
00:21:23.460 one or two people.
00:21:24.320 Both of them working
00:21:25.160 at Starbucks, incidentally.
00:21:26.340 I don't know what you extract
00:21:27.300 from that as far as
00:21:28.180 the demographic
00:21:29.120 of Starbucks employees.
00:21:30.680 And then I went down
00:21:31.480 to Florida a few months back
00:21:32.860 which had no mask mandate
00:21:34.060 and I saw a lot
00:21:35.020 of mask wearing.
00:21:36.480 A lot of mask wearing.
00:21:37.920 I don't know who or why
00:21:39.520 but a lot of people
00:21:40.820 voluntarily said,
00:21:42.540 okay, I'm wearing a mask
00:21:43.720 even though I don't have to.
00:21:45.760 And I thought that was great
00:21:46.940 because everyone in Canada
00:21:48.080 likes to look at Florida
00:21:49.080 as being just this
00:21:49.960 absolute cesspool
00:21:50.900 of bodies and piles
00:21:52.940 on the streets
00:21:53.600 climbing over dead bodies
00:21:54.940 to go to a business
00:21:56.380 and clinging to your freedom
00:21:57.840 and all that.
00:21:58.320 But in Florida
00:21:59.220 it's a good example
00:22:00.780 of what happens
00:22:01.500 if government says
00:22:02.220 make up your own minds.
00:22:04.620 People just to say,
00:22:05.700 you know what,
00:22:06.020 I'm more comfortable
00:22:06.500 with a mask,
00:22:07.060 I'm going to wear a mask.
00:22:08.080 Some businesses had signs
00:22:09.440 requiring mask wearing
00:22:10.660 as is their right to do.
00:22:13.300 And we leave people
00:22:14.460 to make their own choices.
00:22:16.960 But if you don't choose something
00:22:18.680 for yourself,
00:22:20.280 whatever it is,
00:22:21.600 you don't actually
00:22:22.700 get the chance
00:22:23.800 to be in control
00:22:24.860 of your own life.
00:22:26.800 And when you have
00:22:27.820 crossed that threshold,
00:22:29.740 when government
00:22:30.380 specifically has
00:22:31.460 crossed that threshold
00:22:32.300 and said,
00:22:32.680 you know what,
00:22:33.220 you no longer have a right
00:22:34.500 to make this decision
00:22:35.400 or that decision,
00:22:36.600 it's walking down a road
00:22:39.180 from which there is no return,
00:22:40.720 which is government
00:22:41.340 making more and more
00:22:42.940 of those very decisions.
00:22:44.120 And at a certain point,
00:22:45.000 what are you even doing?
00:22:46.860 We've got to take
00:22:47.700 a quick break.
00:22:48.520 When we come back,
00:22:49.120 more of The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:22:50.480 Stay with me.
00:22:53.680 You're tuned in
00:22:54.780 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:23:00.420 Welcome back
00:23:01.240 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:23:02.960 On Tuesday,
00:23:04.240 I mentioned this page
00:23:05.980 on the website
00:23:07.080 for the Niagara region
00:23:08.280 talking about
00:23:09.700 the lack of consent
00:23:11.180 required for vaccination.
00:23:13.720 And they were talking
00:23:14.260 about vaccinating students
00:23:15.460 in school.
00:23:16.060 And the website said,
00:23:17.560 under the Healthcare Consent Act,
00:23:19.480 be advised,
00:23:20.520 there is no minimum age
00:23:21.860 to provide consent.
00:23:22.860 This means that your child
00:23:23.900 can consent to be vaccinated
00:23:25.220 without parental consent.
00:23:28.380 Now, that was what they said.
00:23:29.660 And that's still there
00:23:30.620 on their website.
00:23:31.400 Now, this was a bit
00:23:32.240 of a flurry of response
00:23:34.180 that this generated online.
00:23:36.280 And Niagara region
00:23:37.660 had tweeted
00:23:38.460 that this was misinformation.
00:23:41.260 The public health unit
00:23:42.480 tweeted Tuesday morning,
00:23:43.640 We've learned of misinformation
00:23:45.260 being shared
00:23:46.140 that children aged 5 to 11
00:23:47.620 will be vaccinated at school
00:23:48.940 without parent
00:23:49.560 or legal guardian consent.
00:23:50.860 This is not true.
00:23:52.180 Niagara region public health
00:23:53.380 is working closely
00:23:54.200 with families
00:23:54.820 to obtain informed consent
00:23:56.380 to vaccinate children
00:23:57.560 5 to 11.
00:23:59.060 Clinics will be offered
00:23:59.980 outside of school hours.
00:24:01.220 This is to ensure
00:24:02.300 that parents or legal guardians
00:24:03.620 can be with their children
00:24:04.980 to provide consent
00:24:06.300 and support.
00:24:07.920 Now, there was an email
00:24:08.840 that was sent to parents
00:24:09.900 that one Twitter user
00:24:10.920 pointed out showing
00:24:11.900 that their vaccination clinic
00:24:13.640 was actually scheduled
00:24:14.540 for in-school hours.
00:24:16.000 I think it was 1 to 3 p.m.
00:24:17.300 So I'm not sure
00:24:18.340 if they're saying
00:24:18.860 that outside of school hours
00:24:20.020 is meant to be
00:24:20.640 the exclusive time slot
00:24:22.320 or if it was in addition
00:24:23.920 to other things
00:24:25.420 they're doing in school.
00:24:26.340 But nevertheless,
00:24:27.240 the point that they're making here
00:24:29.040 is that, no, no, no,
00:24:29.760 it's misinformation
00:24:30.600 to say that we don't require
00:24:32.540 parental consent.
00:24:33.760 Well, the misinformation
00:24:34.700 came from their own website.
00:24:38.000 And while the website
00:24:38.760 has since been changed,
00:24:40.060 it's still there
00:24:40.880 that their interpretation
00:24:42.340 of the Health Care Consent Act
00:24:43.860 is that there is
00:24:44.800 no minimum age to consent.
00:24:46.280 Any child can consent
00:24:47.480 to be vaccinated
00:24:48.340 without parental consent.
00:24:50.620 Now, they've amended this
00:24:52.640 with a little disclaimer
00:24:53.920 referring specifically
00:24:55.200 to COVID vaccination.
00:24:56.580 And they say,
00:24:57.460 Niagara Region Public Health
00:24:58.720 requires parental
00:24:59.840 slash guardian consent
00:25:01.080 for children
00:25:01.720 5 to 11 years of age
00:25:03.980 for the COVID-19 vaccine.
00:25:06.240 So their policy is
00:25:07.660 that they're going to get consent
00:25:08.720 for kids 5 to 11.
00:25:10.100 OK.
00:25:11.820 But that doesn't change
00:25:13.280 the fact that
00:25:13.940 their overarching view
00:25:15.720 is that they don't need
00:25:17.280 to do that.
00:25:18.360 They're saying
00:25:18.760 they will do it.
00:25:20.360 But they're also saying
00:25:21.440 like half an inch below that
00:25:23.840 that they don't feel
00:25:25.100 they need to do it.
00:25:26.560 So for them to accuse
00:25:28.140 everyone else
00:25:28.920 of literally quoting
00:25:29.920 their own words
00:25:30.940 of peddling misinformation.
00:25:32.320 And when I pointed it out,
00:25:33.800 I deliberately didn't editorialize.
00:25:35.980 I just quoted
00:25:36.520 from their website
00:25:37.300 and said this is their approach
00:25:38.560 to vaccination.
00:25:39.900 And I even said
00:25:40.540 on the show on Tuesday,
00:25:41.640 I qualified it by saying
00:25:42.660 they might just be talking
00:25:43.660 about, you know,
00:25:44.560 MMR and tetanus
00:25:45.980 and diphtheria and all that.
00:25:47.560 But the whole point is
00:25:48.600 if this is their view,
00:25:49.920 parents need to be
00:25:50.780 very much alarmed.
00:25:53.240 And just interestingly enough,
00:25:54.540 not connected
00:25:55.160 to COVID directly,
00:25:56.460 I saw this cross
00:25:57.540 my screen this morning
00:25:58.640 from the Woodstock
00:25:59.380 Police Service
00:26:00.080 in Ontario.
00:26:01.080 They gave a disclaimer,
00:26:02.900 a PSA of sorts,
00:26:04.260 about consent
00:26:05.400 for children
00:26:06.060 and the importance
00:26:06.680 of consent.
00:26:07.540 And they're talking
00:26:08.180 about sexual autonomy,
00:26:09.560 clearly.
00:26:10.520 They're saying that
00:26:11.060 the Special Victims Unit
00:26:12.100 wants you and your children
00:26:13.020 to know about consent.
00:26:14.280 It should never be assumed
00:26:15.240 or implied.
00:26:16.800 Consent is not silence
00:26:18.060 or the absence of no.
00:26:19.420 It can't be given
00:26:20.100 if you're impaired
00:26:20.720 or unconscious
00:26:21.500 and can never be obtained
00:26:22.960 through threats
00:26:24.060 or coercion.
00:26:25.300 Now, I'm not imputing
00:26:26.520 motive here.
00:26:27.100 I don't think someone
00:26:27.640 at Woodstock
00:26:28.240 was trying to subtweet
00:26:29.440 about COVID secretly
00:26:30.540 by talking about
00:26:32.000 sexual consent.
00:26:33.040 But it did strike me
00:26:34.620 as odd,
00:26:35.120 the mixed messaging
00:26:35.940 that we see
00:26:36.580 on so many different things.
00:26:38.120 We talk about
00:26:38.860 the importance of consent,
00:26:40.440 true, honest,
00:26:41.640 bona fide consent
00:26:42.620 not acquired through
00:26:43.800 coercion
00:26:44.720 or even persuasion
00:26:45.640 in one sense.
00:26:46.600 And then in the other sense,
00:26:47.680 it's get the jab
00:26:48.540 or else.
00:26:49.360 We talk about my body,
00:26:50.600 my choice
00:26:51.180 in some contexts
00:26:52.340 and then, well,
00:26:53.000 not when it comes
00:26:53.560 to vaccination.
00:26:54.980 And it's amazing
00:26:55.720 that all of these
00:26:56.380 sacred cows
00:26:57.080 that have been lifted up
00:26:58.000 by the left
00:26:58.560 as things that we need
00:26:59.520 to adhere to
00:27:00.500 in any number
00:27:01.040 of other areas
00:27:01.740 of society
00:27:02.360 are absolutely slaughtered
00:27:04.140 when they get in the way
00:27:05.180 of the narrative
00:27:06.340 that governments
00:27:06.860 are championing
00:27:07.580 with regard to COVID.
00:27:09.200 We've got to take
00:27:09.900 a quick break
00:27:10.680 when we come back
00:27:11.280 more of The Andrew Lawton
00:27:12.340 Show here on True North.
00:27:13.680 Stay tuned.
00:27:15.340 You're tuned in
00:27:16.480 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:27:20.300 Welcome back
00:27:21.120 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:27:22.740 So I know
00:27:23.300 I depressed you all
00:27:24.280 so much
00:27:24.900 in that first segment
00:27:25.940 of the program
00:27:26.480 talking about
00:27:27.160 civil liberties.
00:27:27.920 I don't know
00:27:28.780 if this will be
00:27:29.660 much more
00:27:30.700 of a pick-me-up,
00:27:31.700 but nevertheless
00:27:32.320 sometimes we all
00:27:33.320 need the hard truths
00:27:34.080 to survive
00:27:35.280 and to find
00:27:36.240 the appropriate remedies
00:27:37.140 to all of these
00:27:37.740 problems we identify.
00:27:39.440 Although again
00:27:39.840 optimism is just
00:27:40.920 generally in short
00:27:41.900 supply as of late.
00:27:43.280 I want to talk
00:27:43.720 about the throne speech
00:27:44.900 this week.
00:27:45.660 Franco Terrazano,
00:27:46.580 federal director
00:27:47.220 for the Canadian
00:27:48.220 Taxpayers Federation
00:27:49.280 joins me now.
00:27:50.820 Obviously this is
00:27:51.820 the throne speech
00:27:52.820 for a government
00:27:53.640 that's been re-elected
00:27:54.900 and just ran
00:27:55.900 an election campaign.
00:27:57.260 So not a lot
00:27:58.040 of surprises
00:27:58.920 but at the same
00:28:00.280 time also
00:28:00.900 not a lot
00:28:01.400 of good news
00:28:01.920 if you're a taxpayer
00:28:03.040 who cares about
00:28:03.820 things like
00:28:04.360 oh I don't know
00:28:04.900 balanced budget
00:28:05.860 managing the debt
00:28:07.000 fiscal restraint
00:28:08.100 all of these things
00:28:08.820 right?
00:28:10.200 Well you know
00:28:11.220 from this throne speech
00:28:12.400 sometimes what tells
00:28:13.680 you the most
00:28:14.300 is what isn't said
00:28:15.680 and we didn't hear
00:28:17.160 a single mention
00:28:18.300 of the deficit
00:28:19.440 or the debt.
00:28:20.960 Now we understand
00:28:21.440 that there's many
00:28:22.000 priorities that many
00:28:22.940 governments have
00:28:23.720 right now
00:28:24.540 but a key priority
00:28:26.220 for this federal government
00:28:27.400 has to be the debt
00:28:28.260 and deficit
00:28:28.620 because we have seen
00:28:29.660 a massive amount
00:28:30.620 of government borrowing
00:28:31.400 the federal debt
00:28:32.360 is now more than
00:28:33.100 a trillion dollars
00:28:33.900 which means that
00:28:34.520 each Canadian
00:28:35.140 is on the hook
00:28:36.120 for about $30,000
00:28:37.360 in federal government
00:28:38.680 debt alone
00:28:39.200 and Andrew
00:28:39.840 I don't know
00:28:40.180 too many Canadians
00:28:40.920 right now
00:28:41.340 that have tens
00:28:41.960 of thousands
00:28:42.580 of dollars
00:28:43.160 lying around
00:28:43.800 to pay their
00:28:44.260 politicians
00:28:44.720 credit card bills
00:28:45.580 so it's unfortunate
00:28:46.780 that we didn't hear
00:28:48.340 this government
00:28:49.080 really take this
00:28:49.880 deficit problem seriously.
00:28:51.700 Yeah and the problem
00:28:52.560 with that is
00:28:53.480 that it's something
00:28:54.140 that only gets
00:28:55.140 more and more expensive
00:28:56.440 the less you deal
00:28:57.440 with it
00:28:57.800 and that's
00:28:58.360 the big problem
00:28:58.940 and even if you
00:28:59.800 want to appeal
00:29:00.360 to deficit problems
00:29:02.180 and debt problems
00:29:03.020 to people
00:29:03.940 that are on
00:29:04.400 the political left
00:29:05.360 and tend to like
00:29:06.140 big government spending
00:29:07.060 well the more
00:29:07.460 you're spending
00:29:07.920 on maintaining
00:29:08.820 and managing
00:29:09.540 your debt
00:29:09.980 the less you're
00:29:10.760 actually able
00:29:11.260 to spend
00:29:11.660 on services.
00:29:13.500 Well interest
00:29:13.920 charges right
00:29:14.580 just interest
00:29:15.100 charges on the
00:29:15.660 government debt
00:29:16.080 alone
00:29:16.440 eat away money
00:29:17.300 as you mentioned
00:29:17.980 that could be
00:29:18.520 going to health care
00:29:19.280 could be going
00:29:19.780 to fixing roads
00:29:20.520 and stuff of that
00:29:21.280 nature.
00:29:21.620 We've talked
00:29:22.440 about this
00:29:22.820 before but
00:29:23.440 under the
00:29:24.140 current trajectory
00:29:25.100 we wouldn't
00:29:25.820 see a balanced
00:29:26.340 budget until
00:29:26.900 2070 and if
00:29:27.920 that were to
00:29:28.380 happen Andrew
00:29:29.240 we would lose
00:29:30.400 out on
00:29:30.840 3.8 trillion
00:29:32.560 dollars just
00:29:33.840 in debt
00:29:34.300 interest charges
00:29:35.080 over those
00:29:36.060 five decades
00:29:36.760 which is a
00:29:37.320 staggering amount
00:29:38.280 of money.
00:29:39.180 So if you want
00:29:40.160 to see better
00:29:40.680 health care
00:29:41.100 you should be
00:29:42.000 worried about
00:29:42.560 the money
00:29:42.900 that we're
00:29:43.220 losing to
00:29:43.680 debt interest
00:29:44.140 charges
00:29:44.500 but one more
00:29:45.520 thing that we
00:29:46.000 need to talk
00:29:46.520 about here
00:29:46.960 is the
00:29:47.820 inflation tax
00:29:48.860 and of course
00:29:49.360 inflation is
00:29:50.180 regressive
00:29:50.700 because as
00:29:51.300 prices go up
00:29:52.180 the people who
00:29:52.940 have the least
00:29:53.700 amount of money
00:29:54.220 in their bank
00:29:54.700 accounts already
00:29:55.480 find life
00:29:57.060 less and less
00:29:58.040 affordable
00:29:58.740 and really
00:30:00.080 we have seen
00:30:00.980 the Bank of
00:30:01.480 Canada print
00:30:02.060 so much money
00:30:02.960 much of what
00:30:03.840 they're purchasing
00:30:04.680 is government
00:30:05.560 of Canada debt.
00:30:06.860 Yeah and you
00:30:07.280 were on this
00:30:07.740 show just last
00:30:08.740 week we were
00:30:09.280 talking about
00:30:09.840 the inflation
00:30:10.400 crisis you
00:30:11.100 brought I
00:30:11.500 think some
00:30:11.800 very stark
00:30:12.540 stats and
00:30:13.180 even some
00:30:14.000 very positive
00:30:15.060 remedies for it
00:30:16.560 or proposed
00:30:17.060 remedies but
00:30:17.680 the throne
00:30:18.340 speech
00:30:18.760 acknowledged
00:30:19.680 inflation but
00:30:20.520 didn't really
00:30:21.360 talk about it.
00:30:23.320 Well you're
00:30:24.140 right it
00:30:24.540 acknowledged the
00:30:25.560 word inflation
00:30:26.440 and that the
00:30:27.340 cost of living
00:30:28.180 is going up
00:30:29.240 but that was
00:30:29.820 on one side
00:30:31.200 on one hand
00:30:32.060 but it's very
00:30:32.940 difficult to
00:30:33.680 think that this
00:30:34.680 government is
00:30:35.140 actually taking
00:30:35.980 inflation serious
00:30:37.200 when on the
00:30:38.160 other hand it
00:30:38.900 also talks about
00:30:39.760 the increasing
00:30:40.480 carbon tax
00:30:41.300 so they're
00:30:41.860 talking about
00:30:42.500 wanting to
00:30:43.680 make life more
00:30:44.600 affordable for
00:30:45.220 Canadians but
00:30:45.900 how can you do
00:30:46.540 that when you
00:30:47.320 continue
00:30:48.240 continue to
00:30:49.080 soak Canadians
00:30:50.020 for more
00:30:50.520 money every
00:30:50.980 time they go
00:30:51.420 to the pumps
00:30:51.920 now we've
00:30:52.660 already seen
00:30:53.480 the Trudeau
00:30:54.180 government's
00:30:54.660 carbon tax
00:30:55.220 increase twice
00:30:56.360 during the
00:30:57.620 pandemic with
00:30:58.340 another increase
00:30:59.080 set for next
00:31:00.240 year but we
00:31:01.360 have to remember
00:31:02.000 by 2030 the
00:31:03.160 Trudeau government
00:31:03.760 wants to increase
00:31:04.520 its carbon tax
00:31:05.480 to about 40
00:31:06.300 cents per liter
00:31:07.060 of gasoline and
00:31:08.120 impose a second
00:31:09.100 carbon tax which
00:31:10.260 could add another
00:31:11.140 11 cents per
00:31:12.620 liter of gasoline.
00:31:13.520 Yeah and the
00:31:14.780 carbon tax I
00:31:15.560 mean the
00:31:15.760 government is
00:31:16.300 not showing
00:31:17.020 any signs of
00:31:18.520 pardon the pun
00:31:19.400 taking its foot
00:31:20.180 off the gas
00:31:20.720 pedal on this
00:31:21.260 they're going
00:31:22.060 full steam ahead
00:31:22.880 we know that
00:31:23.400 the government
00:31:23.760 has further
00:31:24.360 committed to
00:31:24.920 doing even
00:31:25.400 more at the
00:31:26.420 Glasgow summit
00:31:27.300 what are we
00:31:28.060 really talking
00:31:28.740 about here I
00:31:29.320 mean how bad
00:31:29.780 is this going
00:31:30.180 to get?
00:31:31.940 Well you know I
00:31:32.720 don't have the
00:31:33.160 crystal ball in
00:31:33.940 terms of what
00:31:34.460 are we all going
00:31:35.000 to be paying at
00:31:35.460 the gas pumps
00:31:36.120 but it doesn't
00:31:37.680 look good and
00:31:38.580 you know the
00:31:39.460 government is
00:31:40.300 talking about how
00:31:41.220 this is an
00:31:41.680 environmental plan but
00:31:42.660 we have to push
00:31:43.280 back on that
00:31:44.000 because the
00:31:44.540 carbon tax is
00:31:45.340 not an
00:31:45.780 environmental plan
00:31:46.600 it's a tax
00:31:47.160 plan when if
00:31:48.380 you want to look
00:31:48.980 at the environment
00:31:49.520 you have to take
00:31:50.220 a global approach
00:31:51.100 right in Canada
00:31:52.180 we make up 1.5%
00:31:54.040 of global emissions
00:31:54.820 so even if the
00:31:56.320 Trudeau government
00:31:56.880 wanted to bring
00:31:57.720 all of our
00:31:58.260 industries to a
00:31:59.080 screeching halt
00:31:59.880 which would cause
00:32:00.900 so much pain
00:32:01.640 for so many
00:32:02.080 Canadians it still
00:32:03.180 wouldn't do much
00:32:03.780 for the global
00:32:04.280 environment we all
00:32:05.820 we have to do is
00:32:06.420 look at British
00:32:07.000 Columbia our
00:32:07.620 neighbors out there
00:32:08.400 in the west
00:32:08.880 they have had the
00:32:10.760 highest carbon tax
00:32:11.720 in Canada for so
00:32:12.520 long but emissions
00:32:13.600 continue to go up
00:32:15.000 and up
00:32:15.680 yeah I think you're
00:32:17.520 very right to
00:32:18.440 point that out
00:32:19.500 one other aspect
00:32:20.680 of this and you
00:32:21.260 and I have talked
00:32:21.780 about this in the
00:32:22.320 past that was in
00:32:22.960 the throne speech
00:32:23.560 is the gun buyback
00:32:24.680 again the government
00:32:25.860 planning to go full
00:32:26.760 steam ahead on this
00:32:27.540 but not really
00:32:28.200 acknowledging what
00:32:29.140 you've identified as
00:32:30.360 being the potential
00:32:31.540 key costs here
00:32:32.540 oh it's it just it
00:32:35.240 just has all the
00:32:36.060 makings for another
00:32:36.940 taxpayer boondoggle
00:32:38.180 we we've heard from
00:32:39.960 the parliamentary budget
00:32:40.860 officer the government's
00:32:41.900 own independent budget
00:32:42.880 watchdog that the cost
00:32:44.620 just to reimburse gun
00:32:46.580 owners would be could
00:32:47.840 be up to 756 million
00:32:50.760 dollars but Andrew as
00:32:52.140 you know that that's not
00:32:53.540 even the biggest cost of
00:32:54.440 this program because if
00:32:55.420 you look at staffing and
00:32:56.900 administration for this
00:32:58.240 gun buyback well that
00:32:59.480 could balloon into the
00:33:00.560 billions of dollars and
00:33:02.880 so this is a another very
00:33:04.700 expensive program but
00:33:05.880 what's worse is that not
00:33:07.440 only is it expensive it's
00:33:09.120 not going to improve
00:33:09.760 public safety we've heard
00:33:10.980 from the people on the
00:33:11.720 front lines that that's
00:33:13.240 that this is not going to
00:33:14.240 help the the mounties
00:33:15.420 union they came out and
00:33:17.100 they said um this isn't
00:33:19.120 going to help public
00:33:20.200 safety because it's
00:33:21.000 targeting law-abiding
00:33:22.500 Canadians and in fact it
00:33:24.160 could be worse because
00:33:25.120 it's diverting those
00:33:26.380 resources which could be
00:33:27.520 used to crack down on
00:33:28.500 crime to a gun buyback
00:33:30.620 that targets law-abiding
00:33:32.380 Canadians yeah it doesn't
00:33:34.040 strike me as a point that
00:33:35.140 needs to be made although
00:33:36.120 I guess given the
00:33:36.920 political climate in
00:33:37.740 Canada I do need to
00:33:38.640 make it that you know
00:33:39.660 the people that are
00:33:40.360 lining up outside the
00:33:41.680 police station to bring
00:33:42.920 in their legally owned
00:33:43.960 guns to be turned into
00:33:46.240 you know just smelted
00:33:47.440 down and turned into
00:33:48.480 nothingness are not the
00:33:50.060 people who are using
00:33:50.880 those guns in criminal
00:33:52.100 acts of course I mean
00:33:54.200 you're not going to get
00:33:54.880 too many gangsters or
00:33:56.720 gang members that are
00:33:57.760 going to be showing up to
00:33:58.420 government offices with
00:33:59.500 their guns right I mean
00:34:00.880 it's just a little bit of
00:34:01.720 common sense here now we
00:34:03.040 all want Canada to be to be
00:34:04.800 a safe place but the
00:34:05.800 last thing that we need
00:34:06.940 right now with the
00:34:07.740 government in a sea of
00:34:08.840 red ink with inflation
00:34:09.900 rising is to have
00:34:11.420 another wasteful
00:34:12.580 government program and
00:34:13.920 just lastly here one
00:34:15.480 idea that I hope just
00:34:16.640 died before the election
00:34:17.880 and would never be
00:34:19.000 revived again has sadly
00:34:20.280 been revived and that
00:34:21.680 is the government
00:34:22.200 planning to go after
00:34:23.260 online content and
00:34:24.480 online speech yeah I
00:34:26.860 mean we we were hoping
00:34:28.380 that Bill C-10 was was
00:34:29.920 dead for good before the
00:34:31.080 snap election but it
00:34:32.420 looks like through the
00:34:33.420 throne speech is they
00:34:34.520 want to bring some form
00:34:35.680 of that bill back and
00:34:37.120 the Canadian Taxpayers
00:34:37.980 Federation we are one of
00:34:39.160 the groups there was many
00:34:40.640 groups that were sounding
00:34:41.540 the alarm over this and
00:34:43.000 what we're very worried
00:34:44.080 about as many have
00:34:45.120 pointed out is that this
00:34:46.300 could be trampling on our
00:34:47.760 freedom of expression
00:34:48.700 online the law and and
00:34:50.680 and we have learned
00:34:52.420 through COVID-19 Andrew
00:34:53.880 shows like yours how
00:34:55.460 important it is to hold
00:34:56.900 governments accountable
00:34:57.840 through through online
00:34:59.420 mediums well how would
00:35:01.700 this impact Canadians
00:35:03.000 ability to hold our
00:35:04.120 politicians accountable if
00:35:05.500 you have these unelected
00:35:07.200 bureaucrats in Ottawa
00:35:08.260 putting our online content
00:35:09.980 under their microscope so
00:35:11.780 the last people that
00:35:12.560 should be telling us how
00:35:13.500 to hold our governments
00:35:14.440 accountable online are the
00:35:16.040 CRTC bureaucrats so
00:35:17.440 whatever this new Bill C-10
00:35:19.320 is going to look like it's
00:35:20.240 something that we're going
00:35:20.840 to fight you're very right
00:35:22.120 about that and I think
00:35:23.060 obviously the primary
00:35:24.300 objection to that is what
00:35:25.740 you just noted the attack
00:35:26.900 to fundamental freedoms to
00:35:28.360 to civil liberties but there
00:35:29.760 there is I would argue a
00:35:30.820 taxpayer concern as well
00:35:32.240 because anytime you're
00:35:33.540 bureaucratizing speech and
00:35:35.480 specifically online speech
00:35:37.060 you're you're for you're
00:35:38.720 formally requiring the
00:35:40.420 government to take on this
00:35:41.760 task of regulating what
00:35:43.760 people say online and I
00:35:45.500 know that there will be
00:35:46.260 people that weaponize any
00:35:47.860 speech restrictions that
00:35:48.900 come in and all of a
00:35:49.660 sudden we have to pay a
00:35:50.920 legion of Canadian Human
00:35:52.120 Rights Commission
00:35:52.660 investigators to just
00:35:53.700 review tweets all day
00:35:54.780 yeah exactly it's a
00:35:56.760 bureaucrat's dream right
00:35:57.940 it's a bureaucrat's dream and
00:35:58.920 who pays the bill for those
00:36:00.000 bureaucrats us taxpayers but
00:36:01.700 Andrew it's even worse than
00:36:02.860 that because you hear
00:36:04.080 politicians talking about
00:36:05.240 how this type of bill would
00:36:07.000 make the so-called web
00:36:08.480 giants pay well who's going
00:36:10.200 to really end up paying the
00:36:11.200 tab for that it's going to
00:36:12.500 be us it's going to be us
00:36:13.540 consumers who get the bill
00:36:14.780 for that right so so we're
00:36:16.460 we're dinged once as
00:36:17.660 taxpayers paying for this
00:36:18.800 legion of bureaucrats and
00:36:20.620 we're going to be dinged
00:36:21.300 twice as consumers while we
00:36:23.580 see our streaming bills go up
00:36:24.880 like I said not too much in
00:36:26.620 the way of optimism but
00:36:27.700 but better to diagnose
00:36:28.960 before you can ever dream
00:36:30.740 to respond Franco
00:36:31.860 Terrazano federal director
00:36:33.080 for the Canadian Tax
00:36:34.300 Fairers Federation always a
00:36:35.380 pleasure sir hey thanks for
00:36:37.560 having me on my pleasure
00:36:39.120 you're welcome on anytime
00:36:40.160 and with that we've got to
00:36:41.760 wrap things up here my
00:36:42.600 thanks to all of you for
00:36:43.940 tuning in to the Andrew
00:36:45.140 Lawton show Canada's most
00:36:46.940 irreverent talk show we'll
00:36:47.900 be back tomorrow with a
00:36:49.900 spotlight on indigenous
00:36:51.480 issues in Canada very
00:36:52.880 interesting panel you won't
00:36:54.020 want to miss we'll talk to
00:36:55.140 you soon thank you god
00:36:56.040 bless and good day thanks
00:36:57.240 for listening to the Andrew
00:36:58.280 Lawton show support the
00:36:59.620 program by donating to true
00:37:00.900 north at www.tnc.news