Juno News - November 06, 2020


Politicizing the Poppy


Episode Stats

Length

35 minutes

Words per Minute

182.87463

Word Count

6,494

Sentence Count

293

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

8


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.
00:00:06.700 This is The Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.
00:00:12.640 Coming up, the media's biggest failing of the Trump era,
00:00:15.720 the politics of poppies, and the battle for freedom in a small Ontario town.
00:00:22.140 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:25.640 Hello and welcome to another episode of The Andrew Lawton Show,
00:00:32.240 Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show, here on True North.
00:00:35.780 We are on the third day of the American election.
00:00:39.700 Actually, the fourth day of the American election, really,
00:00:42.500 if you consider it started on Tuesday and we are now on Friday, November 6th.
00:00:47.260 But nevertheless, thank you very much for tuning into the program today.
00:00:50.980 This is a bit of a tricky one because I, generally speaking,
00:00:54.380 try to avoid talking about things that are likely to become dated
00:00:58.420 in the couple of hours between when we record and when the show comes out.
00:01:02.060 But in this case, it's kind of inevitable.
00:01:04.060 And I can't, you know, counteract that by not talking about the U.S. election.
00:01:08.740 Suffice it to say, this isn't going to be about the horse race of,
00:01:12.200 oh, you know, this county in Arizona or that county in Georgia.
00:01:15.540 But I want to talk about the broader themes of this election.
00:01:18.680 And what we do, in fact, know, which is that the media lost.
00:01:24.220 The Never Trumpers lost.
00:01:26.120 The hysteria from the left, the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hysteria against Trump lost.
00:01:33.240 Even if it ends up where Donald Trump has lost this election,
00:01:37.320 the fact that it took four days to get to that point
00:01:41.020 is exactly the point that I'm trying to make here.
00:01:44.260 That we cannot say that there was this grand rebuke of Trump or the Trump presidency or Trumpism
00:01:49.760 when this was, in a lot of cases, just something that came down to a coin toss.
00:01:54.380 And if you take the coronavirus pandemic out of the equation,
00:01:58.060 I think this is a pretty decisive Donald Trump win.
00:02:02.180 However, let's talk about why I say the media lost,
00:02:05.820 if you haven't already been able to figure it out.
00:02:08.180 For the last four years, actually the last five years,
00:02:11.060 if we start it from when he was just candidate Trump,
00:02:13.600 the media has tried to throw absolutely everything at him.
00:02:17.120 Donald Trump, you may remember, was under investigation by the Obama White House
00:02:21.900 before he even took office.
00:02:25.200 And ever since he was in office,
00:02:27.160 it was Russia investigation, Russia investigation, Russia investigation.
00:02:31.860 Then it was the next stage of that.
00:02:34.700 Then it was impeachment.
00:02:35.960 And since the impeachment, it's been the coronavirus pandemic.
00:02:38.740 So there's never actually been a period where the left has accepted that Donald Trump won.
00:02:45.720 There hasn't been that point.
00:02:47.320 So Donald Trump has been up against tremendous resistance
00:02:49.860 through the entirety of his presidency.
00:02:52.160 And the election is no exception.
00:02:54.600 So when you have hundreds of millions of dollars in Senate races,
00:02:58.260 billions of dollars in overall campaign expenses that are against you,
00:03:02.880 and you still come out almost at an even point with your competitor,
00:03:08.960 that's a pretty successful result.
00:03:11.800 So why did the polls not reflect that?
00:03:14.660 Why did the polls get it so wrong?
00:03:18.280 Well, the same reason they did in 2016.
00:03:21.240 And they still haven't understood
00:03:23.700 why it is that they lost the first time around.
00:03:27.400 They still haven't understood why it is
00:03:29.060 that they didn't get it right four years ago.
00:03:31.800 And this is why I want to talk about the Trump voter.
00:03:36.880 And when I say the Trump voter,
00:03:38.400 I'm talking about the type of person that's not reflected by the polls,
00:03:42.860 the type of person who voted for Donald Trump and didn't tell anyone about it,
00:03:47.160 and the type of person that was nevertheless there, they existed,
00:03:51.420 even though polls were showing at some point Donald Trump being up like 15,
00:03:55.160 or down by like 15 points or whatever.
00:03:57.120 I think it was the Quinnipiac poll that had said, you know,
00:04:00.140 Biden was going to win pretty much every state in the union or something like that,
00:04:03.900 like Ronald Reagan's 1984 win,
00:04:06.800 where Walter Mondale had just one state,
00:04:09.040 and that was the state of Minnesota.
00:04:11.340 So the Trump voter,
00:04:13.520 and I realize it's not a monolithic demographic,
00:04:16.200 but there's someone that has been for the last four years stigmatized,
00:04:21.680 tremendously stigmatized to such a point where they are not likely to want to tell
00:04:26.640 someone who's calling them up as a pollster,
00:04:29.860 yeah, I'm voting for Donald Trump.
00:04:32.380 They're not likely to say,
00:04:34.520 yeah, you know, I am.
00:04:35.340 If someone calls them up and says,
00:04:36.620 okay, who are you voting for in the upcoming election?
00:04:38.640 Because they've been told by the media that anyone who votes for Trump is a racist,
00:04:43.360 a bigot, a this-a-phobe, a that-a-phobe,
00:04:45.260 and they are not going to want to embrace that.
00:04:48.140 Now, some people will.
00:04:49.020 Some people will be diehards or renegades or just contrarians and say,
00:04:53.800 yeah, I'm voting for Trump, whatever.
00:04:55.520 But the media has tried for four years to project its characteristics that it sees in Trump
00:05:01.920 onto Trump's voters.
00:05:03.660 And that has been not just one of the most unfair mischaracterizations of half of the United States,
00:05:09.540 but also a fundamentally inaccurate one.
00:05:13.020 And what I mean by that is that even if,
00:05:16.120 even if you could accept the media at face value that Trump is everything they've called him,
00:05:21.080 that does not mean that you can extend that to every one of his voters.
00:05:26.980 And that's something that the media got very wrong.
00:05:30.300 And it was a miscalculation, and it's part of why trust in media,
00:05:33.980 if you look at a number of surveys, is at an all-time low.
00:05:36.840 Because people are tired of being maligned by this organization,
00:05:41.720 this institution that's supposed to be the bastion of truth,
00:05:45.000 the protectors of democracy,
00:05:46.420 and all of these other honorifics that the media bestows upon themselves.
00:05:52.880 So when the media is trying to say,
00:05:55.020 okay, how can anyone...
00:05:56.340 And by the way, when I talk about the media,
00:05:57.920 there's a lot that goes into that.
00:05:59.180 There's the pundit industrial complex,
00:06:01.460 the, you know, 97-person panels on CNN.
00:06:04.580 There's even what news anchors say.
00:06:07.380 Just take a look.
00:06:08.240 This is how Jim Acosta, who is supposedly a news reporter,
00:06:13.960 he's not a commentator, an analyst, a columnist,
00:06:16.580 a news reporter spoke of Trump's presser,
00:06:19.840 his press conference on Thursday,
00:06:21.340 before the press conference even took place.
00:06:24.300 This is what Jim Acosta said.
00:06:26.180 There probably ought to be a Surgeon General warning.
00:06:27.980 What you're about to hear from the president of the United States
00:06:30.600 may not be in line with the facts,
00:06:32.980 may be hazardous to your democracy,
00:06:35.440 may be hazardous to the counting of the votes.
00:06:37.780 I suspect that, you know, when the president comes out here,
00:06:40.460 we're going to see a fair amount of bending of the truth,
00:06:43.260 and I just think we just all have to be prepared for that.
00:06:45.400 You know, we can tiptoe, you know, through the tulips
00:06:47.660 and dance around the truth here, Anderson,
00:06:49.300 or we can just say what we've seen over the last four years.
00:06:52.960 This president will lie and lie and lie when it suits his purposes.
00:06:58.420 And I suspect we're going to be seeing more of that when he comes out here.
00:07:02.000 Okay, so there is no objectivity there.
00:07:04.760 There's no ambiguity.
00:07:05.700 There's no doubt.
00:07:06.580 That is what they think.
00:07:07.980 And I think we can extrapolate from what Jim Acosta said
00:07:10.820 a general sense of how the mainstream media has viewed Trump.
00:07:14.440 And look, I mean, Trump has taken aim at the media.
00:07:17.520 The media takes aim at Trump.
00:07:18.700 You may say that is the balancing of the universe in effect.
00:07:21.900 But it's that dynamic that has extended between
00:07:25.520 the way the media also engages with Trump voters.
00:07:29.800 I won't play the clip, but I believe I played it a few months ago
00:07:32.780 when Rick Wilson, who's this, you know,
00:07:34.980 never-Trump-er, former Republican, and Don Lemon,
00:07:37.700 were just, you know, yucking it up on TV,
00:07:39.860 laughing at, you know, these redneck Trump supporters
00:07:43.420 that don't even know where Ukraine is
00:07:45.320 and couldn't point to it on a map and stuff like that.
00:07:48.160 So this stuff breeds through,
00:07:49.840 and it's the same as when Hillary Clinton called them all deplorables,
00:07:52.860 when I think it was former health minister in Alberta,
00:07:55.640 Sarah Hoffman, referred to people in the conservative base there as sewer rats.
00:08:00.560 When you start writing off entire chunks of the electorate,
00:08:04.620 marginalizing them to say that they do not belong in polite society,
00:08:09.120 they do not belong in civil society,
00:08:10.920 you're going to have a revolt of sorts on your hands.
00:08:14.720 And I don't mean a violent, bloody coup.
00:08:17.100 I just mean a revolt in the sense of people turning around and saying,
00:08:20.700 well, I'm not going to listen to you.
00:08:22.720 And that's why now, for example,
00:08:24.760 when you've had for the last couple of days,
00:08:26.600 the media saying, okay, yeah, you know, Trump won,
00:08:28.880 Trump laws this state, Biden won this state,
00:08:30.960 yeah, Trump's out.
00:08:32.400 That's why people are like, well, hang on,
00:08:34.060 you guys haven't exactly been the most credible for the last four years.
00:08:36.900 Why am I going to start paying attention to you now?
00:08:38.800 And once you give people a reason to distrust institutions,
00:08:42.860 it's very difficult for them to trust any institutions,
00:08:46.400 which is why right now no one trusts ballot counting,
00:08:49.100 which is why no one trusts the mail,
00:08:50.720 which is why no one trusts the media,
00:08:52.600 which is why no one trusts Trump or no one trusts Biden.
00:08:55.180 It's why right now trust in everything is shattered.
00:08:58.960 And people cannot just have this as a seamless election,
00:09:02.480 the way that most elections have been, generally speaking.
00:09:05.180 I know there are a few hitches there, 2000 being one of them.
00:09:09.520 So when you have this, you are at a point where there is a cultural divide
00:09:13.920 that is greater than the political divide,
00:09:16.800 but is revealed in the political divide.
00:09:20.120 And that's not going to go away.
00:09:22.020 If Biden is declared the winner and the court challenges are exhausted
00:09:25.420 and Biden still is sworn in in January,
00:09:29.000 then there is not going to be this reckoning
00:09:32.420 that is easily going to unite the country, heal the land,
00:09:35.760 bring the oceans back into alignment with the world and all that stuff.
00:09:40.580 Like, it's just, it's not going to happen.
00:09:42.280 And in the same way, if Donald Trump emerges and is reelected
00:09:46.280 and is re-sworn in in January,
00:09:48.440 there is not going to be this recognition of,
00:09:50.720 okay, now we realize he's our president.
00:09:53.860 No, this is not going to happen.
00:09:55.660 And that divide needs to be bridged.
00:09:58.540 And I'm not going to do this whole kumbaya routine and say,
00:10:02.040 oh, you know, it's common understanding and reaching the other way
00:10:04.660 and reaching across the aisle and all of that.
00:10:07.060 But I will say that the media would do well to understand the Trump voter.
00:10:13.640 The media would do well to understand.
00:10:15.400 And I don't mean mythologize.
00:10:17.540 Because after the 2016 election, the media did a little bit of this
00:10:21.100 where they almost had this, like,
00:10:22.580 it was almost this zoo animal approach to identifying the Trump voter.
00:10:26.340 Oh, look at the Trump voter in their natural habitat.
00:10:29.020 And you'd see reporters going to small-town American communities
00:10:32.820 and seeing what people thought.
00:10:34.500 But it's about actually trying to understand.
00:10:38.100 Because the media's mindset,
00:10:40.680 the media's mindset is that Trump is terrible,
00:10:43.180 Trump is racist, Trump is this.
00:10:44.740 And therefore, anyone who votes for him has to be those things
00:10:48.540 or has to be okay with them.
00:10:50.660 And there was a point I actually came up with the other day
00:10:54.320 that I wanted to share on this,
00:10:56.140 in that discussing tone and presidential tone
00:10:59.800 and presidential rhetoric
00:11:00.960 and the philosophical nature of democracy and discourse,
00:11:04.720 that is, to use the left's language,
00:11:07.000 a very privileged discussion.
00:11:09.640 If you are someone in Midwest America
00:11:12.400 whose job has been lost to outsourcing,
00:11:15.160 if you're someone whose child has been killed
00:11:17.960 by an illegal immigrant,
00:11:19.720 if you're someone living in the middle of the United States,
00:11:22.680 all of those red states that are not getting a lot of attention,
00:11:25.580 not getting a lot of investment,
00:11:26.900 not seeing a boom,
00:11:27.980 if you're one of those people,
00:11:30.300 your concerns are not the philosophical nature
00:11:33.520 of discourse and democracy, tone, rhetoric.
00:11:36.320 Your concerns are much greater
00:11:38.120 than the things on which the media tends to obsess.
00:11:42.560 And the media has not done a very good job at all.
00:11:45.300 In fact, I would say they've especially rejected
00:11:48.000 the idea of governing themselves
00:11:51.660 by looking at Trump's actual accomplishments or failures.
00:11:58.220 But just by looking at his legislative record,
00:12:01.440 not a lot of attention on Middle East peace.
00:12:04.120 And again, not that, you know,
00:12:05.020 a Midwestern voter is necessarily governed
00:12:07.120 by their thoughts on Middle East peace,
00:12:09.140 but that's a pretty significant thing.
00:12:10.980 When you've got Israel, Bahrain,
00:12:12.780 Israel, the United Arab Emirates,
00:12:14.280 I think Israel, Kuwait as well as one that was on the table
00:12:18.160 and now Kosovo and Serbia,
00:12:19.840 when you've got all these countries
00:12:21.120 that are coming to the table together
00:12:23.720 and Trump is the guy at the table bringing them there,
00:12:26.740 that's pretty darn important.
00:12:28.400 But to go back to the other point that I was making
00:12:31.240 is that the people who live in these forgotten communities,
00:12:34.920 what some Democrats would term flyover country,
00:12:37.880 they don't have the privilege
00:12:39.560 of having these grand 30,000 foot high discussions
00:12:44.480 that are so detached from the reality of their life
00:12:48.400 and of their existence.
00:12:49.760 And the media does.
00:12:51.980 And the pundits do.
00:12:54.000 The pundits in their expensive suits
00:12:56.500 who drive the expensive cars,
00:12:59.160 who go to the TV stations in big cities
00:13:01.860 like New York or Washington DC or Atlanta,
00:13:04.940 and then they sit around in their studio
00:13:07.080 talking to other people exactly like them
00:13:09.580 about all the reasons that,
00:13:12.480 oh, Trump is terrible and Trump is reprehensible,
00:13:14.780 not at all understanding
00:13:16.400 that the person who's voting for him
00:13:18.220 is just trying to get by.
00:13:22.020 And that is so key.
00:13:23.860 And I know just by saying this,
00:13:25.620 there are going to be a lot of Canadian conservatives
00:13:27.260 because I see it on Twitter that are saying,
00:13:28.760 oh, you know, how can you go,
00:13:30.060 how can you support Trump and how can you do this?
00:13:32.460 Let me tell you, I was very skeptical
00:13:34.800 when Trump first came onto the scene
00:13:36.820 because I didn't think he was a real conservative.
00:13:39.560 And I still don't think he's a real conservative.
00:13:41.700 I think that he has kind of redrawn the lines
00:13:44.340 and occupied a space in the political spectrum
00:13:47.200 that hasn't really existed in North American politics
00:13:50.540 all that frequently.
00:13:52.860 But when you look at what he's up against,
00:13:55.940 which is a Democrat party that is not led by Joe Biden,
00:13:59.160 I mean, this is the big issue,
00:14:00.360 is that Joe Biden may be the candidate right now,
00:14:03.020 but it's not going to be long before it is Kamala Harris.
00:14:06.780 And then it's not going to be long after that
00:14:08.520 before it's AOC.
00:14:09.680 That's the future of the Democrats.
00:14:11.680 That is the future of the Democrat party
00:14:13.780 of the United States of America.
00:14:15.580 So Trump is up against people that are very much radical,
00:14:20.420 even compared to Joe Biden,
00:14:21.820 which is why you can't just look at Trump versus Biden
00:14:24.020 as the dichotomy.
00:14:25.640 But more importantly,
00:14:26.780 I looked at Trump as someone who was prepared
00:14:30.460 to upend the system,
00:14:32.820 which is in a lot of ways,
00:14:34.720 I mean, very much in alignment
00:14:35.900 with what Bernie Sanders supporters wanted.
00:14:38.160 But I don't want the system to be upended
00:14:39.980 to become more socialist.
00:14:41.320 I wanted the system to be upended
00:14:43.040 to go in the other direction.
00:14:45.580 So when Trump won,
00:14:46.840 I had a cautious hopefulness, we could say.
00:14:51.080 And it's interesting
00:14:52.480 because the media actually pushed me more
00:14:55.020 to defending Trump
00:14:56.640 than I ever would have reached on my own.
00:15:00.060 And I think the media has had that effect,
00:15:02.440 that galvanizing effect against itself for Trump.
00:15:05.560 When you look at the dynamic,
00:15:06.960 I mean, the most famous example was
00:15:08.540 when CNN's Chiron was suggesting
00:15:12.080 that everyone else got one scoop of ice cream
00:15:14.060 at a White House dinner
00:15:14.880 and Trump got two scoops of ice cream.
00:15:17.040 I mean, stories like that
00:15:18.720 only really serve to make the media
00:15:22.840 look more and more ridiculous.
00:15:25.680 And when they've done this,
00:15:27.000 every time there's an ordinary person watching
00:15:29.320 that's like, well, hang on,
00:15:31.200 I'm just trying to get by.
00:15:33.240 And even if Trump is gone,
00:15:36.040 until people start to understand that person,
00:15:39.060 or at the least try to understand that person,
00:15:42.340 we're never going to bridge this great divide
00:15:44.340 in American culture,
00:15:45.960 which is also a big divide that we see emerging
00:15:48.500 in Canadian culture as well.
00:15:50.660 More of The Andrew Lawton Show up next
00:15:52.460 here on True North.
00:15:54.560 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:15:58.260 Welcome back to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:16:00.800 So next week is Remembrance Day,
00:16:03.760 and I know it's going to be a lot different this year.
00:16:06.300 I know a lot of the mass gatherings
00:16:07.840 are not taking place.
00:16:09.580 There's a fellow in my neighborhood
00:16:11.380 who's kind of like the self-styled
00:16:12.880 neighborhood watch commander
00:16:14.240 who told us all,
00:16:16.500 he did like a little door-to-door tour last week,
00:16:18.700 that we're all to stand out on our front porches
00:16:20.960 at 11 a.m. on Remembrance Day
00:16:23.040 and have a moment of silence together.
00:16:24.700 So I don't know if this is like a real thing
00:16:26.900 or if this is just something the guy said.
00:16:28.820 So I might like just peek out my window at 10.59
00:16:31.620 and let's see if anyone else is doing it.
00:16:33.720 And if they are, I'll join them.
00:16:35.200 I don't just want to be like standing out
00:16:36.760 on the porch alone though.
00:16:37.680 So I can do the moment of silence on my own.
00:16:40.340 But here's one point that I will stress about this
00:16:43.720 is that even if we are not having
00:16:46.160 the conventional ceremonies
00:16:47.680 and commemorations of Remembrance Day,
00:16:50.280 we better darn well remember.
00:16:52.360 And one of the greatest reminders
00:16:54.100 of Remembrance Day is right here,
00:16:56.640 the poppy that people wear.
00:16:58.020 And if you're watching from outside Canada,
00:17:00.180 this is something that's very central to Canada.
00:17:02.400 If you're watching in Britain,
00:17:03.900 the poppy looks a little different,
00:17:05.040 but you understand the tradition very well.
00:17:07.380 I actually have a British poppy somewhere,
00:17:09.200 but I think it's still packed up
00:17:10.940 from when I moved a few months ago.
00:17:13.520 But here's the thing.
00:17:15.480 When Don Cherry made his big rant last year,
00:17:19.900 the tremendous you people rant that got him fired,
00:17:24.040 so many people, so many people came forward
00:17:26.720 and were like, okay, hang on.
00:17:28.180 It's a poppy.
00:17:28.820 We should all wear poppies.
00:17:29.820 These are unifying things.
00:17:31.040 Well, not quite.
00:17:32.520 Take a look at Whole Foods,
00:17:34.100 which is a large food retailer owned by Amazon.
00:17:37.440 Whole Foods has banned employees
00:17:40.160 from wearing poppies at its Canadian stores.
00:17:43.740 Now, this is, again, a US-based company.
00:17:46.000 They've said their uniform policy
00:17:47.720 does not allow poppies.
00:17:50.200 They won't say why.
00:17:51.780 An employee who told CBC about this said,
00:17:54.640 I was told that if they allowed
00:17:55.800 this one particular case,
00:17:57.500 then it would open up the door
00:17:58.760 so that they would have to allow
00:18:00.180 or consider allowing other causes.
00:18:03.020 CBC News is not naming the employee
00:18:05.040 who says they were in shock,
00:18:07.720 appalled, and couldn't believe it.
00:18:10.600 She said she's been able to wear one,
00:18:12.280 but this year was a bit different.
00:18:13.960 The Whole Foods uniform is an apron,
00:18:16.100 coat, or vest, a hat, and a name badge.
00:18:18.980 And that's it.
00:18:19.780 And a poppy doesn't comply
00:18:21.220 with the policy the company said.
00:18:23.060 Now, here's the thing.
00:18:24.000 This is another story where I suspect
00:18:25.580 that there may be a reversal
00:18:27.460 by the time it comes out.
00:18:28.860 So bear with me.
00:18:29.820 We'll have to get this episode out quickly.
00:18:31.760 And I hope there is a reversal.
00:18:33.160 I mean, I actually hope this is wrong
00:18:34.760 and outdated by the time the show comes out.
00:18:37.320 I get the whole,
00:18:38.600 we don't want to allow political slogans.
00:18:40.840 I get that, okay,
00:18:41.600 we don't want to have to allow
00:18:42.840 this politically identifying thing.
00:18:45.900 But the problem is that
00:18:47.500 when you have a policy so rigid and firm,
00:18:50.540 you lose sight of the nuance
00:18:52.240 of things that are not controversial.
00:18:54.760 And a red poppy is one of those things
00:18:57.500 that is not and should not be controversial.
00:18:59.440 And if it is,
00:19:01.700 there's a big problem with the person
00:19:03.060 who is making the claim that it is,
00:19:05.600 not a problem with the poppy itself.
00:19:08.180 And when I talk about how unifying poppies are,
00:19:11.620 it's important to note here
00:19:12.740 that the Whole Foods ban on them
00:19:14.800 has actually brought together
00:19:16.300 the conservatives and the NDP.
00:19:18.960 Aaron O'Toole was, I think,
00:19:20.660 the first to put out a statement
00:19:22.460 condemning Whole Foods ban.
00:19:24.740 He had first put out a tweet
00:19:25.760 and then a more formal condemnation
00:19:27.520 in which he said,
00:19:28.560 the past sacrifice of Canadians
00:19:30.060 provides the freedom
00:19:31.120 for a big American grocery chain
00:19:32.960 to be stupid today.
00:19:34.600 Really shooting from the hip.
00:19:36.020 It is shameful and frankly un-Canadian
00:19:38.040 that Whole Foods is banning their employees
00:19:39.740 from showing respect for our veterans,
00:19:41.620 to those of us who have proudly served our country,
00:19:44.500 to those still serving,
00:19:45.600 to the fallen who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
00:19:48.820 This is not a cause.
00:19:50.540 O'Toole continued,
00:19:51.480 let's tell Whole Foods
00:19:52.820 to stop trying to be woke foods.
00:19:54.500 The poppy is a sign of respect.
00:19:56.900 And he says he'll proudly wear his poppy
00:19:58.460 and shop for groceries elsewhere.
00:20:00.440 Well, I mean,
00:20:00.720 who could afford to shop at Whole Foods?
00:20:02.080 That's the bigger problem.
00:20:03.180 I mean, by the time you've spent like $9 on an avocado,
00:20:05.660 you actually don't have any money left
00:20:07.280 to put in the poppy bin.
00:20:09.080 So that's one thing to keep in mind here.
00:20:11.360 And Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier,
00:20:13.380 didn't just condemn it,
00:20:14.480 but actually promised legislation.
00:20:17.080 He had said this morning,
00:20:18.360 we will introduce legislation
00:20:20.000 that prohibits any employer
00:20:21.560 from banning their staff
00:20:22.700 from wearing a poppy during Remembrance Week.
00:20:25.900 Hashtag, lest we forget.
00:20:27.960 Now, I find that to be a bit ridiculous.
00:20:29.940 I've always been of the mindset
00:20:30.940 that businesses can set out their policies for themselves.
00:20:33.660 If Whole Foods has a dress code
00:20:34.980 and a uniform policy that prohibits poppies,
00:20:37.540 that's Whole Foods prerogative.
00:20:39.500 We cannot shop there,
00:20:40.760 as Aaron O'Toole's statement indicates.
00:20:42.300 So this idea of like promising legislation,
00:20:44.200 I find just ridiculous.
00:20:45.460 There are so many ways to do this
00:20:48.080 that don't involve the government getting involved.
00:20:50.740 Individual politicians saying,
00:20:52.380 I'm always going to wear a poppy.
00:20:53.640 That's the best way to do it.
00:20:55.600 Jagmeet Singh has also come out though.
00:20:57.540 He slammed Whole Foods for their poppy ban,
00:20:59.860 but also for BLM censorship.
00:21:02.540 Remember how I said earlier that it's a slippery slope?
00:21:05.140 The poppy ban then becomes the ban
00:21:07.480 on any other political slogans.
00:21:09.400 He said, it's wrong to ban the poppy.
00:21:11.800 Canadians shouldn't lose the right
00:21:13.800 to honor the sacrifices of veterans.
00:21:15.580 When they go to work.
00:21:17.940 And Jagmeet Singh had also linked it to staff
00:21:20.520 who weren't able to express their support
00:21:22.180 for BLM as part of the uniform.
00:21:23.740 So thus proving my point on this.
00:21:26.200 But again, this is a unifying thing.
00:21:28.220 This does not need to be politicized,
00:21:30.260 but now it is just because one company
00:21:32.920 didn't realize how important this issue
00:21:35.420 in this campaign is to Canadians
00:21:37.320 who have military connections
00:21:39.240 and Canadians who don't.
00:21:40.460 I am rising today and I must say,
00:21:43.520 I am absolutely disheartened and angry
00:21:45.580 that I must do so.
00:21:47.680 I am sure if you seek it,
00:21:49.480 you will find unanimous consent
00:21:51.020 for the following motion.
00:21:53.060 That this house condemn Whole Foods
00:21:55.380 and its owner, Jeff Bezos,
00:21:57.060 for banning its employees
00:21:58.660 from wearing poppies on their uniform
00:22:00.840 and demand that the policy
00:22:02.760 be reversed immediately.
00:22:05.440 Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
00:22:07.160 lest we forget.
00:22:08.860 The House has heard the terms of the motion.
00:22:11.460 All those opposed to the motion being adopted,
00:22:14.360 please say nay.
00:22:15.320 Again, hearing none,
00:22:19.560 it is adopted, carried.
00:22:26.580 So if you are not wearing a poppy,
00:22:29.600 that's fine.
00:22:30.220 That's your choice.
00:22:31.060 Whole Foods has a right as a company
00:22:32.480 to have this policy.
00:22:33.940 Employees have the right to work somewhere else.
00:22:36.140 Individuals shopping at the store
00:22:37.500 can clearly wear a poppy.
00:22:39.720 The problem with something like this
00:22:41.620 is that it kind of politicizes something inherently
00:22:44.480 that wasn't and shouldn't be political.
00:22:47.300 Because now when employees go into Whole Foods,
00:22:49.760 they're going to have their issues
00:22:51.260 that they're going to raise with employees.
00:22:52.900 Employees are going to have to.
00:22:54.120 And I've worked in retail.
00:22:55.180 I know this dynamic very well.
00:22:56.960 Employees tend to have to shoulder
00:22:58.700 the decisions of their parent company,
00:23:01.500 especially when people learn about it in the news.
00:23:04.680 And, you know, this year,
00:23:06.200 I think it's especially important
00:23:07.500 that people wear poppies
00:23:08.600 because we aren't going to have
00:23:10.560 the November 11th ceremony.
00:23:13.000 So that idea of walking around
00:23:15.000 and just seeing it,
00:23:16.220 it's not just symbolic, though.
00:23:18.160 This is also the hugest fundraiser
00:23:19.880 for the Legion,
00:23:20.820 which, again, against tremendous odds,
00:23:22.900 we know Legions are struggling.
00:23:24.480 Legions are still there doing work
00:23:26.580 to support veterans
00:23:27.900 and to support veteran communities.
00:23:30.320 And in cities across Canada,
00:23:31.840 you've got varying degrees of it.
00:23:34.260 And, you know, look,
00:23:35.200 this is something that is challenging
00:23:36.960 because especially this year,
00:23:38.520 a lot of Legions,
00:23:39.260 which need bar revenue
00:23:40.300 and a restaurant revenue,
00:23:41.720 they're not exactly able
00:23:42.900 to take that this year.
00:23:44.360 They've had to close their doors
00:23:45.960 like so many other organizations.
00:23:48.420 So just, I mean,
00:23:49.960 I hate to do the Don Cherry thing,
00:23:52.460 but you people need to get off
00:23:53.840 your high horses
00:23:54.520 and put on a darn poppy.
00:23:57.220 And this is true of Whole Foods.
00:23:58.780 And again, I'm not saying
00:24:00.120 force your employees to wear them.
00:24:01.780 I'm just saying allow them to
00:24:03.540 and understand that your rigid
00:24:05.720 embrace of this policy
00:24:07.800 because you're worried
00:24:08.600 about the slippery slope of,
00:24:09.980 oh, if we allow a poppy today,
00:24:11.840 then, you know,
00:24:12.560 then we're going to have to allow
00:24:13.640 Black Lives Matter
00:24:14.560 and then we're going to have to allow
00:24:15.780 defund the police.
00:24:16.860 I mean, no, it's not that.
00:24:18.140 A poppy is not a slippery slope
00:24:19.640 to anything apart from remembering
00:24:22.120 the sacrifice of veterans.
00:24:25.860 And the comparison that I always draw,
00:24:27.580 even with people who don't like the poppy,
00:24:29.340 is that our freedom comes
00:24:30.840 in no small part due
00:24:32.080 to the veterans who fought and died
00:24:34.900 for our right to make those choices,
00:24:37.480 to make those decisions.
00:24:38.720 The fact that we can say,
00:24:39.720 oh, you know, I don't like the poppy.
00:24:41.000 That's in and of itself a right
00:24:42.540 that the poppy signifies
00:24:44.220 the acquisition of.
00:24:46.340 And of course, as predicted,
00:24:47.960 Whole Foods has in fact
00:24:49.500 walked this back
00:24:50.740 after the initial recording
00:24:52.260 of this segment.
00:24:53.820 Here's a statement sent out
00:24:55.180 by Whole Foods.
00:24:56.820 Our new unified dress code policy
00:24:59.500 is intended to create consistency
00:25:01.240 and ensure operational safety
00:25:03.000 across all of our stores.
00:25:04.560 Our intention was never
00:25:06.040 to single out the poppy.
00:25:07.480 Or to suggest a lack of support
00:25:09.100 for Remembrance Day
00:25:10.040 and the heroes
00:25:10.940 who have bravely served their country.
00:25:13.220 We appreciate the thoughtful feedback
00:25:14.660 we have received from our customers.
00:25:16.580 Given the learnings of today,
00:25:17.840 we are welcoming team members
00:25:19.040 to wear the poppy pin
00:25:20.220 in honor of Remembrance Day.
00:25:22.120 As was previously planned,
00:25:23.500 we will also be observing
00:25:24.700 a moment of silence
00:25:25.620 on November 11th,
00:25:26.900 as well as making
00:25:27.760 a monetary donation
00:25:28.940 to the Legion Poppy Fund.
00:25:30.740 So never let anyone say
00:25:33.360 that swift outrage
00:25:34.800 unanimously for politicians
00:25:36.260 across party stripes
00:25:37.280 cannot force a Whole Foods retailer
00:25:40.140 into submission.
00:25:41.600 Back in a moment
00:25:42.300 with more of The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:25:45.780 You're tuned in
00:25:46.820 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:25:50.560 So not that I'm looking
00:25:52.300 for a new job.
00:25:53.160 I'm actually quite happy
00:25:54.080 with what I'm doing.
00:25:54.880 But I would be remiss
00:25:56.080 to not point out
00:25:56.840 this job posting
00:25:57.760 in Canada's National Post.
00:25:59.780 Looking for a comment editor
00:26:01.360 as Matt Gurney,
00:26:02.580 who many of you may know,
00:26:03.940 has announced
00:26:04.420 he is not going to stay on.
00:26:06.520 He was there on a contract
00:26:07.440 and he's moving on
00:26:08.420 to better things.
00:26:10.060 But they're now looking
00:26:10.820 for a comment editor
00:26:11.880 to run the comment section.
00:26:13.540 And here's the criteria
00:26:14.960 laid out,
00:26:16.060 or the criterion, rather,
00:26:17.660 laid out.
00:26:18.120 The successful candidate
00:26:19.100 will have a passion
00:26:20.200 for commentary
00:26:21.000 that dares to refute
00:26:22.820 flawed conventional thinking
00:26:24.180 with trenchancy,
00:26:25.580 irreverence, and wit.
00:26:26.700 Well, this is Canada's
00:26:27.640 most irreverent show
00:26:28.520 and I like to think
00:26:29.100 I'm a bit of a witty person.
00:26:30.860 I don't know about
00:26:31.340 how trenchant I am,
00:26:32.320 but we'll see.
00:26:33.160 The successful candidate
00:26:34.180 will also be prepared
00:26:35.600 to withstand demands
00:26:36.860 to submit to politically
00:26:37.880 correct orthodoxy
00:26:39.100 by the woke Twitter mobs
00:26:40.620 while firmly resisting
00:26:42.200 the excesses of fringe politics
00:26:43.740 on any side of the spectrum.
00:26:45.660 And then excellent writing
00:26:46.640 and editing skills,
00:26:47.520 news judgment,
00:26:48.240 familiarity with digital news,
00:26:49.760 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:26:50.460 But I like this part.
00:26:52.000 Withstand the demands
00:26:53.180 to submit to politically
00:26:54.600 correct orthodoxy,
00:26:56.060 that should actually be
00:26:57.360 a job posting
00:26:58.560 in pretty much
00:26:59.920 every career imaginable.
00:27:01.920 I think any company,
00:27:03.100 even if it's outside of media,
00:27:04.440 needs to contain that
00:27:05.740 because the world
00:27:06.900 is only going to get away
00:27:08.600 from the woke Twitter mobs
00:27:10.020 cancelling everyone
00:27:11.120 when people have
00:27:12.060 an express mandate
00:27:13.140 to push back against it
00:27:14.940 and withstand that pressure.
00:27:16.500 So even if it is
00:27:17.760 a little bit more playful
00:27:18.780 and tongue-in-cheek,
00:27:19.880 trenchancy, irreverent wit,
00:27:21.120 and all that stuff,
00:27:21.820 I think it's tremendously important.
00:27:24.580 And also as someone
00:27:25.300 who wants media
00:27:26.540 that is not going to cow
00:27:27.940 before the Twitter mobs,
00:27:29.800 I'm very grateful
00:27:30.560 to see the National Post
00:27:31.660 go down this road
00:27:32.480 of digging its heels
00:27:33.480 and saying,
00:27:34.180 this is who we are.
00:27:35.440 And this is something
00:27:35.980 that came up
00:27:36.620 a couple of weeks ago
00:27:37.880 where they issued
00:27:38.440 kind of a renewed mandate
00:27:39.980 of sorts.
00:27:40.600 They said Barbara Kay
00:27:41.460 was going to be coming back.
00:27:42.900 And this comes
00:27:43.600 just a few months after
00:27:45.080 there was really
00:27:46.000 that internal coup
00:27:47.100 about the Rex Murphy column.
00:27:48.720 And Candace Malcolm
00:27:50.660 spoke with Rex at great length.
00:27:52.600 So if you want to hear
00:27:53.100 what he thinks
00:27:53.580 about any number of things,
00:27:54.720 do check out that interview.
00:27:56.700 But what happened
00:27:58.140 was the National Post
00:27:59.600 really had this,
00:28:00.480 I think,
00:28:00.740 spiritual reawakening
00:28:02.060 of sorts
00:28:02.580 where they were trying
00:28:03.940 to kind of win
00:28:04.980 both sides
00:28:05.780 of being of appeal
00:28:07.160 to conservatives
00:28:07.820 and also socially woke.
00:28:10.100 And I think they realized
00:28:11.420 that's not who they are.
00:28:12.440 So it's good to see them
00:28:13.700 go back to this
00:28:14.600 and whoever gets
00:28:15.400 that position,
00:28:15.960 I hope you will
00:28:16.920 live up to that requirement
00:28:18.620 of withstanding
00:28:19.620 the Twitter mob.
00:28:20.980 Let's talk about
00:28:21.920 free speech
00:28:22.740 on the show
00:28:23.680 for a moment
00:28:24.320 and broadly
00:28:24.960 because last week
00:28:26.440 we spoke about this
00:28:27.740 with France
00:28:28.740 and Justin Trudeau
00:28:29.540 really taking
00:28:30.180 this equivocal position
00:28:31.400 on what's happening
00:28:32.900 in France
00:28:33.460 and not really standing up
00:28:34.640 for unadulterated,
00:28:36.600 really broad free speech
00:28:38.880 and the absolutist mentality
00:28:40.580 behind free speech
00:28:41.960 that is essential
00:28:42.700 to free speech.
00:28:43.460 Well, it's not really
00:28:46.300 gotten much better
00:28:47.420 and let me just say
00:28:48.400 by way of contrast here
00:28:49.620 the Prime Minister
00:28:50.560 of Pakistan, Imran Khan
00:28:52.220 had said
00:28:53.360 blasphemy in garb
00:28:55.040 of freedom of expression
00:28:56.220 is intolerable
00:28:58.160 and when he read that
00:28:59.740 it was actually quite sad
00:29:01.000 to think that was
00:29:01.660 kind of indistinguishable
00:29:02.820 from Justin Trudeau's position
00:29:04.200 which is that
00:29:04.720 yeah, we support
00:29:05.340 freedom of speech
00:29:06.000 but you know,
00:29:07.240 you have to take
00:29:08.300 into consideration
00:29:08.880 people that you share
00:29:09.900 the planet with.
00:29:10.720 That was the one
00:29:11.840 sort of crux of the line
00:29:13.120 and he used that old trope
00:29:14.300 of shouting fire
00:29:15.480 in a crowded theater
00:29:16.480 which I actually
00:29:17.600 took aim at
00:29:18.240 but I was also glad
00:29:19.020 to see Colby Koch
00:29:20.200 and the National Post
00:29:21.220 take aim at that trope
00:29:22.780 as well
00:29:23.160 by saying that
00:29:23.780 it's just like
00:29:24.240 it's overused
00:29:24.960 and it doesn't actually
00:29:25.980 really mean
00:29:26.980 what the people
00:29:27.480 that say it
00:29:28.040 think it means.
00:29:30.040 So Justin Trudeau
00:29:31.060 needs to understand
00:29:33.080 that free speech
00:29:34.460 is not about
00:29:35.240 these qualifiers
00:29:36.260 and limitations
00:29:37.040 and then we see
00:29:38.680 on a micro level
00:29:39.800 how this approach
00:29:41.500 to free speech
00:29:42.320 in freedom of expression
00:29:43.640 and freedom of assembly
00:29:44.640 is kind of unfolding.
00:29:46.380 So as you may know
00:29:47.480 I live in London, Ontario
00:29:48.660 which is in
00:29:49.360 southwestern Ontario
00:29:50.400 about 25 minutes
00:29:52.260 from here
00:29:52.720 there's a town
00:29:53.660 called Elmer
00:29:54.360 which has become
00:29:55.720 a bit of a hotbed
00:29:57.280 for the culture war
00:29:58.920 about masks
00:29:59.920 and the mask orders
00:30:01.880 and all of that stuff
00:30:02.740 in the last couple of weeks
00:30:04.840 and Elmer is having
00:30:06.460 on Saturday
00:30:07.480 tomorrow
00:30:08.160 a big demonstration
00:30:09.140 where people are going
00:30:10.620 to have a freedom march
00:30:12.000 they're going to protest
00:30:12.800 against mask orders
00:30:13.920 and lockdown restrictions
00:30:15.160 and stand up
00:30:16.280 for their personal freedoms.
00:30:18.340 I think people
00:30:18.960 have a right to do that
00:30:20.000 especially after
00:30:21.160 thousands of people
00:30:22.140 gathered for
00:30:22.840 Black Lives Matter protests
00:30:24.260 we've all determined
00:30:25.420 that protests
00:30:26.020 are apparently
00:30:26.660 a completely legitimate
00:30:27.800 and justifiable activity
00:30:29.260 throughout the
00:30:30.180 COVID-19 pandemic.
00:30:32.160 Well preemptively
00:30:33.520 the mayor of Elmer
00:30:34.920 which I imagine
00:30:35.660 is not a hugely
00:30:36.320 powerful role
00:30:37.180 but the mayor of Elmer
00:30:38.440 declared a state
00:30:39.680 of emergency
00:30:40.500 by talking about
00:30:41.980 the things
00:30:42.520 that could happen
00:30:43.800 the things
00:30:44.840 that could happen
00:30:45.940 if this event
00:30:47.320 were to proceed.
00:30:48.380 Now to be clear
00:30:48.920 she didn't try
00:30:49.880 to censor the event
00:30:51.120 but she said
00:30:52.600 that there was
00:30:53.380 the potential
00:30:54.360 for unrest
00:30:55.540 and the potential
00:30:56.180 for harm
00:30:56.720 so they were
00:30:57.560 preemptively
00:30:58.320 in Elmer
00:30:58.740 declaring a state
00:30:59.800 of emergency
00:31:00.340 for something
00:31:00.880 that hasn't even
00:31:01.540 happened yet
00:31:02.100 which reminds me
00:31:03.080 of Minority Report
00:31:03.940 where the police
00:31:04.560 go after criminals
00:31:05.580 for crimes
00:31:06.760 that have not yet
00:31:07.520 taken place
00:31:08.300 but then it went
00:31:09.560 beyond that
00:31:10.380 because the town
00:31:11.920 actually sent a letter
00:31:13.240 to Ontario's government
00:31:14.740 to the Ontario
00:31:15.400 Solicitor General
00:31:16.400 asking for them
00:31:18.100 to make a change
00:31:19.200 to the mask mandate
00:31:20.560 to the order
00:31:21.100 to wear masks
00:31:22.000 everywhere basically
00:31:23.020 indoors
00:31:23.500 by saying that
00:31:24.920 if someone is exempt
00:31:26.120 if they have
00:31:26.780 a medical exemption
00:31:27.880 a reason they can't
00:31:28.740 wear a mask
00:31:29.280 they should have
00:31:30.460 to provide proof.
00:31:32.860 Right now
00:31:33.600 there's an understanding
00:31:34.500 that if you are exempt
00:31:35.620 from wearing a mask
00:31:36.540 maybe you're asthmatic
00:31:37.820 or have some other issue
00:31:38.960 you are able
00:31:40.520 to go in
00:31:41.100 and not follow it
00:31:42.020 because you have
00:31:42.940 a medical exemption
00:31:43.880 you don't need
00:31:44.400 to prove that
00:31:45.060 because proving
00:31:45.920 it would mean
00:31:46.380 that you have
00:31:46.920 to disclose
00:31:47.460 to some grocery
00:31:49.020 store clerk
00:31:49.820 you have a particular
00:31:51.200 medical condition
00:31:52.840 which is a violation
00:31:53.820 of your human rights
00:31:55.000 but now they're saying
00:31:56.800 no no no
00:31:57.200 the mask order
00:31:58.080 is not enforceable
00:31:59.140 if anyone can just
00:32:00.140 say they have an exemption
00:32:01.180 and we don't have
00:32:01.820 recourse
00:32:02.300 to investigate
00:32:03.700 so they want
00:32:04.820 the right
00:32:05.360 to start
00:32:06.060 questioning people
00:32:07.180 who are asthmatic
00:32:08.920 or questioning people
00:32:10.060 who have issues
00:32:11.220 that prevent them
00:32:11.960 from putting on a mask
00:32:12.980 without assistance
00:32:13.980 they want to be able
00:32:14.680 to start questioning them
00:32:15.660 and issuing fines
00:32:17.100 so Elmer is digging
00:32:19.440 its heels
00:32:19.860 and when you can
00:32:21.080 actually go around
00:32:22.140 and I don't go out
00:32:23.300 all that much lately
00:32:24.080 but you can go around
00:32:24.940 and the number of people
00:32:26.440 that I see
00:32:26.960 not wearing masks
00:32:28.200 is virtually
00:32:29.100 non-existent
00:32:30.180 in fact
00:32:30.580 I would say
00:32:31.580 you know
00:32:32.940 genuinely speaking
00:32:33.840 I cannot remember
00:32:34.720 the last time
00:32:35.460 I was in a grocery store
00:32:36.600 and saw someone
00:32:37.900 not wearing a mask
00:32:39.520 so the idea
00:32:40.440 that people are
00:32:41.040 flouting this order
00:32:42.360 in large enough numbers
00:32:43.500 that they need
00:32:44.520 this power
00:32:45.140 to start digging
00:32:45.900 into people's
00:32:46.620 medical records
00:32:48.000 is actually quite insane
00:32:49.920 and by medical records
00:32:51.100 I mean it would mean
00:32:51.720 that someone basically
00:32:52.800 had to carry around
00:32:53.680 a doctor's note
00:32:54.500 or that there had to be
00:32:55.340 some sort of
00:32:56.140 exemption card
00:32:57.280 apart from
00:32:58.160 hey I'm a free citizen
00:32:59.360 so shut your pie hole
00:33:00.540 that is really
00:33:02.380 what they seem
00:33:03.020 to be headed for here
00:33:03.920 now this was called
00:33:05.260 ridiculous
00:33:06.080 I think justifiably so
00:33:07.680 by Lisa Bildy
00:33:09.100 who's a lawyer
00:33:09.920 with the Justice Center
00:33:10.780 for Constitutional Freedoms
00:33:12.160 and actually is my lawyer
00:33:14.200 she's representing
00:33:15.180 True North and I
00:33:15.980 in our case
00:33:16.900 against the Leaders
00:33:17.560 Debates Commission
00:33:18.340 but she said
00:33:19.040 to one of our colleagues
00:33:20.740 at True North
00:33:21.360 that this is intrusive
00:33:23.060 and frankly ridiculous
00:33:24.340 she said
00:33:25.080 for one thing
00:33:25.600 the demonstration
00:33:26.160 is entirely outdoors
00:33:27.360 where masks
00:33:28.020 aren't even required
00:33:28.960 and there's very little
00:33:30.180 evidence that masks
00:33:30.980 do anything at all
00:33:31.800 beyond providing
00:33:32.840 psychological comfort
00:33:34.340 or discomfort
00:33:35.100 depending on the wearer
00:33:37.140 and it is interesting
00:33:38.460 that now
00:33:39.020 the federal government
00:33:40.480 is saying
00:33:40.900 oh you should actually
00:33:41.560 have a three layered mask
00:33:43.000 so they went from
00:33:44.220 don't wear masks
00:33:45.240 to wear one if you want
00:33:46.340 to you have to wear one
00:33:47.440 to now
00:33:48.080 it's not doing anything
00:33:48.940 you need to make sure
00:33:49.520 it has three layers
00:33:50.440 and not two layers
00:33:51.500 so at a certain point
00:33:53.220 we are going to get
00:33:53.860 to hazmat suits
00:33:54.720 we just haven't
00:33:55.340 gotten there yet
00:33:56.080 which is why
00:33:57.300 people like those
00:33:58.660 in Elmer
00:33:59.160 behind the freedom march
00:34:00.280 are standing up
00:34:01.340 and saying
00:34:01.720 you know what
00:34:02.640 I'm not exactly
00:34:03.640 comfortable
00:34:04.360 with this approach
00:34:06.380 and that's why
00:34:07.240 they want to protest
00:34:08.180 and if you are
00:34:09.600 very comfortable
00:34:10.320 with masks
00:34:10.900 you love masks
00:34:11.760 you're uncomfortable
00:34:12.380 with the freedom marchers
00:34:13.540 then your remedy
00:34:14.900 is very simple
00:34:15.760 don't go
00:34:16.640 wear a mask
00:34:18.380 protect yourself
00:34:19.460 don't go around
00:34:20.280 these people
00:34:20.900 that you don't think
00:34:22.360 are following the rules
00:34:24.000 or you will
00:34:25.000 I mean that clearly
00:34:25.660 you think aren't
00:34:26.860 don't go around them
00:34:28.220 if you're in a store
00:34:29.460 and you see someone
00:34:30.180 who has a medical mask
00:34:31.380 exemption
00:34:31.760 who's not wearing a mask
00:34:32.820 make sure you're staying
00:34:34.300 a good six feet
00:34:35.380 or even eight feet
00:34:36.160 even eight feet
00:34:36.720 just to be careful
00:34:37.560 away from them
00:34:38.640 this is the whole point
00:34:40.560 is that
00:34:41.140 there's trying
00:34:42.080 there's
00:34:42.420 they're trying to create
00:34:43.820 this problem
00:34:45.160 that just doesn't exist
00:34:47.000 but in doing so
00:34:48.040 they only want to
00:34:50.060 they only seem to
00:34:51.260 embolden
00:34:51.840 the people
00:34:53.020 that are not happy
00:34:53.960 with it
00:34:54.280 because it kind of
00:34:55.040 proves their point
00:34:55.800 which is that
00:34:56.280 governments
00:34:56.680 keep wanting to
00:34:57.640 push that line
00:34:58.460 and expand their power
00:34:59.540 further and further
00:35:00.960 and then here we are
00:35:01.920 in any case
00:35:02.700 that event is coming up
00:35:03.560 tomorrow in Elmer
00:35:04.380 don't know how many
00:35:04.980 people are going to be there
00:35:05.780 but certainly I think
00:35:07.020 that the conduct
00:35:07.840 by the town of Elmer
00:35:08.920 will probably boost
00:35:09.900 attendance more
00:35:10.740 than anything
00:35:11.500 the organizers
00:35:12.220 could have done
00:35:12.940 on their own
00:35:13.860 we've got to wrap
00:35:14.840 things up
00:35:15.220 my thanks to all of you
00:35:16.400 for tuning into
00:35:17.400 the show today
00:35:18.000 hope you have a great weekend
00:35:19.380 we will talk to you
00:35:20.240 on Monday
00:35:20.820 thank you
00:35:21.480 God bless
00:35:22.040 and good day Canada
00:35:22.980 thanks for listening
00:35:23.980 to the Andrew Lawton Show
00:35:25.180 support the program
00:35:26.220 by donating to
00:35:27.020 True North
00:35:27.460 at www.tnc.news