Juno News - Recall and WEcall

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

00:00:13.000 Coming up, the Alberta government is letting voters fire politicians, We Charity reminds us why it's a good idea, and do pro-lifers have a place in the Conservative Party of Canada?

00:00:25.000 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:30.000 Welcome everyone to Canada's most irreverent talk show, this is the Andrew Lawton Show on True North, my great pleasure to have you aboard, and if you don't like the show and you are listening from the province of Alberta, well you can actually get me turfed as the show host before the show is up.

00:00:46.620 I think that is the practical implication on podcast of the new Recall Act, tabled this week by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his Justice Minister, more specifically Casey Maddu, the bill would do what we've talked about in the past.

00:01:00.720 It would allow voters in Alberta to fire their MLAs, city councillors and mayors and reeves, and even school board officials between elections if they feel that they are not up to the job at hand, if they feel they are underperforming in their public duties.

00:01:16.340 This has been a big grassroots democratic initiative that a lot of people have pushed for going back years in Alberta, I think as far back as the 30s, it was a big push by the Reform Party, but has never really materialized in the modern political era.

00:01:31.340 In fact, in Canada, it's just in British Columbia, after whose recall policy Alberta has modelled this one, which was a UCP and Jason Kenney campaign promise in the 2019 election.

00:01:43.760 Here's a bit of an announcement from Premier Jason Kenney.

00:01:46.440 Alberta's government has kept its word introducing a recall law in Alberta's legislature.

00:01:51.460 That's a commitment we gave to Albertans in the last election, to be able to hold their elected representatives in this legislature to account.

00:01:59.480 And that means, through recall, that if enough constituents sign a recall petition, they can force a by-election if their representative has completely lost their confidence.

00:02:11.860 We are fortunate to live in this great democracy, but we can always make it better, and we can always improve accountability.

00:02:20.400 Recall does just that.

00:02:22.320 Alberta last had a recall law in the 1930s, and a lot of different parties and politicians have talked about it since then, but no one's actually done it.

00:02:31.860 I'm proud that Alberta's government has introduced the recall law into the legislature after having consulted with Albertans about the right details in that law.

00:02:40.880 It'll be debated, and we hope passed later this month, certainly in this spring, and giving Albertans more power to hold their elected representatives to account.

00:02:51.600 Another promise made, and another promise kept.

00:02:56.840 What Kenny says there, basically, is that the taxpayers and the voters are the driving force in democracy, and all elected officials need to be accountable to them.

00:03:06.860 Now, in the past, I'm going to be perfectly candid. I've had mixed feelings on recall.

00:03:12.240 I've always had the view that elections themselves are the recalls.

00:03:17.060 But at the same time, I also think that there is an argument in favor of a mechanism that allows people to deal with politicians directly,

00:03:25.360 not because they have a better alternative, but because they think that individual MLA or counselor is not fulfilling their duties.

00:03:32.100 So how it's going to work if this bill passes, as is planned, for MLAs is different than how it will work for counselors.

00:03:38.680 I'm going to focus more on the MLA portion of it here.

00:03:42.660 Essentially, if you want to, as any ordinary Alberta citizen who is a constituent of, say, Jason Kenney or of Rachel Notley,

00:03:50.480 you have to be in their riding, you can apply to the chief electoral officer for a petition.

00:03:56.100 You have to give a reason for why you want to get rid of them, but the reason doesn't matter.

00:03:59.820 You could be like, I don't like the color of his hair. I don't like the tie. I don't like that thing Rachel Notley wore.

00:04:04.940 You can do whatever you want. It doesn't matter.

00:04:07.020 And then if you get 40% of the eligible voters in that riding to sign your petition, there is a recall vote.

00:04:15.600 And if you have that recall vote and a simple majority votes to recall them, they're gone.

00:04:20.760 You now have a vacancy.

00:04:22.420 Now, it sounds simple, but in actuality, it's a very difficult process.

00:04:26.160 40% of the eligible voters.

00:04:29.320 Getting 40% of the people out to vote for someone in an election is going to be hard enough.

00:04:35.320 Getting them to sign a petition between elections when a lot of people aren't paying attention to politics will be very difficult.

00:04:41.540 So this is, I guess, where it becomes complicated because a lot of people want the bar to be a lot lower,

00:04:46.880 whereas at the same time, you don't want it to become weaponized and become this thing that's used by sore losers

00:04:52.320 where anytime someone you don't like wins, you just want to go right to recall.

00:04:56.800 And actually, for that reason, there's a fairly compressed time frame here.

00:05:00.660 There's just a two-year window in a four-year term in which you could recall someone,

00:05:05.160 starting 18 months after one election and ending six months before the next election.

00:05:10.340 Again, they don't want to make it so that just right after the election, you say,

00:05:14.040 okay, I'm going right to recall.

00:05:15.300 I don't like this.

00:05:16.600 But I should know that these really come down to the questions of how and not if.

00:05:20.760 And the committee process can look at that.

00:05:23.200 They're trying to use BC as an example.

00:05:25.260 I talked about this a few weeks back with Franco Terrazzano from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation,

00:05:30.140 a big proponent of recall.

00:05:32.160 And he said that the high threshold actually lends legitimacy to it.

00:05:35.880 This is a little excerpt from my conversation earlier in the year with Franco.

00:05:39.740 You have elections.

00:05:41.280 The point of politicians being elected for terms is that voters can go and turf them

00:05:46.120 if they don't like the job they're doing.

00:05:48.100 Why do you need a stopgap?

00:05:49.800 Why do you need something between elections?

00:05:52.220 Well, I mean, of course, elections are an important accountability tool.

00:05:55.520 But the problem is that they're only once every four years.

00:05:58.320 Now, imagine if a boss was only able to hold their employees accountable every four years.

00:06:03.320 I mean, certainly you would see employees have misbehaved,

00:06:07.180 maybe not show up for work or do things of that nature, right?

00:06:10.600 And so the same thing applies here.

00:06:11.960 Because let's remember, it's the people who are the boss of politicians,

00:06:15.540 not the other way around.

00:06:16.980 Politicians aren't our boss.

00:06:18.340 We're their boss.

00:06:19.580 And as such, we deserve the right to hold them accountable,

00:06:22.140 not once every four years, not just during an election,

00:06:24.980 but all year round and every year during that mandate.

00:06:27.720 One concern that I have, I mean, we know full well the polarity and polarization of politics,

00:06:33.760 not just in the U.S., as we've seen with the events of this week,

00:06:37.240 but even in Canada, we know that there's a lot of right versus left divide all the time.

00:06:41.700 Is there a risk that recall could be a bit weaponized in a way where, you know what,

00:06:47.440 let's say you're an NDP voter, you vote NDP, you don't like that a conservative wins,

00:06:52.020 regardless of how well they do, you want to just go right to that recall process

00:06:55.700 because you don't like that they won in the first place?

00:06:58.340 Well, you know what, you bring up a really good point,

00:07:00.180 but I actually see recall legislation as doing the opposite.

00:07:03.460 I see it as a very productive way to channel frustrations into the democratic process, right?

00:07:08.880 Because right now, if we're frustrated, we have to wait four years to hold apologies accountable.

00:07:14.720 I mean, what choice do we really have?

00:07:17.120 But with recall legislation, we can take our frustrations, we can take our anger,

00:07:21.180 and we can put it into the democratic process.

00:07:23.120 And that's why I see another reason why recall legislation is so important.

00:07:27.780 And the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, of course, has called this a big win.

00:07:31.100 Franco said to True North, it's a big win for government accountability.

00:07:34.840 We always deserve the ability to hold our politicians, including councillors and mayors, accountable.

00:07:40.320 And Kenny's recall bill gives us that ability.

00:07:43.420 But in true infomercial fashion, but wait, there's more.

00:07:46.920 The day after, the Alberta government also introduced the Citizens Initiative Act,

00:07:53.260 which is similar to voter recall, except instead of focusing on politicians, it focuses on policy.

00:07:59.620 As an Alberta citizen, you could advance policy to the political process.

00:08:03.720 And that also means recall and rescinding of policy.

00:08:07.460 So if Alberta were to, in a parallel universe, put forward some carbon tax,

00:08:11.160 you could actually use recall in the form of Citizen Initiative to get rid of that,

00:08:16.100 which, by the way, is what British Columbia citizens did with HST.

00:08:20.300 And this was actually a fantastic moment in Canadian political history.

00:08:24.860 The B.C. government imposed a harmonized sales tax.

00:08:28.500 A direct referendum was held, led by Citizens Initiative,

00:08:31.800 and the result of it was the repeal of the HST, reverting back to the provincial sales tax

00:08:37.880 in conjunction with the regular federal GST.

00:08:41.560 And this is key.

00:08:42.440 It was narrow, 54.73%, but an example that it is possible.

00:08:47.140 And I guess that's why B.C. has had a bit of a roadmap effect for the Alberta government.

00:08:52.600 So the question comes down to,

00:08:54.440 should there be a mechanism to fire politicians between elections?

00:08:57.880 And if so, then you can haggle over the details about what percentage of voters and which,

00:09:02.820 and so on and so forth.

00:09:04.420 For councillors, it's significantly different.

00:09:06.880 You don't actually need a recall vote.

00:09:08.740 You just need 40% of the population of the riding,

00:09:12.560 which includes non-eligible voters,

00:09:14.500 40% of the population of the riding to sign the petition.

00:09:17.680 And if they do, the person's gone.

00:09:19.500 So if you don't like Mayor Nahedenshi,

00:09:21.800 you don't like this councillor,

00:09:23.200 you don't like that school board official,

00:09:25.060 again, it's a little bit different for school board,

00:09:26.660 but you have the ability to get rid of them

00:09:29.180 if you can rally enough support for it.

00:09:32.160 So the question comes down to,

00:09:34.260 is it punitive or is it corrective?

00:09:36.440 Does this make politicians behave more accountably

00:09:39.220 to know that this is possible?

00:09:41.180 And that to me is the game changer.

00:09:43.040 And I don't know the answer to that.

00:09:44.600 I don't know if it's made B.C. politics more accountable,

00:09:47.300 but it is a tool.

00:09:48.700 It's a tool in the democratic toolkit.

00:09:51.000 And this was something that was brought up

00:09:52.440 by the Alberta government officials yesterday,

00:09:54.920 which I think there's a lot of truth to,

00:09:56.940 that it gives voters some power over their politicians

00:10:00.140 when it is so easy for the electorate

00:10:02.500 to by and large feel somewhat helpless.

00:10:05.140 When I shared this story yesterday,

00:10:07.720 someone had said,

00:10:08.700 well, you know, this just seems like populism,

00:10:10.840 to which I say, well, can you blame them?

00:10:13.260 Can you blame them?

00:10:14.260 The reason that populism is happening,

00:10:16.360 and I don't use that in the sense

00:10:18.220 that the mainstream media likes to talk

00:10:19.640 about evil, scary populism,

00:10:21.000 but I mean populism in its pure and most genuine sense.

00:10:24.940 The reason it's coming about

00:10:26.320 is because people are finding

00:10:28.080 that there is a greater and greater divide

00:10:30.700 between the representatives of the people

00:10:33.320 and the people who are supposed to be represented.

00:10:36.760 And when there seems to be a larger and larger chasm

00:10:40.160 between the elites and the everyman,

00:10:43.000 people are going to want to reclaim that process.

00:10:46.200 So anything that does that,

00:10:48.240 I shouldn't say anything,

00:10:49.800 but things that do that are worth consideration.

00:10:52.620 And I think that the ability to recall politicians,

00:10:55.660 well, again, I have questions about it,

00:10:57.480 is coming from a very pure place,

00:10:59.380 which is demanding accountability.

00:11:01.580 And doing this would put a lot of issues,

00:11:04.440 a lot of public policy issues directly to the people.

00:11:08.160 And again, if politicians aren't representing you,

00:11:10.800 it is the voter,

00:11:11.720 it is the citizen who gets to decide

00:11:13.680 whether someone is not fulfilling their end of the bargain

00:11:17.040 as a public representative.

00:11:18.640 And because that was the concern is that,

00:11:20.340 well, if the chief electoral officer

00:11:21.640 has to issue these petitions,

00:11:23.040 do they have to decide

00:11:24.260 whether a person has good reasons?

00:11:25.820 No, all they have to do is basically say,

00:11:27.800 did you fill out the form correctly?

00:11:29.460 Are you a resident?

00:11:30.500 Great, problem solved.

00:11:32.900 Do I want this to be weaponized

00:11:34.440 by special interest groups,

00:11:36.100 by third party groups?

00:11:37.660 No.

00:11:38.300 And that's why you need to have a high threshold.

00:11:41.280 But at the same time,

00:11:42.320 if you have this as a tool,

00:11:44.040 I see it as being a big win for democracy.

00:11:46.700 So we will talk about this more

00:11:48.880 as we see the details unfold.

00:11:50.480 And again,

00:11:51.100 if you want to weigh in on this,

00:11:52.600 let me know my email,

00:11:53.560 Andrew at AndrewLawton.ca.

00:11:55.420 We've got to take a quick break

00:11:56.940 when we return more of the Andrew Lawton Show

00:11:59.020 here on True North.

00:11:59.880 You're tuned in to the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:12:09.360 Welcome back to the Andrew Lawton Show

00:12:11.480 here on True North.

00:12:12.580 We're starting a new segment.

00:12:13.580 It may not be a regular segment.

00:12:14.980 Depends how long this thing goes on.

00:12:17.840 But it is the

00:12:18.480 Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children segment.

00:12:20.860 Roll that intro. 0.94

00:12:21.580 Oh, won't somebody please think of the children?

00:12:25.840 You know what?

00:12:26.320 I don't even think I need to play this next clip.

00:12:28.640 I believe that The Simpsons has encapsulated

00:12:31.720 what Mr. Kielberger said very clearly

00:12:34.100 in front of the committee.

00:12:35.600 It was quite masterful.

00:12:37.260 In a minute and 11 seconds,

00:12:39.520 he throws a grenade

00:12:40.920 at the Liberal Party of Canada,

00:12:42.880 throws another one

00:12:43.720 at the Conservative Party of Canada,

00:12:46.000 and then he also implores everyone

00:12:48.460 to please think of the children.

00:12:50.640 The stated mandate of this committee

00:12:53.100 is to investigate pandemic spending.

00:12:56.340 Here's a simple fact.

00:12:58.900 Given a chance to do good

00:12:59.880 for 100,000 students

00:13:01.300 and other charities

00:13:02.060 during the pandemic,

00:13:03.840 we charity agreed to help.

00:13:06.620 That's what charities do.

00:13:07.680 They help where that is needed.

00:13:10.140 We didn't advise the Prime Minister

00:13:11.880 and Mr. Bono

00:13:12.640 not to recuse themselves.

00:13:14.940 We never prorogued Parliament.

00:13:16.880 We're not involved in the decision

00:13:18.760 to filibuster the committee this fall.

00:13:20.440 This is a political scandal

00:13:22.780 for the government,

00:13:24.380 not we charity.

00:13:25.740 The government hid

00:13:27.120 to find a children's charity

00:13:28.760 by letting it take the fall

00:13:30.920 for their political decisions.

00:13:33.820 And the opposition allowed them.

00:13:36.220 Not a single member of Parliament

00:13:37.860 has spoken up

00:13:38.760 for the millions of Canadian children

00:13:40.040 around the world

00:13:40.840 who benefited from this organization.

00:13:44.380 And as MPs,

00:13:45.340 of course,

00:13:46.560 you have the power

00:13:47.120 to summon

00:13:50.220 who you please.

00:13:52.020 So let me ask you

00:13:53.000 after a year of closing games,

00:13:55.060 what's been the result?

00:13:56.100 What have you accomplished?

00:13:57.240 Now, the context of this

00:13:58.740 was testimony

00:13:59.640 from Craig and Mark Kielberger

00:14:01.780 before the House of Commons

00:14:02.920 Ethics Committee.

00:14:04.020 Testimony that,

00:14:04.800 by the way,

00:14:05.200 it was like pulling teeth to get,

00:14:06.700 to actually get them to show up

00:14:07.960 with their lawyer

00:14:09.020 looking increasingly uncomfortable

00:14:10.960 beside them all.

00:14:12.380 And I guess we charity thought

00:14:13.920 that its previous course of action

00:14:15.400 to just plead ignorance

00:14:16.760 and say,

00:14:17.340 oh, there's nothing wrong

00:14:17.980 with what we were doing

00:14:18.640 wasn't working.

00:14:19.540 They needed to provide a suspect.

00:14:21.420 They didn't want it to be them.

00:14:22.460 So they offered up

00:14:23.420 Justin Trudeau and the Liberals,

00:14:24.900 as you heard there.

00:14:25.820 And quite masterfully,

00:14:26.800 even if I think that

00:14:27.740 both the Liberals and we

00:14:29.020 are suspects and culprits in this,

00:14:31.820 I think that

00:14:32.640 if they are just throwing grenades

00:14:34.060 at each other,

00:14:34.820 it ends up working out

00:14:36.140 very well for Canadians

00:14:37.180 who never should have had

00:14:38.160 to deal with this malignant alliance

00:14:39.900 between the Trudeau apparatus

00:14:41.900 and we charity,

00:14:43.460 which despite their claims

00:14:45.060 is more in the business

00:14:46.300 of helping itself

00:14:47.260 than helping children.

00:14:49.060 So at the same time,

00:14:50.140 you look at this unfold

00:14:51.600 and there's some truth to it.

00:14:53.440 Justin Trudeau did scapegoat we.

00:14:55.220 He was called

00:14:56.100 and instead he decided

00:14:57.300 to just put we out front and center

00:14:58.920 and claim that the Liberals

00:15:00.520 had nothing to do with it.

00:15:02.000 We itself has done that.

00:15:03.160 Oh, we didn't have any correspondence

00:15:04.680 with the Prime Minister's office.

00:15:06.420 We didn't talk to them.

00:15:07.920 We didn't, you know,

00:15:08.940 whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

00:15:10.240 Yeah, they were even claiming

00:15:11.420 that in the meeting yesterday.

00:15:13.380 But oh, Pierre Polyev had the receipts.

00:15:16.260 What was the role exactly

00:15:17.480 of Mr. Chen, senior advisor

00:15:19.440 to the Prime Minister

00:15:21.800 in setting up this program?

00:15:26.120 I don't think he had any role.

00:15:28.980 Mr. Is that the answer

00:15:31.120 for both of you?

00:15:32.660 Yes, that's correct.

00:15:33.800 Who are you referring to, sir?

00:15:35.240 Can you remember Ben Chin?

00:15:36.520 Ben Chin.

00:15:37.320 There was no role.

00:15:38.640 Craig, no role?

00:15:39.460 No.

00:15:40.240 Not that I'm aware of.

00:15:41.740 Then why did you send him

00:15:42.940 a message on LinkedIn

00:15:44.200 on June 27th saying,

00:15:45.980 hello, Ben.

00:15:47.060 Thank you for your kindness

00:15:48.100 in helping shape our latest program

00:15:50.100 with the government.

00:15:51.320 Warmly, Craig.

00:15:52.700 Sure.

00:15:53.620 So I sent 100 messages

00:15:55.260 because I only had seven people,

00:15:57.220 eight people on LinkedIn before that.

00:15:58.560 And so that day,

00:15:59.120 100 messages went out.

00:16:00.340 My EA sent them to people

00:16:01.700 to join on LinkedIn

00:16:02.500 and he was one of them.

00:16:03.920 Yes.

00:16:04.100 I actually didn't,

00:16:05.000 but my EA did.

00:16:06.520 Craig, this is your message.

00:16:08.660 It's signed by you.

00:16:09.840 And if I could be clear,

00:16:11.040 it doesn't just say,

00:16:12.060 I wish you well.

00:16:14.120 It says, Ben,

00:16:14.800 if you choose me,

00:16:16.120 thank you for your kindness

00:16:17.720 in helping shape

00:16:19.120 our latest program

00:16:20.380 with the government.

00:16:21.660 Warmly, Craig.

00:16:23.300 You sent that.

00:16:25.180 Did you not?

00:16:26.400 Yeah, I don't dispute that

00:16:27.280 that that was sent.

00:16:29.500 Sorry, sorry.

00:16:30.480 You've got yourself

00:16:31.260 in a lot of trouble here.

00:16:32.040 You've just said a moment ago,

00:16:33.120 you thought that

00:16:34.260 the prime minister's

00:16:35.040 senior advisor,

00:16:35.820 Mr. Chen,

00:16:36.800 had no role

00:16:37.900 in the establishment

00:16:39.620 of the program.

00:16:40.320 But I have correspondence

00:16:41.460 where you thanked him

00:16:42.420 for helping shape

00:16:44.840 that very program.

00:16:47.380 So why did you thank him

00:16:48.900 for shaping the program

00:16:50.080 when now you claim

00:16:51.320 you didn't know

00:16:52.460 he played any role

00:16:53.240 in the program?

00:16:55.300 My EA wanted to personalize

00:16:57.100 and very kindly

00:16:57.740 as a great EA,

00:16:59.100 wrote a few lines

00:16:59.940 to 100 different

00:17:00.860 LinkedIn requests

00:17:01.480 that went that same day

00:17:02.340 to different people

00:17:03.000 to join my LinkedIn page.

00:17:04.360 No, but this was not

00:17:05.440 this was not a mess.

00:17:06.540 Excuse me, Craig.

00:17:07.500 Craig, you're in a lot

00:17:08.700 of trouble here, my friend.

00:17:09.760 You're under oath.

00:17:11.140 Perjury is a crime.

00:17:12.940 You excuse me.

00:17:14.400 Excuse me.

00:17:15.100 You said a moment ago

00:17:16.940 that you thought

00:17:17.600 the prime minister's

00:17:18.420 chief advisor

00:17:19.000 had no role

00:17:19.900 in establishing this program.

00:17:22.440 Your message to him

00:17:23.560 did not say

00:17:24.360 thank you for joining me

00:17:25.720 on LinkedIn.

00:17:26.900 It said,

00:17:28.020 thank you for your kindness

00:17:29.040 in helping shape

00:17:30.080 our latest program

00:17:31.140 with the government

00:17:31.980 warmly, Craig.

00:17:34.420 So, which is it?

00:17:35.480 I want to ask you

00:17:36.040 clearly.

00:17:37.860 Did you know

00:17:38.600 that Mr. Chin

00:17:39.560 was playing a role

00:17:40.320 in establishing

00:17:40.900 this program?

00:17:42.640 Yes or no?

00:17:45.380 No.

00:17:46.080 Now that exchange

00:17:46.880 you can see on

00:17:47.760 Pierre Polyev's

00:17:48.920 Twitter account

00:17:49.840 in full.

00:17:50.420 It's about five minutes long

00:17:51.420 so I didn't want to play

00:17:52.160 the entirety of it.

00:17:53.420 But again,

00:17:53.880 it shows that on one hand

00:17:55.260 they're all about schmoozing,

00:17:56.420 building these relationships,

00:17:57.700 thanking people in the PMO

00:17:59.300 for shaping the program

00:18:00.380 and then on the other hand

00:18:01.540 they're saying,

00:18:02.220 oh no,

00:18:02.460 that was just,

00:18:02.960 my assistant just sent

00:18:03.980 like a, you know,

00:18:04.660 a nice little LinkedIn invitation.

00:18:06.240 So, now I actually

00:18:07.220 have to go through

00:18:07.640 my LinkedIn invitations

00:18:08.860 and see if I've been,

00:18:10.060 you know,

00:18:10.320 thanking anyone

00:18:10.900 for helping shape

00:18:12.600 a billion dollar program.

00:18:14.520 I don't think I have,

00:18:15.680 but, you know,

00:18:16.320 one never knows.

00:18:17.520 What the conservatives

00:18:18.300 are trying to do here

00:18:19.780 by bringing the Kielbergers back 1.00

00:18:21.340 is revive the scandal

00:18:22.840 and the problem with this

00:18:24.460 from a strategic perspective

00:18:25.720 is that by and large

00:18:27.240 Canadians have moved on

00:18:28.440 and even the mainstream media

00:18:29.840 coverage of this

00:18:30.840 has been very minimal.

00:18:32.220 It's mostly been

00:18:32.860 from conservative columnists,

00:18:34.440 a couple of stories,

00:18:35.540 but it's lost the momentum

00:18:37.180 and like so many other scandals

00:18:38.920 like SNC-Lavalin,

00:18:40.280 like Trudeau and Blackface, 0.97

00:18:41.760 like We Charity,

00:18:42.660 Canadians tend to move on.

00:18:44.020 The liberals have this

00:18:44.960 Teflon-like quality about them

00:18:47.220 that tends to let them

00:18:48.760 shirk responsibility

00:18:49.720 for their actions.

00:18:51.680 So, what's going to happen

00:18:52.620 from here?

00:18:53.140 I don't know.

00:18:54.400 It's, I mean,

00:18:54.880 at a certain point

00:18:55.680 it just becomes theatrical

00:18:57.180 to keep bringing them back

00:18:58.520 and asking these questions

00:18:59.560 when we know what happened.

00:19:02.140 We absolutely know what happened.

00:19:04.200 We know that we was

00:19:05.180 influence peddling with MPs.

00:19:06.920 We know that the liberals

00:19:07.800 were cozying up

00:19:08.720 to their friends.

00:19:09.280 We know it's plain as day

00:19:11.140 in front of us.

00:19:11.880 The issue is,

00:19:12.660 do Canadians care?

00:19:14.980 And this is,

00:19:16.060 to go back to the first segment,

00:19:17.660 one of the benefits,

00:19:18.520 I think, of recall

00:19:19.520 is that if there is something

00:19:21.260 that genuinely makes people mad

00:19:23.680 and distrustful

00:19:24.840 of their politicians,

00:19:25.980 it gives them

00:19:26.880 a somewhat immediate remedy

00:19:28.680 so that you can't do

00:19:30.240 what politicians do now,

00:19:31.880 which is just hope

00:19:32.800 that people will forget about it

00:19:34.100 and move on

00:19:34.720 by the time the election rolls around.

00:19:36.280 It lets people respond

00:19:37.320 right away and say,

00:19:38.320 well, hang on,

00:19:38.960 this is not acceptable.

00:19:40.660 So, there's a lot of truth to that.

00:19:42.500 You know,

00:19:42.720 the more I talk about it,

00:19:43.660 the more firmly I become

00:19:45.000 in support of recall.

00:19:46.900 We've got to take a break.

00:19:47.900 When we come back,

00:19:48.520 more of the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:19:49.820 And by the way,

00:19:50.580 when I say we come back,

00:19:51.740 I mean you and me,

00:19:52.480 not capital W, capital E.

00:19:54.160 Hopefully,

00:19:54.760 they'll never come back.

00:19:55.920 More of the Andrew Lawton Show

00:19:56.940 up next.

00:19:57.480 Stay with me.

00:20:00.600 You're tuned in

00:20:01.760 to the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:20:10.640 Welcome back

00:20:11.480 to the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:20:13.000 Well, politics goes on

00:20:14.260 even in the course

00:20:15.140 of a pandemic.

00:20:16.420 And this weekend,

00:20:17.600 the Conservative Party of Canada

00:20:19.200 is having a virtual convention.

00:20:21.600 Normally,

00:20:22.020 these are very big to-dos,

00:20:23.880 policy conventions

00:20:24.720 that bring in people

00:20:25.540 from around the country.

00:20:26.620 They vote on various resolutions,

00:20:29.180 amendments to party policy,

00:20:30.500 and they can become battlegrounds

00:20:32.500 in a lot of cases

00:20:33.400 for what the grassroots

00:20:35.280 of the party thinks

00:20:36.620 and what they want

00:20:37.620 on certain key issues.

00:20:39.420 And one area

00:20:40.220 where we always see this unfold

00:20:42.120 is the battle

00:20:42.920 between social conservatives

00:20:44.400 and pro-life members

00:20:45.580 of the party

00:20:46.120 and oftentimes those

00:20:47.560 who don't want

00:20:48.260 those people

00:20:48.840 to have a say

00:20:49.760 in party policy.

00:20:51.700 If you look

00:20:52.080 at the convention

00:20:52.880 this weekend,

00:20:54.420 34 of 196 ideas

00:20:56.700 submitted

00:20:57.140 by the party's

00:20:58.340 riding associations

00:20:59.320 will make it

00:21:00.340 to the floor

00:21:00.820 for debate.

00:21:01.760 And none of those

00:21:02.820 are on abortion

00:21:04.220 despite a very significant effort

00:21:06.040 from pro-life groups

00:21:07.060 and individuals.

00:21:08.280 I want to talk about this

00:21:09.460 with Scott Hayward

00:21:10.580 who is the co-founder

00:21:11.480 of Right Now

00:21:12.940 and joins me on the line.

00:21:14.260 Scott,

00:21:14.500 good to talk to you again.

00:21:15.180 Thanks for coming back

00:21:16.000 on the show.

00:21:17.240 Thanks, Andrew.

00:21:17.740 It's always great

00:21:18.300 to be on your show

00:21:18.940 and thanks for the invitation.

00:21:20.500 Now, people that aren't

00:21:21.260 members of the Conservative Party

00:21:23.220 or a political party

00:21:24.300 or people who have never

00:21:25.420 participated in this process

00:21:27.240 might not know

00:21:28.300 but the party policy,

00:21:30.000 what is that?

00:21:31.360 So the party policy document

00:21:33.180 is a document

00:21:34.780 that is utilized

00:21:35.560 by most political parties

00:21:36.860 in this country

00:21:37.700 and it's more or less

00:21:38.860 the official stance

00:21:39.880 of that political party

00:21:41.180 on a variety of issues

00:21:42.360 whether it be the environment

00:21:43.600 or foreign affairs

00:21:44.660 or economy, crime,

00:21:46.280 things of this nature.

00:21:47.260 So the Conservative Party

00:21:48.140 of Canada,

00:21:48.880 like you mentioned,

00:21:49.760 is having their biannual,

00:21:51.220 so every two years,

00:21:52.540 their policy convention

00:21:53.580 coming up later this week.

00:21:55.800 And how does it differ

00:21:57.180 from the platform?

00:21:59.380 So the platform

00:22:00.460 is put together

00:22:01.520 by the leader,

00:22:02.360 by the caucus,

00:22:03.720 by party staff

00:22:05.440 as the platform

00:22:07.040 going into an election campaign

00:22:08.560 on specifically

00:22:09.820 what a political party

00:22:11.300 intends to do

00:22:12.200 should they form government

00:22:13.340 after the election.

00:22:14.480 Most political parties

00:22:15.780 will establish

00:22:16.980 their platform

00:22:17.920 based off of

00:22:19.280 the official party policy document

00:22:21.060 we just discussed

00:22:22.200 which is voted on

00:22:23.720 and proposed

00:22:24.200 by members of the party

00:22:25.400 about once every two years

00:22:26.740 by most political parties.

00:22:28.120 So what's happening

00:22:29.200 this weekend

00:22:29.820 for the Conservative Party

00:22:31.220 of Canada

00:22:31.720 and next weekend

00:22:32.540 for the Liberal Party

00:22:33.380 of Canada

00:22:33.880 is going to be informative

00:22:35.300 for both political parties

00:22:36.940 as we likely are going

00:22:38.380 into an election

00:22:39.080 sometime later this spring.

00:22:40.520 So you've answered

00:22:41.860 the next question I had

00:22:43.020 which was why this matters

00:22:44.260 so I'll skip ahead

00:22:45.300 to the question after that

00:22:46.820 which is that

00:22:47.400 why are these

00:22:48.740 such battlegrounds

00:22:50.520 and how have we seen

00:22:51.640 that battle manifest

00:22:52.560 for social conservatives

00:22:54.040 and pro-lifers

00:22:54.760 specifically

00:22:55.300 leading up to this convention?

00:22:57.820 So it's important

00:22:59.320 that various

00:23:00.520 constituents

00:23:02.180 within political parties

00:23:03.820 are able to express

00:23:04.960 their views

00:23:05.620 their values

00:23:06.280 and want to see that

00:23:07.580 reflected within

00:23:08.500 both the party platform

00:23:10.460 but also the party policy document

00:23:12.580 which of course

00:23:13.000 informs the platform.

00:23:14.280 So within the Conservative Party

00:23:15.760 of Canada

00:23:16.200 you have a variety

00:23:17.080 of different types

00:23:17.700 of conservatives.

00:23:18.520 You have

00:23:18.840 Western Canadian conservatives

00:23:21.380 who are very focused

00:23:22.360 on national resource development.

00:23:24.720 You have

00:23:25.220 democratic conservatives

00:23:26.340 who are focused

00:23:28.160 on making sure

00:23:28.920 that grassroots

00:23:29.660 are heard

00:23:30.320 regardless of variety

00:23:31.460 of views.

00:23:31.940 You have libertarians,

00:23:33.400 you have red Tories

00:23:34.360 and then you have

00:23:35.060 pro-lifers

00:23:35.720 and social conservatives

00:23:36.880 in general.

00:23:37.660 So everyone

00:23:38.640 gets to get involved

00:23:39.840 in this process

00:23:40.600 within the Conservative Party

00:23:41.660 of Canada

00:23:42.120 bringing up

00:23:43.240 different policy ideas

00:23:44.420 that are voted on

00:23:45.340 by EDA

00:23:46.440 those are

00:23:46.880 Electoral District Association

00:23:48.160 Board of Directors

00:23:49.020 there's one in each

00:23:49.960 of the 338 ridings

00:23:51.400 and then they're submitted

00:23:52.680 for the Conservative Party

00:23:53.980 of Canada

00:23:54.420 at least on a thing

00:23:55.560 called Ideas Lab

00:23:56.560 where each EDA

00:23:57.960 is allowed

00:23:58.800 25 votes

00:24:00.060 to vote amongst

00:24:00.800 the various

00:24:01.220 policy proposals.

00:24:03.520 So this time around

00:24:04.180 like you mentioned

00:24:04.800 there were 196 policy proposals

00:24:06.940 the EDA's got to vote

00:24:08.480 and then the 34

00:24:09.580 that are being voted on

00:24:11.580 and debated

00:24:12.080 later this week

00:24:13.120 were the 34 most popular

00:24:14.840 across the country.

00:24:16.280 I should say by the way

00:24:17.600 that Schoolhouse Rock

00:24:18.500 has absolutely nothing on you

00:24:20.060 and how well you can describe

00:24:21.540 and clearly articulate

00:24:22.980 these complex matters

00:24:24.780 which people may find

00:24:26.180 uninteresting

00:24:26.780 but are actually

00:24:27.380 very significant

00:24:28.180 to people

00:24:29.220 in the Conservative movement

00:24:30.260 in Canada

00:24:30.860 and I'd say

00:24:31.600 in the country

00:24:32.240 more broadly.

00:24:32.880 So let me ask you

00:24:34.520 about this

00:24:34.900 because I've seen

00:24:35.720 a lot of people

00:24:36.220 circulating stories

00:24:37.380 about the fact

00:24:38.440 that none of the

00:24:39.100 pro-life amendments

00:24:40.080 or resolutions

00:24:40.820 made it on there.

00:24:41.920 This is just because

00:24:43.160 they lost in a vote.

00:24:44.420 It's not because

00:24:44.900 there was someone

00:24:45.460 that handpicked

00:24:46.240 these resolutions

00:24:47.340 and said

00:24:47.840 we don't want that one

00:24:48.740 on the convention floor.

00:24:50.100 Correct?

00:24:51.160 That's a great question,

00:24:52.500 Andrew.

00:24:52.700 And it's something

00:24:53.080 that I've heard

00:24:53.740 and seen a lot

00:24:54.700 within the past week

00:24:55.800 or so.

00:24:57.440 You know,

00:24:57.680 that used to be

00:24:58.380 the policy process

00:25:00.120 within the Conservative

00:25:00.860 Party of Canada.

00:25:01.860 EDAs would come up

00:25:02.740 with party policies

00:25:03.800 and they would go

00:25:04.480 to a secretive

00:25:06.020 convention committee

00:25:06.840 and that committee

00:25:07.740 which was more

00:25:08.480 or less appointed

00:25:09.180 got to decide

00:25:10.620 which policies

00:25:12.160 would make it

00:25:12.660 to the convention

00:25:13.620 breakout rooms

00:25:14.380 and then of course

00:25:14.940 to the convention floor.

00:25:16.540 Over the past

00:25:17.080 number of years

00:25:17.940 within the Conservative

00:25:19.160 Party of Canada

00:25:19.940 we've seen

00:25:20.560 a devolution

00:25:21.380 toward the grassroots

00:25:24.600 within the party.

00:25:25.440 So now the process

00:25:26.700 is that EDAs

00:25:28.320 put it on

00:25:29.280 an internal website

00:25:30.680 called the Ideas Lab

00:25:31.760 and cast the vote.

00:25:32.740 So it's much more

00:25:33.900 grassroots this time around

00:25:35.040 than it was

00:25:35.580 let's say 10 years ago.

00:25:36.980 This time around

00:25:37.840 we proposed

00:25:38.580 two pro-life policies.

00:25:40.120 One was to eliminate

00:25:41.320 the only pro-abortion policy 0.78

00:25:42.880 in the Conservative Party

00:25:43.780 of Canada policy declaration

00:25:45.260 that's currently

00:25:46.320 Article 70

00:25:47.180 that says

00:25:47.740 a Conservative government

00:25:48.740 will not support

00:25:49.460 legislation

00:25:50.100 to regulate abortion.

00:25:52.700 And then we had

00:25:53.180 a second policy proposed

00:25:54.520 from the rotting

00:25:55.700 of Burlington

00:25:56.180 within the GTA

00:25:57.100 that asked

00:25:58.700 that a future

00:25:59.180 Conservative government

00:26:00.040 would seek

00:26:01.660 to introduce

00:26:02.860 and vote for

00:26:03.560 and support legislation

00:26:04.680 that would legally

00:26:05.960 restrict

00:26:06.560 sex-selective

00:26:07.940 and late-term abortions. 1.00

00:26:09.020 You know in Canada

00:26:09.720 according to recent polls

00:26:11.620 within the past

00:26:12.360 12 months or so

00:26:13.240 something like

00:26:13.960 84% of Canadians

00:26:15.220 support legal restrictions

00:26:16.860 on sex-selective abortions

00:26:18.300 and up to 70%

00:26:19.560 including 60%

00:26:20.880 in Ontario

00:26:21.460 and 67% in Quebec

00:26:22.600 support late-term

00:26:24.420 abortion restrictions

00:26:25.760 in Canada

00:26:26.440 as most of your viewers

00:26:27.580 would probably know

00:26:28.240 is one of only

00:26:29.120 two countries in the world

00:26:30.040 where there's absolutely

00:26:30.760 no law whatsoever

00:26:32.280 on abortion.

00:26:33.040 So these were the two

00:26:33.680 policies that we put forward.

00:26:35.380 They were voted on

00:26:36.040 by the EDAs.

00:26:37.280 Our initial

00:26:37.820 and these new rules

00:26:39.540 were known

00:26:40.020 months ago

00:26:40.980 by the way Andrew

00:26:41.680 like they were established

00:26:42.420 months ago

00:26:43.140 by the Convention Committee

00:26:44.460 by the National Policy Committee

00:26:46.000 and National Constitution

00:26:46.980 Committee

00:26:47.540 and National Councils.

00:26:49.360 Those three organs

00:26:50.340 all being voted on

00:26:51.340 by members of the party.

00:26:52.260 And so we knew the rules

00:26:54.020 going into Christmas.

00:26:55.360 So we knew it was going

00:26:56.020 to be tough

00:26:56.540 but we had an opportunity

00:26:58.320 and we knew

00:26:59.100 kind of what the pathway was.

00:27:00.280 So our goal was

00:27:01.220 to get 45 EDA votes

00:27:03.320 for both of those

00:27:03.960 pro-life policies

00:27:04.640 and we blew past them.

00:27:06.200 I was actually shocked

00:27:07.000 at how many votes we got.

00:27:08.040 We got 63 for delete 70

00:27:09.720 and we got around 55

00:27:11.420 for the late-term abortion one.

00:27:13.800 As a comparison,

00:27:14.820 last time in Halifax

00:27:16.060 for that convention in 2018,

00:27:17.400 we only got about

00:27:19.020 maybe 25,

00:27:20.720 I don't even think

00:27:21.220 we got up to 30

00:27:22.020 for the delete 71

00:27:23.440 and that one didn't make it

00:27:24.440 to the convention floor.

00:27:25.560 So this time

00:27:26.040 the bar was a little higher

00:27:27.080 and there was no

00:27:28.860 dirty tricks

00:27:29.900 or nasty tricks

00:27:30.860 as some other organizations say

00:27:32.540 by the political party

00:27:33.860 it was simply

00:27:34.440 that pro-lifers

00:27:35.720 have not yet

00:27:36.760 taken their rightful place

00:27:38.100 on those EDA

00:27:39.040 board of directors.

00:27:40.060 Something that we're looking

00:27:40.940 to fix

00:27:42.260 within the coming

00:27:43.540 weeks and months.

00:27:44.920 One last thing

00:27:45.360 I will say

00:27:45.780 is that there was an extreme

00:27:47.260 I would describe it

00:27:48.300 as extreme

00:27:48.700 pro-abortion policy

00:27:49.900 proposed by one of the EDAs

00:27:51.740 that made the current

00:27:52.920 pro-abortion policy

00:27:54.380 even worse

00:27:55.000 from our perspective.

00:27:56.300 That one didn't do so

00:27:57.080 hot on Ideas Lab

00:27:58.040 and only got about

00:27:58.680 10 EDA votes or so

00:28:00.180 but there were a couple

00:28:01.340 EDA boards of directors

00:28:02.780 who voted for that policy

00:28:04.620 yet their slate

00:28:06.180 of delegates

00:28:06.760 to the convention

00:28:07.520 is 100% pro-life.

00:28:09.540 So there's a big

00:28:10.180 disconnect between

00:28:11.020 those who sit

00:28:11.620 on the EDA boards

00:28:12.560 and the actual members

00:28:13.840 of the party

00:28:14.800 within that rotting

00:28:16.660 and so we're looking

00:28:17.360 for the next AGMs

00:28:19.280 within the next

00:28:19.800 12 to 8 months

00:28:20.760 or pardon me

00:28:21.500 8 to 12 months

00:28:22.220 to correct that disconnect

00:28:24.600 if you will.

00:28:25.840 You mentioned something

00:28:26.580 in there

00:28:27.040 that I found interesting

00:28:28.560 you said

00:28:28.860 they're not dirty tricks

00:28:29.900 the pro-lifers

00:28:30.700 were effectively

00:28:31.680 outmaneuvered

00:28:32.940 and I don't mean that

00:28:33.740 in a cynical way

00:28:34.620 but just they didn't

00:28:35.440 have the votes on this.

00:28:36.840 Do you feel

00:28:37.540 that there is an issue

00:28:38.760 with pro-lifers

00:28:39.800 not wanting to engage

00:28:41.300 either they don't think

00:28:42.660 it's worth it

00:28:43.260 or they're fed up

00:28:43.900 with either

00:28:44.640 the political process

00:28:45.620 or more specifically

00:28:47.000 the Conservative Party

00:28:48.000 or do you think

00:28:48.880 it is just that

00:28:49.500 they are a smaller share

00:28:50.920 of the party

00:28:51.680 than they used to be?

00:28:53.360 I don't think

00:28:54.020 we're a smaller share

00:28:54.820 of the party

00:28:55.620 I think if anything

00:28:56.440 we're actually

00:28:56.860 a growing share

00:28:57.480 of the party

00:28:57.940 if you look

00:28:58.300 at the number

00:28:58.780 of candidates

00:28:59.820 who had won

00:29:01.300 the nominations

00:29:01.980 for the 2019 election

00:29:03.700 the number

00:29:04.460 of pro-lifers

00:29:06.140 who were elected

00:29:06.780 for the Conservative Party

00:29:07.900 of Canada

00:29:08.360 amongst the new

00:29:09.540 members of Parliament

00:29:10.620 who were elected

00:29:11.200 to the House of Commons

00:29:12.180 in the last election

00:29:13.160 the last two

00:29:14.400 leadership races

00:29:15.380 Just on that point

00:29:17.220 I mean the leadership

00:29:17.840 factor is significant

00:29:19.040 both Aaron O'Toole

00:29:19.960 and Andrew Scheer

00:29:21.080 demonstrably

00:29:22.720 you can see

00:29:23.180 in the numbers

00:29:23.640 were pushed to victory

00:29:24.540 by pro-lifers

00:29:26.180 and by social conservatives

00:29:27.560 so I guess

00:29:28.040 why is that not

00:29:28.760 translating

00:29:29.340 to the policy process?

00:29:31.920 It's a good question

00:29:32.740 so as time goes on

00:29:34.500 you know

00:29:34.780 more or less

00:29:35.500 the actual

00:29:37.220 necessary work

00:29:39.300 within the political sphere

00:29:40.360 in Canada

00:29:40.820 for the pro-life movement

00:29:41.820 has more or less

00:29:43.900 been neglected

00:29:46.260 I would say

00:29:46.840 for the last

00:29:47.280 40 so years

00:29:48.140 so since we started

00:29:49.780 in 2016

00:29:51.380 just over five years ago

00:29:52.680 it's been our job

00:29:54.260 over the last five years

00:29:55.180 to get pro-lifers

00:29:56.100 more involved

00:29:56.720 in the process

00:29:57.260 because we have

00:29:57.900 the numbers

00:29:58.420 it's simply

00:29:59.200 that they're not

00:29:59.780 involved

00:30:00.360 within the process

00:30:01.340 they're not informed

00:30:02.580 and they don't know

00:30:04.080 quite know what to do

00:30:05.320 in order to make sure

00:30:06.260 that their voices

00:30:06.960 are heard

00:30:07.480 within the right structures

00:30:08.800 of for example

00:30:10.000 the Conservative Party

00:30:10.840 of Canada

00:30:11.300 and eventually

00:30:11.960 as we grow

00:30:12.520 within other

00:30:13.060 political parties

00:30:13.780 as well

00:30:14.220 so you know

00:30:15.860 like I said

00:30:16.360 last time around

00:30:17.120 we only had about

00:30:17.940 25 or 30 EDA votes

00:30:19.740 for our pro-life policies

00:30:20.760 this time

00:30:21.500 we more than doubled it

00:30:22.420 in some cases tripled

00:30:23.400 still quite isn't enough

00:30:24.960 we know which EDAs

00:30:26.440 where we need to

00:30:27.480 get pro-lifers

00:30:28.540 to make sure

00:30:29.100 that they are

00:30:29.600 properly represented

00:30:30.780 on those board of directors

00:30:31.900 and we're finding that

00:30:33.060 through this process

00:30:33.840 because

00:30:34.400 for our organization

00:30:36.720 and I might as well

00:30:37.340 just tell you now

00:30:38.060 because it's already

00:30:39.040 baked in

00:30:39.580 there's about

00:30:40.600 4,000 delegates

00:30:41.560 that are attending

00:30:42.040 this convention

00:30:42.680 and from our analysis

00:30:44.680 within our database

00:30:45.580 about one out of

00:30:46.720 every four of those delegates

00:30:48.020 comes from our

00:30:49.180 right now database

00:30:50.420 that's a huge

00:30:51.600 huge number

00:30:52.300 right off the bat

00:30:53.300 we have 25%

00:30:54.480 of the delegates

00:30:55.060 being from right now

00:30:56.860 and there are other

00:30:57.360 pro-life organizations

00:30:58.320 that are getting delegates

00:30:59.260 there

00:30:59.500 there are people

00:31:00.380 within the party

00:31:01.040 who are attending

00:31:01.640 the convention

00:31:02.180 who might not be

00:31:02.880 in any of the databases

00:31:03.820 or just naturally pro-life

00:31:05.160 so I would say

00:31:06.080 like in terms of

00:31:07.100 the delegates

00:31:07.560 at this convention

00:31:08.280 probably well over half

00:31:09.880 right across the country

00:31:10.820 are somewhere

00:31:12.240 on the pro-life spectrum

00:31:13.360 so it's just a matter

00:31:14.500 of we keep going forward

00:31:15.700 we keep informing

00:31:16.680 pro-lifers

00:31:17.200 of what they need to do

00:31:18.000 and to be frank

00:31:18.700 they're starting to step up

00:31:20.160 a lot of pro-lifers

00:31:21.100 have told me

00:31:21.720 delegates saying

00:31:22.740 you know

00:31:23.340 who's

00:31:24.200 what's this EDA

00:31:25.040 you know

00:31:25.380 what's this policy committee

00:31:26.400 and how can I be a part of it

00:31:27.960 and how can my friends

00:31:28.740 be a part of it

00:31:29.460 and that's really great

00:31:30.460 so the next 8 to 12 months

00:31:31.640 are going to be really exciting

00:31:32.660 for us

00:31:33.120 in the pro-life movement

00:31:33.840 as we take

00:31:34.520 that next step

00:31:35.560 as we mature

00:31:36.240 within the Conservative Party

00:31:37.800 of Canada

00:31:38.260 and take our rightful place

00:31:39.940 now I know

00:31:40.580 every virtual event

00:31:41.580 is a bit wacky

00:31:42.780 in how it's formatted

00:31:43.920 but is there going to be

00:31:44.580 an opportunity

00:31:45.100 for emotions

00:31:46.580 from the floor

00:31:47.460 at this convention

00:31:48.400 as there have been

00:31:49.200 at in-person conventions

00:31:50.220 in the past

00:31:50.840 well since the formation

00:31:52.940 of the Conservative Party

00:31:53.900 of Canada

00:31:54.420 which was an amalgamation

00:31:55.840 between of course

00:31:56.560 the Canadian Alliance

00:31:57.440 and the Progressive Conservative Party

00:31:58.740 of Canada

00:31:59.240 within the Constitution

00:32:00.440 there is no opportunity

00:32:01.620 for emotions

00:32:02.160 from the floor

00:32:02.820 that used to be something

00:32:04.480 that used to be

00:32:04.980 within the Reform Party

00:32:06.100 I can't remember

00:32:06.760 if it was in the Canadian Alliance

00:32:07.980 or not

00:32:08.280 yeah and it's big in the Ontario PC Party too

00:32:10.620 I know

00:32:10.980 yeah yeah

00:32:12.480 so within the Federal Party

00:32:13.680 that has never been

00:32:14.700 something that's been allowed

00:32:15.840 to be frank

00:32:17.300 I think it's reasonable

00:32:18.260 because

00:32:18.860 the process

00:32:20.200 to get to convention

00:32:21.360 whether it be

00:32:21.780 constitutional amendments

00:32:22.880 or National Council candidates

00:32:24.260 or even

00:32:25.240 policy proposals

00:32:27.020 is relatively grassroots

00:32:28.840 within the Conservative Party

00:32:30.020 of Canada

00:32:30.460 so I think it's reasonable

00:32:31.380 that once you get to convention

00:32:32.800 you focus on the things

00:32:34.340 that actually made it

00:32:35.260 to convention

00:32:35.780 because otherwise

00:32:37.800 you know

00:32:38.240 you can have all kinds

00:32:39.380 of motions or whatever

00:32:40.180 and it's going to take

00:32:40.980 a really long time

00:32:41.640 to get through everything

00:32:42.400 they have hours

00:32:43.080 and hours

00:32:43.380 and hours

00:32:43.700 of policy debate

00:32:44.500 so you know

00:32:45.820 there isn't an opportunity

00:32:47.400 within the Constitution

00:32:48.440 of the party

00:32:48.940 as it is now

00:32:49.760 for any motions

00:32:51.140 from the floor

00:32:51.760 so to speak

00:32:52.440 you know

00:32:53.120 I hear a lot

00:32:54.140 of frustration

00:32:55.120 from social conservatives

00:32:57.240 in the Conservative Party

00:32:58.400 or in Canada

00:32:59.180 more broadly

00:33:00.440 about where things are

00:33:01.840 they feel

00:33:02.240 they don't have a voice

00:33:03.140 Aaron O'Toole

00:33:03.760 a big part of his leadership

00:33:05.380 was that he personally

00:33:06.700 isn't a social conservative

00:33:07.840 he's personally pro-choice

00:33:09.100 but he wants to listen

00:33:10.480 to pro-life voices

00:33:12.500 do you think there is reason

00:33:13.680 for social conservatives

00:33:15.140 in the conservative movement

00:33:16.560 to be optimistic right now?

00:33:18.720 well it's an interesting question

00:33:20.240 and I know

00:33:20.640 a lot of people

00:33:21.340 a lot of pro-lifers

00:33:22.640 were upset

00:33:23.060 over the Derek Sloan expulsion

00:33:24.700 and I think that

00:33:25.500 there's legitimate questions

00:33:27.200 about you know

00:33:27.940 $131 being donated

00:33:30.120 to his leadership campaign

00:33:31.180 when he was raising

00:33:32.160 hundreds of thousands

00:33:32.900 not millions

00:33:33.560 from a racist

00:33:34.580 under a different name

00:33:35.460 I think that's a very

00:33:36.140 spurious charge

00:33:37.300 and a very spurious reason

00:33:38.400 to eject a member

00:33:39.840 of caucus from caucus

00:33:41.500 but that being said

00:33:42.920 you know

00:33:44.120 Aaron O'Toole

00:33:44.780 when he spoke to

00:33:45.760 our organization

00:33:46.640 during the leadership race

00:33:47.740 he was very clear

00:33:48.820 like he said

00:33:49.300 on his personal stances

00:33:50.640 but he also did

00:33:51.860 you know

00:33:52.980 offer pro-lifers

00:33:54.700 a couple different things

00:33:55.980 number one

00:33:56.500 he said

00:33:56.960 free votes

00:33:57.660 within the House of Commons

00:33:58.600 on our issues

00:33:59.260 something that has been

00:34:00.540 a long-standing tradition

00:34:01.640 within the Conservative Party

00:34:02.780 of Canada

00:34:03.220 and something by the way

00:34:04.260 that the Peter McKay campaign

00:34:05.840 leadership campaign

00:34:06.840 was not promising

00:34:07.640 and then

00:34:08.080 changed their minds on

00:34:09.620 number two

00:34:10.800 it was that he would

00:34:11.820 fight tooth and nail

00:34:12.760 against the expansion

00:34:14.220 of assisted suicide

00:34:15.100 and I think we've seen that

00:34:16.220 Aaron personally

00:34:17.260 has spoken about it

00:34:18.420 numerous times

00:34:20.020 specifically from

00:34:21.040 a personal perspective

00:34:22.420 regarding his own mother

00:34:24.200 going through something

00:34:25.060 similar when she was

00:34:26.220 sadly dying of cancer

00:34:28.080 when he was a young boy

00:34:29.460 he spoke about

00:34:30.620 in the House of Commons

00:34:31.280 recently this past autumn

00:34:32.500 against the expansion

00:34:33.440 of assisted suicide

00:34:34.620 and when the finalized

00:34:36.180 version of the bill

00:34:36.840 came forward to the House

00:34:37.780 last week

00:34:38.300 we saw that

00:34:39.400 every single member

00:34:40.300 of the Conservative caucus

00:34:41.300 who was present

00:34:42.040 voted against

00:34:43.400 that legislation

00:34:44.800 so you know

00:34:46.080 under Aaron's leadership

00:34:47.720 we have seen pro-lifers

00:34:48.880 be able to maneuver

00:34:49.840 on a couple of things

00:34:50.500 Kathy Wackenthal

00:34:51.360 she has her

00:34:52.400 sex-selective abortion bill

00:34:53.940 private members bill

00:34:54.780 coming forward to the House

00:34:55.960 in about a month's time

00:34:57.300 hopefully sooner rather than later

00:34:59.060 it'll have a second reading

00:35:00.140 vote in the House of Commons

00:35:01.320 and then the third thing

00:35:02.320 he promised

00:35:03.000 or at least indicated

00:35:04.840 that he would do

00:35:05.420 within our interview

00:35:06.240 during the leadership race

00:35:07.200 which is available

00:35:07.760 on our website

00:35:08.380 is that

00:35:09.460 he would campaign

00:35:11.100 against

00:35:11.900 funding of abortion

00:35:14.020 overseas

00:35:14.540 now that has yet

00:35:15.540 to come to pass

00:35:16.200 because there hasn't

00:35:16.660 been an election yet

00:35:17.440 so I think we have

00:35:18.700 to give Aaron Toole

00:35:19.480 some time

00:35:20.680 to see what he will do

00:35:22.640 and not do

00:35:23.320 but on the things

00:35:24.480 that he did say

00:35:25.220 that he would do

00:35:25.840 so far

00:35:26.260 he has been able to do it

00:35:27.380 and of course

00:35:28.260 Aaron O'Toole

00:35:28.800 is one of 338

00:35:30.240 members of Parliament

00:35:30.920 we have 337

00:35:32.200 ratings we have to focus on

00:35:33.600 we have a number

00:35:34.900 of pro-life members

00:35:35.640 of Parliament

00:35:36.040 who will be running

00:35:36.580 for re-election

00:35:37.220 and we have to focus

00:35:38.540 to make sure

00:35:39.160 that we get them re-elected

00:35:40.380 so if pro-lifers

00:35:41.200 out there

00:35:41.580 are kind of disappointed

00:35:42.480 or disillusioned

00:35:43.540 with Aaron O'Toole

00:35:44.480 you know

00:35:45.160 only the people

00:35:46.180 who live in the

00:35:46.780 rotting of Durham

00:35:47.320 can vote for

00:35:48.180 against Aaron O'Toole

00:35:49.160 we have other

00:35:50.700 pro-lifers

00:35:51.400 that we have to make sure

00:35:52.460 that they get elected

00:35:53.460 to the House of Commons

00:35:54.480 in this upcoming election

00:35:56.180 and that's what our goal

00:35:57.160 is going to be

00:35:57.560 going forward

00:35:58.220 co-founder of

00:35:59.440 Right Now

00:36:00.340 Scott Hayward

00:36:01.140 Scott always a pleasure

00:36:01.960 thanks for coming on today

00:36:02.980 thanks Andrew

00:36:04.180 much appreciated

00:36:04.940 it's actually

00:36:06.400 somewhat funny

00:36:07.260 I gotta point out

00:36:07.940 just before we

00:36:08.660 wrap things up

00:36:09.640 this story

00:36:10.140 Global News

00:36:10.920 had this like

00:36:11.540 bombshell exclusive

00:36:12.760 that Ontario MPP

00:36:15.000 Sam Oosterhoff

00:36:15.920 is pro-life

00:36:17.120 I know

00:36:18.180 this is like

00:36:19.120 a Pulitzer winning report

00:36:20.600 from Global News

00:36:22.180 so the story was

00:36:23.700 that Sam Oosterhoff

00:36:24.720 is apparently

00:36:25.240 affiliating himself

00:36:26.280 with a group

00:36:26.780 that compares abortion

00:36:27.800 to Holocaust 0.59

00:36:28.900 and what they mean

00:36:29.960 is that he's speaking

00:36:31.000 at a pro-life

00:36:32.240 campus event

00:36:33.060 and one of the groups

00:36:34.580 involved in putting

00:36:35.280 together the event

00:36:36.020 had at one point

00:36:36.740 tweeted a comparison

00:36:37.620 between abortion

00:36:39.080 which has claimed

00:36:39.980 millions of lives

00:36:40.840 and the Holocaust

00:36:41.800 now I mean

00:36:42.660 whether you like

00:36:43.760 or appreciate

00:36:44.260 or respect

00:36:44.780 those comparisons

00:36:45.540 or not

00:36:46.360 he is speaking

00:36:47.840 at a pro-life event

00:36:49.020 hosted by a pro-life group

00:36:50.640 and Global News

00:36:51.880 takes 800 words

00:36:52.940 to basically say

00:36:53.860 pro-lifers bad

00:36:55.240 Sam Oosterhoff

00:36:56.420 pro-life

00:36:57.100 and I was reading this

00:36:58.740 and I'm like

00:36:59.100 I'm failing to see

00:37:00.520 the story here

00:37:01.380 but this is the media culture

00:37:02.920 and this is why

00:37:04.100 to Scott Hayward's point

00:37:05.340 changing the culture

00:37:07.040 focusing on local candidates

00:37:08.740 focusing on individual MPs

00:37:10.420 has been I think

00:37:11.940 an important task

00:37:12.800 of the pro-life movement

00:37:13.820 and one in which

00:37:14.900 they have a lot more victories

00:37:15.960 than just trying to

00:37:16.880 get the media on side

00:37:18.700 which clearly isn't

00:37:19.760 going to happen

00:37:20.220 in any case

00:37:21.120 my thanks again

00:37:21.700 to Scott Hayward

00:37:22.480 from Right Now

00:37:23.360 and all of you

00:37:24.040 for tuning in

00:37:24.720 we'll be back

00:37:25.500 in just a couple of days time

00:37:27.040 with more of Canada's

00:37:28.040 most irreverent talk show

00:37:29.380 here on True North

00:37:30.380 thank you

00:37:30.860 God bless

00:37:31.380 and good day to you all

00:37:32.380 thanks for listening

00:37:33.280 to the Andrew Lawton Show

00:37:34.460 support the program

00:37:35.520 by donating to True North

00:37:36.760 at www.tnc.news

00:37:39.920 near future

00:37:40.720 or Vacav's yellow

00:37:49.180 forest

00:37:50.120 www.tnc.news.co.br

00:37:53.960 buildings

Juno News - March 16, 2021

Recall and WEcall

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