00:00:00.000After I found out that Ruby Dalla learned about her disqualification from running for Liberal Party leader, I knew I had to reach out to her.
00:00:12.780So on a whim, I sent her a message and was pleasantly surprised that she agreed to this non-traditional media request.
00:00:20.760Here's my conversation with Ruby Dalla.
00:00:23.640Ruby, thank you so much for joining me.
00:00:25.420This is the first time a Liberal politician was even willing to actually answer a question from a non-traditional media person.
00:00:33.180And so I just want to start by asking a question for those that may not know you.
00:00:38.440What is your political background and why did you decide to run for the Liberal Party leader position?
00:00:44.200Well, my name is Ruby Dalla and I was running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada and to become Canada's next Prime Minister.
00:00:52.300I believe I had the experience, the insight as a doctor about the crisis of our health care system.
00:00:59.520As a businesswoman, I knew about the challenges that entrepreneurs and businesses in our country face with the overburdening of tax.
00:01:06.800I have been a three-time elected Member of Parliament.
00:01:11.100And most importantly, I just have been living in the real world for the last 10 years and I had my ear to the ground as to the many challenges that Canadians are facing and the type of leadership that they are looking for, which is to have a leader who is going to stand up for them and fight for our country.
00:01:28.940And what do you think of the last decade under the Trudeau government slash shadow Kearney government and what they've done to this country?
00:01:38.860What do you think Canadians think about that?
00:01:41.040Well, I think that Canadians are actually living it.
00:01:43.260And the reality is, is that there are way too many Canadians that are struggling.
00:01:47.640We take a look at, you know, the cost of homes.
00:01:50.360There are Canadians in our country because of these high prices that are unable to put a roof over their head.
00:02:11.700They don't have very much money in their pockets because they've been overburdened.
00:02:15.680That is why in the leadership race, I spoke about progressive policy ideas, which would meet the meat of the hour.
00:02:23.000I talked about having a review of our taxation system to create value for tax so that life could be more affordable for Canadians and Canadian families.
00:02:33.100I talked about initiatives of toughening up on crime, you know, our crime legislation that we have, of bail reform, of ensuring that we actually start reducing the crime in our country so people start to feel safer.
00:02:44.500I talked about issues of affordability, of how to make, you know, life more affordable for Canadians who are working so hard.
00:02:51.560And also about ensuring that we start ensuring that Canada has a greater role in the world.
00:02:57.860And I think that it was these progressive ideas, you know, that our campaign gained so much momentum from so many people across Canada.
00:03:05.360And so I've noticed, what or any roadblocks have you met from the Liberal Party as running for Liberal leader?
00:03:49.060I went into the race with, you know, hundreds of thousands of followers just on my Instagram alone.
00:03:54.600And that's why we started to utilize our digital media to really get our word out of what our policies were.
00:04:01.960Because I don't believe that anyone running for any type of leadership position in any party should ever be denied access or the ability to speak to its members.
00:04:12.640And, you know, in the two weekends that town halls were held, we had over a thousand people just join these town hall meetings.
00:04:20.680We took a look at my Instagram page alone.
00:04:23.840You know, in the last 30 days, we've had 4.7 million people engage with us.
00:04:28.440Just on Twitter last night alone, we had over 1.5 million people, you know, engaging.
00:04:33.720So I started to use alternative means to reach out to the Liberals because even though they were people that were trying to stop me in the establishment from connecting and communicating with people who are registered voters, we found, you know, more innovative ways to reach out.
00:04:49.060And that's why the momentum in our campaign continued to grow.
00:04:52.760It sounds like you've been really successful at doing that.
00:05:32.600We've seen a lot of struggle and a lot of challenge in our life.
00:05:35.900And I believe those struggles and those sacrifices and that challenge that we, you know, have lived through as a family are many of the same challenges that so many Canadians are actually facing.
00:05:45.400And because I had my ear to the ground over the last 10 years, I actually spoke about policies and put forward a platform which many people actually identified with and said, you know what, we need this now.
00:06:09.360So a lot of people saw, you know, their struggle, their sacrifice and their journey in life, you know, through through my lens.
00:06:16.380And I just have the ability to connect with people.
00:06:18.800And that's why we were building this momentum, you know, that I've shared with you.
00:06:22.960But I think that would be the biggest differentiating factor between myself and the individual that you mentioned.
00:06:30.000It sounds like you really have your hand on the pulse of what's happening in Canada and the problems Canadians are facing.
00:06:37.380And I wanted to ask, do you think that's the reason the so-called establishment is trying to prevent you from succeeding in this leadership race?
00:06:46.000And now that they've put up this roadblock of disqualification, apparently?
00:06:50.640Well, I don't know if there is a there's room in the Liberal Party of Canada anymore for a strong, you know, smart, successful woman, because they did this to Jody Wilson-Raybeau.
00:07:05.260We have the prime minister, you know, standing up on stage saying that the, you know, preaching to the Americans that they should have elected, you know, Kamala Harris.
00:07:13.620And it would have been time for a woman to lead America.
00:07:18.000Well, how about having a woman lead Canada?
00:07:21.860How about having a female prime minister in Canada and the female prime minister who is a woman of color in Canada and that as the leader for the Liberal Party of Canada?
00:07:33.140So I think that it's very easy to preach all of this, but to actually put it into action are two different things.
00:07:41.000I didn't even receive a phone call from, you know, Mr. Trudeau, you know, sharing of the fact that this was a historic candidacy.
00:07:48.260My entry into the leadership race, you know, was historic.
00:07:51.120I was the first, you know, female immigrant, you know, to come from an immigrant family, to come from a multicultural community and the first woman of color who was running for the leadership race.
00:08:01.080So the fact that the Liberal Party can go and turn around, you know, and do this to not only myself, they did it to Mr. Aria, you know, a few weeks ago.
00:08:10.780So I think it just speaks to everyone just questioning, you know, is the Liberal Party really liberal and how inclusive are they when they keep on kicking out women, keep on kicking out the, you know, immigrants and people from multicultural communities and also kicking out people who are trying to bring forth policy ideas, which are the need of the hour.
00:08:33.240So I think that they wanted to complete the coronation of Mark Carney.
00:08:38.760They did not want to have Ruby Della on that debate stage or on that ballot.
00:08:42.740And ultimately, they were denied, not Ruby Della, but they denied the thousands of people that were supporting me and wanted to vote for a Liberal Party that would be brought back to the centre.
00:08:53.920And most importantly, a party where all the membership and the grassroots would actually have a voice.
00:08:58.900Yeah, you know, the Liberals and Trudeau, the Trudeau-Carney Alliance, they do claim to care about minorities, people of colour, women.
00:09:09.840Trudeau has said multiple times that he's a feminist.
00:09:13.120What do you make of them pushing out two candidates that are candidates of colour and a woman like yourself?
00:09:20.600Do you think they actually believe the things that they say when they say they care about women, minorities, etc.?
00:09:26.180Or do you think that's just their talking points to shield themselves from any criticism?
00:09:31.300I think it's very easy to talk the talk, but I think that Canadians are much smarter than that.
00:09:36.280They're no longer looking, you know, for political slogans or this type of rhetoric.
00:09:41.980Actions always speak louder than words.
00:09:43.960And I can tell you, you know, from my experience of this particular leadership campaign, that that is certainly not the case.
00:09:51.780The establishment continues to want, you know, their white, blue-eyed boys to continue to get elected.
00:09:57.460And I wonder and I hope that they don't do this to Christia Freeland next, because you just never ever know what's down the pipeline with the establishment.
00:10:05.840But anyone who questions the establishment or comes out with progressive ideas or wants to return the party back into the hands of the membership, you know, the establishment clearly doesn't want that.
00:10:17.040It does seem these actions from the Liberal Party, for example, I saw that on your X feed that you said that there is possibly the chance of them not returning the payment that's required to enter the leadership race.
00:10:51.420They made contributions into the campaign because they believed in the vision that I had.
00:10:56.640They believed in the mission and my policies and my platform about wanting to bring change, about wanting to make life more affordable, about ensuring that we reduce crime in our country.
00:11:07.560They believed in all of those, you know, platform initiatives.
00:11:18.540A few hours later, after the $350,000 had been deposited, we received a letter stating that the Liberal Party wanted to have a meeting, you know, in regards to certain issues.
00:11:32.080So it was quite interesting that this meeting only came about after the $350,000 was given.
00:11:38.320But I know that I speak for hundreds of volunteers who contributed to my campaign, you know, who have stated that they were not doing this to have the coffers and the piggy banks of the Liberal Party full, you know, with this $350,000 donation.
00:11:55.200So I think the party needs to do the right thing.
00:11:57.280They need to do the honorable thing and have that $350,000 returned to all of the hardworking Canadians who contributed.
00:12:15.860Shockingly and surprisingly that the government funded CBC was the first people, you know, to be made aware of what the decision of the Liberal Party was.
00:12:28.280I personally requested to not have this leaked to the media until they had first informed myself and to not be extended.
00:12:40.060Even that type of common courtesy, I think is very, very, you know, not only unfortunate, to be honest, it's just disgusting, you know, to that type of, you know, humiliation for someone who's running for the leadership of your party.
00:12:54.340Someone who signed up almost 100,000 members, you know, within the party to have that type of treatment.
00:13:00.640And that to me just speaks of something that is not only unprofessional, but it really speaks to the fact that I believe in the Liberal Party.
00:13:08.760They have not welcomed, you know, those who are from multicultural communities, they've not welcomed women.
00:13:15.400But most importantly, they are not welcome to have anyone in the party who is questioning the establishment, who wants to bring change.
00:13:24.160And the political party can no, you know, the Liberal Party of Canada can no longer operate in, you know, a five-person cabal or a fiefdom.
00:13:35.720And that was the voice that I was bringing to the table was a party of the people.
00:13:40.580I did not enter that leadership race to look for a job.
00:13:43.940I entered the leadership race to be a very strong voice, to push the envelope.
00:13:49.400In an election campaign, to me, it's all about discussion and debate.
00:13:52.820And if you're not putting forward your ideas or you keep on talking about the same old, what is the point of having, you know, a leadership contest or an election campaign?
00:14:02.000But I was on a live interview with CBC.
00:14:06.300And while I had just started the interview and the anchor says, oh, I just received an email from the national director of the Liberal Party of Canada.
00:14:16.240And this individual actually read out to me the announcement that the Liberal Party had put out.
00:14:33.620It doesn't sound like democracy to me at all.
00:14:35.840For people who preach that this is a threat to our democracy and some other inane issue is a threat to our democracy, it sounds like they're being huge hypocrites there because this feels extremely anti-democratic to push out leaders like that and to bar them out from the liberal leadership debates.
00:14:56.520Thank you so much for your time, Ruby.
00:14:58.500Just a few quick, lighthearted questions at the end here.
00:15:02.620I noticed that your meme game is really strong.
00:15:05.800The latest one that I saw was when you posted a video that says, who is Mark Carney?
00:15:24.620And, you know, we're talking about very serious issues, putting forward very serious, you know, policy ideas, because when you're going to leave the country, it requires that level of seriousness.
00:15:34.340But it's also important in life to have, you know, a sense of humor and have some fun.
00:15:38.400And I think that the memes are an opportunity for everyone because we all need to have a good laugh once in a while in life.
00:15:53.360Would you ever consider crossing the floor and running as a conservative?
00:15:57.240Right now, I'm in the process of, you know, doing an appeal for the decision that has been made by the Liberal Party.
00:16:03.280My phone has been ringing off the hook from thousands of volunteers across the country who are just really, you know, distraught and very upset and actually furious for the Liberal Party that they would have the audacity to, for the second time, to kick out, you know, someone from a cultural community.
00:16:18.960And also to continue to continue to make it a habit to start kicking out women and Christia Freeland wondering if she's going to be next, because with the party, you just never, ever know.
00:16:27.680So for them to have this type of audacity, it's really unacceptable.