Juno News - The Andrew Lawton Show： Press Freedom Doesn't Need a License

00:00:00.000 Coming up, Justin Trudeau's government's attack on press freedom and free speech,

00:00:17.600 Bill Blair's fear-mongering to support gun control,

00:00:21.340 and Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson and I talk about the future of PPC and social conservatives in Canada.

00:00:26.640 Hey, welcome everyone to another edition, another week of episodes for The Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:41.740 You heard the man at the beginning, Canada's most irreverent talk show.

00:00:46.040 Thanks so much for tuning into the program today.

00:00:48.780 I want to just focus on a couple of things this episode because there have been a few things that have gone on,

00:00:55.620 but really a couple of big ones that I want to get through.

00:00:58.500 And to be honest, I don't even know if I'll make it to the second one that I have on my list here,

00:01:02.580 which is talking about some of the updates in the gun control plans that Justin Trudeau has,

00:01:08.600 that Bill Blair has told us a little bit more about.

00:01:11.320 And like everything else Bill Blair has told us, he seems to be promising something that we already have in law in Canada.

00:01:18.360 But we'll get to that later on.

00:01:20.080 I want to focus for the first chunk of the show here, if I can, on this idea of licensing media that now we started talking about on the last episode of the show, actually.

00:01:32.500 I was reading from the report, the one put forward by Janet Yale, the recommendations in question that we're talking about licensing all media content.

00:01:41.320 And it was very clear, all.

00:01:43.280 Now, in that report, Janet Yale said, you know, news organizations that are qualified news organizations, good journalism, all of that stuff will be exempted from it.

00:01:54.460 But lacking from that report was the definition.

00:01:58.620 And the devil, as they always say, is in the details.

00:02:02.100 And I want to share with you a story in three acts, if I can here, because the first is the clip I'm sure you've seen by now.

00:02:09.440 The initial clip of Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbo on with Evan Solomon on CTV.

00:02:15.880 And in this, he first opened the door to the government adopting this recommendation.

00:02:21.220 Because last week, when I talked about this report, it was just a recommendation.

00:02:25.700 We didn't know whether or not the government was going to adopt it.

00:02:29.440 And then this happened.

00:02:31.080 As far as the licensing is concerned, if you're a distributor of content in Canada, and obviously, you know, if you're a very small media organization, the requirement probably wouldn't be the same as if you're Facebook or Google.

00:02:46.520 So there would have to be some proportionality embedded into this.

00:02:53.640 But we would ask that they have a license.

00:02:55.820 Yes.

00:02:56.600 So that was very clear.

00:02:57.660 We would ask that they have a license.

00:03:00.020 Yes.

00:03:00.300 Now, that was on Sunday.

00:03:01.500 And by Monday, there was a fair bit of outrage online, not just from the usual chorus of critics of this government, but even from some mainstream media reporters that were saying, you know, I don't like the idea of government injecting itself even further into the idea of media.

00:03:18.480 And this is, you know, funny from the industry that's now receiving this $600 million bailout, where the government has to make the determination of what a qualified or government approved media organization is.

00:03:31.080 But there was enough outrage that the government thought it was worthwhile to walk it back.

00:03:36.180 So Minister Gilboa, outside the House of Commons the next morning, had a scrum, and he walked the comments back.

00:03:44.120 The problem that I have is that the media decided to stop there.

00:03:49.300 The media said, okay, you know, it was a bad idea, but they walked it back.

00:03:53.080 But he actually raised even more questions that haven't really been asked.

00:03:59.020 And I want to play the clip of what he said in that scrum.

00:04:02.820 And the reason I'm going to do that, and I'm sorry if it's a bit repetitive, is that I want you to hear the wording that's used to compare with something else I'm going to share later on.

00:04:13.060 This is what he said in the foyer of the House of Commons.

00:04:16.000 Let me be clear.

00:04:18.840 Our government has no intention to impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we try to regulate news content.

00:04:29.020 So what he says there, I will be clear, let me be clear, our government will not impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we regulate news content.

00:04:40.900 That was what he said.

00:04:42.240 Now, in question period, Justin Trudeau later that day said this, and I quote,

00:04:48.260 I want to be unequivocal.

00:04:50.920 We will not impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we regulate news content.

00:04:57.880 So one of them said, let me be clear.

00:05:00.280 The other said, I want to be unequivocal.

00:05:02.120 One of them said, we.

00:05:03.220 The other said, our government.

00:05:05.160 Apart from those differences, the entire line was the same.

00:05:09.760 This was a talking point.

00:05:11.540 This was a talking point.

00:05:12.780 And the reason that's important is because Minister Gilboa got up there in that same scrum that I just showed you a clip from and said later on,

00:05:21.580 I don't have the clip handy, but said later on, you know what, I did this all on my own.

00:05:27.420 No one told me because someone asked, who did you talk to?

00:05:30.480 Who told you to clarify this?

00:05:31.820 He said, no, I'm a big boy.

00:05:33.020 I did it myself.

00:05:34.360 But he was reading from prepared notes.

00:05:36.620 He was reading from paper.

00:05:37.740 Now, maybe they were his notes, but I find it funny that his line is identical to the line put forward by Justin Trudeau.

00:05:45.480 But it's very specific.

00:05:47.400 This line is very specific.

00:05:49.280 It's not, no, no, no, this is untrue.

00:05:51.360 We're not imposing licensing.

00:05:53.160 It's, we're not going to impose licensing on news content, on news organizations.

00:06:00.140 And most people in that scrum let it slide.

00:06:04.620 But the logical question, and a few people have raised this, I'm not saying no one has, is, okay, well, what do you qualify as a news organization?

00:06:12.980 And what will you do to those who don't meet that definition?

00:06:16.360 Now, to his credit, Evan Solomon did another interview with Minister Gilboa and tried to probe into this.

00:06:24.420 And I'm going to play two clips from it here, back to back, because you see how he just genuinely does not have an answer to this.

00:06:32.400 He does not have an answer.

00:06:34.020 Here, take a look.

00:06:34.860 All right.

00:06:35.140 You told me on CTV's question period that media companies will be licensed.

00:06:40.220 Many people assumed you were referring to news organization.

00:06:43.960 Who exactly?

00:06:45.340 What exactly will require a government license?

00:06:47.740 Please clarify.

00:06:48.740 Let me be crystal clear.

00:06:49.800 However, news agencies will not require licensing or registration by the government or any other agencies.

00:06:58.400 It's not on the table.

00:07:00.700 Not at all.

00:07:01.060 Okay.

00:07:01.260 Who decides what a news organization is?

00:07:05.220 Because that's the crux of it.

00:07:06.560 No, no, not at all.

00:07:07.540 And, again, the government is not in the business of deciding that.

00:07:13.540 So, we will not be asking news agencies for license or registration.

00:07:20.220 We're not doing that.

00:07:21.560 The confusion comes from the use of the term media in the report.

00:07:26.200 So, what is it?

00:07:26.740 What's your definition of media?

00:07:28.580 The important answer is not what my definition is.

00:07:32.380 But, in the report, they refer to media as anyone who produces content.

00:07:38.520 And, they say that for news agencies, there will be no licensing required.

00:07:44.980 But, what about for aggregators?

00:07:46.760 What about for opinion sites?

00:07:48.660 Listen, listen.

00:07:49.580 But, your point of view is relevant because you're the guy that has to decide what parts of the recommendations you're going to use.

00:07:54.780 So, are aggregators, which are recommended, are other sites, are content, opinion sites, are those going to be licensed?

00:08:03.200 What we're interested in is how can we continue to have good Canadian cultural content made in Canada and made available?

00:08:13.160 He can't even give an answer.

00:08:14.980 The question is very clear.

00:08:16.060 What's your definition going to be?

00:08:17.240 And, he says, the guy who, as Evan Solomon pointed out, is responsible for making this determination.

00:08:22.640 Oh, no, no, it's not important what my definition is.

00:08:25.600 Well, it is important.

00:08:26.720 And, let me tell you why firsthand.

00:08:28.140 So, the government of Canada does not recognize True North as being a media organization.

00:08:34.000 This was made very clear during the federal election campaign, when the liberals said, no, you can't come to our events.

00:08:40.380 And, the leaders' debates commission said to us, well, no, you can't come to our debates.

00:08:45.900 Now, we were able to access the debates because of a federal court order.

00:08:49.660 The federal court views us as a media organization if the government doesn't.

00:08:53.280 But, the government would very likely look at us and say, no, no, no, you're not a news organization.

00:08:58.680 So, you're a media organization that we can regulate, that we can force to be licensed.

00:09:05.080 And, this is even more insidious, or at least as insidious, as demanding licensing from news companies, from news organizations, because the government is still doing the same thing.

00:09:16.640 The government still has to make the determination as to whether or not you are a news organization.

00:09:24.640 And, if the government has to make that determination, we're no better off under this licensing model that exempts them than we are under one that includes them.

00:09:34.840 Because, both require government to do the exact same thing, which is acknowledge, okay, there is a line, there is a definition, and it's us, the government, we, the government, that have to determine who meets that definition.

00:09:50.620 And, there's nothing good that can come of government coming up with this definition.

00:09:56.960 And, the reason I know that is because of what we saw during the federal election campaign, when government decides it's going to just draw this line retroactively, designed to exclude people that they've already decided to exclude.

00:10:10.040 And, the reason I'm bringing this up, we actually had a bit of an update in the case this week, the case against the Leaders Debates Commission, where we learned that Justin Trudeau's Attorney General, and this happened, I think, on Monday that we learned this, Justin Trudeau's Attorney General is trying to have our case thrown out.

00:10:28.760 The argument is that it's moot, and the reason they're saying it's moot is because the debate's over, but because they view press freedom as not an issue of national importance.

00:10:40.040 And, they actually say this in the filing, the government says this, that it's not an issue of national importance such that it makes sense to do this.

00:10:48.120 Well, the reason we're doing it is because there is a constitutional question at hand.

00:10:53.460 And, when we set out on this venture, when we took the federal government to court, we had no idea that just a couple of months later, they were literally going to be talking about licensing media organizations.

00:11:05.140 And, now we see just the utter contempt, the utter contempt in which the liberal government holds independent media.

00:11:14.940 And, I will say, very good, and I've always liked Evan Solomon, but very good for Evan Solomon to keep the feet to the fire on this for Minister Gilbeau.

00:11:23.500 But, more importantly, I want to see more outrage from the media because a lot of them, once he walked it back, and he didn't walk it back.

00:11:31.540 I mean, that's the whole point.

00:11:33.080 He, I'd say he walked it forward in many ways because he proved that there is, in fact, a line that's going to be drawn.

00:11:40.180 But, many people in the media that I would have loved to have seen continue to hammer them are now, it seems, accepting that, all right, well, I guess it's over.

00:11:48.620 I guess it's done.

00:11:50.180 This was not just a bad idea.

00:11:53.120 This was an utterly unconscionable idea that is not something you see or should see or will see in a free country.

00:12:03.280 Because, indeed, country is no longer free when you have to have the free press go through this licensing process, even if the end of it is, oh, no, no, no, we've determined that you don't need your license.

00:12:14.720 Well, you haven't determined that.

00:12:16.700 The Constitution has determined that.

00:12:19.080 My God-given right to free speech has determined that.

00:12:22.380 So, for government to then put more hurdles on memes, basically.

00:12:27.320 I mean, they're saying we need to go after media content online.

00:12:30.280 It's not just about Netflix and Google and Facebook.

00:12:33.380 They're trying to go after everyone.

00:12:35.840 And, again, I want to read the section of the report in question.

00:12:38.940 And we didn't have as much time to go into this in as much detail as I would have liked last week.

00:12:43.620 But the report has a word that is very important here.

00:12:46.920 So, this idea of you just being some blogger in your basement

00:13:16.920 licensing, the same regime that's going to go after Netflix, Google, Facebook, is going after someone that does YouTube commentary, someone who runs an aggregator service.

00:13:26.280 And, indeed, when aggregators were put forward, he didn't have an answer.

00:13:31.400 Gilbo didn't have an answer.

00:13:32.580 He said, oh, no, no, well, it's not my definition.

00:13:34.520 You know, I can't do this.

00:13:37.420 Who's going to do it?

00:13:39.560 Who's going to do it?

00:13:40.460 This report should be ripped up, thrown out, and never spoken of again.

00:13:46.560 And that's where we are as a country right now, that we actually have to be fighting our government for press freedom.

00:13:53.400 And they're doing it under the guise of mandating Canadian content.

00:13:57.960 They're doing it under the guise of, oh, you have to play more Justin Bieber songs if you're going to play Led Zeppelin.

00:14:03.820 And what I find hilarious is that Canadian content is a holdover from a time when we didn't have the ability to go anywhere we want to find content.

00:14:14.020 It's a holdover from a time when you had to listen to what was on the radio.

00:14:18.260 So, if you wanted to get Canadian artists played, that was where you had to put them.

00:14:22.800 Now, we can say, you know what?

00:14:25.640 Forget about this.

00:14:26.340 I don't want to listen to Canadian radio.

00:14:28.360 I want to go on Spotify.

00:14:29.760 I don't want to watch Canadian television reruns.

00:14:33.000 I want to go on Netflix.

00:14:34.660 So, it's already bad enough that the government is going after these types of operations.

00:14:40.020 I think that this is an undermining and usurping of the free market in and of itself.

00:14:46.420 But by saying that we need to go guns blazing towards the regulation of, again, to use Janet Yale's words from that report,

00:14:54.080 of all media content, even if they are going to draw this little line around news organizations,

00:15:01.060 without defining news organizations, it doesn't matter.

00:15:04.700 It doesn't matter because now what government is doing is saying that we have this list

00:15:10.540 and the government-approved media organizations are on it

00:15:14.200 and the non-approved government organizations are not on it

00:15:18.680 and they're going to use that in many ways.

00:15:23.120 Access is a big one.

00:15:25.060 If you've gone through that review process and government has determined,

00:15:29.680 oh, no, no, you don't need a license because you're one of our preferred news organizations,

00:15:33.540 then when you want to cover an event,

00:15:35.940 the government will say, oh, well, yep, it seems like, yep, you're cleared.

00:15:40.420 And if you want to cover an event and you're not on that list,

00:15:44.200 as it sounds like True North won't be on the list,

00:15:46.660 then government is going to say, oh, no, no, no, you aren't accredited.

00:15:50.740 You have to look down the line on this.

00:15:52.760 This is not just about Canadian content.

00:15:54.920 In fact, it's never about what they're telling you it's about.

00:15:58.600 It's about so much more than that

00:16:00.660 and will continue to be an excuse that government can use to shoehorn its way

00:16:06.520 into manipulating and undermining the free press,

00:16:09.280 which is why it needs to be called out.

00:16:12.160 It needs to be stopped.

00:16:13.900 We'll be back in a moment with more of The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:16:19.260 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:16:26.000 We are back.

00:16:27.180 Thanks very much for sticking with me on the show here.

00:16:29.880 I want to talk a little bit about firearms policy in Canada,

00:16:34.080 and I know that there's going to be more gun control discussions

00:16:36.580 in the next few months of Parliament,

00:16:39.200 and as such, though, there will certainly be more on this show.

00:16:42.680 But Bill Blair has a tendency to announce things that are already law.

00:16:47.840 For example, when he says ban assault weapons,

00:16:49.940 well, assault weapons are already illegal in Canada.

00:16:52.500 When he talks about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals,

00:16:55.500 well, that's already supposed to be a priority of government.

00:16:58.260 And now he's talking about having Ottawa adopt,

00:17:01.680 according to the Globe and Mail,

00:17:03.180 red flag laws that would allow law enforcement

00:17:05.980 to confiscate guns from people that are deemed to pose a threat.

00:17:10.520 Again, something that we already have in Canada.

00:17:13.780 But I want to share with you what Bill Blair said here.

00:17:16.360 He said that red flag laws will allow police,

00:17:19.140 doctors, lawyers, educators, and loved ones

00:17:22.340 to petition the courts to remove guns from someone flagged to be a risk.

00:17:27.060 Quote, there are dangerous situations

00:17:29.540 where the firearm presence becomes deadly.

00:17:31.980 And so we want to empower not just the police,

00:17:34.760 but doctors, victims, communities, and families

00:17:37.100 to be able to take steps to render a dangerous situation safe.

00:17:42.480 Now, this is something that the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians

00:17:46.680 has advocated for, a group that is very much pro-gun control.

00:17:50.580 But already those people can by calling the police.

00:17:54.400 And there already is a program.

00:17:55.820 Dennis Young, who's a great firearms expert in Canada,

00:17:58.980 has done a lot of work on this as well.

00:18:01.540 The program is called the Firearms Interest Police, FIP.

00:18:06.520 And he's actually tried to get files about this program

00:18:10.080 and has had very little luck in many respects.

00:18:13.080 But in particular, there was a case in September of 2019

00:18:16.520 where he was trying to understand how there was a failure of the system

00:18:21.040 when someone who shouldn't have been able to hold on to his guns

00:18:24.140 was able to, and even though serious reports had been filed with police.

00:18:29.660 But this was, if you read into it, a failure of the process.

00:18:33.460 It wasn't the absence of a process.

00:18:35.900 So Bill Blair is, again, fear-mongering.

00:18:38.640 Someone would read this, someone who doesn't know gun laws,

00:18:41.280 someone who doesn't know what's legal and what's illegal in Canada,

00:18:44.560 and say, oh my goodness, I guess people that are unsafe,

00:18:47.320 people that are dangerous, are able to have guns without them being taken away.

00:18:51.700 That just isn't true.

00:18:53.240 And by the way, I'll add that gun owners have had firearms taken away from them

00:18:57.600 for a lot sillier reasons than posing a threat to someone

00:19:02.640 or posing a threat to themselves.

00:19:04.420 They've had guns taken away for using them in self-defense.

00:19:08.180 They've had guns taken away for not storing them properly.

00:19:11.980 Our system is not one that errs on the side of letting people keep guns

00:19:16.460 who shouldn't have them.

00:19:17.660 It errs the other way.

00:19:19.460 Now again, no one's even talking about changing that.

00:19:21.760 If you break the law, you break a regulation.

00:19:24.420 I get it.

00:19:25.020 I think we need to make the regulations more sensible.

00:19:28.360 But Blair has to stop announcing things that are already law

00:19:32.320 to really stoke fears that people have about firearms,

00:19:36.460 which is all that he's doing.

00:19:38.160 And, you know, you look at the process now.

00:19:40.900 You can be committed if you are going to pose a threat to yourself or others.

00:19:44.920 This is something that we have in all provinces in Canada.

00:19:47.800 And beyond that, if you own firearms, police know it.

00:19:51.400 This is the thing, especially with restricted guns.

00:19:54.180 There is a registry.

00:19:55.700 There is a database.

00:19:56.820 And certainly the liberals love registries.

00:19:58.980 Well, we already have that for handguns and for assaulted guns like an AR-15,

00:20:03.680 like other variants as well.

00:20:05.500 So police know.

00:20:07.880 So if someone says, hey, I think, you know,

00:20:09.620 Chuck, my neighbor, is acting a little weird and threatening me.

00:20:12.960 Well, they know if Chuck has a gun.

00:20:14.700 They can talk to him.

00:20:15.680 And if there is reason to believe that he is going to use that gun, they can.

00:20:20.880 But the liberals are hellbent on ignoring behavior and focusing on the easy way out,

00:20:27.600 which is demonizing all gun owners. 0.98

00:20:29.820 Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with having a red flag law, 0.82

00:20:33.500 which is why conservatives didn't do anything about it when there was one already on the books.

00:20:38.160 They're trying to import an American dialogue because red flag laws are part of the discussion

00:20:43.540 you hear in the U.S. in the last year or so in particular.

00:20:46.580 They're trying to import this American discussion and import American fear.

00:20:50.680 And the hope has to be that Canadians are sensible enough to see through it.

00:20:54.800 We've got to take a quick break here.

00:20:56.480 When we come back, we'll talk to Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson,

00:21:00.200 former PPC candidate, about the future of the PPC

00:21:03.840 and also the place that social conservatives have in Canada.

00:21:07.920 Stay with me.

00:21:09.800 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:21:14.660 Welcome back.

00:21:15.860 So last week, I caught up with Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson,

00:21:19.560 who is a former PPC candidate.

00:21:21.440 She was actually the first PPC candidate

00:21:23.700 because she ran in a Burnaby by-election before the general election in 2019.

00:21:29.500 And she's also been an outspoken advocate, not just for the PPC,

00:21:33.040 but on a lot of the social issues that politicians tend to shy away from.

00:21:38.280 And I wanted to touch base with her for a couple of reasons.

00:21:41.140 To talk about the future of the PPC after its electoral showing in 2019,

00:21:46.400 but also as the discussions go forward about where social conservatives fit into

00:21:51.180 the Conservative Party of Canada,

00:21:53.600 how the PPC has tried to cement itself as being the home for SOCON voters.

00:21:59.060 We'll talk about this and whatever else comes up in my interview with Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson.

00:22:04.120 Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson joins me on the line now.

00:22:07.480 Laura Lynn, thanks for joining me today.

00:22:09.000 It's good to talk to you.

00:22:10.300 Thank you.

00:22:11.040 I really appreciate the opportunity.

00:22:12.840 It's great to just talk about what is going on in our nation

00:22:15.740 and let political correctness go.

00:22:18.660 Let me ask about your entry into politics,

00:22:22.520 because for someone who has spoken out about all of the issues imaginable

00:22:27.260 and someone who has a really deep religious conviction and a very strong faith,

00:22:32.760 jumping into politics is not typically a place that is receptive to this, especially now.

00:22:38.860 Why did you decide to take that plunge back in that Burnaby by-election?

00:22:43.700 Laura Lynn Tyler-Thompson Well, you know, when I was growing up in church

00:22:47.300 and I've spent, you know, much time my whole life in churches,

00:22:51.380 I never was encouraged to go into politics.

00:22:53.760 It was never something that we wanted to do.

00:22:56.320 Separation of church and state is something that you hear very often.

00:23:00.420 Then I started realizing that all the people that maybe didn't believe in my religion

00:23:05.680 were actually getting into politics.

00:23:08.040 And guess what they were doing, Andrew?

00:23:09.440 They were making laws.

00:23:10.560 They were going to parliament consistently to make laws to actually bludgeon what I believe,

00:23:15.680 to go against my charter rights, to come against my freedom of conviction and conscience

00:23:20.900 and my religious beliefs.

00:23:22.480 And then I said, you better wake up and know that you need to be part of this process.

00:23:26.660 And that all began with the gender fluid teaching that was going on in the schools. 0.98

00:23:31.220 I just, you know, it's just a simple thing.

00:23:33.060 It's not a big deal.

00:23:34.120 I just thought little boys don't need to be told that maybe they're a girl inside.

00:23:38.380 I don't know.

00:23:39.120 Where did this happen?

00:23:40.000 Like all of a sudden, everyone's talking about this, you know, sexual orientation and

00:23:44.760 gender identity.

00:23:45.640 I never heard nothing about that, right, until just a couple of years ago.

00:23:49.220 So now they have it in all the schools, all of this indoctrination, dozens and dozens

00:23:53.800 and dozens of transgender indoctrination books from kindergarten, you know, all up through

00:24:00.600 grade 12.

00:24:01.220 Oh, you know what?

00:24:02.360 Maybe somebody needs to say something.

00:24:04.100 So when I began to speak, yeah, I, you know, I faced some targeting and I realized we're

00:24:08.900 in a totally different world and I thought someone has to stand.

00:24:11.980 So that's why I'm here.

00:24:12.800 You know, that gender identity aspect of the cultural discussions we have now is a hugely

00:24:19.900 pivotal one for a lot of people.

00:24:21.940 I mean, that was the issue that launched Jordan Peterson.

00:24:24.180 That was the issue that has converted a lot of people into being a lot more supportive of

00:24:29.840 free speech and certainly seeing a lot more of the dynamics of the culture war.

00:24:33.840 And it's interesting that that was for you, a linchpin in your decision to jump into politics

00:24:38.620 and start speaking out on political issues a lot more.

00:24:41.840 Because, I mean, that old saying is that yesterday's fringe is today's normal has never been truer

00:24:47.040 than it is around that issue.

00:24:48.960 This idea that you'd be laughed at by people on the left and the right for saying 10 years

00:24:53.600 ago, oh, we should put kids on hormones to change their genders. 1.00

00:24:56.620 Now you're yelled at and screamed at for being a bigot if you don't say that.

00:25:01.460 Yeah, it's pretty hilarious.

00:25:02.900 And you know what I find?

00:25:04.120 Evan Solomon, these people, Vashi, you know, they have no idea what they're talking about.

00:25:11.400 And all they do is promote a left-wing talking point and ideology.

00:25:17.260 They're too afraid to deal with it.

00:25:18.440 They don't even look at the statistics.

00:25:20.440 We have a global 4,500% increase in gender referrals.

00:25:27.380 Something is bloody hell wrong with our nation.

00:25:30.960 What is going on?

00:25:32.020 Why is no one wanting to talk about it?

00:25:34.300 Why are dozens and dozens of kids, even hundreds, in the greater Vancouver area now going to see

00:25:40.800 a gender doctor?

00:25:42.420 Did you hear about this, you know, when you were young?

00:25:45.120 You know, there's, there's, all of a sudden it's just been taken over.

00:25:49.780 And now we have all of the schools telling these kids that, oh yeah, maybe you could be

00:25:54.480 a girl inside a boy's body.

00:25:56.300 And now we have this confusion and now they're going to doctors and now we're going to ban

00:26:00.680 what's called conversion therapy, which is anybody who just dares to say to a nine-year-old boy,

00:26:06.760 you know, I think you're a boy.

00:26:08.000 And I think that let's celebrate, let's celebrate and affirm who you are in your body.

00:26:14.280 It's a real deal to, to struggle with gender dysphoria.

00:26:18.780 Nobody is saying it's not, but the reality and the data shows that if you don't socially

00:26:24.940 transition a child and you get them through after puberty, they're completely happy with

00:26:30.160 the body that they were born in.

00:26:31.960 And some are gay, some are not.

00:26:34.720 So let's stop acting like doctors in schools and not telling parents what's going on and

00:26:41.800 affirming confusion.

00:26:44.600 It's confusion affirming therapy that's going on in schools and it has to stop.

00:26:49.900 Well, and it's one of those areas where the political ideology tends to trump the

00:26:54.760 science.

00:26:55.660 We see it in gender. 0.98

00:26:57.020 We see it a lot in the climate discussion.

00:26:58.940 We see it on economics discussions.

00:27:01.320 And I'd say it's one of the more concerning trends that we see in the media now, the mainstream

00:27:05.760 media, where there's a lot more of a reliance on the politicized context of things that activists

00:27:13.200 are putting forward than there is on evidence and on truth.

00:27:16.880 And that for me, when it comes to how politicians respond to it, gets to why the PPC and specifically

00:27:24.280 Maxime Bernier, even before he left the Conservative Party of Canada, was such an interesting thing

00:27:30.280 to watch because Maxime Bernier, who I know you know quite well, really started talking

00:27:35.860 about these things that a lot of people were thinking of, but politicians were not supposed

00:27:42.080 to.

00:27:42.540 And I put that in air quotes, not supposed to talk about whether it's immigration, whether

00:27:46.940 it's things like C-16 and the gender identity stuff.

00:27:49.700 And that's a huge problem when there's a growing divide between what real people are

00:27:55.280 talking about and what the media is prepared to accept politicians bringing up.

00:28:00.880 You're absolutely right, Andrew.

00:28:03.820 And Maxime Bernier is the most courageous politician that we have going.

00:28:09.780 He is willing to talk intelligently, with common sense, about some of the social terrorism

00:28:16.420 we're facing. He spoke outwardly against Yaniv, who was going against, you know, using the

00:28:24.180 Human Rights Tribunal as a bludgeoning weapon against women, you know, who would not wax 1.00

00:28:29.820 his balls. Like Maxime Bernier was willing to talk about it. Everybody else, ooh, I'm too 0.99

00:28:36.780 afraid, you know. And even the Human Rights Tribunals were scolded by the person who helped to create

00:28:43.840 the Human Rights Tribunal, saying, well, how could this even be heard, this Yaniv crazy 1.00

00:28:49.140 person? Also, Maxime was willing to speak out on the issue of the young person who wanted

00:28:55.580 to transgender, to change their gender in the Vancouver area, who at the very first visit

00:29:01.920 was offered cross-sex hormones rather than counselling to, you know, maybe check it out.

00:29:08.800 Without parental consent, the court ordered that this child was able to transition.

00:29:14.540 What has gone wrong? Yes, Maxime Bernier knows how to deal with what we are going through.

00:29:20.780 And he also defended me. He defended me when the Conservative Party of Canada would not run

00:29:25.860 me as a candidate. Why? Because I didn't think that little kids should be told that they can

00:29:30.240 be a different gender. Maxime Bernier took me on in an unprecedented move of courage and ran me as

00:29:37.580 one of his first candidates. He had to defend me against Evan Solomon and, you know, all of the,

00:29:43.140 you know, the left-wing reporters who don't know the truth if it lands on their desk. And, you know,

00:29:50.380 frankly, it was very disturbing. And so I am indebted. And Maxime's time is coming. It is,

00:29:56.640 this is not done by a long shot. It's coming because the whole bid for the social, for the Conservative

00:30:03.080 leadership race and what is shaping up, it's going to be a mess. And I can't wait to watch this.

00:30:10.640 At the same time, there is also a very uphill battle for Conservatives to win elections in Canada.

00:30:16.980 We don't have the Conservative base of the population that they have in the US, for example.

00:30:22.700 So when Conservatives have won or the Conservative Party historically has won, it's been by very slim

00:30:28.540 margins in many cases. Do you think the PPC is sabotaging Conservative victory hopes in Canada?

00:30:36.560 No, I think the PPC is offering an alternative to the the CPC constituents who can no longer

00:30:43.740 be vaccinated, respected, honoured by the Conservative Party of Canada. Let's remember,

00:30:51.280 Peter McKay basically thinks that social Conservatives are a stinking albatross in the 0.98

00:30:55.900 organization. Social Conservatives have recently just come out. Unless you're willing to march

00:31:00.420 in a pride perversion parade with naked guys and children around and naked women and children 0.96

00:31:07.220 watching, then apparently you're not worthy of being a Conservative. That party has abandoned. 0.95

00:31:14.220 You might as well just all go to the Liberal Party and give Justin Trudeau a run for his money

00:31:19.460 for leadership because that's who you are. And the the Conservative constituency that are true

00:31:26.980 Conservatives needed an outlet. And Maxime Bernier saw that and he thought he can't even support all

00:31:33.340 of this. I mean, the the policies on immigration, the Paris Climate Accord. When I was running in Red

00:31:39.900 Deer, I couldn't find any I could not find one Conservative who supported the Paris Climate Accord.

00:31:44.400 But, you know, blah, blah, blah, on and on. They were just going to support Andrew Scheer,

00:31:50.900 who rammed that through. As soon as he was leader, he rammed the Paris Climate Accord. He forced a vote

00:31:57.460 on it, which Maxime Bernier, you know, quietly removed himself from the House so that he didn't have to

00:32:04.340 vote against, you know, this guy that just beat him. And also, let's not remember, there's a bunch of

00:32:09.720 cheating going on because there were 7,466 votes, too many cast in that leadership vote. And I believe

00:32:17.080 that Maxime Bernier was robbed. So he did not he did not take his ball and leave angrily. He stayed

00:32:22.720 there and stayed there, even though it looked like there was complete, you know, underhanded cheating

00:32:27.960 going on. I mean, Andrew Scheer didn't actually win. 7,466 votes were cast that shouldn't have been

00:32:34.240 cast. And they all swayed the vote into Andrew Scheer's camp. And really, he won by about 69

00:32:39.200 votes. I mean, it was one, it was less than 2%. And so this party is too morally and intellectually

00:32:46.680 corrupt to be reformed. Maxime Bernier knew that before any of us. And I thank God for him.

00:32:52.700 You know, there was a time when people said that about the PC Party of Canada when it was around. And

00:32:57.820 the remedy to that was the merger between the Alliance and the PCs to form the Conservative Party

00:33:04.040 of Canada. That merger produced Stephen Harper, that merger produced Maxime Bernier. Is that something

00:33:10.300 that you think could happen in the future? Because right now, I see far too much animosity between the

00:33:16.300 PPC and the CPC for it to ever meet in the middle and say, all right, now we're a true Conservative Party.

00:33:23.720 Right. Well, what a beautiful thing to happen would be that a true Conservative were to be elected as

00:33:32.900 the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. And there is a massive movement going on right now.

00:33:39.020 And it is with the true SOCONs. It is with the true people who believe in the sovereignty of Canada,

00:33:44.520 who love Canada, who believe in freedom for all. We believe in freedom for all sexually

00:33:50.720 people who are of different nations and different religious affiliations. We believe in freedom for

00:34:03.500 all. If somebody were to be elected, that could embrace all people and yet respect diversity because

00:34:12.180 in Canada, we're losing the truth. We think that we are diverse, but we have to agree with each other.

00:34:17.920 And we don't have to agree with each other. We simply actually have to respect each other,

00:34:23.440 respect diversity, respect it. So if there was somebody hired or brought in who won the leadership

00:34:30.580 of the Conservative Party that would embrace the PPC people who had gone and maybe offer an olive branch

00:34:39.700 to Maxime Bernier with a completely different party. Oh, OK. Miracles can happen. But under the way it is

00:34:46.780 with Peter McKay, Aaron O'Toole, Marilyn Gladue being these key people, whoever comes in, you know, even if

00:34:54.940 if Candace Bergen were to run, she's not a true conservative. She would still probably march in a 1.00

00:35:02.860 parade with stipulations or whatever. She's not the real deal. So how are we to walk together? You know,

00:35:11.580 I'm a spiritual person. Here's a proverb from the Bible. How can two walk together unless they agree? 0.62

00:35:18.100 If we cannot come to agreement, we cannot walk together. Maxime Bernier is in the position where

00:35:22.560 he has to lead because we all can't vote for the CPC anymore.

00:35:27.240 But I want to ask you about the significance you hold to pride parades. And I get that in the last

00:35:33.380 couple of weeks, this has become central to the media's discussion. And, you know,

00:35:37.700 the battle between Peter McKay and Aaron O'Toole is who's going to march in more pride parades than

00:35:42.100 the other. But why isn't that in your view? Is that something that disqualifies someone from being

00:35:47.500 a conservative? I mean, there are lots of people that are completely OK walking in pride parade that

00:35:53.600 I would say are still conservatives. Why does that disqualify someone from having an ideological

00:35:58.280 outlook? If by your own admission earlier on, you said PPC is about standing up for all people of

00:36:03.500 sexual orientations, races, religions, cultures and so on.

00:36:07.700 Right. Excellent question, Andrew. My gay friend, I just love this guy. He will not march in a pride

00:36:16.200 parade. My transgender friend, Jen Smith, will not march in a gay pride parade. Andrew, we have 0.87

00:36:23.580 children and we see pedophilia trying to be normalized. And when you've got grown men with their

00:36:31.400 junk hanging out and I got the pictures, they're on my Facebook. Feel free to grab them and stick them up 0.95

00:36:37.100 for your audience, you know. But you've got grown men and women half naked. You've got men who have 0.57

00:36:46.520 chains attached to guys who are walking. I have a picture of this and they've got dog face masks on.

00:36:54.480 This is sadomasochistic perversion. Like these are sexual deviants with children walking behind. 0.98

00:37:00.720 This is, I'm sorry. My gay friends are embarrassed of what is going on in pride parades. This is not the 0.99

00:37:09.840 place where we say, you've got to march in the pride parade. Do you know what I stand for? I stand for

00:37:14.360 freedom for all people. If you want to be gay, you be gay. You want to be polyamorous, bisexual, 0.99

00:37:18.900 you know, whatever it all is, pansexual, be it. This is Canada. Apparently it's a real asset to be gay. 0.99

00:37:29.160 I'm good with that. But don't tell us that our standard in the litmus test is to have our children

00:37:38.460 being sexualized in a parade. Like, you've got to be joking me. I lose all respect for all these

00:37:45.720 leaders at this point. I lose respect for the Conservative Party of Canada. Where is the decency?

00:37:51.300 Where is integrity? Where is moral character? Where is the family being respected in this nation?

00:37:57.380 If we are going to become Babylon, we will get what we vote for. 1.00

00:38:01.600 You know, I've seen the pictures that you've described. I'm aware of the nudity factor and I'm

00:38:06.880 aware of that. I mean, every gay rights activist I've spoken to about this has said that it's a minority.

00:38:12.660 For a lot of people, it's just about a place to celebrate and a place to be who they are and

00:38:17.040 celebrate the freedom that you just acknowledged. And I still go back to how participating in that

00:38:23.760 aspect of society, if you want to, and I don't like when people get bullied into it, but if you want to

00:38:29.340 be there and you're a politician, why that is antithetical to being a Conservative?

00:38:35.340 Well, you just brought up the key issue, bullied into it. It's become the test. Is it a test?

00:38:42.380 If they walk in the Jesus parade? Is it a test if they walk in, you know, an Indigenous march? 0.99

00:38:50.660 If that were to happen? It's not. It's become the pride parade. And many people do not believe

00:38:59.360 that that coincides. Here's the honest truth. It doesn't coincide with their religious conviction.

00:39:05.320 Has Maxime Bernier not himself marched in pride parades, though?

00:39:08.240 He has. And, you know, I've never actually asked him this, but I don't think he'd do

00:39:12.340 it again, Andrew. Not because I don't think Maxime Bernier really would have a problem with

00:39:20.100 it as per that people are gay, because I think he has shown himself to be very supportive of

00:39:25.100 all Canadians. But I don't think he would do it from the pandering aspect any longer.

00:39:29.540 Because the LGBTQ has begun to be a political event and movement whereby, hey, if you don't

00:39:38.820 accept diversity and inclusivity and Bill C-16 pushing things towards, you know, compelled

00:39:45.120 speech, now young guys can identify as a girl and run in girls track and field and steal the

00:39:55.360 awards and gold medals from young budding Olympian girls, okay? So guys can come in. So the whole

00:40:05.220 thing all lumped together now, it's too political. It's too much like a movement taking over society.

00:40:12.940 And so I don't think that Maxime Bernier would march in a pride parade because he wouldn't march

00:40:18.000 in a Jesus parade, although he's Catholic and believes in Jesus. But he wouldn't do that. He's

00:40:24.540 not seen with all, you know, Sikh and Muslim groups meeting and Christian groups. He's trying to

00:40:31.940 embrace what Canada is great for, and that's freedom. Does that make sense, Andrew?

00:40:38.200 It does. And I think that even if people disagree with your perspective about prize parades,

00:40:43.780 I think they can understand that these have been undeniably politicized. I mean, the police

00:40:48.400 involvement versus police being banned. That's a great example of that. And that's why I think

00:40:52.940 you've seen politicians in the Conservative Party who have used that as basically their route,

00:40:57.760 I think, to say, ah, you know, I don't want to be in this, so I can do it on the police grounds.

00:41:02.500 But I think you raise a valid point here, which is that Maxime Bernier, by his own admission,

00:41:06.700 has not shied away from taking on the libertarian label. And I think a lot of people have assumed

00:41:12.320 that someone who is more libertarian in nature and someone who's a social conservative cannot find

00:41:18.800 common ground on a lot of things. And I've always disagreed with that. And I find that the

00:41:24.240 relationship that you have with the PPC is a great example of this, where you can have these

00:41:29.220 socially conservative values and stand up for liberty, and these things aren't at odds with each

00:41:33.560 other. And I think that that is something that would be valuable for social conservatives to

00:41:38.840 understand, that there is a lot more common ground if you view it in different terms than

00:41:43.660 the way that I think that argument has conventionally happened.

00:41:47.760 Exactly. And, you know, in the PPC, there were gay candidates. And I talked with, I think, 0.85

00:41:55.420 probably most of them, because as I was so vocal, they wanted to have this conversation with me,

00:42:00.900 like, am I accepted by you? Or do you reject me? You know, and vice versa, like, do you reject me?

00:42:07.840 I'm a strong Christian standard. I believe in the word of God. Can we find a place where we walk

00:42:13.500 together, where we have coffee, where we have, I had lunch, you know, with people from the PPC who

00:42:18.800 are gay, and we talked it all through. And I think one thing that they could sense is I'm a very loving

00:42:24.900 person. There's kindness in my voice. I have no reason to expect or demand that anybody would change.

00:42:32.180 I do have to ask, as a matter of practicality, and truth is truth, I'm not one of these people that

00:42:36.660 thinks it's subjective, and your truth, my truth, I don't buy that or like that. But you are statistically

00:42:45.240 a minority. I mean, Christians are a minority at this point, devout, observant Christians. And that 0.96

00:42:51.460 means that Christian values in Canada, specifically in Canada, are a minority. Now, there are people that

00:42:57.160 are of the Muslim faith, the Jewish faith, and other faiths that would agree with you on a lot of things

00:43:01.580 you've said, maybe for different reasons, maybe for the same reasons. But politically speaking,

00:43:08.380 would you rather not deal with winning, and having the ability to advance the things that you care

00:43:17.360 about, by not talking about those things by saying, you know what, whoever you are, whatever you do,

00:43:23.580 whatever you like, I'm not going to touch that. Because that's the the dynamic that I think people

00:43:27.140 are trying to put on the Conservative Party of Canada right now, which is that we have to take

00:43:31.700 this 20, 30, 40% chunk of the party and say, okay, you guys, keep your mouth shut. But the the trade

00:43:37.720 off is you get to win. And I know you don't like that and don't agree with that. But I wanted to put

00:43:42.560 that scenario to you to hear exactly why it is that that's so wrong in your view.

00:43:47.380 Right, it's so wrong. You know, Maxime Bernier did an incredible tweet, I believe it was either this

00:43:55.040 morning or yesterday. So if you go to his Twitter account, this man is he is miles ahead of everybody

00:44:01.960 else, every other politician in Canada. Basically, somebody was saying two thirds of the people in

00:44:07.300 Canada don't agree with you. And Maxime Bernier came back and he said that he would rather spend his

00:44:12.720 time trying to convince them of the great ideas, great policies of the reasons that we feel that

00:44:19.340 we have the truth. He didn't use that word the truth, but of the reasons that the PP feels that

00:44:26.720 they are the leading edge and the right choice for this nation, rather than pandering to the rest.

00:44:33.140 And I believe that's true. And there's one more reason, Andrew, and I'm this is you, your questions

00:44:38.020 are phenomenal. And if we could understand this as a nation, we could change this nation,

00:44:44.280 we can no longer just go along with the narrative because it's going to lead to complete and absolute

00:44:51.740 loss of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion. When Randy Boisenault, former MP for the

00:44:59.400 Liberal Party, he was voted out of his seat, thank God, in Edmonton. He is going from municipality

00:45:06.380 to municipality. And he's telling all of these municipalities, you have to ban conversion 0.95

00:45:10.960 therapy. Do you know what he wants? He wants a young kid who's 10 years old to not be able to

00:45:15.600 be convinced that that he can that he doesn't have to change his gender and that he can be affirmed in

00:45:24.380 where he is. He wants somebody who's 22, who's struggling with a sexual desire towards same sex

00:45:31.440 attraction that they don't want that we're talking about people who are actually going, you know,

00:45:35.640 I don't want this. I've fallen in love with a girl. I'm still attracted to guys. These are real

00:45:40.280 scenarios, by the way. These are real people. So they want there to be no conversation. So what

00:45:45.260 Randy Boisenault has suggested is that pastors, psychologists, psychiatrists would receive a

00:45:52.620 $10,000 fine for even saying what I just said that, hey, maybe there's, you know, reasons behind how

00:45:58.760 you're feeling and we should talk about it. Talk therapy is now going to be banned out with a

00:46:03.920 $10,000 fine removal of credentials. And Randy Boisenault said prayer should be removed prayer.

00:46:10.220 So you want to pray for somebody that that God would reveal his ultimate will and purpose and

00:46:14.940 and affirm their destiny and their identity. You want to pray? You're gonna end up. Do you know

00:46:20.600 what word he used, Andrew? Jail. Jail. That's why we can't be silent. Because this has gone too far.

00:46:28.220 I was at some of the Justice and Human Rights Committee meetings that were on Parliament Hill

00:46:33.620 back in I think it was June. And there were activists there that were saying we need to

00:46:38.180 start criminalizing hate speech, but their definition of hate speech, which I mean, we know from

00:46:43.260 the letter of the law now could include misgendering, could include all of these murky and malleable terms.

00:46:48.740 And the Liberals have been quite open to that idea of recriminalizing hate speech that falls below

00:46:54.920 that criminal standard. And I think this is precisely the point. We have serious challenges

00:46:59.480 in Canada. We have a Liberal government that doesn't care about liberty. And to your point

00:47:04.500 about what Maxime said, wanting to win people over, you look at the PPC vote numbers in 2019,

00:47:11.800 not a huge player electorally. Maxime Bernier didn't win his seat. And I guess the question I have is,

00:47:17.960 do you not think that there is a problem or a risk of spinning your wheels and not getting to advance

00:47:25.000 anywhere because you're holding out for this ideological purity?

00:47:29.900 I have a belief that whatever you compromise to keep, you will eventually lose. And Andrew Scheer

00:47:38.960 saw this happen. The reason, so we didn't get the best numbers. We're only a year old. Oh my gosh,

00:47:45.540 this is a miracle. Almost 300,000 people in Canada. You know, that would be, you know, maybe three,

00:47:52.560 four ridings if we put them all in the same spot. But that amount of people thought that our ideas were

00:48:00.020 good. I moved to Red Deer and I didn't know one soul in that place. And I got 2,500 people to vote for me.

00:48:06.620 And yes, it was a small percentage based on all the percentages, you know, but it was more people

00:48:11.780 than where I lived, where I got 10.65% in Burnaby South. Okay. Like people, I would just meet them.

00:48:19.460 I'd begin explaining what we believe, the freedom that we stand for. They were like, this is it.

00:48:24.260 A lot of people, if I had $1 for everyone who said, I just can't vote for you this time, but I'll vote for

00:48:29.860 you next time. I would be a millionaire. Well, okay, maybe exaggerating just a bit, but I would

00:48:35.960 have some money in my pocket because people wanted our ideas. And the whole problem and everything

00:48:44.320 that we're facing right now is that we think that we have to compromise to be in a big party.

00:48:49.740 There's no compromise with the CPC. They are ruled by elitists. And I guess we're tired of it. And we're

00:48:55.000 not going to vote just to have a party. We're going to vote our convictions. We're going to stand for

00:48:59.060 what we believe in because eventually more and more people are going to stand with us.

00:49:06.060 You're tuned in to the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:49:08.680 That was an interview with Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson. Pre-recorded, if you couldn't tell,

00:49:15.660 I was wearing a different shirt. I thought about whether I'd try to emulate and I'd say, no,

00:49:19.800 I just admit that the magic of radio meant it was a pre-taped interview. In any case, my thanks to

00:49:24.920 all of you for tuning into the show, supporting the program, and standing up for freedom. We'll be

00:49:30.020 back in just a couple of days with more of Canada's most irreverent talk show,

00:49:34.580 The Andrew Lawton Show on True North. Thank you, God bless, and good day, Canada.

00:49:38.680 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show. Support the program by donating to True North at

00:49:43.160 www.tnc.news.

Juno News - February 04, 2020

The Andrew Lawton Show： Press Freedom Doesn't Need a License

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