Juno News - The Liberals are making inflation worse

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:05.580 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:10.620 Coming up, inflation, taxes and regulations.

00:00:13.640 Oh my, will this new year bring hope or more of the same for Canadian taxpayers?

00:00:18.320 Franco Teresano is with me for the whole show.

00:00:20.560 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:24.180 Hello and welcome to another edition of Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:28.860 This is the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:32.160 A happy new year to all of you.

00:00:34.400 We are so glad to have you tuning in as we go onward and upward into whatever 2023 has in store for us.

00:00:41.580 And while it's not the beginning of a new fiscal year in any formal sense,

00:00:46.320 it is an opportunity for reset for New Year's resolutions.

00:00:50.240 Perhaps we as taxpayers can make some of our own.

00:00:53.380 I wanted to do a little bit of a year in review for the fiscal situation of 2022

00:00:57.760 and also a look ahead whether there's reason for optimism or not.

00:01:01.920 We'll find out in a couple of moments.

00:01:03.860 And for that, there is no one better than Franco Teresano,

00:01:07.040 the federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:01:11.280 Franco, happy new year to you.

00:01:12.800 Good to have you back on the show.

00:01:14.740 Hey, my pleasure.

00:01:15.520 Thanks for having me on.

00:01:16.740 Now, I mean, the issue that I think is most important for most Canadians

00:01:20.720 and certainly over the last few weeks, this has been the case.

00:01:24.220 And I'd say much of the last year is inflation.

00:01:26.820 And you were kind enough to join me earlier this year on a panel we did on the show about that.

00:01:32.240 And unfortunately, no one was heeding your wisdom who was occupying a seat in government

00:01:37.580 because a lot of these problems continued to get worse and have continued and are continuing.

00:01:42.080 Well, this is, I think, the key economic issue facing most Canadians, right?

00:01:46.880 Just the simple fact that we can't afford gasoline, that we can't afford groceries,

00:01:52.060 and that we're having a tough time paying our heating bills.

00:01:55.100 This inflation, this is the tough thing.

00:01:57.280 And I think the natural question is, well, what is the cause of all this inflation?

00:02:01.820 Sure, there's many different influences that may change prices day to day.

00:02:06.780 But let's not mistake this.

00:02:08.060 Our government has created the perfect storm for inflation, massive money printing,

00:02:14.960 never-ending deficits, tax hikes.

00:02:17.820 During the pandemic, we saw the Bank of Canada, the federal government's Crown Corporation,

00:02:22.780 print more than $300 billion right out of thin air and then dump it into economy

00:02:28.720 that was largely shut down for two years, right?

00:02:32.360 Too many dollars chasing too few goods.

00:02:35.080 Now, to add insult to injury, we then see our federal government raise prices at the till,

00:02:41.300 alcohol taxes up, the carbon tax up, which, by the way, the entire point of the carbon tax

00:02:47.840 is to be inflationary.

00:02:49.620 And then to make matters even worse, the government continues to take more money from our pockets

00:02:54.960 through its payroll tax hikes.

00:02:56.980 Yeah, and I mean, at the end of it, the problem with inflation as an issue is that it is the product

00:03:05.780 of many different inputs.

00:03:07.420 It isn't just one thing.

00:03:08.820 And I think that oftentimes government fails to understand, certainly this government in Canada

00:03:13.980 fails to understand, all the things they're doing that are contributing to it.

00:03:17.500 And I mean, just to look at the grocery numbers, for example, there was that report that came out

00:03:21.180 in early December that found Canadians were going to be spending about $1,000 a year more,

00:03:27.420 a Canadian family, for this year than in 2022.

00:03:31.900 So when you see numbers like that, anything that costs $200 a year is relevant.

00:03:38.440 Anything that costs $50 a year is relevant.

00:03:40.640 And when you have all of these different things that may be responsible for $100, $200, $300 a year,

00:03:46.200 this adds up to a pretty significant amount.

00:03:49.640 Well, it sure does, Andrew.

00:03:51.380 And if I could just push back slightly, it's that I do think the government understands exactly

00:03:56.400 what it's doing, at least to some degree, at least with its carbon tax.

00:04:00.240 Well, I publicly acknowledge, I guess, should have been the word.

00:04:01.700 That's a fair call out.

00:04:03.400 I think, yeah, absolutely.

00:04:05.380 But look, I think it's time to stop pretending that the government has no idea that its carbon

00:04:11.100 tax, for example, is rising the price of gasoline.

00:04:13.840 I mean, that's the whole point of the carbon tax, is to make it more expensive every time

00:04:19.180 you go to fuel up your car, to make it more expensive for you to use natural gas.

00:04:24.580 In fact, let's not kid ourselves here.

00:04:27.040 I think the Trudeau government is patting itself on the back every time it drives by the S.O.

00:04:32.660 and sees those high gas prices.

00:04:35.720 And not just that, but we're seeing, beginning in 2023 in July, a second carbon tax coming in

00:04:42.680 through fuel regulations.

00:04:44.560 And guess who's going to be most impacted by that second carbon tax?

00:04:48.220 Well, it's right in the government's own analysis.

00:04:50.800 The Canadians who are lower and middle income, the people who are struggling with energy poverty

00:04:56.340 already, the single mothers, the seniors living on fixed income, again, that's right in the 1.00

00:05:01.120 government's own analysis.

00:05:02.400 So the government knows that it's driving up the cost of living and is making things worse.

00:05:08.960 Yeah, I think you're bang on there.

00:05:11.620 And, you know, one of the big shameful aspects of this is how absent the NDP has been from

00:05:16.900 this.

00:05:17.220 I mean, every now and then Jagmeet Singh will get up there and talk about, oh, you know,

00:05:20.240 Canadians need a break and whatever.

00:05:21.940 But the NDP was lockstep supporting the Liberal budget and has committed to, by giving them

00:05:28.520 a blank check until 2025, the NDP has supported tooth and nail the carbon tax.

00:05:35.060 So there really isn't any chance or hasn't been up to this point of there being any reprieve

00:05:41.040 from this.

00:05:41.440 I mean, the Conservatives can, you know, talk a big talk as they have.

00:05:44.680 And I don't mean that in a judgmental way, but they're up against a pretty strong coalition.

00:05:48.960 Well, and, you know, naturally, when we point out the fact that the Trudeau government does

00:05:55.960 know what it's doing, rising the price of gasoline with its carbon tax hikes, the first

00:06:00.200 question I think your listeners or anyone would ask is, well, OK, Franco, then why are

00:06:04.900 they doing it?

00:06:05.880 Well, it's about electoral politics.

00:06:08.580 Trudeau's carbon tax is about politics, not the environment.

00:06:12.620 And I have some information to prove that.

00:06:15.000 Beginning this year, every single taxpayer in every single province in Canada will have

00:06:21.360 to pay Trudeau's mandatory minimum carbon tax rate.

00:06:24.860 Well, correction, every province but Quebec.

00:06:29.040 Let me break down the numbers.

00:06:30.940 Beginning this year, you're going to see Trudeau's carbon tax rate cost everyone else in Canada

00:06:36.320 14 cents per liter of gasoline.

00:06:38.680 In Quebec, the carbon tax just has to stay above 5 cents per liter of gasoline.

00:06:45.980 Now, that price difference is going to get bigger and bigger.

00:06:49.660 In 2030, Canadians in nine provinces will have to pay 37 cents per liter of gasoline.

00:06:57.000 Quebec's carbon tax will be 23 cents per liter of gasoline.

00:07:02.400 So clearly, Trudeau is giving the province of Quebec a special deal when it comes to carbon

00:07:07.900 taxes.

00:07:08.460 Clearly, this isn't fair.

00:07:10.640 And one more thing.

00:07:11.800 It's not because Quebec has a provincial carbon tax or cap and trade carbon tax.

00:07:17.380 Because Nova Scotia currently has a very similar provincial tax as Quebec.

00:07:23.560 Nova Scotia is also reducing emissions.

00:07:25.740 But Trudeau is bullying Nova Scotians and making them pay a higher carbon tax later this year,

00:07:32.900 while it is giving Quebec preferential treatment.

00:07:36.840 Now, I know why they're doing it.

00:07:39.240 Because you can never, ever trample on anything Quebec.

00:07:43.160 You have to just give Quebec what they want. 0.61

00:07:44.860 But how does the government say this is justified?

00:07:48.060 What does the government...

00:07:48.960 How do they rationalize that?

00:07:51.580 Well, the government isn't rationalizing it.

00:07:53.680 In fact, the government's trying to sweep it under the rug.

00:07:56.560 The government is hoping people don't notice.

00:07:58.460 You know, we've had some members of parliament email back our Canadian Taxpayers Federation supporters

00:08:04.280 essentially trying to play word games with our supporters saying, no, no, no.

00:08:09.160 There isn't a special deal.

00:08:11.020 It's because Quebec chose to have a provincial carbon tax.

00:08:15.400 But hold on a second.

00:08:17.160 Other provinces were also trying to have their own provincial carbon tax.

00:08:21.200 As I mentioned, Nova Scotia currently has a very similar provincial cap and trade carbon tax as Quebec.

00:08:29.380 In fact, since 2005, Nova Scotia has reduced emissions significantly more than Quebec has.

00:08:36.160 And it has done that with the lowest carbon tax on gasoline.

00:08:40.460 So this isn't about, as some of the liberal members of parliament are trying to suggest,

00:08:44.660 that one province just has its own provincial carbon tax.

00:08:48.000 No, this is all about politics.

00:08:50.120 Now, Andrew, of course, we think the solution is simple.

00:08:53.120 Just get rid of the Trudeau carbon tax.

00:08:55.200 It's all economic pain.

00:08:56.720 It drives up the price of gas.

00:08:58.320 It drives up the price of home heating. 0.54

00:09:00.240 It drives up the price of groceries at the worst possible time.

00:09:03.780 And it's not doing anything to help the environment.

00:09:07.120 No.

00:09:07.740 And, you know, it actually is particularly disgusting, that disparity between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

00:09:12.680 When you go back, as I did, to the Supreme Court arguments that the federal government was putting forward,

00:09:19.020 and also at the provincial court levels, in which they said, no, no, no, it has to be national.

00:09:24.320 It has to be for every province in the country.

00:09:26.720 And they really stressed that point that provinces couldn't just go at it alone and do their own thing

00:09:32.460 if their thing was less than what the federal government was demanding of them.

00:09:36.560 But all of a sudden, with Quebec, that's fine.

00:09:39.220 Yeah, no kidding.

00:09:40.500 Look, all provinces are equal, but one province is a little more equal in the eyes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

00:09:47.280 Isn't that the case right now?

00:09:48.440 Hey, Andrew?

00:09:49.500 Yeah, it certainly is.

00:09:50.940 Some Animal Farm-esque qualities across the board there.

00:09:54.640 And we talk about the bigger picture of this.

00:09:57.100 I mean, Pierre Polyev was very much maligned by the media when he was talking about, really, in his view,

00:10:05.340 that the Bank of Canada has failed, and that the Bank of Canada governor needed to be fired.

00:10:10.540 And everyone said, oh, no, you can't say that.

00:10:12.180 You're not allowed to talk about that.

00:10:13.500 But, I mean, you are right when you identify that printing money has been a major contributing factor

00:10:19.220 to what's been happening.

00:10:21.480 Of course it has.

00:10:22.700 Of course it has.

00:10:23.540 I mean, what do you think happens when you print hundreds of billions of dollars right out of thin air

00:10:29.460 and then you drop it into an economy that has been largely on and off shut down for two years?

00:10:35.800 Of course that's going to drive prices. 0.78

00:10:37.520 But look, hold on a second, right?

00:10:39.360 Like, let's even just say that the Bank of Canada isn't the major driver of inflation, just for the sake of the argument.

00:10:45.400 Okay, well, at worst, you have the Bank of Canada driving inflation.

00:10:49.940 At best, the Bank of Canada failed to do its only job, right?

00:10:55.420 If you've gone to a grocery store or a gas station in the last year or so,

00:10:59.660 you know that the Bank of Canada failed to do its only job, which is to keep inflation low and around 2%.

00:11:06.740 Okay, even the Bank of Canada has acknowledged that it failed to hit the inflation target

00:11:13.480 and that the Bank of Canada should be held accountable.

00:11:16.640 Well, hold on a second.

00:11:17.940 The Bank of Canada isn't being held accountable.

00:11:20.100 In fact, the Bank of Canada gave its employees $45 million in bonuses and pay raises during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021

00:11:31.460 while it failed to do its only job.

00:11:34.600 So why are we giving $45 million in bonuses and raises to these failing central bankers?

00:11:40.240 I mean, Andrew, I can't believe I have to say this, but bonuses and pay raises are for when you do a good job.

00:11:46.740 Yeah, failing upward seems to be a general trend in politics.

00:11:50.680 We have members of Parliament getting pandemic pay raises while locking people down and denying them the ability to work.

00:11:57.000 And similarly, when inflation is at a point that is untenable for Canadians,

00:12:00.660 you have Bank of Canada staff that are somehow coming out ahead.

00:12:04.600 And I wish it stopped there, but that's just the beginning of it.

00:12:07.260 That's just the tip of the iceberg, right?

00:12:09.240 Our favorite state broadcaster, the CBC, $51 million in bonuses and raises during the pandemic.

00:12:17.100 And then, by the way, the recent budget update just gave the CBC another $42 million.

00:12:24.020 So the CBC is getting an extra $42 million to help it deal with its pandemic issues just after giving $51 million in bonuses and raises to its employees during the pandemic.

00:12:35.560 The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, another federal crown corporation that is no stranger to the taxpayer cookie jar,

00:12:43.620 gave its employees $60 million in bonuses and raises during 2020 and 2021.

00:12:50.120 Now, what's so interesting about that?

00:12:52.300 Well, the CMHC has one overall objective, according to its own website, Housing Affordability for All.

00:12:59.760 Well, what happened in 2020 and 2021?

00:13:03.380 Canadians couldn't afford to buy homes.

00:13:06.320 So why is the CMHC patting itself on the back and handing out millions and millions in bonuses and raises?

00:13:12.840 Now, if your listener's blood isn't already pumping, I've got one more example for you all.

00:13:18.520 Bring it on. Let's hear it.

00:13:20.040 Destination Canada.

00:13:21.240 Now, this one might be the worst.

00:13:23.720 So Destination Canada is a federal crown corporation that is supposed to be marketing our tourism sector.

00:13:31.680 Well, in 2020 and 2021, what happened to our restaurants?

00:13:35.320 What happened to Canada's tourism industry?

00:13:37.880 It was locked down.

00:13:39.280 It was decimated.

00:13:40.540 It was illegal for people to travel to Canada, right, from outside of the country.

00:13:46.360 Despite all of this, Destination Canada still handed out millions in bonuses and pay raises while the people they were supposed to be marketing took it on the chin.

00:13:58.460 That one's a fascinating one because, you know, airlines, I've got a lot of issues with airlines in Canada.

00:14:04.620 Don't get me wrong.

00:14:05.420 But when airlines were unable to fly people around because of myriad COVID restrictions, they had to lay people off.

00:14:12.900 And it's unfortunate and I don't like anyone losing their job.

00:14:15.680 But if there's no work to do, that strikes me as the logical thing.

00:14:19.600 Whereas with Destination Canada, there's no tourism to promote and somehow they're making more money.

00:14:25.060 It's the tale of two pandemics.

00:14:27.460 The tale of two pandemics.

00:14:29.520 The people in the private sector took it on the chin.

00:14:31.960 Lost jobs.

00:14:32.840 Took pay cuts.

00:14:33.860 Maybe even lost their business.

00:14:35.880 But not those who are behind the golden gates of government.

00:14:39.320 They even financially benefited during the pandemic, right?

00:14:43.220 The pay raises.

00:14:44.000 The one, the two, the three pay raises for politicians during the pandemic.

00:14:48.060 The pay raises for more than 300,000 federal government employees.

00:14:51.740 The bonuses for federal government employees, Crown Corporation employees.

00:14:56.720 This is one of the fundamental unfairness issues around the pandemic.

00:15:01.400 Like there is a lot of different issues to, to dissect on what happened during COVID-19.

00:15:06.280 But I think one of the biggest and key issues is between the makers and takers.

00:15:12.340 The people who were hurt by the pandemic restrictions, the private sector taxpayers, the workers for businesses, the people who own businesses, are the ones who are going to have to face a higher tax bill.

00:15:26.440 To pay for all of this government largesse, the pay raises, the bonuses that happened during a time when their neighbors in the private sector were struggling dearly.

00:15:38.540 Yeah, I think you're right there.

00:15:40.540 And, you know, the big challenge of it all is that, you know, I said earlier, it's death by a thousand cuts in a way.

00:15:46.560 And that you have all of these different programs and initiatives that independently, some of them are bad enough.

00:15:52.100 But you put them all into one basket and it's massive.

00:15:55.320 And CBC is a great example of this.

00:15:57.120 I mean, the $40 million is unfortunately a rounding error in some context for the Canadian budget.

00:16:02.180 But you look at the overall $1.3, $1.4 billion.

00:16:05.860 That is a lot of money if CBC could just be pushed onto the private sector.

00:16:10.620 I'm not saying we get rid of it.

00:16:11.720 I'm saying we get rid of it as a government project.

00:16:15.720 Yeah, taxpayers shouldn't be funding the media.

00:16:18.000 It's that simple.

00:16:19.100 So defund the CBC and end the media bailout.

00:16:22.440 It really should be as simple as that.

00:16:24.620 Those two things alone save $2 billion a year.

00:16:27.420 It's a lot of money.

00:16:28.460 It's a lot of money, right?

00:16:29.620 I mean, remember, the CBC is getting a billion every single year.

00:16:33.900 The media bailout when it was first announced was about $600 million.

00:16:37.620 But look, when you talk about a death by a thousand cuts, when a government can't do the small things right, when you find out that it costs taxpayers $1.3 million to the governor general and her entourage can go to the Middle East for a week.

00:16:52.880 When you find out that somebody in the government spent $6,000 per night on a single hotel room.

00:17:02.180 When you find out that the government is spending $8,000 on a sex toy show in Germany.

00:17:07.960 Well, these little things, when the government can't do the little things right, guess what happens?

00:17:11.600 The government can't do the big things right either.

00:17:14.320 Let me give you an example.

00:17:15.160 Back last April, for the budget 2022, we saw essentially the biggest spending budget in Canadian history.

00:17:23.800 The budget said the government would spend $452 billion in 2022.

00:17:29.580 That's $90 billion more than pre-pandemic spending, which was already at all-time highs, even after accounting for inflation and population growth.

00:17:38.440 Well, then in November of 2022, Ms. Freeland, our finance minister, comes out with the mid-year budget update.

00:17:45.160 And it shows that the government is now on track to spend $472 billion.

00:17:51.000 So what does that mean?

00:17:52.000 It means that in just seven months, halfway through a year, the government, Ms. Freeland, was somehow managing to spend $20 billion over budget.

00:18:04.180 $20 billion over her big spending budget that she penned only half a year earlier.

00:18:10.800 Now, what does $20 billion mean?

00:18:12.620 Instead of spending $20 billion over budget, Freeland could cut the sales tax from 5% to 3% and still reduce the deficit.

00:18:22.460 So if you're listening to this and you're wondering why your tax bill seems to go up and up and up year after year after year, well, you're paying too much tax because the government wastes way too much money.

00:18:33.840 Yeah, and it is truly relentless in that sense.

00:18:39.120 And I want to go back for a moment to that point you made about if they can't do the small things right, how are they going to do the big things?

00:18:44.120 Because another issue that CTF has been very strong on, and I'm grateful for it, is C11, which is the government's internet regulation bill, which unfortunately has not been getting nearly the resistance it should have been from other parties in Parliament.

00:18:58.740 Just the Conservatives were really standing up against this, but effectively, C11, for those who haven't been following, and I don't judge you, but I don't know how you've been able to get through and not hear it if you haven't, but C11 basically expands the government's regulatory capacity that exists right now on TV and radio to the internet.

00:19:18.380 So something like that does not happen without ballooning the size of bureaucracy, but also ballooning the size of government's control of what you see on your computer.

00:19:28.520 They say, oh, we have to elevate Canadian content.

00:19:30.860 Now, maybe that means more of my show.

00:19:32.720 I don't know if I'm the type of Canadian content the government wants.

00:19:35.640 Maybe it means more of you, Franco. 0.71

00:19:37.260 Canadians will be better off for it.

00:19:38.940 But this wasn't on the surface, to a lot of people, a tax issue as much as it was an internet freedom issue.

00:19:46.100 So why did you and the CTF lean in on this so heavily?

00:19:50.200 Well, the CTF, us at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, we fight for three, I would say, simple but very powerful ideals.

00:19:56.920 Number one, lower taxes. 0.95

00:19:59.020 Two, less ways.

00:20:00.540 And number three, more government accountability.

00:20:03.600 Now, we see Bill C11, the online censorship bill, as a threat to government accountability.

00:20:10.240 Now, the last people who should be telling us good folks here in Canada how to hold our politicians accountable are the unelected bureaucrats in Ottawa.

00:20:21.000 The unelected bureaucrats in Ottawa who would see more power under this bill. 0.82

00:20:26.320 Well, and I think, look, if we've noticed one thing in terms of accountability during the pandemic is really the importance of online accountability, right?

00:20:36.940 Whether it's sharing a story on Facebook or sharing something on Twitter or watching an online news source on one of these social media platforms.

00:20:44.200 Well, if the government has more of an ability to crack down on the content or to influence the content, a better way to put it, of what we're seeing online, well, that limits fundamentally the ability of Canadian taxpayers to hold the government accountable.

00:21:03.400 So that's why we jumped into this fight, because we are worried that Bill C11 will limit Canadians' ability to hold their politicians, to hold their governments to account.

00:21:15.680 Yeah, and one of the most insidious parts of this all has been the government's failure to articulate at each stage of this debate what the bill actually is.

00:21:25.440 And part of this has been, I think, Stephen Gilbeau's fault.

00:21:28.340 And part of it has been that I think the government got busted on this and didn't think they were going to.

00:21:32.500 And they've been just so wildly over the map about what this thing actually does.

00:21:38.140 Oh, it's not for user content.

00:21:39.800 Oh, it's not for media.

00:21:40.900 But okay, yes, it is.

00:21:42.020 And now it's like at a certain point they've muddled it so much that I don't even think they can tell you what's regulated and what's not.

00:21:49.500 Yeah, it's been as clear as mud.

00:21:51.300 Hey, Andrew.

00:21:53.800 Yeah, and Gilbo in particular, I think, has been the weak link on this.

00:21:57.400 And the claim that we will not regulate what you as a user publish is, I don't think, particularly accurate given the text of the bill.

00:22:06.800 But beyond that, it is that it sets up the government for having the ability to force someone like you, for example, who wants to publish videos on YouTube, to have a license to do so.

00:22:17.400 If the government feels that you qualify for whatever they say is captured by this bill.

00:22:22.540 Yeah, I mean, without getting just too into the weeds, right?

00:22:27.240 If a government is trying to encourage any type of product, any type of video, to encourage one thing, you must be discouraging something else, right?

00:22:38.760 And so fundamentally, we don't believe that the government has a role to play outside of the criminal code, right?

00:22:47.460 Outside of the criminal code, when it comes to determining what videos we see on our social media platforms.

00:22:56.220 We have noticed over the last two years in particular, just how important it is to hold our governments accountable for us to be able to share videos or share content on social media.

00:23:05.580 And we are very, very concerned that by giving these unelected bureaucrats here in Ottawa more control over what we see online, that we are going to be reducing all of our ability to hold these politicians accountable.

00:23:18.480 And let's be honest, our politicians really need to be held accountable right now.

00:23:23.000 Yeah, very much agree with that.

00:23:25.220 Let's turn to another big picture federal item.

00:23:27.480 Now, this one's obviously been in the news for different reasons the last few weeks, but the government's approach to firearms.

00:23:33.360 And again, people may think that gun rights are not a taxpayer issue on the surface, but they are when you look at the cost of having to buy back lawfully owned and lawfully acquired firearms.

00:23:44.880 I don't even like the term buy back because they were never the governments in the first place, but to compensate while confiscating firearms that were lawfully owned.

00:23:54.240 And, you know, you and I have talked about this in the past.

00:23:56.520 It's amazing how much the government has spent without even buying a single gun.

00:24:00.900 Millions has already spent millions of dollars without buying a single gun.

00:24:04.580 Now, Andrew, let me just preface this whole conversation.

00:24:07.400 To be honest, man, I don't have a gun.

00:24:09.560 I have nothing, nothing against people who have guns.

00:24:12.480 I'm just never been a gun person.

00:24:14.700 But I'll tell you what I am against.

00:24:17.300 A taxpayer boondoggle that does absolutely nothing to improve public safety.

00:24:22.940 So when the Liberal Party, when they first announced their intentions to have this gun ban and buy back, the confiscation and compensation, to use your term there, Andrew, when they first announced this, it was going to be a few hundred million.

00:24:39.220 All right.

00:24:39.360 That's already large enough for a program that isn't going to improve public safety.

00:24:43.440 However, we continue to see, like many other things with this government, the bill go up and up and up and up.

00:24:51.480 The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report that said that just just compensating gun owners, just compensating gun owners could cost up to seven hundred and fifty six million dollars.

00:25:03.240 So significantly higher than the original estimate.

00:25:06.980 But again, that's just the money to actually compensate gun owners.

00:25:10.260 That doesn't include perhaps the most costliest part of running this whole program, which is actually administering and staffing what a gun buyback would be.

00:25:20.900 Because remember, this would be a quite legitimately big task for the government to actually do, to have all these different types of collection centers, to make sure that you have the RCMP essentially transporting the guns, right?

00:25:37.680 This is a big task.

00:25:38.820 And we have saw the Fraser Institute put out a report that when you include all the costs with the gun ban and buyback, the tab would be billions and billions of dollars.

00:25:48.960 But here's the thing.

00:25:50.520 Not only is it going to cost, most likely, billions of dollars, but it's not going to make Canada more safe.

00:25:56.940 Andrew, maybe I'm just skeptical of government, but I don't think there's going to be too many gangsters showing up to government offices handing in their guns.

00:26:03.980 No, this is going to target...

00:26:05.440 Yeah, just waiting, although it depends what they're offering.

00:26:07.620 I mean, maybe it's more advantageous if the government is offering a competitive enough price for gangsters to just, like, steal more guns and then just turn them in just to keep getting compensation from the government.

00:26:18.920 Oh my goodness, could you imagine?

00:26:20.600 But here's the problem, right?

00:26:21.860 Yeah, it'll be like the Iran-Contra thing, the Canadian version of it at a certain point.

00:26:26.160 But I should say also, when you started out on this and the CTF started out on this, it was for an initial ban and buyback that was announced in May of 2020.

00:26:35.680 Now, since then, the government has gradually, and I'd say more recently, has accelerated this, banning even more guns.

00:26:43.720 So I'd say those are very lowball estimates, given that the government keeps adding to the list of guns that it might need to buy back.

00:26:50.460 Yeah, that's a very, very good clarification.

00:26:53.140 And, you know, we're talking about how Bill C-11 has been as clear as mud.

00:26:56.700 Well, this new addition to the gun ban and buyback has been even less transparent, right?

00:27:02.620 It's been about as transparent as a coconut.

00:27:04.460 It's tough to know exactly what's going on.

00:27:07.480 And when you listen to some of the committee meetings, I don't even know if many of the members of Parliament here in Ottawa know what's going on with what has been added here.

00:27:17.280 But let's go back to the point about public safety, because I think we all want to live in a safe Canada with safe communities.

00:27:23.460 I think we all agree with that.

00:27:24.440 Well, the union that represents the Mounties, they say that this gun ban and buyback isn't going to make Canada safe because it doesn't address the key issues.

00:27:34.460 Which is preventing the illegal flow of guns across the border or illegal gang activity.

00:27:40.500 In fact, the RCMP union says that this can make Canada less safe because it's diverting resources away from cracking down on the legitimate criminals and pushing resources to cracking down on law-abiding Canadian citizens.

00:27:56.240 Yeah, I would very much agree with that.

00:28:00.360 And I just want to, as we're running out of time here, I want to circle back to the carbon tax for a moment, because I know this is a big issue.

00:28:07.300 And it's one that I feel is one of the most winnable for people that are opposed to the carbon tax right now.

00:28:12.980 Because when all of the cost of living stuff that we were talking about earlier on comes to roost and people see, well, the government is forcing me to spend more on these just basic necessities in my life.

00:28:22.880 Which, contrary to how people in downtown Toronto might think, are actually necessities for people in many parts of the country here.

00:28:30.540 And politically speaking, in the last election, the Conservatives, I think, did something very wrong, which was come out after unequivocally saying in the past, no carbon tax, with their own version of a carbon tax in the 2021 election.

00:28:45.340 I know the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized that.

00:28:48.860 Now we have a new Conservative leader who, as I understand it, has been very clear on opposing the carbon tax, correct?

00:28:55.800 That is correct. I mean, remember the last leader of the Conservative Party, I can't remember his name, he broke the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's pledge, right?

00:29:06.180 Remember, he signed our pledge saying that he would scrap the carbon tax and replace it with nothing. 0.96

00:29:10.260 Well, unfortunately for him, Canadians aren't stupid. Canadians have a good memory. 0.99

00:29:16.640 And look, so he lost, the voters essentially said, no, thank you. He lost, he's out of the way.

00:29:23.140 Now you have a new leader, Mr. Pierre Polyev. He said he would scrap the carbon tax.

00:29:28.160 He said he would replace it with nothing. And Mr. Polyev is also on the record against the second carbon tax that is coming in through fuel regulations.

00:29:36.540 Now, one thing I want to talk about is how the Trudeau government is misleading Canadians, fundamentally playing word games with Canadians.

00:29:43.900 We keep hearing the Trudeau government say or claim that its carbon tax and rebate scheme is going to make people better off.

00:29:51.080 Well, Andrew, if you think that the government is going to tax everyone, then skim some off the top, and then give you some of your money back, and you think you're going to be better off?

00:30:00.200 Well, then I've got some Ocean View property in Regina that I want to sell you.

00:30:04.580 But look, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has been very clear that the Trudeau government is using magic math.

00:30:11.260 And in fact, the carbon tax will cost households hundreds and hundreds of dollars every single year, even after the rebates.

00:30:19.040 Let me read you the numbers right from the PBO.

00:30:21.660 In 2023, the carbon tax will cost the average household anywhere between $400 all the way up to about $850 even after the rebates.

00:30:31.760 Again, hundreds and hundreds of dollars every single year, even after the rebates.

00:30:38.740 Well, again, numbers like that.

00:30:40.860 I mean, they may seem abstract on paper, but these have very real consequences for people.

00:30:46.240 Oh, yeah.

00:30:46.620 At a time when people, like I said, are struggling to afford a taco night with their family, an extra $400, an extra $850 for people whose paychecks are stretched too thin, it's disastrous for some people.

00:31:04.720 And it's coming at the worst possible time.

00:31:06.200 And one thing I do also want to point out is that while Ottawa continues to stick Canadians with higher tax bills, many other countries are doing the right thing and cutting taxes.

00:31:15.900 We found 51 other national governments that have cut taxes during the pandemic or to ease the pain of inflation.

00:31:23.160 More than half of G7 and G20 countries, two-thirds of OECD countries have cut taxes.

00:31:29.200 Ottawa raised the carbon tax, raised payroll taxes, raised alcohol taxes, and is bringing in a second carbon tax.

00:31:35.160 So other countries are finding out a way to do the right thing.

00:31:38.060 Ottawa continues to raise our gas prices and our heating bills.

00:31:42.700 I'll end on this question, Franco, and I fear I know the answer, but I have to ask it anyway.

00:31:47.380 Are you, as we head into this new year, an optimist or a pessimist?

00:31:51.460 Oh, man, I feel like I've been a rain cloud this whole interview, right?

00:31:55.080 Raining, a little rain cloud.

00:31:56.820 But you know what?

00:31:57.160 No, man, I'm actually an optimist.

00:31:59.280 Look, things are bad.

00:32:00.780 I don't think I'm saying anything new there.

00:32:03.520 Things have been very tough.

00:32:04.560 We've seen the government just pile on more debt, more debt, more debt, raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes, and spend out of control.

00:32:13.560 But I do think more and more Canadians are waking up.

00:32:17.080 And it is thanks to a lot of great Canadian Taxpayers Federation supporters who are out there spreading the message.

00:32:23.880 It's thanks to people like you who have us on our show and other groups on your show to talk to your audience.

00:32:31.080 But look, at the end of the day, I am an optimist, but it depends.

00:32:34.720 It depends on the Canadians who are listening to this to take action, right?

00:32:39.360 Because it's one thing just to listen, but then you actually have to do something about it, right?

00:32:43.540 You have to share the information with your families.

00:32:46.440 You have to email your politicians.

00:32:48.060 You have to call your politicians.

00:32:49.180 You have to take part in democracy if you want change.

00:32:53.220 So I am optimistic, but it definitely depends on how Canadians react and if we take action.

00:33:00.340 I like that.

00:33:00.980 Optimism with an asterisk, and that asterisk is a call to action.

00:33:03.960 So very well done.

00:33:05.320 Keep up the fight on your end.

00:33:06.360 You do great work, and I look forward to having you on the program over the coming year as well.

00:33:10.900 Franco Terrizano, Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:33:14.840 Always a pleasure, and Happy New Year, sir.

00:33:16.760 Hey, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.

00:33:20.240 That was Franco Terrizano.

00:33:21.620 Always good to have him on, and I like that he delivers the bad news with a smile

00:33:25.440 and somehow makes you think that there was some good news in there.

00:33:28.480 So let's hold to the positive as we head on into this new year.

00:33:33.040 My thanks to all of you for tuning in.

00:33:35.220 We will talk to you soon with more of Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:33:39.140 This is The Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:33:41.380 Thank you, God bless, and good day to you all.

00:33:43.700 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:33:45.580 Support the program by donating to True North at www.tnc.news.

Juno News - January 04, 2023

The Liberals are making inflation worse

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