Juno News - April 02, 2023


The state of the conservative movement


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

225.30864

Word Count

949

Sentence Count

53


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Sitting down with Canada Strong and Free Network President Jameel Javani.
00:00:04.240 Jameel, we spoke when you were taking over the reins of the organization,
00:00:07.880 and obviously you had the Conservative leadership race going on last year,
00:00:11.320 so that adds a bit of energy.
00:00:13.140 But even now, this is like one of the record-setting years, I've been told, for attendance.
00:00:16.960 You had Stephen Harper speaking.
00:00:18.460 What's the big point of this?
00:00:19.780 What's the theme of this this year?
00:00:21.200 Well, there are two things happening right now.
00:00:22.740 One is that the middle class in this country is hurting.
00:00:26.100 Not enough people are talking about solutions to that.
00:00:28.800 We believe the Conservative movement has solutions, and we want to bring those to the front, right?
00:00:33.140 We want to bring those to spotlight.
00:00:35.120 That's one of the things we're trying to do here.
00:00:36.540 The other thing is we're trying to connect generations.
00:00:38.340 You mentioned Prime Minister Harper speaking, Preston Manning.
00:00:41.620 We want them to share what they learned from their time in politics with young people,
00:00:45.200 with the Millennials and the Gen Zers who are going to be the future leaders of the Conservative movement,
00:00:49.500 and we're bringing those generations together this week.
00:00:51.660 If you look at past Conservative Prime Ministers in this country,
00:00:54.460 people like Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney, I mean, it's not a large list of Conservative Prime Ministers,
00:00:59.740 but the ones that are still around today, they don't have the relevance to modern Conservatives that Stephen Harper does.
00:01:05.880 And I'm curious if you think that's just because Stephen Harper was more recent,
00:01:08.720 or if it's because Stephen Harper was just a different breed of Conservative leader that still resonates today.
00:01:13.280 I do think something very unique about Mr. Harper, which is that he is a principled man,
00:01:19.140 and I think Conservatives that might not always agree with his principles respect the fact that he tried to apply Conservative thinking to solve problems.
00:01:27.620 That is a timeless effort.
00:01:29.700 Every Conservative, every Conservative politician, member of the Conservative movement, has the same task.
00:01:34.780 So when you see someone you respect in taking that responsibility on, it's something that I think we're naturally drawn to,
00:01:40.400 and that is what I hope to see from whoever the next Conservative Prime Minister might be,
00:01:44.960 is the same commitment to solving problems as a Conservative, applying our principles,
00:01:49.880 being relevant to both the movement and also to the rest of the country.
00:01:53.440 You've got all the heavy hitters of the Conservative movement here this year.
00:01:56.260 You've got Stephen Harper, Pierre Polly Eva speaking, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
00:02:00.440 Do you think the fact that there has been this energy and this vibrance in the Conservative movement
00:02:04.840 is what Stephen Harper was talking about, about that Conservative renaissance,
00:02:08.360 that right now there's not really that malaise that you sometimes have when you're in opposition?
00:02:12.960 Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
00:02:14.540 I mean, look, I'm very happy with the elected officials who are here.
00:02:18.380 I think they represent exactly where we believe Conservative politics should be going.
00:02:22.520 We think about people like Pierre Polly Eva, Danielle Smith, Stephen Harper.
00:02:26.400 There is a Conservative tradition here that we want to be well-represented.
00:02:30.220 The reality is not everyone who calls themselves a Conservative believes in those same things.
00:02:34.100 We believe that is the right direction and we want to show that to the rest of the country.
00:02:38.800 I know you and I have talked in the past about how this is not a Conservative party event.
00:02:42.200 It's a Conservative movement event.
00:02:43.540 But I'm curious for your thoughts on the PPC situation.
00:02:46.000 I don't see people here that are identifying themselves as PPC supporters.
00:02:49.540 We know they're a part of the right-of-centre movement in Canada.
00:02:51.880 So what's the place that that has, if anything?
00:02:54.520 Look, a lot of the people who we embrace through our events,
00:02:58.440 people who speak at our events, might identify as PPC.
00:03:01.300 We don't ask people who they vote for, what party they belong to.
00:03:04.400 I think one thing that we believe is important, though, is trying to solve problems
00:03:07.940 and not just sort of the theatre of politics.
00:03:10.240 And that's what I would say to anyone who feels underrepresented is,
00:03:13.040 show us your solutions.
00:03:14.300 We'd like to work with you.
00:03:15.140 We're open as long as you're actually trying to solve problems.
00:03:18.360 Yeah, and it was interesting hearing Preston Manning and Stephen Harper talk about this,
00:03:21.960 of a split-off party that said the status quo is not working for us.
00:03:26.500 But they took a very constructive approach that ended up becoming what we now know
00:03:30.460 as the Conservative Party of Canada and what was a government for about a decade.
00:03:34.220 Yeah, and to me, that is the bar, right?
00:03:36.080 That is the standard, which is, are you making a difference?
00:03:38.800 Are you putting ideas forward that are going to make our country better?
00:03:41.700 I'm open to hearing that from anybody.
00:03:43.360 I mean, if a Liberal or an NDP wanted to come on our stage and had a good idea,
00:03:46.800 I'd be open to that too.
00:03:47.980 But the reality is-
00:03:49.040 You might be waiting for a while.
00:03:49.740 Yeah, but that is our standard, right?
00:03:51.900 And we were lucky to have an M&A from Quebec, Yuri Chassin, speak this morning.
00:03:56.680 We are open to a lot of different political parties.
00:03:58.840 Eric Duhaime from the Conservative Party of Quebec will be speaking tomorrow.
00:04:02.760 So we do work with a lot of different parties, but that is the bar.
00:04:05.720 Are you solving problems?
00:04:06.880 Do you have ideas there to help our country?
00:04:08.960 That's what we're looking for.
00:04:10.180 Jamil Javani, thanks very much.
00:04:11.380 Thank you very much.
00:04:11.960 Thank you.
00:04:12.260 Appreciate it.