Juno News - True North Update from the Canada Strong and Free Conference

00:00:00.000 Hello everyone and welcome to you all. This is a special True North update for you, coming to you from the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference, the preeminent gathering of conservatives in this great nation of Canada. We are out in full force. The True North team is here. We've got more of our colleagues than I can count, some of whom I haven't seen in quite a while, but we picked a couple of them to have a fantastic discussion.

00:00:30.000 About the state of the world, the state of the country, and what True North is doing. I'm joined by Rupa Subramania and Anthony Fury, my two favorite colleagues, equally matched with everyone else, just so that no one else is feeling left out here. But thanks for coming. What are you guys thinking so far?

00:00:44.840 Sounds like we're going to solve all the problems there. We are, yeah.

00:00:47.720 Big T up there. Great expectations.

00:00:49.660 Yeah, set the high expectations. We have to clear the bar. Let's just talk about Ottawa, for starters, because Rupa, you and I met a number of times here just over a year ago for the Freedom Convoy.

00:00:58.920 The conservative movement has changed a lot since then. We've got Pierre Polyeva's leader who's speaking today. We've got a bunch of different dynamics. Danielle Smith is premier. And both of those people are here.

00:01:10.820 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's exciting to be here. And I think this is the second conference since the pandemic. And I was here last year and it was just as exciting. And it's great to be back here.

00:01:22.300 I'm really thrilled about the, you know, the conference agenda itself has been very informative. There was a very interesting panel on Bill C-11 yesterday, which I attended, and Bill C-18, of course.

00:01:36.520 And these are important issues, you know, which, which deserve the attention that they're getting, because it's not just a question of government overreach anymore. There's something really big happening here. And I'm so glad that we're gathered here to discuss these issues here in Ottawa.

00:01:54.600 Obviously, there's a bit of a middle class theme going on in what Stephen Harper was talking about, what some of the panels are about. Is that the money issue right now? Is that the big issue that everyone needs to be addressing if you want to talk about the conservative movement?

00:02:08.120 Well, sure. And that's a good point, Andrew. But Rupa, I think, put it really well in saying there's something big happening here, because there's a sort of amorphousness to what's going on, I think, in politics at all levels of government right now, where the things that seem to ail us are things that persons who are center-right positioned are almost in the best place to solve them.

00:02:33.200 A lot of the concerns that people have right now, I think, are about the fact that people who are not partisan, regular folks, swing voters, they're kind of calling out for the pendulum to just kind of realign itself a bit.

00:02:45.540 We just went a little bit too far with a number of things. And I think regular folks are open to that, aware of that, and respond to that message. I think that's the opportunity for people who are more conservative-minded.

00:02:57.040 I mean, it's really about the fact that the center is coming home to you, and you want to welcome the center, and you want to have those constructed conversations with them, because that's maybe where the nation's at right now.

00:03:07.480 Yeah. I would just jump in to say that I spoke to a number of people yesterday, and these are people who voted for the liberals in 2015, and they were here at this conference.

00:03:19.060 I met two women that voted for the liberals in 2019. So, you know, this was the Trudeau blackface election. They voted for Justin Trudeau, and now have just done a complete flip on that. 0.95

00:03:28.820 So people do change their perspective on these.

00:03:30.580 I've run into NDP persons, or former NDP persons here at this conference in previous years. So just like chatting with people, and we know we saw over the past few years with COVID perspectives, I mean, there are a lot of interesting alliances and dynamics, and just reassessing, you know, our relationship with the state there.

00:03:48.460 Let's talk about the conservative identity, which I think is one of the big issues that the conservative movement, the conservative party needs to address. You've had successive leaders, Stephen Harper, Ronna Ambrose, Andrew Scheer, Candace Bergen, Aaron O'Toole, or we flipped those around, and now we have...

00:04:04.300 You're so respectful of the interim leaders. That was just such a kind mentality.

00:04:07.900 They're part of it. They're part of it. And I mean, Ronna in particular, she was the leader for about a year and a half because of how long that leadership race was. And each of them has tried to put their own stamp on the party.

00:04:17.720 And I guess the question is, do you think Pierre Polyevre is trying to do something new with the conservative party? Or do you think he's trying to bring it back to that Harper approach?

00:04:27.580 Yeah. I think that he's not afraid to call it as he sees it. He's an unapologetic conservative. And those were my initial impressions of Pierre Polyevre. Of course, I mean, you know, he's still now just the leader of the conservative party.

00:04:45.140 That's still a long way to go. And he's got to be really careful with some of the issues that people want him to tackle.

00:04:53.080 But I think, as far as I'm concerned, I think he has his own brand. He's not afraid to call out the CBC or mainstream media, for that matter.

00:05:06.280 And I think he's definitely, you know, putting his stamp on the conservative party.

00:05:13.040 What's your thought on that, Anthony? Are we seeing a rebirth of a new conservative party?

00:05:17.780 Or are we seeing a return to the last version of the party or the last iteration that was successful?

00:05:23.020 Both. Going back to the roots, but also there are younger people who have no real memory of that.

00:05:31.960 Maybe weren't even alive back then when we're talking about the formation of the current incarnation of the conservative party 20 years ago or so.

00:05:38.520 But they're really being inspired by all of this. And I think what Pierre is doing, and this isn't to devalue his own work.

00:05:44.480 I know he's writing his own speeches. He's coming up with all this by himself.

00:05:47.340 At the same time, you know, they said Mozart just went and plucked the songs out of the air.

00:05:51.820 You know, kind of, they were already there. And Pierre, I think, is just seeing what people are feeling kind of inchoately and going,

00:05:58.240 that's where people are at right now. I'm going to talk about that.

00:06:01.480 You know, he's just responding to what's in the atmosphere right now.

00:06:05.900 Yeah. One of the things that the Canada Strong and Free Network and before that, the Manning Network have always done

00:06:10.740 is emphasize their place in the small C conservative movement rather than just the capital C conservative party.

00:06:17.220 But you look around, Maxine Bernier's not here. I'm not seeing PPC representation.

00:06:22.120 I'm not seeing Ontario progressive conservative party representation.

00:06:25.820 There are some other people that are part of the broader right of center movement that aren't here.

00:06:30.080 I was wondering what you make of that.

00:06:31.800 I think that's Max's choice. I'm not sure.

00:06:34.240 Yeah.

00:06:34.360 But I don't know if anyone's being turned away from purchasing a membership. I don't know.

00:06:38.580 Yeah, exactly. I think anyone can come here. You just have to register.

00:06:42.200 And so the fact that he's not here, that's his decision.

00:06:47.020 And it's unfortunate, actually, because I do think that eventually I think Maxine and the conservatives will need to work together at some point

00:06:57.480 because there are so many overlaps here happening between the two sets of people.

00:07:02.300 I meet PPC people who like Pierre, but they don't like Pierre on everything.

00:07:08.360 For example, they didn't like his position on Christine Anderson, but they like him for his support for the Freedom Convoy, for example.

00:07:17.060 I remember his popularity with that crowd really went up at that time.

00:07:20.880 So at some point, I think, you know, we're going to have to see some coming together of the two sides and hopefully that'll happen.

00:07:29.400 Well, and I think with anything, the conservative party has always advertised itself as a big tent party, but there's always been this tug of war.

00:07:36.860 I mean, social conservatives, notably, about where they fit and do they fit in the big blue tent, as it were.

00:07:42.100 And I think that there needs to be the discussion of what are the non-negotiables?

00:07:44.980 What are the core values, the things that everyone needs to be on the same page on?

00:07:49.180 And what are the things that really come down to individual choice?

00:07:51.560 So if you were to give the three non-negotiables for a conservative party that should be there, what would they be?

00:07:58.360 There was a homework assignment and you didn't tell us?

00:08:00.300 No, no. Think of it like a pop quiz.

00:08:03.360 You can't study for it. It has to come from the heart and soul.

00:08:06.260 Okay, well, the heart and soul says that.

00:08:07.960 I'll say it doesn't need to be three.

00:08:09.080 I'll say that you have to remember that it's about the regular folks because you can get caught up in the system and you can get caught up in the big business of it all.

00:08:20.380 But it's got to be about the regular folks.

00:08:22.200 I think that's number one.

00:08:23.540 I think the respect for the taxpayers and finding those efficiencies and honoring that fiscal conservatism, which you can forget about.

00:08:33.780 People do forget about that.

00:08:35.280 That's got to be a major focus there.

00:08:37.700 I'd say fiscal conservatism, for sure.

00:08:41.580 A small government.

00:08:43.700 I mean, these are challenging things to sort of, you know, have in place, even if you're a party with, you know, with a big tent.

00:08:52.740 Well, and some of them mean different things to different people, too.

00:08:54.820 I mean, even fiscal conservative.

00:08:56.120 Does that mean private health care?

00:08:57.260 Does it mean not?

00:08:58.660 In the context of a country that is incredibly still very socialistic, we have socialized medicine, for example.

00:09:05.140 You know, how do you practice minimum government in that context?

00:09:08.460 So this is very challenging.

00:09:11.380 But, yeah, I would pick, you know, just as a raw general idea of fiscal conservatism, it would be non-negotiable.

00:09:20.700 Yeah.

00:09:21.120 Yeah.

00:09:21.460 And I think beyond that, I mean, my approach would be that it has to be freedom focused.

00:09:25.500 But even that word means so many different things.

00:09:27.260 If you ask, CBC freedom is like a far-right racist dog whistle now, as is the Canadian flag.

00:09:33.380 And, you know, there's a libertarian contention to the party, but it's not a libertarian party.

00:09:38.340 So I think that's been the big transition point, is what does freedom look like in the post-COVID era?

00:09:44.140 What does freedom look like?

00:09:45.560 Because, I mean, to Pierre Polyev's credit, that's been his whole MO, which is getting rid of the gatekeepers, more personal freedom, more personal liberty.

00:09:52.560 And it's going to be interesting to see what that translates to in a policy context.

00:09:57.080 And that's such an important point, because I think maybe the prime minister thought when he was talking about Canada being a post-national state,

00:10:03.160 that he was reflecting diversity and reflecting the fact that a lot of people come to Canada from different places.

00:10:09.100 But I feel like that's the opposite, and I almost feel like that's almost offensive to those individuals,

00:10:13.100 because there's so many people who around the world hear of Canadian values and what that means to them.

00:10:19.360 And they go, I want to be a part of that, and that I want to go across from the other side of the world,

00:10:24.720 and I want to be a part of that project and that nation and join with everybody and all of that.

00:10:30.260 And I feel like if you're not standing up for Canadian values, you're not standing up for all those immigrants who say,

00:10:36.740 we're on that team, let's rock and roll with this.

00:10:40.200 Yeah, and I think, you know, there's an aspect of this that needs to be addressed,

00:10:43.720 which is how politics should be bottom-up and not top-down. 0.79

00:10:46.960 And I think we've seen from the Liberal Party, for example,

00:10:49.880 when the party's central apparatus tries to micromanage the individual beliefs and votes,

00:10:55.500 and really to the point of, I think, incredibly strict controls on caucus.

00:11:00.280 Yesterday, when Stephen Harper and Preston Manning were speaking,

00:11:04.060 they really went back to one of the best grassroots experiments in Canadian political history,

00:11:08.700 which is the birth of the Reform Party.

00:11:10.260 And, you know, they talked famously about, you know, passing around the KFC buckets

00:11:13.580 to fill them with money to fund this party.

00:11:15.920 And, you know, I look at this now, and I think that, I mean, Anthony, obviously,

00:11:19.840 we can talk to you about this, because getting involved at the local level is not something

00:11:23.100 the right has typically done, not well.

00:11:25.760 You're running for mayor now in Toronto.

00:11:27.640 And I think we need to see people start reclaiming a lot of these institutions,

00:11:32.620 whether it's school boards, city councils, and really getting involved

00:11:36.360 and driving the agenda as individuals first.

00:11:40.100 Yeah, and there's that saying that big government makes small citizens.

00:11:43.100 And I think for a while, for a number of years, people thought, okay, it's all covered.

00:11:47.220 The government's got it.

00:11:48.480 The politicians have it.

00:11:50.020 All the senior bureaucrats have it.

00:11:51.500 Fine.

00:11:52.160 But then people realized, well, hold on a second.

00:11:55.040 I've seated the floor, and what are they doing?

00:11:57.260 And a lot of these people are very experienced and well-natured and fine,

00:12:00.000 and we're getting some good results.

00:12:01.400 But hold on.

00:12:02.200 I want to be a part of that conversation a bit more,

00:12:04.500 because I've realized there's stuff happening in my city

00:12:06.220 or stuff happening in my kids' school that I'm not 100% sure about.

00:12:09.480 So people are getting back in the game now.

00:12:12.220 And I do feel like cities, because there's so much just about our daily lives

00:12:17.540 and garbage collection and clean streets and safe streets value for money on those services,

00:12:22.880 there is an opportunity for someone who has a real fiscal conservative mindset

00:12:26.780 to come in and shake things up and bring them back to those core values.

00:12:32.000 Because, you know, all politics is local,

00:12:34.280 and our local lives end up calling out for fiscal responsibility and responsiveness

00:12:40.000 and really being there for the little guy more than almost any other level of government.

00:12:44.940 I think the battle is now literally at our doorstep.

00:12:49.220 If you're a parent, you're concerned about what's being taught in the schools,

00:12:53.660 you're concerned about drag shows for kids, sorry, drag story time for children.

00:13:00.140 I mean, parents are literally battling this out.

00:13:02.960 And yes, all politics is local, but it's now taken on a different meaning

00:13:07.040 where we're all directly affected by what's happening to us.

00:13:11.440 It's no longer something that's out there and, you know,

00:13:14.400 we'll deal with it at the next elections and that sort of thing.

00:13:17.780 You literally are dealing with these issues day in and day out.

00:13:20.900 And what's ailed the conservative movement all over the world for the longest time

00:13:25.520 has been the lack of grassroots participation in these issues.

00:13:30.140 They've always sort of stayed away from that and ceded that ground to the left.

00:13:35.720 But that's starting to change.

00:13:37.100 It's starting to change in Europe.

00:13:38.640 For example, I think those recent elections, I believe in Denmark,

00:13:42.000 where the farmers protesting against these new agricultural policies there,

00:13:47.880 you know, won in these elections recently, which surprised everybody.

00:13:53.120 So this is starting to change all over the world and it's happening now in Canada.

00:13:57.460 I would say one of the catalysts of this change was the freedom protests last year.

00:14:02.660 And that, I think, I mean, the protests are over.

00:14:06.260 But I think the sentiment behind the protests, the idea behind it, freedom,

00:14:10.780 those things are still pretty strong among, you know, with people.

00:14:15.700 And I think that's going to have an impact in the coming months and years.

00:14:20.240 One of the big things that I think is kind of an important issue for us at True North, certainly,

00:14:25.240 and when you mentioned parents' rights, Trudeau Sr., Pierre Trudeau famously said,

00:14:32.080 you know, government has no place in the bedrooms of a nation.

00:14:34.460 Parents are seeing right now government get involved in their personal decision-making.

00:14:39.640 And I don't just mean about vaccines.

00:14:40.980 I mean about education.

00:14:42.000 I mean about how they raise their children.

00:14:44.160 And government needs to listen to parents.

00:14:46.200 Like I remember in Ontario, it would have been the 2018 election.

00:14:49.200 There have been a lot of parents that were not just conservatives,

00:14:52.220 that were raising issues with the changes to the sex ed curriculum.

00:14:54.680 And I think the Kathleen Wynne government really did itself a disservice

00:14:58.220 by being so dismissive of these concerns.

00:14:59.920 And you have parents now that are raising issues,

00:15:02.120 whether it's about critical race theory or about some of the gender stuff

00:15:04.620 being taught in schools.

00:15:06.060 And when you activate parents as a voting group, you better get out of the way.

00:15:11.180 Yeah, for sure.

00:15:11.740 Watch out for those mama bears, certainly. 1.00

00:15:13.640 But whatever the politics of the parent is, I mean, get involved,

00:15:18.240 because it's your community.

00:15:20.000 You're paying for it.

00:15:21.540 It's your environment.

00:15:23.180 And the further, there are people leaving the public school system,

00:15:26.860 and there's an expansion of alternative options.

00:15:29.300 And I certainly support people accessing alternative options.

00:15:33.420 But at the same time, that should be an early warning sign

00:15:35.760 to the school system that people are unhappy.

00:15:38.400 So whatever the result or the political bent that's going to happen,

00:15:41.800 I think all parents should feel empowered to get a bit more involved

00:15:45.240 and join the parent-teacher meetings and have their say.

00:15:48.460 Because, again, there was a period where I think there weren't that many people involved.

00:15:52.220 Parental involvement kind of dropped off.

00:15:55.780 Yeah, no, absolutely.

00:15:57.180 I'm not a parent, but I'm very concerned about what's happening in our schools.

00:16:01.540 And, you know, children are our future and are the future.

00:16:06.300 And I think this is indoctrination.

00:16:09.280 I think this is evil.

00:16:10.920 I think this is beyond the pale, and it should be called out.

00:16:14.340 And I'm glad that parents are, you know, on the front lines of this battle.

00:16:18.720 And, you know, like you said, they've been activated,

00:16:21.760 and there's no uncorking the bottle, you know what I mean.

00:16:30.120 No, and that's why, and I don't want to dwell too much on the last three years,

00:16:33.560 but it has been a bit of a turning point in Canadian politics.

00:16:36.540 And I think one of the real benefits to the government of the last few years

00:16:40.020 is that you had restrictions in place that prevented people from assembling and gathering.

00:16:43.820 And it prevented people from getting under the same roof

00:16:45.700 and talking about how annoyed they were at what was happening.

00:16:48.140 And now that you've removed that and people are gathering, people are assembling,

00:16:52.320 the proliferation of grassroots groups and organizations,

00:16:56.000 some of which may have a few dozen people,

00:16:58.260 but I used to get, you know, maybe a couple of requests to speak a year.

00:17:01.580 And now I'm getting people to say,

00:17:02.660 I've started this group in this town that has 500 people,

00:17:05.180 and we've got 400 members, and we'd love to come in.

00:17:08.060 Yeah, and there's so many of them.

00:17:09.160 So people are mobilizing.

00:17:11.240 That's awesome, because one big concern,

00:17:13.560 and I don't think politicians can or even should solve this issue,

00:17:16.820 but is the erosion of civil society.

00:17:19.040 You know that famous saying from a book 20 years ago,

00:17:21.500 the bowling alone thesis,

00:17:23.240 that people just don't do things like bowling leagues anymore,

00:17:26.420 or any community group, or getting together.

00:17:28.580 That stuff is not having participation in charitable organizations,

00:17:33.440 volunteerism, faith groups, all of that.

00:17:36.440 The numbers in some corners have been dwindling the past 20 years,

00:17:39.800 and to have a revival of civic life,

00:17:41.820 where that is actually the backbone of society.

00:17:44.920 And that's the feeder system for what politicians do, 1.00

00:17:48.120 as opposed to the politician reigning supreme.

00:17:50.180 You want all these feedback mechanisms that are ultimately,

00:17:54.040 like I said, the undercurrent of civil society.

00:17:57.400 Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:59.060 100% agree with you.

00:18:00.540 I often get asked this question,

00:18:02.480 Rupa, what is it that I can do?

00:18:04.760 You know, how can I help?

00:18:06.100 You know, when it comes to a certain issue.

00:18:08.180 A lot of people are just really passionate about these issues,

00:18:11.960 and they want to get involved.

00:18:13.540 They want to be able to make a difference.

00:18:16.080 They want to participate in civic life.

00:18:20.380 I know people who are actively considering going into politics at the local level.

00:18:24.960 This would have been unheard of, I think, five or six years ago,

00:18:27.560 but that's starting to change, and that's very heartening.

00:18:29.820 Let's turn to how to make a difference.

00:18:33.220 Obviously, the three of us have decided independent media is a huge part of this.

00:18:37.500 This is where I have to put you on the spot, though, Anthony,

00:18:39.380 because you've also decided to some extent that politics might be a part of it.

00:18:43.480 And I saw elected office at one point unsuccessfully,

00:18:46.480 and I think looking back, I'm grateful that things shook out the way they did.

00:18:51.360 But why is independent media the best vehicle?

00:18:55.280 Why is politics the best vehicle?

00:18:56.740 Or is it fruitless to try to view one or the other as being part of the solution?

00:19:01.040 Well, to her point about civic life and just get in the game more, 0.91

00:19:04.160 I think that's what it is.

00:19:05.320 Get in the game more, and there are less.

00:19:07.800 I'm not trying to steal this term from Pierre Pauly, I've ever echo him,

00:19:10.200 but the idea of gatekeepers, it just doesn't exist as much anymore

00:19:14.580 because in this current online realm, social media realm,

00:19:17.940 things are much more open source, open code, if I can steal that phrase there,

00:19:22.720 in terms of I think anything is possible for outsider candidates to come in

00:19:27.100 and make their voices heard.

00:19:28.720 Anything is possible for different media to step forward and rise to the fore

00:19:33.180 and generate a big audience if they're just being true to themselves,

00:19:36.240 being true to what the regular folks want, and authentically engaging with people.

00:19:39.500 So the world is your oyster, go for it.

00:19:42.280 And whether it's starting a community group, a parent group, a media organization,

00:19:46.300 running for office, I think the sky is the limit for so many people.

00:19:49.800 Anything is possible right now.

00:19:51.460 To your question about independent media,

00:19:54.220 now I'm part of two great independent media outlets,

00:19:59.100 the Free Press and True North, of course,

00:20:01.260 and it's very exciting, I can tell you,

00:20:04.180 but I also write for the National Post, which is legacy media,

00:20:07.880 and I straddle two different worlds here,

00:20:10.980 but I would say that the independent media space is incredibly exciting.

00:20:14.400 We're not afraid to call things out the way we see them.

00:20:19.860 Today, for example, my podcast deals with the Trudeau government

00:20:24.740 having given out emergency bailout money to Chinese dailies,

00:20:30.120 which are seen as pro-Beijing.

00:20:33.000 Now, this was based on a column I wrote for the National Post,

00:20:36.340 but it's now on True North,

00:20:37.960 and that's the sort of thing that you do not see generally.

00:20:41.440 Typically, you don't see these issues being covered in the legacy media,

00:20:45.200 and that's what makes it very exciting.

00:20:47.660 Increasingly, I find people are turning to outlets like True North.

00:20:53.000 I mean, I get recognized not because of the Free Press or the National Post.

00:20:58.080 I get recognized because of True North, and that's incredible.

00:21:02.020 Yeah, it was funny.

00:21:02.640 I mean, even when I was flying to Ottawa,

00:21:04.400 the pilot came out to use the washroom and gave me a bit of a double take,

00:21:08.100 and then when I was getting off the plane, the pilot...

00:21:10.580 It was a security check.

00:21:11.120 Yeah, it might have been.

00:21:11.860 The guy looks pretty shady.

00:21:12.680 Well, at the time, I thought it was

00:21:13.740 and would have continued to think that if he hadn't said at the end,

00:21:17.360 just as I was getting off the plane, you know,

00:21:19.080 thank you for your work.

00:21:20.280 And, you know, it's one person, you know,

00:21:22.420 and everyone else on the plane had no idea who I was,

00:21:24.500 but those things are happening more and more,

00:21:27.500 and it's a weird thing for me because I sort of...

00:21:29.300 And you want the guy flying the plane to like you.

00:21:30.900 Yeah, you really do.

00:21:31.800 It's important to the passengers who cares.

00:21:32.960 Yeah, exactly.

00:21:33.440 I mean, I haven't helped the CBC reporters

00:21:35.420 that he sees on the flight if he's a fan of ours,

00:21:37.180 but no, it was really important for me to have that

00:21:41.240 because it's like I sort of just transitioned at one point,

00:21:43.720 I don't know when that point was,

00:21:44.700 from a guy that just talked about things

00:21:46.820 because they were of interest to me and important to me

00:21:48.900 to someone that people listen to for some reason.

00:21:51.600 And I never lose gratitude for the audience

00:21:53.600 because, you know, for us, this is our work.

00:21:56.320 We've chosen to do this.

00:21:57.420 We're paid for it.

00:21:58.500 But for the audience, they're taking a step of courage

00:22:00.780 when they decide to share a True North story

00:22:03.320 for all their teacher friends

00:22:04.620 or, you know, a rebel story for this group and that group.

00:22:08.080 Like, people are taking a step when they say,

00:22:10.140 I'm going to wean myself off of this traditional narrative.

00:22:13.600 And we're grateful for it.

00:22:14.940 Yes.

00:22:15.240 And when they do it, to your point about taking a step,

00:22:17.620 other people then get involved because like,

00:22:21.360 hey, we're all reasonable people.

00:22:22.740 We have a story to tell.

00:22:23.660 We want to tell your stories.

00:22:24.840 And we're looking to include as many people as possible

00:22:28.600 in what we're talking about here, you know,

00:22:30.600 broadening the narrative, broadening the tense.

00:22:32.440 So it's nice to see so many people come forward and participate.

00:22:36.560 Yeah.

00:22:37.040 No, it's incredibly encouraging.

00:22:39.300 And I'm always just touched by the many messages

00:22:44.160 that I receive, not just for my podcast,

00:22:47.060 but, you know, just even here at the conference.

00:22:49.280 People are genuinely grateful.

00:22:51.300 It's extraordinary, actually,

00:22:52.340 because you would think that, you know,

00:22:55.040 I find myself in a weird place.

00:22:56.480 Why are you thanking me for this when I'm not doing anything extraordinary here?

00:23:01.160 You know, I'm just tackling topics, which I think are interesting.

00:23:04.920 And just, you know, I'm not afraid to go into these subjects.

00:23:08.400 But yet people are incredibly grateful for what we do.

00:23:12.680 And that's telling.

00:23:13.900 That's telling because that just shows just how, you know,

00:23:18.760 how devoid of content, important content, the mainstream media space is.

00:23:27.200 Yeah.

00:23:27.300 But to go back to the gatekeeper comment, Anthony,

00:23:29.460 there's no permission slip to be a journalist.

00:23:31.840 There's no license to be a journalist.

00:23:33.400 I mean, journalism is what you do more than it's who you are.

00:23:36.400 And I've always really rejected the gatekeeping powers of like the

00:23:40.640 parliamentary press gallery or whatever, because none of us are special.

00:23:44.380 I mean, we have experience and training, but it's like all of us are just asking

00:23:48.060 the right questions and thinking to ask the questions.

00:23:50.180 And to go back to your convoy coverage, I mean, you weren't doing anything radical.

00:23:53.520 You were just going around talking to people,

00:23:54.980 which should have been what everyone else in Canadian media was doing.

00:23:58.420 Journalism 101.

00:23:58.900 Yeah.

00:23:59.500 So citizen journalism and independent journalism, they're not the same,

00:24:02.660 but they're very similar.

00:24:03.720 And I think more people need to be asking questions themselves of their leaders,

00:24:08.780 of institutions.

00:24:10.200 Yeah.

00:24:10.500 Look, with the Freedom Convoy protests, I think one of the problems,

00:24:15.500 and I should acknowledge this, the mainstream media, you know,

00:24:20.960 there were journalists from the mainstream media there on the ground,

00:24:23.400 and they really wanted to speak to the truckers and the protesters,

00:24:25.880 but everybody recognized them and they didn't trust them.

00:24:29.060 Yeah.

00:24:29.340 And just-

00:24:30.160 Well, it was easy because they had the bodyguards with them.

00:24:32.280 They had-

00:24:32.840 And you go there, you know, with this big camera on your shoulder

00:24:36.400 and you have like an entourage of people.

00:24:39.200 These are things that make people extremely uncomfortable,

00:24:42.480 especially if you don't trust a particular journalist because they have a certain slant,

00:24:46.920 you're not going to speak to them.

00:24:48.600 In my case, nobody really knew me.

00:24:51.220 You know, I was just writing a column for the National Post.

00:24:53.540 Nobody had even heard of me,

00:24:55.020 although I'd been doing it for two years at that point.

00:24:58.120 I was a fan of yours before it was cool to be a fan of yours.

00:25:00.460 I just like it noted.

00:25:01.300 Well, I really appreciate that.

00:25:02.520 And the feeling is mutual.

00:25:04.060 So, and so when I started chatting with people,

00:25:07.360 they'd ask me, so who do you write for?

00:25:09.420 And I'd say, well, I write for the National Post.

00:25:12.080 And they were like, oh, mainstream media.

00:25:13.920 I said, yes, but I'm a freelancer.

00:25:15.360 I'm independent.

00:25:16.400 I had to qualify it in that matter.

00:25:19.240 You have to walk around with your contract.

00:25:20.540 No, no, no, I'm freelance.

00:25:21.420 I can be trusted.

00:25:22.060 More importantly, Andrew and Anthony, I had to gain their trust.

00:25:26.380 I really had to spend time with them and tell them, look,

00:25:29.460 I just want to hear your story.

00:25:31.380 I don't have an agenda here.

00:25:32.860 I'm just here to listen.

00:25:34.100 Why are you here?

00:25:35.440 What's your, you know, what is your ultimate goal?

00:25:38.060 How long do you plan on being here?

00:25:39.520 These were the basic questions.

00:25:40.780 Speak to their kids and just have a conversation

00:25:43.800 that you would have with a friend.

00:25:45.520 And that was my approach for the full three weeks that I was there.

00:25:49.760 And eventually people started recognizing me

00:25:52.260 and they got comfortable speaking to me.

00:25:54.080 But that's really as simple, it's as simple as that.

00:25:57.580 And I didn't go to journalism school.

00:25:59.880 Just as we wind down here,

00:26:01.940 what is it that you're most interested in seeing

00:26:04.180 or most looking forward to in the remainder of the conference?

00:26:06.900 Well, if I can sort of cheat the question

00:26:09.860 and say hearing Stephen Harper give that address

00:26:12.860 about there being a conservative renaissance

00:26:15.020 in terms of people being much more open to those ideas

00:26:19.200 and also that the center, as I said earlier,

00:26:21.400 is sort of shifting, the pendulum is moving.

00:26:23.880 And I think he was talking about all of that

00:26:25.300 and a lot of it talking about the history

00:26:26.960 of the creation of both the reform movement,

00:26:29.760 even things like social credit,

00:26:31.140 things that weren't necessarily conservative,

00:26:32.860 hybrid politics, independent,

00:26:34.500 even some more sort of left-wing politics

00:26:36.720 that you saw in the prairies in decades past

00:26:38.720 and all of our conversation, I think,

00:26:41.460 has been underpinned by the idea

00:26:42.560 of people getting involved, grassroots involvement.

00:26:44.820 I think that was a real highlight.

00:26:47.060 And for you, last word.

00:26:48.040 For me, it was very similar to Anthony's observations.

00:26:52.440 I really like what Stephen Harper had to say,

00:26:54.420 especially on populism.

00:26:55.900 This is a topic that I've worked on quite extensively as well.

00:26:59.080 And I interviewed Preston Manning on this

00:27:01.340 and populism, you know, it's denigrated in the media

00:27:04.460 as a bad thing.

00:27:05.460 I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

00:27:07.900 Well, it is always great to see colleagues in person,

00:27:10.440 especially when we have a decentralized virtual operation.

00:27:13.940 We are going to get back to the conference.

00:27:15.600 We'll have more interviews coming out

00:27:16.880 in the days ahead here.

00:27:18.700 But my thanks to Anthony Fury, Rupa Subramania,

00:27:21.120 and the whole True North team here.

00:27:22.740 We will talk to you all later.

00:27:23.900 Have a wonderful weekend.

00:27:35.460 Thank you.

Juno News - March 25, 2023

True North Update from the Canada Strong and Free Conference

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