00:09:04.940So now we need a leader, a conservative leader, who are willing to accept that Justin Trudeau is hateful towards a certain segment of his own population.
00:09:13.820and come in aggressively and and i mean it's it's not a matter of shaking hands anymore um
00:09:18.940like the gauntlet has been thrown down uh we have a prime minister who basically showed uh canadians
00:09:24.140that that uh protesting peacefully and talking isn't good is it doesn't work with him i don't
00:09:30.300know what message that sends uh but like i said i think we need someone who's willing to show his
00:09:36.060fangs come out and tell the canadians that desperately want to see some opposition um what
00:09:41.820what he's made of and that he's not going to mince words come election time. I think you're
00:09:46.720right. I think so many Canadians just want someone who can take on Trudeau, someone who won't be
00:09:50.860deferent to him in the way that the media are and won't be too polite to him because he doesn't
00:09:54.460frankly deserve our courtesy and our politeness given the way that he's treated us. I want to
00:09:59.580bring in True North's Andrew Lawton. Andrew Lawton is on the ground at the debate in Edmonton. There's
00:10:05.100Andrew. Hey, Andrew, welcome to the live broadcast here. You're in Edmonton. Why don't you tell us a
00:10:10.300bit about what is going on at the debate uh set the stage for us about the event over there
00:10:16.140yeah i will do so right now i'm actually just outside of the foyer where they've had a nice
00:10:20.700little reception area and as much as i love the cash bar in there it was a little bit too noisy
00:10:25.260to dial into the broadcast from there uh they're expecting about 800 well actually i should say
00:10:29.980they have room for 800 they had about a thousand people register so i don't know if it's going to
00:10:33.980be standing room only but a lot of enthusiasm here people in western canada especially in
00:10:39.340in Conservative politics, often feel like everything is very Eastern-focused, Ontario-centric.
00:10:44.560So they're very happy that the party is having this debate out in Edmonton. They're very happy
00:10:49.320to have the opportunity to hear from the candidates here. And when I was chatting with people, one of
00:10:53.740the big questions I was asking is, do you have a candidate in mind? Met a couple of people who
00:10:57.780were undecided, but every single person but one who was not undecided was saying they were here
00:11:04.440for Pierre Polyev. And I don't share that because I'm endorsing Pierre. I share that just because
00:11:08.480when the debate starts, I think you can expect to see a home field advantage from Pierre Polyev
00:11:13.860here, who was born in Alberta. And I was wondering if that would actually give him enough cred to be
00:11:19.460recognized as a Westerner. And a lot of people are saying, yeah, he's Albertan enough for them.
00:11:25.000Well, I mean, it's true. And I think that a lot of people at West are just excited that,
00:11:29.960you know, Pierre has the momentum, he's got, you know, he's kind of has the ability to go viral
00:11:35.260online and you know the fact that he is elected in ontario kind of shows that he can be elected
00:11:41.180in multiple parts of the of the of the country so i think he certainly has a lot going for you
00:11:46.540going for him andrew i wonder though like you know the the sort of heart and soul of the
00:11:51.500conservative movement the conservative party has always been alberta and it was sort of strange
00:11:55.580that you we didn't see any alberta mps uh throw their hat in and and try to run for for leader
00:12:01.500Do you hear any grumbling about that? Is there any reason why we don't have any Alberta MPs
00:12:07.360trying to become leader of this party at this point?
00:12:10.560It's a tough question. And I think that one of the big things that a lot of people are latching
00:12:14.960onto is whether they have Alberta-centric policies or policies that are friendly to
00:12:20.180Albertans in Alberta. And a big part of that comes down to energy, oil and gas, that sort of stuff.
00:12:24.860But it isn't exclusively that. And I think that's the big thing. There are a lot of challenges that
00:12:29.020people in Western Canada are raising about sovereignty, about independence on taxation
00:12:34.300and other government policies, about equalization. That's a big one. People that want a prime
00:12:39.220minister and a leader that's going to advocate for a renewed equalization formula. So there are
00:12:43.720other challenges that I hope will be raised tonight and that a lot of people here hope will
00:12:48.100be raised tonight. And to go back to the discussion you were having before you brought me in about
00:12:52.020what we can expect from the moderator, that's the big thing. A lot of the time, the legacy media
00:12:55.980folks don't care about the West or don't know about the West. We're talking about the conservative
00:13:01.180heartland here. We're talking about a debate in Alberta for the leadership of the Conservative
00:13:05.580Party of Canada, a party that wouldn't even be in play if it weren't for Alberta and Saskatchewan
00:13:10.260seats. So there need to be questions about the West and its place in Canada that go beyond just
00:13:16.000pipelines. Well, I certainly, you know, I think that Tom Clark has his work cut out for him. I'm
00:13:22.060certainly cheering for him just in terms of you know doing exactly that you being in touch with
00:13:26.380what conservatives care about what issues are important in western canada because there's
00:13:30.220certainly a big divide we saw this a lot both in 2019 and 2021 andrew where you know the media
00:13:36.700would fixate on these really little minute issues and you'd have like 20 questions about critical
00:13:43.420race theory or systemic racism and it's like you know they don't they don't talk about the issues
00:13:48.060um that actually matter and so i i really hope um i am cheering for tom clark and i hope he he
00:13:53.340does a good job i'm sure he will i want to ask you about patrick brown because he is sort of
00:13:57.500making his first appearance you know he doesn't do a lot of media he doesn't do a lot of interviews
00:14:01.020he didn't bother to show up to the canada strong and free debate last week he was the only one that
00:14:05.420didn't and i i'm wondering you know does he have support out there uh have you had a chance to
00:14:11.420talk to him or any of his people and and what do you sort of expect him to do i think the pressure
00:14:15.980on him to do something and everyone's gonna be watching him. So I'm wondering what your take is
00:14:20.580on that. Yeah, I mean, all of the candidates, each of the candidates was given a table on which they
00:14:25.400could have volunteers and put up signs and give out pamphlets and that sort of stuff. And one of
00:14:30.280the interesting things that happened is all of these tables were full of volunteers handing it
00:14:35.540out except Patrick Brown's. When I was last in the room about 15-20 minutes ago, his table was empty
00:14:40.140and just had a little placard on it that the party had sat there that said Patrick Brown. Now, maybe
00:14:43.980they've loaded it up since then. But at the time that I was in there, they weren't really interested
00:14:47.760in doing that politicking that all of the other candidates are doing. Now, I should say the one
00:14:52.380person I spoke to who is a decided voter that wasn't a Pierre Polyev supporter was a Patrick
00:14:57.340Brown supporter. So he does have some support if some is greater than zero in Alberta. But, you
00:15:03.060know, he can surprise a lot of people because his strategy has been don't worry about debates,
00:15:07.360don't worry about media, focus on selling membership, selling, selling, selling. And if
00:15:12.000you're a local candidate seeking the nomination in a riding like Brampton West or a Bitsy Beach
00:15:17.140and Miskaming that's the strategy you you aren't going to get votes doing radio interviews and all
00:15:21.240candidates forums but in a leadership contest in a national contest I don't know if that's enough
00:15:27.140I don't know if you can win people over unless you're prepared to take the stage and answer
00:15:31.380questions I mean maybe the joke will be on all of us and he'll have outsold everyone but that's
00:15:35.800going to be the big question is you know at a certain point you lose support by not being there
00:15:40.300and I worry that was the case for him last.
00:15:42.540I mean, I know he said he won the debate last time
00:21:15.000the Liberals. So, I mean, right now, I think Pierre just has to keep nailing his points home,
00:21:21.500keep saying the same things that's gotten him all the attention. And I think it's really just
00:21:25.960a race between the people that recognize that Canada is in an unprecedented situation
00:21:32.620constitutionally, legally, and the people that, like Jean Charest, who are constantly accusing
00:21:38.400poliver of supporting illegal activities. So to me, it's just that it's two completely different
00:21:46.140streams. And it's interesting to see those two heads go at it. Sorry, go ahead.
00:21:54.420Well, I was just going to say that one thing I'm also looking forward to seeing is how Roman
00:21:58.760Baber performs. I think that he surprised a lot of members in the debate last week. I know in the
00:22:03.840comments, people are, are supporting Roman Baber. And I think that he has a really unique opportunity
00:22:09.020to, um, obviously he's one of the only candidates that has a different, a different sort of
00:22:14.120perspective comes from a different place from the provincial level. And he's got a very strong
00:22:19.280record on the issues that a lot of conservatives are looking to hear him speak on. And, and, um,
00:22:23.880I thought he came out measured. Um, he was, he was very well-spoken and I do think he surprised
00:22:29.160a lot of people. I'm looking to see how he surprises members tonight. I felt that too.
00:22:34.140Like I know, just to echo what Andrew said earlier that, you know, he's walking around
00:22:37.860trying to look for people to interview and asking who you're supporting. When I was in Ottawa,
00:22:42.760the last debate, almost everyone I talked to was a peer supporter. Like that was, you know,
00:22:47.200they were interested in some of the other candidates and they thought so-and-so did a
00:22:50.140good job, bad job. But when people were willing to say who they supported, it was usually Pierre.
00:22:55.340However, I just felt the energy in the room and during the debate that it was Roman that was really hitting the applause lines. It was really getting people behind him. Like when he was talking, there was just a sort of organic agreement with him and people shouting out and people applauding him throughout the debate. So he is definitely onto something with the issues that he talks about.
00:23:16.520and you know it'll be interesting to see whether he can kind of drive on that momentum because
00:23:22.020I do think that a lot of people just simply don't know him you know he's not a federal politician
00:23:25.480he's he's on the scene in Ontario and you know even for for us and for me personally you know
00:23:32.100I had him on my show during the pandemic because he was he was sort of a lone fighter speaking out
00:23:37.460against some of the craziest you know policies and and and the harmful impact was having on kids
00:23:43.460and schools and, you know, people at the margins and people who suffer, could suffer from falling
00:23:49.120through the cracks. Like he was really an advocate for those people at a time when there weren't very
00:23:53.260many. And I think a lot of people really admired him for that. I certainly did, especially leaving
00:23:58.480a conservative government, right? Like it's not like he, you know, he had to go it alone. He took
00:24:03.220incredible risks. And I think that the fact that he's in this race, he adds so much just because
00:24:09.540he is so willing to talk about his issues. It's like, you know, he doesn't really have a lot to1.00
00:24:13.760lose, right? He's still trying to establish himself as a sort of federal figure. And he can
00:24:19.560really speak out in an honest way that you can't really when you're part of a caucus or when you're
00:24:24.420really the front runner, right? So I feel like Roman brings a lot of honesty and attention to
00:24:30.680some of the most important issues that I think many in our political elite class, and unfortunately
00:24:34.980that does include Pierre would rather not talk about because it's uncomfortable to look in a
00:24:40.260mirror and say, you know, you let this happen. You let kids suffer not going to school. You were
00:24:44.760responsible for churches closing and AA meetings shutting down and all of these people, you know,
00:24:49.960falling again through the cracks. So I'm happy to see him here. Harley, I know this is sort of
00:24:56.100your beat and the thing that you cover the most with True North is civil liberties and all of the
00:25:00.180different ways that our country has failed us over the last two years. What did you think
00:25:05.180specifically about Roman Baber and his presence at the last debate? I think you're right. I think
00:25:11.260he's in a privileged position where he can say exactly how he feels. I think he's a fast-running
00:25:16.300pace setter. I think he can set the stage. He was born in the former Soviet Union. We've had a few
00:25:23.160Canadians who supported the protests, the convoy protests from the former Soviet Union,
00:25:29.240including a police officer in Edmonton who said, you know, people need to recognize what's happening
00:25:33.580because I see it. Roman Barber is one of them. I have friends who like him a great deal. I think
00:25:38.500he's doing really well. And you're right. Pierre Polivar, sorry, Andrew Scheer pronounced it
00:25:44.460Polivar, Polivar, has been around a long time, close to 20 years. He's not a new face. So this
00:25:51.400kind of wave he's riding is new for him as well. And he has to be careful at the same time as he
00:25:57.700he really has to you know he has to grab the red meat when it's thrown at him so he's actually in
00:26:02.880a pretty precarious situation as well it's almost like he has to be careful but he has to jump at
00:26:06.640the same time so I think Baber is in a great position to debate Pierre into making the stands
00:26:11.980that he'd be otherwise a little bit careful about making well that's kind of also the fun of these
00:26:17.300you know leadership races and you see this in primaries in the U.S. and Republican side that
00:26:22.800you know, what ends up happening is that, you know, you're talking to a conservative base,
00:26:27.680you're talking to an audience of people who fundamentally share your values, and you can go
00:26:31.620a lot further than you than you might when you're talking on a federal stage or a federal election.
00:26:35.740So it's, it's really interesting, to your point to see maybe if, if Baber and Leslie Lewis can
00:26:41.260kind of push Pierre into more of the populist red meat conservative stuff, and, you know, pull that
00:26:47.220out of them, because maybe you'll have to go down that path in order to be leader. And then and then0.82
00:26:52.080you know, it's a fun part for us as independent journalists to make sure we hold these guys to
00:26:55.920account because as we've seen far too often in the last couple of years, conservatives say one
00:27:01.780thing over here to get elected from their base and you get put in as leader. And then when it
00:27:07.080comes to the national stage, they change their tone and they're afraid of the media and they
00:27:10.940just want everyone to like them. And it's a totally different thing. Harrison, do you think
00:27:15.540we run that risk with this crop of candidates? And what specifically are you looking out for
00:27:21.520tonight? Well, I think tonight what I really want to see is Leslyn Lewis break out of what I felt
00:27:27.920was a bit of a hole she found herself in. She was really hammering on the Freedom Convoy and0.99
00:27:32.620laying into that message. I think she has more to offer. And I'm looking forward to seeing what
00:27:36.880she has to say on some of the, specifically some of the Western issues. I think that's a place
00:27:42.060where she lacks. And I think obviously from my opinion with Roman Babber, I don't know if he's
00:27:48.560necessarily expecting to win the leadership, but he was part of the race to make sure that he puts
00:27:53.820himself on the federal level. In many ways, I think he's already done that and proven to be
00:27:58.320successful in that. So if Roman Babber can have a similar performance as he did last week,
00:28:03.080I think he'll continue to ride this momentum. I'm looking to see how Patrick Brown handles some of
00:28:08.560the heat I'm sure he's going to receive on stage. And yeah, like I said, I'd like to see what
00:28:12.520Leslie Lewis has to offer that is outside of what we know about her stance on the Freedom Convoy.
00:28:18.560Yeah, I'll echo that. I hope she sort of expands and touches more on some of the great
00:28:23.620policies. She's putting out some great stuff in terms of her ideas for the party. I know
00:28:28.840that she put out a whole sort of pro-natalism, pro-mother, pro-family set of policies that
00:28:35.500include doubling your CCB Canadian child care benefit if you don't enroll your children
00:28:42.100in one of these government daycare schemes. She wants to offer women two years maternity0.94
00:28:46.260leave. She wants to start paying this child benefit when the mother is pregnant 12 weeks in0.91
00:28:51.660just to help with costs that come with bringing a little one into the world. And I think those0.94
00:28:58.040are the kind of things that conservatives really need to be talking about and promoting our own
00:29:03.180policy agenda, conservative policy agenda. One name we haven't mentioned yet is Scott Aitchison.
00:29:08.220Do either of you gentlemen want to comment on his performance in the last debate and what you
00:29:12.880expect from him tonight maybe maybe harley you can take a crack at this one well he's a fellow
00:29:18.820british colombian uh i felt scott uh the really the only thing that stuck out to me is he just
00:29:25.120was kind of like one of those let's all get along guys i mean he kind of every time somebody's two
00:29:29.600people started going at it or three people he'd be like let's let's just calm down let's all let's
00:29:33.980all play it nice um i don't think that's going to cut it here i think he's going to have to jump in
00:29:38.720And he's going to have to take the gloves off and start swinging with the rest of them, because that's not the situation we're in as a country and certainly as a leadership election campaign.
00:29:48.260What about you, Harrison? What do you think?
00:29:50.540Yeah, I mean, I think Scott Aikerson is one of the only candidates to really come out strong on supply management.
00:29:56.440And that seems to be the one thing he's very confident about.
00:29:59.140And it is a it is a touchy issue, especially even in the conservative base.
00:30:02.820So he's in Alberta. He's got a chance to pick up on the performance. I think he came out as sort of one of the softer candidates on stage. And maybe he can lean into that one policy on supply management that he seems really to be quite strong on.
00:30:19.880Yeah, it's almost to me a little off-putting because Scott HSC seems like a really great
00:30:25.160guy, nice guy interpersonally and sort of has that quaint, quirky sort of small town
00:30:29.980mayor type feeling, which I think he was a small town mayor before he became a federal
00:39:11.700Good evening, candidates. Everybody well? I do believe this is my problem.
00:39:25.080I'll be right with you. There we go. Thank you so much. Okay. So, good evening. To remind you of what we are going to do right off the top, as you know, we gave you, in a sense, a little assignment before you came here.
00:39:38.940You've been working on this, no doubt diligently, for a couple of days now.
00:39:42.700But what we asked you to do was to finish this sentence.
00:46:47.660Well, it's hard to say how high it will be when I take office, but there's no question that we have to hold those accountable who have caused it.
00:46:56.280You know, money printing government deficits have caused more dollars chasing fewer goods driving higher prices,
00:47:03.080and the Bank of Canada governor has allowed himself to become the ATM machine of this government.
00:47:08.320And so I would replace him with a new governor who would reinstate our low inflation mandate, protect the purchasing power of our dollar, and honor the working people who earn those dollars.
00:47:25.440Okay. I have a feeling we'll be getting back to the point you made in a minute.
00:55:48.740Next question, Mr. Baber, it goes to you.
00:55:51.220Way back in the 1970s, you may not be able to remember that, but nevertheless, ancient history, but Pierre Truro brought in supply management, basically a state-run system to manage dairy and poultry industries in this country, setting huge tariffs for foreign products and in the process, inflating prices here at home.
00:56:13.200Do you support the current supply management system? Yes or no?
00:56:17.280No, there is no free country when you have centrally planned economy.
00:56:21.280Instead of protecting supply management and central political planning,
00:56:25.280we should not cap how much dairy Canadians may produce.
00:56:29.280It's utter nonsense. I oppose supply management.
00:57:49.600Our dairy and egg producers give us superior products.0.89
00:57:54.240Without supply management, our industry would be overrun by U.S. producers.
00:58:00.700I prefer to have a superior product that we'll pay a little bit more for,
00:58:05.260and if we want to bring down the price, cut the carbon tax.
00:58:07.660Okay. I'm going to ask Mr. Baber and you, Dr. Lewis, because you hold opposing views on this.
00:58:14.080Mr. Baber, why don't you tell Dr. Lewis exactly why it is that we should not have supply management
00:58:19.340and perhaps, as the critics of your position would say, put those industries into jeopardy.
00:58:26.360So one of the themes today is cost of living.
00:58:30.220At a time when cost of living is so high, visit a grocery store, life is becoming unaffordable.
00:58:36.260Why not to increase more supply instead of telling farmers how much milk they can produce?
00:58:41.840We should encourage the creation of more goods, especially if we're worried about inflation.
00:58:46.580But I support a gradual phasing out of supply management because, yes, we do have quotas and we have concessions that people bought.
00:58:53.260We have to provide them with some ease down, but we should not cap how much Canadians can produce.
00:58:58.680Okay. And Dr. Lewis, critics of your position might say, what is a conservative doing supporting the policies of Pierre Trudeau on a state-imposed mechanism?
00:59:09.600Well, from a free market perspective, supply management, of course, is not a free market ideology.
00:59:18.320However, we have to ensure that we support our farmers and we have to ensure that Canadians get the best product on their table.
00:59:27.300If we want to cut costs, we can cut the carbon tax, and that is what is bringing up the cost of food for Canadians.
01:01:21.580I don't believe that government has a role in how people start and grow their families.
01:01:25.380If it's conservatives who want to stay out of people's lives, then we should stay out of the most intimate areas of their lives.
01:01:30.700But that doesn't mean that we don't respect parliamentary democracy, that we gag our MPs, that we don't allow people to contest nomination.
01:01:36.840I'm wondering how all my friends feel about others in caucus who have different views.
01:01:40.940we're okay let's just further explore this a little bit mr shere i want to start with you
01:01:47.020and mr aitchison i want to bring you into the conversation as well i you say you know everybody
01:01:52.780interpreted the question of a law around abortion as restricting it what if it was a law enshrining
01:01:59.900it well it's it's not what's anticipated i mean it's clearly not the case but on this issue let's
01:02:06.940can we be clear on one thing every candidate in this race needs to tell the women of canada where
01:02:12.700they stand whether they're pro or against they the women of canada deserve to know where they
01:02:17.980stand and mr poliev's answer quite frankly does not fit that test okay
01:02:26.060uh we will be taking 10 seconds away from mr poliev but mr aitchison get in
01:02:30.940I think it's important for us to always be respectful of each other. There are really
01:02:42.160strong views and deeply held beliefs on this issue, and this is one of the problems that
01:02:46.660I see in our party today. We've become factions, and we don't listen to each other and respect
01:02:53.120each other as we debate ideas and differing opinions. The Canadians will never trust us,
01:02:58.740And so this to me is about respect, and really I don't see a lot of that, unfortunately,
01:08:28.220The sad reality of this is that our military procurement system has become a joke in the world, and we waste money, and we don't have the right equipment for our men and women in service, and our partners, our allies, are making new alliances without us because we're not a reliable partner.
01:08:44.160Mr. Polyev, I just want to dig a little bit deeper into your answer.
01:08:48.140You said that we should work towards it, so not necessarily meeting it.
01:08:53.340But as you know, this is one of the main irritants in Canada-U.S. relations, regardless of the administration.
01:08:59.780When you say work towards it, have you got a time frame in mind as to when we get to 2%?
01:09:05.960Look, it will take a progressive move because it's roughly an extra $14 or $15 billion a year.
01:09:11.860If you up the budget in one year, well, then you're going to have a bunch of bureaucrats at the Defense Department trying to shovel the cash out the door without getting proper results.
01:09:20.320In fact, they can't spend the budgets they have right now and get results.
01:09:24.280So I will increase it as fast as we possibly can within the confines of our accosted budget and towards putting those dollars into getting results for our soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
01:09:37.820And Mr. Baber, I want to come back to you on this because you have a slightly different view as to what we should be doing.
01:09:45.300Yeah, I think that Canada's credibility in the world is eroded right now because some countries don't believe we're an actual democracy anymore.
01:09:53.020And so we need to focus on resolving our issues at home while increasing our NATO commitment, to meet our NATO commitment, and that's about 50%.
01:10:01.240But we should not go beyond our treaty commitments at this point.
01:10:05.580I appreciate the role that Canada played traditionally in peacekeeping, but now it's time for other countries to step up and take the lead.
01:10:12.960God knows we have enough problems at home at this moment.
01:12:47.220Yes, having a strong collaborative relationship with indigenous communities will be essential if we are committed to building pipelines in this country.
01:12:55.400We need to have that strong collaboration. We need to get pipelines built. We need to create prosperity in indigenous communities and across the country.
01:13:03.320Okay, and I just want to bring you and Dr. Lewis in because there was just one thing I didn't quite understand.
01:13:09.060Would you, Dr. Lewis, implement all 94 recommendations?
01:13:12.140I will implement any recommendation that uplifts the lives of Indigenous people.
01:17:15.280former Premier Bill Davis. I felt he radiated decency. I learned more from
01:17:20.740him than than anyone else. He lived only a few doors down from me in Brampton,
01:17:24.640Ontario and I think his legacy is one that is enormous in our country.
01:17:30.860Mr. Polyev. Well, Wilfrid Laurier. He opened up the West to immigration that
01:17:37.480brought many of my ancestors here. Though he was a Catholic, he made a point of
01:17:41.840reading a Protestant Bible so he could understand the other side. He said that
01:17:45.760he used to pick fights with the Scottish boys and flirt with the
01:17:48.980Scottish girls and managed to bring all the Canadian nations together into this
01:17:53.000wonderful country we call Canada based on the principle of freedom.
01:17:56.840Thank you. Dr. Lewis. Point of clarification was it did it have to be
01:18:02.300Canadian? I didn't hear. Just your political hero as long as it's not Winston Churchill.
01:18:06.640William Wilberforce. He spent his life fighting for the abolition of slavery, even though he never knew whether or not he would see that materialize. But he had convictions to stand up for what he believed in, and he did not matter if it sacrificed his political career.
01:24:48.760Bridgerton. And what I loved about that is that people, it was a different era, and people did not see race.
01:24:57.600They just existed and coexisted, and it was very beautiful because I also watched it in French and also improved my French.
01:25:06.280Okay, excellent. Thank you all very much. We've got one question left, and then we're going to go back to some other stuff.
01:25:12.020But this is a good one, and Mr. Polyev, I'm going to throw this one to you.
01:25:15.300What historical figure from any time, anywhere, would you most like to have dinner with?
01:25:24.300Abraham Lincoln. I think through principle and courage, he saved the American Union and ended slavery.
01:25:33.300He did so at great, obviously, ultimate personal sacrifice with his eventual assassination.0.59
01:25:39.300But he had an incredible brain that he brought, that he taught himself as an autodidact, coming from humble beginnings as a working class person.
01:26:06.640Ronald Reagan. He opposed one of the greatest evils of the 20th century, opposed the radical left and communism and did it with grace and with courage.
01:26:17.800And we need to be resolute in the face of all those that would seek to erode our democracy. I admire him very much.
01:32:13.080Well, there is, and there's also a cost to the approach taken by Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Chiray.
01:32:18.000They both believe in targeting law-abiding people who use firearms responsibly after having been vetted, licensed, and are already in possession of a license and training.
01:32:31.160If Ture went after them with a long gun registry in Quebec, Trudeau wants to spend a billion dollars targeting these same people.
01:32:37.900That money that Ture and Trudeau spent going after law-abiding people could have been spent reinforcing border security
01:32:45.400to stop the 80% of gun crimes that actually come in through smuggling.
01:32:50.560And we could also, instead of going after the lawful, target the criminals who would do the crimes with mandatory prison sentences to take them off our streets.
01:40:26.160Well, Mr. Brown, that's not what I said.
01:40:28.180you're misleading the public. I clearly stated that people should have the freedom. Now, the
01:40:33.180reason why many people have chosen to exercise that freedom is because central banks have been
01:40:38.420attacking the value of our national currencies by printing $400 billion here in Canada, leading to
01:40:45.08030-year highs in inflation, doubling the house prices, leading to massive volatility in many
01:40:50.880sectors of our economy. And that risk is one I pointed out earlier on and could lead to another
01:40:56.460debt crisis. So frankly, we should protect the value of our traditional money rather than banning
01:41:01.060private money. Mr. Brown, you're up. So Mr. Paul, I've just said that he didn't say that. No one in
01:41:06.880this room and no one in Canada will believe that you didn't say you can opt out of inflation
01:41:10.700through cryptocurrency. That is misleading. Your words are there. You can Google it yourself and
01:41:16.080watch it on the internet. And I have to say, it is bad advice to be giving to Canadians that is so
01:41:22.060risky. And you should know that. As a former finance critic, that's not the advice you should1.00
01:41:25.920be giving to the country and mr. Polly have you raised your your paddle for one more time mr.
01:41:32.480mr. brown if you want to talk about risks to people's finances you were the one who said you
01:41:38.880promised when you ran for the leadership of the progressive conservative party of Ontario you
01:41:43.500would oppose the carbon tax and then as soon as you got in you reversed yourself entirely not
01:41:48.720only you did you endorse just any carbon tax you endorsed the carbon tax of Justin Trudeau which
01:41:54.960is in place today and recently increased and is one of the reasons why prices are so high across
01:42:00.280this country. That is a threat to our money. That is a decision you made after you promised not to.
01:42:05.460People can't believe a word you said. Mr. Bever. I can't believe that you have a bunch of politicians
01:42:10.380here, career politicians, giving people investment advice. Let's distinguish the issue, okay? There's
01:42:15.900digital currency controlled by government that has government friction potentially and compromises
01:42:20.340our privacy. And then there are investment decisions that people make. Human ingenuity
01:42:24.820is great. We should encourage research and development and diversified portfolios. But
01:42:29.580we should behave like conservatives again and not tell people what they should and should
01:42:33.040invest in. Maybe we should oppose supply management. Maybe we should oppose equalization. We should
01:42:37.860not be afraid of being who we are. Enough. Mr. Baber, that's great. Are we all done?
01:42:43.760Okay. I do remind you, you've only got five. So, talking about bank accounts. I don't know, but somebody over there does. And they will tell me and I will tell you. All of this conversation, though, leads neatly to my next question. And the topic is the future of the party. Mr. Charest, who would you like to debate on the future of the party?
01:48:21.020I did confirm my position that I will not introduce any law on abortion as Prime Minister. I made that very clear.
01:48:26.020very clear. But Mr. Charest, you're wrong about your tax record. You raised the sales tax, the
01:48:30.600carbon tax, the fuel tax. Just like Patrick Brown, you're trying to flip-flop on it and say one thing
01:48:35.280on the stage different than what you said before. And the overall tax burden in Quebec went from 19%
01:48:40.960of the economy to 25% of the economy under your government. That is your record. You can't run
01:48:47.060away from it. I have a clear, solid record as a tax cutter that leaves more money in people's
01:48:51.620Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Brown, you have 30 seconds.
01:48:55.380First of all, Pierre Pauly have just ran on a carbon tax on a carbon tax and knocked on doors in Carleton literally six months ago, literally in the last election.
01:49:04.160Now, but let's talk about the future of the party.
01:49:06.460The future of the party, we have to win where we've lost.
01:49:09.180We've lost in suburban Canada, and I don't see us winning any new seats.
01:49:13.380Actually, I see us losing seats if we run on the same discriminatory policies that Pierre Pauly has had a history of supporting.
01:49:19.020We must be the party that celebrates and supports religious freedom, not tramples it.
02:00:27.200I'm very interested in mining. There's an insatiable appetite right now around the world for precious metals and precious
02:00:33.860minerals and Canada and the north are blessed with them and we can do this. We can strike the right balance.
02:00:40.380We can consult stakeholders and we can protect the environment, but we need to end this resistance to the development of natural resources and
02:00:48.200Northern communities are going to be the greatest beneficiaries of that. That also means we'll improve infrastructure and build roads and highways in the north.
02:06:09.960Well, Roman, on the issue of lockdowns, and I agree, I think one of the things we need to do if we don't want to have the lockdowns and the restrictions we had the last time is change our healthcare system so that we have capacity.
02:06:21.600That's one of the reasons why Canada had more restrictions than anywhere else in the world, because we don't.
02:06:27.880So we need to open up this healthcare system so there's more flexibility, more private sector participation in this.
02:06:34.460on inflation, we need to reduce spending, and we also need to, I think, reduce the income tax load
02:06:41.740of Canadians. I did that during the Great Recession, and we had a better performance
02:06:46.080than Ontario, Canada, the United States, or Europe. Lower unemployment and stronger economic growth.
02:06:52.920Those are the things that we can do to increase the disposable income of people, which is exactly
02:06:58.820what happened after I was Premier. The disposable income, especially of lower-income people,
02:07:04.460increase substantially because we reduce taxes and controlled spending thanks very much mr
02:07:11.500baber you have 45. we should never lock down mr shere no matter what the circumstances are
02:07:18.140we have to acknowledge the toll that this took on people a mental health pandemic uh
02:07:23.660in ontario alone more than 300 000 surgeries were delayed more than a million cancer screenings
02:07:28.860missed the whole point is that the toll on our health was considerably greater instead
02:07:34.140we should have been protecting vulnerable populations, beefing up our resources in
02:07:40.540congregate settings where 80% of the risk was. We should have been increasing the healthcare
02:07:47.740capacity we had, but we should acknowledge lockdowns, the effect on our children, the effect
02:07:53.260on small business. This is something that we cannot escape and we need to think about and resolve
02:07:58.140going long long term well and you know we agree we agree that we need to avoid the lockdowns and
02:08:04.860that's why i would change the canada health act i do introduce a new hat because canada's issue
02:08:10.300has been capacity we're the country in the world who's had that problem capacity able to absorb
02:08:15.340people but let me also talk about something else in relation to inflation mr pollier's suggestion
02:08:20.700of firing the governor of the bank of canada his suggestion that i'm saying that the bank
02:08:25.740in Canada is financially illiterate is irresponsible. It creates doubt. If you're
02:08:31.380an investor looking at coming to Canada and you hear that kind of a statement
02:08:35.580coming from a member of the House of Commons, you'd think you're in a third
02:08:39.600world country. We cannot afford to have any leader who goes out there and
02:08:44.160deliberately undermines the confidence in institutions. Conservatives do not do
02:08:49.560that. Mr. Baber you have 30 seconds. Thank you. I'm going to go back to the cost of
02:08:54.480living the political class is out of touch with Canadians prices for produce
02:08:59.700for instance have tripled this may be one of the greatest challenges that
02:09:03.300Canadians are facing right now and we need to do everything possible to make
02:09:07.980life more affordable for them not more expensive let's repeal the carbon tax
02:09:13.020it's increasing the price on everything let's cut the income tax and let's stop
02:09:19.560developing the loonie. Well on the on the carbon tax I agree with Roman that we
02:09:26.960need to get out and repeal the Trudeau carbon tax on consumers and I would be
02:09:32.660inspired by Alberta. Here in Alberta since 2002 and you renewed this in 2019
02:09:39.180there is a price on carbon for large emitters and let me point something out
02:09:44.520here this is extremely important to get it right otherwise we will not be
02:09:48.640elected as a political party if we're not credible on this, A, B, we will not get
02:09:53.500investment unless there is a predictable investment environment on an issue like
02:09:57.820pricing carbon. Thank you. That round is finished. Would anybody else like to join
02:10:04.000in? Mr. Brown, you've still got points as do you. We don't have any more points. No, I know you're out.
02:10:11.960yeah sorry about that okay we are now going to move on to the next question
02:10:19.720then mr. Brown the issue is climate change who would you like to debate my
02:10:25.400friend dr. Leslie Lewis okay dr. Lewis and Patrick Brown mr. Brown here is the
02:10:32.300question in 2015 almost every country in the world including Canada signed on to
02:10:40.160Paris Accords to fight climate change. To date not a single G20 country is on
02:10:45.980track to meet that obligation. Should the Paris Agreement still be the benchmark
02:10:51.200for Canada in measuring itself by and if yes would you commit to meeting the
02:10:56.420initial Paris Agreement by 2030 and who will bear the cost of getting us there?
02:11:02.120So first of all I should say that the Liberals promise Canada to targets they
02:11:06.780have no intention no plan to meet and that's part of the problem we need to
02:11:11.280have a credible environmental plan to actually achieve the targets the Canada
02:11:15.600commits to I don't believe in Canada committing to targets that were unable
02:11:19.140to commit and frankly it is it is photo op environmentalism how is it better for
02:11:24.780the environment to be importing foreign dictator oil into Canada I find it
02:11:30.600infuriating that I can't use when I want to fill up the pump in Brampton Ontario
02:11:35.100can't use and be a wealth generator for the Canadian energy sector and I and I
02:11:39.960have to say at the fact that our Prime Minister this Prime Minister doesn't
02:11:46.320understand that it is a huge toll on our economy it's costing Canadians more you
02:11:51.860know looking at the latest stats 73,000 barrels from Saudi Arabia the loss to
02:11:57.300our economies he hasn't invested into our energy corridor 14 billion you know
02:15:45.240Thank you. Would anybody else like to say anything? Mr. Charest.
02:15:52.240Well, this is a key issue for us. We need to do a lot of things, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, blue-green, biofuels, small modular reactors.
02:16:03.240Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan are working together to develop those technologies.
02:16:09.240replace the carbon tax of Mr. Trudeau with something similar to what Alberta is doing for large emitters
02:16:16.120and have a credible policy on this in the next campaign, ladies and gentlemen.
02:16:21.280Otherwise, our government will not be elected.
02:28:52.360The time they had to answer was also way too short.
02:28:54.680like people have to have time to express their ideas if politics is about 15 second pitches and
02:28:59.800i think that's a problem that needs to be addressed we need to have longer conversations
02:29:04.920about policy ideas not just 15 seconds clips that maybe will look good on a facebook post
02:29:12.200yeah i mean i think we need more than 15 seconds to discuss the fundamental issues of our country
02:29:17.560and our democracy absolutely harrison what do you think well where do you start harley it's uh
02:29:23.640it was really it was really quite embarrassing i think for um people who take these sorts of
02:29:29.800things very seriously canadians who want to actually hear who the potential next leader of
02:29:35.240our country is and what they have to say and the way that it was moderated the way that it was
02:29:39.960formatted was was horrendous it's so bad in fact that the moderator who i thought was incredibly
02:29:45.240poor couldn't even keep up with his own rules i mean he had to ask the candidates on stage
02:29:50.520what the rules were so he could he could follow along himself and i think one thing that just
02:29:55.240jumped out at me was on top of the fact that obviously most conservative party members were
02:30:00.680let down by that debate they didn't even touch on housing which i think is a key issue in this
02:30:05.880entire uh campaign and also the front runner didn't get to speak for the last 45 minutes of
02:30:13.160the debate because the way the format worked out he had something to say he had something
02:30:17.400challenge the uh the person who i think most would agree that is in second place john charay
02:30:22.360that's pierre paulia but he went back and forth with john charay and then he lost the rest of
02:30:26.520his chance to speak so he couldn't even speak for the last 45 minutes of the debate and i think it
02:30:30.360was a huge waste yeah i was watching it um and i i couldn't understand why uh pierre paulia wasn't
02:30:38.200speaking towards the end and then i had to be reminded he right he'd run out of paddle points
02:30:42.360because people in the audience had cheered him and he was personally punished for that so i think
02:30:47.000you're right like what is this this is this a democracy or dictatorship i think you're
02:30:50.920you're right on with that uh but but let's get past that i mean uh the the format's taken up
02:30:55.640enough of our time so uh how do you think though the performances went um you know they didn't have
02:31:01.000a lot of time to go face to face with things i think uh the moderator tom clark kind of steered
02:31:06.360them in the directions he wanted but as far as their ability to to debate ideas how do you think
02:31:11.160that went early well i do have to say i wasn't as impressed as i thought i would be with certain
02:31:17.400candidates i mean of course i think just like the last debate the one that really stands out
02:31:21.560is roman babber and it's uh because of his ideas roman babber has very kind of wealth
02:31:26.280thought through ideas he uh has said the same thing since uh when he came out against the
02:31:32.360lockdowns i mean i want to remind everybody that roman babber uh was kicked out of the pc doug
02:31:37.240for his caucus when he opposed his lockdowns and then stood in the legislature and fought for the
02:31:43.000reopening of Ontario, fought for unvaccinated people that wanted to lose their jobs. Meanwhile,
02:31:47.800I don't personally recall Pierre Polyèvre saying anything while O'Toole was clamping down on the
02:31:52.760civil liberties caucus that MPs like Marilyn Gladoux tried to form. So I think, again,
02:31:58.760Roman came up as very genuine. I will also give a bit of credit to Jean Charest. While I don't agree
02:32:05.560with some of his policies for someone his age he he is very charismatic he's very passionate and and
02:32:12.120i for also somebody who is not anglophone he's like me he's french canadian he expressed himself
02:32:17.480i thought very well tonight i agree i think baber came out on top actually just uh he didn't miss
02:32:24.760any opportunities to get some punches in yeah he stood up for the freedom convoy pointed out
02:32:29.560everything had been debunked he didn't seem afraid to make a stand for anything so i definitely agree
02:32:34.200with you there uh harrison how do you think the candidates did who do you think came out on top
02:32:38.280and who do you think uh came out near the bottom yeah well i i it's it's a shame um because i do
02:32:45.240hold leslie lewis in high regard i do think that she is an is an important figure in the
02:32:49.880conservative party but i was disappointed by her debate performance tonight i thought that
02:32:54.920um it was a little rocky and that she didn't sound very confident in what she had to say now
02:32:59.640Now, in regards to Roman Babber's performance, as we talked about in the pre-show, Roman Babber is clearly the breakaway surprise of this campaign.
02:33:09.040And even on the issues where you don't expect him to perhaps put forward the best policy, I thought, for example, on the northern issues and his ideas for developing the north, I was actually quite surprised to hear his take on it.
02:33:26.600And it appears to me that, as Ellie said, he's got all of the key issues that he was asked about today well thought through.
02:33:35.900He's deeply thought about these issues and has come forward.
02:33:39.520Now, I also think that Patrick Brown didn't shake up the debate as much as I think people were expecting him to,
02:33:46.940given that he was not at the first debate and the way that his campaign has sort of taken the direction it has.
02:33:53.460I think a lot of people were expecting him to throw some more shots to some of the candidates.
02:33:58.960Obviously, he went after Pierre quite strong.
02:34:02.260But I also just think that it was a missed opportunity.
02:34:05.620Because of the format, we weren't able to hear a really good exchange between Patrick Brown and Pierre Polyev.
02:34:12.220The only good exchange we got was between Jean Charest and Pierre Polyev.
02:34:15.960And Pierre was the only person to land a zinger, which I think is going to be the lasting clip of the debate.
02:34:21.220i i agree uh i guess i would go to um what stood out i mean it's it's tough to tweeze anything
02:34:31.040really you know scintillating out of that debate uh one thing that stood out for me though where
02:34:35.520uh parapoly have really stood out was when he was answering the question about uh blocking
02:34:41.440critical infrastructure and uh he actually took issue with the question which i thought was great
02:34:47.360He said, you know, you know, you guys, you're grouping these all into one thing.
02:35:28.580When it comes to things that stood out, there's that moment, I think, too, the whole exchange
02:35:33.080on the crypto and the Bitcoin was pretty interesting.
02:35:36.340And when Roman said, why do we have career politicians giving us investment advice?
02:35:42.060I thought that was a pretty fair point.
02:35:43.900But again, I do have to kind of go back to the format. What really stood out to me were these questions about what book people read or what music they listen to. I kind of had almost had to like pinch myself like, is this for real? Because there's so many pressing issues going on in Canadian society right now. And things like that stood out because to me, this downplayed the seriousness of Canadian democracy.
02:36:09.800Yeah. Not only what are you reading, what are you binge watching? You're right. I couldn't
02:36:13.600believe this. There are people who have committed suicide due to the government response to the
02:36:18.600pandemic and the effects it's had on them. Kids have lost two years of schooling. Their grades
02:36:23.900have plummeted. Diseases of despair. This is not something to have fun with. So I completely agree
02:36:28.920with you there. Harrison, what stood out for you? Well, I mean, the unfortunate reality is that
02:36:35.920Ellie is right. The fact that the moderator, the organizer of this debate, which was the
02:36:40.760Conservative Party, which I think is something that I think a lot of Conservative members should
02:36:45.220take issue with. They tried to get the candidates to explain the biggest threat to Canada and to
02:36:51.720Canadians in 15 seconds. And to me, as you said, Harley, it makes a mockery of the suffering,
02:36:59.560the real suffering that Canadians have had to go through unnecessarily, I would say,
02:37:05.300throughout the past few years, it makes a mockery of the hard work that a lot of people
02:37:12.120are trying to do to help the country get on the right path. Yeah, you know, it's really
02:37:18.600disappointing because we know from watching the Canada Strong and Free Network debate
02:37:24.120moderated by Candace Malcolm and Jamil Giovanni, we know exactly, well, first of all, we knew we're
02:37:29.560going to get before that, which is going to be a good debate on the issues that allows the candidates
02:37:33.020to have a legitimate back and forth in a conversation and we know that's what we're
02:37:37.420going to get with the independent press gallery debate but the candidates have to go through
02:37:41.020another one of these uh party-led debates this time in french and based off of this performance
02:37:46.700i'm afraid unless it might be people like you ellie but i don't know how many people are going
02:37:50.780to tune into the french i think i i think based on the last two french debates of the last two
02:37:56.940leadership races uh the french debates tend to uh have a reputation for not being of quality
02:38:03.340uh i'm not sure what the french level of all the candidates are i know that some of them who
02:38:07.500struggled last time like leslie lewis has been improving her french but uh i will just say i i
02:38:14.140do not look forward to watching french debates in the leadership race because to see people butcher
02:38:19.820your your your maiden language it is somewhat disappointing people are running for the prime
02:38:27.420minister at least their mother tongue french that's great but when you want to be when you
02:38:31.900want to be prime minister and you can't even speak one of our official languages i think that
02:38:37.260personally that kind of like disqualifies you well as far as the book question go i don't think
02:38:43.900you can go too wrong with jordan peterson i just wonder why he took so long to read it that book's
02:38:48.220has been out for a while now. But I mean, let's face it, people are watching True North's coverage
02:38:54.380of this. They know what's going on here. So why don't we just get right down to it and talk about
02:38:59.360the issues that were brought up for debate? I mean, Candace and Jamil hosted a great debate
02:39:05.180at the Strong and Free Conference. They got into the issues of civil liberties and
02:39:08.920costs of living. And these are the issues that the conservative leadership candidates want to
02:39:13.680talk about themselves because they matter and we know they matter. So give me an example of some
02:39:19.860of the issues that they were steered to talk about that kind of expose the kind of, I guess,
02:39:25.920the line of thinking of the moderator and why we should probably look to better opportunities to
02:39:33.320understand their positions in the future. Well, I think right off the bat, the very first question
02:39:39.680of the debate, which is when everyone's paying attention, could have been about these issues
02:39:43.300that conservatives really care about, that they really want to know about.
02:39:46.680But instead, it was an odd question about whether they would impose a no-fly zone over
02:39:53.300Ukraine, which I think no one except for Patrick Brown disagreed with.
02:40:01.380I think most people would be, that would be an unnecessary maneuver.
02:40:04.660Again, it shows you that, I honestly believe, part of me wants to think that they chose
02:40:11.480questions that conservative voters, frankly, weren't interested in. And they forced the
02:40:17.080candidates to avoid getting into the issues that they care about. And I can't understand why,
02:40:21.780because to lead the debate off with a question about whether they would impose a no-fly zone
02:40:25.320over Ukraine, when we've just spent the last, what was it, the last 10 minutes or so explaining
02:40:31.220exactly what the issues Canadians are facing are, shows to you, Harley, that they never had
02:40:37.460any real intention of giving conservative voters what they wanted, a debate on the serious problems
02:40:43.560that are facing Canadians. I think the only time that anyone veered into it, Pierre Pauly veered
02:40:48.560into just briefly the central bank digital currencies and the digital encroachment on the
02:40:54.500lives of Canadians. That could have led to a great conversation about some of the issues that a lot
02:40:59.300of people are worried about, digital ID, things like this, giving Canadians their own sovereignty
02:41:05.780back but instead of course it just goes back to um what paris climate targets and ukraine no fly
02:41:12.900zones it's it was a huge disappointment no lee you put out a good story today you went to a
02:41:19.160parliamentary press conference and you asked a liberal minister about uh whether or not they
02:41:24.380would uh let unvaccinated u.s women into canada to have abortions because of course uh the trudeau
02:41:31.500government declared that if the Roe v. Wade is overturned, they would welcome American women up
02:41:36.340here to have their abortions. So you asked them, what about unvaccinated women? What about women0.83
02:41:40.240from marginalized communities who disproportionately access abortion services? I mean,0.97
02:41:47.520these are all gotcha issues. I mean, what do you think is the reason that they keep bringing this
02:41:53.500issue up and throwing it in conservatives' laps? When does it end? What's the point?
02:41:57.500Well, I think as somebody who is personally pro-life, I always kind of find it disappointing, the lack of courage to take on this issue head on.
02:42:09.060I mean, I believe that you could be pro-life and promise to reduce abortion in Canada without banning abortions, because there's a lot of abortions that are taking place due to economic factors or social factors that I think the government could try to improve.
02:42:23.840the liberals have created such a stigma around this issue where, I mean, we saw it Andrew Scheer.
02:42:29.800Andrew Scheer said that he would not bring in any abortion regulation. He said he was personally
02:42:35.900pro-life, but he made it very clear that he would not do that. And they basically made it seem as
02:42:41.420you were not allowed to even be personally pro-life. So I think liberals are taking advantage
02:42:48.280of conservatives here because a lot of conservative leaders lack conviction. And even, you know, I will
02:42:51.940give some criticism to Pierre Pellievre. Pierre Pellievre is very outspoken on a lot of issues.
02:42:59.120He talks about a lot of issues, just says it like it is. But when it comes to this issue,
02:43:03.840he never said, I am pro-choice. He said, I support free choice or I will not be open.
02:43:07.820But Jean Charest tried to make him say, I'm pro-choice and he couldn't. Pierre Pellievre
02:43:11.880had a pro-life voting record for many years as an MP. I have friends who go to the same
02:43:17.260Catholic churchism, suddenly he says he's pro-choice. To me, this is, again, he is falling
02:43:23.840into this trap. He's got to be honest with people where he stands. And I think politicians should
02:43:28.480be able to state their personal conviction. It comes off as more genuine to say, look,
02:43:33.760I'm pro-life, but I do not want to divide this country at a time where it's already divided and
02:43:38.300bring in more polarizing policies like what's going on in the United States. We will focus on
02:43:42.400canadians and improving life i think they like asking us these questions because they like to
02:43:48.760watch conservatives squirm uh it's the same thing with uh the with the uh you know carbon taxes we
02:43:55.820live out here in bc they keep raising the taxes climate uh carbon keeps uh rates uh keep going up
02:44:02.280it's not working right but they want to see people say the right things they put them they put the
02:44:06.560crosshairs on them i'm just getting noticed that we're about ready to head over to the scrums
02:44:11.320uh our uh colleague andrew lawton will be asking the candidates uh questions um i'm going to see
02:44:19.580if we're about ready to go there um not quite yet uh harrison yeah i'll just say yeah i'll just say
02:44:30.500that ellie was bringing up a point and you harley touched on it about making conservatives struggle
02:44:36.460in front of the camera, forcing conservatives into the liberal debate. Instead of setting the
02:44:42.700debate ourselves, very few conservatives have the courage and the fortitude to stand on the
02:44:47.980principles that they believe in. Instead, they'd much prefer just to basically fall in line with
02:44:54.120the legacy media, fall in line with the liberals. And it's very obvious, you know, there was nobody
02:45:01.980on the stage. Lesley Lewis is very open and admits her pro-life stance. But then when it comes down
02:45:09.980to defending it with strength, no one can really defend it with strength. And it's an example of
02:45:14.620conservatives constantly losing the cultural battle of setting the debate and setting the tone.
02:45:20.060Until such time as conservatives can regain the cultural ground and set our own debate and set
02:45:27.740own tone uh we're gonna forever be in the shadow uh of the liberals and we're gonna dance to their
02:45:32.940tune just like they want us to yeah that's very well said that's i i don't know i agree it's very
02:45:38.300well said uh i guess uh from there i think i would ask which which issues were completely avoided in
02:45:46.620this i never heard a you know things like globalist organizations brought up i mean i know the legacy
02:45:51.980media likes to call it all conspiracy theories. But what else were some issues that were not
02:45:58.780brought up at all that you think were things that the conservative audiences really wanted to hear
02:46:04.620about? Billy? Well, I mean, this debate was taking place in Western Canada. I worked in Western
02:46:11.500Canada for a year last year, and I saw a great deep alienation. I personally did not see a lot
02:46:17.540discussion about this. I wish they would have talked more about Western issues. People in the
02:46:24.400West have lost complete hope and faith in Ottawa and in Eastern Canadian institutions. And it's
02:46:31.040a big problem. I didn't realize how serious it was until I flew to Alberta and stepped foot on the
02:46:38.780ground. Sorry, Ali. I like nothing more than seeing a Quebecer stick up for the West, but I0.60
02:46:43.100think we're up. Scott Aitchison is up and we're going to throw to Andrew Lawton. Thanks a lot.
02:50:08.920Good evening, Andrew Lawton, True North.
02:50:33.940You've been unequivocally against vaccine mandates.
02:50:36.860that obviously includes mandates for public sector workers if you were prime minister would you
02:50:41.260rehire anyone who was fired because of vaccine mandates and if so would you give them retroactive
02:50:47.020pay for time they missed uh so 100 i would mandate i i try to pass similar legislation in ontario the
02:50:53.340jobs and jabs act that would retroactively protect workers we have to think about how we're going to
02:50:58.700go about that we certainly want to try and put them in the position that they would have otherwise
02:51:03.020been. I'm not sure if we're going to do that through EI. I'm also not sure how we're going to
02:51:06.800go about that when it comes to those that are not unionized. Those that are unionized should be
02:51:11.120a lot easier. Those that are not unionized, going to have to give that some thought. But
02:51:14.920I think that it's inhumane to make someone choose between their ability to put food on the table
02:51:19.100and their personal health care choice. We've got to do right by all Canadians.
02:51:23.660As a follow-up, there are a number of legal challenges against the Emergencies Act, vaccine
02:51:28.400passports, vaccine mandates. A lot of these are going to take years and years to litigate. They
02:51:33.100could span into another government. What directive would you give on these legal challenges if you
02:51:38.360were prime minister? So I know what I would do, which is I would outlaw all mandates and passports0.99
02:51:46.320and those that are beyond the reach of the federal government. I would be very, very hard on the
02:51:51.600provinces that allow for any semblance of that in place. I will not permit 21st century segregation in Canada.
02:52:06.100Sidney Fisard with Rebel News. Former Conservative Party heritage critic MP Alan Reyes actually pushed for more censorship from the government.
02:52:14.940Okay. Former Conservative Party heritage critic MP Alan Reyes actually pushed for more censorship from the government, calling out the Falun Gong-founded Epoch Times by name, calling it a conspiracy site.
02:52:27.460Now the party opposes Trudeau's call to regulate the Internet. What changed, and why didn't you speak sooner?
02:52:33.580I apologize. I'm having difficulties hearing you, but I think I understand that, General, Toner, your question.
02:52:38.020Look, I think that there is no freedom of speech in Canada without a free and independent media.
02:52:42.700And that means that we need to stop subsidizing mainstream media, we need to stop the bailouts, we need to defund the CBC, and also we should not having some sort of lip-intest test by government bureaucrats saying who's a journalist and who's not a journalist.
02:53:01.420I think that independent media provides available perspective and it should be encouraged.
02:53:12.700Hello, Rachel Emanuel with the Western Standard.
02:53:24.620Mr. Baber, you had a news release today about ending equalization payments.
02:53:27.700I'm wondering how you think this will bode with voters in central and eastern Canada?
02:53:31.980Yeah, I think it's time to end dependency and equalization.
02:53:37.120Equalization is basically redistribution, and I'm against redistribution.
02:53:41.760And look, I'm not satisfied that any province can come to the table and say that they're
02:53:46.040unable to provide an equal, a comparable level of services given what their succession now
03:01:00.380I think it's important to have a full policy that understands that there is a crisis in our country, but in the same time, to support the challenges where we can fight climate change.
03:01:22.380J'ai, Ă Brampton, avec notre système de transport, j'ai un record oĂ¹ je vais faire ça.
03:01:30.440Et c'est sauf les nouveaux impĂ´ts, c'est avec les nouvelles technologies.
03:01:35.380Mais en tant que chef du Parti conservateur, est-ce que vous mettriez de l'avant une plateforme plus forte pour la lutte contre les changements climatiques?
03:02:39.360Good evening, Andrew Lawton, True North.
03:02:41.200Earlier today, the Correctional Service of Canada
03:02:43.940confirmed its policy that biologically male inmates can be reassigned to women's prisons
03:02:50.240based on preference alone. I was wondering what you think about that policy and if you would
03:02:54.920reverse that as Prime Minister. Well I think it's very important that people whatever their gender
03:03:02.340has a certain level of comfort in certain situations. I also think that there are situations
03:03:10.660where biological females may feel a sense of vulnerability
03:03:18.080because of the situations that they may have been in,
03:03:23.460for example, if they were sexually assaulted by a male, et cetera.
03:03:28.080And so we have to make sure that we find compassionate ways
03:03:32.080to accommodate the diversity of individuals that will find themselves in a facility,
03:03:43.200whether it is a shelter or whether it is a correctional facility.
03:03:48.400You were the only candidate tonight on a question about abortion to say that you were pro-life.
03:03:54.040Do you have confidence that if any one of your opponents on this stage were the leader of the Conservative Party,
03:03:58.780that you would have a place and have the latitude to express your values as a Conservative MP?
03:04:04.060Well, I would hope that everyone that's speaking about how important freedom is would honour that.
03:04:10.280And I think it's very important that in a free and democratic society that MPs are not forced to vote against their conscience.
03:04:19.700And so I'm confident that the individuals on the stage, I'm confident and I'm hoping sincerely that because they believe in our charter, they believe in freedom, that they will also believe in the right to have free votes.
03:06:46.580And because of cancelled culture, many people are afraid to say what they stand for.
03:06:54.120I think that it's important to recognize that whether you're pro-life or pro-choice,
03:06:58.720that we can have conversations and we can find things that we agree on.
03:07:03.400And because it's such a polarizing issue, it's important that we start by looking at what it is that we agree on.
03:07:12.000Hi, Ms. Lewis. Stephanie Taylor with the Canadian Press.
03:07:14.600Pierre Polyev said he would fire the Bank of Canada governor.
03:07:18.020Do you agree with him? Do you support? Would you do the same?
03:07:20.660I'm very concerned about any speech on behalf of an elected official that undermines credibility in our economic system.
03:07:34.940And I don't agree that members of Parliament should be meddling in the Bank of Canada.
03:07:43.420The Bank of Canada has long-term plans in Parliament.
03:07:49.040Their budgets are of a short-term nature.
03:07:52.500I respect the division of powers there.
03:07:56.640I respect the Bank of Canada having the capacity and their officials having the capacity to make long-term projections that are not based on partisanship.
03:09:40.420Monsieur Charest, comment est-ce que vous croyez
03:09:41.420Do you think the Conservatives can win on the environmental plan if a majority of members vote against a motion that recognizes the existence of climate change?
03:09:51.420Well, the course of leadership is a choice. And, just, it's the opportunity to debate these questions.
03:09:57.420And the next chief will, on the basis of the choice which will be made, the process of proceeding with the policies that he or she will propose.
03:10:05.420And what will be your plan there-dessus?