Juno News - November 11, 2020


What can the Conservative Party of Canada learn from Trump’s Republicans？


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

221.60326

Word Count

1,326

Sentence Count

57


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Let's talk about the state of conservative politics in Canada. Now I was inspired to make
00:00:10.000 this video after reading a lot about what's been going on in the United States and I'm not talking
00:00:13.800 about Donald Trump and the recounts and legal proceedings. I'm talking about the fact that
00:00:17.280 the Republicans picked up a number of seats in the House. Now that got me thinking how did they
00:00:21.520 manage to do that when Trump was so divisive according to many people? Well one of the reasons
00:00:26.520 it seems is because they were very clear on what they stood for. They were promoting conservative
00:00:31.020 values in a very clear fashion, something that a number of people either accepted or rejected,
00:00:35.920 but at the very least it was clear on what they stood for. Now the Americans have a number
00:00:40.700 of benefits over Canadian conservatives because in the United States they have things like
00:00:44.760 the constitution, the first and second amendments, so free speech and the right to bear arms.
00:00:48.800 There's the appointment of judges, there's a lot of foreign affairs stuff that we simply
00:00:52.580 don't have to deal with, there's immigration and build the wall, that kind of thing. And
00:00:56.300 so there are a number of issues that really just divide between left and right in the United
00:00:59.940 States and things that conservatives can rally around and so it doesn't really matter what
00:01:03.860 walk of life you come from, there are a number of things which you can agree on. Socially
00:01:07.800 conservative issues are also very prominent in the United States, whereas in Canada they're
00:01:11.260 sort of on the back burner and it's not because these views are not necessarily widely held,
00:01:16.240 it's because many conservative politicians don't really want to talk about them because
00:01:19.600 they feel it's too dangerous for their electoral chances. And in many ways it is, these issues
00:01:23.700 are not the same as they are in the United States because the United States, the country
00:01:27.060 is simply just more socially conservative than in Canada. Now, one of the main issues here
00:01:32.660 is that the conservatives don't have those things to rally around. It's not in the last
00:01:37.320 election that they really focus on fiscal conservatism, which is obviously very important, it's important
00:01:42.160 to have a balanced budget and a strong economy, but the focus on fiscal conservatism is not
00:01:46.620 enough because if I wanted liberal extract to bake my cake, I would use liberal extract.
00:01:52.380 I wouldn't use artificial liberal extract if I wanted to do the same thing. Now, this is
00:01:57.500 one of the reasons why, again, the Republicans were successful is because they were very clear.
00:02:01.740 When we're looking at Canada, it's very difficult for the conservatives to get those type of issues
00:02:06.220 because again, structurally we don't have the same system. Further, when you're looking at
00:02:10.940 a big tent, you have a social conservative and a fiscal conservative, maybe who's super pro-abortion.
00:02:16.700 Those two people don't necessarily get along. They don't necessarily agree on what government is,
00:02:21.580 what they want government to do, or what type of things they would like to see from that conservative
00:02:26.220 party. So as the tent gets bigger, you have more and more people that you have to get to agree.
00:02:31.500 And so relying on fiscally conservative issues, which again, they're, they're strong conservative
00:02:35.900 issues. You can't dump them, but relying on that as the only thing that is bringing these people
00:02:39.900 together, it's not enough. It's not exciting. It's not energetic enough. There's nothing really there.
00:02:44.700 And the liberals can also talk a good game about doing the things that are responsible and, you know,
00:02:49.420 maintaining the budget. Uh, you know, of course, you look, you have the budget will balance itself
00:02:53.020 and these kinds of gaps, but by and large, I don't think a lot of Canadians really feel that the liberals,
00:03:00.300 especially now with the pandemic that, you know, they're obviously taking advantage of a lot of
00:03:03.500 the pandemic spending. You don't know if that fiscally conservative message is penetrating to
00:03:08.140 the number of Canadians that you really need if you want to win an election. Now, the other issue is
00:03:14.060 when you have that big tent, it's not just the fiscal and social conservatives. It's also people who are
00:03:19.420 just anti left people who don't like social justice, don't like progressivism. These people are going to
00:03:24.700 try and make your party their home. And sometimes these people may not be the type of people you
00:03:29.660 actually want in your party, either because they just have views that are totally opposite or
00:03:32.860 antithetical to the party. They might be bigoted or racist people that just have nothing to do
00:03:37.420 with anything that's remotely conservative, but because they are anti left, they are either
00:03:42.140 lumping themselves or the media is lumping them into the right. And we see that a lot when conservatives
00:03:46.140 get painted as, you know, racist or bigoted by and large, there may be people who are simply
00:03:50.300 anti left. And so because they're not on the left, they are automatically on the right,
00:03:54.620 according to the media. And that is a huge challenge. Now, altogether, because the
00:03:59.740 Conservative Party is a big catchall, the main question is, and I don't have the answer,
00:04:04.060 but the main question is, are you making policy to get elected? Or are you trying to get elected so
00:04:09.340 that you can make policy? And this is something that Conservative Party leaders will have to address.
00:04:13.660 There are a number of challenges coming up. And I think we've seen with Andrew Scheer that being
00:04:17.900 fiscally conservative, kind of neutral on a number of issues is not enough to get things going.
00:04:22.700 There are a lot of challenges facing different parts of the country, challenges out West, which,
00:04:26.620 you know, as someone who lives in Toronto and Ontario, I can't even begin to understand a lot
00:04:30.540 of the things because I don't live them on a day to day basis. I just, you know, I read what you guys
00:04:34.540 post and I read what my colleagues talk about and I read the news because I'm concerned about these
00:04:39.180 issues and they're very important to me as a Canadian. But there are a number of things that the
00:04:43.420 party must address and they must address it in a very clear and concise fashion. And I hope they do so
00:04:48.220 because it's very important that we do have a clear alternative to the Liberal Party.
00:04:52.540 Or else we're just going to get stuck with more and more and more Liberals.
00:04:56.300 Now, Aaron O'Toole just got elected. He's the new leader of the Conservative Party. And so in many
00:05:00.300 ways, it is a new party. They just updated their website. But I got to say, when looking at the
00:05:05.340 GOP website right on the front, they have 11 principles for an American renewal. That's 11 sort
00:05:11.500 of foundational ideas that they can build a policy on. When I look again at the Conservative website,
00:05:16.300 I don't see that very clear cut stuff. And that, you know, perhaps that means it's coming,
00:05:20.060 but I would like to see some more of these clear cut and very prominently placed issues and values
00:05:25.900 that the party is going to bring forward, how they're going to govern and what I can expect
00:05:29.100 from a Conservative Party should I vote for them in the next election. So a lot of stuff to think
00:05:33.340 about, a lot of stuff to watch out for. But, you know, hopefully you enjoy this video and let's see
00:05:37.900 what you guys think. Where do you think the fate of the party is? And what do you think we're going to
00:05:42.220 see in the near future with regards to Conservative politics? So for True North, I am Sam Ashkenazi. Thank you so,
00:05:47.180 so much for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and have yourselves a great day. Take care.