Juno News - What is the ARC Forum？ (ft. Leslyn Lewis)

00:00:00.000 I wanted to just take a bit of a deviation to share my chat with Leslyn Lewis, who is

00:00:15.480 not only a Conservative member of Parliament who will be familiar to many of you because

00:00:20.240 we've had her on the show on her leadership bids for the Conservatives notably, but she

00:00:25.160 is also one of the advisors on the board of ARC. So anyone who takes issue with Chrystia

00:00:31.740 Freeland being on the board of the World Economic Forum, I'll tell you that what Leslyn's doing

00:00:36.940 on ARC is very different because she's not up there to try to pass policy for Canada

00:00:41.440 that we all just wonder how it came about. She's there because she wants to kind of benefit

00:00:47.880 from this exchange of ideas, bring it back to the country, and elevate Canadians. So

00:00:52.380 I chatted with her a little bit about what it is that ARC is to her and why she decided

00:00:57.420 to hop aboard it.

00:00:58.960 So what is ARC and why are you involved in it?

00:01:02.160 ARC is just an organization of people from all political persuasions and with different

00:01:09.700 life views that want to tell a better story. And it's a story that deconstructs and is in

00:01:16.780 opposition to the nihilistic deconstructionist approach that has been really consuming our

00:01:23.180 Western society. And it's really an organization of hope of telling a story of human perseverance

00:01:31.120 and overcoming challenges and recognizing that we can overcome things like the destruction

00:01:37.440 of the family. We could engage in sustainable development without putting people in energy

00:01:44.840 poverty. So there are different ways of solving the problems that we have without deconstructing

00:01:51.720 our Western society.

00:01:53.340 One of the trends I've seen and heard so far that's really refreshing is a celebration of

00:01:58.840 the individual and a family. And I think this is something that's so absent. I mean, if you

00:02:02.960 look at a lot of the policies and proposals we hear from the World Economic Forum, it's the

00:02:07.400 opposite of that. So how important is that in a policy context in Canada to really look

00:02:12.560 at what individuals can do and what families can do to achieve that different story, as

00:02:17.340 you put it?

00:02:18.440 Well, we believe that families are the foundation of any vibrant and functioning society. And

00:02:24.200 it is a bedrock of the society. And so policies should be around enhancing families and supporting

00:02:31.620 them. And when there are problems between parents and children, encourage parents to be involved

00:02:38.100 in their children's lives, give them the tools to be able to solve those problems and create

00:02:43.940 a structure that respects the family and keeps governments out of people's homes.

00:02:48.880 You're a member of parliament. You're here with 1,500 people from 72 different countries.

00:02:54.880 You're in a bit of a unique spot given you're on the advisory board. But what do you take away

00:02:59.340 from this personally, having put all the work in to get here? When you go back home, what

00:03:04.040 is it that you are really going to bring from this?

00:03:06.120 Well, this is an inaugural conference. And as you can see, it's phenomenally run. I'm

00:03:11.920 very proud to be a part of this board. And bringing back is just bringing back the courage

00:03:17.460 of knowing that there is a better story, that there are people who are looking towards building

00:03:25.440 on our society rather than tearing it down. And so I take that back knowing that there's

00:03:30.820 partners and allies all over the world that are working to build a better story.

00:03:36.900 And just the one thing I'll ask related to that in closing here is that everyone seems

00:03:42.940 to have a role to play. I think there has not really been that I've heard any sense that

00:03:47.780 the decisions are being made here that will go back and affect people. Everyone here is being

00:03:51.860 asked to make their own decisions and then bring that back to their community. So what

00:03:55.900 would you like other attendees to take from this this year? And what would you like Canadians

00:04:00.360 moving forward to learn from some of the things that are being discussed here that are all being

00:04:04.580 broadcast?

00:04:05.940 Well, it's an organic ecosystem of thought leaders, of people that have influence in their various

00:04:14.300 sectors, whether it's a single mom or a CEO of a corporation. We know that their life

00:04:21.760 experience contributes something to that better story. And so what I want people to understand

00:04:27.840 is that even though I'm an elected official, I can still gain a lot of insights from someone,

00:04:36.260 an ordinary Canadian. If you take a look at something like the trucker convoy, those were ordinary

00:04:41.880 people coming out and standing up for what they believed in. And then politicians really said,

00:04:48.760 okay, we'll stand with you. But they were the more profound voice. And that's just the reality

00:04:55.660 of where we are today in society. If we're going to build on our great achievements, then we need

00:05:03.460 different voices, different perspectives. And so everybody has a role to play in building that

00:05:08.240 better story.

00:05:08.880 Thanks for listening to the Andrew Lawton Show. Support the program by donating to True

00:05:13.780 North at www.tnc.news.

Juno News - November 05, 2023

What is the ARC Forum？ (ft. Leslyn Lewis)

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