ROUND 1： Poilievre Dominates Interview With CBC's Catherine Cullen
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
187.50389
Summary
In this week's episode, Yevgen Polykov and Catherine Cullen get into it in a heated debate on what Canada should do in the wake of the latest trade tensions with the United States. Polykov is a seasoned veteran journalist who has been covering the Canadian government for over 20 years, and has seen it all.
Transcript
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Polyev is on fire lately. He's been ruining the careers of journalists almost every day,
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so much so that it's hard to keep up with. For today's episode, we're going to watch Polyev
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square off with seasoned CBC journalist Catherine Cullen. Now, this woman is no amateur. She's been
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doing this for over 20 years. So let's see how it goes.
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You have obviously seen these latest threats from Donald Trump. What, if anything, should
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So right off the bat, Colin throws a curveball at Polyev. She doesn't even wait to get into it.
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Like I said, this woman's pretty seasoned. Now let's see how Polyev responds.
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Well, we've called on the prime minister and the government to allow the International Trade
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Committee to reconvene right now to have emergency hearings. This will be a chance for all parties
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to work together on a plan to get back to the table, get a deal done that will end the tariffs
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allow Canadians unfettered access again to the American market, get rid of the softwood tariffs,
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the Buy America rules, the tariffs that have since come in under President Trump, and to
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as well provide the Americans assurance that we're going to rebuild our military in order
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to do our part in continental security. I think that is the best way forward in order
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to get a deal and bring some certainty to the Canadian economy and to our workers.
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Your party has suggested that this move to have the committee meet is a way to show support to
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the prime minister. The prime minister, though, does already get a lot of advice when it comes
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to these negotiations. Obviously, he has his team, the ambassador, cabinet, the premiers of all
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political stripes, his Canada-US council. What do you think this would add that he's not already
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Well, first of all, I think it's important that he be transparent and demonstrate he has a plan.
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Regionally, he said that he would have a deal at the G7, and then it became a deal by the 21st of
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July. And now we see it's delayed again to August the 1st. And we want to know what the plan is to put
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an end to the tariff chaos. Secondly, I think it would allow us to redouble our pressure on the
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government to reverse the disastrous liberal economic policies that have made us so hopelessly
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reliant on the Americans. For example, to pressure the repeal, full repeal of C-69, the anti-pipeline
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and anti-energy law, the tanker ban, the energy cap, the industrial carbon tax, the plastics ban.
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And all these things are really beating our economy to the ground and making us more dependent on the
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Americans. We need is a plan to bring home production and paychecks to this country, put
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Canada first. And that's one of the things that we think we could put on the table in immediate
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hearings on international trade at the committee.
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You recently suggested that by canceling the digital services tax, this was about two weeks ago,
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Mark Carney was putting his elbows down. Do you believe that Canada should have kept that tax in place?
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I think the tax is a bad idea. I would have used it as a bargaining chip to get concessions in
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return. I should say, sir, we don't know, right? Did you see that? She just cut Polyeva off mid-sentence.
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Not only is it super rude to do that, she's trying to control the narrative and paint Carney in a
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positive light. For example, because the negotiations aren't public, we don't know whether Canada got
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anything back, right? We don't know, but it tends to be a mistake to give the concession before you
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get one in return. Now, I agree with getting rid of the tax. It was a disastrous tax that would have
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made life more expensive for Canadians. But we have to negotiate to get an end to the softwood
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tariffs that came in under Obama, Biden, and now Trump, and that are hammering our forestry sector.
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We need an end to the Buy America policies that are killing construction jobs in Canada,
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an exemption that Mr. Harper got when he was prime minister. So far, Prime Minister Carney has not
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received any concessions. He hasn't made any headway, and I don't blame him entirely for that.
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Obviously, he's dealing with unfair treatment by the Americans. But we want to see some wins for
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Canada, and we have suggestions on how to get those wins, because really, we have to put our
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country first, and that's what we're asking for. As always, Paul Yev had a great response. He's
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remaining calm, pushing back with facts. Mark Carney is letting Donald Trump walk all over him, and he
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hasn't gotten any good deals for Canada. Now, this interviewer is fierce. Watch how she pushes back.
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I mean, you say he hasn't made any headway, and I would again say that that may or may not prove to
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be the case, because so much of this is happening away from the public eye. But I want to go back
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to what Donald Trump has just said. Now, of course, this woman is trying to flip the script around
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on Paul Yev. Fortunately, he's prepared. Let's watch the master in action.
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If I could, on that point, just say, and I hope he does. I hope that you're right. I hope that there
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are some big wins for Canada. And I told Prime Minister Carney in our several conversations that
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conservatives stand ready to help in any way we can to reach out to lawmakers on the American side
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of the border to offer suggestions and present a united Canadian front, because we really do hope
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that we get a good deal for all Canadians. Excellent response. You can see how Paul Yev grabs control of
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the conversation. But this woman is fierce. Watch her try to flip the script again. Has he taken you up
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on that, or have you done that proactively? So far, I have talked to numerous lawmakers and advocated for
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the Canadian position. But we haven't formally engaged in traveling to the U.S. at this point.
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But I told the Prime Minister that we as Canadian conservatives, we put our country first and we're
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prepared to work with anybody from any party to get a good deal for Canada.
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Want to drop a few names for us, Mr. Paul Yev? Who have you been speaking to?
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Well, I spoke to Pete Sessions. He's a congressman from Texas. I spoke to a number of other congressmen
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who were in town for the Calvary Stampede in passing. And, you know, and I'm, we stand ready
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to do more. If the Prime Minister wants us to help engage in the diplomatic process, we're happy to do
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it. One great way to do that is let's pull back the International Trade Committee and work together
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on getting the message out. Now, this woman's really fierce. She keeps trying to catch Paul Yev off guard,
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and she's asking really specific spitfire questions. Fortunately, Paul Yev, like always,
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is prepared. Paul Yev is holding his ground and he's doing so very well. I'm proud of him.
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So I want to continue with this latest message from President Trump. He has said that Canada will
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face greater tariffs if we try to retaliate against a higher level of tariffs that he is proposing.
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Should those threats stop Canada from retaliation? Do we need to heed that warning?
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You notice how the interviewer just keeps asking about Trump? We're about five minutes into the
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interview, and that's all she's asked about is Trump, Trump, Trump. Now, she probably knows that
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if Paul Yev was in office, we'd already have a trade deal with the United States and probably a
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trade deal with China too. And that's why she's trying so hard to turn this around on him.
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I think we should try to get the deal done on the deadline. And that way, we don't have to worry
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about tariffs that hurt both of our countries. I'm at a company right now in Statler, Alberta that
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has been said that they're paying the import tariffs that Canada is charging on some of the
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materials they put into their products. And we want to make sure that whatever tariffs that we
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counter with against the Americans do maximum impact on the American side of the border, minimal
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impact on the Canadian side, we should only be targeting things that we can make ourselves that
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we can get from other countries or that we don't ultimately need so that we minimize the economic
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pain that Canadians pay for an act that frankly is not the fault of our people or our country.
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That was the perfect answer from Paul Yev. Now, let's watch because the interviewer is getting
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You mentioned the deadline and you talked about the fact that it has changed a few times, but
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fundamentally, Mark Carney said the purpose of this deadline is deadlines focus the mind.
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Was the deadline a good idea, sir? Or did that put Canada on the back foot?
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Well, the challenge with a unilateral self-imposed deadline is it tells the counterparty that they
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have you on a clock and a clock that only applies to you. It's like if we're playing chess and on your
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side, it's speed chess and you have a clock on for your, you have to watch while you're making your
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move. And I don't, uh, then I have a lot more ability to sit back and watch the board while
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you're watching the clock. And that, so I, I personally think it would have been better, uh,
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not to show that, uh, upfront to the Americans because we know that president Trump will try
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to take advantage of it. Uh, that said, we do think that there are, that we do need to work
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to get this done as quickly as possible because every passing day brings uncertainty and paralysis.
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I just want to ask you one more thing about this trade situation. Um, we can all see, and this is
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not necessarily new, but the president is quite hung up on Canada's supply management system.
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If that is ultimately where the deal hinges, if that's what's standing in the way of a deal,
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do you believe that Canada should be willing to give a little bit to allow Americans to sell
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more of their products here? Well, what I would say to the America, to our American friends is,
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are you willing to get rid of the tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars of farm subsidies
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that the American taxpayer gives producers on their side of the border and that ultimately present a
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big disadvantage to our farmers. You know, our farmers have to compete with massive multi-billion
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dollar subsidies on the American side that we don't get here. And so I, I do find it passing strange
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that the U S government would say that our farmers are somehow getting an, an unfair advantage,
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but I also don't think we should be making, I don't think we should be making, you know,
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these kinds of, um, proactive unilateral concessions, um, because the, that's not how you do a
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negotiation. But is there any wiggle room is what I want to understand from your point of view,
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because it's a very politically charged issue in Canada. But it, there, there already has been
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wiggling. The last USMCA allowed for more market access by the Americans. I'm not even sure if the
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American producers are using the market access that they, that, that prime minister Trudeau
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sacrificed. Uh, there's also been new penalties on Canadian, Canadian exports of dairy in the prior
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USMCA. So I, I think that Canada has made, the liberal government has made big concessions on this
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already. And the problem is they're not getting anything in return. Napoleon is doing a fantastic
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job right now. He's got the brain of a supercomputer and a black belt in common sense. Now listen to the
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interviewer's next question. He's governing. I know you want to make the case for a conservative
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government, but that referendum is likely to come sooner rather than later. Would you say to them,
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they should stay even with Mark Carney in power? Now the interviewer just dropped the bomb right
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there, trying to ask about a potential Alberta separation. Now listen to Polyev's response.
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They should stay in Canada. Yes. Are you, are you, and are you actively advocating? Yeah. If you're
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asking me, absolutely. I'm advocating for a United Canada. And I say that on the doorstep.
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I say it, uh, when I'm in town halls, I say it every time it comes up, I set it at the Calgary
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stampede. So there's no, I'm not being wishy-washy about this. I'm a Canadian. I'm a Canadian
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patriot. I'm proud that I grew up in Southern Alberta, uh, you know, in Calgary. And I'm a very
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proud, uh, born and bred Albertan. Canada is my country. Canada is the country that the people in
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Battle River Crowfoot call home. If you look around this, this community, the communities here,
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you will see the Canadian flag everywhere. It's on front lawns. It's on doorsteps. It's on people.
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People have Canadian flags on their pickup trucks. Um, this is a very patriotic place. And I have
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with no hesitation whatsoever saying that Alberta should be part of Canada. And I should also say
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though, the days of telling Alberta to pay up and shut up, to just send more and more money to
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Ottawa while the government, while the liberal government, their blocks pipelines, destroys the
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energy sector, uh, disrespects farmers, harms the economy. Those days, those days are over. We need
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to respect what Alberta is contributing. We need pipelines built. We need to repeal C 69, the anti-
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pipeline law, get rid of the tanker ban, the energy cap, the industrial carbon tax. We need to respect
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licensed firearms owners and farmers. Those are all things that can happen within a United Canada. And I
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pledge to be both a champion for fairness for Alberta and a United Canada for our entire country.
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Boom. Polyev had the perfect answer right there. And I agree with him a hundred percent. I believe
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that Canada is stronger United. Now I understand there's a lot of Albertans that are really upset
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with the Mark Carney government and a fourth consecutive liberal win. However, I believe that
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we need to be patient because we're stronger together. Now watch this next part. This is where
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Ms. Colin really tries to embarrass Polyev. If you couldn't win your own ridings or why should
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people in Alberta and across the country give you a second chance? Oh no, she literally went there.
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She literally went there. Now listen to Polyev's response. Well, listen, um, the reality is we got
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8.3 million votes across the country at 2.5 million more than we had in the prior election. We added 25 seats.
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We got the largest share of vote of a conservative party has had since 1988. So there, the answer is
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that, uh, the voice that I bring represents those 8 million plus people who believed in my message of
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fighting inflation, of getting affordable homes built, of locking up criminals, defeating drugs,
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unleashing our resources. Those are the messages and those things mattered to those people. And I think
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that if you look at how the debate has changed in Canada as a result of the arguments and the causes
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that I've taken on, uh, that voice, uh, has been very important to countless people. And it's a voice
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I want to amplify. Polyev just destroyed her right there. I will admit Ms. Colin put up her best fight,
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but she lost. Polyev knocked her down and he kept her down that whole interview. That was just a
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masterclass on how to deal with woke biased liberal journalists. These liberal journalists,
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they literally get paid to embarrass people like Polyev, but Polyev just showed us all. Once again,
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you can win any debate. As long as you remain calm, you come prepared and you push back with cold,
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hard facts. So for the next steps, Polyev will be back in the house of commons in about a week.
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And people keep asking, Mark, are you going to do live streams? I thought about it. The answer to that
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question is yes. You wanted it. I'm going to do it. Now it's a lot of work. It is a lot of work,
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but I'm going to do it. So I've already got the first one set up. I'll put the link in the description
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so you can bookmark it and be ready. So it'll be next week, two o'clock Toronto time. So I'll see you
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then. Now, I also want to point out a quick note. I'm under heavy attack for my positive reporting on
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Polyev. I actually had my phone hacked last weekend and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but
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someone got it into my phone. Now, I don't think any personal sensitive information was stolen,
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but they were sending some crazy messages to people in what I believe was an act of sabotage.
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Fortunately, I caught it right away and I believe at least at this point, my phone is secure. So I
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just want to throw it out there that these are the risks that people like me face for giving people
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the truth. Scary, but hey, this is what I signed up for. But anyway, that's all I have for today.
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Thanks for tuning in. Talk to you tomorrow, Patriots.