Off the Record - The collapse of BC United

00:00:00.000 You guys, Isaac is really classing the place up with his nice suit these days.

00:00:05.300 I know, but, you know, as you often do on video, and we did during COVID, you don't know what's going on in the bottom.

00:00:15.220 For example, I have...

00:00:16.840 I'm wearing pajama pants.

00:00:18.480 I'm wearing running shorts, and I think Isaac's not wearing any pants at all.

00:00:23.400 Sue Ann, you know, it's funny.

00:00:24.360 As I was getting dressed, I thought to myself, you know, I just have this odd inkling that Sue Ann may ask,

00:00:30.000 whether I'm wearing pants or not.

00:00:31.260 So I decided to put some dress pants on just for you, Sue Ann. 1.00

00:00:36.700 You're very classy.

00:00:38.880 Classy the whole way through.

00:00:40.260 The late Harry Rosen would be proud of you.

00:00:43.040 Are we still allowed to ask people whether they're wearing pants in 2024?

00:00:49.380 That's a better question for HR.

00:00:50.980 All right, guys, let's get it started.

00:01:00.000 Hey, everyone.

00:01:03.400 Welcome back to Off the Record True North Friday Fun Show.

00:01:07.560 I'm your host, Rachel Parker, and I am joined today by True North columnist Sue Ann Levy and our Alberta reporter.

00:01:15.500 And I guess maybe Alberta reporter is a bit too niche.

00:01:18.700 Isaac, I know you do a lot of coverage in Canada as well, but I've sort of dubbed you our Alberta reporter in my place.

00:01:25.160 So, you know, consider that quite the title.

00:01:27.680 So thank you.

00:01:28.580 Thank you both so much for being here today.

00:01:31.400 Thanks for having me.

00:01:32.260 I hope to honor the title in your absence, Rachel.

00:01:35.600 Yes, I'm sure you will.

00:01:37.220 I know every time you come on the Alberta Roundup, everyone is always very happy to have you and to see your insights.

00:01:44.980 So I think generally the people of Alberta are very happy that they're getting more conservative coverage of the province.

00:01:50.780 So, you know, we've had another interesting week in Canadian politics, starting off with a big story coming out of Western Canada, not Alberta, but just next to us, BC.

00:02:01.120 Basically, the collapse of the BC United this week with leader Kevin Falcon saying that he would be endorsing the BC Conservatives and that they would be suspending their election campaign entirely.

00:02:13.920 I mean, I think a lot of people have been talking about how we are going to be seeing a blue wave in BC come this fall.

00:02:21.820 But I didn't see this withdrawal coming.

00:02:24.920 I heard about it a few hours before it was actually announced on Wednesday.

00:02:28.440 Why don't we just let Kevin Falcon explain in his own words why he decided to suspend his campaign?

00:02:35.740 Take a listen to this clip.

00:02:37.600 The name is about trying to unite people.

00:02:40.660 But what became apparent to me as I've crisscrossed the province and heard from literally tens of thousands of people is the number one major concern that they had.

00:02:52.180 And that is, Kevin, if you guys don't do the right thing and be the adults in the room and help bring together that free enterprise, centre-right, common-sense coalition, you are going to help elect an NDP government.

00:03:06.100 And all of you that know me know that there is nothing more important to me, my children and your children and grandchildren, that we not give the NDP one more day in power than they absolutely have to have.

00:03:20.940 And that's why I made the decision that I made as leader of BC United to suspend our campaign.

00:03:30.660 I will be withdrawing our candidate nominations.

00:03:34.580 And in cooperation with John Rustad, we will work together to assemble the best possible team of MLAs and candidates that can serve the best interests of British Columbians.

00:03:49.240 So, I mean, I have to be honest, at the ripe old age of 26, I've been covering politics in Canada for, you know, about five, six years now.

00:03:58.560 I've already become quite the pessimist.

00:04:00.620 So typically when I see a clip like this, especially when we're doing our Friday fun show, my first initial reaction would be to really make fun of Calvin Falcon.

00:04:11.400 I mean, the irony of this being is that he obviously kicked John Rustad out of the party back in 2022 where Rustad had posted a tweet basically denying the impacts of climate change and he was kicked out of the BC United for this.

00:04:21.860 And here we are, you know, a year later and closer to two years later and Kevin Falcon is suspending his campaign and essentially endorsing John Rustad's party.

00:04:32.220 So there's certainly a level of irony here.

00:04:34.160 That being said, I think we can all agree that this is actually the right thing for Kevin to do.

00:04:37.980 And it's not very often that we see politicians doing the right thing nowadays.

00:04:43.600 It's not very often that we see politicians recognizing when they are unpopular, when their policies are unpopular.

00:04:48.920 Obviously, the best example of this currently is in the is in the liberal government.

00:04:52.820 Jagmeet Singh is a very unpopular politician.

00:04:55.440 His party is not doing well and he's not willing to recognize this.

00:04:58.880 He's also not willing to recognize the fact that the liberals are not polling well and that he should end his supply confidence agreement,

00:05:04.120 in which he doesn't even seem to be benefiting from politically anyways.

00:05:08.740 So, you know, Kevin is actually doing the right thing here.

00:05:11.180 And I think we can definitely commend him for that.

00:05:13.300 But Sue Ann, you've been around for just a little longer than I have, maybe about five or 10 years.

00:05:17.200 So what's your take on this?

00:05:19.340 Oh, you are very complimentary.

00:05:21.080 I've covered politics for, well, I would say 30 years.

00:05:24.640 And I've seen municipal races, provincial races, and federal ones where the conservatives have gone down to defeat because they have failed to understand that they need to unite various candidates.

00:05:40.740 I mean, it just happened in our election race here in Toronto where there were three or four conservative candidates and the NDP squeaked through.

00:05:49.860 And the NDP is very, very good at organizing conservatives, less so.

00:05:56.120 And the egos that are involved in some of these races are unbelievable.

00:06:01.740 But yes, you're right.

00:06:03.020 They did do the right thing, despite the history.

00:06:05.700 You know that, you know, what happens in politics lasts about a minute and then they're on to the next shiny object.

00:06:11.900 But, you know, uniting to coalesce the votes around one candidate is definitely the right thing to do.

00:06:23.640 Yeah, absolutely.

00:06:24.800 I mean, when we're talking about this idea of conservatives especially needing to unite to coalesce those conservative votes, I mean, Isaac, how successful do you think that this endeavor will be?

00:06:34.580 Do you think that the conservatives will be successful in the fall election in BC?

00:06:38.160 Yeah, when I first saw this, I initially thought, of course, this would almost guarantee that the conservatives come out with a victory in the following election.

00:06:48.480 And interestingly, when I was talking about this on Daily Brief the other day, I did a quick historical analysis on other political downfalls in Canadian history.

00:07:00.020 And though Sue N's been covering politics in Canada longer than I've been alive, I'll try and do my best here.

00:07:07.020 Oh, that was, okay, lady. 0.95

00:07:11.300 Yeah, so.

00:07:12.020 That hurts.

00:07:12.720 I have a birthday coming up in a couple weeks.

00:07:15.840 Go on.

00:07:16.760 It's all in good fun.

00:07:17.840 So, yeah, just the most notable one that stood out to me and I looked through various was obviously Kim Campbell's defeat when she became prime minister after Brian Mulroney resigned.

00:07:28.120 So, she won the leadership race.

00:07:30.400 And then interestingly, I found that prior to the election, she had pretty favorable approval ratings above 50%.

00:07:37.700 But her campaign was an epic failure. 0.62

00:07:40.600 And obviously, she only won two seats compared to the liberals led by Jean Chrétien, who won 177.

00:07:47.100 So, she got absolutely annihilated.

00:07:49.640 So, it'll be interesting to see how this BC United debacle, let's call it, goes down in Canadian history as a political defeat, I suppose, if you want to call it that.

00:08:01.920 Sure.

00:08:02.240 And, like, when we talk about watching this, how this plays out, Sue Ann, you've seen these types of situations play out a little more than Isaac and I have.

00:08:09.520 One of the things that I'm wondering is, you know, federally, I think a lot of people are hoping that we're going to have an election sooner rather than later.

00:08:15.440 But I think, obviously, we'll have one in 2025.

00:08:19.340 With, you know, Pierre Polyev's Conservatives, do you think that Maxime Bernier's People's Party of Canada is going to be a problem for the Conservatives?

00:08:28.360 Do you think it is going to split that Conservative vote?

00:08:30.920 Or do you think that the PPC really shone during the COVID era when they were the one federal party criticizing government policy around COVID-19?

00:08:40.440 And that we won't see that same level of support for them next year?

00:08:43.620 I don't think we're going to see the same level.

00:08:45.060 I think he's sort of, you want to say flawed because he's just, you know, embarrassed himself on the, he hasn't kept up, let's say, with the times.

00:08:56.760 And, you know, you've got to be conservative, fiscally conservative, tough on law and order, but you have to understand some of the social realities of Canada. 0.89

00:09:06.000 I mean, not bend to transgender philosophy and crazy people and give them all kinds of money. 1.00

00:09:12.360 But in the same token, understand, like, I call myself a fiscal conservative, but I'm socially liberal. 0.87

00:09:20.640 So I think he's pretty much dead in the water.

00:09:25.620 And I don't think he'll have an impact next year.

00:09:29.060 Yeah, I see your analysis on that.

00:09:31.560 And I'd be surprised.

00:09:32.760 I'd be surprised if we see a resurgence of the PPC in 2025.

00:09:36.900 I don't know if it's quite the year to make it the wedge issue, especially with the Conservatives.

00:09:40.520 I know only in the last few months, but coalescing to Canadians' concerns around immigration.

00:09:45.340 Now, obviously, when this story came out this week of the BC United suspending their campaign, I suspect conservative households like ours across the country were sort of celebrating, you know, taking this as a good sign of good conservative momentum out West.

00:10:00.820 However, it was a little overshadowed in my household by this slight irritation.

00:10:06.440 A member of my family, I'm not going to name names, left the house this week.

00:10:12.320 I don't remember which day it was to, you know, go to the convenience store and to pick up a pack of Zonic and, you know, have some tobacco pouches, which is really quite a successful method for people who are trying to quit smoking is to use these tobacco pouches.

00:10:26.440 And apparently the federal government has passed new regulations.

00:10:30.380 You can no longer buy them at convenience stores.

00:10:33.880 So this member of my household basically spent a few hours driving around trying to get his hands on some Zonic or another form of tobacco pouches.

00:10:44.860 I guess you can only buy them at pharmacies now, but it seems like the pharmacies aren't even really on top of this.

00:10:50.060 So we have not had any success.

00:10:52.640 Isaac, why don't you go ahead and tell us what the heck is going on with this?

00:10:56.440 Yeah, Rachel.

00:10:57.480 Well, firstly, I'll note that you called them tobacco pouches, which they're actually nicotine pouches, which is kind of the Liberals' whole reasoning behind this change that took place on August 28th, which was that these nicotine pouches, known under the brand names of Zonic and Zin, are no longer able to be sold at convenience stores prior to the change.

00:11:17.760 You'd obviously find them most commonly at 7-Eleven, but now they can only be sold in pharmacies.

00:11:23.440 And the Liberals' explanation for this was that youth were acquiring them, as I mentioned, because there's no tobacco in them.

00:11:30.520 They fell outside of the purview of tobacco or vaping laws, so I guess any aged person could buy them, although many of the companies had made them 18+, but some of the convenience stores, I guess, weren't honoring this request from the companies.

00:11:45.880 And in fact, the vice president of Imperial Tobacco, Eric Gagnon, he said, quote, the biggest losers right now are adult smokers that have been using Zonic, and I know there are many of them, myself included.

00:11:59.320 This really took me by surprise, because I think it was the August 27th, I went to the store to get some, and I seen the sign that said, we will no longer be selling these after the 28th because of federal law, which obviously we'd reported on, but that was a while ago, and I had forgotten about it.

00:12:18.060 So this was, it sent me into, well, it made me a bit mad, especially, I went in and I joked with the cashier, I said, oh, but don't worry, I can still get a crack pipe for free from the federal government down the corner, and she didn't seem to find that too funny.

00:12:34.140 But this, of course, was the same day, the very same day I wrote the article about drug vending machines in British Columbia, in Victoria, where MLAs were showcasing that you could get a cocaine snorting kit, crack pipes, crack inhalation kits for free from a vending machine outside of an emergency room.

00:12:53.680 So this really seems to be kind of flawed in that sense.

00:12:58.660 I mean, when you look at what's happening with drugs across the country, and really this is the step we're taking, I don't know, what do you guys think about that?

00:13:08.780 Well, I mean, I just don't understand why the regulation couldn't have simply been that you had to be over 18 to buy these from convenience stores and said they've made it, you know, very difficult for people who want to buy these products to sort of have to jump through hoops.

00:13:23.680 I'm curious for now, if you're buying it at the pharmacy, is there going to be an uptick in price?

00:13:28.660 Is it going to become more expensive?

00:13:29.980 I mean, if it's not going to become more expensive, okay, like it's not the worst thing.

00:13:34.220 But at the end of the day, I think it's just the irritation, the annoyance, like it's so quick and easy to run into a convenience store to pick something up.

00:13:40.840 Now you're going to have to track down a pharmacy. 0.53

00:13:42.300 There's probably going to be a bit of a longer wait.

00:13:44.800 And, you know, we should actually be promoting these products for people who are trying to quit smoking because like taking one of these, as you said, correct me, yes, nicotine pouches is obviously a lot.

00:13:53.680 Less harmful for your body than inhaling smoke.

00:13:56.480 So if anything, we should be kind of, and I already know that there's more restrictions on the products that we offer here in Canada or yeah, because for example, I know in the States you can get Zin, which is really popular for people who are quitting smoking.

00:14:08.660 I believe Tucker Carlson sort of infamously always have, has some Zin in his mouth.

00:14:13.860 And here we only have Zonic.

00:14:15.120 So there's already a lot of restrictions around what you can get here in Canada.

00:14:18.520 And they've just made it even harder to get.

00:14:20.240 And I am just curious, like, let's follow the money.

00:14:22.280 Let's see who's actually benefiting from the fact that this is now only going to be available at pharmacies because it just doesn't make sense when they could have gone the route of enforcing it at convenience stores and telling convenience stores they had to be checking IDs for people who were buying these products like they already do for people who are buying cigarettes.

00:14:40.400 What do you think, Sue Ann?

00:14:41.180 Well, I think there's a tremendous irony.

00:14:44.180 I mean, you already talked about, you have to be 18 to walk into a safe injection site and get your arms shot up with some sort of illegal drug.

00:14:52.640 I think there's a great irony.

00:14:55.100 And I think it also, I mean, I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist.

00:14:59.060 I've been in journalism far too long.

00:15:00.700 But I think that our government wants to maintain a dependent society.

00:15:05.080 Okay, so if the smoking cessation drug is not available, readily available, then, you know, you will continue to smoke.

00:15:16.540 And they want people to be dependent on the government to stay addicted to whatever.

00:15:25.900 There's harm reduction for alcohol.

00:15:28.100 There's harm reduction for drugs.

00:15:30.500 And here they're taking away your attempts to be independently able to break the smoking habit.

00:15:38.720 I mean, think about it.

00:15:39.940 It's like so crazy the way their mind, I don't know if they even have a mind, whether their mindset works.

00:15:46.240 But that I could take somebody who's 12, 13 years old into a safe injection site.

00:15:53.320 I'm sure they wouldn't ask for ID. 0.99

00:15:55.360 They just say, okay, shoot them up. 0.92

00:15:58.800 And, you know, we have created this mind-numbing group of addicts across this country with these safe injection sites. 0.90

00:16:09.020 I am obviously not a fan.

00:16:10.760 I just loathe what the drug industry has done to these people.

00:16:15.680 When we talk about sort of, Sue Ann, as you mentioned, the government seems to want to keep people dependent, which I absolutely agree with. 0.99

00:16:23.140 But let's just dig into that, Foxo, a little bit more.

00:16:25.880 Like, what do you think are the actual reasons for the government wanting to keep people so dependent on these really life-altering substances in the worst possible way?

00:16:35.480 Well, I think I said drug industry.

00:16:37.680 So let's talk about drugs for a minute.

00:16:39.420 I mean, but you could apply it to anything.

00:16:40.880 You could apply it to poverty.

00:16:41.900 You could apply it to homelessness.

00:16:43.760 I mean, I've covered all those files.

00:16:45.220 The more people are dependent, the more there are jobs, the more there is money infusing into various governments at various levels.

00:16:55.180 It's all about the money.

00:16:56.560 Follow the money.

00:16:57.220 There's big bucks in keeping those safe injection sites alive.

00:17:02.500 And that's why people here in my province of Ontario went so crazy in the last week with the announcement by Doug Ford that he was going to shut down sites by schools within 200 meters that have created just absolute havoc with these poor kids.

00:17:17.980 I mean, I've done numerous stories on how these schools have been impacted.

00:17:22.580 They don't care.

00:17:23.340 They just, just want to keep the industry thriving.

00:17:27.860 You got a ragtag group of drug activists standing up at the legislature here in Ontario talking about how people are going to die because of these, the closures.

00:17:39.780 But it's all about them.

00:17:41.180 I believe it's all about them.

00:17:44.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:45.060 And when you talk about, you know, the safe injection sites being close to schools, like as a recent parent myself,

00:17:50.500 I just feel like life in Canada is getting harder and harder for parents.

00:17:54.280 Like there's so few places that you can bring your kids that's safe nowadays.

00:17:58.180 Like for me, the desire is just to sort of kind of be at home or like in a small town.

00:18:02.900 Like I just don't even want to go out with my son anymore because I feel like there's danger lurking at every, every corner.

00:18:07.940 Or maybe that's a symptom of me being online too much, but we, I think definitely are all feeling the impacts of how unsafe Canada has become under the true liberals.

00:18:17.580 And they're, you know, they're, they're just bail system.

00:18:20.140 Everyone getting out on bail all the time and all these other policies like safe injection sites.

00:18:23.700 Isaac, you know, for this story that we're looking at here, specifically on the nicotine pouches, do you think that this is something that Canadians are really aware of?

00:18:32.300 As I mentioned, like there is a member of my household who regularly uses these things and went to buy his pack this week and realized that, oh, the regulations have changed.

00:18:41.060 You can only get that on pharmacy.

00:18:41.900 Do you think this is something that was understood and was sort of people were given advanced notice of or was this sort of slipped in quietly?

00:18:48.300 Yeah, that's a tough one. As I said, we had previously reported on, on it, and it still slipped to my mind until literally the day before when I went to the 7-Eleven and they had the signs plastered on their doors.

00:19:01.820 So in that sense, I want to think that people had either not heard about it or probably forgotten about it.

00:19:08.440 This definitely wasn't something that was in the news, like breaking tomorrow, nicotine pouch is no longer available.

00:19:13.420 I don't think legacy medias were reporting that specifically.

00:19:16.940 So, yeah, I don't think that they necessarily were aware of it prior to the change, but they certainly are now because one thing I wanted to mention with convenience stores no longer selling them, many people would have probably gotten these pouches, for example, let's say before night out, you know, before going out on the town.

00:19:34.520 So late at night, whereas pharmacies obviously aren't open 24-7 like convenience stores are.

00:19:40.320 So that really is a big part of the change, I think, because the timeframe where you can actually go to a pharmacy is much more limited than, say, a 7-Eleven.

00:19:48.520 So that's definitely a bad thing because I think the nighttime, you know, is definitely a common time for people to be consuming nicotine.

00:19:57.760 Yeah, you raise a really good point there.

00:20:00.920 I mean, sugar is kind of my advice.

00:20:02.640 And if I'm up past 9 p.m., which I usually am, usually about that time, I'm like, I wonder what we have that I can snack on.

00:20:10.500 And for that reason, I just I never keep sugar in the house because I get the munchies in the evenings.

00:20:15.620 It's just better if I don't have it makes it difficult for me to get.

00:20:18.200 Then usually I can manage to not have any.

00:20:20.200 But I mean, even as you mentioned, Isaac, we, True North, covered this this story.

00:20:24.720 But I mean, Canadians even have a hard time finding our news because you can no longer get it on Facebook and Instagram and all these crazy things.

00:20:31.000 I don't really use those platforms very much anymore.

00:20:33.440 So I sometimes forget that we're not really on them.

00:20:35.480 But it does baffle me, or at least we can't very easily post our articles on them.

00:20:39.580 So makes it just more difficult for Canadians to even have access to these news, which is why it's important that we do shows like this to tell people what's going on and to keep them informed.

00:20:48.840 And speaking of Isaac, I know that you had a good exclusive this week.

00:20:52.220 Why don't you share with us what that was about?

00:20:54.840 Yeah.

00:20:55.360 So people, again, going back to the past may remember hearing about this five years after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to plant two billion trees by by the year 2030.

00:21:06.220 The Liberal government is barely a quarter of the way there.

00:21:09.740 So first of all, I was trying to find these numbers when I was writing the article on like, OK, how many trees have they planted to date?

00:21:16.280 Impossible to find.

00:21:17.000 And the last update the Liberals did was August 2023.

00:21:20.600 So I emailed Natural Resources Canada and they told me they actually gave me the most updated number that you'll find anywhere, which was 553 million.

00:21:30.400 But the caveat there is that they said this is an agreement, essentially, to plant 553 million trees to date.

00:21:37.280 So it's not that they've planted 553 million trees.

00:21:40.160 It's that in some way, shape or form, they have theoretically agreed to plant 553 million trees.

00:21:46.180 But even with that number, this theoretical hypothetical number, they would have had to have planted 700 million trees so far to be on pace for that two billion goal.

00:21:56.300 So they're already behind that, even with their imaginary number, if you want to call it that.

00:22:00.280 And this all came from a press release where Forest Ontario was bragging that they planted 2.7 million trees this year, bringing their national total to 46 and a half million.

00:22:12.000 Though another story we did in the past was a 2023 audit done by Canada's Environment Commissioner, Jerry DeMarco, where he found that the goal would basically, it was impossible to meet unless, quote, significant changes were made.

00:22:27.400 So by the time of that audit, the goal was 30 million trees by 2021, 60 million by 2022.

00:22:34.040 And he said that they were already 45 million trees behind the targets.

00:22:39.000 So, I mean, they're nowhere near.

00:22:40.960 His projections, in fact, showed that 76 million trees.

00:22:45.480 So that's 3.8% of the 2 billion promised would be planted by 2030.

00:22:49.960 So, I mean, they're nowhere near this.

00:22:51.560 And this is, of course, another empty promise by the liberal government.

00:22:55.300 One last thing I'll add is something Blacklock's reported, where they said they found an internal memo from the Natural Resources Department that said the 2 billion trees number, the 2 billion trees number was just a slogan, and it wasn't to be taken literally.

00:23:09.620 So that's what this liberal promise is, just an empty slogan.

00:23:15.180 Yeah.

00:23:15.760 Are you guys surprised to hear that this promise is not going to be kept?

00:23:20.860 Not the slightest, but I'm surprised that they didn't plant more trees because clearly, pardon the pun, it's Friday and it's off the record.

00:23:30.640 Clearly, the liberal government thinks that money does grow on trees.

00:23:33.920 So the more trees they have, the more money they will have.

00:23:37.380 I just feel like their efforts would be better focused instead of worrying about planting all these new trees is protecting some of the ones that we already have.

00:23:46.900 So, for example, take a look at the crazy forest fires that we have going on in Western Canada specifically.

00:23:53.500 I do believe that forest fires are a natural part of the cycle, but it would be a great benefit to all of us if we were to prioritize some controlled burns in areas where, for example, all the trees have been killed by bugs.

00:24:08.900 What's the pine beetles is once, yes, pine beetles coming through, you know, focus on controlled burns with those areas where the trees are dead instead of just letting the dead trees pile up.

00:24:18.520 And then we get a forest fire that gets very hot and out of control and burns, you know, hectares of good, healthy trees.

00:24:24.840 And then, you know, then they would be able to sort of save money in the process and they could count that as success because instead of planting new trees, they had sort of saved existing trees.

00:24:33.440 So I just feel like their efforts here are not exact.

00:24:36.660 They're a bit misguided.

00:24:37.640 I don't have an issue with planting new trees, but I just believe let's sort of prioritize like the natural cycle of nature and things.

00:24:45.220 And I would say also that in cities, and it filters right down to cities, development is out of control.

00:24:53.140 And whenever you develop large apartment buildings or large condos or whatever, affordable housing, which is not so affordable, you take down trees.

00:25:05.500 And there is not, I guess, an imperative to replace these trees.

00:25:13.060 They say they are, but they don't.

00:25:15.220 And it really, really breaks my heart to see some of these trees coming down so freely and so easily.

00:25:21.180 The forest canopy is so important to keep us cool and to keep, to fight climate change.

00:25:27.820 They always talk about climate change, but they don't practice what they preach, of course.

00:25:32.840 I also feel like it's really depressing to live in an area where there are no trees.

00:25:37.040 No trees, yes, exactly.

00:25:38.540 I happen to be very fortunate to live near a trail that's been reconverted.

00:25:42.600 It was a railway line, and now it's called the Beltline, and it's in Midtown Toronto, and it's beautiful.

00:25:51.480 And I run on it, I bike on it, and those kinds of things should not be the exception to the rule in cities.

00:25:58.020 Isaac, with this policy being, you know, from the Liberal government, obviously they're not going to be able to fill that pledge before the next election, which seems like they'll lose.

00:26:09.020 Do you think that this is something that the Conservatives are going to be interested in carrying forward, or do you think that this is sort of just something Trudeau wanted and obviously has not succeeded through that?

00:26:19.200 Yeah, that's a, hmm, I hadn't really considered whether the Conservatives would pick up this goal, though.

00:26:26.280 I would imagine that they might use it as background in a debate against Trudeau.

00:26:31.080 Of course, this wouldn't be a main talking point, but if they're talking about the many broken promises from this Liberal government, certainly this could be on the list.

00:26:39.940 As for whether the Conservatives will pick it up, I mean, who knows?

00:26:43.600 I could certainly see that happening, though.

00:26:45.280 I mean, they'll say, hey, look, we'll do what the Liberals said they would and failed to do.

00:26:49.640 We'll actually plant the two billion trees, or the goal could be revised by then.

00:26:53.760 But yeah, obviously, as Sue Ann said, trees are just an important part of life, and really nature in general shouldn't be the exception.

00:27:03.000 So it'd be great to see them pick it up.

00:27:05.640 You know, one of the things that I think still surprises me most about Alberta is obviously it being a prairie is how few trees there are in, like, certain parts of the province.

00:27:13.600 Obviously, there's a lot of trees in the mountains, you know, a decent amount in the foothills.

00:27:17.380 But when you get to the actual prairie, you know, then a lot less other than in certain little ravines and things.

00:27:25.080 Is there trees, a lot of trees where you live in Edmonton, Isaac?

00:27:29.560 Yeah, I'd say there's a decent amount of trees.

00:27:31.720 And obviously, I used to live in northwest Alberta, when I when I worked for the French radio station there.

00:27:38.820 And that was there was a lot of trees up there.

00:27:41.200 I'll tell you that much because, yeah, there were there weren't that many people, right?

00:27:44.580 So that's the difference.

00:27:46.000 Where there's not a lot of people, there are a lot of trees.

00:27:48.840 No development.

00:27:49.820 Exactly.

00:27:50.160 Well, and the prairies offer their own sort of unique beauty to things.

00:27:55.200 My my husband and I just bought a house and I was very excited that there's a big tree that the last owners planted in the backyard.

00:28:01.800 So I feel like it's a little piece of, you know, Ontario for me in Alberta.

00:28:05.840 Yeah, we have a huge tree in our backyard.

00:28:07.740 But given its angle and it could be a problem in years to come because it is going to might need to cut it down so it doesn't crash into the house.

00:28:16.860 Exactly.

00:28:17.440 And it's huge.

00:28:18.220 So it would be a very, very big problem.

00:28:21.840 Well, I think that's everything that we have for today.

00:28:24.520 Unless anyone has any more thoughts on trees.

00:28:26.640 What's everyone's favorite type of tree?

00:28:30.680 Oh, I love the ones that change color in the fall.

00:28:33.300 Maple trees.

00:28:35.180 I love palm trees.

00:28:36.740 Sorry to say that, but I absolutely adore palm trees.

00:28:40.800 Sue Ann is definitely a Floridian at heart. 0.99

00:28:42.560 Mine is definitely the willow.

00:28:45.440 Is a cactus a tree?

00:28:48.140 I don't know.

00:28:49.400 That's a very prickly question.

00:28:52.900 All right, everyone.

00:28:53.940 Thank you so much for tuning in to Off the Record today.

00:28:56.940 We hope that you guys have a great and fun weekend.

00:29:00.520 If you have been feeling a little bit angsty this week because you haven't been able to get your hands

00:29:04.820 on some nicotine.

00:29:07.040 Good luck with that.

00:29:08.060 Let us know which pharmacies they are selling it at.

00:29:10.560 I'm asking for a friend, of course.

00:29:12.380 Don't forget that everything you heard today was Off the Record.

00:29:15.140 Sue Ann, you had the really good puns today.

00:29:27.420 Yeah, you were on it with the puns.

00:29:28.900 I've never really been any good at it.

00:29:30.220 Oh, God.

00:29:31.040 I hope they weren't too corny.

00:29:32.880 No, they made me laugh.

00:29:34.240 Thanks, Isaac, for saying that I've covered politics longer than you've been alive.

00:29:39.200 Now you really made me feel good.

00:29:41.220 Yeah, Isaac, you might have the class of the suit, but you've got to add a little class

00:29:45.240 and the personality as well.

00:29:46.440 Sorry, Isaac.

00:29:46.580 I'll say it's mándy Drunnov.

00:29:46.780 Hey.

00:29:47.040 Bye.

00:29:47.540 Bye.

00:29:47.880 Bye.

00:29:49.300 Bye.

00:29:49.860 Bye.

00:29:50.080 Bye.

00:29:50.140 Bye.

00:29:50.380 Bye.

00:29:51.080 Bye.

00:29:51.340 Bye.

00:30:04.120 Bye.

00:30:04.800 Bye.

00:30:05.160 Bye.

00:30:06.080 Bye.

00:30:06.240 Bye.

00:30:08.840 Bye.

00:30:09.760 Bye.

00:30:12.660 Bye.

00:30:14.840 Bye-bye.

00:30:15.260 Bye.

00:30:15.700 Bye-bye.

Off the Record - August 30, 2024

The collapse of BC United

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