Rebel News Podcast - #CPC18 SPECIAL： Scheer vs. Bernier, the Media Party's Rebel obsession & looking ahead to 2019

00:00:00.000 Tonight, The Rebel goes to the Conservative Convention in Halifax.

00:00:04.300 It's August 24th, and you're watching The Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:13.280 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:17.080 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:20.780 You come here once a year with a sign, and you feel morally superior.

00:00:24.120 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I publish it

00:00:27.780 is because it's my bloody right to do so.

00:00:34.500 Welcome from Halifax. What a gorgeous day. A little bit overcast, 26 degrees.

00:00:39.320 We are in town for the Conservative Party Convention.

00:00:42.860 Leader Andrew Scheer started the convention with a bang, not fired from him, but at him by Maxime Bernier.

00:00:50.520 Maxime Bernier lost to Andrew Scheer in the leadership race 15 months ago by about 1%.

00:00:56.060 And Andrew Scheer never managed to absorb Maxime Bernier properly into the party.

00:01:02.360 That really is job one for any new leader in a contest is to do his best to mollify his rivals

00:01:12.260 and, if possible, make them part of the team.

00:01:14.640 I think of Stephen Harper and how he fused Stockwell Day to his team.

00:01:20.280 Of course, you can go further back in time to see how Jean Chrétien took Paul Martin

00:01:24.260 and made him an important asset, at least for 10 years, till their détente fell apart.

00:01:29.360 Unfortunately, Andrew Scheer did not, or could not, or would not do that with Maxime Bernier.

00:01:34.400 And Bernier quit the party the day before the convention,

00:01:37.660 announcing at a press conference in Ottawa that he was going to start his own party.

00:01:42.720 Here, take a quick look.

00:01:43.600 If we want conservative principles to win the bottle of ideas,

00:01:49.480 we have to defend them openly, with passion and with conviction.

00:01:55.200 That is what I want to do.

00:01:58.880 And this is why, as of today, I'm no longer a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:02:06.060 I want to do politics differently.

00:02:10.300 I will find another way to give a voice to millions of Canadians.

00:02:15.340 And I will continue to fight for freedom, responsibility, fairness and respect.

00:02:22.360 Merci.

00:02:23.100 Well, as you know, I am sympathetic to Maxime Bernier for a number of reasons.

00:02:27.160 I find him charming and charismatic.

00:02:29.500 I like the fact that he has courage,

00:02:31.380 especially on the subjects that so many other Conservatives are afraid of,

00:02:35.660 whether it's extreme multiculturalism, open borders, immigration,

00:02:39.680 or, of course, supply management,

00:02:41.780 which is the sanitized name for quotas for Canada's dairy cartel.

00:02:47.180 Maxime did not win, though, and it was not his place to set key policy.

00:02:51.740 He was demoted earlier this year by Andrew Scheer,

00:02:54.280 and it looked like he was heading for a firing,

00:02:57.660 but he fired himself.

00:02:58.900 And my first thought was, that's a bad idea.

00:03:02.840 If your goal was promote your policies,

00:03:05.940 do so within the infrastructure of the party.

00:03:08.120 Do so at the convention.

00:03:09.200 Do so at the policy debates.

00:03:11.220 Do so in the votes for little executives in this writing or that.

00:03:14.780 Put your own people in place 0.99

00:03:16.460 and come to terms with the current leader, Andrew Scheer,

00:03:19.860 to be a deputy of some sort,

00:03:22.020 a deputy in charge of Quebec,

00:03:23.960 deputy in charge of dairy cartels or whatever,

00:03:26.840 if you can't, if you can convince him.

00:03:29.540 And how would that be a proposition that Maxime Bernier could lose by?

00:03:36.220 Because if Andrew Scheer won the next election,

00:03:39.560 that would likely rely on a strong showing in Quebec,

00:03:43.600 which would be, to Maxime Bernier's credit,

00:03:45.440 and at the very least, he would be a senior cabinet minister.

00:03:47.500 And if, as many people think,

00:03:49.400 Andrew Scheer will not win the next election scheduled for last year,

00:03:52.620 then Maxime Bernier would be the heir apparent even more so.

00:03:55.840 Right now, he's the obvious only other rival in the party for the leadership.

00:04:00.880 If he spent one year investing in the party,

00:04:03.820 promoting it, promoting its ideas,

00:04:06.680 he would be there to catch the prize when Andrew Scheer drops it.

00:04:10.480 Now, neither of those things will happen.

00:04:12.720 A lot of his policy energy has been taken away from the party.

00:04:15.900 His supporters are disheartened because he's abandoned the party

00:04:18.580 and will split the right.

00:04:20.800 And, of course, the idea of setting up his own party infrastructure

00:04:24.000 is not only a daunting task, but it's a zero-sum game, I put it to you.

00:04:28.060 Every vote he gets will likely be taken away from the Conservative Party.

00:04:31.760 So that's the big headline.

00:04:33.360 There are other little details at this policy convention.

00:04:36.220 Alas, we're not there to cover the trivial minutiae from within the party itself

00:04:41.780 because Andrew Scheer, in his wisdom, has banned the rebel,

00:04:45.900 but only the rebel, from reporting from inside the conference.

00:04:49.200 I've told you about this before.

00:04:50.140 It's really bizarre.

00:04:51.640 We have our disagreements with Andrew Scheer,

00:04:53.640 as we do with Maxime Bernier, as we did with Stephen Harper,

00:04:56.260 as we do with any leader on the right.

00:04:58.540 Obviously, there are far fewer disagreements we have

00:05:00.900 with politicians on the right than we do with those on the left

00:05:03.320 or the weird left like Justin Trudeau.

00:05:06.080 Yet we've never been kicked out of an event by the Liberals.

00:05:08.800 I should say Sheila Gunn-Reed was briefly kicked out 0.83

00:05:11.360 of the Alberta legislature by an armed sheriff,

00:05:14.360 but they backed down after the NDP was humiliated for their censorship.

00:05:18.860 Remember this clip?

00:05:19.500 What was the truth of the interpretation?

00:05:24.420 We already spoke to Darcy Henton.

00:05:28.300 He said there should be no problem to come in.

00:05:31.820 Sorry, why is that?

00:05:34.220 Sorry, why?

00:05:35.280 That's a bizarre pattern or precedent or role model

00:05:39.720 for Andrew Scheer to follow.

00:05:41.380 Even more bizarre, given Andrew Scheer's public statements

00:05:44.160 that he deeply, truly cares about freedom of speech.

00:05:47.780 This is a video he put out just this week.

00:05:50.300 I believe freedom of speech is coming under attack

00:05:53.160 because sometimes it is inconvenient to certain people.

00:05:56.720 You know, certain people who have a political agenda

00:05:58.240 don't even want there to be a debate about certain things.

00:06:01.420 Sometimes things are said that others disagree with

00:06:05.920 and sometimes it is maybe offensive or hurts other people's feelings.

00:06:09.360 But that doesn't mean that we can justify that

00:06:12.180 to curtail or limit or infringe upon such a fundamental freedom.

00:06:17.300 It doesn't hurt my feelings particularly much

00:06:19.520 to be kept out from meeting rooms

00:06:21.500 where excruciatingly boring seminars are held.

00:06:25.120 In fact, I put it to you that most members of the party

00:06:27.760 lounge around in the corridors kibitzing with each other.

00:06:30.380 There are some exciting policy moments, debates,

00:06:33.940 and there will be some keynote speeches.

00:06:35.960 But it's more the bizarreness of keeping the rebel out of the conference.

00:06:42.080 It would be akin to the Republican Party banning Fox News

00:06:46.340 because of some trivial disagreement.

00:06:49.280 The excuses are ever-changing.

00:06:51.700 On one time, the party said it's because we criticized them in 2017.

00:06:56.200 Another time, they said it's because we're an activist group.

00:06:59.100 Well, there are 24 activist groups that are registered at the convention.

00:07:03.220 I say we're an activist journalist,

00:07:05.580 but in any event, that excuse doesn't wash.

00:07:08.000 But it's not actually about the excuses.

00:07:10.240 It's about a party that has its priorities wrong.

00:07:14.260 And that's the central thesis of my monologue today

00:07:17.040 that I'm doing on the pier here in Halifax without notes,

00:07:19.800 is that the key job for Andrew Scheer over the past 15 months

00:07:26.140 was to unify the party behind him,

00:07:28.840 a party that he just squeaked into the leadership of

00:07:31.880 with less than 1% margin, or he got 51% rather.

00:07:37.200 That was his key job, and he did not do it.

00:07:39.640 What was bizarre to me about Maxime Bernier's statement

00:07:42.340 at his press conference this week

00:07:43.980 was that Andrew Scheer hadn't even talked to him

00:07:46.060 in well over a week, despite daily eruptions

00:07:48.760 between Bernier and other MPs.

00:07:51.500 I think that Andrew Scheer is risk-averse,

00:07:55.260 and he's passive, and he lacks the kind of courage

00:07:58.340 to make brutal decisions that are sometimes necessary.

00:08:01.300 And when I mean brutal, I mean

00:08:02.400 demanding discipline from his own MPs,

00:08:06.280 hiring, firing, promoting, he lacked the courage

00:08:09.120 to deal with the Bernier matter

00:08:10.760 until Bernier took himself out.

00:08:12.360 I don't think that Andrew Scheer is any stronger.

00:08:15.040 He may have a tighter grip on the Conservative Party today,

00:08:18.080 but it is a smaller Conservative Party.

00:08:21.460 Stephen Harper spent years to unite the right.

00:08:24.340 Andrew Scheer and Maxime Bernier,

00:08:25.820 with their combined errors, have divided the right.

00:08:28.660 But I think the fact that Andrew Scheer

00:08:31.800 has banned the rebel,

00:08:33.060 and the fact that he mishandled Maxime Bernier,

00:08:35.920 and I say again, Bernier made the wrong decision

00:08:38.000 in my mind for several points of view.

00:08:40.720 But the fact that Andrew Scheer let it come to pass,

00:08:43.960 and the fact that he banned us,

00:08:45.820 I believe they are different manifestations

00:08:49.180 of the same problem.

00:08:51.080 They both diagnose the same ailment.

00:08:53.540 And it's that Andrew Scheer

00:08:55.180 is not yet the leader he needs to be.

00:08:59.140 And I want to give you a bizarre example,

00:09:01.800 and it's from the media.

00:09:04.500 Like I say, we're here at the convention.

00:09:06.420 We're meeting hundreds of our fans and friends.

00:09:08.900 We're saying hi to anyone we want.

00:09:11.240 It's a love-in for us,

00:09:12.680 like it was at the last Conservative convention.

00:09:15.060 We're having a hospitality party tonight

00:09:17.940 where we're inviting hundreds of people of RSVP'd.

00:09:20.660 We see MPs, we see senators, we see staff.

00:09:23.680 I'll tell you one quick anecdote

00:09:24.680 before I get to my main point.

00:09:25.840 I bumped into a candidate from the Lower Mainland in BC

00:09:28.940 who said he was getting so much flack

00:09:31.740 from his grassroots members

00:09:32.860 about the ban on the rebel.

00:09:34.800 And he showed me his phone that had all these messages.

00:09:37.300 He said, Ezra, can I please have a selfie picture with you

00:09:40.200 to send to my constituents

00:09:41.720 to prove to them that I don't hate the rebel

00:09:44.420 like Andrew Scheer does?

00:09:45.660 It was a funny exchange.

00:09:47.000 And yes, of course, I did pose with him.

00:09:48.860 Even Andrew Scheer, some of Andrew Scheer's own personal staff

00:09:51.580 had a friendly hello to us

00:09:53.260 and we spoke at great length

00:09:54.460 and they don't understand it either.

00:09:56.060 But I want to show you what's going on.

00:09:58.800 I'm going to read to you from a story

00:10:00.820 in the Globe and Mail that was posted today

00:10:02.460 and it was called by the Globe and Mail a top story.

00:10:06.140 So this wasn't a little trivial story.

00:10:08.160 This was not a little colorful anecdote.

00:10:10.400 The Globe and Mail literally called this a top story

00:10:13.720 and I'm going to read it to you

00:10:15.120 and it goes to both the banning of the rebel

00:10:18.700 and the larger problem in the conservative party.

00:10:21.720 And you tell me if I'm right or wrong.

00:10:23.840 The story was written by one of the Globe and Mail's

00:10:26.780 political columnists,

00:10:27.620 but I really think she's more a gossip columnist.

00:10:29.760 Her name is Laura Stone and here's the headline.

00:10:31.540 You just got to, I love this.

00:10:33.200 Top conservative aide seen speaking to rebel media

00:10:38.080 who are banned from party convention.

00:10:42.180 That's it.

00:10:42.800 It's like, oh, who did you pass a note to in gym class?

00:10:46.580 This is like childish grade school gossip.

00:10:49.080 But let me read a little bit more

00:10:50.060 because I'm coming to my point here.

00:10:53.380 Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's national campaign manager

00:10:56.260 was seen speaking with members of rebel media

00:11:00.500 outside of the party's convention in Halifax,

00:11:02.960 even though the far right website is barred

00:11:05.700 from covering the event for being an activist group.

00:11:09.120 We're not barred from covering the event.

00:11:10.360 We're covering it quite well.

00:11:11.500 We're just barred from coming in their meetings.

00:11:15.140 Hamish Marshall, who will spearhead

00:11:17.560 the conservative party's federal election efforts,

00:11:19.280 was spotted speaking to members of the outlet,

00:11:23.160 known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric,

00:11:25.740 on a restaurant patio

00:11:27.540 as the party's convention kicked off on Thursday.

00:11:30.480 The Globe and Mail was provided

00:11:31.760 with photographs of the interaction.

00:11:34.340 Was it surveillance footage?

00:11:36.140 Did you hire a private eye?

00:11:37.240 We were sitting on a patio.

00:11:41.660 Let me read some more.

00:11:43.340 The right-wing outlet is banned from covering the convention.

00:11:47.220 No, we're not.

00:11:47.700 We're covering it.

00:11:48.320 We're covering it in more fairness and more detail

00:11:51.640 than the Globe is.

00:11:52.740 Banned from covering the convention.

00:11:54.620 But some of its representatives,

00:11:55.880 including founder Ezra Levant,

00:11:57.580 he's terrible,

00:11:59.400 are in Halifax.

00:12:00.900 I have been spotted here.

00:12:02.220 And we'll be hosting a party.

00:12:05.500 That's the worst.

00:12:06.600 Off-site on Friday night,

00:12:07.560 Mr. Marshall was seen speaking with contributor

00:12:10.120 Sheila Gunn-Reed and two others,

00:12:13.420 but not Mr. Levant.

00:12:15.500 This goes on for hundreds and hundreds of words.

00:12:19.800 Quote,

00:12:20.060 we don't give media accreditation to activist groups,

00:12:23.160 Conservative Party spokesman Corey Hahn said.

00:12:25.200 Well,

00:12:25.780 that's just not true.

00:12:27.700 Here's a list of 24 activist groups

00:12:29.540 they've given accreditation to,

00:12:32.480 including a group that promoted

00:12:33.560 the M-103 Islamophobia censorship motion.

00:12:36.720 So,

00:12:37.060 that's just not true.

00:12:38.000 And that's his third excuse in the road.

00:12:40.020 But it's not about the excuses.

00:12:41.880 I'm going to get back to why his excuse

00:12:43.540 is so funny in a minute.

00:12:45.220 Mr. Marshall was once listed

00:12:47.040 as a director of the Conservative News outlet,

00:12:48.620 but has since been removed.

00:12:52.460 No one removed him.

00:12:53.500 He left.

00:12:53.820 He left to go work for Andrew Scheer.

00:12:57.060 And said he was severing ties with the organization.

00:13:00.200 He also shared Toronto office space with the company

00:13:02.400 during the Tory leadership race,

00:13:03.840 although he said he never discussed campaign matters.

00:13:06.320 That's true.

00:13:07.320 When asked why he was speaking with members of the outlet,

00:13:10.740 Mr. Marshall said he simply stopped by to say hello.

00:13:13.620 And they quote him.

00:13:14.220 Ready?

00:13:15.640 I just said hi to somebody on the street,

00:13:17.720 Mr. Marshall told the Globe.

00:13:20.040 When asked if he thinks the group should be able

00:13:21.920 to cover the convention,

00:13:24.080 Mr. Marshall said he's not involved

00:13:27.240 in the media accreditation process.

00:13:30.120 And anyway,

00:13:30.780 I'm not going to go on.

00:13:32.360 It goes on and on and on and on.

00:13:35.380 And this was a top story

00:13:37.800 that Hamish literally said hi to Sheila on the street.

00:13:44.780 This was a top story.

00:13:47.480 Here's why this story makes me laugh

00:13:49.980 and makes me cry at the same time.

00:13:51.640 And here's why this story is more than just a

00:13:53.620 vanity name check of me

00:13:55.120 or just a goofy little colorful anecdote.

00:13:57.760 Here's why this story is important.

00:14:00.260 First of all, it shows the bad faith of the media.

00:14:02.340 This is allegedly Canada's newspaper of record,

00:14:05.720 the Mighty Globe and Mail.

00:14:07.240 And they think a little,

00:14:09.400 hey, hi, hi,

00:14:11.520 on the street between the rebel

00:14:13.080 and our friend,

00:14:15.500 our former director

00:14:16.480 and ally and buddy

00:14:18.580 is a top story.

00:14:22.380 That's fake news at its core.

00:14:24.800 I mean, it is accurate.

00:14:26.640 They did say hi.

00:14:28.000 But to call that a top story,

00:14:30.460 isn't that the definition of fake news?

00:14:32.200 Who's covering

00:14:32.800 the conservative conference better?

00:14:35.800 I grant you,

00:14:36.980 they've got the

00:14:37.620 hey, hi beat covered

00:14:39.160 better than we do.

00:14:40.360 That is correct.

00:14:42.500 The true policies and ideologies,

00:14:44.900 not so much the globe.

00:14:47.060 So they're giving that

00:14:48.040 their top story billing.

00:14:50.900 They're actually not covering news.

00:14:53.300 That is actually not news.

00:14:54.600 That is them attempting to

00:14:57.480 de-platform us,

00:15:00.780 de-person us,

00:15:02.140 make it so that

00:15:03.120 anyone in the party

00:15:04.240 is terrified of saying

00:15:05.700 hello to us.

00:15:07.020 They're going to have to do

00:15:07.840 a lot more top stories

00:15:09.260 because we,

00:15:10.280 yesterday we had dinner

00:15:11.340 outside the convention center

00:15:13.240 just at some Mexican restaurant.

00:15:14.820 I was,

00:15:15.420 I mean, you know me,

00:15:16.200 I like to snack a teeny bit.

00:15:18.040 I was on my feet

00:15:19.100 probably a hundred times.

00:15:20.400 It's the most exercise,

00:15:21.340 that's the first meal

00:15:22.260 I've ever had

00:15:22.880 where I lost weight

00:15:24.100 because I was up and down

00:15:25.440 and up and down

00:15:25.980 and up and down

00:15:26.520 saying hi to a hundred people

00:15:27.640 coming over to say hi.

00:15:28.820 There were even some hugs.

00:15:31.180 That's a top story for you.

00:15:32.300 My point is

00:15:32.960 that is not a real news story.

00:15:36.480 It is not real news

00:15:37.480 that I said hello.

00:15:38.640 It's an attempt

00:15:39.560 to terrify politically

00:15:41.460 the conservative party

00:15:43.320 from talking to people

00:15:44.860 who they think

00:15:45.760 have the wrong opinions.

00:15:46.800 It is not news

00:15:50.100 that Sheila said hi to Hamish.

00:15:52.600 They're former colleagues,

00:15:53.800 they're friendly enough,

00:15:55.300 there's no,

00:15:55.980 even if they weren't,

00:15:57.140 it's civil to say hello.

00:15:58.580 It is not a top news story

00:16:01.100 to report that,

00:16:02.580 but the purpose was not news,

00:16:04.500 the purpose was to say

00:16:05.700 we're watching you conservatives

00:16:07.300 and if you dare consort with

00:16:09.220 A,

00:16:09.540 our competitors at the rebel

00:16:11.420 and B,

00:16:13.120 our ideological competitors,

00:16:15.760 we will shame you

00:16:17.060 and name you.

00:16:18.460 So it's not even news.

00:16:19.680 But here's the second point

00:16:20.680 and this goes

00:16:21.380 to the problem

00:16:22.240 with Andrew Scheer.

00:16:24.400 Why did Corey Hahn,

00:16:26.800 senior communications staffer,

00:16:28.720 and why did Hamish Marshall himself

00:16:30.480 feel the need

00:16:31.620 to dignify

00:16:32.720 this stupid fake news story

00:16:35.720 with an answer

00:16:36.580 at all?

00:16:38.400 Why wasn't their answer

00:16:40.040 F off?

00:16:42.700 Or if they were being

00:16:43.580 more communications professionals,

00:16:45.900 that's a ridiculous question,

00:16:48.140 I'm busy,

00:16:49.340 or probably the best answer

00:16:50.620 is not even to reply.

00:16:52.360 Why did they feel the need

00:16:54.020 to answer such an obviously

00:16:56.380 bad faith,

00:16:58.000 non-news,

00:16:59.500 gossip,

00:17:00.620 innuendo question?

00:17:02.960 Why did they feel the need

00:17:04.260 to come up with talking points

00:17:06.620 and to justify,

00:17:08.840 well,

00:17:09.260 we kept them out

00:17:10.220 because they're an activist

00:17:11.260 or I swear I was only saying hi,

00:17:13.460 please don't be mad at me?

00:17:15.020 Why did Hamish,

00:17:16.500 who's a friend of mine,

00:17:17.620 and Corey,

00:17:18.440 who I don't know well,

00:17:19.900 why did they feel

00:17:21.700 the need to oblige

00:17:23.220 such a stupid question

00:17:24.980 from the media party?

00:17:26.320 And therein,

00:17:27.620 you find Andrew Scheer's

00:17:29.220 chief problem.

00:17:32.920 Andrew Scheer's worst enemy

00:17:34.960 in the 2019 election

00:17:37.160 will not be Justin Trudeau,

00:17:40.020 possibly the laziest man

00:17:41.860 in Canadian politics,

00:17:43.400 possibly the least articulate man

00:17:46.500 when he's off a teleprompter,

00:17:48.760 possibly the most thin-skinned man.

00:17:50.700 You've seen him lash out

00:17:51.860 at that grandma

00:17:53.400 the other week in Quebec.

00:17:54.800 You've seen him swear

00:17:55.880 in Parliament.

00:17:56.840 You've seen him elbow an MP.

00:17:58.900 Justin Trudeau himself

00:18:01.580 is actually a weak candidate

00:18:04.080 and his shtick,

00:18:05.660 dancing,

00:18:06.580 the selfies,

00:18:07.400 the costume,

00:18:08.100 is wearing thin on Canadians.

00:18:10.920 Justin Trudeau

00:18:12.120 is not Andrew Scheer's opponent.

00:18:15.300 The media party is.

00:18:17.840 That's what Maxime Bernier

00:18:19.680 got right last week,

00:18:21.540 calling CBC fake news,

00:18:23.060 calling Rosemary Barton despicable.

00:18:24.600 And that's what Hamish and Corey

00:18:26.780 got wrong

00:18:27.760 in this stupid front-page non-story 0.81

00:18:30.800 in the Globe and Mail.

00:18:32.180 Sheila said hi,

00:18:33.380 and Hamish said hey.

00:18:34.640 Oh, I swear,

00:18:35.660 I swear that's all we said.

00:18:37.180 I'm so sorry, master.

00:18:38.720 I won't do it again.

00:18:41.140 Anyone who submits

00:18:43.200 to the Globe and Mail,

00:18:44.180 the CBC,

00:18:44.940 the CTV,

00:18:45.740 or the rest of the media party

00:18:47.300 is assuring that they will not

00:18:49.640 win the next election.

00:18:50.740 Because not only are they

00:18:52.080 giving oxygen to those liars

00:18:54.520 in the mainstream media.

00:18:56.380 They're allowing their mind

00:18:57.780 to be colonized by them,

00:18:59.240 and they're allowing

00:19:00.080 their friends and enemies,

00:19:01.360 their causes and platforms,

00:19:02.780 to be governed by them.

00:19:04.700 The day that Hamish 1.00

00:19:06.480 and Corey

00:19:07.300 and Andrew Scheer himself

00:19:09.540 can look the CBC in the eyes,

00:19:12.040 can look the Globe and Mail

00:19:13.200 in the eyes,

00:19:14.020 and say,

00:19:14.900 go to hell, 0.99

00:19:16.140 you fake news liars, 0.85

00:19:18.700 is the first step

00:19:20.380 on their victory

00:19:21.660 in the election.

00:19:23.060 And if they continue

00:19:24.480 to hide under the bed

00:19:25.900 and do what they're told,

00:19:28.320 they will lose.

00:19:31.780 Covering the Conservative Convention

00:19:33.580 from Halifax,

00:19:35.360 I'm Ezra Levan,

00:19:36.520 and you stay with us

00:19:37.500 because we've got a couple

00:19:38.220 of interesting interviews

00:19:39.660 by our Sheila Gunn-Reid.

00:19:41.140 More ahead.

00:19:41.560 Thank you.

00:19:41.620 Thank you.

00:19:41.680 Thank you.

00:19:41.740 Thank you.

00:19:41.800 Thank you.

00:19:41.880 Thank you.

00:19:42.740 Thank you.

00:19:43.740 Thank you.

00:19:43.800 Thank you.

00:19:43.820 Thank you.

00:19:43.840 Thank you.

00:19:50.380 Well, we're out here

00:20:00.680 in Halifax

00:20:01.480 on the Atlantic coast,

00:20:02.800 but we have lots of friends

00:20:04.400 from the entire country here,

00:20:06.200 especially from the West.

00:20:07.900 Sheila caught up

00:20:08.540 with Prem Singh

00:20:09.400 to see what she's up to

00:20:11.240 in terms of grassroots

00:20:12.540 conservative activism.

00:20:14.220 So joining me right now

00:20:15.520 is Alberta conservative activist

00:20:17.540 Prem Singh.

00:20:18.240 Now, Prem,

00:20:18.660 you're a long-time

00:20:20.040 conservative activist,

00:20:21.020 but you're not just an activist.

00:20:22.000 You're sort of starting

00:20:23.900 influential movements

00:20:25.600 where you see a void.

00:20:26.660 For example,

00:20:27.680 you helped found

00:20:28.600 Alberta Can't Wait,

00:20:30.320 which started

00:20:31.340 the Jason Kenney juggernaut.

00:20:32.880 You started having

00:20:33.740 those conversations

00:20:34.520 before even he did,

00:20:36.540 before we knew

00:20:37.060 that he would be the guy.

00:20:38.460 And you also were influential

00:20:40.900 in starting Save Calgary,

00:20:42.900 which fills an amazing void

00:20:46.520 where I think there's

00:20:48.960 a real deficit

00:20:49.660 of accountability

00:20:50.860 in municipal politics,

00:20:52.240 where conservatives

00:20:53.380 have sort of

00:20:54.120 walked off the field.

00:20:56.160 But you're starting

00:20:56.860 something new.

00:20:58.340 Yes, we are.

00:20:59.120 What we learned

00:20:59.900 from Alberta Can't Wait

00:21:01.060 was, look,

00:21:03.060 both the party

00:21:04.100 and the party establishments

00:21:05.760 were against unity.

00:21:07.640 And sometimes you have to go

00:21:09.660 against what establishment

00:21:11.260 wants,

00:21:12.540 and you have to break that up.

00:21:13.900 And that's what we did.

00:21:15.460 We facilitated

00:21:16.560 and started

00:21:17.260 that structural change.

00:21:19.480 And now we have the UCP.

00:21:21.640 And with respect

00:21:22.680 to Save Calgary,

00:21:23.580 yeah, it's a municipal

00:21:24.840 grassroots watchdog.

00:21:26.820 And so I thought

00:21:27.920 what we need to do

00:21:28.860 is have a federal

00:21:30.020 grassroots movement.

00:21:31.680 And we're a pretty diverse bunch.

00:21:33.580 I'm the oldest person.

00:21:35.760 And it's our job

00:21:38.520 and what we'd like to do

00:21:39.780 is train young people.

00:21:42.340 And we had our initial

00:21:43.420 training program

00:21:44.340 where it was very,

00:21:46.280 we trained them

00:21:47.360 in political theory

00:21:48.440 but also practical training.

00:21:50.480 They've learned

00:21:50.960 about NationBuilder.

00:21:52.420 They're all

00:21:52.880 NationBuilder certified.

00:21:54.620 They've learned

00:21:55.360 about social media

00:21:56.340 and just advocacy.

00:21:58.540 What we would like to do

00:21:59.580 is educate Canadians

00:22:00.860 across the board,

00:22:01.860 regardless of their partisanship,

00:22:03.700 on issues that they do

00:22:05.480 want to learn

00:22:06.300 and talk about.

00:22:07.460 Education,

00:22:08.340 electricity,

00:22:08.940 the energy,

00:22:11.920 our resources,

00:22:13.620 our forestry.

00:22:14.800 All of these issues

00:22:15.860 talk about borders,

00:22:16.980 talk about immigration,

00:22:18.100 all the issues

00:22:18.760 that people on the street,

00:22:20.580 everyday people,

00:22:21.360 want to talk about.

00:22:23.020 This whole,

00:22:23.500 you know,

00:22:23.700 maybe our Prime Minister

00:22:24.560 is half right

00:22:25.460 when he says

00:22:26.100 diversity is strength

00:22:27.300 but he's missing

00:22:28.420 the boat on something.

00:22:29.760 It's diversity of thoughts

00:22:31.460 is our strength.

00:22:32.700 And we can't suppress ideas

00:22:33.940 and we can't surround

00:22:36.140 our parties

00:22:36.720 with sycophants.

00:22:38.040 We need to be able

00:22:38.960 to have new ideas,

00:22:40.160 fresh ideas,

00:22:40.960 break up the establishment,

00:22:42.700 let the next generation 0.98

00:22:43.860 come in.

00:22:44.840 And these politicians

00:22:45.740 and our parties,

00:22:47.160 they don't,

00:22:48.400 they work for us.

00:22:50.360 And we seem to have it

00:22:51.720 the opposite.

00:22:52.940 So it's up to us

00:22:53.880 as grassroots

00:22:54.560 to unite,

00:22:55.920 become educated,

00:22:56.980 become engaged.

00:22:57.900 It doesn't matter

00:22:58.540 what party

00:22:59.680 or what stripe you are,

00:23:01.300 but we all have to get active

00:23:02.900 and be engaged

00:23:04.480 and hold our politicians

00:23:05.760 and these parties

00:23:06.620 to account.

00:23:07.740 I do think

00:23:08.460 that when you have

00:23:09.180 fresh new ideas

00:23:11.380 and you're able

00:23:11.920 to talk about them

00:23:12.940 instead of suppressing them,

00:23:14.660 the best always rises

00:23:15.980 to the top.

00:23:16.860 And that's how

00:23:17.440 we're going to be able

00:23:18.180 to create change

00:23:19.200 and have bold ideas

00:23:20.660 and bold policies.

00:23:22.440 So we're also doing

00:23:23.600 a speaker series

00:23:24.820 and we'll have special guests

00:23:26.660 from across the world.

00:23:28.340 We're excited

00:23:29.020 about our first one.

00:23:30.480 It's going to be

00:23:31.180 Tucker Carlson

00:23:32.020 on September 22nd.

00:23:33.660 So we're pretty excited

00:23:35.020 and we will have guests

00:23:36.120 from all across the spectrum.

00:23:38.240 We'll probably have

00:23:39.400 four a year.

00:23:41.300 And yes,

00:23:42.100 our biggest thing in,

00:23:43.980 sorry,

00:23:44.420 I forgot to mention

00:23:45.120 what it's called,

00:23:46.260 Canadians for Democracy

00:23:47.440 and Prosperity.

00:23:48.500 Because I do believe

00:23:49.640 that Canadians

00:23:50.360 from all walks of life

00:23:52.280 all want democracy

00:23:54.480 and we all want prosperity

00:23:56.180 for everybody.

00:23:57.100 So we think it's important

00:24:00.560 to have the grassroots involved

00:24:02.520 and I think it's important

00:24:03.940 for this to be

00:24:04.740 a self-sustaining endeavor.

00:24:06.820 It might take us

00:24:07.580 a bit of time

00:24:08.180 to get there,

00:24:08.920 but that is our goal.

00:24:10.740 Now,

00:24:11.740 what I really hope

00:24:13.460 that your organization does

00:24:14.900 is it,

00:24:15.940 as a conservative,

00:24:17.540 I hope it changes

00:24:18.600 the fact

00:24:19.260 that within this convention

00:24:20.840 today,

00:24:21.880 there are

00:24:22.460 the official

00:24:23.360 conservative types

00:24:24.760 that think

00:24:25.820 that there are things

00:24:26.380 that we cannot talk about,

00:24:27.820 that we simply

00:24:28.580 cannot talk about,

00:24:29.680 like immigration levels,

00:24:31.780 like supply management,

00:24:34.680 to punch back

00:24:36.760 against this idea

00:24:37.460 that diversity of color

00:24:39.440 is our strength

00:24:40.420 as opposed to

00:24:41.000 diversity of ideas.

00:24:42.920 Do you think

00:24:43.520 that you'll be able

00:24:44.160 to sort of reset

00:24:46.180 the official conservative

00:24:48.000 types when you do this?

00:24:48.900 Because you do have

00:24:49.860 a history of sort of

00:24:51.120 forcing official conservatives

00:24:53.060 to hit the reset button.

00:24:54.760 That is our goal.

00:24:56.820 I don't think

00:24:57.480 that we need to be afraid

00:24:58.680 to speak our mind

00:25:00.140 within reason.

00:25:01.600 We're not out here

00:25:02.900 just because I have

00:25:04.040 a different thought

00:25:04.680 than you.

00:25:05.220 That doesn't make me

00:25:06.060 a racist or a xenophobe

00:25:07.560 or everything else

00:25:08.640 that they call us.

00:25:08.860 No, Prem,

00:25:09.280 you're a white supremacist. 0.73

00:25:10.940 So, you know,

00:25:12.060 we have to get over

00:25:13.080 that hump.

00:25:13.700 We have to stop

00:25:14.460 apologizing and being afraid

00:25:16.180 because right now

00:25:17.420 we've created

00:25:18.340 our language

00:25:19.200 as a minefield

00:25:20.100 and whatever we say,

00:25:21.500 we're afraid

00:25:22.160 that we're going to

00:25:22.820 say something wrong

00:25:23.820 that's going to upset somebody

00:25:25.200 and then we're apologizing.

00:25:26.840 We need to stop

00:25:27.560 as Canadians apologizing.

00:25:29.280 Stop apologizing

00:25:30.160 for our resources.

00:25:32.160 We need to stand up

00:25:33.000 for ourselves.

00:25:34.180 We have to,

00:25:35.860 we're at a crossroads,

00:25:36.940 our country is.

00:25:38.400 And we do have

00:25:39.660 to make a change

00:25:40.820 if we are going

00:25:41.860 to be competitive

00:25:42.820 in the world

00:25:43.660 and we have to look out

00:25:46.460 for our own security,

00:25:47.740 our own economy.

00:25:48.800 We can't leave it up

00:25:49.760 to the politicians.

00:25:50.520 We have to demand

00:25:51.960 these things.

00:25:53.700 So, Prem,

00:25:54.420 how do people

00:25:55.080 get in touch with you?

00:25:56.300 How do they support

00:25:57.860 your new endeavor

00:25:58.620 and how do they get

00:25:59.760 to go to Tucker Carlson?

00:26:01.340 Well, they could email us

00:26:02.800 at info

00:26:03.460 at democracy

00:26:04.440 and prosperity

00:26:05.320 dot ca

00:26:06.160 and otherwise

00:26:07.700 you can get a hold

00:26:08.600 of me through

00:26:09.120 Alberta Can't Wait

00:26:09.920 or Save Calgary.

00:26:11.340 Great.

00:26:11.660 Thanks so much, Prem.

00:26:12.420 Good luck.

00:26:13.160 Thank you.

00:26:13.600 Thank you.

00:26:13.640 Thank you.

00:26:14.640 Thank you.

00:26:15.640 Thank you.

00:26:16.640 Thank you.

00:26:17.640 Thank you.

00:26:18.640 Thank you.

00:26:19.640 Thank you.

00:26:20.500 Well, one of the policy issues

00:26:26.240 that has divided

00:26:27.140 the Conservative Party

00:26:28.380 and in fact

00:26:28.880 was the chief issue

00:26:30.200 cited by Maxime Bernier

00:26:31.600 when he quit the party

00:26:32.820 was Andrew Scheer's support

00:26:34.740 for the dairy cartel

00:26:36.120 in Canada

00:26:36.660 which has a sanitized name

00:26:38.660 and goes by

00:26:39.180 Supply Management.

00:26:40.640 Sheila Gunn-Reed

00:26:41.300 spoke with Clinton DeVoe

00:26:42.640 about that issue.

00:26:44.000 It's the very first afternoon

00:26:46.080 of the Conservative Party

00:26:47.540 convention here in Halifax

00:26:48.940 and I found someone

00:26:50.300 who wants to end

00:26:51.200 supply management.

00:26:53.080 Where are you from

00:26:54.120 and why can't you

00:26:55.520 stand supply management?

00:26:57.380 Well, I'm from

00:26:58.240 the Halifax area

00:26:59.180 and I split my time

00:27:01.340 between Ottawa

00:27:02.000 and Halifax for work

00:27:03.180 and I'm not connected

00:27:04.500 in politics

00:27:05.120 as far as a career goes.

00:27:07.820 But why

00:27:08.680 are you against

00:27:10.220 supply management?

00:27:11.260 So I'm opposed

00:27:12.160 to supply management

00:27:13.000 because it charges

00:27:14.340 as a consumer

00:27:15.460 where we face

00:27:16.100 inflated prices

00:27:17.320 on basic food items

00:27:18.960 like eggs,

00:27:19.960 milk,

00:27:20.560 poultry.

00:27:21.560 It limits our choice

00:27:23.480 that's available

00:27:24.340 on the grocery shelf

00:27:25.740 and for those reasons

00:27:28.060 it's just not conservative.

00:27:29.660 It's a terrible policy

00:27:31.040 that was brought in

00:27:32.080 by Pierre Elliott Trudeau

00:27:33.560 in 1972

00:27:34.900 and no real conservative

00:27:37.340 in good conscience

00:27:38.940 can support supply management.

00:27:41.320 So I see that you've been

00:27:42.800 giving out buttons.

00:27:43.900 What has the reception

00:27:45.380 been like for you

00:27:47.120 as you stand outside

00:27:48.000 this conference

00:27:48.740 where it is official policy

00:27:51.160 of the Conservative Party

00:27:52.240 to support supply management?

00:27:54.740 Well, the reception

00:27:55.280 has been absolutely phenomenal.

00:27:56.920 So there's two types

00:27:58.360 of reception.

00:27:59.540 The first one is from

00:28:00.280 the general membership

00:28:01.360 of the party.

00:28:02.360 I've actually emptied out

00:28:03.800 three bags like this one.

00:28:06.820 This is my fourth one.

00:28:08.260 And we're just a couple

00:28:09.040 hours into this.

00:28:09.660 We're just a couple

00:28:10.200 hours into this

00:28:11.140 and anyone that's connected

00:28:13.080 to the party structure

00:28:14.680 I like to call

00:28:15.560 the elites of the party

00:28:16.860 they just snub your nose

00:28:19.380 and don't want to look

00:28:20.880 at you and ignore you.

00:28:22.780 And what about

00:28:23.060 the regular people?

00:28:24.220 Regular people love it.

00:28:25.540 They've been buying

00:28:26.220 they've been

00:28:26.660 not buying

00:28:27.200 but they've been

00:28:27.500 taking the buttons

00:28:28.180 they've been

00:28:28.580 putting them on

00:28:29.340 their jackets

00:28:29.840 their backpacks

00:28:30.760 just running around

00:28:32.320 with them.

00:28:32.640 They really really love them.

00:28:34.000 So there is a motion

00:28:35.340 about supply management

00:28:37.080 that may or may not

00:28:38.840 make it to the floor.

00:28:39.940 What have you heard

00:28:41.700 about what's going on

00:28:42.800 with that motion?

00:28:44.140 Well the feeling

00:28:44.780 that I've been hearing

00:28:45.560 from the regular members

00:28:46.580 is that the process

00:28:47.700 unfortunately

00:28:48.580 sounds like it might

00:28:50.100 be a fixed process

00:28:51.420 because they only allow

00:28:53.400 10 policy resolutions

00:28:55.580 to come to the floor

00:28:57.380 and supply management

00:28:59.020 is number 26

00:29:00.220 or 27 on the list

00:29:01.900 and they give you

00:29:03.040 a maximum of 3 hours

00:29:04.740 to debate policy

00:29:05.960 which means there's

00:29:07.260 a good chance

00:29:08.000 that the clock

00:29:08.660 will be run out

00:29:09.380 and supply management

00:29:10.700 won't even make it

00:29:11.760 to the floor.

00:29:13.360 So we just heard

00:29:14.680 this afternoon

00:29:15.320 that Max Bernier

00:29:16.780 the biggest

00:29:18.420 I guess

00:29:20.540 the biggest activist

00:29:21.420 within caucus

00:29:22.420 against supply management

00:29:24.400 has left

00:29:25.480 the conservative caucus

00:29:26.640 and it sounds like

00:29:28.240 so far

00:29:28.580 he'll sit as an independent.

00:29:30.660 What effect

00:29:31.280 do you think

00:29:31.620 that's going to have

00:29:32.640 on the movement

00:29:33.740 both within the party

00:29:35.520 and outside the party

00:29:36.720 to end supply management?

00:29:38.880 Well I think

00:29:39.760 that the grassroots

00:29:40.440 membership

00:29:41.040 is ready to end

00:29:42.500 supply management

00:29:43.440 the problem is

00:29:44.420 is the party

00:29:45.100 for whatever reason

00:29:46.460 doesn't want to end it

00:29:47.940 and what I see

00:29:49.440 the effect of that

00:29:50.520 is it's going to

00:29:51.360 tear the party apart

00:29:52.560 and I think that

00:29:53.960 it's becoming

00:29:54.660 more and more likely

00:29:56.480 that we are going

00:29:57.840 to see a new

00:29:59.020 conservative party

00:30:01.000 that's most likely

00:30:02.940 going to be created

00:30:04.040 as more and more members

00:30:05.520 from Newfoundland

00:30:06.360 to British Columbia

00:30:07.340 give up

00:30:08.700 if the party's

00:30:09.580 not prepared

00:30:10.220 to move

00:30:10.740 on these basic

00:30:11.620 conservative ideas.

00:30:13.380 You know

00:30:13.520 as an Albertan

00:30:14.560 I would really hate

00:30:15.220 to see that

00:30:15.780 we just spent

00:30:16.420 10 years

00:30:16.920 wandering in the wilderness

00:30:17.840 with a fractured

00:30:18.720 conservative party

00:30:19.840 do you feel like

00:30:20.940 there was something

00:30:21.340 that could have been

00:30:21.900 done before today

00:30:23.220 to prevent

00:30:24.520 supply management

00:30:26.720 from becoming

00:30:27.320 such a divisive

00:30:28.540 thing

00:30:29.520 both within caucus

00:30:31.160 but even in our

00:30:32.560 trade deals

00:30:33.160 with our friends

00:30:33.760 in the United States?

00:30:35.260 Most definitely

00:30:36.040 so in regards

00:30:37.220 to the United States

00:30:38.120 they've made it

00:30:38.820 very clear

00:30:39.740 that unless Canada

00:30:41.140 phases out

00:30:42.280 supply management

00:30:43.120 over five years

00:30:44.220 there will be

00:30:45.020 no NAFTA deal

00:30:45.880 and you're from Alberta

00:30:46.980 Alberta and Saskatchewan's

00:30:48.920 energy business

00:30:49.760 depends on trade

00:30:50.900 if we start seeing

00:30:52.540 a tightening of the border

00:30:53.580 and trade agreements

00:30:54.720 being thrown out

00:30:55.520 the window

00:30:55.940 because of egg

00:30:56.900 and milk farmers

00:30:57.840 that is going to

00:30:59.140 do great harm

00:31:00.060 to Saskatchewan

00:31:01.660 and Alberta's

00:31:02.320 energy sector

00:31:03.140 most of the

00:31:04.200 membership of the

00:31:05.080 conservative party

00:31:06.040 as far as elected

00:31:06.920 representatives

00:31:07.580 not all

00:31:09.180 but a lot of them

00:31:09.780 are cowards

00:31:10.420 and they're afraid

00:31:11.180 to speak out

00:31:12.000 and unfortunately

00:31:13.620 the membership

00:31:14.920 has to accept

00:31:16.540 a party that wants

00:31:17.420 to give corporate

00:31:18.180 welfare to General Motors

00:31:19.920 corporate welfare

00:31:21.180 to Bombardier

00:31:22.140 wants to protect

00:31:23.220 a cartel

00:31:23.820 like supply management

00:31:24.920 they want to

00:31:25.700 endanger things

00:31:26.620 like NAFTA

00:31:27.320 so if you're a

00:31:28.400 small government

00:31:29.360 free market

00:31:29.980 conservative

00:31:30.500 it doesn't leave

00:31:31.680 you with a lot

00:31:32.280 of places

00:31:32.920 to call a home

00:31:33.760 with the three

00:31:34.740 old line parties

00:31:35.740 and so it might

00:31:36.940 be time to start

00:31:37.660 looking at creating

00:31:38.500 a new party

00:31:39.240 if on a policy

00:31:40.680 front there's

00:31:41.200 nowhere to call

00:31:41.860 home

00:31:42.200 you know I

00:31:43.440 I understand

00:31:45.280 your point

00:31:46.140 but I hope

00:31:47.680 that there are

00:31:48.100 enough conservative

00:31:48.980 members from within

00:31:50.140 and maybe some

00:31:51.740 conservative party

00:31:52.820 MPs that are

00:31:53.700 emboldened

00:31:54.400 enough to listen

00:31:56.000 to the grassroots

00:31:56.840 to make some

00:31:58.300 change

00:31:58.860 and I want to

00:31:59.460 thank you so much

00:32:00.100 for taking the

00:32:00.640 time to discuss

00:32:01.360 supply management

00:32:02.240 with me today

00:32:02.860 thank you very much

00:32:04.100 I appreciate that

Rebel News Podcast - August 25, 2018

#CPC18 SPECIAL： Scheer vs. Bernier, the Media Party's Rebel obsession & looking ahead to 2019

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