The Conservative Party of Canada leadership race is underway, and it s quite strange already. The party s fundraising and polls have slumped, and as a result, the A-list candidates that people had hoped might run have not materialized. So it feels like we ve got the B-list trying out, and even that, well, they ve tried to make it as hard as possible for people to throw their hat in the ring.
00:00:22.320It's February 17th, and this is The Ezra Levant Show.
00:00:25.520Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
00:00:31.300There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
00:00:35.380The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it is because it's my bloody right to do so.
00:00:46.280Well, the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race is underway, and it's quite strange already.
00:00:50.800Andrew Scheer, the leader who resigned, actually has remained on as leader, and as a result, I think the party's fundraising and polls have slumped.
00:01:01.880The A-list candidates that people had thought might run never materialized.
00:01:07.080John Baird is the latest to dip his toe in the water and then say, no, not me.
00:01:11.460Same with John Williamson and, of course, my favorite, Pierre Polyev.
00:01:15.720So it feels like we've got the B-list trying out, and even that, well, they've tried to make it as hard as possible for people to throw their hat in the ring.
00:01:24.560A $300,000 entry fee, rigorous requirements for signatures in hundreds of ridings, or at least 100 ridings, and a pretty quick election.
00:01:38.500The final results will be released in June.
00:01:41.520I don't know. I've got to say, I hope things perk up, but we here at Rebel News will cover it fairly and objectively, as we always do.
00:01:52.520We have extended an invitation to all the leadership candidates to come by.
00:01:56.840The first interview in my style is to be sort of friendly and biographical, and who are you?
00:02:01.200Because they may not all be known to our viewers.
00:02:03.200And then after that, as the issues perk up, we might get a little bit more prickly and focused.
00:02:07.700But we want to be part of this because our Rebel viewers want us to be part of this.
00:02:13.020I'm pleased to say that the first leadership candidate popped by our studio today.
00:02:17.840Her name is Dr. Leslie Lewis, and here's how that went.
00:02:21.260And joining us now in our studio, Dr. Leslie Lewis.
00:02:37.620What a pleasure to meet you. Thanks very much for stopping by.
00:03:16.340I attended the University of Toronto Trinity College and earned a bachelor's degree.
00:03:21.240And then I went on to earn a master's of environmental studies at York University and an MBA concentration in business and the environment at the Schulich School.
00:03:31.000And then I went also on to do a law degree, which enabled me to practice law.
00:03:36.500And so that's a juris doctorate at Osgoode Hall Law School.
00:03:39.200And recently I finished my Ph.D. in international law also at Osgoode Hall Law School.
00:03:50.340Tell me about your politics, because I think the media party, as I call it, would look at you and say you don't fit their stereotype of a conservative voter, let alone a potential conservative leader.
00:04:05.560What is it that makes you a conservative?
00:04:07.300I think that's a misnomer that there's a certain stereotype for being a conservative.
00:04:13.820My parents were immigrants and they came here and they worked really hard.
00:04:18.600I never knew my parents working less than two jobs simultaneously, each of them.
00:04:23.000And so they came here to make a better life for themselves and for their children.
00:05:24.240What's your strategy or what's your message?
00:05:26.220How are you going to get the attention away from people who know the name McKay, who might know the name O'Toole, but don't know the name Leslyn Lewis?
00:05:34.560Well, Peter McKay and Aaron O'Toole, they do have a different history than I do.
00:05:39.000They had parents that were involved in politics and my parents were just working class immigrants.
00:05:47.060And my parents were actually liberals.
00:05:48.700So I had to discover who I was on my own.
00:05:52.580And when I looked at my values and I looked at what I believed in and I even looked at what my parents believed in, I realized that they weren't really liberals.
00:06:00.080And that's how I identify myself as a conservative.
00:06:02.760And I believe that I will resonate with the conservative base because of those values.
00:06:09.000And so the conservative base will look at each of the contestants and say, what do they stand for?
00:06:15.180Are they true blue conservative values?
00:06:17.720And I think that I'm the closest to those true values.
00:06:20.800And so the base will be attracted to me.
00:06:25.020I first heard of your candidacy from Dr. Charles McVitie, who's a Christian conservative.
00:06:29.700He was very excited about you running.
00:06:33.200Can you describe where you stand on some of those issues?
00:06:37.300I know that for the media party, that's sort of a trap or a trick question.
00:11:39.920Does that inform your views on things like the carbon tax, the theory of man-made global warming or limiting pipelines or oil sands?
00:11:52.120Tell me what your views are on, for example, the oil sands and pipelines and carbon taxes.
00:11:59.820Okay, well, let's start with carbon tax.
00:12:02.180There are different ways to deal with the environment.
00:12:04.480You can do it from a punitive perspective, which is a tax or a fine, or you can do it through behavioural modification.
00:12:12.640I believe that if you're going to try and change behaviour, it has to come through education.
00:12:18.540And so many people don't understand how intricately related to the economy, the environment is.
00:12:26.280And so a knee-jerk reaction like a carbon tax could be imposed.
00:12:30.820But you have to look about whether or not that is efficient, because in order for you to actually change behaviour through the carbon tax, the tax would have to be about 40 times higher.
00:12:41.980So then it's clear that we're not trying to change behaviour, we're trying to punish.
00:12:47.500And so I would eliminate the carbon tax, because I believe that it's an unnecessary burden on the economy, on small and medium-sized businesses, which generate 80% of the jobs for all Canadians.
00:13:00.680And it is also a major burden on the average individual who's just struggling to make ends meet.
00:13:08.420Are you in favour of the pipelines that are currently in controversy, the Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline and the Coastal Gas Link Pipeline?
00:13:18.560Do you support the construction of those?
00:13:20.400I do, because I believe that that will embolden the economy.
00:13:24.660And I believe that if the pipelines are developed across the country, you will see a splinter of manufacturing jobs emanating from that development.
00:13:34.780And so we will deal with a lot of the issues, the social issues that surround joblessness and unemployment.
00:13:43.280One of the issues we care about here at Rebel News is freedom of speech.
00:13:46.740Even freedom of speech that's sometimes uncomfortable or offensive.
00:13:51.180We believe that there's too much censorship.
00:13:55.220Cancel culture even, people being deplatformed.
00:13:58.360Do you think that's an important issue?
00:14:00.380And if so, how would you address this cultural move towards silencing people versus how I think it used to be done, which is debating people?
00:14:10.580Well, I think in a free and democratic society, it's very important for us to maintain healthy levels of dissent.
00:14:19.440And I think that's what democracy is about.
00:14:21.800So when we attempt to control people's thoughts, control people's speech, then you have people feeling unsafe and people feeling that their way of living is going to be undermined in some way.
00:14:36.800And so I think it's very important that, especially the government, facilitate an environment where people are free to disagree, even if they're wrong.
00:14:46.500Foreign affairs seems to have taken on a large, probably a larger proportion of Justin Trudeau's work than I think a lot of people would have imagined a few years ago.
00:15:00.860So the ongoing battle with China over the CFO of Huawei, who was arrested here, the two Canadian hostages over there, Iran, even renegotiating the NAFTA.
00:15:18.220Are there any principles or policies on foreign affairs that are important to you?
00:15:23.440Is there something that you think Canada's doing particularly wrong or particularly right?
00:15:28.080Do you have strong views on any foreign affairs subject?
00:15:30.860I think in general, when you look at foreign affairs, you have to look at what is our interest in the global scheme of things.
00:15:40.440And so even something as giving aid, we have to look at what are we doing in Canada?
00:15:46.320Are we giving aid abroad to have clean water and clean air?
00:15:51.880And can we say that we have those same amenities on every aspect, every outlet in Canada?
00:15:59.500Can we say that the First Nations people also enjoy clean water?
00:16:04.140And if we can't, then I don't believe that we should be going around the globe trying to save the world when we haven't looked inside our country to see how we could best be our best.
00:16:15.180Do you think that the United Nations and other global governments like that are too powerful and too invasive in Canada?
00:16:23.680Or do you think that we have the balance right?
00:16:26.440Well, I think that Canadian sovereignty is being eroded.
00:16:30.080When I look at something like the immigration compact and I see that the United Nations has told us how to define people who are coming into our country through a method that is not a traditional border passing.
00:16:51.940And the United Nations has stated that those individuals are to be deemed irregular rather than illegal.
00:17:00.320To me, that undermines our national sovereignty.
00:17:04.540As a nation, we should be able to dictate who comes through our borders.
00:17:10.020We should be able to dictate the type of immigrants that we want and that we need in order to sustain and to build our country.
00:17:17.720And when the United Nations imposes those standards on a nation, it means that our sovereignty is being eroded.
00:17:27.080If you were to be successful and become the Conservative leader, what do you think would be the most rewarding line of attack against Justin Trudeau?
00:17:40.360What do you think the emphasis of the next, I don't know, let's say it's two years until the next election.
00:17:47.300We don't know in this minority parliament.
00:18:02.500But it's just, is it resonating with people?
00:18:05.460And I think that right now when we're seeing the level of homelessness, we're seeing the level of unaffordable homes.
00:18:14.980We see young people, millennials, graduating from school and not having jobs.
00:18:20.540And even if they are employed, they are underemployed in lower income wages, jobs.
00:18:28.240And they are, the Canadian dream is slipping away for them.
00:18:33.160They're living in their parents' basements.
00:18:35.840And so when we see this in society and, you know, we look at even our seniors who at the last stage of their life, they should be taken care of.
00:18:47.360And yet we are having long wait lists for palliative care.
00:18:52.840And we look at our veterans who are not being dealt with properly.
00:18:56.480And so we see that the social safety nets that we've had are falling apart.
00:19:01.960And so I think it's resonating with people now that the fluff and the beautiful language that Trudeau uses is not transferring into prosperity for the average Canadian.
00:19:16.320In my view, and I've used the phrase media party several times in our conversation, the way the media handles conservatives is as powerful as how the liberals handle conservatives.
00:19:33.100I think that the media, I call it a media party because I think it's just as dominant and it has a coherent ideology.
00:19:41.740Well, if you were to become the conservative leader, how would you deal with the liberal bias in the media?
00:19:49.240The fact that in addition to the CBC, you now have newspapers taking a government bailout.
00:19:55.040How would you get your message out when most journalists seem to be left of center?
00:20:01.640Well, I think that there has to be a balance in how we fund the media.
00:20:06.900And during the last election, we saw one media outlet actually launch a lawsuit during the election.
00:20:13.640And that sends a very strong message to the public.
00:20:16.520It sends a message as to where you stand politically.
00:20:20.180And when I was younger, the media, you know, journalists, they read the news.
00:23:41.580And I also admire the way he was able to stand up to the entire world against apartheid.
00:23:47.600Well, the last question for you is, you know, there's a phrase that campaign strategists sometimes use, the ballot question.
00:23:55.540You know, you can have an opinion on 20 different subjects.
00:23:57.700But when you finally get into that place where you're going to mark an X, what is the on-off, yes-no reason you make an X by your name instead of by the names of the other candidates?
00:24:10.620If there's one question or one point or one call to arms that you would like conservative voters to have when they choose the leader, something that defines you as a candidate, what would it be?
00:24:23.380That I will create a prosperous Canada for all Canadians.
00:24:28.000Well, Dr. Lewis, it's a pleasure to meet you.
00:24:29.780And thank you for making us your first media visit, although it sounds like that's partly because the other media are refusing to talk to you, which does not surprise me.
00:24:40.960We'll put it on YouTube and we'll send it to our viewers across the country for them to size you up.
00:24:47.640It's a first interview, a get-to-know-you kind of interview.
00:24:50.460I'm sure we'll talk again on the campaign trail.
00:24:52.300Now, if people want to go to your website to join your team, I understand you still have to meet certain thresholds for signing up members.