The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - July 29, 2026


Bill C-240： Recovery from Addiction is Possible


Episode Stats


Length

19 minutes

Words per minute

174.15

Word count

3,322

Sentence count

209

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm
00:00:07.540 your host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Cawortha Lakes, with new content
00:00:11.220 for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time, even throughout the summer. So don't
00:00:16.080 forget to like, comment, subscribe and share this program. Because on today's show, we
00:00:20.240 are talking about the government's new AI strategy, or document, as well as a private
00:00:26.240 Members Bill C240. And to do that, we bring on Kelly DeRitter, the Member of Parliament for
00:00:31.980 Kitchener Centre. Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. And your first time on the
00:00:35.880 show. First time on the show. All right. We'll be kind here. Usually we really grill people,
00:00:40.380 but we'll be very kind to you just because it's your first time. Thank you. And we want you to
00:00:44.240 come. I'm okay with hard questions too. So here we go. I know you. I'm just being somewhat funny,
00:00:50.560 but I'm told I'm not funny. So you recently went viral for a very emotional statement you made in
00:00:58.540 the House of Commons. And that was your own personal story. And I don't know, that's not
00:01:02.680 the focus of the topic, what we're going to be talking about today. But I just wanted to,
00:01:07.480 for those that may have missed it, get an idea of where you came from and how you got here. And you
00:01:14.640 made a very interesting statement in your speech that you went from a park bench in the community
00:01:21.160 to representing that community. And that's pretty amazing. So tell me about it. Tell us what you
00:01:26.240 want about your story here. Just I don't want to intrude either. So thank you for that. I appreciate
00:01:32.540 giving time and space to talk about it. So as Pierre has famously coined now that I went from
00:01:40.080 homeless to the house and in that is a journey of recovery healing getting through addiction
00:01:47.720 getting through your trauma and then having this beautiful life on the other side of it and so
00:01:53.140 part of why I'm here the reason why I'm here is this drug crisis in Canada because what we're
00:02:00.480 doing now isn't working and people can and do recover I am an example of that that I walked
00:02:08.200 my path to recovery. And here I am in the House of Commons serving Canada and serving Kitchener
00:02:13.520 Centre, which has been an honour of a lifetime. And so when you reach that top of the mountain,
00:02:19.220 your world opens up. And so we have to start focusing on rehabilitation and recovery instead
00:02:26.020 of enabling policies that are in place today. Yeah, exactly. When you focus on that key piece
00:02:31.840 that this government has been missing for so long, it's the treatment and recovery process.
00:02:36.720 And you, like you said, you had an amazing, amazing life.
00:02:42.480 And to be able to represent your community in the House of Commons is amazing.
00:02:47.920 And you're such a great person.
00:02:49.600 I only started to get to know you after you were elected this past election.
00:02:53.060 And I'm so glad that you've made it here and able to contribute and give back to your community and the country as well.
00:03:00.320 Thank you so much.
00:03:01.200 I'm deeply honoured to be a part of this caucus.
00:03:03.260 This caucus has been incredible this past year.
00:03:07.980 All of my colleagues, including yourself, have been a huge support in your first year.
00:03:13.720 Everyone knows what your first year of Parliament is like.
00:03:16.400 And without our caucus, I don't think it would have been possible.
00:03:19.760 So I am incredibly, deeply honoured to be a part of the Conservative team here on the Hill.
00:03:25.780 Now you have a private members bill.
00:03:27.220 Now, for those who don't know what a private member's bill, opportunity for individual members of Parliament to put forward a piece of legislation that's important to them personally, their community, their region, their province, the country in whole.
00:03:39.820 And you brought forward 240. Tell us a bit about that.
00:03:44.040 So it's what I can do as a starting point on a federal level, and it's introducing rehabilitation into incarceration.
00:03:51.340 And so while I'd like to see rehabilitation before incarceration, this is a starting point that I can help people walk their path to recovery once they become incarcerated.
00:04:04.720 So there has to be accountability for when you make choices that you make that put you in incarceration.
00:04:11.140 But in that accountability, I want to be able to break cycles.
00:04:14.820 And so this bill, what it does is a judge can prescribe rehabilitative measures.
00:04:20.600 It could be drug or alcohol rehabilitation, it could be mental health supports, it could be skills training, whatever the inmate would need to break their cycle of continued crime or addiction or whatever drove them there.
00:04:35.440 And then the inmate can partake in that rehabilitation plan.
00:04:40.140 And then the parole board can actually look to see if that plan was completed as part of their parole.
00:04:45.860 So instead of just spending time and not working on yourself or breaking your cycle, then you can work on yourself for the time that you have there.
00:04:56.620 And hopefully when you get out, you'll have a skill set that will lead you down a different life.
00:05:02.040 That's a pretty remarkable piece of legislation.
00:05:04.160 Hopefully it does get passed. 0.82
00:05:05.520 We have a clip review in the House responding to a Black KBQA member. 0.95
00:05:09.100 Can you help cut one and play it?
00:05:10.160 I congratulate my colleague on her speech, which was incredibly moving.
00:05:15.860 Rehabilitation is incredibly important.
00:05:21.320 It is, in fact, the foundation that underpins our justice system.
00:05:25.280 But there need to be resources, for example, apprenticeships or training programs.
00:05:33.140 So we need to ensure that the legal system has the resources it needs to meet these goals.
00:05:38.820 I want to thank my colleague for his question.
00:05:42.940 I agree completely.
00:05:43.940 have to make sure that the resources are there to provide the supports. And that's partly what
00:05:49.820 Bill C-240 is doing. When rehabilitation becomes judge-prescribed, then it puts responsibility
00:05:56.460 on the institution to ensure that they're providing the prescribed rehabilitation
00:06:03.200 for that particular inmate. Thank you. Now that's one thing this government has failed to do,
00:06:08.540 especially when you look at our communities, you look at your area, Kitchener, London,
00:06:12.520 even in Ottawa, Vancouver is a prime example, they just seem to be enabling and not actually
00:06:20.160 treating. And you look at the numbers of people who have passed away because they could not break
00:06:24.600 that cycle of addiction. Those are people with family members that now don't have that person
00:06:30.380 with them anymore. It is absolutely heartbreaking how much of a failure this government's policy
00:06:35.440 has been. Yeah, you know, if you walk into any community, you can see that it is not working.
00:06:42.520 any community. There's 343 ridings in Canada. And I don't think that one of us that sits in this
00:06:50.300 house, our specific riding hasn't been impacted in some way by failed policy. And there's really
00:06:58.300 key important things that need to happen. Number one, we need to have people with lived experience
00:07:03.180 be part of the plan because we know how to recover. And so, and everyone is saying that
00:07:08.680 these enabling policies are not working and and I question even you know when I was an addict
00:07:14.220 if I was given the tools to be an addict if I would still be one today I question that I don't
00:07:19.940 know the answer to that if I look into the community I'm seeing I might be and so you know
00:07:27.060 I was in committee today and there was really powerful testimony on making sure that we have
00:07:32.280 people all levels of government all parties and people with lived experience involved in coming
00:07:38.640 up with the solution and the solution has got to be a focus on recovery in Canada you I say
00:07:45.100 we're killing people with kindness we think it's kind to help people stay in the clutches of
00:07:51.340 addiction but that isn't kind that isn't changing lives that isn't it's saying you're addicted let
00:07:58.440 me help you stay there instead of saying here's a path for you to this beautiful life on the other
00:08:05.180 side of addiction. And this is what we need to focus on in Canada. And I love how you mentioned
00:08:11.460 that, you know, in the party's platform, the last election, we talked about the, you know,
00:08:16.060 the treatment aspect and getting out ahead of it. I love how your bill is taking the other side as
00:08:22.540 well, you know, ensuring that those who are incarcerated have a path to success, because
00:08:28.160 that's really what it's all about. You don't want people to keep reoffending and going through
00:08:32.840 this cycle. We want to break that. And I'm loving what your bill is proposing to do.
00:08:37.680 Thank you.
00:08:38.520 Yeah. And your experience has, I think, really set the groundwork for this.
00:08:45.400 Thank you so much.
00:08:45.560 And you should be commended, Kelly. That's absolutely amazing.
00:08:48.380 Thank you.
00:08:48.900 But before you got elected, you were also in technology.
00:08:51.900 I was, yeah.
00:08:52.580 Which I know nothing about. Like, I'm very... You're going to have to work to hook up my
00:08:58.700 printer at my house or something like that. But I know you're way advanced in that. It's
00:09:02.700 just to show my level of skill with all of this.
00:09:06.500 But the government came out, this weird segue to this topic, I admit that.
00:09:12.800 But just to show your progression in life.
00:09:15.060 But also, you've been a big critic of the government's AI strategy.
00:09:19.580 Could you give us a quick synopsis of what that AI strategy is?
00:09:23.120 Because it just seems to me, with very little knowledge,
00:09:26.780 it's just another announcement to make an announcement
00:09:28.880 to say you're doing something, but not really doing something.
00:09:31.460 Yeah. So the reason why I came to Parliament is this drug crisis. It's my why. It's why I'm here. But there's this whole other side to me that I so I'm a mechanical engineer by trade. I specialize in robotics and automation. I talk tech. I speak tech. I get tech. I get algorithms. I get AI. I get all of the things that we're talking about right now. And I truly do believe that we're heading into a technological era. And if we as a government don't get this right, our economy is going to collapse.
00:10:00.280 And so it's going to affect agriculture, insurance, agriculture.
00:10:06.280 I can go on and on and on and on and on about all of the different industries that it's going to affect in Canada.
00:10:12.240 And so what I'm seeing right now is we're not getting it right.
00:10:15.800 This AI document that came out to me is not a strategy.
00:10:20.120 So it's another platform with another announcement, with more spending, with more job promises, but no plan to get there.
00:10:28.400 so you say you're going to create 250 000 jobs where where are they being created how are they
00:10:34.560 being created in what industries what other ministries are involved in making this happen
00:10:40.180 this isn't just an ai and digital innovation ministry this is part industries part procurement
00:10:46.500 it's it's it's wholesome that needs to happen across all different departments of government
00:10:51.700 and I don't see it in this AI document.
00:10:54.880 I only see we're $5 billion and 250,000 jobs.
00:10:59.400 But how to get there, I don't know.
00:11:01.400 And so as they say, it's the devil's in the details.
00:11:06.460 Let's see if there's any details that come on.
00:11:09.000 All right, let's cut to, we have a clip of the AI minister,
00:11:12.600 the art dealer, Evan Solomon, trying to,
00:11:15.660 well, I guess he's addressing,
00:11:17.020 he's doing a bit of a session here at a conference
00:11:20.260 And for those that don't know, because the government has agreed to allow kind of a hybrid format, we do have a voting app which allows us to vote anywhere in Canada from our phones.
00:11:33.660 You and I have our problems with that.
00:11:35.320 We'll get into that in just a second.
00:11:36.740 But this is the AI minister, Mr. Art Dealer, Evan Solomon.
00:11:40.460 Play cut two.
00:11:41.380 So this is it.
00:11:42.000 So we have 10 minutes to vote and this is what it is.
00:11:44.660 And then we can stop this silliness and not rather stop this democracy.
00:11:50.260 it's got to make sure I know what the vote is hold on yeah hold on we got a
00:11:56.620 check it's a yay it's a yay holy okay let's see thank God I got a coach
00:12:10.440 if the minister of ai can't get this right then there's there's a real issue maybe some people
00:12:21.600 thought that was funny i'm kind of cringing you know he's trying to be funny at least i know i'm
00:12:25.200 not funny and when i try to be fail miserably just like a few minutes ago yeah well kind of okay i'm
00:12:30.880 kind of all right that was pretty bad the ai minister right he's voting by the app i don't
00:12:36.000 like the app. I would rather vote in person, right? You stand in your place, you make your mark and
00:12:40.900 you say yes or no up and down on where you stand on a certain issue, right? The app just allows
00:12:46.960 people, I think, to skirt some of that. So that's our AI minister, right? So if you had a piece of
00:12:54.200 advice for the government, what would it be in terms of their AI strategy? Make it a strategy.
00:12:59.300 that's it we need the plan behind the money behind the jobs what is the plan and if procurement is a
00:13:09.160 huge piece of that how we procure in Canada how we support our own innovation our IP retention
00:13:15.400 our data retention sovereignty in mind by Canadian all of those things are so important
00:13:22.980 And they're incredibly important pieces to the AI strategy in Canada.
00:13:27.740 And just make it a strategy.
00:13:30.260 It's not yet.
00:13:31.580 It's got to get there.
00:13:32.840 Yeah, just like most of their announcements.
00:13:35.580 It's an announcement and they'll get to the details later.
00:13:38.020 But when is this later ever coming?
00:13:40.400 Exactly.
00:13:40.920 Are we ever going to see a result?
00:13:42.960 But as you said, there's so much going to AI right now.
00:13:47.900 And it's happening so fast.
00:13:49.500 Now we've got the issue of data centers.
00:13:50.860 We've got all these things happening at what feels like a million miles an hour here.
00:13:55.860 And I think most people would agree Canada is a bit behind on some of these important areas that we actually need to be somewhat thinking about proactively.
00:14:06.400 We're 10 years behind.
00:14:07.960 All of the stakeholders will tell you so.
00:14:10.500 We're 10 years behind in Canada for technology adoption.
00:14:14.540 I'm calling AI personally the next industrial revolution because I see it that way.
00:14:19.540 Just like in the previous industrial revolution, we streamlined processes and people went from making the parts to running the machines to make the parts.
00:14:28.240 This is the exact same thing.
00:14:30.300 And so if businesses aren't supported to adopt it, then there will be job loss because they're going to have to to remain competitive.
00:14:36.760 This is it's going to be an upheaval, again, of all different industry.
00:14:40.560 So we have to support small and medium sized businesses.
00:14:43.260 We have to get our policies right to protect our citizens.
00:14:46.420 There's so many different pieces and components to this that are so important and the government is just not doing it.
00:14:55.740 They're not showing how important that this file actually is to Canada and our economy to job retention, to upskill training, all of the pieces that are required.
00:15:06.520 And so I have hope that our AI and digital innovation minister will get it.
00:15:16.100 But, you know, that hope is fading.
00:15:18.600 And we just need a proper strategy that involves everyone that needs to be involved in this.
00:15:26.120 Most of the time when we hear these strategies, it's usually the government making an announcement to make a plan later on.
00:15:31.200 And then the money seems to go back to their friends and well-connected buddies.
00:15:34.940 And then they funnel it back somewhere.
00:15:36.520 And it's just this big circle that never actually addresses the problem or gets ahead of it.
00:15:41.140 But what's scary to me is if we keep moving at this pace, you just said it a couple of seconds ago, like the fields of employment that we have right now that are at risk of being reduced, eliminated because of AI's encroachment in certain sectors.
00:15:59.980 That's to me, that's pretty scary.
00:16:02.480 And you're right.
00:16:03.600 It will be.
00:16:04.500 It could be.
00:16:05.180 Maybe will be.
00:16:06.060 is happening an upheaval of some kind it is and and that's really worrisome when when people
00:16:13.820 you know rely on jobs to create revenue for their families you know what i mean like it's a
00:16:20.180 it's a very scary time but at the same time if we get it right we could be a leader a leader
00:16:26.860 you know you look at countries like estonia with a great i.t policy right you we we should be there
00:16:32.560 and we're not absolutely china's ahead of us even on their ai policies their adoption how
00:16:38.240 they're supporting innovation the united states is way ahead of us they have acts in place like
00:16:42.980 the u.s cloud act to you know for data protection they can even get data from other countries as
00:16:49.720 long as they have like a cloud in canada or or a data center in canada that's american owned they
00:16:56.780 can grab that data there's a there's so many countries that are ahead of us on this and it's
00:17:03.100 again so vital to our economy to get this right there there could be job losses if we don't
00:17:10.880 upskill if we don't focus on business adoption but if we do these things and we get it right
00:17:17.180 then our economy will be actually stimulated through it and we can be competitive in all of
00:17:22.300 these areas if we get it right. But we're running out of time now to get it right. And so I'm
00:17:28.740 calling on the minister to come up with a real strategy and get this right. Listen to the
00:17:35.300 stakeholders, listen to the businesses, listen to the community and get this right. Yeah, I couldn't
00:17:41.020 agree with you more. Kelly, we're pretty much out of time, but you may or may not know the guests
00:17:45.180 always get the last word to close it out any way you'd like. So the floor is yours. Well, I just
00:17:50.960 thank you so much for having me today this is my first uh podcast with you and it was it was it was
00:17:58.540 relatively easy so i will say thank you so much for having me and um to everyone in kitchener
00:18:05.800 center i'm looking forward to spending some time with you this summer connecting as we rise for
00:18:11.680 the summer and what an incredible year this has been as a member of parliament my first year in
00:18:17.420 for Kitchener Centre and I cannot wait to do more of this so thank you. Well you you know the file
00:18:24.080 of AI so that's why the questions were probably so easy but appreciate the work you're doing both
00:18:29.440 on your private member's bill sharing your life story but also overcoming adversity and now
00:18:34.520 contributing to well if the government listens to the AI strategy going forward. Absolutely. Thank
00:18:40.000 you. Kelly Derinder, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre. Thank you so much for your
00:18:43.900 time. Thank you for yours. Don't forget, we'll have new content for you every single Tuesday,
00:18:48.240 1.30pm Eastern Time, all summer long. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share
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00:19:01.200 low taxes, less government, more freedom. That's The Blueprint.