The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - January 04, 2023


Everything is broken.


Episode Stats

Length

21 minutes

Words per Minute

206.22647

Word Count

4,383

Sentence Count

4

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

In this episode of The Blueprints, we bring on a first time guest to the show, Grand Prairie MP Chris MacKenzie, to talk about the ongoing problem of government being broken, and why the government should be doing more to fix it.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 hello and welcome once again to the blueprints this is canada's conservative podcast i'm your
00:00:12.720 host jamie schmale member of parliament for halliburton court likes brock with new content
00:00:16.460 for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time we ask that you like comment share subscribe
00:00:21.380 to this program this is great information you're probably not hearing in the mainstream media so
00:00:26.160 tell your friends about it if you can't watch or download it at this exact moment you can do so
00:00:30.860 on platforms like cast box itunes google play spotify you name it it is out there amazing content
00:00:36.640 as i just mentioned happy new year to you thank you so much for joining us and we're bringing on
00:00:40.960 a first time person to the show chris chris working tonight i so apologize for not inviting you sooner
00:00:46.480 i feel horrible grand prairie mckenzie deputy whip i am so sorry i feel horrible but what a way
00:00:52.700 to kick off 2024 i tell you it's just great to be here thanks jamie for having me well i appreciate
00:00:57.720 all the time you're giving us today we're going to talk about a video you posted just before christmas
00:01:02.760 late last year and it had to do with everything is broken and i think most people can can think
00:01:08.480 about one or two instances in their life where they should be relying on government services
00:01:12.820 where they pay taxes and hope to receive those services but yet are finding backlogs or closed doors
00:01:19.280 wherever they go you know it's just unbelievable i think you'd probably have the same experience but
00:01:23.360 my my office has been just overrun by people coming into my office just asking you know if we could
00:01:29.100 help give give them basic government services these are people that have sent in their passports
00:01:34.080 months ago with the expectation that they were giving plenty of time so that they could travel
00:01:38.920 during the the holiday season finding out that you know they weren't able to get their passports on
00:01:44.080 time you know we're hearing example after example if it be immigration if it be a whole host of other
00:01:50.140 things but it seems like every department that that people are seeking support from it's just broken
00:01:55.440 and and i just kept hearing this over and over and over again it didn't matter what department
00:02:00.760 people were were dealing with they just felt like they were hitting roadblock after roadblock
00:02:05.880 people saying you know and oftentimes it wasn't even people saying no the government wasn't saying no
00:02:10.820 they just weren't saying anything at all that's right and it just is so uh frustrating i think for
00:02:15.200 people that believe that government should be there when they need it and and especially at a time when
00:02:20.260 canadians are feeling and it's actually true that they're that they're paying higher taxes than they
00:02:25.020 ever have in canadian history you know people have a right to ask you know why aren't we getting any
00:02:30.120 level of service for this exceptional amount of money the government government has spent over the last
00:02:35.260 number of years and this really snowballed because i remember right at the pandemic everything was
00:02:39.880 closed even service canada when people were questioning whether or not they were going to
00:02:43.400 be able to get a paycheck what benefits were available to them and service canada in large
00:02:48.100 part was closed for a lot of a lot of that time at right at the beginning the most crucial part
00:02:52.620 and our offices became de facto service canada offices because nobody else in the federal government
00:02:58.620 except the the managers trying to figure it all out were providing service yeah it's remarkable i just
00:03:04.640 have to you know commend every member of parliament that that kept their doors open that whose staff
00:03:09.200 continued to to do the heavy lifting of trying to make sure that people during during a difficult
00:03:13.600 time actually had somebody to talk to the kind of a uh an opportunity to chat with somebody that
00:03:19.200 that could maybe help navigate through the the challenges of bureaucracy um it's been unprecedented
00:03:24.800 i know that your experience has probably been very similar to to ours uh not only did the government
00:03:30.320 stop serving people but then they curtailed the the avenues in which mps could actually serve their
00:03:35.120 constituents so oftentimes you know we we were able to kind of we took over that our offices took
00:03:40.880 over for many of the bureaucrats um that that were no longer working in office or or seem to not be
00:03:46.640 answering the phones uh and then all of a sudden um you know the the avenues that we were using to get
00:03:52.480 information for our constituents started to close and so the government actually were limiting the ability
00:03:57.360 for us to to help to help do their job and and so it's it's it's frustrating canadians deserve deserve
00:04:03.600 answers but it's been remarkable over the last number of weeks as we've started to peel back as to why
00:04:08.720 this is and so we've we've now heard that the government is considering a back to work order for
00:04:14.560 for a lot of people government employees that have been working from their homes this is startling when
00:04:20.000 you actually hear the numbers the government is now themselves admitting that they have a problem in that
00:04:25.040 there's tens of thousands of bureaucrats that haven't been back to the office yet i don't know
00:04:29.360 jamie i don't know any other group of people in the country that have been able to work from home
00:04:33.440 without any requirement to go back to a bit of hybrid like well i don't know anyone working at the local
00:04:38.960 coffee shop or the grocery store they got to do this you know plumbers the mechanics they all even
00:04:44.000 those companies that you knew that had a better flexibility in terms of you know that their jobs were
00:04:49.360 conducive to to this type of a setup accounting firms lawyer law offices they've all gone back
00:04:54.960 because they've recognized that the work just wasn't happening the same way the collaboration
00:04:58.560 that happens when you're together in the office the ability to actually have physical files that you
00:05:02.800 can uh move through we're now we're now hearing stories of tens of thousands over nearly 60 000 uh
00:05:10.640 immigration files that were sent to computer systems that weren't being manned by people and so
00:05:15.920 can you imagine you and i have experienced the the frustration of not being able to get answers for
00:05:20.720 our constituents that have have files that that are being dealt with by immigration canada we've
00:05:25.600 heard about these these backlogs as a matter of fact there's over two million people that are
00:05:30.240 currently in the backlog but we just imagine that it was people were being slow in getting through
00:05:34.960 these files now we're finding out that there was over 60 file 60 000 files that were just on in
00:05:40.160 computer systems that were never going to be looked at because the employees no longer worked at
00:05:44.240 at immigration canada yeah that's really remarkable and and the media for some reason has not been
00:05:48.400 blowing this story up to me this if i had gone through the process i had filled out my immigration
00:05:53.200 application i'm waiting to either get my status or come into country and find out that my file went
00:05:59.440 to somebody who doesn't even exist who doesn't work there anymore now we have a backup over two million
00:06:04.240 cases yeah it's it's really devastating because there's a human story behind each one of these files
00:06:09.360 in some cases are people that are that are languishing here in canada not able to work because they're
00:06:13.520 waiting for a new work permit in some cases these are people that are separated uh husbands and wives
00:06:19.840 or moms and dads away from their their children they're expecting to be reunited but their their
00:06:24.400 application is in in way you know it's being looked at by bureaucrats and to find out that these that
00:06:31.120 these 60 000 applications were just languishing in no man's land is just unthinkable it is and it's
00:06:38.000 heartbreaking quite frankly well let's we saw the the lineups outside passport canada and offices outside
00:06:43.200 montreal and other cities the the massive weights the issues we're having let's fast forward to just
00:06:48.560 recently before we rose for the house of commons the trade minister being caught out by the ethics
00:06:53.520 commissioner for giving her friend tens of thousands of dollars it seems that it's not whether or not you
00:06:58.960 have the best product or not here in in in ottawa it's it's who you're connected to and who your buddy is
00:07:05.600 yeah you know when you think about the number of people that are struggling these days with you know
00:07:09.840 1.5 million canadians that are using food banks that that wasn't the case just months ago we're
00:07:15.200 finding out that you know half a million kids are in it included in that those numbers when we hear
00:07:19.760 about people that are just really really struggling the only people that seem to be getting ahead are
00:07:23.680 people that are connected to this liberal party you know you have this example of the commissioner the
00:07:28.960 ethics commissioner finding the the minister uh having broken ethics laws um having given a contract
00:07:36.240 to her friend and the minister says well it's okay i won't do it again yeah i do you know please no
00:07:40.880 consequences no consequences the prime minister was asked as a matter of fact uh one of our colleagues
00:07:45.280 asked the prime minister specifically today is that the only reason that he's not firing the minister
00:07:49.120 is because he would be uh holding her to a higher account than then he was held because of course he
00:07:53.920 has been in violation of ethics laws the first prime minister to not only been found guilty of
00:07:58.880 breaking ethics laws once but twice and and multiple other times for other ministers within his
00:08:03.600 government this is an unprecedentedly broken government and you can see why nothing is working
00:08:10.160 absolutely everything feels broken because from the top it's right from the top there's there's levels
00:08:16.080 of of just complete um disarray and i can i can understand that you know the people that work for
00:08:22.880 these ministers would just be throwing up their hands and saying you know i i can't you know we can't help
00:08:27.280 people when when we have we have a government that's so uh lacking in in drive to actually help the
00:08:33.360 right people you know when they're when they're preoccupied with making sure that their friends
00:08:36.560 are taken care of you know what is actually one of the more offensive parts of this whole thing with
00:08:40.560 the minister having been found guilty of giving her her friend this contract it was at the height of
00:08:45.520 the the pandemic that's true this is a time when most people were struggling to make ends meet and here
00:08:51.440 we have a minister giving a sweetheart deal to her bff and uh you know and it seems like there's no
00:08:57.120 consequences and this is what really has started to uh frustrate canadians is why is there no
00:09:03.040 consequences for these things you know i hear it time and time again i'm sure you do as well
00:09:07.520 and i just have to remind people that at the end of the day um it's the canadian people have to fire
00:09:14.160 and hire their representatives and and quite frankly it's time that that uh that we can that we actually
00:09:20.000 have an election that really is a uh determination if if or not these these folks are are really should be
00:09:28.080 rewarded with their job going forward like the the the job interview and the decision as to if or not
00:09:34.960 this should happen really you know it's in the hands of the people it really is yeah you know we we do
00:09:40.080 we're looking at the possibility of an election this spring obviously jagmeet and uh and justin trudeau
00:09:45.520 jagmeet singh and justin trudeau have had this marriage of sorts to try to keep this government
00:09:49.600 this minority government from falling but there seems to be some tension there i don't know if you've seen
00:09:53.600 that over the last number of months but before before christmas we saw the the threats from
00:09:57.840 jagmeet singh talking about uh you know just feeling like he wasn't getting that the the full deal that
00:10:03.280 he had hoped and of course he's putting some pressure on so i don't know this this year we'll see what
00:10:08.160 happens but it could be we could be in into an election before you know it well we'll certainly see
00:10:13.360 so that goes on to the next part i want to talk about our leader pierre pauliev talks about it many
00:10:17.360 times he he mentions it quite often um starting to manufacture to build things money buys so we're
00:10:25.440 not relying on other countries bringing manufacturing here but of course it's not as easy as that we need
00:10:29.840 to ensure that the environment is right to allow private sector growth to to succeed and and it just
00:10:35.200 seems that every industry our anchor industries natural resources mining lumber on and on it just
00:10:43.760 seems they're all being hurt by the policies of this government whereas that allows the free market
00:10:49.920 to to succeed right you you you build a product or a service people want they buy it and and lots of
00:10:56.160 choice makes a better competition makes everything better but it seems in this government it seems that
00:11:01.440 ottawa's fine with picking the winners and the losers into a very narrow typecast and what they want
00:11:07.360 so innovation is what the government wants yeah right it's it's not whether or not it works or not
00:11:11.920 it's whether or not you're connected and the government believes that's what the product is
00:11:15.760 you know really is the uh the the government of press conferences if they think that it will look
00:11:19.920 sound good during a press conference they'll be happy to make an announcement and and and move things
00:11:24.640 along but you know it's startling when you look at the numbers when you compare us to other countries
00:11:30.000 we we know that we have a competitive disadvantage in canada because of the government's policies we we live
00:11:35.840 in a country where there's um the untold natural resources you know there's immense amounts of
00:11:41.920 farmland we know that there's immense amount of of land to build on in this country there's really
00:11:47.600 nothing that we need that we can't um you know that we don't have some of the the the the elements
00:11:53.520 that make us the best in the world um you know when it comes to energy when it comes to um you know
00:11:58.320 the ability to build houses when all the things but but yet we're see seemingly unable to get any new
00:12:04.240 projects built and what i found interesting is in canada on average now this is across the the federal
00:12:10.000 and the and the provincial the municipal uh you know different levels of government the average
00:12:15.680 time for getting a building permit approved is over 250 days so that includes housing that includes
00:12:21.600 large projects we're talking about you know across the board in south korea it's 28 days so i'm not
00:12:27.840 you know when we look at our competitors where where the money can go where where development is
00:12:32.560 happening yeah you know we're at a massive disadvantage simply because of bureaucratic
00:12:37.120 bureaucratic encumbrances so my view is is we have to get this government government should get out
00:12:42.560 of the way of picking winners and losers and really free up um the the ability for people to
00:12:47.600 to use innovation to use um you know to build things and and to and to grow our economy and and
00:12:52.400 really that's going to be the challenge over the next number uh of years as a matter of fact
00:12:56.240 here in canada you know just you know we're building lng there the world currently they're
00:13:01.840 begging they're begging at for it we're seeing the germans come to canada begging to have lng
00:13:07.200 no business in canada apparently but the prime minister says well there's no business case here
00:13:11.760 so of course germany then has to go to the middle east yep uh and get a long-term contract of course
00:13:17.200 there's a business case for it of course you know there's people all over europe that that that are
00:13:21.520 suffering uh this winter with with unprecedented um you know cold as well as of course the the
00:13:27.760 inability to to bring in energy from russia they're cutting off russia which is of course the right
00:13:32.480 thing to do but but we should be able to step up and fill that uh gap so in canada over seven years
00:13:38.480 we you know the permitting and the the building of an lng terminal in bc it's it you know it's been
00:13:45.200 seven years since this this application went in it still isn't built in germany where they decided
00:13:51.120 that they needed to get this that this should happen they built an import terminal approved it
00:13:58.960 and built it in less than 100 days like it is remarkable when when people want to do stuff
00:14:05.280 when they're unleashed to do stuff they are but it also sees when the government gets out of the way
00:14:09.680 sometimes even to the next step if the government wants something it could happen if it doesn't it
00:14:14.400 will slow it down yep that that seems to be a major issue and when capital capital dollars takes the
00:14:20.720 path of least resistance every single time and when they as you mentioned they see canada as a
00:14:26.880 roadblock as something that you'll have to wait forever to get a permit if you do get it the process
00:14:32.480 is not guaranteed um they'll go elsewhere yep and we've saw tens of billions leave in oil and gas
00:14:38.480 the lumber industry is hurting like over and over again we just are getting left out and and some would
00:14:43.920 say by its choice i say sometimes the government's doing it to you not for you right they are specifically
00:14:49.040 deciding this is a direction they don't want canada to take yeah it's remarkable you know when you
00:14:53.600 think of the manufacturing sector you think of all the sectors across this country that have
00:14:57.600 really been the leading industries in our country under the last over the last seven years they've
00:15:02.160 all been hard hit and uh what we know is in a increasingly um you know uh in a world where money
00:15:10.240 can move anywhere uh the money's just leaving canada billions of dollars have lost have left this
00:15:15.360 country we we've seen massive massive companies that have transitioned outside of canada that used
00:15:21.280 to be you know canadian company companies taking the money elsewhere they didn't get out of the
00:15:25.600 industry they just went somewhere else to that's right and create the jobs to create that and of
00:15:31.200 course when these companies leave they they take the jobs with them the tax revenues that would
00:15:35.600 otherwise be going into our healthcare system into our education system into our infrastructure here in
00:15:40.160 canada it goes somewhere else and unfortunately canadians are poorer for it not only us today but
00:15:45.440 into the generations to come yeah we don't actually even see the innovation happening right we the
00:15:51.200 innovation is what also keeps the job going because companies invest in research and development that
00:15:56.240 keeps the brains here and we saw a massive uh brain drain in the last few years because these companies
00:16:02.560 are like you said going elsewhere and and using those brains to create the next best thing and canada
00:16:08.160 is just missing out every single step of the way yeah but we can but we can change we can change
00:16:13.040 that's what i was going to go yeah how can we change that well quite frankly i think that there's
00:16:16.560 a number of things that the government has to do but most importantly i think primarily the government
00:16:20.880 has to figure out ways to get out of the way where we see multiple redundancies between different
00:16:25.520 levels of government we've got to figure out ways that we can streamline those things not to
00:16:29.920 reduce um our our ensure to to reduce the protections of the environment or or human health and
00:16:36.560 different things like that but making sure that we don't have these redundant requirements uh that
00:16:40.880 that just pile on unnecessarily on top of one another i think the the other thing that we can do is is
00:16:46.000 really bring um the innovative minds of this country to the table absolutely unfortunately what so often
00:16:51.280 happens is we have government bureaucrats people in ivory towers in ottawa making decisions at for for for
00:16:58.480 industries and for for groups of people that have no connection to those to those industries or the
00:17:03.840 people that uh that these that these policies will will impact and so i think that more importantly
00:17:09.360 than ever it's time that we you know tear down some of these uh these bureaucracies and these these
00:17:14.960 encumbrances and really as our leaders talked about removing the gatekeepers and really bringing people
00:17:20.560 to the the table that will build our in our industries build our our economy build our futures for
00:17:26.320 for our young people for the generations to come more than ever we have to do that right now and i think
00:17:31.280 that that i'm very optimistic i'm very optimistic i i believe in this country i believe in the people
00:17:37.840 more than anything of course we're sitting on a gold mine when it comes to opportunities when it comes
00:17:42.640 to our natural resources when it comes to uh you know the the educated people that live in canada
00:17:48.400 we have we have we have so many things that are second to you know no other place in the world and more
00:17:54.400 than ever we just need to be able to bring uh you know we have to bring the people people to the table
00:17:59.840 uh because that's what you know they're really what give give me hope we can get the government
00:18:03.760 out of the way and start to to to figure out ways to you know the people are will will crash through
00:18:10.080 all the systems that really hold them back if we just allow them to to come to the table and start
00:18:14.640 doing that absolutely and get these large corporations just pitching their product to government
00:18:19.440 right you think it's easier to sell your product to government than it is the marketplace and actually
00:18:23.520 have a true competition right you squeeze down the the first time business owner the small business
00:18:29.840 owner and you create a barriers to competition and a very uneven playing field that's why we have so
00:18:36.320 many monopolies in our grocery industry and our telecommunications because new companies aren't able
00:18:42.240 to start up because of barriers in the marketplace sorry yeah and well but you're you're absolutely right
00:18:46.720 just jumping onto that like it's about the government picking winners and losers absolutely and at some
00:18:51.680 point you know we just level level the playing field allow for innovation uh to to rise up and
00:18:58.000 obviously those that uh that the most innovative those that meet the needs of the people uh they'll
00:19:03.200 do better and of course it it forces other folks to have their gaming and really that's what that's
00:19:08.160 what creates the most vibrant the most uh the the the the best and most flourishing economies in the world
00:19:14.240 absolutely 100 absolutely you watch countries you mentioned earlier south korea
00:19:18.400 it started from uh after a number of conflicts and and issues internally they created themselves
00:19:24.720 a powerhouse an economic powerhouse uh just by unleashing the you know conservative principles
00:19:31.040 of free markets and that's how they did it absolutely you know we have to trust people trust people you
00:19:36.240 know this is what i i've learned is um you know if if government has a problem the solution is not found
00:19:41.600 often in ottawa not found with the government it's found with the people the the folks out in the common
00:19:46.320 people who have a common understanding of what really is going on but sadly with this government
00:19:50.880 they don't realize that they they double down on the fact that you know planning from ottawa the
00:19:55.600 central planners they'll keep planning right yeah they'll keep planning chris i always give the
00:19:59.040 guests the last word uh feel free to uh to close it out of anything you want to talk about well i can
00:20:03.840 tell you that i'm just so optimistic about where this country can go um i'm just so optimistic about
00:20:08.720 the people that that uh that call canada home and uh of course i represent what i often say are the best
00:20:14.480 folks and the hardest working folks in the in the country and i know that you'd say something
00:20:17.920 similar about the folks that you that you know and who you represent i i just you know everywhere
00:20:22.880 i go in this country people have solutions to the challenges that we face and i think that if
00:20:27.600 government just began uh if we had a government that trust the people our country would be so much
00:20:34.720 further ahead chris workington member of parliament grant prairie mckenzie also the deputy whip first time on
00:20:40.000 the show not the last we do appreciate your time as well we ask that you like comment subscribe share
00:20:45.840 this program this is information i guarantee you're not hearing on the mainstream media and of course
00:20:50.560 please tell your friends you can listen to it maybe on your ride to work uh by cast box itunes google
00:20:55.200 play spotify platforms it's all available there for you new content every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern
00:21:01.200 time until then low taxes less government more freedom that's the blueprint