The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Everything is broken.

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 0.98

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 0.86

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 1.00

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 1.00

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 0.68

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

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

Everything is broken.

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