Everything is broken.
Episode Stats
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206.22647
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
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hello and welcome once again to the blueprints this is canada's conservative podcast i'm your
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host jamie schmale member of parliament for halliburton court likes brock with new content
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for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time we ask that you like comment share subscribe
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to this program this is great information you're probably not hearing in the mainstream media so
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tell your friends about it if you can't watch or download it at this exact moment you can do so
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on platforms like cast box itunes google play spotify you name it it is out there amazing content
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as i just mentioned happy new year to you thank you so much for joining us and we're bringing on
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a first time person to the show chris chris working tonight i so apologize for not inviting you sooner
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i feel horrible grand prairie mckenzie deputy whip i am so sorry i feel horrible but what a way
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to kick off 2024 i tell you it's just great to be here thanks jamie for having me well i appreciate
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all the time you're giving us today we're going to talk about a video you posted just before christmas
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late last year and it had to do with everything is broken and i think most people can can think
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about one or two instances in their life where they should be relying on government services
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where they pay taxes and hope to receive those services but yet are finding backlogs or closed doors
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wherever they go you know it's just unbelievable i think you'd probably have the same experience but
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my my office has been just overrun by people coming into my office just asking you know if we could
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help give give them basic government services these are people that have sent in their passports
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months ago with the expectation that they were giving plenty of time so that they could travel
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during the the holiday season finding out that you know they weren't able to get their passports on
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time you know we're hearing example after example if it be immigration if it be a whole host of other
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things but it seems like every department that that people are seeking support from it's just broken
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and and i just kept hearing this over and over and over again it didn't matter what department
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people were were dealing with they just felt like they were hitting roadblock after roadblock
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people saying you know and oftentimes it wasn't even people saying no the government wasn't saying no
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they just weren't saying anything at all that's right and it just is so uh frustrating i think for
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people that believe that government should be there when they need it and and especially at a time when
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canadians are feeling and it's actually true that they're that they're paying higher taxes than they
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ever have in canadian history you know people have a right to ask you know why aren't we getting any
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level of service for this exceptional amount of money the government government has spent over the last
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number of years and this really snowballed because i remember right at the pandemic everything was
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closed even service canada when people were questioning whether or not they were going to
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be able to get a paycheck what benefits were available to them and service canada in large
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part was closed for a lot of a lot of that time at right at the beginning the most crucial part
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and our offices became de facto service canada offices because nobody else in the federal government
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except the the managers trying to figure it all out were providing service yeah it's remarkable i just
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have to you know commend every member of parliament that that kept their doors open that whose staff
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continued to to do the heavy lifting of trying to make sure that people during during a difficult
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time actually had somebody to talk to the kind of a uh an opportunity to chat with somebody that
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that could maybe help navigate through the the challenges of bureaucracy um it's been unprecedented
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i know that your experience has probably been very similar to to ours uh not only did the government
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stop serving people but then they curtailed the the avenues in which mps could actually serve their
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constituents so oftentimes you know we we were able to kind of we took over that our offices took
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over for many of the bureaucrats um that that were no longer working in office or or seem to not be
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answering the phones uh and then all of a sudden um you know the the avenues that we were using to get
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information for our constituents started to close and so the government actually were limiting the ability
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for us to to help to help do their job and and so it's it's it's frustrating canadians deserve deserve
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answers but it's been remarkable over the last number of weeks as we've started to peel back as to why
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this is and so we've we've now heard that the government is considering a back to work order for
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for a lot of people government employees that have been working from their homes this is startling when
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you actually hear the numbers the government is now themselves admitting that they have a problem in that
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there's tens of thousands of bureaucrats that haven't been back to the office yet i don't know
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jamie i don't know any other group of people in the country that have been able to work from home
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without any requirement to go back to a bit of hybrid like well i don't know anyone working at the local
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coffee shop or the grocery store they got to do this you know plumbers the mechanics they all even
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those companies that you knew that had a better flexibility in terms of you know that their jobs were
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conducive to to this type of a setup accounting firms lawyer law offices they've all gone back
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because they've recognized that the work just wasn't happening the same way the collaboration
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that happens when you're together in the office the ability to actually have physical files that you
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can uh move through we're now we're now hearing stories of tens of thousands over nearly 60 000 uh
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immigration files that were sent to computer systems that weren't being manned by people and so
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can you imagine you and i have experienced the the frustration of not being able to get answers for
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our constituents that have have files that that are being dealt with by immigration canada we've
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heard about these these backlogs as a matter of fact there's over two million people that are
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currently in the backlog but we just imagine that it was people were being slow in getting through
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these files now we're finding out that there was over 60 file 60 000 files that were just on in
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computer systems that were never going to be looked at because the employees no longer worked at
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at immigration canada yeah that's really remarkable and and the media for some reason has not been
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blowing this story up to me this if i had gone through the process i had filled out my immigration
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application i'm waiting to either get my status or come into country and find out that my file went
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to somebody who doesn't even exist who doesn't work there anymore now we have a backup over two million
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cases yeah it's it's really devastating because there's a human story behind each one of these files
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in some cases are people that are that are languishing here in canada not able to work because they're
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waiting for a new work permit in some cases these are people that are separated uh husbands and wives
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or moms and dads away from their their children they're expecting to be reunited but their their
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application is in in way you know it's being looked at by bureaucrats and to find out that these that
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these 60 000 applications were just languishing in no man's land is just unthinkable it is and it's
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heartbreaking quite frankly well let's we saw the the lineups outside passport canada and offices outside
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montreal and other cities the the massive weights the issues we're having let's fast forward to just
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recently before we rose for the house of commons the trade minister being caught out by the ethics
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commissioner for giving her friend tens of thousands of dollars it seems that it's not whether or not you
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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
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yeah you know when you think about the number of people that are struggling these days with you know
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1.5 million canadians that are using food banks that that wasn't the case just months ago we're
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finding out that you know half a million kids are in it included in that those numbers when we hear
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about people that are just really really struggling the only people that seem to be getting ahead are
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people that are connected to this liberal party you know you have this example of the commissioner the
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ethics commissioner finding the the minister uh having broken ethics laws um having given a contract
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to her friend and the minister says well it's okay i won't do it again yeah i do you know please no
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consequences no consequences the prime minister was asked as a matter of fact uh one of our colleagues
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asked the prime minister specifically today is that the only reason that he's not firing the minister
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is because he would be uh holding her to a higher account than then he was held because of course he
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has been in violation of ethics laws the first prime minister to not only been found guilty of
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breaking ethics laws once but twice and and multiple other times for other ministers within his
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government this is an unprecedentedly broken government and you can see why nothing is working
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absolutely everything feels broken because from the top it's right from the top there's there's levels
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of of just complete um disarray and i can i can understand that you know the people that work for
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these ministers would just be throwing up their hands and saying you know i i can't you know we can't help
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people when when we have we have a government that's so uh lacking in in drive to actually help the
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right people you know when they're when they're preoccupied with making sure that their friends
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are taken care of you know what is actually one of the more offensive parts of this whole thing with
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the minister having been found guilty of giving her her friend this contract it was at the height of
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the the pandemic that's true this is a time when most people were struggling to make ends meet and here
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we have a minister giving a sweetheart deal to her bff and uh you know and it seems like there's no
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consequences and this is what really has started to uh frustrate canadians is why is there no
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consequences for these things you know i hear it time and time again i'm sure you do as well
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and i just have to remind people that at the end of the day um it's the canadian people have to fire
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and hire their representatives and and quite frankly it's time that that uh that we can that we actually
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have an election that really is a uh determination if if or not these these folks are are really should be
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rewarded with their job going forward like the the the job interview and the decision as to if or not
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this should happen really you know it's in the hands of the people it really is yeah you know we we do
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we're looking at the possibility of an election this spring obviously jagmeet and uh and justin trudeau
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jagmeet singh and justin trudeau have had this marriage of sorts to try to keep this government
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this minority government from falling but there seems to be some tension there i don't know if you've seen
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that over the last number of months but before before christmas we saw the the threats from
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jagmeet singh talking about uh you know just feeling like he wasn't getting that the the full deal that
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he had hoped and of course he's putting some pressure on so i don't know this this year we'll see what
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happens but it could be we could be in into an election before you know it well we'll certainly see
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so that goes on to the next part i want to talk about our leader pierre pauliev talks about it many
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times he he mentions it quite often um starting to manufacture to build things money buys so we're
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not relying on other countries bringing manufacturing here but of course it's not as easy as that we need
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to ensure that the environment is right to allow private sector growth to to succeed and and it just
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seems that every industry our anchor industries natural resources mining lumber on and on it just
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seems they're all being hurt by the policies of this government whereas that allows the free market
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to to succeed right you you you build a product or a service people want they buy it and and lots of
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choice makes a better competition makes everything better but it seems in this government it seems that
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ottawa's fine with picking the winners and the losers into a very narrow typecast and what they want
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so innovation is what the government wants yeah right it's it's not whether or not it works or not
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it's whether or not you're connected and the government believes that's what the product is
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you know really is the uh the the government of press conferences if they think that it will look
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sound good during a press conference they'll be happy to make an announcement and and and move things
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along but you know it's startling when you look at the numbers when you compare us to other countries
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we we know that we have a competitive disadvantage in canada because of the government's policies we we live
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in a country where there's um the untold natural resources you know there's immense amounts of
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farmland we know that there's immense amount of of land to build on in this country there's really
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nothing that we need that we can't um you know that we don't have some of the the the the elements
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that make us the best in the world um you know when it comes to energy when it comes to um you know
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the ability to build houses when all the things but but yet we're see seemingly unable to get any new
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projects built and what i found interesting is in canada on average now this is across the the federal
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and the and the provincial the municipal uh you know different levels of government the average
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time for getting a building permit approved is over 250 days so that includes housing that includes
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large projects we're talking about you know across the board in south korea it's 28 days so i'm not
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you know when we look at our competitors where where the money can go where where development is
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happening yeah you know we're at a massive disadvantage simply because of bureaucratic
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bureaucratic encumbrances so my view is is we have to get this government government should get out
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of the way of picking winners and losers and really free up um the the ability for people to
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to use innovation to use um you know to build things and and to and to grow our economy and and
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really that's going to be the challenge over the next number uh of years as a matter of fact
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here in canada you know just you know we're building lng there the world currently they're
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begging they're begging at for it we're seeing the germans come to canada begging to have lng
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no business in canada apparently but the prime minister says well there's no business case here
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so of course germany then has to go to the middle east yep uh and get a long-term contract of course
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there's a business case for it of course you know there's people all over europe that that that are
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suffering uh this winter with with unprecedented um you know cold as well as of course the the
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inability to to bring in energy from russia they're cutting off russia which is of course the right
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thing to do but but we should be able to step up and fill that uh gap so in canada over seven years
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we you know the permitting and the the building of an lng terminal in bc it's it you know it's been
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seven years since this this application went in it still isn't built in germany where they decided
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that they needed to get this that this should happen they built an import terminal approved it
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and built it in less than 100 days like it is remarkable when when people want to do stuff
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when they're unleashed to do stuff they are but it also sees when the government gets out of the way
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sometimes even to the next step if the government wants something it could happen if it doesn't it
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will slow it down yep that that seems to be a major issue and when capital capital dollars takes the
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path of least resistance every single time and when they as you mentioned they see canada as a
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roadblock as something that you'll have to wait forever to get a permit if you do get it the process
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is not guaranteed um they'll go elsewhere yep and we've saw tens of billions leave in oil and gas
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the lumber industry is hurting like over and over again we just are getting left out and and some would
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say by its choice i say sometimes the government's doing it to you not for you right they are specifically
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deciding this is a direction they don't want canada to take yeah it's remarkable you know when you
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think of the manufacturing sector you think of all the sectors across this country that have
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really been the leading industries in our country under the last over the last seven years they've
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all been hard hit and uh what we know is in a increasingly um you know uh in a world where money
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can move anywhere uh the money's just leaving canada billions of dollars have lost have left this
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country we we've seen massive massive companies that have transitioned outside of canada that used
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to be you know canadian company companies taking the money elsewhere they didn't get out of the
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industry they just went somewhere else to that's right and create the jobs to create that and of
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course when these companies leave they they take the jobs with them the tax revenues that would
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otherwise be going into our healthcare system into our education system into our infrastructure here in
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canada it goes somewhere else and unfortunately canadians are poorer for it not only us today but
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into the generations to come yeah we don't actually even see the innovation happening right we the
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innovation is what also keeps the job going because companies invest in research and development that
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keeps the brains here and we saw a massive uh brain drain in the last few years because these companies
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are like you said going elsewhere and and using those brains to create the next best thing and canada
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is just missing out every single step of the way yeah but we can but we can change we can change
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that's what i was going to go yeah how can we change that well quite frankly i think that there's
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a number of things that the government has to do but most importantly i think primarily the government
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has to figure out ways to get out of the way where we see multiple redundancies between different
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levels of government we've got to figure out ways that we can streamline those things not to
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reduce um our our ensure to to reduce the protections of the environment or or human health and
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different things like that but making sure that we don't have these redundant requirements uh that
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that just pile on unnecessarily on top of one another i think the the other thing that we can do is is
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really bring um the innovative minds of this country to the table absolutely unfortunately what so often
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happens is we have government bureaucrats people in ivory towers in ottawa making decisions at for for for
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industries and for for groups of people that have no connection to those to those industries or the
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people that uh that these that these policies will will impact and so i think that more importantly
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than ever it's time that we you know tear down some of these uh these bureaucracies and these these
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encumbrances and really as our leaders talked about removing the gatekeepers and really bringing people
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to the the table that will build our in our industries build our our economy build our futures for
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for our young people for the generations to come more than ever we have to do that right now and i think
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that that i'm very optimistic i'm very optimistic i i believe in this country i believe in the people
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more than anything of course we're sitting on a gold mine when it comes to opportunities when it comes
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to our natural resources when it comes to uh you know the the educated people that live in canada
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we have we have we have so many things that are second to you know no other place in the world and more
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than ever we just need to be able to bring uh you know we have to bring the people people to the table
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uh because that's what you know they're really what give give me hope we can get the government
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out of the way and start to to to figure out ways to you know the people are will will crash through
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all the systems that really hold them back if we just allow them to to come to the table and start
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doing that absolutely and get these large corporations just pitching their product to government
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right you think it's easier to sell your product to government than it is the marketplace and actually
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have a true competition right you squeeze down the the first time business owner the small business
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owner and you create a barriers to competition and a very uneven playing field that's why we have so
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many monopolies in our grocery industry and our telecommunications because new companies aren't able
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to start up because of barriers in the marketplace sorry yeah and well but you're you're absolutely right
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just jumping onto that like it's about the government picking winners and losers absolutely and at some
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point you know we just level level the playing field allow for innovation uh to to rise up and
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obviously those that uh that the most innovative those that meet the needs of the people uh they'll
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do better and of course it it forces other folks to have their gaming and really that's what that's
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what creates the most vibrant the most uh the the the the best and most flourishing economies in the world
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absolutely 100 absolutely you watch countries you mentioned earlier south korea
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it started from uh after a number of conflicts and and issues internally they created themselves
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a powerhouse an economic powerhouse uh just by unleashing the you know conservative principles
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of free markets and that's how they did it absolutely you know we have to trust people trust people you
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know this is what i i've learned is um you know if if government has a problem the solution is not found
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often in ottawa not found with the government it's found with the people the the folks out in the common
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people who have a common understanding of what really is going on but sadly with this government
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they don't realize that they they double down on the fact that you know planning from ottawa the
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central planners they'll keep planning right yeah they'll keep planning chris i always give the
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guests the last word uh feel free to uh to close it out of anything you want to talk about well i can
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tell you that i'm just so optimistic about where this country can go um i'm just so optimistic about
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the people that that uh that call canada home and uh of course i represent what i often say are the best
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folks and the hardest working folks in the in the country and i know that you'd say something
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similar about the folks that you that you know and who you represent i i just you know everywhere
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i go in this country people have solutions to the challenges that we face and i think that if
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government just began uh if we had a government that trust the people our country would be so much
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further ahead chris workington member of parliament grant prairie mckenzie also the deputy whip first time on
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the show not the last we do appreciate your time as well we ask that you like comment subscribe share
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time until then low taxes less government more freedom that's the blueprint