How the Liberals are Impacting the Border
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Summary
In this episode, Conservative MP's Raquel Denshawle and Melinda Lansman and Shadow Critic for Public Safety and Transport, Rachael Danshaw, join us to discuss the RiveCan, the government's attempt to quarantine seniors who don't have a smartphone.
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 Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Corps that likes Brock, with new
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content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. We do appreciate you checking in
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with us. And of course, if you can't listen or watch the entire program right this second,
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you can download it, listen to it later on on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play,
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Spotify. Amazing content again for you today. We ask that you like, comment, subscribe, share this
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program, help us push back against the ever-moving Liberal agenda. We're going to continue with the
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panel discussion this week, and something I think is top of mind for many Canadians looking to
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potentially get away during the Christmas break. We have Raquel Denshaw, the Member of Parliament for
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Kildonan St. Paul, also the Shadow Critic for Public Safety, and Melissa Lansman, newly elected,
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the Class of 2021, Member of Parliament for Thornhill, also the Critic for Transport. We appreciate both
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of their time, and Raquel especially, she was, I believe, the first guest on the podcast when we
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started many years ago in the Class of 2019. Yeah, I was just remarking how the technology and the
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formats have been upgraded in two years, so congratulations. It's getting there. Wait till
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we have the studio. Yeah, that's super exciting. Good for you, Jamie. Well done. Thank you very much,
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and we appreciate both your times. I know both of you are busy. Just going over the travel,
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because I know our constituency offices are dealing with this a lot. I think many Canadians watching,
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listening to this program, are trying to figure it out. I was on the government's website trying to
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figure out what it means for travelers. It's very confusing. What are you hearing, and what is going
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on for those thinking about potentially traveling, or to navigate this whole government bureaucracy?
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Look, Jamie, first of all, thanks for having me, and I think you're absolutely right. I think
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confusion has ensued, and you pretty much need to be a rocket scientist, or have a PhD, to figure out
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the ever-changing, sort of moving targets on the government website. All of that to say is that
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20 months into a pandemic, they're making it up as they go along, and I think that's the point. I think
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you're seeing a government who is reacting and having a new plan with every single variant of concern,
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or every sort of thing thrown into the mix, and they're not listening to their experts.
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They're not listening to the advice of scientists. They're certainly not using common sense or reason,
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and so it leaves you with the question of who's making these decisions? Is it just a bunch of
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politicians around a table trying to make your life miserable? That's certainly what it looks like.
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Well, I know Raquel, and both of you, you too, Melissa, have been talking a lot about
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in question period about this whole issue. I know, Raquel, you had some questions about the
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RiveCan app that I'm just hearing horror stories of people who cannot get this to work.
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Yeah, you know, it's very concerning. The federal government is supposed to ensure that their
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programs are inclusive. I've worked on the disability file. We've studied the impact of
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COVID on seniors, and particularly, you know, we were in question period, and the theme kept coming
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up for many of our MP colleagues, that it was seniors in particular who don't use smartphones,
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and frankly, even if you do own a smartphone, using the RiveCan app is challenging. Like, I think of
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my parents, baby boomers, they would have a tough time with that as well, because I know, because
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I've been having a tough time with the RiveCan, and I've had a smartphone for a very, very long
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time. So it was sort of at one point, I think we were sort of heckling the liberals, like,
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free the seniors, free the seniors, because they, you know, couldn't get back into the
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border without having to quarantine. They couldn't get back into Canada without being punished
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by border agents on direction from this government for not having an app. So they didn't have an
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app, but they had their double max, they were under the 72 hours, or if they were over
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the 72 hours, then they had their negative COVID test, they had all the documentation,
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they could hand over paper copies, but they said, nope, that needs to be on an RiveCan app,
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so you have to go quarantine for two weeks. So there were so many seniors, and those who
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have some tech challenges, who are just being, in our opinion, wrongfully quarantined and punished.
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So what you're basically saying is Canadians have been told to follow the rules, get double
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vaccinated, get your PCR test before you leave the country in which you travel, do A, B, C, D, E, F,
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and they're still coming in with a list of problems, and potentially being quarantined,
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and nobody seems to have any idea what's going on. The rules keep changing. I think that's the
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point. The target keeps moving, and the people that are paying for this are Canadians who have done
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every single thing that the government has told you to do. So what more is there? You know,
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RiveCan is one of them. We still have quarantine hotels for those coming from countries of concern,
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which are, you know, we can talk a little bit about that, but just horrendous conditions, and I think
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many of our offices, and I don't think it's different on the other side of the house, their offices are
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probably getting this due, where people are waiting 70 hours for a test, 48 hours for a test. They're
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waiting three days just to talk to someone who will listen to them. So I'm, you know, this is,
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this is one of the, this is one of the things with the government hasn't learned anything in 20
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months, and again, they're making it up as they go along, and Canadians deserve better than that.
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And I think the government is really making a lot of excuses as well. I questioned the health
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minister and committee about the RiveCan app, and, or particularly about the hotel quarantines,
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Melissa mentioned some of the horrific challenges we're seeing there. There was a silly aquaman who
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went 40 hours with food she could safely eat. Babies are going without diapers, without milk.
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Many are going without hot water. There's hot water and heat problems in these hotels. Again,
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many of these individuals who traveled were not, these rules were not yet established. They did not
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prepare to have to be in quarantine for so long. So there's many people who've gone five days without
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changing their clothes, and that's just not a humane practice. These are not humane measures that are
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being taken by this government, and they say, well, what else would we do? That's what the health
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minister answered. What other option is there? Well, maybe treating Canadians with dignity and
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respect, especially after 21 months. We went through these problems a year ago. They knew about
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them a year ago, and yet here we are treating Canadians worse than, well, anything I could recall
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in Canada. So it's just, it's really very concerning in terms of this pandemic. We're treating people worse
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than we have in the last 21 months now, and that should be an issue for all Canadians. But what I
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would also say is there is a major economic impact on this as well, particularly for families. We talked
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about seniors. Yes, they're having technology issues, but also if you're not planning to quarantine
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for 14 days, or if you're getting stuck in a hotel quarantine, waiting for some bureaucrat to give you a
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stamp of approval to leave, you're having to miss work. You're having to take two weeks off work.
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If you're having to quarantine for two weeks at home unexpectedly, and these are huge impacts to
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Canadian families. Again, if you're working, if you're having to take work off now, you're not
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going to be able to take work off at Christmas. That's Christmas number two from government direction
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that we're having, that these individuals are having to miss Christmas. So I could go on and on
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and on. I know that we are very passionate about this, but it's just, we need to be doing better
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than this, and Canadians deserve it. Well, let's stick with the economic piece of this puzzle. I'm not sure
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there's too many files that the government has right now that are actually going well for them.
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But the most impacted industry right now is the travel and tourism sector,
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and the government is just not coming up with clear rules, clear guidance, so that they can get
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their business going, or just hang on knowing that there might be light at the end of the tunnel.
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So we, you know, we've been talking about this for weeks, and the government's come up with no
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answers, but there was never a reason or a recommendation, and we saw this last week,
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to treat airline travel any different than land travel. And we've had, you know, 48,000 Canadians
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in two months land in a U.S. airport and cross by land. So, I mean, I think we have ministers here
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that are creating tons of jobs in Buffalo, and tons of jobs right across the border, and not
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creating any jobs here. The airline sector, you know, the airports have been mistreated,
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and the advice makes no sense. It's not based on their own experts. It's not based on science.
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And as a result, Canadians should ask, who is making these rules, and why, and why do they
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Absolutely. I didn't know if you want to jump in on this before I...
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No, I agree completely with Melissa, but I think that there really is this air of,
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and we're hearing this from constituents, I feel, they feel that they, and I quote,
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we feel that we're being punished. And if the government wants to stop people from traveling,
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then they should just come out and say that. Because people are traveling, they have family
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members, they have businesses, this liberal government is the one that opened up travel
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again a few months ago. So, if that was the case, then Canadians, again, who are following the rules,
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watching closely, made plans, and now they're being treated this way. It just doesn't go together.
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That just doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. So, I have a lot of concerns, just on a values
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level, that the government seems to, it almost seems to relish in punishing individuals. Again,
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when I talked to the minister, and I brought these very real concerns of the inhumane treatment
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Canadians are experiencing in hotel quarantine, it seems to say, well, what other option do we have?
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And I just, I find that to be completely embarrassing and a national shame.
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And this liberal government should be doing far better after 21 months.
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Well, it didn't stop Justin Trudeau from calling a national election. It didn't stop Justin Trudeau
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from going over to Glasgow and having a great time. But it seems that Canadians who are just
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trying to follow the rules, trying to understand the rules and follow them, but also for their
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mental health, their enjoyment, getting their lives back, feeling normal again, it's just one more
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thing, one more roadblock that the government's putting in their way to have happiness.
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Look, I think this government is the government of there are rules for we, and there are rules
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for thee, and they are not the same. And Canadians have watched this, you're right, gallivanting
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around the world, you know, maskless in other countries with delegations of hundreds. And here
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they're talking about the safety in Parliament and having 338 members sit in person. And as, you
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know, many of your viewers will know, we're not doing that. We've got an option of virtual and
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every day, there's less and less ministers to be able to ask questions to. So that's,
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that's everything you need to know about a government who makes rules for themselves,
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You know, one thing about virtual Parliament, I'm learning, I'm, I'm getting to see a lot
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of Liberal MPs, their offices in Ottawa are quite nice. It's amazing, they just can't come across
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the street and actually participate in Parliament. That is absolutely amazing.
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Well, you know, and no, it's no wonder. I mean, it's an uncomfortable thing, the way our democracy
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is set up. And that's, it's on purpose, right? We're supposed to bring the most powerful people
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in the country to sit across from official opposition parties, and be held accountable
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for their mistakes. The government's only going to tell you what's, what's so great about all
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their announcements. They're never going to tell you the downside. That's our job. So of course,
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they're going to take advantage of this virtual Parliament system, and go sit in the comfort
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of their offices and turn it on mute. And they don't like something our leader is saying,
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or that we're saying in the House, and it's completely unacceptable. And I think more to
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Melissa's point as well, they were making this argument that, oh, it's not safe for us all
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to be in Parliament. All 338 members, like with baloney. They sent 200 people to Glasgow for
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COP26. They were the ones that opened up travel again. The Prime Minister campaigned in hospitals
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during the last election, and was happy to fly all over the country when the Delta wave was
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raging, and impacting our hospital capacity. And he didn't mind then. So it doesn't make any
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sense. And they're just really avoiding accountability. That's just the truth.
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I bet you if you offered everybody courtside tickets to the Raptors game, or front row seats
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to this weekend's Great Cup, I think they'd be there in a second. But Parliament, not so much.
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It was one of you two, I think, had the line. Hugs on Monday. We all saw the video of Liberal
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members, NDP, what have you, hugging in Parliament before starting. Everyone was happy. And then
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virtual by Thursday. Wednesday or Thursday. Hiding in a basement by Thursday. That's, you know,
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that's what we get from this government. It's inconsistency, whether it's inconsistency on
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the economy, it's inconsistency on travel rules, it's inconsistency on their position about whether
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they feel safe or not, with 300 of their colleagues in Parliament, just like everybody else. The name of
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the, you know, the name of the game here is inconsistency.
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Well, on that note, we should wrap up. We've gone a little long. We do appreciate your time. I always
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give the guests the opportunity to close out, give some final, final remarks. So I'll start
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with you, Raquel, since you're right next to me. And the floor is yours.
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You know, the Conservative team is working very hard on behalf of Canadians and Ottawa to bring
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forward pragmatic solutions to the government's haphazard mismanagement of this pandemic. We are
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holding them to account on behalf of Canadians for the inhumane mistreatment we're seeing at
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quarantine hotels and at our border as a result of the Rive-Canap issues. And I just want Canadians
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and your listeners to know that we are fighting very hard for them, and that we want to see an
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end of this pandemic. We follow the advice of experts. But unlike the Liberals, we're looking
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for practical solutions that give some peace and confidence to Canadians that we are going to get
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out of this, not this punishment and hopelessness and despair that we keep hearing from the Liberals.
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And that's really our, I think, our primary focus is how do we get the economy back to get back,
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firing on all cylinders? How do we get back to normal? We want to get out of this pandemic,
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and we're working hard to make it happen. Absolutely.
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I'm going to go with that. Conservatives not only are holding the government to account
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in terms of pointing out everything that is wrong, and we've talked just a little bit about
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about the problems on this show, but we are an official opposition that continues to bring
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solutions to the table. And we continue to have them shot down. Solutions that are
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consulted from our stakeholders, our constituents, everyone across the country. We want to make
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government policy better, and we don't have a partner on the other side because, again,
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hugs on a Monday and hiding in the basement on a Thursday.
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I love that line. Melissa Lansman, Member of Parliament for Thornhill. Also,
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the Shadow Minister for Transport. We have Raquel Dancho, the Member of Parliament for Keldona in
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St. Paul in the beautiful province of Manitoba. Also, the Shadow Minister for Public Safety.
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We appreciate their time. We appreciate your time for joining us, and we hope you do so every
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single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. Again, like, comment, subscribe, share this program,
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help us push back against the ever-moving Liberal agenda because there will be someone in your social
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media network that might be open to hearing the Conservative message, might not be getting it from the
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mainstream media. This is your chance to do so, and ensure that Erin O'Toole is the next Prime
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Minister of Canada. Question Period is coming up at 2.15 p.m. Eastern Time. We hope you enjoy that.
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As always, remember, low taxes, less government, more freedom. That is The Blueprint.