The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - February 14, 2018


MP Kent’s Pay It Back campaign and MP Brassard on Trudeau’s insult to Veterans

Topics
Trudeau's insults to veterans
Hosted by
Jamie Schmal
Mentioned
Justin Trudeau Tony Clement Erin O'Toole John Broussard Phil McCollman Charles Adler Conservative Caucus Murray Brewster John Barrasso David Common Omar Khadr Peter Kent O'Reagan
Andrew Scheer launches the Supporting New Parents Act Trudeau must show leadership

Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

148.05

Word count

2,075

Sentence count

150

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Justin Trudeau's latest insults to veterans are another example of the Prime Minister breaking a promise to veterans, and another reminder of why they should never have to fight for their government in court. Join Tony Clement and John Broussard as they discuss the latest episode of The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Welcome to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your host, Tony Clement, Member of Parliament.
00:00:05.660 With me today will be John Broussard on Justin Trudeau's latest insults to veterans.
00:00:10.760 Join us on this very special program.
00:00:17.060 You're listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:00:22.440 Is the Prime Minister actually saying that taxpayers should be on the hook when he breaks the law?
00:00:30.000 What is it going to take for the Prime Minister to have any respect for any laws in this country that may curb his out-of-control behavior?
00:00:44.020 All these deficits leading to nothing but burying Canadians in taxes.
00:00:54.180 And now, here's your host, Tony Clement.
00:00:56.380 Welcome to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative Podcast.
00:01:01.900 I'm your host, Tony Clement, Member of Parliament.
00:01:03.940 And with me for the first segment is John Broussard, our Member of Parliament for Barrie-Innisville.
00:01:09.300 John, welcome to the show.
00:01:10.540 Great to be here, Tony. Thanks for having me.
00:01:12.100 Well, it's been quite an active week for Mr. Trudeau when it comes to veterans.
00:01:16.540 Not in a good way, I might add.
00:01:18.320 Certainly in an insulting way.
00:01:20.060 Why don't you go through some of the things that have been going on?
00:01:22.120 Well, the Prime Minister was in Edmonton last week, and he was doing his town halls right across the country, stopped in Edmonton.
00:01:31.500 Had a few questions, one of them in particular from a veteran who served in the Canadian Armed Forces, served in Afghanistan.
00:01:40.300 Unfortunately, lost his leg in Afghanistan.
00:01:44.000 And he had a simple question for the Prime Minister.
00:01:45.860 You know, why aren't we getting what you promised in terms of the pension, the lifelong pension that the Prime Minister and in a completely shameful and embarrassing way,
00:01:59.880 the Prime Minister's response to that veteran was, well, veterans are asking more than what we can give right now.
00:02:08.160 And he was talking in particular as well about the court case, the Equitas court case.
00:02:12.800 And I just thought that was shameful because this is a Prime Minister, Tony, that, you know, stood in Belleville with his hand over his heart.
00:02:18.600 He promised a return to lifelong pension for veterans.
00:02:22.300 He said that no veteran shall ever have to fight their government.
00:02:25.200 Call it a sacred obligation.
00:02:26.180 Well, he's referred to sacred obligation.
00:02:28.280 I actually have printed off how many times he's referred to it.
00:02:31.200 It's at least 30 times since he came into government.
00:02:35.080 And so it was just a shameful display and embarrassing, not just for our country, but, you know, embarrassing for these veterans,
00:02:43.740 many of them who supported the Prime Minister based on those two promises alone in the last election.
00:02:47.660 Should mention that the exchange between Mr. Trudeau and the courageous veteran, that's been seen over 10 million times by Canadians.
00:02:57.800 And it still is generating a lot of commentary.
00:03:00.860 Let's talk a little bit about this promise that he made, you know, not to sue veterans or not to pursue these matters in court.
00:03:09.380 That's another broken promise, isn't it?
00:03:11.480 Absolutely.
00:03:12.140 And, you know, the thing about the Prime Minister is he took advantage of an opportunity.
00:03:17.060 And the opportunity was that the Equitas case had been filed.
00:03:21.120 It related to pensions post-new veterans charter compared to pre-veterans charter when veterans had a lifelong pension.
00:03:28.340 So he saw an opportunity to effectively, you know, shoot for the stars and hoping to hit the moon with a campaign promise.
00:03:37.700 But it goes back to Aaron O'Toole.
00:03:39.660 Aaron was trying to fix the issue.
00:03:41.760 In fact, he was a former minister, former minister of veterans affairs, somebody who has been a great mentor to me on the veterans file because he knows the veterans file intimately.
00:03:51.480 He developed an abeyance agreement with the Equitas group.
00:03:56.260 And so he was in the process of working out an agreement.
00:04:01.280 And that's widely known among everybody that was involved, not just Aaron, but those within the Equitas group.
00:04:07.540 The abeyance agreement was held.
00:04:09.000 Unfortunately, Aaron ran out of runway because of the election.
00:04:12.420 So in between that period, Trudeau saw that opportunity.
00:04:16.440 He leaped at it, made those promises.
00:04:19.920 And ironically enough, after the abeyance agreement was up in May of 2016, what's the first thing that the prime minister does?
00:04:27.340 Take veterans to court.
00:04:28.840 Re-instituted the Equitas lawsuit.
00:04:31.820 Not only did he start it again, but he also brought back the same government lawyers who were arguing the case before Aaron developed the abeyance agreement, which, you know, this guy was really anti-veteran.
00:04:48.160 And so he sent, Trudeau sent two clear messages.
00:04:51.740 Number one, the falseness of the promise that he would never take his veterans to court.
00:04:56.020 And secondly, by bringing back the lawyer who was arguing the case on the behalf of the government, really was a kick in the gut for these veterans.
00:05:02.260 It's almost a double victimization for these people.
00:05:04.500 Double victimization.
00:05:05.940 And then when he, you know, promises a lifelong pension and doesn't deliver it.
00:05:09.900 In fact, I think probably the most telling part of this whole thing with the lifelong pension and the announcement that O'Reagan made just a couple of days before Christmas.
00:05:18.800 Absolutely the worst time to make these type of announcements, especially when they don't fulfill their promise.
00:05:24.580 David Common of the CBC, who is their veterans reporter, sorry, it was Murray Brewster of the CBC, who is their veterans reporter, asked the Minister of Veterans Affairs,
00:05:35.900 can you guarantee that this new pension for life is the same or more than what a veteran would have got under the old system?
00:05:45.920 So in other words, is it equal?
00:05:47.940 Is it one veteran, one standard?
00:05:49.800 And the Minister of Veterans Affairs said, no, I cannot guarantee it.
00:05:54.800 So that tells me that they know, the government knows, the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Prime Minister knows that this pension for life that they announced is not the same.
00:06:03.900 It's going to be a sham.
00:06:04.560 It's not the same as what they had promised unequivocally to veterans and what was understood broadly among the veterans community when Justin Trudeau made that promise in Belleville.
00:06:16.040 One other thing that came out of veteran Brock's intervention at that town hall meeting with Mr. Trudeau is the fact that, you know, they're spending on other things.
00:06:26.640 He drawed the distinction between the Qatar settlement of $10.5 million versus what veterans would like to see.
00:06:33.980 So talk a little bit about that.
00:06:36.220 Well, again, I mean, just absolute shameful behavior on the part of the Prime Minister.
00:06:42.400 You know, this is a government, Tony, who has no problem with tens of billions of dollars in debt and deficits.
00:06:49.620 No problem with billions of dollars to the United Nations.
00:06:53.260 No problem with billions of dollars to all of Justin Trudeau's pet projects around the world.
00:06:59.940 No problem giving Omar Khadr $10.5 million.
00:07:03.300 But our veterans are asking for more than what the government can give right now.
00:07:08.840 I think that is absolutely reprehensible.
00:07:13.660 The fact that he made those promises, that particular promise on the pension, and then says that they're, the veterans, are asking for more than he can give.
00:07:23.980 I mean, what more can you say about that?
00:07:25.560 And, you know what, politically, you've seen the reaction across the country.
00:07:29.420 You've seen the reaction among veterans.
00:07:31.660 Yeah, I mean, he's opened a deep, deep wound.
00:07:35.540 And I'm telling you, I traveled across the country this summer, Tony, as you know, meeting with veterans groups.
00:07:41.080 I was on Charles Adler last week.
00:07:43.560 And Charles Adler said to me, so, you know, what is it that the veterans are looking for?
00:07:48.500 And you know what they're looking for? 0.96
00:07:50.420 They've lived through a generation of bulls**t, and they're tired of it. 0.98
00:07:54.740 They want to know the truth. 0.98
00:07:56.100 What can we do for you?
00:07:57.180 And if we can do something, then do it.
00:07:59.360 If we promise something, keep that promise.
00:08:02.000 If we can't do something, tell them why we can't do it.
00:08:05.300 That's all they're looking for.
00:08:06.400 And in this case...
00:08:08.200 It used to be called respect.
00:08:09.280 Well, respect.
00:08:10.520 But again, when it comes back to that sacred obligation, which is critically important,
00:08:14.820 and I don't think there's a Canadian out there, a Canadian that's listening to this podcast,
00:08:18.740 that doesn't agree that the government should be doing all we can for our veterans.
00:08:24.780 You know, they're willing to go out there.
00:08:25.940 They're willing to put their life on the line.
00:08:27.860 They're willing to have Canada's back.
00:08:29.540 All they ask for is for Canada to have their back when they return.
00:08:32.240 Not just their back, but the backs of their family as well.
00:08:35.000 And I don't think it's too much to ask.
00:08:36.840 And we are working right now with Phil McCollman, who's our Shadow Minister of Veterans Affairs,
00:08:40.940 to come up with good policies as we head into the next election.
00:08:44.480 Not bully our veterans, but tell them what we can do for them based on that sacred obligation that we have for them.
00:08:52.960 John Brassard, Member of Parliament, great to have you on the program.
00:08:55.800 I certainly wish you and Phil McCollman, another hardworking member of our Conservative Caucus,
00:09:02.800 the best of success in some good, positive policies for veterans in the future,
00:09:07.760 and also holding Mr. Trudeau to account that that exchange that was captured from his town hall
00:09:14.780 really shows the real Justin Trudeau.
00:09:18.060 I mean, the mask kind of fell away for a couple of minutes there,
00:09:21.420 and we saw something that was quite nasty and uncaring.
00:09:25.300 Everything is fake. Everything is false. Everything is contrived with these guys.
00:09:29.500 All they want is for what plays out on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.
00:09:34.400 You know, when it gets into policy decision-making behind closed doors, they don't live up to it.
00:09:39.960 And in fact, I will suggest this, Tony, that the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, lied to our veterans.
00:09:45.880 Well, there you hear it, folks. Thank you very much for being on the program.
00:09:48.820 Thank you for joining us here on Blueprint.
00:09:51.100 We'll be back with our next guest momentarily.
00:09:55.300 And here's Peter Kent launching the campaign itself earlier this week.
00:10:23.280 Good afternoon. Bonjour Ă  tous.
00:10:27.920 As we all know, in barely seven sitting days of the House,
00:10:34.480 barely seven sitting days of the House since the Ethics Commissioner found the Prime Minister
00:10:40.220 to have broken the law by violating four major sections of the Conflict of Interest Act,
00:10:47.100 he has refused to offer any meaningful discussion in the House,
00:10:51.940 and more important, he has refused to accept any consequences.
00:10:57.420 Now, no one argues with legitimate security and travel expenses on official business.
00:11:06.920 But by spending more than $200,000 on an ill-considered, illegal vacation,
00:11:14.540 and refusing to repay those improper expenses,
00:11:18.160 the Prime Minister has shown again his disdain for the rules of the House,
00:11:24.500 his disdain for his own ethical guidelines,
00:11:29.000 and as important, his disregard, his disrespect for fellow members of Parliament.
00:11:36.900 Now, members of the House deserve meaningful answers to reasonable questions.
00:11:43.880 Canadians deserve answers.
00:11:46.740 But most important of all, Canadian taxpayers deserve to be repaid
00:11:52.680 the hundreds of thousands of dollars improperly spent on his illegal vacation.
00:11:58.120 So that's why today we are launching the Pay It Back initiative,
00:12:04.900 an opportunity for all Canadians to communicate to the Prime Minister
00:12:10.440 that they expect him to do the right thing and pay it back.
00:12:16.560 Now, they can do that in any number of ways.
00:12:18.660 They can do it by telephone to his constituency office in Papineau.
00:12:23.600 They can do it by calling the Prime Minister's office here in Ottawa.
00:12:28.780 They can use email.
00:12:31.380 Or they can, in a very simple manner, uncomplicated, doesn't cost a cent,
00:12:37.800 take any envelope you might have in the House
00:12:40.360 and address it to the Prime Minister, Parliament of Canada, Ottawa,
00:12:45.300 Postal Code K1A 016,
00:12:48.360 and then on the back, you don't have to put anything into the envelope,
00:12:52.020 on the back, inscribe, pay it back.
00:12:56.700 Send it to the Prime Minister and communicate your urging
00:13:01.880 that the Prime Minister do the right thing
00:13:04.420 and repay Canadian taxpayers for those improper expenses
00:13:09.560 paid on his illegal vacation by Canadian taxpayers.
00:13:13.480 Thank you.
00:13:13.800 Thank you for listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative podcast.
00:13:22.720 To find more episodes, interviews, and in-depth discussions of politics in Canada,
00:13:28.040 search for The Blueprint on iTunes or visit podcast.conservative.ca.
00:13:33.520 Thank you.
00:13:43.320 I'm done.
00:13:51.320 We're izable.
00:13:55.560 We're izable.
00:14:00.760 We're izable.