Removing PCR Testing through Land Borders
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Summary
In this episode of The Blueprints, we talk about the first week back in parliament, the return of the House of Commons, and the Liberal government's plan to go back to hybrid parliament, and why we should be back in person.
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 schmail member of parliament for halliburton kawortha lakes brock with new content
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for you every single tuesday 1 30 p.m eastern time we ask that you like subscribe comment share
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this program help us push back against that ever-moving liberal agenda and of course as
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always if you can't watch or listen to the entire program right this second you can download it
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later on maybe on platforms like cast box itunes google play spotify you name it it is out there
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together we can give people within your social media network a narrative that is different from
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what they might be hearing on the mainstream media so with that we give you new content it is the
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first week back in parliament after the most important election in canadian history says
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justin trudeau 610 million dollars just to achieve pretty much the same result and he waits two minutes
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to reconvene parliament the british parliament comes back within days of a federal election
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not us apparently so to talk about this and much more because we have inside ottawa stuff that we
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need to get through also we want to really touch on what's happening in british columbia as well so
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we're bringing in richard bragdon he's the member of parliament from toby come back to quack we also
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have john bursard the member of parliament for barry innisville so john is the shadow minister for
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ethics and accountable governments and of course richard is the deputy for that same portfolio we welcome you both
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thanks to be here thanks when we have two of you in person
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we actually just met this morning on the ethics file so it's even better so it's fresh in our minds
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all right let's talk about the first week in parliament we're coming back november 22nd we meet
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everyone's in the chamber all 338 mps but then we get notice that the government will be putting a
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motion on the table to go back to hybrid parliament what is going on is it about stopping the spread
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because yesterday on the floor of the chamber did not look like they were worried at all they being
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the liberals richard you want to you want to tackle this one or i mean we can both i'll start
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listen uh it's absolutely ridiculous the fact that they're even considering uh not having parliament
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and our legislative assembly gather uh it's been shown and it's been shown over the last couple of
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days that we're able to gather safely masks are being worn in the house of commons everybody is
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vaccinated or has a medical exemption if they're able to look we can put 20 000 people in the scotia
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bank arena we can put 50 000 people in the rogers center we can put 300 people in an airplane
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but we can't have 338 people in the house of commons this is nothing more than an attempt to undermine our
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democracy to restrict any sort of transparency or accountability by the liberal government
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and it sounds to me richard like the ndp is in their hip pocket on this one so it's just about
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avoiding parliament really because you know you remember one liberal in the last parliament would
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answer pretty much or ask every question for the liberals absolutely jamie this is about avoiding
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accountability and uh there's no substitute for the dynamic of in-person meetings especially in a
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parliament and we know there's precedent around the world where legislatures and parliaments are
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gathering and meeting and yes the protocols are being followed and people are being able to
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you know respect the guidelines and make sure that safety is first and foremost but they are meeting
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and they're meeting in person and they're meeting in full there's no excuse that canada's parliament
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cannot be meeting in person and meeting in full well it's not like we we don't have any business to
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take care of i mean we've got an affordability crisis that's happening right across this country we've got gas
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we've got home heating groceries are increasing i know housing affordability attainable housing is a
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big issue in central ontario so why we wouldn't gather in our legislature why we wouldn't have the
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work of committees to be able to act act in person is beyond me and it just as richard said and as i said
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earlier it's just a way to avoid accountability and transparency it diminishes our democracy it diminishes
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our democratic institutions and this is important for people to understand that this is a government
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that doesn't want to be accountable for anything he wants to come out at rito hall on the steps and
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have the same thing happen as what happened in the first 20 months of this pandemic right where all
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eyes all attention are on him uh and him being justin trudeau and we need to move beyond that listen
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we're 20 months into this we need to get back to some sense of normalcy keeping in mind that there are
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protocols in place we're following those protocols house administration house staff are doing a great
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job keeping us safe there's no reason why this legislature this house of commons can't return
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and we we were told it was the most important election going into it there had to be an election
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despite a potential third wave of covid and yet we wait two months to to sit for the first time
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the trudeau government has yet to announce the parliamentary secretaries which i think is
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unheard of this far into it especially with parliament sitting and not only that as you
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mentioned we have the affordability crisis that is going on there just doesn't seem to be any desire
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for this government to tackle any issue and they you're right they want their ministers to
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sit behind the microphone in front of their computer and when a question comes from the
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opposition they get a little note handed to them that they just read yeah absolutely jamie i i think
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canadians are long past the point they're they're increasingly frustrated they want to know that their
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elected officials are on the job and aware of the challenges they're facing from day to day whether
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it's our seniors with the ever-increasing cost of living whether it's those who are who are working
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and they find that the tax burden is getting higher and higher and it costs more just to put groceries
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on the table and to keep things functioning for their households or whether it is the person who
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or the business owner who cannot find laborers and cannot find people to go to work these are
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challenges that are pressing on our people right now let alone the massive amount of debt that we have
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accumulated and that is going to be an extra burden for future generations not just ours so we have a
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great responsibility and we need to be at the table discussing these things this is where parliament
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is made so that the people's issues can be discussed in open and free debate the limits around debate
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and open discussion that's happening right now because of the lack of transparency and the approach
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that the current prime minister is taking is very very disturbing here's another point i want to raise
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too james the uh when we were at proc and we were studying this issue and i was sitting on proc committee
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at the time one of the issues that we talked about was the fact that as long as this parliament
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continues to be virtual then that means that members of parliament stay in their writing okay that's
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fine and good but what are they doing in their writing right in the case of the liberals or even the
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ndp i would suggest that many of them are electioneering right they're actually not doing their job this is
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the seat of power this is where the constitution says the legislative assembly needs to be and this is
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where we need to be we can't have liberal members or ndp members because it was a concern at proc
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in their writings working their way towards the next election right conservatives are ready to work
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i know that the bloc quebecois and my discussions with them over the last couple of days are ready to
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work here in ottawa but it appears that the ndp and the liberals are not willing to work and this was a
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concern that was brought up at proc and i suspect that if you check the social media feeds of many of
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the ndp or liberal members if this was in fact to happen many of them would be at the rotary club
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luncheons they'd be meeting with constituents in their writings when they should be here in ottawa
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in the seat of power in the place where the legislation is passed you know and it's it's a big concern and
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it's something that we we had some foresight on at proc and i suspect that it's going to hold true
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if this does happen and we all voluntarily signed our name on the dotted line saying that we understood
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the role of the job and the responsibilities and where it would be so it's not as if an election
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happened after covid or before covid right this was during covid we all knew what the responsibilities
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were exactly so let's move on we got a couple of other issues i want to quickly touch on because
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that was very ottawa centered but let's talk about the pcr test let's talk about the border canada us
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borders is starting to reopen albeit slowly still requiring the pcr test of canadians coming back
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over over 72 hours which is a costly test we're still waiting on word from americans because the
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tourism and hospitality sector are hurt badly they're on their knees right now and this is a
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problem because the federal government doesn't want to listen to those in the industry that are
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raising legitimate concerns about the pcr test every other country united states europe is using the
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a different kind of test which is cheaper just as effective but more accessible absolutely i mean
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i i think that what's again there's not science behind this decision what's happening is is again
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they are behind the eight ball on this other countries have moved ahead things are happening we
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can ensure the safety of canadians the fact that those who are traveling are going to be vaccinated and
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they're coming back why not explore the options as it relates to better testing that doesn't cost
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canadians extra money for travel or those and be prohibitive for those who want to come to canada
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for tourism purposes or visit our country or family members i have a large border riding and
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and there are people with family members just across the border that they haven't been able to hardly see
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grandchildren others they want to be able to spend time with and over the christmas break etc and obviously
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everyone wants things to be done safely and done properly but there's means to testing that doesn't
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take near as long nor is near as costly for average canadians or travelers who are coming so let's
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look at the best practices internationally find out what is working and what can be done and get that
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expedited and changed it's still having a devastating effect on the travel industry you know i i meet with
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travel advisors regularly and they are telling me that people who had trips booked are now not booking them
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because of the requirement of the pcr test everybody who's booking those trips presumably and they're
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telling me are double vaccinated uh so the redundancy of the test and it's not based on science and
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evidence as richard said every decision that's been made it seems as a at the border has been a political
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one or a decision that aligns with the liberal ideology right and that's that's a challenge for people
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right now i'll give you an example um i had a baseball team in my riding who went down to maryland
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there was a bunch of them the parents had pre-paid for a pcr test i think it was a couple of hundred
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bucks uh the company said they didn't have enough staff to do them so then they had to make arrangements
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for another company to do the test they got to the border the test results weren't back yet but the
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border agents said to them oh that's okay just go over there and do a test and they did they didn't even
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get their pcr test back so the the inconsistency that's happening in the messaging and and what's
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going on in british columbia right now is as sad and tragic as that has been uh there are many people
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in the border towns of surrey for example or southern bc who are crossing over the border right now
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they've been told by minister blair that they don't require a pcr test so they've gone over there's been
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an exemption because that 72 hour period doesn't kick until november 30th they've gone over to put gas in
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their car to get groceries because of the shortages that are existing in southern bc and they're
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coming back with no pcr test and some of them have been fined many of them have been fined 5700
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dollars and told to quarantine so you know another example of a big announcement by the government
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with very little but in the way of implementation so the pcr test i actually wrote a letter in advance
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of everybody else writing a letter because of the ridiculousness of this test and the requirement of it
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i wrote a letter to the prime minister on october 26th i think it was and there were subsequent
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letters including our leader aaron o'toole that said just scrap the test people are double vaccinated
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there are other ways that we can do this other than restricting people on that test the other
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problem that the travel advisors are telling us people are fearful of false positives when they travel
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to other countries to get that test will i be stuck in that country for how long at what cost
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and so you know if people are double vaccinated and presumably that is one of the tools in the toolbox
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to help us get through this then they need to scrap this test and not burden canadians with further
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costs and many of the border towns of which richard is one uh border communities all of the mayors have
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been asking for this test to be scrapped so i'm glad to see that the 72 hour requirement is no longer
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going to be accepted on november 30th but it need we need to move to a point right now where there's no
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more pcr tests and other technology can be used oh absolutely and and i think we are pointing
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exactly both of you when you're making it that the when you're talking about accountable government
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the the slow pace in which they make decisions remember when this whole thing started way back
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when we were asking questions about you know are we planning to close the border what modifications are
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we making and we were called every name in the book i remember matt jenneru at the time was our health
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critic he's from edmonton he asked a ton of questions and and the liberals just shut us down
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and then we got hit in the first wave and and the other countries were making arrangements at their
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airports and their and their borders and and we were just kind of left looking at what are we doing
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and nobody had any idea it's amazing how rapid and how much of a a massive priority engineering and
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election was but yet handling and dealing with this situation since before us and the prioritizing
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making the right decisions to get beyond and get to the other side and get canada's economy up and
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roaring doesn't seem to be near the priority for this government so i think our focus and that's
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what we're calling on the government do is make sure we're back in this house doing the job and making
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sure the priorities of canadians are being discussed at the table this is way beyond the point of photo ops
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and announcements we have got to get to the place where we are bringing in meaningful policies and
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meaningful action to kickstart the canadian economy and get canadians back to work no sector has been
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impacted more than our travel and tourism sector and it continues to be impacted as long as we have
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the restrictions or requirements of these type of tests even americans aren't coming up to the country
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unless they have to they have to conduct business and it's a requirement for them to come up here but
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um you know i've talked to the travel and tourism sector
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all of us have we've been on multiple calls with hospitality hotels travel tourism travel advisors
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there has to be some certainty in the industry and there is none of that happening right now and it's
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concerning listen our recovery is going to depend on businesses in every sector in every region in
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every part of this country and we need government and this is why it's important for us to be in the
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house of commons we need us as legislatures as legislators as policymakers to be able to make
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the decisions that put those businesses in the best position to succeed economically coming out of this
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crisis and uh my fear is that we're not going to have that opportunity because the government
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is not interested in us working together and a hybrid parliament just puts power back into the
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executive branch taking away from the legislation which i think yeah by regulation rule by order and
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council not rule by by consensus or at least legislation absolutely so we'll i went a bit
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long but uh we do need to wrap up i always give the guests as you know the last word just a few final
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thoughts we are thinking about the people of british columbia uh quite uh quite often and we will be
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pressing the government to bring in some some policies to help the people in british columbia but
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if you uh you two want to uh take the final word i you know there's an emergency debate request uh on
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the situation in bc our colleague mark straw as you know has stayed back in chilliwack you know it's been
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a hard-hit community but all of us have watched the devastation that's gone on in bc and uh and we're
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certainly thinking about our fellow canadians out there it's it's a tough situation but you know we'll
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get through it we're canadian we always do absolutely and a special thank you to all those
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who are responding and stepping up in this time the first responders and and others who are right
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there on the scene and working tirelessly to make sure that the needs of our fellow canadians are being
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met in british columbia so yeah our thoughts and prayers are certainly with them and their families and
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it's time for our government to make sure we're at the table and doing what we need to do to get our
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country moving forward do you want us back to talk about ethics one time we'll do that
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there's no shortage of content there i can tell you absolutely thank you very much john bursar
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member of parliament uh for barry innisfil also the shadow minister for ethics and accountable
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government richard bragdon the member of parliament for toby maktukwack also the deputy shadow minister
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for ethics and accountable accountable government we appreciate both of you coming on the show it's
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nice to have a panel nice to see people again yes it is really nice i mean i was just going to the
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washroom when you called me and asked me if you wanted me to do this thank you very much for
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joining us again please like comment subscribe share this program help us push back against
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is throne speech day we'll have analysis on that next week if you don't hear it from before our leader
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aaron o'toole will be having his response please check that out and as always low taxes less government