The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - May 18, 2017


Rona Ambrose’ final speech as Leader to Caucus

Hosted by
Jamie Schmal
Mentioned
Justin Trudeau Tony Clement Sheikh Osman Yazidis
Full Episode： May 9, 2017 Conservative Leadership Weekend

Episode Stats


Length

9 minutes

Words per minute

110.2

Word count

1,064

Sentence count

97


Summary

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

Learn English with Tory Leader Ronna Ambrose. In this speech, she reflects on her time as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and reflects on the lessons learned from losing the election to the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.540 And now, here's your host, Tony Clement.
00:00:03.880 The goodbye party, really, for the party, for the Honourable Ronna Ambrose.
00:00:09.920 She's leaving us and leaving politics, and we wish her well.
00:00:13.500 Here's what happened at caucus this week.
00:00:21.580 Thanks, everybody.
00:00:23.540 Thank you.
00:00:24.840 Thanks, everybody.
00:00:26.280 Thank you.
00:00:28.120 Thank you.
00:00:29.080 Thanks, everyone.
00:00:30.400 Thank you so much.
00:00:32.260 Thank you so much.
00:00:34.140 Colleagues, friends, Sheikh Azmi, it was about a year and a half ago that we gathered together
00:00:39.860 for the first time after the election.
00:00:42.480 Six million Canadians had voted for the Conservative Party, more than in 2006 and 2008, but it wasn't
00:00:50.620 enough, and we were back on the opposition benches.
00:00:53.500 When we suffered a reverse, there was always the risk that we let us define ourselves.
00:01:00.060 We're stuck on the defeat, and we're leaving the ground, ashamed and contrary.
00:01:06.280 When we were faced with a setback, there's always a risk that we'll let it define us.
00:01:19.060 We'll dwell on the loss and retreat from the field, angry and upset.
00:01:36.120 But that is not the Conservative way.
00:01:38.740 And that is not what those six million Canadians, hard-working men and women who are the bedrock of our support, expected us to do.
00:02:04.240 They needed a voice in Ottawa.
00:02:06.640 They needed Conservatives to fight for them.
00:02:09.420 Canadians expected a Conservative Party to give a voice to hard-working families and taxpayers.
00:02:15.600 And we did it.
00:02:17.200 And Canadians asked us to change our tone.
00:02:20.580 And we did it.
00:02:21.840 We changed our tone.
00:02:22.800 And we showed Canadians a Conservative team that is a real, viable alternative to the arrogant, entitled, out-of-touch Liberal government.
00:02:33.200 And it took the Liberals no time at all to get back to their old ways.
00:02:51.440 They promised they'd help the middle class.
00:02:53.980 Instead, they nickel-and-dimed families with tax hikes to pay for their reckless spending.
00:03:00.340 They said they'd grow the economy by borrowing only $10 billion.
00:03:22.980 But their own reports show that the budget won't be balanced until our kids are in their 50s.
00:03:29.860 And Justin Trudeau said that he would be different.
00:03:34.100 A different kind of Liberal.
00:03:36.380 They'd be open and accountable.
00:03:38.920 Not like the bad old days of the sponsorship scandal.
00:03:42.500 But very quickly they gave in to the old instincts.
00:03:46.780 They were entitled to their entitlements.
00:03:48.400 They helped themselves to generous moving expenses, comfortable limo rides, and office renovations too tempting to pass up.
00:03:57.320 The Liberals collected big donations from people looking for access to the Prime Minister and access to the government.
00:04:04.740 Even those representing a foreign regime.
00:04:07.700 And the Prime Minister himself broke the rules to enjoy a trip to a private island in the Caribbean.
00:04:13.220 And spent $30,000 on Broadway tickets.
00:04:16.700 But sadly, for the contributors, the Conservatives of Canada were there.
00:04:23.600 We were ready to ask them for their cynicism, their elitism, and their arrogance.
00:04:30.780 We are here to defend ordinary citizens and their families.
00:04:35.560 And more than to do important things.
00:04:37.520 But fortunately for the taxpayer, Canada's Conservatives were here.
00:04:43.380 We were ready to hold them to account for the cynicism, elitism, and arrogance.
00:04:49.380 Many of these outrageous examples of Liberal entitlement would never have seen the light of day.
00:04:55.420 Not for the hard work of the Conservatives in this room.
00:04:59.900 Defending the taxpayer.
00:05:01.320 We are here to look out for everyday working Canadians and their families.
00:05:11.100 And at the same time, we're getting things done.
00:05:14.180 When Justin Trudeau tried to change what Canadians' vote means, without a referendum, we stopped him.
00:05:21.420 When the Liberals wouldn't do anything to help the Yazidis, the most vulnerable victims of ISIS,
00:05:28.180 Conservatives forced them to recognize the genocide and secured refuge for the women and girls in greatest danger.
00:05:34.780 Canadians, Canadians have noticed our hard work.
00:05:50.240 And believe me, so have the Liberals.
00:05:53.180 They weren't counting on this.
00:05:55.320 They expected us to repeat all of their mistakes in opposition.
00:05:59.720 They thought they'd have a free hand in Parliament.
00:06:01.820 But instead, I think a different thought is dawning on them.
00:06:06.300 Maybe Justin Trudeau could be a one-term Prime Minister.
00:06:09.540 APPLAUSE
00:06:11.540 If we've shown anything in the last 18 months,
00:06:29.900 is that he can be beaten in 2019.
00:06:34.220 As a party, we are strong, we are focused, and we are united.
00:06:37.600 Almost 260,000 Canadians are now members of the Conservative Party of Canada.
00:06:42.460 A testament not just to the hard work of our leadership candidates,
00:06:46.460 but to the broad appeal of our message right across this country.
00:06:50.900 APPLAUSE
00:06:51.620 And there are other numbers to prove that support.
00:06:57.960 In the first quarter of the year, Conservatives raised almost three times as much as the Liberals,
00:07:04.180 from thousands and thousands of more Canadians.
00:07:06.940 And our results in the last by-elections and in the polls
00:07:09.720 show that more and more Canadians are voting for us or considering it.
00:07:14.980 And there was no guarantee that things would turn out this way.
00:07:17.620 It was up to us in this room.
00:07:20.300 We had the strengths within ourselves and within our movement
00:07:23.240 to regroup and rebuild stronger and better than ever.
00:07:27.720 It has been a privilege to have led the Conservative Party in this phase.
00:07:31.720 But as I pass the torch, I have to tell you I am confident
00:07:35.000 about the future of the Conservative Party
00:07:37.460 and about the future of this country.
00:07:39.500 In 10 days, we will know who will lead Conservatives into the next election.
00:07:52.280 And I have no doubt in my mind that together with this team in this room,
00:08:09.820 the next leader will be the next Prime Minister of this country.
00:08:13.200 We will unite around the values and principles we've always stood for
00:08:34.620 and around our love of Canada, our home, and the greatest country in the world.
00:08:39.680 And we'll unite. We will unite around the leader chosen by our members of our party.
00:08:45.600 We will offer them all of the passion and determination
00:08:49.040 that we've given to our work over the past year and a half.
00:08:52.520 Because, let me tell you, when Canada's Conservatives are strong, focused, and united,
00:08:58.520 Justin Trudeau should be very worried.
00:09:01.020 Thanks, everybody.
00:09:02.280 Merci beaucoup.
00:09:03.460 Merci beaucoup.
00:09:05.300 Thank you.
00:09:06.360 Thanks so much, everyone.
00:09:07.700 Thank you.
00:09:09.120 Thank you.
00:09:10.720 Thank you very much.
00:09:12.620 Thank you.
00:09:15.360 Thank you for listening to The Blueprint, Canada's Conservative podcast.
00:09:19.340 To find more episodes, interviews, and in-depth discussions of politics in Canada,
00:09:23.680 search for The Blueprint on iTunes or visit podcast.conservative.ca.
00:09:28.040 Thank you.
00:09:35.860 Thank you.
00:09:36.180 Thank you very much.