Sometimes, the problem is Government.
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Summary
Join Conservative MP Jamie Schmael and his good friend and colleague, Richard Bragdon, as they discuss the devastating effects of Hurricane Fiona on the Atlantic provinces and the relief efforts being launched to assist those affected by the storm.
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, Gawortha Lakes, Brock, with new
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content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. We ask that you like, comment,
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subscribe, share this program. Together, we can push back against the ever-moving liberal agenda
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and don't forget, tell your friends about it because they can download it, listen to this
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program at their convenience on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name
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it, it is out there. A very special show for you today. We're going to throw you off base for a bit.
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We're going to turn it over for my friend from Calgary, Alberta. Hey everyone, welcome to another
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episode of All That Jazz Podcast. Today we're remixing things up. I'm here with my good friend
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and a solid, solid MP, my friend Jamie Schmael. We're doing a remix. We're doing a collective
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podcast today, so I'm really excited and we have a really special guest today. Jamie, why don't you
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introduce him? We're going to have Richard Bragdon. He's a friend of the show. He's been on the
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blueprint before from Toback, Toback, Macduquack, I'm sorry, from New Brunswick. Amazing host. He's
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going to host the show today. So a bit of a different pace to us today. So let's switch spots
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because an orator of your stature deserves to be in this spot. I can, I can't even keep up with you.
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All right. We're doing this live. You know, your kindness is overwhelming to the point of almost
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incapacitation when I begin to think about it. But I thank you, Mr. Schmael. And of course,
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it's always, always a pleasure to be with my friend, both of you being good friends who serve
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in caucus together. We've got lots to discuss today, so I look forward to hearing from both
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of you. And it's kind of neat to be in the big chair today, even though I'm totally inadequate
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to be here. Well, us two fine peasants are just extremely honored to be in your presence,
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my lord. Right? What do I say? But it is a joy to be with both of you. And I appreciate
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what both of you are doing in your files and for the cause of Canada and the cause of conservatism
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within Canada. Absolutely. Well, let's get right into it, Richard. We've seen the devastation
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of Hurricane Fiona and what it did around the Atlantic provinces. Give us a little bit of
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an update on what's going on over there. Well, look, obviously the relief efforts are starting
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and underway, recovering a lot of trees yet to be clear, but there's still many people
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without power in the Atlantic region. And obviously some businesses that have been devastated,
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some fishing businesses that have been absolutely devastated and the loss of equipment, farms that
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have gone through some great challenges. So there's a lot to be done. And I think, and I'll just say
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this, and I know we've got lots to discuss, but Atlantic Canadians are familiar with storms and
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they're familiar with rough times. And we have always been the type that would come together
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in adversity. And we're a neighborly friendly bunch. We work hard. And if a chainsaw needs to be
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gotten and you've got to clear some stuff away, we'll do that. We'll probably throw the teapot on and
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have a sandwich while we're talking about it as well. We're just friendly, good, hard-working
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people. But one thing Atlantic Canadians are concerned about is many are great, and especially
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politicians, at running in when the winds have just swept through and when the storm is just
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fresh in people's minds. And yes, there's lots of immediate action, and I'm glad there's action
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taking place. But as you know, with any storm, long after the wind subsides, the waves keep coming
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and it hits the vessel, it hits the shores. And I think what Atlantic Canadians want to know is,
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will the politicians, will our government be there, not just in the immediate aftermath of
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the wind, but will they be there throughout the waves? And as the waves keep coming, and they have
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to try and put their businesses back on their feet, and they have to get, you know, their boats back in
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the water, and they've got to get their farms operational. Will we, as the government, be there for
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the long haul? Through both the wind and the waves. Good point. How do people get to send help?
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What's your advice to anyone that wants to help out? There are some great organizations, and I know
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right now the federal government is doing matching funds with the Red Cross, so that's one avenue that
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people can go through for sure. Great organization, and they can go through there. And there's other
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wonderful organizations that are always on the ground in times of disasters, like the Salvation Army
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and other groups. So definitely, if people can make donations and help, and that means a lot. And if
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you know of some people or have family that have been directly affected by it, reach out. Sometimes
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it's in the days and the weeks afterwards when it seems like all the attention wanes, but they're still
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stuck cleaning up the mess. Knowing people are thinking of them means a lot. I think the cleanup efforts
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are going to take some time, and I would encourage anyone that can help out. Please do.
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Absolutely. Yeah, get in touch with Richard. This is kind of cool. I like the podcast. So we have
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Jazz, who's got his own podcast. We've got the blueprint. But this really is filling a void that
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some people are looking for right now. They're looking for that different flavor rather than
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the mainstream media that seems to have a narrative. I think this is a great idea. Yeah. So I guess the
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question is, is the government coming through? I know we've raised in question period a whole bunch of
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times that they're not coming through with the funds needed. Yeah, I think there's areas to it. I mean,
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obviously the Premier of Nova Scotia has raised this. They wanted more troops available on the
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ground quicker to help clear away the debris. Because if you're without power and you're without
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water, a 24-hour period is a long time, let alone days and weeks. So let's expedite everything, clear away
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any hurdles that would be there, and make sure we're working cooperatively with those closer to the
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situation, including the provincial government administrations, but also the mayors. But the
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federal government on its part can make sure the resources are freed up in there. And if there's
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need for additional Canadian Armed Forces presence, make sure that they're reached up to be able to be
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there as well. Jamie, I think you're right. This is great. It feels like we have a good representation
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today. I'm from Western Canada. You're from Central. And we have representation from Eastern Canada
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as well. And all of our colleagues, and from all parts of Canada, have been calling for taxes to
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stop being increased, and especially the carbon tax, which is going to triple, triple, triple next April.
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Once or twice. I wake up in the middle of the night and I get triple, triple, triple.
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Yeah. And the thing is that if another storm were to hit next year, it would be even more costly for
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recovery efforts. And so when we look at people already devastated by the storm, we've been calling
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on no new taxes, especially the ones that are coming up on January the 1st and April the 1st,
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as we know. What have you guys been hearing? Same thing. I think obviously in what's tragic
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any time there's a natural disaster that comes through an area. And it seems like immediately
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it goes to the whole discussion around climate change. Well, we all recognize climate change
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is here as part of what we're dealing with. But what is the right approach to it? Is it tripling taxes
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and somehow increasing the burden on Canadians that are already burdened by devastating circumstances?
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Or let's say, hmm, let's make sure the necessary infrastructure is built back into those
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communities, especially in the wharfs and some of the sections that are more vulnerable,
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that are able to sustain and be able to endure some of the more inclement circumstances we're going
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to be finding. But also don't increase the tax burden on regions that are already disproportionately
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taxed. As it relates to home heating, Atlantic Canadians are going to be disproportionately affected
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by this increase in the carbon tax. Already, according to the Nova Scotia Premier, 40% of Atlantic Canadians
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are going to be struggling with energy-related poverty issues. They can't afford to heat their homes
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because of the increase in home heating costs, increase in power bills. And the last thing they need
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is a tripling of carbon taxes. It just is going to affect everything. Groceries, heating, food, and fuel
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for their cars. And small town, Atlantic Canada, we have to drive to get to work. We have to drive to get
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our kids to sports. We don't have access to metros and subways in most parts of Atlantic Canada. So these
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types of taxes, while they may make the Prime Minister feel warm and fuzzy that he's doing something
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to affect climate, the reality is he's making the cost of living so much worse on ordinary Canadians.
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But it's not the super rich changing their behavior. It's the people struggling to get by.
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That's right. Like I said many times, I didn't coin this phrase, but I've used it. The government always
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gives you something with an open hand, but behind their back is the clenched fist, right? So the relief,
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which I think everybody needs, if you're treading water just to get by, any little bit will help.
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Just like someone, you know, dying of thirst in the desert, right? A little bit of water will help,
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but at the same time, you're still in the desert. So at the end of the day, the inflationary crisis
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is still here. You know, the relief money comes, you're able to survive a little bit longer, but you
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still haven't addressed the overall problem. And I think that's the big issue. And how do you get prices
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down? Well, the Bank of Canada is trying to do that with interest rates, but you also need more supply.
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That's right. Right? You need to add supply. So if we want to reduce the price of energy,
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not only do we have to stop taxing it to endless degrees, but you also have to have abundance.
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We in Canada have the ability to do that, but our government has handcuffed the industry that has
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been trying to expand for as long as I can remember. And the whole world's begging for energy. We have it.
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We just can't do anything with it because the prime minister says there's not a business case.
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It's absolutely incredible. Yeah. And on top of that, when you look at the carbon tax,
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when they're going to triple, triple, triple the carbon tax, you have the Liberal government
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saying that more money will go back into the pocket of Canadians. But the PBO is actually saying
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in four provinces, it's not with Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, families
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are going to be paying 60% of them more in carbon tax than they're going to be getting back. And once
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they actually triple the carbon tax, people in Alberta are going to be paying close to $2,300
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out of pocket for this tripling of the carbon tax. People in Ontario close to $1,500. And we're not
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even factoring in inflation that's caused by the government. So any type of saving, any type of help,
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like you said, is going to be vaporized. And then it's the tax on the tax. In some cases,
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the GST or the HST on top of the carbon tax. This is not a time when Canadians need more taxes put on
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them. When many of them are $200 away from insolvency, in some cases, or just living paycheck
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to paycheck and struggling to get food on their table and balancing and choosing whether I fill up
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my car or get groceries. That's right. And it is, these are tough choices that Canadians are facing
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from coast to coast. And I think the last thing they want to hear is governments pondering more ways
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to get their hands on more of their money. They're looking for who's going to give us a break when we
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most need it, who's going to stand on the side. And yet Canadian, Canada has amazing potential.
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That's unrealized, unbelievable potential. But we put a boot on the neck of our energy producers
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and our food producers at a time when we should be pressing for increased energy security and supply
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and increased Canadian food supply and agriculture. Those are our strengths and our pillars. So we've
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got a great story to tell. This government chooses not to tell it. Hear, hear. And on top of that,
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when we look at the environment, emissions have only been going up along with the carbon tax.
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They've never met. And they've never met a single emissions reduction target ever. So it's actually
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working the wrong way. And they're taxing on the back of hardworking Canadians. Absolutely. And you
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know, when you have less money in your pocket, you have less money for discretionary spending,
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right? Then the slowdown in the economy happens because you're not going out for dinner as much.
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You're not buying the fun stuff. Maybe you're not going on vacation. You know, work hard all year,
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you'd like a vacation every once in a while. But you start to have less money in your pocket,
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you start to slow that spending, right? And that's a very troubling sign, especially when
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the wage gains that many people have gotten in the last, you know, 10 or so years, it's been,
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like you said, vaporized by this inflationary crisis that we have. But we see no end of it
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because we're still spending. That's right. And when the left talks about record profits,
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the government is taking in record profits at the moment. That's right.
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They have more money than they've ever had before. And they still can't figure out the problems,
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right? The super smart people in Ottawa can't figure it out with all this money.
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Well, surprise, surprise. The answer is more money, clearly.
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Well, and to keep printing money, that puts this pressure on that leads to, as we know,
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inflation. And then of course, to offset that, banks start raising interest rates, which again,
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all of this leads to increased cost and pressure on the backs of ordinary Canadians.
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That's right. And this is something that I think a lot of Canadians are frustrated by. And we in the
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House have asked many times, while they're pushing for all these objectives to please,
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I don't know who really. I think it's the left wing climate zealots that want to leave it in the
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ground. Well, and they keep pushing those. Yes, those narratives. But I asked directly in the
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resource committee, I've asked some of my fellow members, I said, please show me and tell me and
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explain to me. I'm a simple, ordinary guy from the hills of Tobik Mactaquac. And I have a question
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that a lot of people have from across the country right now is, how is displacing Canadian energy that
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is produced and extracted under the strictest of environmental regulations, some of the best in
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the world and replacing that with oil and energy from unsavory regimes sometimes and those who have
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far less or no regulation or little to none as it pertains to extraction. How is that better for the
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planet's climate? That's right. And I've never gotten an answer to that. And I think Canadians are
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starting to wake up and realize this doesn't make sense. This isn't fair to our workers. It's not fair to
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our energy sector. It's not fair to Canadian jobs and Canadian workers. You can go one step closer,
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too. So according to the Green Marxist, fracking is bad. Okay, fracking for oil and gas is bad.
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In large part, what do you have to do to get lithium? You have to use fracking. That's right. So it's okay
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to frack for a non-renewable and they're called rare earth materials for a reason because it's rare earth.
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Yes. But you can't frack for oil and gas, which provides a stable, tried and tested energy supply
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that's affordable to the vast majority of people all around the world. It is absolutely incredible
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what these Green Marxists are putting this country and not only that, most of the developed nations
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through. Western oil, you're absolutely right. This is the critical challenge of our times is if we don't
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get energy security and food security right, it leads to all kinds of not just national insecurity,
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it leads to international insecurity as we're seeing geopolitically. The world needs nations like
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Canada to be a safe and reliable supplier of energy and food. And what are we doing right now at the
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federal level? What is the government doing right now? It is basically targeting those two sectors,
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whether it's tariffs and taxes on fertilizers. Well, you take away fertilizer, you take away food.
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That's right. We've got the clean fuel standard coming too. Yeah, another tax. This is on those who
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produce our energy and our food. It's going to cost Canadians and it costs the world. Well,
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the world needs more Canadian energy. We all know that. And Canadian food. And lately there's been some
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very, very hot topics that a lot of us have been able to stand up for. I think the the most recent one was
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leaving the IRGC as a terrorist organization here in Canada. We saw our leader Pierre Polyev at a rally
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in Richmond Hill recently with about 50,000 people. It was incredible. Our government will list the IRGC as
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a banned terrorist organization. It was incredible to see so many people come together to stand up for
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human rights for human rights for the woman who was killed, Zina Masa Amini, and honor the victims of
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the down flight PS 752 that actually killed the IRGC terrorist regime killed about 80 of our Canadian
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citizens and permanent residents together. Yeah. And recently we've seen our party continually ask
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the prime minister and the government to label them something that they promised. Jamie, you were
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around then. It was unanimous consent in the House of Commons. They've had years to figure this out.
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It's amazing that they haven't done it already. The question keeps coming back is why not?
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How is this controversial? This is this is a regime that is known to brutalize its citizens.
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Absolutely. And if you step out out of line like the morality police, the IRGC is also known as,
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they, as you mentioned, they have killed people. Many times they've silenced. And the fact that
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parliament said, yes, it should be designated as a terrorist group. The liberals drag their feet so
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they're allowed to fundraise. They're allowed to organize. They're allowed to recruit. It's
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absolutely ridiculous. I agree. I think this is something else that really frustrates Canadians
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is when something is as clear as this is, something that is absolutely clear, why would the government
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not just do the right thing and do it now? When they hear these non-answers that we're getting in the
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house to this response and the sidestepping and the tap dancing around it, there's a frustration that
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comes that says, do we not know right from wrong anymore? Do we not understand the basics? Like,
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this is terrible. This is tragic. 50 Canadian citizens and 30 of permanent residents were shot down on a
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civilian flight out of Iran by that organization. It needs to be dealt with.
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I think Canada needs to step up. You know, when the Prime Minister has non-answers, he's denying justice
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for the victims, not just of the flight, but the families that continue to suffer, that continue to
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be tormented by the fact that there are IRGC agents here in Canada. Like you said, Jamie, they're here
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organizing, they're planning and raising money. We need to get them out. It is so frustrating that
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they cannot do the obvious on this. Step up to the plate and do what is right when many of our allies,
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most if not all, have done the same. Why is Canada behind on this? It makes no sense.
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Well, normally my program is about 20 minutes. I know, Jaz, your program goes a little longer. Sadly,
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these conversations always go so fast, but we got to get out of here. We got to wrap up.
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Do appreciate both of your time. Richard Bragdon, the host from Tobik Maktukwak in beautiful
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province of New Brunswick. Jaz, do you want to do a quick promo for your show?
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Hey, everyone. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of All That Jazz Podcast.
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Like, subscribe, share if you liked it. And same thing with my good friend, Jamie Schmill.
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We were honored and blessed to be in the presence of our kind sir, the royal himself, Richard Bragdon,
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a fine MP from Atlantic Canada. And we hope to see another one. I'm excited to do more of these with
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Jamie. Absolutely. So it's new content at The Blueprint every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern time.
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As Jaz just pointed out, like, comment, subscribe, share this program. It's available on platforms like
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CastBox, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, you name it, it's out there. Until next week, remember,
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low taxes, less government, more freedom. That's The Blueprint.