‘Canada Will Be Great Again’
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
142.16518
Summary
A Prime Minister who got it deeply right, and a story about why Canada needs a leader who uses his hammer to build, not to tear down. For the Western Standard, I m Nigel Hammond, and I think Canadians do want it to be great.
Transcript
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Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that Conservative leader Pierre Poilier wants to make Canada great again,
00:00:14.020
This was in question period on February the 8th.
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And by the way, we have not cut, chopped or edited this in any way.
00:00:25.200
Under the previous Conservative government, everything was perfect.
00:00:28.940
And what he is proposing to do is to make Canada great again.
00:00:37.100
He is pining for a nostalgia that, quite frankly, Canadians do not feel.
00:00:41.820
They remember what he did as part of Stephen Harper's failed housing minister.
00:00:47.140
He remembers the rights of Indigenous peoples violated,
00:00:52.880
the ignoring of environmental responsibilities,
00:00:55.640
and the lack of an environmental and economic plan for the future.
00:01:10.880
Remember, he believes Canada is a post-national country.
00:01:14.380
So in that sneer about Poilier of wanting to make Canada great again,
00:01:18.360
he's reminding us that he thinks there's nothing commendable in Canada's history,
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and nothing good about Canadians who think there is.
00:01:33.140
So let me tell you a little story about a Prime Minister who got it deeply right.
00:01:39.280
Back in April 2011, Stephen Harper was fighting the election that gave Canada its strong, stable, national, conservative majority, as we used to call it.
00:01:50.600
In every speech he made, he spoke of his love for Canada.
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Then one day he said something spontaneous that was so powerful, so passionate, and so utterly and completely true,
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that the boys in the PMO basement got together and made a video out of it.
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And we want Canada to be a true north that is as strong and as free as it can be in every way that matters.
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Canada must reflect the true character of the Canadian people.
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Honourable in our dealings, faithful to our commitments, loyal to our friends.
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By turns, a courageous warrior and a compassionate neighbour.
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It must be a country of hope and an example to the world.
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And only when it is these things, when Canada is all that it can be, only then can we say that our work is done.
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Friends, if you ever watch that Home Improvement Channel,
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you'll hear people telling each other that the house they're working on has good bones.
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Well, after eight years of the Trudeau Liberals, Canada has indeed become a fixer-upper.
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I think Canadians, contra the Prime Minister, I think Canadians do want it to be great.
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And I think what Mr. Harper said all those years ago is the kind of greatness they have in mind.
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We just need a leader who uses his hammer to build, not to tear down.
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For the Western Standard, I think Canadians do want it to be great.
00:04:05.740
For the Western Standard, I think Canadians do want it to be great.