In this episode of the Corey Morgan Show, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's Canadian Director Franco Teresano joins me to talk about Alberta's new political action committee, "Take Back Alberta." This PAC has been making headlines across the province, and academics and other political pundits have been quick to point the finger at the group. Well, it turns out, there's more to it than meets the eye.
00:04:12.180The academics, the political and media elites of the nation
00:04:14.660count on citizen apathy to maintain their positions.
00:04:18.700You ever wonder why so many universities have gone off the deep end?0.78
00:04:21.560Why so many nutty civic politicians managed to get ridiculous policies entrenched?
00:04:25.800Why despised federal and provincial politicians seem to hold on to their seats forever?0.86
00:04:29.880Well, it's because we let them. It's as simple as that.
00:04:32.480We have the means to fire them and replace them all with whoever we choose,
00:04:36.580but we've given up on that responsibility.
00:04:38.760Voter levels, you know, the turnout levels in most elections are shamefully low across the country,
00:04:43.580especially at the local levels of government.
00:04:45.860We need people to get off their butts more often and cast their ballots.
00:04:49.860The thing is, though, there's more to democracy than just going out to vote.0.62
00:04:53.320People need to start taking part in the process every step along the way.
00:04:56.760It's participatory democracy. It means you have to participate.
00:04:59.760Fewer than 3% of Canadians hold memberships in political parties.
00:05:02.660Is it any wonder the parties continue to select candidates and leaders
00:05:06.280who don't represent the constituents well?
00:05:08.440The number of people who take part in constituency associations,
00:05:11.440school boards, or yes, even library boards, that's even lower. An active and tiny minority
00:05:16.760tail has been wagging the Canadian dog for a long time. A small number of people can achieve a great0.53
00:05:21.720deal of change just by taking part. Now, Parker, he's just encouraging the commoners to take part
00:05:26.500and scaring the bejesus of the establishment folks holding positions of power. PACs have been around
00:05:30.900spending dollars in advertising and holding events for decades. The impact of all that activity is
00:05:34.780limited, though. Having a PAC organizing people to become politically active, though, that's a
00:05:39.780little different. It's having a difference in policy, and that's what's got some people scared.
00:05:43.720Seems as groups have found the path to change, and the establishment knows it, and that's why
00:05:47.420it's gaining that much attention. I'm not trying to cheerlead for them. They tend to be dominated
00:05:51.160by people more socially conservative than I, and, uh, you know, uh, it's not necessarily the best
00:05:57.500pack in the world as far as I'm concerned, but I respect their right to organize and their success
00:06:01.040with it. If you don't like what they're doing, the solution is to not to demonize the group or try
00:06:05.540to make up conspiracy theories. The solution is to fight fire with fire. Get out on the ground,
00:06:09.940then. Go to other meetings. Go out to the polls. Use the democratic means sitting right in front
00:06:13.680of you. The process isn't a secret. It just hasn't been used. If Parker's organization takes people
00:06:19.080from all sides of the political spectrum, you know, or encourages them and gets them active
00:06:22.940in their communities, we're all going to be better for it. If any agenda is going to be questioned,
00:06:27.160is that put forth by those who fear citizens organizing and using legitimate democratic
00:06:31.640tools to achieve change. What's the establishment so afraid of? The unwashed masses daring to stand
00:06:36.920up for themselves? Well, good. It's time the establishment had a shaking up. So keep that0.81
00:06:41.260in mind in your areas. No matter what province you're in, no matter what side of the spectrum
00:06:44.420you're in, take part, guys. Get up. Get out there. You don't have to like what that group's doing.
00:06:49.580If you don't like it, join and fight back. That's all. Either way, I've just been shocked. I've been
00:06:55.500shocked by how much is popping up in the news, how much is going on with it. I mean,
00:06:58.520well this isn't anything that controversial he's he's it's it's an open secret but they're almost
00:07:05.040characterizing it as if it's some sort of conspiracy and this sneaky odious group that's
00:07:09.340going to come in and take over uh you know and undercut the democratic ways well no actually
00:07:14.160it's the opposite it is engaging and using what we have in our hands and it's not so much what
00:07:20.800they're doing that i found striking it's it's been the response of legacy media outlets of
00:07:27.580academics and the usual folks to it. Wow, they are just wound right up. And you know what,
00:07:32.620when I see the establishment wound up like that, then I start to think somebody is flying over the
00:07:38.060target. So I just wanted to get in on that. Like I said, I'm not necessarily hung up on them in
00:07:43.140particular. I'm just, again, quite astounded by how stirred up people are with it. It's nothing
00:07:48.160new. Unions have been doing it for a long, long time on the left, guys. You don't hear the
00:07:53.380establishment media going after them, of course. So looking at some of our stuff, you know,
00:07:58.040some of the stories that have come up, I'm going to talk a little bit about affordability. It kind
00:08:01.220of segues in when we get on to talking about Franco and things. There was a poll released
00:08:04.880recently. There's always polls released. This one's talking about those, and it's pretty sad.
00:08:08.520It's dejecting. That 60%, I guess, of people who don't own a home yet have given up. They basically
00:08:14.300said, we don't feel we're ever going to own one. We'll never be able to afford one. We'll never
00:08:18.140get the down payment together. Just won't be able to do it. You know, I mean, that's been a hallmark
00:08:22.240of North America, of modern times, of where most people want to go. You want to get up and own your
00:08:27.400little chunk of property, have your home, invest in it, build your nest, maybe, you know, build some
00:08:33.120equity, sell it off, retire, that whole cycle. And now more than half of young Canadians are not
00:08:38.100necessarily young. I mean, you're getting up there. It took me until I was 40 before Jane talked me
00:08:41.080into committing to a mortgage, but they're thinking it's hopeless. I can't get in on a place.
00:08:47.600And I can see that. I mean, the amount required for a down payment in a home, some of the
00:08:52.160the prices of them now and the costs. I mean, how do you get that together as a newer person
00:08:57.740in the working world when you're paying for kids growing up and every other fee that's hitting you?
00:09:01.860But the problem is supply. We don't have enough. And, you know, we've covered that a lot of times
00:09:07.480on here. I've talked about that. I've had Shane Wenzel on as a guest. He's a home builder. He
00:09:11.040talks about to get a home built from start to finish in Calgary takes, from when they propose
00:09:17.340a new development to when you're starting to get constructing. Eight years. Eight years. Millions
00:09:22.760of dollars in applications, forms, studies, permits, layouts, design, all of that. And that's assuming
00:09:29.920it doesn't get rejected somewhere along the way. And that's just Calgary. Every other city is the
00:09:34.500same. They're hindering new developments. So we can't build. And when we do, it costs a fortune.
00:09:39.340Another thing Wenzel pointed out was the green energy requirements coming from the federal
00:09:44.040government, put the cost of the home, they're adding $40,000 to $60,000 to every new house
00:09:48.740because of all these new requirements. Plus, not every contractor can necessarily build to those.
00:09:53.420So we have a shortage of supply, but nobody likes to talk about that. Now, we're talking about
00:09:58.820federal interference into provincial jurisdiction. Stephen Gilboa, one of my favorites, our
00:10:04.240environment minister, and we're going to talk, I'm sure, a bit about him when we discuss the
00:10:08.440carbon tax in a little while. But there's been a big controversy in Ontario with the Greenbelt.
00:10:13.260It's an expansion. I guess they're looking to build a bunch of new homes out there and environmentalists are all lighting their hair on fire and going mad about it.
00:10:20.000It sounds like he's thinking he might be able to intervene on that.
00:10:22.900He might be able to poke in on that and interfere on something that is purely it's not even provincial jurisdiction.
00:10:28.340It's civic. That's how much overreach this federal government, this obsessed federal government with their environmental ideology is that they feel that they can shut down a new home development in an area that needs it.
00:10:40.960I mean, again, we're talking about, what, 400,000 immigrants a year coming into Canada,
00:10:45.140and I'm not in any immigration at all.
00:29:16.980And hey, for all everyone watching right now, please do me a favor.
00:29:20.000If you want to contact a member of parliament, pick up the phone, give them an email and say, hey, why aren't you publicly speaking out against the pay raises?
00:29:28.040I would love to hear what they say to you.
00:29:31.060Yeah, it's when it comes to their own wallets, it's amazing how quiet they get.
00:29:34.540always great to have you on, Franco. Thanks for the work you're doing, and I'm sure we'll talk
00:29:38.700again soon. Take care, Corey. Great. So that was Franco Tarazano, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
00:29:45.480It is always a good chat. It sounds almost repetitive, but it's because, you know, as
00:29:48.960frustrating as it gets, things just keep going the same way. The spending keeps going up. The
00:29:53.120borrowing keeps going up. And again, it's all of us who end up paying the bills, you know,
00:29:58.080comes out of our pockets. We got to keep paying attention. We got to keep fighting it. And that's
00:30:03.440what they're doing. So yes, good discussion. Well, I'm going to get on to another area, I guess,
00:30:08.680of political delusion and frustration and something I go on about. Every city, every
00:30:14.080jurisdiction in Canada is dealing with this. I mean, it's related to a lot of things.
00:30:17.700The bottom line, I think the root of the whole thing is the addiction epidemic that's going on.
00:30:23.560It's definitely an epidemic. It's happening in every city. Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton,
00:30:29.720Vancouver, it seems it's predominantly in the West. Other cities aren't getting hit as hard,
00:30:32.660but every city is getting hit badly. And it's leading again to higher associated crime. It's
00:30:38.740leading to thousands of overdoses, thousands. And we aren't doing enough about it, or we aren't
00:30:46.320doing the right things about it. We've taken an enablement approach over the years. In Calgary,
00:30:51.420it hit ahead the other day. I mean, basically, it's gotten so bad in Calgary and Edmonton. And
00:30:54.900I still want to credit our own Arthur Green. You know, he's been putting a lot of pressure on
00:30:58.060because the enablers don't want to talk about it. They don't want people to see it. They don't want
00:31:01.740people to realize how bad it's gotten and how bad their policies have failed and they've failed
00:31:07.380and uh cliff uh burkhardt pointing out not just cities everywhere that's true even you know
00:31:12.040smaller communities in alberta and everything this this this awful addiction problem is going
00:31:16.580everywhere and i tell you what it's hitting every class every race it doesn't matter people are
00:31:22.900getting nailed by this i i've talked about that on the show before maybe it's because i'm at this
00:31:27.420age group, but I personally know three different people now who have lost sons to overdoses, or
00:31:34.640they call it drug toxicity or poisoning. Now, it doesn't matter. The bottom line is they took
00:31:38.560things that weren't from the doctor and they died because of it, and they didn't intend to. What a
00:31:43.060waste. And we're not talking about people from the rough end of town or people from abusive families,
00:31:47.280though that happens too. Just it can be anybody, guys. And there's people who get addicted later
00:31:52.260in life. I mean, they got onto some prescription opioids because of an injury, and it led to an
00:31:56.720addiction. Either way, the denial has gotten too far. And in Calgary, we've had a policy of denial
00:32:02.320and enablement for a long time. And we saw it yesterday with a press conference where Premier
00:32:07.760Daniel Smith came in and at least addressed one facet of it. And there's a lot of facets,
00:32:12.240but basically said, we need more policing and we're going to fund it. We're going to bring in
00:32:16.30050 more officers in Calgary and 50 in Edmonton, and as well as funding some more things for mental
00:32:22.520health supports and things such as that. But it was almost a shameful press conference as you saw
00:32:27.020Mayor Gondek, who previously had been supportive of defunding the police and feeling that the way
00:32:32.280to address this somehow is to have more social workers out there on the streets. And I mean,
00:32:38.160there's a role for that, absolutely. You want to help people, you want to, you know, get them into
00:32:43.600treatment and things like that. But in the meantime, people are unsafe. And it seemed
00:32:49.520awfully, just the way it went. We've had three stabbings in Calgary in the last three days
00:32:54.640on the transit system in downtown, one of which, and I'll expand a little further into the root
00:33:00.320of that problem too, because this is just so many layers of complication going on.
00:33:04.060But one of those stabbings happened just hours basically before the press conference of Jody
00:33:09.020Gondek standing up there, Calgary's mayor, basically shamefacedly watching a provincial
00:33:14.660leader step in and take over the crime. That really was municipal jurisdiction, but they let
00:33:18.440get out of their hands. And we're seeing numbers that are promising. I've talked about that on the
00:33:22.580show before, but I want to keep talking about it because we've got to look at what's starting to
00:33:26.340work. And there was a great graph that I saw that showed the overdose differences between BC and
00:33:31.840Alberta over the years. Now, BC has very much taken the West Coast approach, just like down in
00:33:37.240Portland, Oregon, or San Francisco, and in Vancouver, we're seeing it. See, if we can just
00:33:43.140enable them enough, if we can just give them enough free drugs, if we can decriminalize enough
00:33:47.380things, if we can allow enough tent cities to set up, somehow these addictions will just go away.
00:33:52.820I mean, the biggest measure of a failure of a policy, of course, is a fatality and an overdose
00:33:57.300is a fatality. So you see those two lines on that chart. And, you know, I'll describe it because
00:34:01.760some people are listening on the podcast, but they really, they follow the same trajectory.
00:34:05.820You can see that both provinces are dealing with the same issues. It rises and drops
00:34:09.280at the same period. But then suddenly something happened just a few years ago. Alberta's overdoses
00:34:14.460dropped dramatically, and they've stayed down. It looks like there's a little bit of a recent uptick
00:34:19.240in them, but for the most part, they've stayed down. BC, on the other hand, has stayed high. Their
00:34:23.320overdoses are way up there, and they had a bit of a drop, but now they're continuing to climb. The
00:34:27.340spread between the two is huge, and again, we've been very hard on Jason Kenney, Premier Kenney,
00:34:32.240former Premier Kenney, for many, many things, but one of the things he did was said, look,
00:34:36.500we need more treatment facilities. We've got to have the availability when somebody hits bottom,
00:34:42.320when somebody's ready for treatment to say, we can get you in, we can help you, and we can treat
00:34:46.780you for your addiction. And with that, Alberta has opened up 8,000 treatment beds, almost double
00:34:53.020what BC has when BC has a larger addiction problem and a larger population. And we're starting to see
00:34:59.860the fruits of that. There's still a problem. I mean, that graph shows there's still, unfortunately,
00:35:05.240hundreds and hundreds, building up to thousands of Albertans dying from overdoses. But it's dropped.
00:35:11.100That's the first sign we've seen some indication of progress on it.