00:11:56.040I screwed it up and didn't connect right.
00:11:58.140it was a kind of a mess but in general i like the live stuff because even if i screw up whatever you
00:12:02.720let it go you move on you get beyond it like a dog you know kick some grass over it and just
00:12:07.520carry on and and that's what we tend to do in the year because yeah we're not looking at perfection
00:12:12.140we're looking at interaction and covering a lot of things uh before i get to my guest i'm looking
00:12:17.700forward to talking to daryl and i just want to hit one new story that that's something else
00:12:23.520Jason Kenney took a big run at supply management online.
00:12:28.060Just said it's infuriating and this dairy cartel should be taken down and we shouldn't be putting up with this and it's causing us trade issues.
00:12:38.740This was a man who was in government for years.
00:12:46.920We've been talking about supply management.
00:12:48.580Those of us who are real conservatives have been talking about it since the 90s.
00:12:51.720I think Kenny did back when he was at the Taxpayers Federation, but suddenly became dead silent about it while he's in government, and now he's a free agent running around, and suddenly he's found his principals again and is calling out supply management.
00:13:03.940I guess I'm glad he is anyways, better late than never, but I'm tired of conservative politicians only speaking their mind once they're out of office.
00:13:13.040We'll never change things if they can't find their balls while they're in it.
00:13:17.080So, Mr. Kenny, too little, too late, and should have spoken up about a decade ago or so.
00:13:26.140All right, well, let's talk a little more contemporary, people working within politics and in general and so on.
00:13:33.880He's, as I said, at the top of the show, been active, ran for party president with the United Conservative Party.
00:13:40.280He's been a very excellent hard worker down in Calgary-Lougheed for years, and he runs a fantastic business down there with Fresh and Local Market and Kitchen.
00:13:49.880So let's bring him in and have a chat.
00:15:27.040threw her under the bus when this came up, where she was falsely painted as a white nationalist,
00:15:33.820knocked out of her whole position as a candidate to run for the UCP back then. And finally, you
00:15:43.000know, when it was found to be a bunch of BS, she sued the crap out of them. And now about six of
00:15:47.620the defendants, I think, have settled out of court already on that lawsuit. I believe it's six,
00:15:51.520but some still haven't. Press Progress hasn't, and they were right in the mix of this.
00:15:56.060And now they've been laying off some of their staff because apparently the lawsuit strained too much money out of them and they can't pay their bills due to this lawsuit.
00:16:09.500I hope this really, I really hope Ford takes it to these groups and runs them totally out of business because what they did to her was horrific.
00:16:17.980This swarming, this cowardice, this character assassination, as I said, of an innocent person for political reasons was just gross.
00:16:26.060and uh it you know i don't typically celebrate the loss of jobs and people being laid off
00:16:32.820but in this case it was just beyond the pale so if they're uh losing at this point i i really
00:16:40.880have little sympathy for them sorry just uh thought it might be daryl calling it's somebody
00:16:46.840else i usually don't answer my phone on here there's the downside of live we never quite know
00:16:51.460what we're going to get he kind of popped out of the lobby i hope he's maybe just rebooting the
00:16:54.980computer and we'll be back in soon. So the press progress story, keep watching that. There's going
00:17:01.320to be more of this hitting the courts in later October and it's going to be finished. People
00:17:06.520wonder about, you know, the future of legacy media, the future of new media, independent media,
00:17:11.300things like that. How is it policed? How do you maintain professionalism? How do you keep
00:17:16.920misinformation from going out? This is a painful and ugly way to have to deal with it, but going
00:17:22.960through the legal system and holding outlets to account when they really heavily cross the line
00:17:29.440like this is uh the best way to do it i mean just you know allow supply and demand take care of it
00:17:36.800okay i think i see daryl in the lobby let's give it another crack and see if we've got them this
00:17:40.640time bring them in hey daryl got them this time there we are sorry ah excellent you're coming in
00:17:45.520loud and clear thank you very much i didn't want to lose you and i was looking forward to this
00:17:49.520well you know it we've talked uh not so not so long ago at uh alberta telethon and it was a lot
00:17:57.880of fun and i just think there's so much going on out there that uh there's a lot of things people
00:18:02.300need to be thinking about well well there absolutely is and we're in a kind of a a crazy
00:18:08.700complicated time and uh i haven't been a member of a party though i certainly watch them extremely
00:18:14.520closely uh you know in the role i'm in but there's a whole lot of nuts and bolts that have to move and
00:18:19.800over the summer you know there's the pancake circuit and everybody's uh taking on light things
00:18:24.680but the party hasn't stopped the mechanisms haven't stopped uh you know what what's happening
00:18:30.120in the ucp these days what are they getting ready for this year sorry can you just say that one more
00:18:38.040time cory something uh glitched there on at the studio i can see your lips moving i can see it now
00:18:42.280uh i i was just i guess asking for an update on what's happening out in the the ucp front
00:18:48.600on the partisan front i'm not really directly involved in the parties these days but i watch
00:18:53.080them very closely and things don't stop over the summer they're kind of getting ready for the fall
00:18:56.840what can we look forward to in this next few months in this crazy uh complicated time well
00:19:02.280you see a lot of momentum going towards uh nominating candidates in the various cas they're
00:19:11.180We see a lot of success for the incumbents to continue on.
00:19:15.520This summer has been very busy in Calgary, Shaw.
00:19:18.400That was former riding for Rebecca Schultz.
00:19:21.340Mike Durie is the upcoming UCP candidate.
00:19:25.040And I guess we're going to see in the next month or so, the Premier will call for a by-election down there.
00:19:32.280And then likely sometime in September, you're going to see a by-election in Shaw.
00:19:36.880So people are out there. They're active. But of course, they have their, you know, there's there's a bit of reluctance, I think, at times to get too far down the rabbit hole because there's a lot of unresolved issues even amongst friends.
00:19:53.360Yeah, well, that's that's a risk. You know, this internal division, there's nobody conservatives like fighting more than each other.
00:20:01.620Something I guess that the UCP is taking on, it's kind of taking a backseat because the whole independence referendum is eating up all of the airwaves lately.
00:20:08.360But there's been health services changes, looking at allowing people to get MRIs without a referral or having doctors now be able to potentially do procedures outside of the public system.
00:20:22.620How has things been going on that front?
00:20:24.880Well, certainly, I think we see that there's been some advancements of policies that will impact in a positive way Albertans.
00:20:31.960I mean, I think health care is a really good example where we see now you can go out and you can get an MRI, you can get services, you can pay for them directly.
00:20:39.740And if people find that or the doctor finds that that is, in fact, a condition, there's some availability for reimbursement.
00:20:46.800But most importantly, I think people have to ask themselves about the system is who is the client?
00:21:02.740There's no real incentive for the system to actually service individuals other than what people are directed to do.
00:21:11.520I mean, if the hospital system was a business and there was a competition, I think that people would go elsewhere.
00:21:18.140And I don't mean competition for the money.
00:21:19.900The government can still be the payer of that, but the determiner of where that your money goes, if it was in the hands of Albertans, I think that you would see drastic improvements in service because it's the frontline people, no doubt, in the health care system.
00:21:34.900When you get there, they want to do everything they can for you.
00:21:37.260but something is something is wrong internally and it's a very big organization and there's a
00:21:43.680lot of moving parts there but why doesn't the system want to give the best service for the
00:21:50.160best value to Albertans I mean that's the big question that's the third question you know
00:21:54.620everyone says health care is a problem yes we should change health care yes let's split it in
00:22:00.500in four sections so that there can be more oversight yes but let's remember who is the
00:22:05.720client what are they there for and what who is reluctant to get inside and make the changes or
00:22:11.780who's inside that's reluctant to make changes for the betterment of of the customer well part of
00:22:17.300the challenge we've had is is healthcare in canada you know the system has been made into a sacred cow
00:22:21.740any premier and it's not just in alberta that dares to do anything more than just throwing money
00:22:26.880at it is going to be in for a battle with the the protectors of the status quo the unions some of
00:22:32.320those other medical associations and things going into an election year with what's already a pretty
00:22:39.580divisive year with perhaps if the independence thing is resolved for a little while, healthcare
00:22:46.520is probably going to be a top issue going into that next 365 days. Is it really what the UCP
00:22:52.160wants front and center when they go into that? Because Nietzsche hasn't been able to get much
00:22:56.240of a toehold anywhere, but he might be able to find some ground on the health front.
00:23:00.780Well, health is something that everyone feels impacted by.
00:23:04.460And of course, old people feel impacted by health like myself.
00:23:08.300Young people feel impacted with having children and taking care of children.
00:23:12.920I think the emerging issue is going to actually be property rights.
00:23:16.800I think when we see what's going on in British Columbia and how that's impacting actual people being able to get mortgages,
00:23:23.820i think that in alberton everyone not conservatives not ndp i think albertans themselves should be the
00:23:30.540most concerned about your property rights and the second thing i think you should be the most
00:23:35.340concerned about is censorship and ability to actually have uh lively conversations good or bad
00:23:41.260uh about various topics those are the two things that albertans should really be looking for health
00:23:46.220health care if if we're not committed as a society as users as people inside to deliver the best
00:23:52.780service, it will be exactly what it is. But I think these other things are going to be a scope
00:23:58.100creep into people's daily lives. Like if you can't go get a mortgage for your house because the bank
00:24:03.420doesn't know if you actually have title to your property, that's going to be a problem. And that's
00:24:07.780actually happening in British Columbia right now. So that particular infection is going to spread
00:24:12.820across the country. And I think you start to see it over and over again. Yeah, that's really kind
00:24:18.980coming again, considering the seriousness of it under the radar, BC wasn't resolved. It was a
00:24:25.320matter of actually the provincial government just said, well, don't worry, we'll backstop your
00:24:28.760mortgages since the banks won't touch them with a 10 foot pole. Well, if they can't backstop the
00:24:34.540trillions of dollars that all of BC's real estate must be worth, and there's pretty much claims on
00:24:38.640all of it. And if people in Alberta think they're immune from these claims, I think they might be
00:24:42.260sadly mistaken. Our courts are going after everything. Yeah, you see an interpretation
00:24:47.100that is certainly favorable against those who have property,
00:24:52.840those who actually generate revenue, those who actually add value.
00:24:56.140I mean, you only have to look at the GDP of the entire country
00:24:58.580to see that it's failing, that it has been failing.
00:25:00.940It's been covered up for years, 10 years, maybe more,
00:25:04.900by destructive immigration across the country.
00:25:08.800And as soon as the immigration number dips, you see the GDP dip.
00:25:12.220And when it dips, you understand that it isn't really the creation of value.
00:25:18.140It's government spending that has been propping up the GDP.
00:25:21.740And that actually isn't what GDP is supposed to do.
00:25:24.260It's supposed to measure those things that create value in your society that's not government spending.
00:25:30.820But, of course, the definition has been modified and changed in order to pad what people see as a very easy to observe KPI or keep right performance indicator.
00:25:42.220So the issue, though, with property rights and, you know, free speech, things like that, we're strong defenders of those things within Alberta, but the protection of them in the end tends to land in Ottawa.
00:25:54.200And that kind of comes full circle back to a lot of the battle that might be coming this October.
00:25:58.920What can the provincial government do about it?
00:26:00.900Because I think if the provincial government proves impotent in being able to protect us from those things, a lot more people are going to start considering that option of maybe just leaving the Federation altogether.
00:26:11.640Well, I mean, you only have to look at the reduction in media in the last two weeks.
00:26:16.380If you look at what's happened, we've had radio stations go under.
00:26:21.160We've had local news basically be wiped off the map at various providers.
00:26:27.520That sense of control of messaging is very much in Toronto.
00:26:31.540Maybe it always has been or it's grown to be, but now it's very obvious that it's central.
00:26:38.060So can Albertans control the message that they receive and information so that they can make sound decisions?
00:26:45.840I think that that's been at risk for quite a long time.
00:26:48.580I think that's been the rise of what we would call alternative media.
00:26:52.060Although I almost think that somewhere like the Western Standard, Your Show, other podcasts across, I mean, those have become the norm because people really can't find news to weigh out and make a special opinion.
00:27:06.880I mean, I just found a brand new site the other day called 1867x.com, and you can have like 100 different feeds of podcasters and information of a variety of positions talking and allow yourself to understand what's going on.
00:27:23.960So I think that people have to be engaged not just in politics, but they have to be engaged in the everyday what's going on around them and also stand up for something.
00:27:35.060I mean, if you stand for nothing, then you're going to get exactly what we were seeing.
00:27:40.200But the real resistance to the fall of what I think is a fall of morality in our country comes because people, they get tired, they get overwhelmed.
00:27:50.960They say, well, what can one person do?
00:27:53.140And what I can say to people all over the place is you can do a lot.
00:27:56.620You can be involved and you can just say no.
00:27:59.340I mean, your consent is important for a lot of the problems that are happening, and you need to start to say no.
00:28:08.060Well, and beyond just voting, participation in general, actually, you know, an engagement.
00:28:13.900In some ways, we've been seeing it in unprecedented levels within Alberta.
00:28:18.560Getting back to, you know, the United Conservative Party, AGMs with 6,000 people, 4,000 people, one coming in Calgary this fall.
00:28:27.340I have a feeling is going to be a shaker like we've never seen before I hope it's a productive
00:28:32.000shaker that's coming but uh that that that's where people can actually get their feet on
00:28:37.320the ground and see what's happening uh you know what do you think we're in for this year I mean
00:28:42.800it's just such a wild year well I think you know you're you're exactly right that's going to be a
00:28:48.140very big event I think uh just the very early bird ticket sales were like 3,600 if you compare
00:28:54.180that to other years, the most was in Red Deer. It was 1,800. That's when we had over 6,000 people
00:29:01.340that are AGM. I mean, we're tracking probably right now in the 8,000 to 10,000 range of people
00:29:07.420who are very much involved. Remember, we're in between election years, right? So that's very
00:29:12.680unusual. And that started, I think, four years ago. We saw the rise of people and people wanting
00:29:19.140to say, hey, I want to be involved. And that actual participation has caused a lot of confusion
00:29:24.420and a lot of conflict for government and for political parties in general, because
00:29:30.200people aren't just going away and being told this is what's going to happen. And people ask,
00:29:35.800like I say, the third question, and there's no answer as often to the third question that talks
00:29:40.660about common sense. So we're coming up to a, it's going to be fiery. I think there's going to be a
00:29:46.460lot of I know a lot of the policies that are going to be put forward they talk about accountability
00:29:50.660of MLAs they talk about how can Alberta in and of itself protect itself from Canada how do we
00:29:57.720protect ourselves from the growing debt how do we get involved to say hey look we know the RCMP
00:30:02.380contract runs out in 2032 they have no intention of running police services in Alberta so let's
00:30:07.540just stop the facade that we're we don't need our own provincial police force we need our own
00:30:12.860provincial police force because there will be no service provider. So a lot of the story that gets
00:30:18.080told gets couched in these things that there will be an outcome regardless. And that's one of those
00:30:23.760things that is regardless. I also think we have this whole argument over MOUs, right? So you get
00:30:30.300this at the last AGM, the premier announced the MOU for the pipeline. Well, MOUs don't mean
00:30:37.280anything. We see that all the time. They're just outlines. And if it's not written in an agreement,
00:30:44.820if there's not a shovel in the ground, it doesn't really mean much. So people are smart. And I think
00:30:50.060that's the engagement that we're seeing. You're talking about the growth of attendance at UCP
00:30:54.020conventions. But you see that growth happening, involvement at CA level as well. And because of
00:31:00.660that, it does make the party stronger. There's no doubt about it. But it does mean that the party
00:31:06.080apparatus needs to um reconstruct itself uh into an environment that says that the grassroots has
00:31:13.360a lot to say and they have a expectation a very high expectation because don't forget those six
00:31:19.600or eight thousand people at the convention are the six or eight thousand people knocking on doors
00:31:23.920those are the people that are going to take the ucp over the finish line for the next election
00:31:28.320yeah well there's that interesting balance now that we're getting such a
00:31:31.040a populist, you know, well-attended. I'm loving seeing it. I mean, I can't imagine an 8,000-person
00:31:37.400AGM. The coordination to try and make it functional is going to be challenging. But also, you also
00:31:43.620gather, though, the most active people in conservative circles all at once. And they might
00:31:48.280take policy stances that are very popular in that room, but might not be popular with the electorate
00:31:54.900at large. And that puts the elected members of the party in a difficult position sometimes,
00:31:59.560policy-wise where you know you can stay true purely to the principles that came out on the
00:32:04.680floor but you might lose the general election if you stick to them how do you think they can
00:32:08.740achieve that balance because I think as we get more and more engaged they're going to be more
00:32:12.780acutely feeling that pressure from the membership to actually act on what the members want to see
00:32:16.580well I think I think inevitably you'll see overall reluctance by the elected MLA's to actually
00:32:22.140respond to their party and they do that maybe they've done that in the past and it's never
00:32:28.080really meant anything. But I think nowadays, if you're not representing the members who are most
00:32:32.900active, those people that help get you elected, then there will be a come to Jesus moment for
00:32:39.300them. But I mean, I'll give you a really good example of a policy that I see making it to the
00:32:44.020floor, to the top 30. And, you know, in Alberta, we get about $12 billion a year in royalties.
00:32:52.340And those royalties are all deposited in Toronto Bank.
00:32:56.760And that Toronto Bank makes about $880 million in fees on our $12 billion in royalties.
00:33:04.240Well, why is it that the Alberta government does not want to build out the infrastructure
00:33:09.720and capacity for financial institutions in Alberta?
00:33:36.100And this is really the undertow of the grassroots.
00:33:40.600Why can't we use common sense to manage the affairs for Alberta, for the benefit of Alberta?
00:33:45.820And why can't we make it Alberta forever?
00:33:48.840I mean, I watch Canada forever, whatever Leskazic is doing, and he doesn't qualify for any rules to talk about whatever he's talking about.
00:33:59.080He's got campaign offices and buses and stuff.
00:34:01.640So I think citizens should be saying, look, we're about Alberta first.
00:34:05.400We're about, and I ran on this in the party last year to say, look, we need to put Alberta first in our decision making.
00:34:11.420We need to say, hey, what is good for Alberta?
00:34:13.540We'll ultimately be good for Canada in whatever way that that shakes out.
00:34:17.760But if people, you know, they have a lot of permutations and combinations of what that means.
00:34:21.440But, you know, we got to take care of ourselves at home right now.
00:34:25.080And I think one good example is repatriating our $12 billion in deposits into Alberta institutions and building that capacity.
00:34:33.380That's something the government can do today.
00:34:40.020But, you know, there's a real reluctance to do the right thing.
00:34:44.020I remember at the AGM, we had the Alberta Bill of Rights.
00:34:47.020I mean, as conservatives, we should be collecting freedoms and rights like hockey cards, because you don't really know when that hockey card or when that rights can be super valuable. And that's something that the government showed that they were elected to do again. So I'm not exactly sure where that puts the government itself, separate from the party. The party is really the people that help get the members elected. And the government in and of itself is really cabinet, not caucus, but cabinet.
00:35:14.380And so there should be pressure on cabinet to do the right thing.
00:35:19.900And I think that there should be more pressure on cabinet to do the right thing.
00:35:23.720And that's what the party in and of itself should be able to do.
00:35:27.380I remember when the NDP got elected, the first 44 things that they ran through the legislature,
00:35:32.320I cringed at just about every one of them.
00:35:34.240But they didn't seem to care what the conservatives thought.
00:35:36.480They were just going to do what they're going to do.
00:35:38.000And our government at times doesn't do everything that they should do to advocate and advance conservative values.
00:35:46.960Well, it's going to be a fascinating few months and a fascinating gathering.
00:35:51.300I mean, a lot of how the tone is going to be at that AGM is going to depend on how people vote on October 19th.
00:35:59.220Not just on that question number 10, but on the one to nine going prior to it as well.
00:36:03.720and uh the the debates are going to be well interesting if nothing else just the question
00:36:10.980is whether or not they'll be productive uh as you said like before i let you go the other part
00:36:16.220i mean it's going to feel like you're a tiny cog in a giant wheel if you're at an agm with eight
00:36:21.360or ten thousand people which is still be a lifetime experience i suggest everybody get out to do
00:36:25.700but if you really want to have a part on it and really want to exert yourself i mean getting
00:36:30.680involved in your local constituency association is where you can really have an impact and i know
00:36:35.000that's where you've done a lot of work and and holding your local representatives accountable
00:36:39.320to things and and uh you know hopefully celebrating them so we're fortunate you know i i represent
00:36:46.120in calgary lockheed we have a mla or bouchard who's who's okay with being accountable to the
00:36:51.560people right like he's okay with with standing up for what the members say and uh you know i
00:36:57.320understand that we have a political political system and it costs him uh a lot as far as what
00:37:04.520advancement could look like and and they basically tell him that you know because you do that this is
00:37:10.280how it is for you um but he's okay with that because he's elected by us he he wants to do
00:37:16.280right by by the people that get him voted there and and i commend uh him and just several others
00:37:22.360that think that they would rather stand up for the voter
00:37:26.020than just to spear it along something that just doesn't sit right.
00:37:31.860Well, I knew the clock would move fast, and it did,
00:37:34.360but I really appreciate your time today
00:37:35.860because I don't want people to forget everything else is still happening.