Western Standard - April 06, 2023


Elitist authoritarians are counting on our apathy


Episode Stats


Length

5 minutes

Words per minute

203.30083

Word count

1,084

Sentence count

80

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Take Back Alberta is a political action committee (PAC) that has been active in Alberta for a few years and has been causing a stir in the political landscape. The establishment is concerned that this nefarious PAC is gaining undue influence in our political landscape, and the media is covering it up.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 So in Alberta, we've got a political action committee, a PAC.
00:00:03.860 We have them all across the country.
00:00:05.120 This one's called Take Back Alberta.
00:00:07.060 And I'm sure outside of Alberta, you guys haven't heard much about it.
00:00:09.780 But boy, it's been big news in Alberta lately.
00:00:11.400 And it's been active for a few years.
00:00:13.360 This PAC has been drawing the attention of local media,
00:00:17.260 while academics and other political pundits have been clutching pearls over the actions of this PAC.
00:00:22.580 The establishment is issuing dire warnings that this nefarious PAC
00:00:26.100 is gaining undue influence on the political landscape.
00:00:28.500 And like I said, PACs exist across the country in many forms.
00:00:31.920 They're essentially non-party organizations trying to influence the political spectrum.
00:00:36.580 And they range across the political spectrum from left to right.
00:00:39.840 Now, Take Back Alberta is unapologetically conservative-leaning.
00:00:43.360 So are several other Alberta PACs.
00:00:45.740 And none of them are setting off the alarm bells among the establishment like TVA is, though.
00:00:50.780 Now, Take Back Alberta has been holding town hall-style meetings all across the province.
00:00:54.800 So when one was held near my place, I popped out to see in person what all the fuss was about.
00:00:59.920 I joined about 150 people to listen to the group's leader, a gentleman named David Parker.
00:01:04.660 And he explained what the purpose of the group was and what his intentions were.
00:01:08.320 The presentation was about an hour long, casual in style.
00:01:11.340 Most of it was taken up by Parker sharing his own political history.
00:01:14.560 Towards the end, though, Parker revealed the odious agenda of this group.
00:01:17.900 So was it a shameless fundraising pitch to pad his pockets?
00:01:23.040 No.
00:01:23.640 There was an ask for donations, but it was a soft sell.
00:01:26.200 They didn't even pass a bucket.
00:01:27.940 So was there a call to action for mass demonstrations or political sabotage?
00:01:32.140 Perhaps an attempt to encourage attendees to intimidate voters or something, or stuff ballot boxes?
00:01:37.440 No.
00:01:37.820 It was nothing of the sort.
00:01:39.180 I'll reveal this underhanded agenda right now.
00:01:41.440 Hold on to your seats.
00:01:42.240 David Parker and his group, Take Back Alberta, is encouraging people to get out and become active within the established political system.
00:01:50.040 That's it.
00:01:50.780 That's all.
00:01:51.660 From encouraging people to join everything from local library boards to taking part in provincial election nominations,
00:01:57.180 TBA is simply telling people to quit complaining and start taking part.
00:02:01.380 You see, David Parker and his organization are revealing a well-kept secret in Canadian politics the establishment doesn't want exposed.
00:02:07.520 The academics, the political and media elites of the nation count on citizen apathy to maintain their positions.
00:02:14.640 You ever wonder why so many universities have gone off the deep end?
00:02:17.520 Why so many nutty civic politicians managed to get ridiculous policies entrenched? 0.99
00:02:21.720 Why despised federal and provincial politicians seem to hold onto their seats forever?
00:02:25.800 Well, it's because we let them.
00:02:27.120 It's as simple as that.
00:02:28.420 We have the means to fire them and replace them all with whoever we choose.
00:02:32.560 But we've given up on that responsibility.
00:02:34.180 Voter levels, you know, the turnout levels in most elections are shamefully low across the country,
00:02:39.460 especially at the local levels of government.
00:02:41.780 We need people to get off their butts more often and cast their ballots.
00:02:45.780 The thing is, though, there's more to democracy than just going out to vote.
00:02:49.220 People need to start taking part in the process every step along the way.
00:02:52.700 It's participatory democracy.
00:02:54.120 It means you have to participate.
00:02:55.740 Fewer than 3% of Canadians hold memberships in political parties.
00:02:58.600 Is it any wonder the parties continue to select candidates and leaders who don't represent the constituents well?
00:03:04.420 The number of people who take part in constituency associations, school boards, or, yes, even library boards, that's even lower.
00:03:11.160 An active and tiny minority tail has been wagging the Canadian dog for a long time.
00:03:15.940 A small number of people can achieve a great deal of change just by taking part.
00:03:19.260 Now, Parker, he's just encouraging the commoners to take part, and it's scaring the bejesus of the establishment folks holding positions of power.
00:03:26.200 PACs have been around spending dollars in advertising and holding events for decades.
00:03:29.360 The impact of all that activity is limited, though.
00:03:32.160 Having a PAC organizing people to become politically active, though, that's a little different.
00:03:36.240 It's having a difference in policy, and that's what's got some people scared.
00:03:39.660 It seems as groups have found the path to change, and the establishment knows it, and that's why it's gaining that much attention.
00:03:44.500 I'm not trying to cheerlead for them.
00:03:45.800 They tend to be dominated by people more socially conservative than I, and, you know, it's not necessarily the best PAC in the world, as far as I'm concerned,
00:03:54.800 but I respect their right to organize and their success with it.
00:03:57.660 If you don't like what they're doing, the solution is not to demonize the group or try to make up conspiracy theories.
00:04:03.600 The solution is to fight fire with fire.
00:04:05.080 Get out on the ground, then.
00:04:06.020 Go to other meetings.
00:04:06.820 Go out to the polls.
00:04:07.880 Use the democratic means sitting right in front of you.
00:04:09.760 The process isn't a secret.
00:04:11.640 It just hasn't been used.
00:04:12.580 If Parker's organization takes people from all sides of the political spectrum, you know, or encourages them and gets them active in their communities, we're all going to be better for it.
00:04:21.100 If any agenda is going to be questioned, is that put forth by those who fear citizens organizing and using legitimate democratic tools to achieve change?
00:04:29.140 What's the establishment so afraid of?
00:04:31.080 The unwashed masses daring to stand up for themselves?
00:04:33.620 Well, good.
00:04:34.580 It's time the establishment had a shaking up.
00:04:36.260 So keep that in mind in your areas.
00:04:37.920 No matter what province you're in, no matter what side of the spectrum you're in, take part, guys.
00:04:42.960 Get up.
00:04:43.360 Get out there.
00:04:43.780 You don't have to like what that group's doing.
00:04:45.520 If you don't like it, join and fight back.
00:04:48.740 That's all.
00:04:49.160 Canadian Shooting Sports Association.
00:04:51.860 Without the CSSA, our gun rights would have been taken long, long ago.
00:04:56.420 These guys are on the front lines helping to draft smart and intelligent firearms regulations and legislation in Canada.
00:05:04.100 And more importantly, educating the public about how we keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people.
00:05:09.380 If you become a member, it's absolutely worth every penny.
00:05:12.180 You can become a Western Standard member for just $10 a month or $99 a year for unlimited access.