Western Standard - June 18, 2022


EXCLUSIVE： Marcel Latouche on government accountability.

Topics
freedom of expression
Mentioned
Justin Trudeau Brown Biden Jean Charest Jason Kenney Bill C-63 Freeland Kenny
POLL Smith and Jean ahead in UCP leadership race to replace Kenney EXCLUSIVE： Jay Hill breaks down the federal and provincial political game.

Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

143.89

Word count

2,015

Sentence count

106

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode, I sit down with Conservative MP for the Calgary-Fort Saskatchewan riding, Jason Kenney, to discuss the federal and Alberta leadership races. We discuss the need for accountability in our government, the dangers of COVID, and why we should all be vaccinated against vaccines.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 I just want to kind of move through our levels of government and have a conversation with you, maybe starting on the federal end.
00:00:06.940 Where are we sitting?
00:00:08.640 Well, we are in a bit of a doldrum right now.
00:00:11.440 We have two leadership race going on, both at the federal and at the provincial level.
00:00:18.840 But as you said, accountability is always a good start for us to start discussing things here.
00:00:25.580 What we have is we have a government, the federal government right now, which you just made allusion to, which is in total disarray.
00:00:34.380 They have no policies.
00:00:36.000 I understand that Freeland wants to chase inflation with more spending. 0.92
00:00:42.960 I mean, this is totally economically absolutely absurd and ridiculous.
00:00:48.960 We have a government now which has absolutely no accountability.
00:00:52.420 It is being found that the Emergencies Act was a total sham and scam because it was never asked by either the RCMP or the police in Ottawa.
00:01:04.940 So what we are doing here with COVID was a means by which the federal government and other provincial government used it to gain power over the citizens.
00:01:17.540 I mean, by passing mandates, regulations, rules, and so on and so forth.
00:01:23.340 And none of that had any accountability because there was no transparency in any of it.
00:01:30.000 It was just a means of getting and acquiring more powers without discussion.
00:01:36.660 It was just imposed on us.
00:01:40.400 And now that the COVID is virtually over, it's become an endemic as opposed to a pandemic, we see that two of the guys who've pushed for mass sequestration, staying at home, they both have COVID now.
00:01:56.340 Trudeau and Fauci, they still have it.
00:01:58.700 So what does that mean?
00:01:59.900 I mean, somebody who's had a vaccine, I've had taken my vaccines, being so old, I have to protect myself.
00:02:06.500 If that's true, I may be wrong about this, but I took my vaccine.
00:02:11.520 But what does that say?
00:02:12.860 That Trudeau and Fauci both vaccinated, boosted, are now getting COVID.
00:02:18.900 I mean, the thing is, was this a situation where we were overcautious?
00:02:27.440 Was it that the death rates that we were told about was not really, in fact, just a blimp over what the death rate has always been in normal times?
00:02:40.940 And what we have now, two races, we have two leaderships, I'm not supporting anybody, I am just looking at what's happening, I want to hear policies, I want to hear some of their ideas.
00:02:59.300 But the fact remains is, as you just mentioned, in your previous segment, are going to get rid of Trudeau as easily as some conservatives think they can.
00:03:13.420 It's an illusion.
00:03:15.460 Conservatives must have policies that reflect conservative principles.
00:03:21.340 And that's what I'm waiting for.
00:03:22.760 At the federal level, we are having so many candidates with so many ideas, which are from the past.
00:03:33.380 We are in the 21st century.
00:03:35.900 We have a totally different environment, both economically and federally and provincially, that we've got to our new policies to good conservative principles.
00:03:51.100 Never mind social conservatism.
00:03:54.060 Social conservatism is a value issue.
00:03:57.580 But if conservatives want to win, in my point of view, it's all about economics and values of the family.
00:04:07.740 And that's what we've got to look at.
00:04:09.720 And at the federal level, we've got so many people entering the race. 0.99
00:04:16.260 And I can tell you, Jean Charest, for instance, is a man of the past.
00:04:19.820 We've got to look to the future.
00:04:22.380 We can't have a man of the past.
00:04:24.700 Brown is now coming out with all sorts of ideas.
00:04:29.820 And I believe other candidates who are entering these races, both at the federal and provincial level in Alberta, are people trying to make a name for themselves so that if a conservative government at both levels go back in power, they will get a seat.
00:04:46.840 If they get elected, if they get elected, they will get a seat in the cabinet.
00:04:50.320 That's all they are. 0.99
00:04:51.400 Because some of them are goofs. 0.99
00:04:53.380 They have done nothing. 0.99
00:04:55.060 They're just entering the race just to get a name recognition.
00:04:59.180 By the same token, I think there are some very good candidates, but they've got to put forward policies that are going to endear and ensure that citizens are going to get better in their lives, in their economic situation, not just by rhetorical proposals by politicians who have absolutely nothing to offer right now.
00:05:23.920 Yeah, so getting outside of the race, though, I mean, something I kind of before you popped on and what I was saying in the monologue, though, as I said, you can't underestimate these liberals.
00:05:34.440 They're strong.
00:05:34.940 But a development that I just didn't expect to see this year, and I've written about it and I've talked about it, is the Senate.
00:05:41.960 You know, it's usually been a non-entity, really, in politics, but they stood up and quashed a liberal bill the other day.
00:05:48.100 And they've been holding them to account in committee on this Emergencies Act.
00:05:51.760 I'm kind of excited to see where else they might go here, I mean, outside of the party politics.
00:05:55.740 I would like to see them do something about Bill C-11, because most Canadians don't really understand what C-11 is all about.
00:06:04.080 It's all about suppression of the freedom of speech and expression.
00:06:08.600 What we have nowadays is, and this is not only in Canada, this is becoming a worldwide problem.
00:06:15.440 Because don't forget, Biden is not a Democrat.
00:06:23.020 Biden is a socialist verging on communism these days with his policies.
00:06:28.560 And what it is, is when you get governments who are putting money in the media, for instance, in Canada,
00:06:36.020 what we have now is a new version of what the Soviet Union used to be. 0.54
00:06:41.580 You had the task agency and you had the Pravda.
00:06:45.440 Most of our media nowadays are paid for and subsidized by a government, and they are just another mouthpiece for the government.
00:06:55.880 So, therefore, we've got to rely on the freedom of expression.
00:07:00.020 And what I want to see is a Senate, even with a majority of liberals there, starting to start questioning what is happening to the freedom of Canadians.
00:07:11.700 And we've got to get a situation whereby we have some accountability.
00:07:18.480 And the only place we are going to have that is if the Senate wakes up and says,
00:07:24.040 freedom of expression is more important than political values and political ideology as expressed by their leader, Justin Trudeau.
00:07:38.400 I've told you that before, and I've always said I don't like legacies and dynasties because every son who gets into politics after their father try to emulate and surpass their father's legacy.
00:07:57.180 And it's always a disaster.
00:08:00.960 I mean, you know, history has shown it.
00:08:04.460 I'm kind of scared with Justin Trudeau because, you know, even if he is getting towards the tail end of his time as prime minister, he's got to be feeling that.
00:08:12.400 He's got to be wondering, what am I going to leave behind?
00:08:14.400 What am I going to be able to point to my kids and say I did?
00:08:17.220 Because he really hasn't accomplished a lot.
00:08:19.340 And I fear he's going to do something extreme.
00:08:23.000 Well, not that he hasn't already.
00:08:25.240 This is what I worry about because he's looking at a legacy now.
00:08:29.440 And the thing is, if he gets elected again, there's the problem.
00:08:35.300 He will say, oh, this is my last legs in politics.
00:08:39.380 I will push everything that I can.
00:08:42.260 And there is no opposition.
00:08:44.040 I mean, with the NDP supporting him right now, we can see what's going on.
00:08:49.620 I mean, all these leftist policies are being implemented with the help of the NDP.
00:08:56.440 When Freeland says to you that she is going to combat inflation with more spending and she is going to be supported by the NDP, guess what?
00:09:06.820 If people think a recession is coming, it could be the worst one we've seen for quite a while.
00:09:12.740 Yeah, it's just pouring gas on a fire when you increase the spending to try and battle inflation.
00:09:17.820 But it's a government disconnected from reality.
00:09:20.560 There's no doubt about that.
00:09:22.180 But again, hopefully we can see some lights.
00:09:24.500 You know, maybe the Senate will stand up for some things.
00:09:26.460 Maybe the Conservatives will really rebrand themselves well and hold his feet to the fire so we can watch and hope with some optimism.
00:09:33.000 I'll kind of pivot back now.
00:09:34.180 As you said, there's another important race going on.
00:09:36.200 And that's just kind of starting to develop.
00:09:38.040 And that's the provincial leadership for the UCP.
00:09:41.040 And that's a party that's really kind of on the rocks.
00:09:43.220 And they really need a new shot in the arm to try and, I guess, you know, get back into contention.
00:09:49.220 Well, there's the Jason Kenney didn't do himself any favors.
00:09:58.620 For sure, every politician in the past 27 months have had to deal with COVID and this pandemic.
00:10:07.580 However, how you deal with it has been the key of how you've been viewed by the electorate.
00:10:15.860 So having said that, Kenney has decided to step down because, you know, he got only 51% of the votes to support.
00:10:26.720 Now we have a gaggle of politicians trying to replace him.
00:10:32.340 What Albertans have got to start looking at is asking themselves the question, what is the alternative to a UCP government?
00:10:41.920 Do we want to go back to a not-lay government?
00:10:44.780 Do we want to see a new four-year of socialist policies that virtually destroyed this province?
00:10:53.980 Do we want a government that is going to acquiesce to every climate change policies, good or wrong, imposed by the Trudeau government?
00:11:04.680 So when people start talking about a leader for Alberta, they've got to look at, are we going back to the roots of Alberta's values?
00:11:16.980 What do we stand for?
00:11:20.580 Kenney made the mistake of being too much Ottawa, not enough Alberta.
00:11:25.260 So having said that, I heard this morning that Rempel, who was a campaign manager for Brown, is going to try and come back to Alberta to be in the race, to be a leader.
00:11:41.680 Well, are we going to get the same thing again?
00:11:44.100 Too much Ottawa instead of Alberta?
00:11:45.980 Having said that, I look at the gaggle of people who have entered the race and I say to myself, do we have somebody that is rising to the occasion? 0.98
00:12:00.080 So far, I haven't seen anybody yet.
00:12:02.400 That's why I'm saying I'm standing on the sidelines here.
00:12:06.060 I'm just waiting to see policies.
00:12:08.420 I don't want people to start talking about, oh, we want to go back to the kind of Alberta advantage and decline, the great days of the oil and gas and so on and so forth.
00:12:24.260 What is happening is that we are now in an environment, a global environment, where we have policies being made outside of our jurisdiction that are going to affect us.
00:12:40.400 Most people don't understand why it's economic social governance that is being adopted by many countries,
00:12:49.540 and now banks are going to start applying policies and financing through ESG.
00:12:56.180 Do we have a politician in this gaggle of politicians running for leadership who understand the ramification and the consequences of these new policies coming down the pipe?
00:13:10.180 And as I said, I haven't seen anybody so far who has explained to me, I want to replace Kenny with a new form of government, a new form of management.
00:13:23.000 I haven't seen any that are going to affect the lives of Albertans, not only at the provincial level, but also at the municipal level, as well as stand for and against good policies coming from the federal government.
00:13:44.680 Yeah, well, we can wait and see as the campaign develops, as you said, there's a gaggle of them coming out and we'll see how many actually meet that bar to run. 0.87
00:13:53.140 But there's going to be a number to choose from and hopefully some some vision sinks in and people see something inspiring that'll pull them through.