On this episode of The Western Standard, I sit down with former Prime Minister Ralph Peters to discuss his campaign and what he would do if elected Prime Minister of Canada. We discuss his vision for the future of the country, the energy sector, the environment, and much more.
00:00:00.000Well, Mr. Paulyov, welcome to the Western Standard Studio, and thank you very much for making some time to come down here from your stampede rounds.
00:00:06.160I know you've been running hard and popping up all over, so I appreciate it. Welcome.
00:00:11.520So we'll get straight to it. This is the Western Standard. You're in the West. You're at the stampede.
00:00:16.400I'm stuck by a dress code. I have to wear this thing, but you can wear the stampede where I see.
00:00:20.960I want to start with that, the Western issues. I'm sure you've been hearing that the last few days.
00:00:24.760The alienation, Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, you know, secessionism is at all-time highs, and that would be, I would like to think, one of your prime tasks as a prime minister.
00:00:37.920Well, we have to put an end to the pay-up-and-shut-up attitude Ottawa has had to Western Canada for far too long.
00:00:46.980We need to treat Alberta and the West as full partners and give Albertans the same rights and freedoms within Confederation as every other province has.
00:01:01.020And that includes allowing the development of our clean and responsible energy sector here.
00:01:07.540As you know, we have the most ethical energy production on planet Earth.
00:01:14.300The International Energy Agency says that for the next 20 years, the world will be consuming 60 million barrels of oil at least every single day.
00:01:24.380And I think it's best for that oil or largest part of it to come from democracies that protect their environments and their people.
00:01:35.160And there's no one that does that better than Albertans and Saskatchewanians.
00:01:38.600So we, I'll be repealing C-69, C-48, and removing the carbon tax to allow for our sector to succeed.
00:01:50.680And while incentivizing continued environmental advances that the sector has been making over the last decades.
00:01:57.640So I think if you give Albertans the freedom to produce incomes for themselves and for the country, get the gatekeepers in Ottawa out of the way, then we will be able to produce not only bigger, more powerful paychecks, inflation-proof paychecks for Western Canadians, but it will unify the country.
00:02:20.780So getting product east, of course, would really make a great deal in energy security for us right now.
00:02:26.000We just don't have a decent pipeline getting out there.
00:02:31.860But another hindrance there was, I mean, Quebec was making very strong signals that we're just not going to let that thing cross our territory.
00:02:46.780Well, first of all, I've stated in Quebec, as I state everywhere, that I believe that Energy East was good for Canada, for all of Canada, including for Quebec.
00:02:56.400Energy East would have gone right through my riding, and I supported the project in my riding just as much as I do out here.
00:03:03.100Now, I can't promise you that industry is going to come forward with another proposal to run an east-west pipeline.
00:03:12.380But I do think it would be good for the country if we could clear a corridor that is environmentally responsible, that respects First Nations, that delivers a million or so barrels from western Canada to our east coast refineries.
00:03:28.620And for both for export to the world, but also to break Atlantic Canadian dependence on overseas oil imports and the tankers.
00:03:38.840And it's funny, the liberals are banning tankers, so-called banning tankers off the west coast, but welcoming them in the east coast because the oil in those tankers is foreign.
00:03:48.960And so when I go to Quebec, I say, listen, we appreciate that Quebecers want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the debate is really about where our energy comes from.
00:04:04.340And when you ask Quebecers would they rather buy western Canadian energy or American and overseas energy, they prefer western energy.
00:04:14.580So I would side with those Quebecers who believe in supporting our own sector here in Canada, as opposed to those like the Bloc Québécois and the liberals who want us to continue to send money to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and other overseas polluting dictatorships.
00:04:33.280Yeah, well, a lot of signaling, as you said, you know, private industry.
00:04:35.920Well, if they felt a secure environment to invest in, there'd be a better chance they would step up.
00:04:39.420But right now, I mean, you'd be crazy to invest, to be honest, because you'd shut down any time.
00:04:44.420The Trans Mountain Pipeline has been dragging its way for years through B.C.
00:04:49.040But I want to tie it in also to showing government signals of priorities.
00:04:52.860The Coastal Gas Link Pipeline, I mean, it's been a victim of eco-terrorism, constant blockades, constant people arrested, re-arrested, re-arrested.
00:05:00.120We can't even seem to keep the multi-offenders in jail there yet.
00:05:03.260Tamera Leach is incarcerated on what I say is a minor bail violation out east.
00:05:09.560It's just that the priorities of this government seem to be skewed.
00:07:04.180The second point is, I don't know how these governments think that we're going to feed ourselves without fertilizer.
00:07:11.260We're going to drastically reduce the output per acre.
00:07:15.200One, the irony of that is you'd need a far more farmland and a far bigger footprint for agriculture if you had less, if you didn't have fertilizer.
00:07:24.080The second thing is, you'd have much more expensive food.
00:07:28.020And the third thing is, you'd have much lower incomes for our farmers.
00:07:31.880So fertilizers give us the chance to eat more abundant, nutritious food at more affordable prices.
00:07:37.900And the alternative is a brutal poverty, particularly for the vulnerable who can't afford price increases.
00:07:44.920I think people around the world are speaking out against this gatekeeper agenda that attacks energy and food supply chains
00:07:57.760and countless other essentials that we need to survive and thrive as a species.
00:08:03.680And so I'm going to defend the ability of farmers to use environmentally responsible fertilizers that feed our people
00:08:11.540and make food affordable for every Canadian.
00:08:17.840We're in a country with such abundant resources and we're paying some of the highest prices on earth for it and seem to be punishing ourselves for having developed them.
00:08:24.440Well, food prices are up 10 percent according to the most recent CPI data.
00:08:30.840And some of the most nutritious foods are up the most.
00:08:34.360So this drives our poorest people into forced to be making bad nutritional decisions for their kids.
00:08:42.220I think I saw a poll about six or seven months ago saying that four in five families have either cut the quality or quantity of their diet to adjust for food prices.
00:09:09.340And we're going to see more instability, obviously, with events in Europe, unfortunately, that's ongoing.
00:09:13.240And that's sort of the breadbasket of Europe.
00:09:15.220We should be planning at least to keep the cost of living reasonable around here.
00:09:19.520I'll finish going with some self-interest topic, though.
00:09:23.020We've got an authoritarian government that just seems bent on controlling the media, controlling the Internet, controlling expression and speech.
00:09:31.900What could you do to protect independent outlets so that if and when you became prime minister, I could be unfettered in criticizing you and ripping into your government if you go the wrong way?
00:09:42.440No, listen, I believe in free speech, and I will repeal C-11.
00:09:47.960In fact, in the previous parliament, C-11 was called C-10, and it was the same censorship concept.
00:09:55.100CRTC would have the ability to manipulate social media algorithms to promote content favorable to the government and demote content the government doesn't want people to see, which is a form of censorship.
00:10:07.240That's why I fought hard in the last parliament to delay the passage of C-10 so it never actually made it through the Senate before Trudeau called the election.
00:10:17.180And it's why I'm fighting against C-11 now.
00:10:19.820And if, God forbid, it does become law when I'm prime minister, I will repeal it.
00:10:25.260Well, that's about all I've got for you today.
00:10:27.640I know you just had time for a quick visit.
00:10:29.340Is there more you'd like to add before we let you go here?
00:10:31.400Well, I feel like people have lost control of their lives.
00:10:34.120It's a big, bossy government taking people's money and telling them what to do.
00:10:38.940And that's why I'm running for prime minister to put you back in charge of your life, make Canada the freest nation on earth, let people make their own decisions with their bodies, with their money, with their businesses, with their families, and get the state out of the way.
00:10:53.700Hey, government should only do what people can't do for themselves and leave the rest to communities, to families, entrepreneurs, so that they can fulfill their potential with as little interference as possible.