Western Standard - EXCLUSIVE： Roman Baber on his CPC leadership race.

00:00:00.000 Hello, I'm Melanie Risden with the Western Standard and this comes on the heels of the

00:00:05.760 CPC leadership debate. The first one that happened so far in Edmonton on Wednesday and

00:00:12.720 joining me right now is one of the leadership candidates, Roman Babber, and he is joining us

00:00:19.240 to just talk a little bit about some of his positions on some of the topics that are affecting

00:00:26.700 Canadians these days and just to let us know a little bit more about what we can expect from him

00:00:32.900 if he's voted in as the Conservative Party of Canada's leader. So thoughts on the debate. I've

00:00:40.420 heard a lot of reaction on the debate that it was strange. In fact, some people have called it the

00:00:46.880 worst political debate as far as the formalities and how it was put together. What were your thoughts

00:00:53.400 on that debate? I think that Tom Clark, the moderator, certainly lost. I think it's regretful

00:01:01.000 that there was so much emphasis at getting so many quick answers in there as opposed to actually

00:01:08.060 allowing candidates to express themselves. There's not much you can say in 15 seconds and also the

00:01:15.740 idea that somehow they had to control effectively the the manner of the conversation and that is

00:01:23.340 not to stray into some sort of direction seems counterintuitive when you want to try and get to know

00:01:31.420 the candidates. And this goes on the heels of of the North strong and free debate from the week before that was deemed by

00:01:39.100 the media to be nasty. And so what what they try to do is they try to steer us in a civil direction.

00:01:46.300 But even if a candidate was uncivil, then you perhaps you should know that as you as you go into vote.

00:01:52.380 So it's regret. That's actually a really good point. So it's regretful that we've heard so much from the

00:01:58.620 moderator and less from the candidates. You know, agreed. And I think from the viewer standpoint, what I saw

00:02:06.140 a lot of the sort of, you know, little personal tidbits interesting for sure, but I think a lot of

00:02:13.900 people would argue they would have preferred to hear more on on the opinions of topics that are very

00:02:21.740 near and dear to a lot of Canadians hearts and minds right now. I thought I did well. I thought our

00:02:27.820 campaign did well. I enjoyed the debate. And despite the moderator and the rules. And I think, again,

00:02:36.860 this is now a second debate that I've participated in the last two weeks. And our campaign is feeling

00:02:43.180 very, very positive about the way that they went. And I'm glad that I'm able to take my message directly

00:02:49.740 to Canadians instead of it being filtered. Well, I would definitely say that your stance on

00:02:58.140 many topics, actually, I think, I think are of interest to specifically Western Canadians and

00:03:05.260 Albertans alike. Our own columnist Linda Slobodian spoke with you and she called you the only actual

00:03:12.780 conservative running as a candidate. What are your thoughts on that statement?

00:03:17.260 It's a kind thing of Linda to say. And in fact, I said this yesterday during the debate,

00:03:23.180 I said that we should not be afraid to communicate who we are. And that's a key to winning any election

00:03:29.260 is that voters must perceive credibility. And that means being genuine about our positions. And we can't

00:03:36.700 be afraid and run to the right during the leadership and then pivot to the left during the general. I have

00:03:43.740 proposed that we should take some bold stances on a number of issues that conservatives have been

00:03:49.500 afraid to take on. For instance, as you may know, I have proposed that I will abolish equalization.

00:03:56.700 I don't think that it makes sense that we continue this culture of dependency anymore.

00:04:01.340 I'm not satisfied that the constitutional standard, assuming that it is a firm standard even to begin with,

00:04:07.340 is met whereby provinces are unable to maintain comparable level of services. And if they're not,

00:04:13.340 then I would like to understand why not and perhaps empower them by way primarily of natural resources to

00:04:20.300 be able to provide those services. I'm glad that we're talking about supply management. I'm glad that

00:04:26.060 finally the party has come around on passports and mandates are referred to as 21st century segregation.

00:04:32.780 I think that a lot of Canadians expect the Conservative Party to stand up for them,

00:04:36.460 something that they failed to do for the last two years. And by being firm and being who we are,

00:04:43.020 I think will appeal to many more Canadians. And speaking of some of those controversial

00:04:48.300 areas where, you know, you've come out loud and clear, is your stance on the mandate? And of course,

00:04:55.100 that leading to you being ousted from the Doug Ford Conservative government in Ontario. Why is this

00:05:04.300 such an important topic to you, this idea of standing against the mandates? And you have said very

00:05:10.540 clearly that if you are voted in, you would work to have them all gone?

00:05:16.220 Well, I think to make a human being choose between their ability to put food on the table

00:05:25.740 and their personal health is inhumane. We have never forced anyone to do anything against their will.

00:05:32.940 And make someone choose between their ability to feed their family is not much of a choice. And for

00:05:39.180 the record, we all still agree that it is a choice. And surely the science no longer backs that up.

00:05:46.220 We know that according to most medical officers and even the manufacturer, two shots offer minimal

00:05:52.300 protection against infection. So any suggestion that someone's risk of transmission is higher

00:05:58.940 because the rate of infection is higher is now off the table. No one's putting anyone at risk. I always

00:06:05.420 thought that it was a very hateful proposition, one that we should oppose clearly. Instead of just

00:06:10.940 stumping our chest and yelling freedom, we can articulate a sensible and moderate position and

00:06:15.740 convince a lot of Canadians that are not sure about this. But just to, if I may, to clarify,

00:06:21.500 I was not removed by Doug Ford over my stance on the mandates. I was removed much earlier in January 2021

00:06:29.340 over my opposition to the lockdowns. I published an open letter to the Premier, Premier Ford, whose

00:06:37.100 government I served in at the time, that we should factor in the toll of our public health response,

00:06:44.140 namely the lockdowns, into, and the risk thereof, into the total equation. Because it became very clear

00:06:53.260 that the mental health tour and in particular the health toll of the lockdowns was very, very significant.

00:07:01.100 For instance, Ontario missed more than delayed or canceled more than 300,000 surgeries. We had more

00:07:07.660 than a million cancer screenings missed. We see the same picture throughout the country. And so it's regretful

00:07:12.700 that at the expense of, instead of focusing protection on vulnerable population and congregate

00:07:19.260 settings and building healthcare capacity will lock down 35 million Canadians and potentially made them 0.88

00:07:26.220 sick. Right. Well, thanks for clarifying that. And speaking of, you know, you already brought up

00:07:33.580 equalization and again, another polarizing topic and one that I think I wouldn't mind you touching on a

00:07:41.900 little bit more. I mean, we're, you're saying that if you were elected, you would end all equalization

00:07:48.940 payments in the country by the end of your first term. Now, Alberta. So speaking to Albertans in

00:07:55.580 Edmonton on Wednesday, you know, Alberta is one of the provinces that transfers likely the most amount

00:08:03.740 across the country when it comes to equalization payments. And a lot of that obviously comes from

00:08:10.380 the development of the oil and gas sector here, which, you know, comparatively, when you look at,

00:08:15.900 say, Quebec, who chooses not to, to develop their oil and gas, and then receive the equalization payments,

00:08:25.660 it sort of feels like this, that, that, you know, it creates that, as you, as you referred to it, that

00:08:34.220 dependence, dependency. Why don't you speak a little bit more to that, and, and how you see it being a

00:08:43.340 priority to change, and what you would propose? Thank you. Well, first of all, to begin with,

00:08:50.620 I believe that our natural resources are a blessing. And I'm not going to let oil and gas be canceled.

00:08:58.700 Development of natural resources is not just good for our strategic interest and our economic bottom

00:09:04.940 line. I think it's good for the planet, because Canadians can derive energy cleaner and safer than any 0.73

00:09:12.460 other nation in the world. But to go back to equalization, equalization in and of itself is

00:09:20.460 basically redistribution. You take from one and you give to the other. And many of your viewers might

00:09:27.660 know that I was born in the Soviet Union. And in fact, it's, it's because of my place of origin that

00:09:34.540 I'm so passionate about Canada's democracy, and very, very worried about its erosion, which is

00:09:41.100 probably the primary reason why I'm in this race and, and why I'd like to lead the Conservative Party

00:09:46.220 and our country to restore Canada's democracy. But comparable to that regime of redistribution

00:09:52.540 is equalization payments. And I think it's not just unfair to Canadians who pay into

00:10:00.860 equalization. It also discourages productivity, research and development. It discourages production.

00:10:10.780 And I don't think that we should be holding Canadians back. I think that we should do the opposite.

00:10:16.060 One of the themes of my campaign is to let people work. And that means that we should not stand in the

00:10:20.860 way of Canadians working, but to encourage them to work. And I'm, I'm heartened, I'm happy to see that

00:10:27.420 there are a lot of voices that in fact receive equalization that are in favor of abolish it.

00:10:32.860 For instance, Premier Higgins in New Brunswick. A couple of years ago, he came out and said,

00:10:37.740 maybe instead of equalization, we should be developing our natural resources. And that's

00:10:41.580 precisely what I'm proposing. I think that there is no reason why Canada should not be a natural resources

00:10:48.940 superpower. And I'm, I'm very excited about charting that path by ending equalization.

00:11:00.220 So having said that, then your thoughts on the carbon tax, where, where are you? What's your stance

00:11:05.580 on that? And, you know, do we do away with it? Do we reform it? What does that look like for you?

00:11:11.420 I will repeal the carbon tax on day one. Canada's responsible for one and a half percent of all global

00:11:18.540 emissions. Even if we were to cut all of them, there is no clear evidence that that would make

00:11:24.220 any material difference. All that the carbon tax does is make life more expensive. And I don't

00:11:31.020 believe, with respect to all of my friends, that taxing Sally 10 bucks at the gas pump and on everything

00:11:38.220 she buys at the store will somehow change the climate. And so I would propose that we do away with it

00:11:47.260 completely. And we do not hinder Canadian opportunity. And at the same time, cost of living

00:11:55.180 is something that is very, very important to many Canadians right now. Produce has tripled in the last

00:12:02.060 couple of years, meat is up, everything is so, so expensive. I'd like to find ways to make life more

00:12:07.500 affordable for Canadians. So does that then, you know, and I was actually just going to ask you that,

00:12:12.940 how we can, as a country, try to find these ways to make life more affordable? Soaring inflation,

00:12:21.100 you know, housing crisis because of the cost of housing, you know, with the carbon tax. But what

00:12:27.820 more? What more can we do? Absolutely. So for instance, with the money that I intend to save from

00:12:32.700 equalization, I propose an income tax cut. Last year, equalization was about $21 billion. That would be a

00:12:41.020 material tax cut across the board for all Canadians. I would also propose that the best thing we can do

00:12:49.180 to stop runaway inflation other than stop the printing of money. We have accumulated half a trillion

00:12:55.500 worth of debt in the last two years with nothing to show for. We didn't build a single hospital. We

00:13:00.700 didn't hire a single nurse. It's very regretful. But beyond that, we have to appreciate

00:13:07.180 that we have a major supply chain disruption by virtue of the lockdowns, something that no candidate

00:13:16.540 in this race other than myself has been willing to point out. We stopped the global supply chain

00:13:21.580 at its tracks a couple of times, got demand going a couple of times, and our market is in a

00:13:25.180 disequilibrium. And so providing some certainty to the market that we're not shutting down again

00:13:31.420 will immediately go a long way to restoring this equilibrium, end the printing of money,

00:13:38.620 repeal the carbon tax, give folks an income tax cut. And perhaps we should look, revisit the way

00:13:46.140 the way government does business. I'm going to propose the capping of spending,

00:13:49.820 discretionary spending to the rate of inflation. There are a lot of things we can actually do.

00:13:54.540 So would you say that that is the most pressing issue for Canadians right now? Or what stands out to you

00:14:00.220 as the most important issue right now? I think that the most important issue and the greatest

00:14:06.620 threat to Canada right now is the erosion of Canada's democracy. And I believe that it's very,

00:14:11.820 very real. We have a law making its way through Parliament looking to censor speech. We have

00:14:21.660 a good percentage of Canadians, 15 to 20 percent of Canadians, that are treated like second-class

00:14:26.780 citizens, and are unable to participate fully in society, travel freely, enter and exit Canada freely,

00:14:36.380 or potentially many of them have already or are afraid to lose their jobs.

00:14:41.020 We have a federal government that invokes the successor of the War Measures Act, the Emergencies

00:14:47.660 Act, when it nowhere nearly meets the letter of the law. Seizing of bank accounts without a court order,

00:14:55.580 this is an unprecedented assault on Canada's democracy. And Melanie, without democracy,

00:15:01.100 we don't have anything. You can't have a strong economy. You can't have certainty of property.

00:15:06.060 You can't have investor confidence to develop our natural resources without certainty in our

00:15:10.380 democracy. And as I said to you, I was born in a communist regime, and I know how precious Canada's

00:15:17.180 democracy is. That is my first priority, is to defend, restore Canada's democracy.

00:15:23.260 Now, I know that you are, as I mentioned, you have your position on many things is appealing to

00:15:30.060 Albertans. What do you say to the Albertans in this growing movement of separation?

00:15:39.260 I've got to keep you here. And I've had a number of these conversations with my friends in Alberta over

00:15:46.140 the last couple of days. And I understand that there's this desire to potentially

00:15:53.420 for more independence. But I'm going to do a couple of things. First of all, I'm going to fully

00:16:00.860 unleash your economic potential by working with you at allowing further ways to develop your natural

00:16:07.180 resources. I will repeal the anti-pipeline bill on day one. Makes sense. It's so much safer to

00:16:15.020 transpond oil by pipe than train. I would think that anyone that cares about the environment would

00:16:23.820 prefer a pipeline over a train. I'm going to repeal equalization. And most importantly,

00:16:30.140 I'm a politician from Ontario, and I know how many of them think and how folks in Quebec think.

00:16:37.900 I think that the political class needs to appreciate that there is life outside of Ontario and Quebec.

00:16:44.460 And I need to bring you into the national conversation. And I start doing that by bringing

00:16:50.620 conservative members from Western Canada and the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada into the conversation.

00:16:57.020 I hope to do everything possible to maintain unity within our party and our country.

00:17:04.940 And pollsters do say that for you to win, it would feel like a long shot. What are your thoughts on

00:17:13.340 that? If you aren't successful, what are your plans there? What do you have to say to the people

00:17:19.820 who say it's a long shot for you? Our campaign keeps exceeding expectations. First, there was some

00:17:25.260 question as to whether my application would be approved, given that I was asked to leave a

00:17:29.980 provincial caucus. We got approved. Then there was a question as to whether I'll be able to make it onto

00:17:34.780 the ballot by raising the $300,000 plus the $60,000 tax on top of the fee. And so we have. We raised the

00:17:43.420 money and now I'm on the final ballot. I've now participated in two debates. And by all accounts,

00:17:50.540 I've done really well in the debates and more and more voters are seeing that there's another credible

00:17:56.380 option here. And finally, I anticipate that we're going to, in addition to exceeding expectations,

00:18:03.500 I'm looking to unite democracy loving Canadians. And that includes the freedom movement that is not

00:18:10.940 entirely settled as to where it's going to go. But we have made a lot of headway with freedom.

00:18:17.180 And I'm confident this is going to propel us to a good result on first ballot, which may translate

00:18:25.020 into the climbing up as we continue along the ballots. So we love exceeding expectations and

00:18:32.220 we love to be considered the underdog as well. So rising to the occasion. And if you are not successful,

00:18:39.900 will you consider running for the Conservative Party on the federal level?

00:18:44.620 You know, what would be your plans moving forward?

00:18:48.620 I'm not sure.

00:18:49.260 Yeah, I haven't thought that through.

00:18:52.380 Okay.

00:18:52.620 I like to joke and it's true, Melody. I don't really love, I don't really like politics. And

00:18:58.940 I've enjoyed, I was very, very blessed in private practice, practicing law. Before I was elected,

00:19:04.140 I practiced for 12 years. It's better for, you know, for the paycheck. It's better for your privacy.

00:19:11.340 And certainly my loved ones. Politics is very, very taxing, especially the last couple of years

00:19:16.780 and everything that I've been blessed to experience. So I don't want to make a prediction.

00:19:24.300 I am committed to being competitive in this race and we're in it to win it.

00:19:29.500 All right. You are in Alberta for how long? What's your next stop? Where are you heading?

00:19:36.780 We're going to hang around Calgary for the day. Then we may stop in Red Deer on our way back to

00:19:43.420 Edmonton. I have an event scheduled in Edmonton. We're going to meet some folks there as well tomorrow

00:19:51.820 and probably head back to Ontario on the weekend. Well, thank you for filling us in a little bit

00:19:59.660 more in depth than people were able to hear at the debate on Wednesday. Again, Conservative Party

00:20:06.700 of Canada candidate, Roman Bavard joining us in studio today. Thanks for watching.

00:20:11.180 Thank you so much.

Western Standard - May 13, 2022

EXCLUSIVE： Roman Baber on his CPC leadership race.

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