Western Standard - HANNAFORD： Grassroots politics over Big Government

00:00:00.000 Good evening, Western Standard viewers, and welcome to Hannaford, a weekly politics show.

00:00:24.820 I'm Jen Hodson, filling in for Nigel Hannaford.

00:00:28.140 My guest today is Fetine Grzeski, a political commentator and former Conservative candidate

00:00:35.620 nominee for the House of Commons and a candidate for the New Brunswick Provincial Legislature.

00:00:41.300 But first, a word from our sponsors.

00:00:45.540 This episode of The Hannaford Show is sponsored by New World Precious Metals, based right here

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00:01:17.500 Fetine Grzeski, an Alberta-born girl and hockey mom, is a political commentator and host of 0.83

00:01:24.540 a national issues commentary show that airs on networks Canada-wide.

00:01:29.620 An executive director in the charitable sector and a candidate nominated for the Federal Conservative

00:01:36.660 Party and a candidate for the New Brunswick Provincial Conservatives.

00:01:41.500 Fetine, welcome to the show. 1.00

00:01:44.320 Great to be here, Jan.

00:01:45.720 Thank you so much for having me.

00:01:47.320 Oh, we're so delighted to have you.

00:01:49.780 So Fetine, given your history in politics as both a Federal and Provincial Conservative candidate,

00:01:56.440 and your work, I hear, with youth driving political change, I reckon you have some special

00:02:01.380 insight into the multi-level political chaos we face as the nation.

00:02:05.500 Yeah, well, you know, I, like you and all of your viewers, I love this nation, you know,

00:02:11.200 and I'm both a businesswoman and a mom, and so, you know, I interface with the issues of

00:02:16.340 the day from a variety of angles.

00:02:18.720 And, you know, the stakes are high, the issues are intense, and it is just a wild time in

00:02:23.560 politics right now, so I'm great to, I'm happy to be with you today to chop up some of

00:02:27.880 the issues of the day.

00:02:28.640 I do want to mention, though, at the federal level, I was a nomination candidate.

00:02:32.880 I lost the nomination by just a hair, and provincially, I was on the ticket, so.

00:02:39.040 Right.

00:02:39.340 I saw that it was really quite a close race, though.

00:02:42.000 It was just by a hair, as you say.

00:02:44.660 So we'll get back to any kind of political ideas you might have in the future towards

00:02:50.760 the end of the show, but for now, let's just jump right into it.

00:02:54.780 So the unelected Mark Carney appears to be a shoe-in for the liberal leader coming up.

00:02:59.680 We have a March 9th liberal leadership contest, and if he wins that, he'll become the next

00:03:06.260 prime minister.

00:03:07.300 And again, he's unelected.

00:03:09.400 So there is speculation that he would call an election right away, but some people are

00:03:14.160 saying that the liberals could de facto stay in power until 2026, even though there's an

00:03:20.680 election scheduled for October 2025.

00:03:22.920 And according to the Charter, I think it's Section 4, if there's an emergency situation,

00:03:29.920 like a tariff war, for example, that it could be even longer.

00:03:34.640 So what do you make of that?

00:03:36.820 Well, you know, what I make of the current political climate is that things are changing,

00:03:40.780 not just by the day, but by the hour, by the minute, right?

00:03:44.400 So I think so much of our political context right now definitely is responsive to what

00:03:50.040 is happening in the United States, specifically with President Trump, and it changes, can change

00:03:56.680 by the day, by the minute.

00:03:57.940 So, you know, in terms of the possibility of the federal election being pushed all the

00:04:03.500 way to 2026, I think the only way that Canadians would have an ounce of that without a major 0.97

00:04:11.020 outcry would be if there was a legitimate national crisis.

00:04:17.320 You know, many people would say that the crisis that we're facing right now is not only external,

00:04:23.940 wasn't just created by the Trump tariff threat, but it's been created by poor domestic policies.

00:04:29.940 The fact that we haven't been able to get our act together on the issue of domestic trade,

00:04:34.900 the imbalance with equalization payments.

00:04:37.720 There's a lot that we could do internally, I think, to bolster our economy, or not I think.

00:04:43.500 There's a lot that we can do internally, domestically, you know, to bolster trade,

00:04:48.980 to bolster the economy, to strengthen our essential industries before we have to go so far as to

00:04:55.960 declaring a national emergency that would cause the election to be delayed a year.

00:05:01.620 So I think the liberals have a pretty hard sell, given the fact that a lot of the economic

00:05:06.300 crisis that we're facing was created by them and by their policies, they're going to have

00:05:11.900 a hard sell with Canadians to push that election all the way to 2026.

00:05:15.660 But, you know, it's a crazy time.

00:05:17.420 It's a wild time and anything could happen.

00:05:19.220 I think we've learned that.

00:05:21.920 Yeah, absolutely.

00:05:23.080 We really do have to be prepared for anything.

00:05:25.480 And just to your point about all of the internal solutions that Canadian politicians, both federally

00:05:33.660 and provincially, could be doing, you mentioned the internal trade.

00:05:37.720 I've recently discussed with both the Alberta Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber

00:05:44.800 of Commerce, amongst some other business agencies here in Canada at both federal and provincial

00:05:50.180 levels, and they are actually all singing a similar tune, that the tariffs are creating

00:05:56.780 a big problem.

00:05:57.680 And should they go through, there's going to be massive impacts.

00:06:00.500 But this isn't just the beginning of a new issue.

00:06:04.060 It's actually been something that's been going on for years or even decades with all these

00:06:09.720 barriers for trade.

00:06:11.020 I also heard about high taxes.

00:06:13.460 You know, we have the carbon tax being spiked again on April 1st, and that's going to be

00:06:19.860 like a 20% increase for, you know, forgive me if I'm slightly off about that, but it's

00:06:24.600 a substantial increase in the carbon tax as well.

00:06:28.180 So it's not like Donald Trump just came along and created these problems for Canada.

00:06:33.480 They were longstanding before.

00:06:35.380 And that's without even touching on the illegal immigration issues that Canada has had for

00:06:40.780 years, and even legal immigration has been so wildly out of control.

00:06:46.660 And in addition to that is where we're learning more and more just what an issue this fentanyl

00:06:52.980 problem has been.

00:06:54.540 So in light of the liberal leadership race, it's like Parliament has been put on pause for

00:07:01.400 this prorogation.

00:07:03.060 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on January 6th, as you know, he announced his intention to

00:07:08.780 resign, but we haven't actually seen any fruit of that except for a prorogued parliament

00:07:13.840 and a liberal candidate scrambling to get their act together for this leadership contest.

00:07:21.820 So how do we square this circle when we have so much going on that needs to be addressed

00:07:28.200 from not just an internal perspective, but internationally?

00:07:33.700 We're dealing with Trump and the tariffs and all the different issues that are collectively

00:07:42.320 adding towards something that we need to really address.

00:07:46.060 But we don't have anyone seated in the House of Commons right now.

00:07:50.980 Yeah, it's incredibly concerning and disappointing, obviously, to have a dysfunctional parliament

00:07:55.920 at such a critical moment in our national timeline here.

00:08:00.460 So, you know, listen, there are so many different things that you said there, but let's go with

00:08:05.260 the low-hanging fruit, first of all.

00:08:06.860 Let's get our domestic trade flowing. 0.69

00:08:10.040 And let's face it, if the one thing that Trump's tariffs threats accomplish is that we get those

00:08:17.940 pipelines built, that we get Energy East flowing, that we start getting our resources to market

00:08:23.260 on both the Pacific and the Atlantic coast, you know, that will be a huge win.

00:08:28.040 Now, obviously, that's not going to happen in a minute.

00:08:30.400 It takes more than a day to build a pipeline.

00:08:33.760 And so we have to be looking at what are some of the other economic levers that can be pulled

00:08:37.680 that are immediate other than just starting a massive trade war with the United States

00:08:44.200 of America.

00:08:44.780 And the low-hanging fruit, Jen, is that carbon tax.

00:08:48.900 It really, really is.

00:08:50.280 This has been one of the deepest grinds on Canadians in the last decade.

00:08:56.080 And the average Canadian household right now, as I understand it, is paying just under $1,000

00:09:01.760 per annum in carbon tax.

00:09:04.420 Well, let's get rid of that.

00:09:06.120 That's just the household burden.

00:09:08.000 You know, we understand as well that this carbon tax is putting immense pressure on our industries,

00:09:12.720 that those costs are being passed on to the consumer in a multiplicity of ways.

00:09:18.880 It is a massive contributor to inflation.

00:09:22.600 So let's start with what we can do right now.

00:09:25.920 And I just, I want to applaud the voices of common sense that have been saying this really

00:09:30.240 now for years.

00:09:31.700 And sometimes, you know, a little bit of an external pain makes us wake up to some of the

00:09:37.800 conversations that we might not have been open to in the past.

00:09:40.460 And I want to say this, like, I'm an Alberta girl originally, but I've really lived all

00:09:45.280 over the nation.

00:09:46.680 I lived in Vancouver, went to university there, and then have built my life kind of across the

00:09:51.380 nation.

00:09:51.780 We're in New Brunswick right now.

00:09:53.460 And, you know, Jen, I've noticed that, you know, a lot of Eastern Canadians really don't

00:09:59.060 understand the policy press that has been put on the financial economic engine of our

00:10:05.120 nation, namely Alberta and Western Canada.

00:10:07.760 They just, it's not that they don't care, it's just that they don't know.

00:10:10.540 It's not something that is widely talked about.

00:10:13.400 And what's happening here with the discourse surrounding the tariffs and with the strong

00:10:18.220 leadership of Premier Danielle Smith is it's bringing this conversation to the fore in a

00:10:24.000 way that I think is really critical, important, and probably the lightest word in the mix I could

00:10:29.600 use there would just be healthy.

00:10:30.820 Like, this needs to be a conversation where we've got $300 billion in equalization payments

00:10:37.300 over the last several decades, and yet an all-out war on the very industry that makes those

00:10:44.360 payments possible.

00:10:45.880 You know, we need to have a conversation.

00:10:47.520 So I would say, I would advocate for beginning with the conversations we can have domestically,

00:10:52.020 internally.

00:10:52.400 Let's get some stuff done here at home.

00:10:54.600 And then let's learn how to be diplomats on the international stage and not just throw

00:10:59.540 mud from over the fence.

00:11:01.300 Like, I applaud Danielle Smith and her leadership.

00:11:04.020 I think she's demonstrating how to get it done.

00:11:07.300 Yes, I agree.

00:11:08.280 I think that Premier Smith is doing a great job.

00:11:10.620 It's really refreshing to see such a strong, level-headed voice come out in defense of Canada,

00:11:19.420 in defense of Alberta.

00:11:20.440 And without taking on this Team Canada rhetoric either, that the federal liberals are all of

00:11:27.160 a sudden putting forward, without, too long ago in recent memory was the Freedom Convoy,

00:11:36.400 where the federal liberals, of course, were acting like anyone who was on so-called Team

00:11:43.060 Canada was some kind of a domestic terrorist or something, calling the Emergencies Act, which

00:11:48.060 was recently appealed in the federal court by the Trudeau liberals.

00:11:53.540 So to circle back to about what you mentioned about the carbon tax and how that is impacting

00:11:59.560 us internally, how do you think that makes us look on the world stage?

00:12:05.200 We're really the only nation that has these kind of measures anymore.

00:12:10.000 We see other Western nations walking back these climate policies.

00:12:14.380 So how do you think it makes us look and what does it do for our attractiveness as global

00:12:21.100 trading partners?

00:12:22.380 You know, we're facing down the barrel of a gun of this looming trade war.

00:12:27.680 Who's going to be wanting to do business with Canada with all of these extra taxes, including

00:12:32.540 this astronomical carbon tax that is tacked on to all of our goods and commodities?

00:12:38.820 Yeah, you make a really important point.

00:12:41.140 How do we look on the international stage?

00:12:43.060 I haven't asked any of my international friends and colleagues, particularly on this issue,

00:12:48.340 but I'd have to say we look ridiculous.

00:12:50.400 You know, our emissions output is 1.4 percent of global emissions.

00:12:55.560 The last time I researched it, maybe we're somewhere near 1.6 percent, but we're definitely

00:12:59.900 not past two.

00:13:00.820 I hadn't even heard, you know, for decades, you know, I remember back in probably around

00:13:06.600 2009, Stephen Harper saying, listen, we could tank our entire economy as we drive towards

00:13:13.940 net zero and really make almost no impact on the global emissions footprint.

00:13:19.460 And, you know, that's just logical, right?

00:13:22.300 And so, you know, we do need to think about our families.

00:13:25.460 We need to think about our businesses.

00:13:27.280 We need to think about creating that climate once again, speaking of self-sabotage, creating

00:13:33.540 that climate once again, where Canada becomes attractive to business and that those of us

00:13:39.160 here that are business owners like myself, you know, are actually able to flourish and

00:13:43.980 build a life for their families that is prosperous.

00:13:47.280 And so these are no-brainers.

00:13:48.860 These are no-brainers.

00:13:49.680 And we are at a time where the pendulum needs to come back.

00:13:53.220 Crazy has just gotten more crazy on some of these frontiers.

00:13:58.120 And it's time to begin to look at these things pragmatically, logically, and ask those tough

00:14:03.660 questions like why in the world are we killing our economies, these various industries, when

00:14:08.000 it's really having a negligible impact on global emissions?

00:14:11.920 Yeah.

00:14:12.260 We really got to get the adults back in the room, back in the House of Commons, where these

00:14:17.020 matters can be actually discussed with leadership and with a leader that has a mandate from the

00:14:24.260 Canadian people.

00:14:26.120 So just again, back to the Mark Carney and liberal leadership.

00:14:30.740 So Carney, there's, again, there's speculation that he would call an election right away because

00:14:36.180 he would just become the de facto prime minister if he wins the leader liberalship race, which

00:14:44.280 it looks like he's going to do.

00:14:46.400 So what do you see happening?

00:14:49.720 So Parliament is coming back March 24th.

00:14:53.060 That's when the prorogation is over.

00:14:55.060 The leader liberalship contest is going to be just a few weeks before that on March 9th.

00:14:59.860 So we're going to have a new prime minister in place.

00:15:04.300 And it's not going to be elected by Canadians.

00:15:08.480 It's going to be someone elected by liberals, essentially.

00:15:11.580 And they're going to be leading the country.

00:15:13.260 So a lot of people are looking at the polls, looking to see when is the next election, because

00:15:19.920 many Canadians are liking what they hear from Conservative leader Pierre Polyev.

00:15:25.560 But it seems like there's still a few hurdles to jump over.

00:15:29.760 And as I mentioned at the beginning of our discussion, it seems like there is a constitutional

00:15:36.420 mechanism.

00:15:37.800 I think you even said that earlier, that would keep the liberals and ergo Carney, should he

00:15:44.740 win the leadership race in power, even beyond 2026, if Parliament votes to repeal, of course.

00:15:54.060 And with the support of Jagmeet Singh and the NDP, that very well could happen.

00:15:59.160 Yeah, there's so much in what you just outlined there.

00:16:02.920 But just to say this, in politics, usually polling rules the day, unfortunately.

00:16:08.080 And that is, again, so discouraging and disheartening as someone who loves Canada.

00:16:12.820 And I know you're in the same boat and is deeply concerned about the trajectory that our

00:16:16.840 nation has been on.

00:16:17.460 We need an election for the sake of the will of democracy to be expressed.

00:16:24.720 But we know that political parties, they're going to be looking at the polls.

00:16:27.940 They're going to be looking at the temperature of what's happening, how what's happening in

00:16:33.560 the United States of America and President Trump's policies, how that's going to be impacting

00:16:38.880 the political climate.

00:16:39.940 It seems like the liberals are trying to set themselves up to be campaigning against President

00:16:45.180 Trump, not against Pierre Polyam.

00:16:48.060 And so they're going to be watching these things.

00:16:50.280 Obviously, political parties always try to strike when they think that it is most beneficial

00:16:55.300 to them.

00:16:56.480 So, again, like I said earlier, anything could happen.

00:16:59.320 So I really feel like it's wisdom just for people to engage at the grassroots level right

00:17:04.520 now and not take anything for granted.

00:17:07.060 You mentioned the whole dynamic that we will have a prime minister that was not elected by

00:17:13.100 the Canadian people, but rather by the members of the Liberal Party.

00:17:17.840 And now the deadline has passed.

00:17:19.540 I don't know what the membership is out right now for the federal liberals.

00:17:22.840 But I do know that when Justin Trudeau ran, he won, I think, believe it was with 90,000

00:17:29.240 votes.

00:17:29.840 So if you weigh 90,000 votes up against 40 million people, that's 90,000 people deciding

00:17:35.740 for 40 million that Justin Trudeau was going to be the official leader of the opposition

00:17:40.980 back in the day.

00:17:42.300 So, yeah, you're right.

00:17:43.640 But this just illustrates why it is so important for people to get involved in grassroots,

00:17:49.520 partisan politics with the party that most represents their views and values.

00:17:54.060 Because if you're involved in things like these leadership races, you're going to be

00:17:57.660 the one that sets the temperature in the room.

00:18:01.500 And I think it goes without saying, I need to highlight this right now because I'm not sure

00:18:04.860 why we're not talking about this one more.

00:18:06.620 And that is that there are nominations that are being rolled out all across Canada right

00:18:12.300 now.

00:18:12.500 As a matter of fact, I just got an email yesterday from somebody, right?

00:18:16.640 Just a stone's throw from you right there, Jen.

00:18:18.880 In Calvary, there's a nomination that just opened up in Bow River, I believe.

00:18:22.820 It'll be huge by the time this is airing.

00:18:25.720 But these nominations are rolling out right now.

00:18:27.860 And lots of these nominations will be determined by just a couple dozen Canadians that buy a membership

00:18:33.740 in the party that they resonate with.

00:18:36.640 And it's going to be those Canadians that literally set the climate for our nation going

00:18:43.280 forward.

00:18:44.520 You know, we know up until about a month ago, most of the polls were projecting a super

00:18:50.100 majority for Pierre Polyev.

00:18:51.980 So to be honest, the more important elections, it's really not the liberal leadership race,

00:18:58.520 if those polls are true.

00:18:59.420 It's actually those nominations that are happening all across Canada right now that are going

00:19:04.220 to determine the climate of the Conservative Caucus and the climate of the House of Commons

00:19:09.560 here within, well, we'll see, six or 18 months.

00:19:14.240 Yeah.

00:19:14.640 Well, that's such an interesting point because I think for a while there, the Conservative movement

00:19:20.440 was feeling pretty confident that Pierre Polyev had it in the bag or has it in the bag for

00:19:26.900 a super majority.

00:19:28.520 However, there's been kind of a toss up since this Liberal leadership race got going with

00:19:34.780 a lot of Liberals who had jumped ship under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

00:19:40.780 Now with Mark Carney, things, you know, seem to have shifted a little bit.

00:19:45.340 He seems to have some appeal for some former Liberals or Liberals that were starting to feel

00:19:50.980 wishy-washy and maybe said that they would vote Conservative because they want to see someone

00:19:56.100 that's a little bit more competent in the leadership role as the nation's leader.

00:20:02.960 And so people, I think, are finding some likability perhaps in Mark Carney.

00:20:09.200 And we see in the polls recently, you know, you say polls are what really demonstrates the

00:20:15.300 situation that actually the Liberals are starting to gain a little bit more ground.

00:20:21.520 So just as we're wrapping it up, you know, you mentioned about grassroots movements and

00:20:27.240 that it's not so much the big general election that is going to have the poll, but in these

00:20:34.720 smaller by-elections.

00:20:36.580 And what are some other ways that people on a more local level or more grassroots level

00:20:44.020 can get involved and can really play a role, a democratic role in what is to come of this

00:20:52.060 nation?

00:20:53.020 That's a great question.

00:20:54.140 And thank you so much for it.

00:20:55.500 I think the most important thing that your viewers can do, the listeners can do after they

00:21:01.260 are done listening to this podcast is to go and make sure that your membership is active

00:21:08.000 in the party that most represents your views and values and just get in the room.

00:21:14.400 It's not the people that are outside of the room that determine the temperature and the

00:21:18.580 conversations.

00:21:19.100 It's the people that are in the room.

00:21:20.960 And then once you're in the room, raise your hand, you know, every time that there's an

00:21:24.900 opportunity to volunteer and to serve.

00:21:27.560 And I always encourage the people that I lead to come with a service heart, to come with a

00:21:33.060 heart of honor.

00:21:33.740 I think we are all so weary and tired of toxic politics, right?

00:21:40.160 And we can be that change.

00:21:41.900 I say, get in the room, get in the room with courage, be a voice for the things that you

00:21:45.780 care about, but also do it in a way that is going to foster unity and a culture of kindness.

00:21:52.520 Like I just came through one of the most toxic elections that, oh my gosh, it was crazy.

00:21:58.740 I, it was just crazy.

00:22:01.180 And I just, you know, all of us have to decide, number one, we're either going to be in the

00:22:05.100 room or we're not, because it's only going to be the people in the room that have sway.

00:22:08.760 And number two, we're going to be that person in the room that contributes to a healthy culture

00:22:14.400 within our political discourse, or we're not.

00:22:17.740 And so I think those are the two, if we all just did those two basic things, got in the

00:22:21.400 room and then helped contribute to a healthy culture, then we would see change in our nation

00:22:27.180 within short order for sure.

00:22:30.000 Wow.

00:22:30.300 That is so good.

00:22:31.620 Thank you so much for that perspective and for wrapping up the show on a positive note,

00:22:36.280 because, you know, we can sit back and comment on all these political unfoldings, but until

00:22:42.880 people realize that actually it's up to we, the people and decide to get involved ourselves.

00:22:49.180 And that's where the change really comes from.

00:22:51.780 So I love hearing that.

00:22:54.080 And Fetine, it's been amazing to have you on the show.

00:22:57.040 Thank you so much for joining us.

00:22:59.060 This is Fetine Grisecci, who has her show on Fetine TV, and she is a former conservative

00:23:06.780 candidate for the House of Commons nominee and for the provincial legislature in New Brunswick.

00:23:15.080 Fetine, any last words?

00:23:16.540 Oh, no, it's just been wonderful to be with you, Jen.

00:23:19.360 This is great.

00:23:20.420 And maybe I'll just land it with the words of a very Honorable Albertan, the Honorable

00:23:26.880 Preston Manning.

00:23:27.800 Let's just get out there and do something.

00:23:31.060 Sounds great.

00:23:32.500 Yeah, those are amazing parting words.

00:23:34.660 So thank you to you.

00:23:35.500 Thank you to the Honorable Preston Manning for his insight.

00:23:39.080 I saw that you just recently did a segment or four-show segment with him.

00:23:43.500 So thank you, Fetine, and all the best to you.

00:23:46.620 Thank you, Jen.

00:23:48.080 Thank you for joining us for The Hannaford Show this week.

00:23:51.040 I'm Jen Hodson.

00:24:12.920 Thank you.

00:24:14.000 Thank you.

00:24:34.640 Thank you.

Western Standard - February 28, 2025

HANNAFORD： Grassroots politics over Big Government

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