Western Standard - August 16, 2022


Jean Charest vows to remain a loyal conservative no matter how the race ends


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

190.01274

Word count

2,037

Sentence count

150


Summary

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

Corey Charest joins me to talk about his campaign and the challenges facing him in the final three weeks of the campaign. We talk about the mail-in primary and how to get out the vote and get the vote counted.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 Well, we're getting near the tail end of the campaign.
00:00:01.920 Welcome back to the show, Mr. Charest.
00:00:04.200 Thank you very much.
00:00:05.520 Delighted to join you.
00:00:06.840 Thank you.
00:00:08.300 So I really appreciate you coming on one more time.
00:00:12.140 I imagine you've got to be getting tired.
00:00:13.640 It's been a long haul.
00:00:14.840 You're getting into the final three weeks here.
00:00:17.680 We are.
00:00:18.440 And, you know, it's been a long race because we've started early on.
00:00:22.960 And the first phase was recruiting new members.
00:00:25.560 That finished on the 3rd of June.
00:00:27.540 And only those who are members as of the 3rd of June are eligible to vote.
00:00:33.060 We now know there's 678,000 of them.
00:00:36.380 It's very impressive.
00:00:38.060 All-time record.
00:00:39.260 And now we're in the second phase of persuading people and getting them to vote, Corey.
00:00:43.680 This is a challenge because it's a mail-in ballot.
00:00:47.560 It's a preferential ballot.
00:00:49.320 People have to indicate their first, second, third choice.
00:00:51.880 They don't have to indicate, by the way, a second or third choice.
00:00:54.200 After they have voted for me, Corey, they don't have to fill in the rest of the ballot if they don't want to.
00:01:01.380 And then they have to send in a photocopy of a photo ID.
00:01:07.040 So you can imagine just the description tells you that it's a lot for the average person who has a busy life.
00:01:14.480 They may very easily just set it aside.
00:01:17.440 So we're pressing people to vote.
00:01:19.760 Go out there and vote.
00:01:20.740 The other part of it, Corey, that is difficult to read from everyone's point of view, including the media, is that it's 100 points per writing.
00:01:29.520 Not the number of members.
00:01:31.240 So you could have 7,000 members in a writing, 100 points.
00:01:34.660 700 members in a writing, 100 points.
00:01:37.660 And that's where we have focused our campaign to be as efficient as possible.
00:01:41.540 So it's all about getting out the vote.
00:01:45.120 Yeah, and getting out the vote, whether it's, you know, for folks who haven't dealt with partisan races, you know,
00:01:50.760 it's particularly important in nominations and leadership races because people are selling memberships like all get out.
00:01:57.420 But often people might not be the most motivated voters.
00:02:00.260 You know, the campaign that sells the most memberships doesn't always win.
00:02:04.620 And it's a matter of waking them up and saying, OK, come on, now you've got to follow through and get that voted.
00:02:08.920 And as you said, with it being a photocopied piece of identification and mailing it, the turnout's probably as hard as all you guys are working on this.
00:02:16.620 It's probably going to be a bit limited.
00:02:18.780 It will be.
00:02:19.120 It will be forced.
00:02:20.140 You know, it's going to be a challenge.
00:02:21.860 So we're working on that right now.
00:02:23.780 Just add another twist to it.
00:02:25.260 The Brown campaign.
00:02:26.600 Patrick Brown was disqualified.
00:02:28.060 His leadership, his organizers have all come over to me almost to a person.
00:02:34.460 And we are now working with them so that the people that they had recruited, a lot of them in cultural communities, are voting and that they'll vote for me.
00:02:44.680 And we're very encouraged by that because they are voting.
00:02:47.360 They are supportive of certainly my leadership.
00:02:50.200 And they are not, you know, say it very directly.
00:02:54.180 They're rather anti-Polièvres.
00:02:56.540 And so they'll be voting.
00:02:59.600 But we need to talk to them, mobilize them, and motivate them to vote.
00:03:04.420 So that's what we're doing right now.
00:03:06.360 And we have, by the way, until the 6th of September at 5 o'clock to get the ballots in party headquarters.
00:03:14.440 And after that, all other ballots that come in after that moment, 5 o'clock on the 6th of September, will not be counted.
00:03:21.480 So more of a challenge for us to get out there and motivate people to vote.
00:03:29.120 Yeah.
00:03:29.480 So actually, that reminded me of something because it was so sudden, the departure of Mr. Brown from the race.
00:03:35.320 Was his name still on the ballots then?
00:03:37.540 Well, the party decided to leave his name on the ballot because the ballots had all been printed up.
00:03:45.140 Now, what's the consequence of that?
00:03:46.520 Well, if someone votes for Patrick Brown as first choice or had done that and indicated Jean Charest as their second choice, well, then that second choice will be interpreted as a first choice for me.
00:03:59.320 So that's good, you know, in that scenario.
00:04:02.440 If they've just voted for Patrick Brown, no one else, and left the rest of the ballot blank, then the ballot will not count.
00:04:10.340 I mean, there will be no consequence to that ballot.
00:04:13.760 So that's it.
00:04:15.060 It just adds just another color or layer to the complications of the race, but so be it.
00:04:20.400 We're working hard to make sure that people understand how to vote and who to vote for.
00:04:26.380 If they want a leader who can actually win the country, you know, Corey, all the polling indicates that if I become the leader, I will form a national majority conservative government.
00:04:35.840 If it's Pierre Poitier, we stay in opposition.
00:04:38.560 So that's very much the ballot question for a number of conservatives who are just tired of losing.
00:04:44.840 I mean, we've lost three consecutive election campaigns, and it's not the liberals that won them.
00:04:50.760 We lost them, and that's enough, frankly.
00:04:53.400 So now is the time to choose a leader who is going to unite the party, the country, and who will win a national government.
00:05:00.920 Okay.
00:05:01.460 Well, we're looking at, I guess, two scenarios that could be happening the day after September 10th, getting into the 11th and 12th.
00:05:07.980 I'd like to kind of examine both of them.
00:05:10.040 We'll start with the positive one from your perspective.
00:05:13.000 You've won the leadership.
00:05:14.780 You've taken September 11th as a break.
00:05:16.780 I mean, to say that you are the one who can win the general election, that still means there's going to be a heck of a lot of work between that day and a general election day, whenever that might be.
00:05:28.660 What are your first moves as the new leader of the party?
00:05:31.380 I will hit the ground running on September 11th, the day after, in fact, the evening of, to talk to the other leadership candidates to make sure that they know that they're welcome aboard my team, all of them, including Pierre Poitier.
00:05:44.800 I will then meet with the caucus members and the leadership of the party in very, very short order in the hours and the days that will follow to make sure that everyone knows that, as a leader, they are welcome in my team, that we are going to be working together to prepare the next election campaign and to win that election campaign.
00:06:05.500 And I'm not going to lose a day the moment I become the leader to do that.
00:06:09.800 We need to prepare the platform for the election campaign.
00:06:12.480 I can, you know, tell you in advance, Corey, it's going to be very much focused on the economy and a national government able to deliver big projects and make big things happen.
00:06:21.700 That's where I'm at and that's what I've done all my life and to unify that caucus and that party.
00:06:28.100 And that's exactly what I'll deliver on to deliver a national government.
00:06:31.980 Okay.
00:06:32.400 And then I guess a priority as well, and it's hard to tell where, but you'd want to get a seat in the House of Commons as soon as possible.
00:06:38.660 You're one of the contenders who doesn't currently have one.
00:06:40.740 And is there an area you would have in mind already or spots that look like they might become vacant?
00:06:46.700 Let me share, you know, a secret with you.
00:06:48.960 I'd love to run out west.
00:06:51.040 If there were a seat that opened up out west, I'd love to run out west.
00:06:54.980 And the general election campaign, you know, my, of course, because of where I am from and my attachment to the eastern townships of Quebec of where I'm from, that's another story.
00:07:07.440 But to get into the House of Commons as rapidly as possible, which is what I would want to do, I think it would be great to have a seat in western Canada.
00:07:16.660 So if the outcome doesn't come out as you hope, and perhaps you're the second place finisher, you know, I know it's hard to speculate, but what sort of approach to maintain unity and positivity for the party, you know, could you be taking at that point?
00:07:30.540 Corey, I led this party when there were only two members left after the 93 catastrophic election campaign.
00:07:39.360 And there was two.
00:07:40.660 And I stuck around.
00:07:41.840 I showed up.
00:07:42.800 I didn't walk away from it.
00:07:44.380 So that, you know, anyone who questions my loyalty, the party, frankly, needs to remember the history and what I've stood for and what I've fought for all my life.
00:07:55.000 I will remain a conservative because that's who I am, and those are the values I believe in.
00:08:00.480 Those are the values that I worked with when I governed and formed a government.
00:08:05.720 So I'll be there, and I'm going to remain active.
00:08:10.800 And for the rest, the only scenario for me I see is being the leader of the party and leading us into a campaign and winning a national government.
00:08:18.000 Well, I appreciate that because, again, you know, these races can be such good party-building exercises, but they can also lead to a lot of fracturing and cause more damage than before they even began.
00:08:28.920 So, I mean, maintaining a positive tone, I think, is really important right now.
00:08:32.100 It is.
00:08:32.560 It is very.
00:08:33.340 But, you know, let's be honest here.
00:08:34.800 If there's someone who's going to have a lot of bridges to fix, who's burned a lot of bridges, it's Mr. Putty.
00:08:39.740 I mean, he's been calling, you know, do we have to go through it, calling people liars and calling on their integrity or accusing them and not being conservatives or blah, blah, blah?
00:08:49.580 I mean, as though there's purity tests, as though there's some laboratory in which we get tested.
00:08:54.680 I mean, what do you say to the electorate when they want to vote for you?
00:08:57.200 No, don't vote for me because, no, no, no, don't vote.
00:08:59.720 You may, you're not a conservative.
00:09:01.060 If we're going to form a government, we have to have an open mind and be welcoming of all those who believe in the same things we believe in and want to support us.
00:09:10.300 And that's been my story.
00:09:11.840 And all the polling says that.
00:09:13.320 You look at all the polling says, I become the leader, we form a government.
00:09:17.220 And I'm sorry to say, if Mr. Putty becomes a leader, we stay in opposition.
00:09:21.680 Well, so what have you got on your schedule for this final few weeks to get that vote out and encourage people to mark that ballot your way?
00:09:29.840 I just came off a week on the road.
00:09:32.700 I was in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and the Toronto area, Vaughan, Hamilton and Mississauga, Toronto.
00:09:41.060 I'm heading to Quebec City tomorrow and I'm going to be back working out of Montreal on Friday and Saturday and then I'll probably hit the road back in Ontario next week.
00:09:52.400 So it's going to be a very, very busy time.
00:09:55.300 Tomorrow will be a very busy day in Quebec City.
00:09:58.380 We're meeting with some of our members, supporters.
00:10:01.440 We have a ballot events.
00:10:02.820 We organize events, Corey, where people bring in their ballots and they can photocopy their ID and we help them get that organized.
00:10:10.500 And then we have a fundraiser in the evening.
00:10:12.580 So it's a very intense, very busy period.
00:10:15.900 Well, great.
00:10:16.380 Well, I appreciate you coming on to talk to us towards the tail end of the campaign.
00:10:20.580 And I wish you all the best of luck.
00:10:23.820 And we'll be watching with interest on the evening of September 10th, Mr. Shere.
00:10:27.600 Thank you very much, Corey.
00:10:29.120 And, Corey, could I ask you a favor?
00:10:31.300 By all means.
00:10:32.540 Could you vote for me?
00:10:34.240 I'm not a member, I'm afraid.
00:10:37.720 Thank you, Corey.
00:10:39.020 All right.
00:10:39.680 Thanks.
00:10:39.920 If you were, you would.
00:10:40.960 Thank you.
00:10:41.480 Okay, thanks, Mr. Shere.