A special interview with Conservative MP for Calgary Nose Hill, Michelle Rempel-Garner, who joins us from what she describes as her hostage cave in the back corner of the House of Commons. We talk about what it means to be a hostage in a crisis, and why we need an election.
00:01:00.000Good day, I'm Derek Fildebrandt, publisher of the Western Standard.
00:01:19.680We're coming to you live right now for a special interview with Federal Conservative MP for Calgary Nose Hill, I think it is, the Honourable Michelle Rempel-Garner, coming to us from what she describes as her hostage cave on Parliament Hill.
00:01:43.060Thank you for joining us from the Pashtun region.
00:01:47.320Well, it is a very small little cubbyhole in the back corner of the House of Commons here,
00:01:52.580but I'm happy to talk to you today, Derek.
00:02:13.700I guess we'll start with maybe on the conservative side right now, but also in the liberal and maybe even some of the other caucuses that you're getting.
00:02:24.800Yeah, I mean, I guess I think it's really important for people, and I say this with all seriousness, to understand the gravity of what happened yesterday.
00:02:36.000There was nobody in charge of the country, and I'm not even sure who is today.
00:02:40.240I mean, the Liberal government has had so many cabinet ministers resign.
00:02:45.040We didn't even have a finance minister in Canada yesterday.
00:02:48.820So, you know, at a time, Derek, when there's so many serious crises facing the country, right, and Canada is in very uncertain geopolitical waters, there needs to be somebody in charge.
00:03:05.400And, you know, at best, you've got right now a handful of unelected political staff managing from crisis to political crisis, as opposed to dealing with things like affordability, a potential tariff war with the United States, crime waves.
00:03:22.680And so, you know, you talk about vibes. I kind of hate that word because Chrystia Freeland used it to describe the economy, you know, and we can talk about her in a minute, too.
00:03:33.440But people should be, I don't care how people vote, they should be abjectly concerned with the state of affairs that the Liberal government and, frankly, their dance partners in the NDP have presented Canadians with.
00:04:12.840You know, what do you think the mood is over on the other side of the House?
00:04:17.400Well, just looking at some of the coverage, for example, of Liberals coming out of their caucus meeting last night.
00:04:24.820The fact that some of them were coming out in La La Land, kind of going like, yep, everything's fine. It's okay. I think it just speaks to the level of delusion that has permeated both that caucus and frankly, the NDP. And I'm not making this up. They honestly think that everything, there's some of them that think everything is okay. And that's part of the problem, right?
00:04:44.580Like the people in their communities need to disabuse them of this knowledge by confronting them with the reality in which they are living.
00:04:52.520And so I guess that's like, you know, that's what I would say is even talking one on one to people, they will not admit that there is a problem.
00:04:59.020And that is why, like, that is why a lot of these people need to be confronted with this reality in a general election.
00:05:07.480It is very clear that the Liberal government does not have the capacity to govern the country.
00:05:11.800and Canadians need to have, be presented with options.
00:05:17.040Obviously, I would like to see a strong conservative government
00:05:19.940to address our priorities that we have set for the country,
00:05:24.340which are far, far better than what the Liberals are doing right now.
00:05:28.240But the Liberals do not have a mandate.
00:05:30.760They do not have a mandate to govern the country at a time of crisis.
00:06:55.320So Jagmeet Singh walks out into just just in the corridor behind me here and gives this press conference where he's like, Justin Trudeau has to go.
00:07:04.240Justin Trudeau has to go. And then, you know, the inevitable microphone gets put in his face.
00:07:08.180Well, so you're going to you're saying you're going to vote non-confidence in this government at the next opportunity.
00:07:13.660Well, well, I didn't say that. So then he has his like to I see Peter Julian.
00:07:19.040He puts him out in the media later in the day. And he's skating around this like I have, like, you know, the Rideau Canal in January skating around, you know, gold medal pairs skating. Like he did not actually say that they would vote non-confidence. He said that they would look at options or something like that at the end of February after what? After conveniently Jagmeet Singh vests his pension.
00:07:46.120Right. Like I just, you know, the word debase, I think that you used is so right. And Canadians should be outraged by this. Like, I don't know what reality these people are living in, but they're certainly not living in the reality of my constituents.
00:08:01.520who are facing crime, unaffordability, like lost jobs.
00:08:26.880You know, you were talking about some liberals
00:08:28.700coming out of the caucus meeting in La La Land.
00:08:31.520But some were not. Some seem to have been punched in the face by reality and have started to see at least a glimmer of what a majority of Canadians have seen for some time now, that this guy has just lost the moral authority to govern.
00:08:46.700Even if you're a liberal Kool-Aid drinker, I get the sense that at least a good portion of the liberal caucuses realizing, well, loyalty is a one way street with this guy. There's been no one more loyal to Justin Trudeau than Chrystia Freeland. And, you know, he was, she's another woman dumped on the side of the road by him.
00:09:07.680Well, she is. That's true. But like, I want to disabuse anyone who is watching this of the notion that Christia Freeland is a victim in this situation, like from the perspective of like that she's some miraculous, courageous hero. Right.
00:09:23.780I do think that Justin Trudeau has a history of kicking women to the curb. I mean, I think that's definitely what happened with Chrystia Freeland here. But let's talk about her own actions and the moment in which she found courage, right?
00:09:37.840So this is a woman who has gleefully overspent Canada's budget. She's been the most ardent cheerleader of Justin Trudeau's terrible policies for the entirety of his government. She has never once spoken against him.0.81
00:09:50.640And Derek, as recently as a week ago, she did a press conference touting the fall economic statement, like pre-positioning it with her iconic word salad.
00:10:02.660And, you know, so she only found the courage to say something after Justin Trudeau removed her car and driver, after he fired her.
00:10:10.580And, you know, courage only counts when you have something to lose.
00:10:15.460In fact, she has a pile of books to sell, right?
00:10:18.560Right. So so I don't see for Christian Freeland as a heroine in this situation.
00:10:24.140And, you know, so when you talk about the rest of the liberal caucus, like, why are they still voting confidence in Justin Trudeau if they feel this strongly?
00:10:32.660Why are they still doing panels where they support this government's ridiculous talking points?
00:10:38.620Why are they still giving like reporters ridiculous talking points on their their policies?
00:10:44.140everybody's saying like oh well the liberals don't have any way to you know express displeasure and
00:10:49.440Justin Trudeau that's completely baloney they have had any of them can march out behind me and
00:10:55.740give a press conference right now they don't have courage and I don't see the culture of that caucus
00:11:01.160changing with the liberal leadership race it's too calcified so that's why we need an election and
00:11:05.980you know I know I sound angry but like I'm angry on behalf of my constituents that we didn't have
00:11:12.600a finance minister for the entire day yesterday when they were supposed to be presenting the
00:11:17.820budget. Absolutely ridiculous. And, you know, if you think, if Canadians think that, you know,
00:11:23.280Canada's enemies abroad aren't seeing this disorder, it's just, that's wrong. We need
00:11:29.420order, we need stability, and we need an election. Well, speaking of our allies seeing this, I mean,
00:11:36.540there's this, I think this weird idea sometimes in Ottawa that they don't have newspapers in
00:11:42.520Mar-a-Lago in Washington, D.C., and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tweeted last night,
00:11:50.680I don't have the tweet in front of me here, but, you know, sticking his finger into this,
00:11:59.240I was a bit surprised to see him insert himself into a domestic issue like this, but, you know,
00:12:04.700I'm sure he's got some, I'm not sure if it's just pure trolling or if he's got an angle here. I
00:12:08.700think he might he might have an angle and I I'm just not sure what it is but Donald Donald Trump
00:12:15.100sees this it could have been taken as almost applauding her ouster because he doesn't seem
00:12:20.640to like her but I don't think he likes who he calls governor Justin Trudeau as well
00:12:26.320what do you make what's your reaction to Donald Trump's last night I mean Justin Trudeau's
00:12:35.360government can't be trusted to manage this issue. They can't. They've proven themselves incompetent.
00:12:39.840So I'm really glad you brought this up because people will be asking like, okay, well, what are
00:12:45.120you guys doing about it? So moments ago, we actually, as the Conservative Party, we launched
00:12:51.200a motion and I'm just, I want to get this right. We're calling for the International Trade Committee
00:12:56.240to hold hearings beginning the week of January 6th through the 20th so that we can have ministers,
00:13:03.280other officials in front of our committee so that we can actually hold the government to account,
00:13:08.360the non-existing, non-functioning liberal government, that we can at least hold officials
00:13:12.200to account to start understanding how we're going to deal with this issue. You know, Conservative
00:13:18.820Party leader Pierre Polyab was out in the media this week. And, you know, I think there's a couple
00:13:24.400of points that really resonated for me that he made. First of all, that some of the things that
00:13:28.580are being discussed in this dispute are things that Justin Trudeau should have been doing for
00:13:32.460Canada anyways, right? Regardless of Donald Trump, for example, fixing Canada's porous border,
00:13:40.000the hashtag welcome to Canada border that Justin Trudeau put forward in 2017, our broken immigration0.95
00:13:45.580system, the fentanyl crisis. These are things that Justin Trudeau should have been doing a long time
00:13:51.100ago. It shouldn't have taken Donald Trump to say this. But now, you know, given the chaos that's
00:13:57.060in the liberal government, we are putting forward a motion. It's happening right now. So I'll
00:14:01.620probably have to hop off and debate it in the House of Commons to at least get these trade
00:14:06.140committee meetings happening in the House in January so that Canada can be in a position
00:14:12.840to address these issues when clearly the government is not.
00:14:16.980So as soon as you hear the bells ringing or whatever signal, the bat signal that you have1.00
00:14:21.500to go vote, you could hop off just so everyone knows you are there, you're standing by to vote
00:14:27.220So when this ends, it's going to end quickly.
00:14:29.920Some might say that of the government as well, which is an excellent segue, I like to think, to what are the chances that Trudeau falls here?
00:14:41.480The Liberal Caucus declined to empower itself after the last election by giving itself the powers of the Reform Act.
00:14:49.720The Conservative Caucus did give itself those powers and used them very swiftly when the crisis rose over Aaron O'Toole's leadership.
00:14:56.360So to make that leadership dispute fairly bloodless. But, you know, the Reform Act only codifies in law the constitutional powers that MPs already have.
00:15:10.200I've seen, you know, talking heads on the CBC say, well, there is no actual way to remove this. That's just not true.
00:15:17.400Prime ministers have been removed for hundreds of years in Canada and Britain, and premiers have been removed in Canada and Britain, long before the Reform Act.
00:15:26.880It's just merely enshrining powers formally, making it maybe perhaps a bit more orderly.
00:15:33.480What are the, what are the, at some point, maybe Justin Trudeau says, screw it, like I'm done, there's just no good path forward here.
00:15:43.560uh what are the chances that uh that Justin Trudeau I guess it's December it's a walk in the
00:15:51.020snow uh well I I laugh because like I you're asking me to get into Justin Trudeau's head
00:15:56.800which is not a place that I don't think anyone wants to be um but I'll just start my analysis
00:16:03.060of this by saying we need an election like there's nobody in the liberal party like we can't elect
00:16:08.280allow unelected liberal backbenchers or backroomers to choose the next prime minister
00:16:15.560by, you know, doing something like proroguing parliament and going to a liberal leadership
00:16:19.680race, which is what I'm sure a lot of liberal partisan insiders want to happen, right? But
00:16:24.500that's not, this is a minority parliament. Parliament is in disarray due to the liberal
00:16:29.840government disrespecting parliament. I don't think that they have the confidence of parliament
00:16:34.220anymore. So allowing that prorogation for a liberal leadership race, we need an election.
00:16:38.580So I'll preface everything by saying that. But as for Justin Trudeau, you bring a good point.
00:16:43.560The Liberal Party effectively neutered itself. It does not have a mechanism, neither in the
00:16:49.140Reform Act that you mentioned, so within its own caucus, or within its party governance to remove
00:16:54.520a leader. The Conservative Party has it both ways. We have a mechanism in our constitution and in the
00:17:00.380reform act the liberal parties they they all willingly did this they willingly neutered
00:17:05.080themselves with with with by taking away these um uh these mechanisms so justin trudeau it's
00:17:11.780really up to him right he could you know and and you're dealing with a narcissist who has no
00:17:17.160capacity to but they still have the constitutional power well i mean look i mean right now they've
00:17:24.620signed a petition and they had a majority of the governing liberal caucus that signed a petition
00:17:30.080and they had an appointed successor and went over to the governor general yeah but i find this moot
00:17:35.400dark because like at the end of the day like okay could they try and do something maybe it'll take
00:17:41.080them a couple of months to muster up the courage to do this how much more crisis are we going to
00:17:45.700have in the next two months like for somebody who's watching this and saying i can't buy groceries or
00:17:50.340i'm putting milk on my credit card or i just lost my condo they don't want it like they don't want
00:17:54.300to hear about this they want an election and to move on and just to underscore this derek like
00:17:59.500like if these guys were going to do anything that resembled courage, they would have done it a long
00:18:04.180time ago, right? Like, like, like, to your point, there's nothing stopping the guys that are in the
00:18:10.300room next to me, essentially, from saying, Hey, you know what, there's 20 of us, we're going to
00:18:14.420go sit as an independent caucus, which has happened in the conservative party's history
00:18:18.600before. And we're going to take a decision by decision basis on confidence motions until x,
00:18:24.720y or z happens. Have they done that? No, because these are people without courage that are only
00:18:29.120The only calculus they're doing right now is like, is this, am I still going to be able to get a cabinet spot in this failed liberal government?
00:18:36.120Like, literally, that calculus is happening.
00:18:38.760Or is my nomination going to get greenlit by this failed leader?
00:18:56.440they've had all of the windows of opportunity where they would have had enough time to do this
00:19:02.660have passed. There really isn't enough time, but they could provoke. They could do it.
00:19:10.360The only thing I can see that would force a quick, not necessarily resignation of Trudeau,
00:19:17.420but at least trigger the leadership race to replace him, would be the threat of mass resignation of his cabinet.
00:19:22.600maybe this guy's a narcissist derek he doesn't care about anyone do you think he cares about
00:19:29.280his cabinet right and and he has a bunch of other willing numpties in his caucus
00:19:34.180that are more than willing to take his these positions right like and i mean it's basically
00:19:39.560katie telford that's running the government in quotations right now anyways and i know this
00:19:44.540sounds so banal but at the end of the day that's the reality and it's why we need an election like
00:19:48.920Like and again, like I just I'm pushing back a little bit because there's been so many pundits and so many people talking about like, oh, well, you know, the Liberal caucus could do this to have him resign or he should resign.
00:20:00.560We need an election. The entire party has lost the moral authority to govern.
00:20:05.500So the Bloc Québécois has been very clear now. They're not trading.
00:20:10.820It's a weird day when the Bloc Québécois is willing to stand more solidly for the interests of Canada than the NDP.
00:20:16.620But the NDP, as we were talking about, with Jagme Singh, Peter Julian,
00:20:21.880you have to peel their nails off to get even a half answer from these guys right now.
00:20:29.600And it's obviously their decision how they're going to vote.