Western Standard - LIVE： The 2022 CPC English Leadership Debate

00:00:00.000 .

00:00:30.000 I'm here at the Edmonton Convention Center where the first official Conservative leaders

00:00:53.760 debate is scheduled to take place.

00:00:55.240 We're going to see all six candidates debate this time around.

00:00:57.880 Patrick Brown is joining his contenders.

00:00:59.760 As you might remember, he wasn't there for the last debate,

00:01:02.000 the unofficial debate on Friday.

00:01:03.600 So this is gonna be our first opportunity

00:01:05.080 to see them all debate in English.

00:01:07.700 Looking forward to it.

00:01:08.680 Rachel Emanuel reporting for the Western Standard

00:01:10.540 from Edmonton.

00:01:28.760 Canada as one of this country's most distinguished journalists.

00:01:32.920 He's interviewed every Prime Minister since John Diefenbaker.

00:01:37.320 Please welcome Mr. Tom Clark.

00:01:48.040 Thanks very much Rick and Diane and good evening Edmonton. How are you?

00:01:54.040 terrific and in fact good evening canada because this event is being broadcast live

00:02:03.920 right across the country by cbc and by ctv so this is for everybody

00:02:09.940 i want to thank all of you to start off with and of course the organizing committee for inviting

00:02:18.580 me to participate in what is going to be a very important evening and frankly i don't

00:02:23.960 know who was more courageous, them or me, but anyway, here we are. This is going to be a very

00:02:30.660 big night for conservatives, obviously, for all of you in the room and conservatives across the

00:02:35.340 country, because you will have the opportunity to listen, to assess, and ultimately to judge

00:02:41.300 who among these six candidates is the best one to lead the party into the future. I would also say

00:02:48.640 that this is a very big night for Canadians everywhere in Canada, regardless of political

00:02:54.540 stripe or affiliation, because good, healthy, informed, and yes, passionate debate is the

00:03:03.580 very lifeblood of a good, healthy democracy.

00:03:14.900 therefore everybody has a real stake in what happens on this stage tonight. So a couple of

00:03:23.540 quick notes before we begin. I want to back up what Rick and Diane said. As they say in the

00:03:28.160 theater business, please remain seated for the entire performance. No clapping, no booing, nothing,

00:03:35.760 nothing, nothing. You know, the consequences of what will happen if you do. But honestly, tonight,

00:03:41.680 Let's just leave the stage to these six people.

00:03:44.220 I think that's the right way to go.

00:03:47.180 I'm going to be calling a pretty tight game tonight.

00:03:53.040 There is going to be no mushiness on time.

00:03:57.660 We're going to keep to a tight schedule.

00:04:01.220 And also, I'm going to be expecting some pretty clear answers to some pretty clear questions,

00:04:09.300 and I hope you are expecting the same.

00:04:11.680 final quick note there are five distinct parts of this debate and as we begin each part i will be

00:04:25.120 reminding the candidates of what the rules are what the format is and what the timing is and

00:04:30.400 through them you'll be hearing the same thing so you'll know at the beginning of each segment

00:04:35.600 exactly where we're going to go and what we're going to be doing

00:04:38.880 Buckle up, everybody.

00:04:43.840 Now, please welcome your candidates

00:04:47.180 for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:05:08.880 okay

00:05:16.080 there we go good evening candidates everybody well i i do believe this is my problem

00:05:24.800 I'll be right with you. Thank you so much. Okay. So good evening. To remind you of what we are

00:05:39.880 going to do right off the top, as you know, we gave you, in a sense, a little assignment

00:05:43.860 before you came here. You've been working on this, no doubt, diligently for a couple of days now,

00:05:48.920 but what we asked you to do was to finish this sentence my vision for canada is

00:05:57.720 you will have 45 seconds in which to tell us what your vision is and uh but there's a twist

00:06:05.160 and you know it you can't mention any other candidate on the stage and you can't mention

00:06:10.360 any other federal leader if you do there's going to be trouble and here's what you're going to hear

00:06:19.560 now i i will then ask her you've done your segment i will engage you you have 30 seconds

00:06:26.760 to engage with me and then we'll move on the draw has been done and we are going to start this

00:06:33.560 debate with mr scott acheson mr acheson floor is yours thank you very much my vision for canada

00:06:41.480 is to renew the promise that the next generation will be better off than today's high grocery bills

00:06:47.160 a housing crisis inflation all make life harder millions of canadians are struggling to make ends

00:06:53.080 meet and a liberal government does little more than make inflation worse this divisive rhetoric

00:06:59.240 leaves millions of canadians feeling frustrated and even demonized by their own government the

00:07:04.520 answer to today's challenge is it's not to fan the flames of those frustrations and make canadians

00:07:09.320 more angry those politics of division have left you behind you deserve leaders who care more about

00:07:15.800 your success than than our own i seek to lead the conservative party and our team to form a

00:07:21.800 government that delivers more than just photo ops but real solutions to the challenges we face

00:07:28.040 they'll build that future today thanks very much quick question to you you were saying you want to

00:07:32.920 take the politics of division out of the equation how do you do that i repeat the question please

00:07:40.040 how do you take the politics of division out of the equation uh it's the divisive rhetoric that

00:07:44.760 we need to take out of this out of our discourse we when and and all parties are guilty of it

00:07:51.320 i'll give you the most obvious example and i'm going to use the name of another party leader now

00:07:56.440 but if you look at the way the prime minister used vaccine mandates and actually divided

00:08:01.320 canadians by demonizing you know the rules you've just broken we're moving on okay

00:08:06.040 Okay. Roman Baber, your vision of Canada is?

00:08:12.840 Thank you. My name is Roman Baber.

00:08:15.420 My vision for Canada is a return to be an incredible democracy,

00:08:19.640 that we don't censor people or speech,

00:08:22.180 that we end 21st century segregation

00:08:24.140 and let people make their own medical decisions,

00:08:27.160 that we restore Canadian kindness and respect diversity of opinion.

00:08:31.240 My vision for Canada is that we unleash our economic opportunity

00:08:34.900 by making us a natural resources superpower.

00:08:39.020 My vision for Canada is that we let Canadians work,

00:08:43.120 love their families,

00:08:44.520 and that government finally leave us alone.

00:08:48.180 Thank you.

00:08:51.580 Quick question, and we're going to get into this,

00:08:53.720 into the debate, but Mr. Baby, you want to turn us,

00:08:56.160 you want Canada to become an energy superpower in the world.

00:08:59.700 In 30 seconds, tell me, how do you do that?

00:09:02.040 Yeah, so I think that our natural resources are a blessing.

00:09:04.900 And I'm not going to let oil and gas be cancelled.

00:09:07.780 And it's good for our strategic interests,

00:09:09.420 for our economic battle line,

00:09:11.000 and it's also good for our planet.

00:09:12.760 Because Canadians can derive and clean and safe energy

00:09:17.000 better than any other nation in the world.

00:09:19.680 We need to work with our provinces.

00:09:21.620 We can restore the right balance.

00:09:24.980 But that is the way out of the economic mess that we're in.

00:09:28.720 I'm going to turn Canada into a natural resources superpower.

00:09:34.900 My vision of Canada includes a Conservative Party that builds a broad, multi-faith, multicultural

00:09:46.460 coalition that can win.

00:09:48.620 We've lost three elections in a row and we've forgotten how to win in areas like suburban

00:09:53.600 Canada in the GTA where I get elected.

00:09:56.480 We'll never win with a divisive leader who repels voters and doubles down in discriminatory

00:10:01.060 policies that trample over the religious freedoms of canadians the choice before the party is clear

00:10:07.140 do we want an unelectable party leader who drives voters away walk straight into liberal traps

00:10:13.540 giving unclear answers on divisive issues like abortion and wedges conservatives against each

00:10:18.580 other are we ready to win i'm mayor patrick brown and i'm ready to win and we need your help

00:10:24.180 now i i just want to remind the audience you're you're all crossing the red line here so you want

00:10:34.520 to be careful i just let me pick up uh patrick you're talking about like mr acheson did the

00:10:40.880 politics of division you skated pretty close to mentioning the name of somebody on here which

00:10:46.080 you know was against the rules so that's fine but how do you how do you take

00:10:52.420 suburban Canada and make it conservative blue with the background that you've been talking about

00:11:01.340 and the failures of the past? You know, I look at suburban Canada, it's a mosaic of the country.

00:11:07.320 And I truly believe, and I've shown, you can convince residents who have traditionally voted

00:11:13.020 for other parties that their values are our values, conservative values. I've seen that in

00:11:17.920 ramp and I've seen that across the GTA. So it's really about building those relationships and

00:11:22.760 telling our story that we're the party that will fight to make sure we don't spend beyond our

00:11:28.280 means, balance budgets, and fight for every Canadian. And that's key. We need to send a

00:11:32.820 message. We'll fight for every Canadian, no matter their walk of life. Thank you very much.

00:11:39.080 Mr. Polyev, your vision of Canada is? Is one where you, the citizens, are masters

00:11:46.200 and your government is servant. It is one where people have the freedom to take back control of

00:11:52.640 their lives. That means freedom from inflation so that hardworking single mothers can afford 1.00

00:11:58.340 nutritious food for their kids. Freedom from inflation so that 32-year-olds don't have to 1.00

00:12:04.600 live in their parents' basements, that they can actually afford their own homes. Freedom from

00:12:09.040 inflation and carbon taxes that have made it unaffordable for working people to fill their

00:12:14.720 trucks with gas the freedom to speak without fear and censorship and the freedom to make your own

00:12:21.360 medical decisions in other words the freedom to be master of your own destiny and a captain

00:12:27.200 of your own life thank you all right folks here's the deal supporters of any candidate

00:12:38.480 the time that you cheer is going to be taken away from your candidate just so you know that's the

00:12:42.720 the way the deal works here. Mr. Polyev, you've talked about inflation and freedom from inflation.

00:12:49.480 How many years is it going to take you to bring inflation down to what, 1% or 0%?

00:12:54.520 Well, it's hard to say how high it will be when I take office. But there's no question that we

00:12:58.960 have to hold those accountable who have caused it. You know, money printing government deficits

00:13:05.780 have caused more dollars chasing fewer goods, driving higher prices. And the Bank of Canada

00:13:10.200 governor has allowed himself to become the atm machine of this government and so i would replace

00:13:16.680 him with a new governor who would reinstate our low inflation mandate protect the purchasing power

00:13:23.000 of our dollar and honor the working people who earn those dollars

00:13:31.960 okay i have a feeling we'll be getting back to that point you made in a minute

00:13:35.800 Dr. Leslyn Lewis, your vision.

00:13:38.800 My vision for Canada is to once again make Canada a beacon of hope and opportunity for

00:13:45.520 all.

00:13:46.520 A nation where we respect our charter and where our government never has the opportunity

00:13:53.080 to freeze our bank accounts without a court order.

00:13:57.060 National unity is at an all-time low.

00:13:59.540 Many people have been traumatized by COVID lockdowns and government mandates.

00:14:04.140 I'm running to be a bridge builder, to unite the party and to unite the country.

00:14:09.600 Business owners will have the confidence to take chances again.

00:14:13.760 We will develop our natural resources while protecting the environment without a carbon tax.

00:14:19.700 We will respect freedoms and uphold our charter of rights.

00:14:23.940 I'm running to make Canada one of the freest and most prosperous countries in the world.

00:14:29.940 You're out of time.

00:14:31.340 Let me quickly pick up on one thing that you said.

00:14:33.440 You said that we have never been so divided or national unity has never been so challenged.

00:14:39.620 What are you basing that on?

00:14:43.100 If you look at the last two years, we have seen families torn apart by COVID.

00:14:49.100 We see parents not talking to children.

00:14:51.860 We've seen a government that has pit Canadians against each other.

00:14:56.300 There are millions of people who cannot travel in their own country, people who are unemployed.

00:15:01.440 The government has used COVID to divide Canadians, and it's time for us to heal.

00:15:11.700 Folks, I've really got to, I don't want to stop the debate, but we will, if necessary.

00:15:18.400 You've been asked a number of times now, please don't do that.

00:15:21.500 So I'm asking you once again, please don't do that, or your candidate will get penalized.

00:15:27.040 Finally, Jean Charest, your vision of Canada is?

00:15:31.440 Well, thank you. Thank you very much. And first, let me say how delighted I am to be here

00:15:35.740 in Edmonton, Alberta, and to join with my fellow candidates on the stage. You're asking the

00:15:41.600 fundamental question of this leadership campaign. And the reason I'm running is because I see a

00:15:46.740 country that is deeply divided. And I am running because I believe that national unity is the

00:15:54.880 number one challenge of any prime minister in this country. That nothing big, nothing of

00:16:00.840 substance gets done unless we're able to bridge the country between the east and the west and

00:16:08.320 that's what i've done all my life it's what i fought for and that's what the conservative

00:16:12.460 party needs to be about in the next election campaign to offer that national vision let me

00:16:18.160 just pick up on one thing that you said you're talking about east and west you know in the in

00:16:22.720 the battles gone by it was always quebec and is quebec in or is quebec out how much of the east

00:16:27.700 is about Quebec and that national unity piece is about Quebec.

00:16:31.780 It isn't just about one province. It can never be about just one province.

00:16:35.860 It's about the whole country, Tom. And you know, on issues like energy, for example,

00:16:40.740 whether it's oil, gas, or pipelines, or mining, we as a country need a national leader who is

00:16:47.540 going to stand up for the resource industry. When have we ever heard the Prime Minister say,

00:16:52.900 I believe in this project. I think it should happen. And yes, please. I'm delighted to name

00:16:58.780 them if you want me to. You heard that. I did. You broke the rules. Well, and I did it deliberately.

00:17:05.180 Thank you. We're moving on to the second section of the debate now. And let me just quickly remind

00:17:11.440 the candidates of what this is all about. We are asking you a series of rapid fire questions on a

00:17:17.420 number of policy issues, and we're looking for a yes or no. The question will be very clear. There

00:17:22.360 be no doubt about the yes or no answer but there's also 15 seconds right away for you to expand a

00:17:28.200 little bit or qualify your yes fish you don't have to but you can if you want to once everybody is

00:17:35.000 answered i will choose two of the candidates who perhaps have opposing views and query it a little

00:17:40.840 bit more and let you talk a little bit uh and uh we will be moving on the draw has been done for

00:17:46.520 this as well uh and i'm just looking for how much time you've got here uh 15 seconds then 30 seconds

00:17:53.400 when we come back when i pull the two people out okay rapid fire question here we go and we're

00:17:59.160 starting with dr lewis and then we'll work down the line from there dr lewis the war in ukraine

00:18:05.800 as we all know has been an unspeakable tragedy and it continues as we speak tonight carnage and

00:18:13.880 destruction are unimaginable do you support creating a no-fly zone over ukraine

00:18:24.600 the attack on ukraine should be taken seriously we have to ensure that we do not exacerbate

00:18:32.040 the tensions that are already there is that a no oh i that's right no no thank you very much moving

00:18:39.000 on mr beaver no you know my mother's family is from ukraine i'm heartbroken we're witnessing

00:18:44.520 a catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure there needs to be a greater effort to end the

00:18:49.240 conflict escalation will not get us out of it the only way to end it is to bring the sides to a

00:18:54.760 ceasefire mr shere we could only do that if our nato allies agreed canada can't do that alone

00:19:02.520 we all admit that what we need to do in ukraine is three things lethal weapons for ukraine that's

00:19:08.280 what they need and that's what canada should do more of more aid and bringing ukrainians who want

00:19:13.480 to come to canada here in this country so that they're secure i i'm not sure whether that was

00:19:18.200 a yes or a no it's a no it our allies are not there tom we can't do it mr aitchison no and

00:19:23.800 i'll build on what mr shere said part of the problem of course is that we've never met the

00:19:27.240 two percent of her gdp in terms of military funding to meet our commitments to nato canada

00:19:32.120 is not a reliable partner in the world and we need to do a lot better than we are

00:19:35.160 Mr. Brown.

00:19:39.420 Yes, I believe Canada should push and actively advocate and be part of it to show that NATO is serious about these encroachments.

00:19:47.920 We need to stand steadfast with our allies in Ukraine.

00:19:52.520 Mr. Polio. 0.98

00:19:53.900 No, but I believe we should provide more lethal weapons to our Ukrainian allies and offer refuge to Ukrainians who are fleeing. 0.55

00:20:03.420 We also need to unleash Canadian energy production so that we can help break European dependence on Putin. 0.62

00:20:09.540 Okay, thank you very much.

00:20:11.460 I'm just going to go with Patrick Brown and Mr. Polyev on this because you have opposing views.

00:20:15.940 Mr. Brown, you said that we should encourage and participate in a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

00:20:21.120 You, Mr. Polyev, say no.

00:20:22.400 So, Mr. Brown, let me ask you about the concerns that people have about escalating a war by doing such a thing as a no-fly zone,

00:20:29.620 which would require offensive fire against, for example, radar stations and installations?

00:20:36.260 I certainly don't believe we should abandon our allies.

00:20:39.120 And, you know, the pleas from Ukraine need more than promises and best wishes.

00:20:45.600 You know, we are seeing an encroachment in Europe that has not been seen in the modern era.

00:20:52.340 and we need to make sure we need to make sure they know that canada stands with them

00:20:56.740 more more than than our our wishes and photo ops with the prime minister showing up in ukraine we

00:21:02.740 need to give them all the support they've asked for which includes and that's the request from

00:21:06.740 ukraine and mr polyev if i could just play off of that you say no and yet it's the very thing

00:21:14.580 that the ukrainian government has asked for over and over again the no-fly zone right that the

00:21:19.780 The reason is that if we bring in a no-fly zone, it could very quickly escalate to Canada being in a war with Russia.

00:21:25.640 And I'm not standing on the stage today promising to declare that war.

00:21:30.080 I'm making the responsible position that will provide the material support necessary that we can as Canadians,

00:21:36.960 both to the population and to those fighting against Russians,

00:21:39.820 but also do what we can strategically to provide Europe with an alternative source of energy 0.55

00:21:45.260 so that the Europeans no longer have to fund Russia's war with the machine

00:21:49.100 by buying all of his oil and gas.

00:21:52.160 Thank you very much, both of you.

00:21:54.880 Next question, Mr. Baber, it goes to you.

00:21:58.720 Way back in the 1970s, you may not be able to remember that,

00:22:04.200 but nevertheless, ancient history,

00:22:06.700 but Pierre Truro brought in supply management,

00:22:09.040 basically a state-run system to manage dairy and poultry industries in this country,

00:22:13.860 setting huge tariffs for foreign products and in the process inflating prices here at home

00:22:19.460 do you support the current supply management system yes or no no there is no free country

00:22:25.540 when you have centrally planned economy instead of protecting supply management and central

00:22:30.180 political planning we should not cap how much dairy canadians may produce it's utter nonsense

00:22:37.220 I oppose supply management.

00:22:39.600 Mr. Charest.

00:22:41.040 I fully support supply management.

00:22:45.280 I always have.

00:22:46.620 And in this era of supply chains that are disrupted,

00:22:50.940 this is, in fact, a policy that guarantees us access to food that we need.

00:22:56.540 So I unequivocally support supply management.

00:23:00.480 No, I don't.

00:23:01.760 In fact, supply management costs the average Canadian family about $600 a year.

00:23:05.180 I think it's important in an affordability crisis that we actually help Canadians make food cheaper to eat.

00:23:10.640 That's the problem with supply management.

00:23:12.300 It's costing too much for Canadians.

00:23:14.400 Thank you.

00:23:15.460 Mr. Brown.

00:23:16.880 Yes, the party has a history of supporting supply management,

00:23:20.420 but I think it's fair in this affordability crisis to have a broader consultation with our membership.

00:23:26.640 Mr. Pugliav.

00:23:28.580 I do support supply management.

00:23:30.920 The alternative would be to buy out the quota,

00:23:32.620 And that would cost $10, $20, $30 billion, and that would have to be done through a tax on consumers, which could be more expensive than the alternative.

00:23:42.380 We should lower food costs by getting rid of the carbon tax and other taxes that are driving up the cost.

00:23:47.760 Mr. Aitchison and—oh, I'm sorry, Dr. Lewis, my apologies.

00:23:52.840 Supply management.

00:23:53.800 I do support supply management.

00:23:55.800 Our dairy and egg producers give us superior products.

00:24:00.080 without supply management, our industry would be overrun by U.S. producers.

00:24:06.900 I prefer to have a superior product that we'll pay a little bit more for.

00:24:11.500 And if we want to bring down the price, cut the carbon tax.

00:24:13.840 Okay. I'm going to ask Mr. Baber and you, Dr. Lewis, because you hold opposing views on this.

00:24:20.300 Mr. Baber, why don't you tell Dr. Lewis exactly why it is that we should not have supply management

00:24:25.520 and perhaps, as the critics of your position would say,

00:24:30.080 put those industries into jeopardy so one of the themes today is is cost of living at a time when

00:24:37.040 cost of living is so high visit a grocery store life is becoming an affordable why not to increase

00:24:43.600 more supply instead of telling farmers how much milk they can produce we should encourage the

00:24:49.440 creation of more goods especially if we're worried about inflation but i support a gradual phasing

00:24:54.640 out of supply management because yes we do have quotas and and we have concessions that people

00:24:58.960 but we have to provide them with some ease down but we should not cap how much canadians can

00:25:04.480 produce okay and dr lewis critics of your position might say what is a conservative doing supporting

00:25:10.480 the policies of pierre trudeau on a state imposed mechanism well on from a free market perspective

00:25:18.640 supply management of course is not a free market uh ideology however we have to ensure that we

00:25:27.840 support our farmers and we have to ensure that canadians get the best product on their table

00:25:33.680 if we want to cut costs we can cut the carbon tax and that is what is bringing up the cost

00:25:38.960 of food for canadians thank you very much both of you mr shere you get the first swing at this next

00:25:46.800 question as we've seen in the united states in the last couple of weeks there are no laws around

00:25:53.520 abortion abortion is only allowed by the supreme court decision known as roe versus wade and

00:26:00.800 courts as we are seeing can change their minds in canada we don't have any laws either on this we

00:26:06.960 depend on the morgenthaler case which essentially decided that it was not illegal so the question is

00:26:13.840 this would you support legislation around abortion i am pro-choice and my government would not bring

00:26:22.000 in legislation or support legislation to change or to restrain the rights of women the situation we 0.97

00:26:28.800 have now is what we should maintain and that is a very clear i mean they're all candidates except

00:26:34.960 one on this stage okay has stated their position on i got mr aitchison i will always defend a

00:26:42.720 woman's right to her personal reproductive health choices period always thank you sir mr brown i'm

00:26:51.440 I'm pro-choice, I support a woman's right to choose

00:26:53.940 and any government that I lead would not revisit this issue.

00:26:58.600 And Mr. Polyev? 0.97

00:26:59.760 A Polyev government would not introduce

00:27:01.920 or pass legislation restricting abortion. 0.94

00:27:06.260 Dr. Lewis?

00:27:07.560 I am pro-life and women in Canada

00:27:15.300 can have an abortion up until nine months.

00:27:18.360 And so there is no restriction on abortion.

00:27:21.440 What we need to do is have conversations about what we believe in.

00:27:25.240 Thanks. We're out of time. Mr. Baber.

00:27:27.660 I don't believe that government has a role in how people start and grow their families.

00:27:31.880 If as conservatives want to stay out of people's lives, then we should stay out of the most intimate areas of their lives.

00:27:36.660 But that doesn't mean that we don't respect parliamentary democracy, that we gag our MPs, that we don't allow people to contest nomination.

00:27:42.980 I'm wondering how all my friends feel about others in caucus who have different views.

00:27:47.040 we're okay let's just further explore this a little bit mr shere i want to start with you

00:27:53.120 and mr aitchison i want to bring you into the conversation as well i you say you know everybody

00:27:58.880 interpreted the question of a law around abortion as restricting it what if it was a law enshrining

00:28:05.840 it well it's it's not what's anticipated i mean it's clearly not the case but on this issue let's

00:28:13.040 can we be clear on one thing every candidate in this race needs to tell the women of canada

00:28:18.640 where they stand whether they're pro or against they the women of canada deserve to know where

00:28:23.840 they stand and mr polyev's answer quite frankly does not fit that test okay

00:28:32.080 uh we will be taking 10 seconds away from mr polly but mr aitchison get in

00:28:37.040 I think that it's important for us to always be respectful of each other.

00:28:47.380 There are really strong views and deeply held beliefs on this issue.

00:28:51.560 And this is one of the problems that I see in our party today.

00:28:55.260 We've become factions and we don't listen to each other and respect each other as we debate ideas and differing opinions.

00:29:03.540 The Canadians will never trust us.

00:29:04.640 And so this to me is about respect.

00:29:07.040 And really, I don't see a lot of that, unfortunately, on this issue.

00:29:11.220 Right. Thank you very much.

00:29:12.600 Next question, Mr. Acheson, we're going to start with you.

00:29:16.100 Last year, Canada took in more immigrants than at any other time in our history,

00:29:21.760 doubling the usual number of about 200,000, and we're planning to increase that number even more.

00:29:27.820 So looking at the latest numbers of around just over 400,000,

00:29:32.620 Is 400,000 or a little bit more the right number to be bringing in every year into Canada?

00:29:39.660 Well, this much I know, we need more Canadians.

00:29:41.700 We need more workers.

00:29:42.760 We need more skilled workers in our economy.

00:29:45.320 It's one of the reasons we have a housing shortage in this country.

00:29:48.580 We need 200,000 skilled tradespeople in this country today.

00:29:51.640 So we need more workers, whether 400,000 is the precise number or not.

00:29:55.400 It should be targeted, though.

00:29:57.140 Mr. Brown.

00:29:58.400 No, it's not enough.

00:29:59.220 we're not meeting our skilled labor shortage not even close and the backlog right now under

00:30:03.860 justin truth or under under the current prime minister is the largest it's been in canadian

00:30:08.420 history he's not properly resourcing our immigration department it's been an abysmal failure

00:30:14.100 mr polio we need the workforce frankly but we when we bring immigrants here we need to make

00:30:20.740 sure they have the freedom to own a home by getting rid of the gatekeepers that prevent

00:30:25.060 housing construction and the freedom to work in their field by getting rid of the gatekeepers that

00:30:29.060 prevent them from getting licenses in their professions and trades so i will get rid of

00:30:32.580 those gate reapers and give them that opportunity dr lewis the issue is not about quantity it's 1.00

00:30:38.660 about quality we need to make sure that we bring immigrants here who can contribute to our society

00:30:45.780 i came here when i was five years old and we need a compassionate immigration system that will have

00:30:51.540 jobs for people all right thank you mr babe i'm an immigrant to canada and i had every blessing

00:30:57.140 our country has to offer and i think that canada's multiculturalism is beautiful we have an aging

00:31:01.940 demographic uh a shrinking labor force we need to encourage lawful immigration democracy and

00:31:08.100 opportunity is why immigrants come to canada those are conservative values thank you mr sure

00:31:12.660 400 000 may be within the right zone but it is very much dependent on our ability to integrate

00:31:18.980 people and how do we integrate we integrate through a job we integrate through language we

00:31:24.340 We integrate by allowing people to integrate into communities.

00:31:28.200 And credentials is one of the key elements to integrate Canadians.

00:31:33.040 Let's pick that up.

00:31:33.860 Mr. Brown, I want to just explore a little bit more of your thinking.

00:31:39.020 400,000, 405,000, it's a record number for this country,

00:31:42.800 but should it be 500,000, 600,000?

00:31:45.020 We know that we've got a labour shortage.

00:31:47.240 What's the right number?

00:31:48.560 I was speaking to a friend of mine, Joseph Mancinelli,

00:31:51.200 who's the head of Leona Canada, and he told me,

00:31:53.420 Today, just today, there are a short 30,000 workers, and these are in the skilled trades, great jobs, good-paying jobs.

00:32:01.280 And you could change the education system, but that takes, you know, 10 years in terms of creating a new stream of workers in the skilled trades.

00:32:08.840 We need that immigration. We need that talent right now.

00:32:11.740 There are jobs that they can't build, houses we can't build, bridges we can't build because of the lack of labor.

00:32:16.900 We need to unleash the Canadian economic potential through immigration.

00:32:22.260 Thank you very much.

00:32:23.420 We're going to move on to the next question now.

00:32:27.200 And Mr. Brown, this goes to you, actually.

00:32:31.580 In 2014, at a NATO summit in Wales, the Canadian government, led then by then Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

00:32:39.340 agreed, promised, to spend 2% of our GDP on national defense.

00:32:44.800 Since then, as you know, we haven't even come close.

00:32:47.640 With a war on Europe's doorstep right now and with our vast northern regions now vulnerable, would you meet the pledge of 2% that is our NATO commitment?

00:33:00.060 Yes, absolutely.

00:33:01.920 Frankly, we're not taken seriously on a world stage and we can't even meet the obligations that we've committed to.

00:33:07.920 And it's not just about a peacekeeping role abroad.

00:33:10.900 It's about our own sovereignty, the Arctic.

00:33:13.040 And so 100%.

00:33:14.420 Mr. Poglia.

00:33:15.760 we need to work towards hitting that goal and we need also to make sure the money we spent gets

00:33:21.000 results right now too much of the procurement of equipment is tied up in politics and political

00:33:26.240 favoritism that's why billions of dollars have wasted and products are not delivered to the

00:33:30.920 front line for our soldiers sailors sailors and airmen so not only will we increase it we will

00:33:35.180 unfortunately we have not invested enough in our military yes i would commit to meeting that two

00:33:42.040 percent right now we are underfunded and that is one of the reasons why we have not been able to

00:33:47.400 supply the needs that ukraine could use to assist them mr baby yes we need to increase our defense

00:33:55.960 spending by 50 percent in order to meet our nato commitment if we're going to ask men and women in

00:34:00.840 uniform uh to risk their lives then they must have the best equipment and the best training but i

00:34:05.480 believe that our defense policy should be limited to safeguarding our country and meeting our treaty

00:34:09.560 commitments thanks very much mr sure well the answer is yes this is an issue of sovereignty

00:34:14.840 for canada and i put out a defense policy that's very detailed one thing that i think we need to

00:34:19.960 do urgently is assume our sovereignty in the arctic and i would open two bases in the arctic

00:34:26.120 one with a deep sea water port to defend our sovereignty against russia in particular mr

00:34:33.400 yes the sad reality of this is that our military procurement system has become

00:34:38.840 a joke in the world and we waste money and we don't have the right equipment for our men and

00:34:43.960 women in service and our partners our allies are making new alliances without us because we're not

00:34:48.840 a reliable partner mr paul you have i just want to dig a little bit deeper into into your answer

00:34:54.120 you said that we should work towards it so not necessarily meeting it uh but as you know this

00:35:00.760 is one of the main irritants in canada u.s relations regardless of the administration

00:35:05.800 when you say work towards it have you got a a time frame in mind as to when we get to two percent

00:35:12.200 look we it will take a progressive move because it's roughly an extra 14 or 15 billion dollars a

00:35:17.720 year if you up the budget in one year well then you're going to have a bunch of bureaucrats at

00:35:21.960 the defense department trying to shovel the cash out the door without getting proper results in

00:35:26.360 fact they can't spend the budgets they have right now and get results so um i will i will increase

00:35:32.520 it as fast as we possibly can within the confines of our accosted budget and towards putting those

00:35:38.680 dollars into getting results for our soldiers sailors and airmen thank you very much and mr

00:35:44.600 paper i want to come back to you on this because you have a slightly different view as to what we

00:35:50.280 should be doing yeah i i think that canada's credibility in the world is eroded right now

00:35:55.480 because some countries don't believe we're an actual democracy anymore and so we need to focus

00:36:00.520 on resolving our issues at home while increasing our our nato commitment uh to meet our nato

00:36:05.800 commitment and that's about 50 but um we should not go beyond our our treaty commitments at this

00:36:11.400 point i appreciate the role that canada played traditionally in peacekeeping but now it's time

00:36:16.120 for other countries to step up and take the lead uh god knows we have enough problems at home at

00:36:20.520 this moment thank you all very much we're going to go to the final question now it's mr polyev

00:36:25.560 Mr. Polyev, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presented its final report in 2015.

00:36:31.380 That is seven years ago, and it contained 94 recommendations.

00:36:36.640 Would you make a commitment to implementing all 94 recommendations?

00:36:42.260 I can't make the commitment to 100% of the recommendations, but what I can is to address

00:36:46.800 the structural unfairness that leads to the injustice, and that is fundamentally in the

00:36:51.380 Indian Act.

00:36:51.780 We have to give First Nations communities control of their money, their land, and their resources.

00:36:57.420 That is the only way that they will be able to have prosperity and paychecks for their people.

00:37:02.240 Dr. Lewis.

00:37:03.360 We need to make sure that First Nations people are at the table where the decisions are being

00:37:09.120 making.

00:37:09.780 And we also need to make sure that we keep our promises.

00:37:13.520 We have been promising year after year clean water on reserves, and we have not delivered.

00:37:18.900 Thank you.

00:37:20.120 That's good.

00:37:20.700 Mr. Baber.

00:37:21.780 we have to be honest and learn our history so we don't repeat it.

00:37:26.380 But dividing Canadians is actually hurting reconciliation.

00:37:30.260 The best thing we can do for reconciliation is to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples.

00:37:35.860 Thank you.

00:37:36.760 And Mr. Chiray, just in case people forgot the question,

00:37:39.180 it's would you commit to the 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Report?

00:37:42.960 Well, the 94 recommendations, you can't commit to all of them.

00:37:46.720 But, Tom, Indigenous Canadians deserve respect and a lot better than virtue signaling and false promises.

00:37:53.640 They should be part of our resource economy.

00:37:55.880 They should own equity.

00:37:57.300 And I would put together a crown corporation that would allow them to own equity.

00:38:01.300 Okay.

00:38:04.620 Dr. Lewis, I just want to come back to you because I didn't hear whether you were going to support all 94 recommendations.

00:38:11.620 But can you tell me if you're not going to support all?

00:38:16.720 oh i didn't know you were here i'm i'm terribly sorry i'm terribly sorry

00:38:24.640 don't he's going to take time away from me stop

00:38:31.040 mr agerson my apologies please my answer is yes i would but i would also make sure we eliminate

00:38:38.640 all boil water advisors i would expedite the installation of broadband internet and my

00:38:43.360 approach to reconciliation is a journey but it will be about fewer conferences in ottawa and

00:38:48.400 more action on the ground thank you very much uh mr brown yes having um a strong collaborative

00:38:55.920 relationship with indigenous communities will be essential if we are committed to building

00:39:00.400 pipelines in this country we need to have that strong collaboration we need to get pipelines

00:39:04.640 built we need to create prosperity in indigenous communities and across the country okay and i just

00:39:10.160 want to bring you and dr lewis in because there was just one thing i didn't quite understand

00:39:15.040 would you dr lewis implement all 94 recommendations i will implement any recommendation that uplifts

00:39:22.640 the lives of indigenous people we have we have let them down even our missing and murdered

00:39:29.280 aboriginal women we have not committed to even dealing with that issue which is a fundamental 0.86

00:39:35.040 issue that affects the poor of the society on reserves okay uh mr brown uh if we don't implement

00:39:45.760 all 94 what ones would we not implement if the 94 choose one that you would not implement well

00:39:50.880 my answer was that i would support the recommendation so i said yes um and i believe

00:39:55.280 it's integral um for us to have that strong collaboration if we're going to have the joint

00:40:00.800 prosperity through the construction of a national energy corridor and pipelines i just don't see

00:40:05.200 how you can build partnerships with indigenous communities to get pipelines built if you ignore

00:40:09.920 the recommendations that are so important to indigenous communities across the country

00:40:15.040 thank you all very much on that that ends this section of the spontaneous yes or no answers

00:40:22.000 we are now moving towards the lightning what we call the lightning round now let me explain you

00:40:26.880 you have been informed of this uh believe it or not there are canadians who don't know you guys

00:40:34.720 and dr lewis yet uh so this is a chance just to get to know a little bit about who you are

00:40:40.160 and and uh and character and likes dislikes and that sort of thing uh i'm gonna ask everybody

00:40:46.160 the same question we're just gonna go down the line everybody gets a chance it's a very fast

00:40:51.200 answer uh you'll see that these things are uh you know you got 15 seconds to uh to answer this and

00:40:56.960 we're going to be starting with uh mr sharae and mr sharae the very first question i have for you

00:41:02.400 is what book are you reading now what what i what book are you reading now oh i'm was reading the

00:41:09.760 the most recent book that i've been reading has been about russia and i forget the title right

00:41:14.960 now but it's been a route rush very good mr aitchison i'm actually reading a book that

00:41:21.760 dennis mills former member of parliament for toronto danforth gave me on water

00:41:26.800 do you remember the title called water oh it's called water okay if you would like to know what

00:41:31.120 it's about okay it's about water yeah yeah i get it it's about the future of water and the

00:41:37.840 importance of water and geopolitical issues anyhow mr brown what are you reading these days

00:41:43.760 let's say on a leadership campaign let's be honest there's no time to be uh laying around

00:41:47.440 reading books but uh historically i've loved you know legal novels the john grisham books growing

00:41:52.160 up i loved racial alger the you know the rags to riches stories which is you know our canadian

00:41:57.280 dream mr polyam what are you having time to read these days well um jordan peterson's 12 rules

00:42:06.640 great book um and a lot of good lessons we all need to uh improve ourselves and i think he has

00:42:12.480 a lot of good wisdom in that book that could help anybody dr lewis shopleton's way it's about

00:42:19.680 sacrificial leadership it's about lending yourself to service for others and and being a leader that

00:42:26.560 people can admire and aspire to thank you mr baber it's been difficult since the leadership started

00:42:32.960 but uh before that a friend suggested that i read uh david and goliath and and that's been

00:42:38.480 and a theme that throughout our campaign,

00:42:41.740 we continue to exceed expectations.

00:42:43.480 Sometimes people might surprise you

00:42:45.980 and you might have an unlikely result.

00:42:49.040 Mr. Acheson, I wanted to ask you

00:42:50.680 and give everybody a chance.

00:42:52.920 There's a question and there's a twist to the answer.

00:42:55.780 I want to know who your political hero is

00:42:58.180 and you cannot say Winston Churchill.

00:43:03.480 Prime Minister Dieffenbaker.

00:43:05.020 All right. Prime Minister David Baker, he was a tremendous orator. He brought us the Bill of Rights. He was an amazing Canadian who defended Canadians' freedoms and enshrined them in law.

00:43:18.920 Mr. Brown.

00:43:20.700 Absolutely. Former Premier Bill Davis. I felt he radiated decency. I learned more from him than

00:43:27.280 anyone else. He lived only a few doors down from me in Brampton, Ontario, and I think his legacy

00:43:33.100 is one that is enormous in our country. Mr. Polyev. Well, Wilfrid Laurier, he opened up the

00:43:41.900 West to immigration. It brought many of my ancestors here. Though he was a Catholic, he made

00:43:47.600 a point of reading a Protestant Bible so he could understand the other side. He said that he used

00:43:52.140 to pick fights with the Scottish boys and flirt with the Scottish girls and managed to bring all

00:43:57.180 the Canadian nations together into this wonderful country we call Canada based on the principle of

00:44:02.660 freedom. Thank you. Dr. Lewis. Point of clarification. Did it have to be Canadian? I didn't hear.

00:44:09.980 Just your political hero as long as it's not Winston Churchill. William Wilberforce. He spent

00:44:15.820 his life fighting for the abolition of slavery even though he never knew whether or not he would

00:44:22.700 see that materialize but he had convictions to stand up for what he believed in and he did not

00:44:28.780 matter if it sacrificed his political career thanks very much mr babe margaret thatcher

00:44:35.500 we will either stand on principles or we will not stand at all she was not afraid of making

00:44:40.460 difficult decisions she stood up to the radical left-wing mob uh this is something that i hope

00:44:45.660 we're going to restore to the conservative party of canada courage to say what we believe and do

00:44:49.900 what we believe is right mr charlie darcy mcgee born in ireland went to the united states chose

00:44:56.380 to come to canada renounced irish nationalism and gave his life for his country because he

00:45:01.980 was assassinated one of the only political assassinations in the country by finnians

00:45:06.620 thank you all very much that was actually really interesting to hear all that

00:45:11.540 uh dr lewis i'm going to start with you and then of course everybody else gets a chance

00:45:16.800 i know you're all busy i know that you've got you've got stuff that you're doing right now but

00:45:21.180 when you have the opportunity to sit down and listen to some music what do you listen to

00:45:26.420 i would say probably jazz is my go-to but i who's your favorite jazz artist

00:45:33.540 Coltrane

00:45:36.060 Cool, okay

00:45:39.240 Mr. Baver

00:45:40.200 Amy Winehouse

00:45:42.020 When I hear Amy Winehouse, I can see into her soul

00:45:44.980 She speaks to issues of addiction and mental health

00:45:48.660 Something that people know that I'm very, very passionate about

00:45:51.120 And she left us too early

00:45:53.000 But yeah, Amy Winehouse, back to black

00:45:55.700 Okay, Mr. Charest

00:45:57.500 Well, for Jazz, Pat Metheny

00:45:59.740 but my family and i are also great lovers of shall as never will there we go mr acheson

00:46:08.060 uh well i play the piano so i love to listen to oscar peterson but um since my assistant

00:46:13.500 parker has been driving around with me i'm starting to listen a little more country music so

00:46:16.780 i'm learning a bit more about that okay mr brown i think i have to say alessia cara because i'm

00:46:22.380 from brampton and alessia car is our most famous uh musician right now and uh but i should also

00:46:27.660 say mia we're trying to get them for our candidate party a great story uh of overcoming adversity

00:46:33.020 terrific and mr pauliev well pick a local hero paul brandt alberta brown

00:46:39.180 you got to let them apply that come on

00:46:45.020 okay

00:46:47.980 i'll allow the applause because it's for paul brandt okay

00:46:52.300 you'll have to take it off his time yeah i'll take it off his time yeah

00:46:55.820 uh mr brown i want to start with you uh what do you think is and remember

00:47:03.740 15 seconds okay what do you think is the single biggest threat to canada today

00:47:12.380 our financial chaos right now um or 1.2 trillion dollars in debt and if you allow the finances to

00:47:17.980 get out of control of the country you lose all capacity to deal with the challenges in your

00:47:22.380 country 1.2 trillion 2 billion dollars a month in interest thank you very much mr polyev well i

00:47:30.060 would build on that it's not just the 1.2 trillion federal but the other one plus trillion provincial

00:47:35.980 and then the uh other seven trillion dollars of private debt that is about to collide with higher

00:47:41.100 interest rates the government and the central bank has set us up for a massive debt crisis

00:47:45.180 and we don't have time to avoid it thank you dr lewis i think our declining democracy people have

00:47:51.340 lost trust and confidence in our democracy the invocation of the emergency measures act and

00:47:56.780 freezing of people's accounts without a court order has left people to question our institutions

00:48:03.340 such as the media and our political institutions thank you mr baber 100 with dr lewis the erosion

00:48:09.340 of our democracy is the greatest threat to canada right now government is passing law to censor

00:48:14.220 speech millions of canadians are treated like second-class citizens state-funded media bailouts

00:48:19.820 and and uh state funded media and unlawful declaration of the emergency act i'm going

00:48:24.220 to defend canada's democracy mr chevre the single greatest threat to canada yes well it is national

00:48:29.980 unity the greatest mistake we all could make as canadians is to take this country for granted

00:48:35.580 and of all the things you've named on this stage at colleagues none of them can be addressed unless

00:48:40.780 there is a national conservative government that includes alberta at the table that's what is the

00:48:45.740 the most important threat our national unity mr h and i'll build on that i think the greatest

00:48:51.500 threat to canada right now is division it's our political rhetoric and a political system that's

00:48:56.220 designed to divide us to win votes it's short-sighted and doesn't build a country up at

00:49:01.020 all and i think it's dividing our country thank you all very much i want to go to a question

00:49:06.700 maybe a little more light-hearted to getting to know you a little bit more i and there were a

00:49:12.780 lot of people who want to know this it's not just me trust me but uh mr baber what was the last

00:49:20.300 thing that you binge watched on tv um marriage with children i was at the cottage and uh you

00:49:33.500 know uh that was some time ago um i i learned the english language watching married with children

00:49:39.820 with with subtitles it's a great tool for new canadians to learn english watch a good tv show

00:49:45.820 okay thank you mr sure as a french series that was absolutely fantastic because it speaks to

00:49:54.460 relationships they say call my agent in english it was absolutely spectacular i like that one too

00:50:04.140 my parliamentary colleague eric melillo got me hooked on brooklyn 99 while we were doing french

00:50:09.260 immersion in quebec mr brown yeah you know normally if i have free time i love watching

00:50:15.900 hawk you know surprise there but my wife got me into ozark and we binge watched it and i'm told

00:50:20.220 there's a new season out right now and i'm too busy to watch it so i'm in trouble with my wife

00:50:25.260 i've seen watch it without me i've seen the final season and i won't tell you how it ends

00:50:30.300 but you can imagine uh mr paulio well i think it was netflix had a series on trotsky actually

00:50:37.740 and it helped me to better understand the diabolical evil of communism and totalitarian

00:50:43.880 socialism and but you know this bright side is it helped me appreciate the freedom that we have in

00:50:49.700 canada that we have to stand up for and defend thanks very much dr lewis bridgerton and what i

00:50:56.140 loved about that is that people it was a different era and people did not see race they just existed

00:51:05.300 and coexisted, and it was very beautiful because I also watched it in French and also improved my

00:51:11.440 French. Okay, excellent. Thank you all very much. We've got one question left, and then we're going

00:51:16.740 to go back to some other stuff, but this is a good one, and Mr. Polyev, I'm going to throw this one to

00:51:21.040 you. What historical figure from any time, anywhere, would you most like to have dinner with?

00:51:29.680 Abraham Lincoln. I think through principle and courage, he saved the American Union and ended slavery. He did so at great, obviously, ultimate personal sacrifice with his eventual assassination. But he had an incredible brain that he brought, that he taught himself as an autodidact coming from humble beginnings as a working class person.

00:51:54.540 Thank you very much. Dr. Lewis.

00:51:56.920 Nelson Mandela. He existed at a time when his country was divided, torn apart by racial hatred, and yet he fought against it.

00:52:07.360 He was able to overcome and bring people together.

00:52:11.680 Mr. Baber.

00:52:13.120 Ronald Reagan. He opposed one of the greatest evils of the 20th century, opposed the radical left and communism, and did it with grace and with courage.

00:52:23.320 and we need to be resolute in the face of all those

00:52:26.500 that would seek to erode our democracy.

00:52:28.160 I admire him very much.

00:52:29.580 Thank you very much.

00:52:30.560 Mr. Charest.

00:52:31.900 I'm a great fan of the partnership of Sir John A. MacDonald

00:52:35.100 and Georges Etienne Cartier.

00:52:37.040 My son and I wrote a chapter in a book about Georges Etienne Cartier

00:52:40.040 who showed extraordinary resilience, promoted property rights

00:52:44.300 and was one of those who allowed this country to actually come to be.

00:52:48.680 You know, Sir John A. would probably stick you with the bill for that dinner

00:52:51.080 but that's another thing altogether.

00:52:53.720 Mr. Aitchison.

00:52:55.080 Mine is actually Nelson Mandela as well.

00:52:57.140 He's a hero.

00:52:58.100 How he brought South Africa together and ended apartheid is nothing short of miraculous and incredible.

00:53:06.940 Final word to you, Mr. Brown.

00:53:08.460 Dinner.

00:53:09.240 I'll agree with Mr. Shray.

00:53:10.480 Johnny MacDonald, you know, I resent the cancel culture we're seeing on great figures who built our country

00:53:16.360 and the adversity, the challenges of uniting our country, building Canada.

00:53:21.380 That would be a fascinating dinner.

00:53:26.740 Sorry, I'll figure this out by the end of the debate.

00:53:29.180 My microphone.

00:53:29.920 Thank you all very much.

00:53:30.860 That was fascinating.

00:53:31.820 I know it was a weird little journey to go on, but I think it was interesting.

00:53:35.640 We are now moving on to the next segment of the debate, which is called Face-Off.

00:53:41.580 And before we start that, I'd like to bring Emma up, who is going to give you all a prop.

00:53:47.100 And I'll explain to everybody what this is all about.

00:53:50.940 So as we are handing these out, this, in a way, is the segment that you've all been waiting for when the candidates can choose who they want to debate on any particular issue.

00:54:03.480 And here's the way it's going to work.

00:54:04.900 I'll introduce the topic of the debate to a candidate.

00:54:09.280 Not the question, just the topic.

00:54:11.380 And then you decide, you tell the audience who you want to debate this with.

00:54:16.000 Once you've chosen your opponent, I will then tell you what the question is.

00:54:20.940 there will be three rounds of the person you have chosen to debate. The first round,

00:54:27.460 each person gets a minute each. The second round, you get 45 seconds each. The third round,

00:54:33.060 you get 30 seconds each. Now, this is where it gets interesting in why you have the prop in your

00:54:38.040 hand. After we've done the three rounds between the two people, anybody else can enter this by

00:54:45.280 simply raising your paddle and you will have a guaranteed 30 seconds to to put your 30 seconds in

00:54:53.120 with uh here's the trick there are six questions and you can only use your paddle five times

00:55:00.800 you can use it all on one question if you want or you can use it wherever you think you have

00:55:05.840 the greatest advantage so there is some strategy involved here uh and um i wish you good luck with

00:55:12.560 this uh now unless there are any questions we are going to start and question number one mr

00:55:21.360 polyev the topic is law order and blockades who would you like to debate patrick brown

00:55:28.400 patrick brown okay here then mr polyev is the question and remember you have one minute in

00:55:34.160 the first round to uh say your piece we've seen over the past few years blockades at our borders

00:55:39.840 blockades on rail lines blockades of construction blockades at logging sites and a blockade in an

00:55:45.520 occupation of our capital city law enforcement experts say we will likely encounter more and

00:55:51.440 more of this as the years progress how do you decide when a protest becomes a threat

00:55:58.960 to our national security and our national economy and would you outlaw any protest

00:56:05.920 that disables critical infrastructure and that includes our cities and that includes our cities

00:56:12.320 i believe that that blocking critical infrastructure should be illegal and that's why before the

00:56:18.160 truckers even arrived on parliament hill i said i supported their peaceful and law-abiding efforts

00:56:22.880 to restore their liberties and their livelihoods while condemning any individuals who broke laws

00:56:29.920 blocked critical infrastructure or behaved badly.

00:56:33.660 That's what individual responsibility actually means.

00:56:37.820 Now, I just find it interesting that you didn't include in your list of threats

00:56:41.400 the axe-wielding terrorists who've been attacking our pipeline workers in Western Canada.

00:56:46.480 I don't know why that doesn't seem to be a trouble to you, or the rest of the national media,

00:56:51.440 because you're more concerned about truckers who lost their jobs

00:56:55.260 because of an unfair vaccine mandate imposed on them by a prime minister

00:56:59.920 who was targeting them without any scientific basis

00:57:03.040 than you were about holding accountable people

00:57:06.100 who've actually done violence

00:57:07.640 and most recently just set the car on fire

00:57:11.140 of someone who was investing in the energy sector.

00:57:13.300 Thank you. Mr. Brown, you have one minute.

00:57:17.040 Tom, I don't support illegal blockades,

00:57:19.120 whether it's at the Ambassador Bridge,

00:57:20.920 whether it's against a pipeline.

00:57:22.880 I think conservatives need a stand for law and order,

00:57:25.520 full stop, and illegal blockades

00:57:27.540 have a massive um cost on the country you look at the cost when there was the blockade on on

00:57:32.900 the ambassador bridge in windsor i was just visiting mayor drew dilkins in windsor just

00:57:37.380 last week and he was talking about how it affected their economy ontario's economy canada's economy

00:57:42.500 and and i i i think conservatives are the party of law and order and we can't give exceptions to that

00:57:48.660 full stop no illegal blockades you haven't used your full time but if you want to give it back

00:57:55.140 that's fine we could always use it well in terms of law and order i would just add that there are

00:57:59.540 areas that the conservative party have not focused on enough in parliament i look at bail reform

00:58:03.940 you know i see it in the gta there is a giant loophole in our criminal justice system and you've

00:58:08.180 got frequent flyers literally the same people getting arrested and released again and again

00:58:12.980 and there's a talk there's a cost to public safety with that mr polyev you have 45 seconds well there

00:58:19.220 is. And there's also a cost to the approach taken by Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Charest. They both believe

00:58:25.360 in targeting law-abiding people who use firearms responsibly after having been vetted, licensed,

00:58:32.540 and are already in possession of a license and training. Charest went after them with a long

00:58:39.020 gun registry in Quebec. Trudeau wants to spend a billion dollars targeting these same people.

00:58:43.480 That money that Charest and Trudeau spent going after law-abiding people could have been spent

00:58:49.220 reinforcing border security to stop the 80% of gun crimes that actually come in through smuggling

00:58:56.000 and through, and we could also, instead of going after the lawful, target the criminals who would

00:59:01.840 do the crimes with mandatory prison sentences to take them off our streets. Thank you. Mr. Brown,

00:59:06.520 45. You know what? We do have a huge problem at our border, and I get briefings almost on a weekly

00:59:12.560 basis by the chief of police in Peel, and we've had meetings with all the chiefs of police in the

00:59:17.800 GTA to talk about smuggled firearms. 90% of our homicides last year in Peel were from firearms

00:59:25.280 smuggled across the border. And we need a government of Canada that would take that seriously.

00:59:30.200 Criminal organizations are becoming more sophisticated than ever before in terms of

00:59:34.480 getting firearms into our country using new technology. And we need to actually listen to

00:59:39.640 our law enforcement. In Ottawa, we have a government that announces photo ops and press releases when

00:59:45.020 it comes to firearm policy. They're not listening to law enforcement, and we desperately need them

00:59:49.440 to. Mr. Polly, you have 30 seconds. Remember, the state needs to be under the law, and what Trudeau

00:59:55.480 is now doing is unlawful censorship. C-11 is an attempt by him to give his bureaucrats the power

01:00:01.880 to control what you see and say online, and to take down things that he doesn't agree with.

01:00:07.100 That is not lawful. That is not democratic. I will repeal those laws, and I will restore

01:00:14.340 the freedom of speech as a principle for the federal government

01:00:17.780 and also bring financial penalties to universities

01:00:21.240 that shut down open and free debate on campuses.

01:00:25.260 And Mr. Brown, 30 seconds to you.

01:00:27.780 You know, I would just add that when it comes to firearm legislation in this country,

01:00:31.440 we have bad legislation on top of bad legislation.

01:00:34.820 We've got a government that is missing the mark.

01:00:36.940 One of the reasons we've had a proliferation of gun and gang violence

01:00:41.140 where there's no respect for postal codes and jurisdictions

01:00:43.920 is there isn't a concerted national approach.

01:00:46.980 Under Prime Minister Harper, there were serious consequences.

01:00:50.120 We understood that we had to draw a line when it came to gun crime in our country,

01:00:54.080 and we need the same strict approach again.

01:00:56.560 Thank you very much, the two of you.

01:00:58.460 Mr. Charest, you're first up, and anybody else, if you want to get in, just raise your paddle.

01:01:02.580 Mr. Charest, 30 seconds.

01:01:03.680 Thank you, and since I've been brought into this debate,

01:01:06.060 let me start by pointing out that Mr. Poitier is very conveniently rewriting history tonight.

01:01:11.580 The fact of the matter is, he did support illegal blockades.

01:01:15.920 We all admit that this was a mess created by Mr. Trudeau, unnecessary, a total mess.

01:01:22.140 But I disagree with anyone who has a privileged position of making laws supporting illegal blockades that have cost us millions of jobs and cost us investment in this country.

01:01:34.780 Thank you, sir. Mr. Baber and then Dr. Lewis.

01:01:37.360 This is a good opportunity to set the record straight.

01:01:39.680 Everything that Justin Trudeau said about the protests in Ottawa turned out to be false.

01:01:44.000 There was no foreign collusion.

01:01:46.180 There was very little foreign funding.

01:01:48.540 The arson was not connected, and there were no weapons found anywhere near the site.

01:01:52.920 And on February 18th, we saw, as the government was breaking the rule of law with an unlawful declaration of emergencies,

01:01:59.280 the protesters remained peaceful.

01:02:01.480 There was no resistance, no assaults.

01:02:03.220 And on February 18th, we saw, this was a truly peaceful movement.

01:02:06.280 Thank you very much, Dr. Lewis.

01:02:09.680 go ahead i think we're missing the point about the illegal blockades if elected officials had just

01:02:17.040 listened to the truckers they would not have been there that long in addition

01:02:22.480 the vulnerability that canadians face knowing that big brother can get go into their account

01:02:28.560 and freeze their account without a court order that has set our democracy into a declining state

01:02:35.920 we need to uphold our charter of rights we need to uphold our freedoms and ensure that governments

01:02:41.680 never do that again thank you very much anybody else want to get in on this going going on you

01:02:48.160 want okay mr baby second chance i just want to talk about an important issue uh my first

01:02:52.880 law job was at a community legal clinic uh where i picked up a lot of compassion and love for people

01:02:58.720 far too often our criminal justice system uh criminalizes addiction and mental health

01:03:03.600 I'll come down hard on sex offenders, on gun violence and traffickers, but imposing

01:03:07.820 strict criminal penalty for possession does nothing to deter drug addiction or heal addiction.

01:03:14.820 We have a mental health and addictions catastrophe in our country, and we need a justice system

01:03:19.780 that recognizes it and offers Canadians a treatment and a way out.

01:03:24.220 Thank you very much.

01:03:25.220 And Mr. Paglia?

01:03:26.220 I think Dr. Lewis raised an excellent point about the government's abuse of the Emergency

01:03:31.420 Act to freeze bank accounts.

01:03:33.260 Well, now there's a proposal to create a central bank digital currency, which would involve

01:03:39.640 people depositing their accounts, their money, with the government itself.

01:03:43.680 This gives massive new powers for surveillance, control, and censorship, and gives the state

01:03:49.740 far too much control over our money.

01:03:51.900 And that's why I would ban a central bank digital currency and give people back control

01:03:55.940 of their money from bankers and politicians.

01:03:57.940 Dr. Lewis?

01:03:59.940 Mr. Poliver encouraged people to buy Bitcoin, which is a digital currency.

01:04:05.760 So I'm quite surprised that he is saying now that he would ban digital currency as if he does not know that Bitcoin is a digital currency.

01:04:14.760 He also encouraged people to cash in their fiat currency, their paper money, and buy Bitcoin.

01:04:21.400 If they had done that, they would have lost $37,000 by the time he had said that to do that to today.

01:04:28.340 So I'm very concerned about that.

01:04:31.880 Mr. Polly, yeah.

01:04:33.260 Well, that's just false.

01:04:34.400 One, Bitcoin is not a central bank digital currency.

01:04:38.060 It is obviously not.

01:04:40.120 It's not controlled by any central bank anywhere in the world.

01:04:43.460 Two, people can make their own investment decisions.

01:04:46.520 I've simply said they should be free to decide whether or not they want to use Bitcoin. 0.74

01:04:51.760 I don't want to be like communist China and ban Bitcoin or other technologies

01:04:57.080 because in a free market, people should have the opportunity

01:04:59.840 to make those decisions for themselves.

01:05:02.500 That's my position.

01:05:03.540 Thank you very much.

01:05:04.800 Are we done?

01:05:05.240 Go, Dr. Lewis, one more time.

01:05:07.640 In fact, Mr. Poliver said that you could hedge against inflation,

01:05:12.100 which is not true.

01:05:13.460 So Mr. Poliver is promoting a decentralized currency

01:05:17.140 over his own government's currency.

01:05:19.600 That is a problem for someone who held a shadow cabinet position

01:05:24.640 as a finance minister.

01:05:27.080 Sorry, Mr. Charest, and then Mr. Brown.

01:05:31.540 Well, on Bitcoin, I mean, everyone just finds it totally bizarre what Mr. Polyev is suggesting.

01:05:37.360 We all get it on blockchain.

01:05:38.680 That's fine.

01:05:39.800 Bitcoin has lost 60% of its value since November of last year, 20% in the last month.

01:05:45.500 Anyone following his advice that we saw on YouTube would have lost 20% of their earnings.

01:05:50.920 Do you actually think your parents enjoy having your parents lose 20% of their retirement funds? 0.74

01:05:56.020 I mean, this is ludicine, and it doesn't make sense at all.

01:06:00.980 Mr. Brown.

01:06:02.160 I have to agree with Dr. Lewis and Mr. Sherey.

01:06:05.320 I disagree with Mr. Pauliev's approach that you can opt out of inflation with cryptocurrency.

01:06:10.960 Magic internet money fluctuates vastly, 30% or more in one day.

01:06:16.320 And the last thing we should be doing is encouraging our parents and grandparents,

01:06:20.520 along with vulnerable families, to gamble their savings, their retirements,

01:06:24.140 in something this risky that's been learned watching late-night YouTube videos.

01:06:30.420 Mr. Poliev.

01:06:32.160 Well, Mr. Brown, that's not what I said.

01:06:34.040 You're misleading the public.

01:06:35.960 I clearly stated that people should have the freedom.

01:06:38.720 Now, the reason why many people have chosen to exercise that freedom

01:06:42.360 is because central banks have been attacking the value of our national currencies

01:06:47.020 by printing $400 billion here in Canada,

01:06:50.060 leading to 30-year highs in inflation, doubling the house prices,

01:06:54.140 leading to massive volatility in many sectors of our economy.

01:06:58.360 And that risk is one I pointed out earlier on and could lead to another debt crisis.

01:07:03.280 So frankly, we should protect the value of our traditional money rather than banning

01:07:06.860 Mr. Brown, you're up.

01:07:09.180 So Mr. Paul just said that he didn't say that.

01:07:11.840 No one in this room and no one in Canada will believe that you didn't say you can opt out

01:07:15.960 of inflation through cryptocurrency.

01:07:17.920 That is misleading.

01:07:19.200 Your words are there.

01:07:20.440 You can Google it yourself and watch it on the Internet.

01:07:22.660 And I have to say, it is bad advice to be giving to Canadians that is so risky. 0.99

01:07:28.480 And you should know that.

01:07:29.360 As a former finance critic, that's not the advice you should be giving to the country.

01:07:33.580 And Mr. Polly, have you raised your paddle for one more time?

01:07:38.700 Mr. Brown, if you want to talk about risks to people's finances, you were the one who said you promised when you ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, you would oppose a carbon tax.

01:07:50.740 And then as soon as you got in, you reversed yourself entirely.

01:07:54.400 Not only did you endorse just any carbon tax, you endorsed the carbon tax of Justin Trudeau,

01:08:00.340 which is in place today and recently increased and is one of the reasons why prices are so high across this country.

01:08:06.720 That is a threat to our money.

01:08:08.540 That is a decision you made after you promised not to.

01:08:11.240 People can't believe a word you said.

01:08:12.500 Mr. Bever.

01:08:13.600 I can't believe that you have a bunch of politicians here, career politicians, giving people investment advice.

01:08:19.060 Let's distinguish the issue.

01:08:20.740 okay there's digital currency controlled by government that has government friction

01:08:24.660 potentially and compromises their privacy and then there are there's investment decisions that

01:08:28.820 people make human ingenuity is great we should encourage research and development and diversified

01:08:34.180 portfolios but we should behave like conservatives again and not tell people what they should and

01:08:38.580 should invest in maybe we should oppose supply management maybe we should oppose equalization

01:08:43.220 we should not be afraid of being who we are enough mr baby that's great are we all done okay

01:08:50.580 i do remind you you've only got five so uh talking about bank accounts i i don't know but somebody

01:08:58.980 over there does uh and they will tell me and i will tell you uh all of this conversation though

01:09:04.900 leads neatly to my next question and uh the topic is the future of the party mr shere who would you

01:09:10.980 like to debate on the future of the partner mr pauliev mr pauliev there we go the question

01:09:18.260 the leadership campaign this leadership campaign has been particularly vicious on a personal level

01:09:25.000 we've seen that we've heard candidates call each other liars accuse others of having no integrity

01:09:30.860 one of you even says it sounds like a kindergarten class there are also deep divisions on a lot of

01:09:36.000 policy issues from abortion to zero emissions the conservative movement has split before in the

01:09:41.820 recent past. We know that. So the question to you, Mr. Charest and Mr. Polyev, how do you make room

01:09:48.880 in the Conservative tent for all those who hold opposing views to yours? How does the party enter

01:09:55.960 the next election? How can the party enter the next election united? Mr. Charest, you have one

01:10:01.580 minute. And Tom, this is for all those listening to us tonight and in the room, this is the key

01:10:05.320 question. They know, everyone knows that the Trudeau government needs to get out of office

01:10:10.460 and they're looking to the Conservative Party of Canada as the national alternative.

01:10:14.840 And the question they're asking themselves is this, are you up to the task?

01:10:19.520 Are you, yes or no, going to be a national conservative alternative and party?

01:10:25.060 That's our challenge, ladies and gentlemen.

01:10:27.340 And what is that party?

01:10:28.340 It's based on core values that we all agree on.

01:10:32.000 Fiscal conservatism, a market-based economy, economic policies that promote economic growth,

01:10:37.660 including oil, gas, pipelines, and mining, families also, all sorts of families, plus

01:10:44.740 respecting the rule of law, a foundation of our society. There is no freedom if you do not respect

01:10:52.780 the rule of law. There is no freedom. And it includes a federalism that conservatives practice

01:10:58.060 that includes Alberta, includes Ontario, Quebec, that actually makes this country work.

01:11:04.060 Mr. Polly, if you have one minute.

01:11:05.340 we need to unite the party around freedom. Social conservatives want the freedom to raise their kids

01:11:10.980 with their own values and preach their faith without censorship. Fiscal conservatives want

01:11:15.760 the freedom to make their own financial decisions, control their own money, including without

01:11:21.240 excessive taxes or carbon taxes. Rural conservatives want the freedom to own and control their own

01:11:27.540 property. Progressive conservatives want for women, minorities, First Nations to have the

01:11:33.440 freedom to make their own decisions without discrimination.

01:11:36.660 Libertarian conservatives want freedom of speech,

01:11:39.120 freedom to make their own decisions online,

01:11:42.440 and freedom to speak without the government censoring them.

01:11:45.840 So when we unite the party along

01:11:47.920 that consistent principle of freedom,

01:11:51.000 then we bring all the various parts of our party together,

01:11:55.340 and we electrify and excite a new generation of young people

01:11:59.400 that I've been bringing into the coalition

01:12:01.200 so that we can form the next government

01:12:02.940 and beat Justin Trudeau.

01:12:05.540 Mr. Charest, you have 45 seconds.

01:12:07.940 I wanna be very clear.

01:12:08.940 I'm not running as a hyphenated conservative,

01:12:12.360 ladies and gentlemen.

01:12:13.560 We've had enough.

01:12:14.440 We'll leave that to the Trudeau and the left

01:12:16.260 to hyphenate everyone.

01:12:17.620 I am not a hyphenated conservative.

01:12:19.900 I am a conservative, period.

01:12:21.980 You know what values I espoused and practiced all my life.

01:12:25.860 And once we are rallied around those values

01:12:29.380 and we're together,

01:12:30.460 You also know that we will respect those who don't agree with us,

01:12:34.660 who may have different views.

01:12:36.360 And Mr. Polyev talked about social conservatives.

01:12:39.200 Let's talk about that.

01:12:40.320 He still won't tell you his position of whether he is pro-choice or pro-life.

01:12:45.080 I respect social conservatives.

01:12:46.980 They will always have a place in our party.

01:12:49.500 They are good people, faith-based people,

01:12:52.760 who deserve a place at the table and in the family.

01:12:55.800 Mr. Polyev, 45.

01:12:56.920 I believe in freedom of choice on that issue.

01:12:58.380 I already said that at the very beginning.

01:13:00.280 So I don't know what you missed.

01:13:01.660 I don't know if you were listening.

01:13:04.760 Yes, it is.

01:13:05.820 That's what I said.

01:13:06.960 But Mr. Charest, why didn't you take a moment to acknowledge that you're the only one on this stage

01:13:10.940 who actually voted for a law that would recriminalize abortion

01:13:13.920 when you were part of the Mulroney government?

01:13:15.780 You did. You did.

01:13:17.220 And you can take a moment now to renounce your earlier vote if you've changed your mind.

01:13:21.180 But that was your position.

01:13:22.560 You seem to have forgotten it.

01:13:24.180 You've forgotten a lot of things about your record.

01:13:26.180 You forgot that you brought in a carbon tax.

01:13:27.900 You forgot that you raised the fuel tax, the sales tax, the health tax.

01:13:31.680 You forgot that you banned natural gas development in your own province.

01:13:35.740 You forgot you brought in a long gun registry.

01:13:37.640 You seem a little bit forgetful about your record, Mr. Charest, but Canadians now remember it.

01:13:43.720 No, no, no, no, no, no.

01:13:46.920 You know, you guys know the rules.

01:13:49.320 You know the consequences.

01:13:50.480 Mr. Charest, 30 seconds.

01:13:51.440 I am very proud of my record as a Conservative that stands on its own merits, on fiscal conservatism, on reducing the size of government, reducing taxes, which I did when I was Premier, by the way.

01:14:06.860 Quebecers had lower, a billion dollars less taxes paid and higher disposable income after I finished in government, ladies and gentlemen.

01:14:15.900 And by the way, Mr. Poliev, thank you for at least now telling us that you are pro-choice.

01:14:21.640 We understand that's what you're saying tonight.

01:14:23.640 Please confirm that for us.

01:14:25.080 And Mr. Poliev, you have 30 seconds.

01:14:26.760 I did confirm my position that I will not introduce any law on abortion as prime minister.

01:14:31.340 I made that very clear.

01:14:32.360 But Mr. Charest, you're wrong about your tax record.

01:14:34.880 You raised the sales tax, the carbon tax, the fuel tax.

01:14:37.800 Just like Patrick Brown, you're trying to flip flop on it and say one thing on the stage different than what you said before.

01:14:43.000 and the overall tax burden in Quebec went from 19% of the economy to 25% of the economy under

01:14:49.820 your government. That is your record. You can't run away from it. I have a clear solid record as

01:14:54.960 a tax cutter that leaves more money in people's pockets. Thank you. Mr. Brown, you have 30 seconds.

01:15:00.820 First of all, Pierre Pauly have just ran on a carbon tax on a carbon tax and knocked on doors

01:15:06.100 in Carleton literally six months ago, literally in the last election. Now, but let's talk about

01:15:10.620 the future of the party. The future of the party, we have to win where we've lost. We've lost in

01:15:15.180 suburban Canada. And I don't see us winning any new seats. Actually, I see us losing seats if we

01:15:20.580 run on the same discriminatory policies that Pierre Polievs had a history of supporting.

01:15:24.500 We must be the party that celebrates and supports religious freedom, not tramples it.

01:15:29.140 Full stop. Thanks very much. Dr. Lewis. Well, Mr. Polievs said that no pro-life bill will pass in

01:15:35.500 his caucus, but he believes in freedom. Are you going to give your MPs the freedom to vote their

01:15:40.980 conscience on issues of life? Am I allowed to answer? If you use your paddle, you can.

01:15:51.400 Well, he's been silent on the issue. Mr. Paulyev, you've raised your paddle. You have 30 seconds.

01:16:00.360 I do believe in free votes. So there's your direct answer. And as for Mr. Brown,

01:16:05.500 Sorry, Patrick, you told the members of the Conservative Party in Ontario that you were against a carbon tax.

01:16:10.360 Then you flip-flopped and embraced a carbon tax.

01:16:12.740 You said that you were a pro-life social conservative, and then after you became leader,

01:16:17.140 you said that social conservatives were intolerant dinosaurs.

01:16:21.180 You said that you would get rid of the sex ed program in Ontario, and then you embraced it.

01:16:25.280 You now attack all the Harper government policies that you enthusiastically supported and embraced when you were part of his caucus.

01:16:31.600 Thank you, Mr. Bolliap. Is anybody else wanting to get involved in this?

01:16:35.500 Mr. Aitchison, 30 seconds.

01:16:37.960 Well, I appreciate everybody talking about the importance of all the different types of conservatives.

01:16:43.100 I think Mr. Polyev gave us a great list of all the different types of conservatives.

01:16:46.600 It is important for us to respect each other and have respectful dialogue.

01:16:50.980 But it's not in us just to unite conservatives.

01:16:53.040 We need to win over swing voters, people who aren't part of our party.

01:16:57.380 And I think that's going to be extremely difficult, especially if they watch some of the nastiness on this stage tonight.

01:17:05.500 Sorry Mr. Baber. I'll unite the party by restoring democracy in the Conservative

01:17:10.740 Party but most importantly bring back disillusioned voters. Our party failed to

01:17:14.920 stand up for many Canadians against lockdowns against mandates until the 0.88

01:17:19.140 truckers came to town. Many Canadians felt that we've abandoned them so they

01:17:23.020 voted for another party or they didn't vote at all another disillusioned with

01:17:26.680 our party. I'm the only one on the stage who stood up for Canadians for two years

01:17:30.700 for a year and a half before it was popular and I'll bring back disillusioned

01:17:34.700 voters we cannot win if we're not united right of center anybody dr lewis mr baber was not the

01:17:44.700 only one who stood up for canadians who lost their jobs due to mandates who were discriminated against

01:17:52.000 who cannot fly i also stood up for those canadians and i wanted to make that point

01:17:57.260 and mr brown i believe you've got one left okay well let me be very clear i was one of the only

01:18:05.300 big city mayors in the country that didn't impose vaccine mandates no firefighter no police officer

01:18:10.300 no long-term city employee lost their job in brampton i stood by the right to have personal

01:18:15.320 health choices and i have to say it's surprising during the leadership campaign but all of a sudden

01:18:19.720 pure poly comes out against mandates because in the heat of the battle he didn't say a word he

01:18:24.460 was hiding in his basement at a time that I had longtime municipal employees in Ottawa calling me

01:18:30.100 asking for help. I give Roman Baber credit. He was there. He was hurt. Dr. Lewis was hurt. Disappeared.

01:18:37.960 Thanks very much. It would seem appropriate for me at this point, and I'm getting the information

01:18:43.980 in my ear, but I want to pass it on. Mr. Brown, you've got one intervention left. Mr. Paliyev,

01:18:49.700 you're out you're you've used your five uh dr lewis so have you um and uh i'm waiting to hear

01:18:56.980 mr baber you've got four four oh you've got one left mr baber mr chariot you've got three left

01:19:08.100 oh god you're keeping count and you've got four left is everybody clear on what you've got and

01:19:15.060 you don't okay thank you very much uh miss lewis this next question is for you and the topic is

01:19:22.100 energy and who would you like to debate i'll debate mr aitchison mr aitchison and dr lewis

01:19:32.900 excellent here's the question for both of you starting with dr lewis uh oil and gas as we know

01:19:39.700 in canada has seen a price rebound in this year but the export growth of these commodities has

01:19:44.100 been constrained by pipeline infrastructure you've all said that you would boost the building of

01:19:50.340 pipelines there are multiple jurisdictions as we know that need to be involved in that process

01:19:56.260 so the question is this how would you do this who would pay for these pipelines and how would

01:20:04.500 you deal with indigenous or provincial opposition dr lewis investing in canadian oil and gas is

01:20:11.780 the best way to grow our economy we can enter into agreements with indigenous populations that will

01:20:19.060 actually enrich those populations and many of those agreements have been entered into and and 1.00

01:20:25.140 it has been beneficial in uplifting those populations we also need to ensure that we eliminate

01:20:33.060 these uh bill c69 and bill c48 which is really crippling our local capacity to develop our

01:20:41.620 oil and gas we have to get our products to market build pipelines we could go through church hill

01:20:48.500 and out get to get our products to tidewater and offset dictatorship oil

01:20:54.740 i you haven't used all your time but if you're conceding it i'll go to you mr aitchison for one

01:20:59.380 minute well i mean i think it's safe to say that everybody on this stage is pro pipeline

01:21:04.500 but we do need a real plan you know mr probably talks about the gatekeepers and the the federal

01:21:10.340 bureaucracy and of course there are a lot there and so probably the first thing i would do as

01:21:13.860 leader of a party and as the prime minister is i'd make para poly of my minister of natural

01:21:18.180 resources to deal with the gatekeepers and solve that problem gatekeepers he can fire second we

01:21:26.420 need to create a framework that allows more building clear and concise rules we need clear

01:21:31.940 guidelines timely approvals set timelines on these things and get the process moving and make sure

01:21:37.620 it's not delayed we must simplify and speed up this process stop dithering and provide certainty

01:21:42.820 this is one of the biggest challenges that we face if their investment doesn't like uncertainty

01:21:47.780 and this is part of the problem we face here is uncertainty we need to make it clear concise

01:21:52.100 and put timelines on it and i think pierre would be perfect at that

01:21:56.740 dr lewis you have 45 seconds i think it was very short-sighted for us not to invest in pipelines

01:22:02.900 and we're seeing the implications of that now in europe 40 of all the oil that's purchased

01:22:08.900 is purchased from russia we're actually financing the war between ukraine and russia through by not

01:22:16.100 getting our products to offset dictatorship oil every day we import 555 000 barrels of oil

01:22:24.340 we have the third largest accessible oil reserves on the planet which we are leaving untapped it is

01:22:30.420 a great resource that we could use to rebuild our economy develop our infrastructure for every job

01:22:37.380 that's created from the oil and gas sector seven splinter jobs are created across the country

01:22:42.900 this could help us out of the recession mr aitchison to you for 45. yeah i just i would

01:22:49.620 also add that of course i think we all agree that one of the reasons we're all so pro pipeline is

01:22:53.380 because canada's energy is the answer to a lot of problems in this world today i mean we see what's

01:22:58.340 going on in ukraine right now in canada we don't even have the capacity to scale up to help

01:23:03.780 countries like ukraine and countries like germany and europe because because we're not ready we

01:23:09.300 haven't been doing the work we have had a liberal government that's just gotten in the way and made

01:23:13.060 things more difficult every step of the way it's good for our economy it's good for our environment

01:23:17.860 and it's good for advancing foreign policy canadian energy is some of the cleanest in the world people

01:23:22.180 don't realize that Fort Mac has reduced their carbon output from their production by over 30%.

01:23:30.180 That's incredible. I guarantee you Venezuela is not doing that.

01:23:34.340 Dr. Lewis, back to you for 30. I just underlined part of the question, which is who pays for this?

01:23:38.900 I'm sorry? Part of the question is who pays for this?

01:23:43.700 Well, if we are building pipelines and we are selling our products and we're getting our

01:23:48.340 products to market we will have enough resources that we can reinvest back into our economy and

01:23:54.980 actually improve the lives of certain regions even in the north we could invest in in improving those

01:24:02.820 uh individuals lives and making sure that we build critical infrastructure infrastructures in the

01:24:08.420 north bring down the cost of fuel assist with the high cost of food and and cancel the carbon tax

01:24:16.020 thank you mr ageison 30 seconds left for you and you're asking me who pays for the pipelines yeah

01:24:21.380 yeah industry should pay for the pipelines there's no question about that and if there is certainty

01:24:25.140 in the process there's certainty in the system they're more than happy to make those investments

01:24:28.420 but it is the industry that should be doing it terrific anybody else want to get involved in

01:24:33.540 this discussion going going gone well i think only two of you battles left so let's move on

01:24:39.460 to the next one uh and mr aitchison this is a question to you and the topic is the north who do

01:24:46.180 you choose to debate uh mr baby mr baber it is okay and here's the question mr aitchison

01:24:57.540 the largest part of our landmark land mass in this country uh is north of where most canadians live

01:25:03.940 and while incredibly beautiful as we all know the north is struggling economically

01:25:08.580 demographically and now with melting ice its very security may be at risk as hostile nations move

01:25:14.580 to take advantage of that area one could argue that the north is our biggest challenge but it's

01:25:19.540 also our biggest opportunity so what is your vision for the north my vision of the north

01:25:27.380 includes actually engaging in the north i think mr shere made a very good point about making sure

01:25:31.700 we have not just one but two deep water ports in the north you're quite correct that ice is melting

01:25:37.060 and there are other nations that are cruising through our our northern waters and not all that

01:25:43.300 interested in what we think about it we need to defend uh the north we need to engage with the

01:25:47.060 north and we need to make be making investments in the north but that includes of course uh our

01:25:51.620 military commitments we need to be we need to be making sure that we're not just committing two

01:25:56.500 percent of gdp on military spending to meet our nato commitments but we also need to be making

01:26:00.980 sure we're meeting commitments to protect canada and and it's not just enough to be protecting

01:26:06.420 the east and the west coast we have a north coast and it's been neglected and we need to

01:26:10.180 invest more there and so i i fundamentally think that this is about uh engaging uh all parts of

01:26:16.100 our country and making sure that we can secure it uh at every at every at every port at every at

01:26:21.380 every coast thank you mr baber for one minute thank you the best way to help northern communities

01:26:28.500 is to unlock their natural resources potential and not just soil and gas i'm very interested in

01:26:33.940 mining there's an insatiable appetite right now around the world for precious metals and precious

01:26:39.140 uh minerals and canada and the north are blessed with them and we can do this we can strike the

01:26:45.220 right balance we can consult stakeholders and we can protect the environment but we need to end

01:26:50.420 this resistance to the development of natural resources and northern communities are going to

01:26:55.300 be the greatest beneficiaries of that that also means we'll improve infrastructure and build roads

01:26:59.940 and highways in the north let's bring northern communities a true economic opportunity let's

01:27:06.500 build roads let's start building and and working in our country again let's get back to work

01:27:14.020 uh mr ashton back to you for 45. i i think speaking about the north also provides an

01:27:19.460 opportunity to talk about housing which is an issue that has not come up in this debate yet

01:27:22.420 and it is it's a crisis in this country and it's particularly a crisis in the north

01:27:26.020 And we need to commit as a federal government, not just to ensure that, you know, big cities and southern Canada is getting things built, but we need to make sure that we make a commitment to the north as well, because the housing situation there is as much of a crisis or worse than anywhere else in Canada.

01:27:42.920 And so housing would be a crucial investment to make sure that we're engaged and making sure that the health of residents in northern Canada is sound.

01:27:53.480 Mr. Baby?

01:27:54.120 I want good paying jobs in the north. I had a gentleman approach me a couple of months ago who I didn't know, and he told me that his company owned a mining permit for 15 years, and they weren't able to go ahead because local stakeholders would not consult.

01:28:07.040 I know that the Supreme Court recognized that there's a duty to consult, but it doesn't mean that we can't strike a balance.

01:28:13.520 We can be reasonable again. Let's mitigate environmental risk.

01:28:17.440 Let's agree on profit sharing.

01:28:19.780 But I will not allow to hold up the development of Canada's natural resources.

01:28:24.800 We need them for the well-being of our northern communities.

01:28:27.580 And most importantly, we need them to get out of the fiscal mess that the Liberal government is leaving us in.

01:28:34.280 Mr. Acheson, you have 30.

01:28:37.040 Some debate between Roman and I, I think we were agreeing on almost everything here, and I think that that's kind of nice.

01:28:43.720 I don't really have much more to add on the issue.

01:28:46.040 I think that there's been a lot of talk over the years about engaging in the North, and not a lot of action.

01:28:53.100 I think that that's pretty typical of this Liberal government.

01:28:55.220 We've seen, you know, when it comes to housing, lots of photo ops, but not a lot of ribbon cuttings.

01:28:59.820 And I think that's disgusting, and we need to do better, and Conservatives are a party of action.

01:29:04.080 And so we will get these things done, and we will engage with the North and actually do it.

01:29:10.320 Mr. Palliev.

01:29:12.580 Oh, I'm sorry.

01:29:14.460 This is a very complicated show.

01:29:16.400 Okay.

01:29:16.760 Mr. Baber, go ahead.

01:29:18.340 Thank you.

01:29:18.960 I appreciate my friend Scott for his kindness and for his gracious approach to this race.

01:29:24.240 Perhaps it will give me an opportunity to politely respond to Dr. Lewis. 0.56

01:29:28.400 I'm the only one on the stage that opposed lockdowns.

01:29:30.860 I was removed from the Doug Ford caucus in January 2021

01:29:34.700 when I spoke up about the collateral harm

01:29:37.360 that we're causing our health and mental health

01:29:39.660 by way of locking down healthy people

01:29:41.540 instead of a focused approach

01:29:43.280 against a very transmissible virus.

01:29:45.260 But I appreciate that she joined against mandates

01:29:47.920 subsequent to the last general election.

01:29:50.380 Thank you.

01:29:52.480 Mr. Charest, did you raise your paddle or did...

01:29:54.320 May I respond since it's...

01:29:55.820 No, if you...

01:29:56.860 I'm sorry.

01:29:57.860 No, you can't.

01:29:58.520 Mr. Charest, go ahead.

01:29:59.320 Well, thank you. And Scott and Roman have both said things that I totally agree with. And thank

01:30:06.080 you for a very constructive discussion on the North, to which I want to add. Yes, I would build

01:30:11.080 two military bases in the North, one with a deep water port. This is one of the most important

01:30:16.500 issues facing our country. And this is a good city to talk about. Edmonton has a very deep

01:30:20.720 connection to the North. But it also includes affirming our sovereignty. It includes things like

01:30:26.380 icebreakers and armed icebreakers submarines that we also need to build to be able to patrol the

01:30:32.060 north it includes solidifying our agreement with the americans on norad we're done anybody else

01:30:37.580 want to uh no okay we're going to move on to the next question thank you very much uh mr baber

01:30:43.700 this is for you the subject is cost of living and who would you like to debate

01:30:47.920 mr shere mr shere and mr baber on this question we have seen a rapid rise in the cost of living

01:30:56.360 for canadians at levels we haven't seen in 40 years and we are certainly not alone every western

01:31:02.600 country is going through this right now under your leadership is there anything a canadian

01:31:07.640 government can do to reverse the worldwide trend without making the wealth gap any larger in

01:31:12.840 canada than it already is today so i think it's important that we acknowledge the cause of

01:31:19.560 inflation and the rising prices it's not just a half a trillion dollars in debt that we printed

01:31:24.120 in the last two years it's lockdowns something no one on the stage other than myself was willing

01:31:29.400 to acknowledge we stopped the global supply chain at its tracks numerous times and then restarted

01:31:35.480 demand again supply is not catching up to demand the best thing we can do right now is to provide

01:31:40.600 the market with some certainty i will never allow for any lockdowns or any stoppages i'm also going

01:31:46.280 to restore discipline to government we're spending way beyond our means but in terms of affordability

01:31:52.760 I'm going to repeal the carbon tax on day one and I will cut income taxes across the board

01:31:59.700 with money saved from equalization payments. I would rather that Canadians spent them

01:32:04.640 instead of provincial governments. We are the conservative government. We should not be afraid

01:32:10.500 to be talking about cutting taxes. Mr. Baber, thank you. Mr. Charest. Well, Roman, on the issue

01:32:17.300 of lockdowns, and I agree, I think one of the things we need to do if we don't want to have

01:32:21.660 lockdowns and the restrictions we had the last time is change our healthcare system so that we

01:32:25.900 have capacity that's one of the reasons why canada had more restrictions than anywhere else in the

01:32:32.060 world because we don't so we need to open up this healthcare system so there's more flexibility

01:32:36.940 more private sector participation in in this on inflation we need to reduce spending and we also

01:32:44.300 need to i think reduce the income tax load of canadians i did that during the great recession

01:32:50.060 and we had a better performance than Ontario, Canada, the United States, or Europe.

01:32:55.820 Lower unemployment and stronger economic growth. Those are the things that we can do

01:33:00.220 to increase the disposable income of people, which is exactly what happened after I was Premier.

01:33:06.460 The disposable income, especially of lower income people, increased substantially because we reduced

01:33:13.500 taxes and controlled spending. Thanks very much. Mr. Baber, you have 45.

01:33:18.300 we should never lock down mr shere no matter what the circumstances are we have to acknowledge the

01:33:25.020 toll that this took on people a mental health pandemic uh in ontario alone more than 300 000

01:33:31.340 surgeries were delayed more than a million cancer screenings missed the whole point is that the toll

01:33:36.700 on our health was considerably greater instead we should have been locking we should have been

01:33:42.220 protecting uh vulnerable populations beefing up our resources in cognitive settings where 80

01:33:47.660 of the risk was we should have been uh increasing the the uh healthcare capacity we had but we

01:33:55.100 should acknowledge lockdowns the effect on our children the effect on small business this is

01:34:00.540 something that we cannot escape and we need to think about and resolve going long long term

01:34:06.220 well and you know we agree we agree that we need to avoid the lockdowns and that's why i would

01:34:11.020 change the canada health act i do introduce a new hat because canada's issue has been capacity we're

01:34:17.340 the country in the world who's had that problem capacity to be able to absorb people but let me

01:34:21.980 also talk about something else in relation to inflation mr pollier's suggestion of firing

01:34:27.100 the governor of the bank of canada his suggestion that i'm saying that the bank of canada is

01:34:32.060 financially illiterate is irresponsible it creates doubt if you're an investor looking

01:34:38.060 at coming to canada and you hear that kind of a statement coming from a member of the house of

01:34:43.340 Commons, you'd think you're in a third world country. We cannot afford to have any leader

01:34:48.520 who goes out there and deliberately undermines the confidence in institutions. Conservatives

01:34:54.560 do not do that. Mr. Baber, you have 30 seconds. Thank you. I'm going to go back to the cost

01:34:59.960 of living. The political class is out of touch with Canadians. Prices for produce, for instance,

01:35:05.860 have tripled. This may be one of the greatest challenges that Canadians are facing right now,

01:35:10.500 and we need to do everything possible to make life more affordable for them,

01:35:15.460 not more expensive. 0.85

01:35:17.240 Let's repeal the carbon tax.

01:35:19.040 It's increasing the price on everything.

01:35:21.980 Let's cut the income tax and let's stop devaluing the loonie.

01:35:28.180 Mr. Shurey.

01:35:29.300 Well, on the carbon tax, I agree with Roman that we need to get out

01:35:33.840 and repeal the Trudeau carbon tax on consumers.

01:35:37.580 And I would be inspired by Alberta.

01:35:39.300 here in Alberta since 2002, and you renewed this in 2019, there is a price on carbon for large

01:35:47.320 emitters. And let me point something out here. This is extremely important to get it right.

01:35:52.640 Otherwise, we will not be elected as a political party if we're not credible on this. A. B. We

01:35:58.300 will not get investment unless there is a predictable investment environment on an issue

01:36:03.180 like pricing carbon thank you uh that round is finished would anybody else like to join in

01:36:11.500 mr brown you've still got points as do you we don't have any more points no i know you're out

01:36:17.900 yeah um sorry about that okay uh we are now going to move on to the next question then mr brown

01:36:26.620 the issue is climate change who would you like to debate my friend dr leslie lewis

01:36:33.180 Okay, Dr. Lewis and Patrick Brown. Mr. Brown, here's the question. In 2015, almost every country in the world, including Canada, signed on to the Paris Accords to fight climate change. To date, not a single G20 country is on track to meet that obligation.

01:36:53.480 Should the Paris Agreement still be the benchmark for Canada in measuring itself by, and if

01:36:59.220 yes, would you commit to meeting the initial Paris Agreement by 2030, and who will bear

01:37:05.560 the cost of getting us there?

01:37:08.100 So first of all, I should say that the Liberals promise Canada to targets they have no intention,

01:37:13.520 no plan to meet, and that's part of the problem.

01:37:16.480 We need to have a credible environmental plan to actually achieve the targets the Canada

01:37:21.080 commits to.

01:37:21.580 So I don't believe in Canada committing to targets that we're unable to commit.

01:37:25.540 And frankly, it is photo-op environmentalism. 0.68

01:37:28.980 How is it better for the environment to be importing foreign dictator oil into Canada?

01:37:35.700 I find it infuriating that I can't use, when I fill up the pump in Brampton, Ontario,

01:37:40.740 I can't use and be a wealth generator for the Canadian energy sector.

01:37:44.620 And I have to say, the fact that our prime minister, this prime minister, doesn't understand that is a huge toll on our economy.

01:37:55.080 It's costing Canadians more.

01:37:57.320 You know, looking at the latest stats, 73,000 barrels from Saudi Arabia, a loss to our economies.

01:38:03.480 He hasn't invested into our energy corridor, $14 billion.

01:38:07.120 You know, we... Thank you.

01:38:09.760 Thanks very much, Mr. Brown. Dr. Lewis.

01:38:11.900 Canada signed on to the Paris Accord. They didn't meet their targets. The U.S. pulled out of the Paris Accord. They met their targets under Donald Trump.

01:38:24.620 The issue is not whether or not we sign on to the Paris Accord. The issue is the resolve to make sure that we leave for future generations a better environment than what we inherited.

01:38:38.720 There is no partisanship in the environment.

01:38:42.580 We must work together to make sure that we are protecting the environment.

01:38:47.400 The carbon tax doesn't reduce emissions, it just increases revenues.

01:38:51.800 We need to ensure that we adopt technology that will bring down emissions, that will increase conservation.

01:39:02.020 And we have to have a credible environmental plan.

01:39:04.960 And that plan has to have a component of education to change the way we interact with the environment.

01:39:13.860 Mr. Brown, 45 seconds.

01:39:15.820 Yes. So you look at China, one of the greatest polluters in the world, 30% of the global emissions.

01:39:21.240 To help with environment, we need to export clean Canadian energy to the world.

01:39:27.880 You know, since 2014, 18 LNG projects, none approved.

01:39:31.380 At the same time in the U.S., seven were built.

01:39:33.740 Now they have 22% of the global market share.

01:39:36.280 So the question about helping countries reliant on coal have clean Canadian energy

01:39:41.300 should be how Canada could help abroad.

01:39:44.700 And right now, we need a conservative government that can get pipelines built.

01:39:49.920 And the reality is there are some candidates on this stage

01:39:51.960 who would have no chance to get pipelines built

01:39:54.540 because of derogatory remarks they've made about Indigenous Canadians.

01:39:59.960 Dr. Lewis.

01:40:01.380 Well, that's that person certain. I know that Mr. Brown does not refer to me on that one. So

01:40:07.160 it is very important that we look at the entire life cycle of a product. So even when we commit

01:40:16.180 to something like net zero, we should not be virtue signaling to use the environment as

01:40:25.500 virtue signaling. We have to ensure that we look at the entire life cycle of a product.

01:40:30.800 So even if we have a green product, we have to look at the entire production from the start to the finish, such as green energy, such as green cars, electric cars.

01:40:44.560 What is the entire product?

01:40:47.780 Mr. Brown, you have 30.

01:40:50.660 So the premise to get pipelines built is indigenous collaboration.

01:40:54.960 I'd have to ask Pierre Pauly of the question,

01:40:57.040 how he believes he could ever get a single pipeline built in this country

01:41:00.620 when on the heels of Prime Minister Harper's historic residential school apology,

01:41:06.040 he attacked in a disgusting manner Indigenous Canadians saying they lacked work ethic.

01:41:10.740 Someone who attacks Indigenous partners, who we require to build pipelines,

01:41:14.740 will never be able to build a single pipeline in this country.

01:41:18.720 And Dr. Lewis, you have the last 30 seconds.

01:41:20.980 I just wanted to expand on my comment about the entire life cycle.

01:41:27.160 I'm very concerned with things like electric vehicles that we do not consider the fact that it starts off in poor countries, in some African countries where children as young as five years old are working in cobalt mines.

01:41:44.220 So when we think of protecting the environment, we must think of the entire impact, the entire life cycle.

01:41:51.400 thank you uh would anybody else like to say anything mr charade well this is a key issue

01:41:59.400 for us we need to do a lot of things including carbon capture and storage hydrogen blue green

01:42:06.440 biofuels small modular reactors alberta ontario new brunswick saskatchewan are working together

01:42:13.320 to develop those technologies replace the carbon tax of mr trudeau with something similar to what

01:42:19.400 Alberta's doing for large emitters and have a credible policy on this in the next campaign,

01:42:25.480 ladies and gentlemen. Otherwise, our government will not be elected.

01:42:31.400 Mr. Aitchison. Thank you. I actually would propose a similar plan to what former Prime

01:42:36.360 Minister Harper had in 2008. It's similar to what Mr. Sherey has proposed in this campaign.

01:42:40.360 In fact, I'm making my cabinet right here as we go. I'd make him Minister of the Environment,

01:42:44.040 probably and i think we need to offer a balanced regulatory approach i do agree with uh taxing or

01:42:53.720 the large industrial emitters but i think it's too it's important to point out what what's going

01:42:57.160 on right here in alberta the innovative work going on in the economy here is something we need to 0.98

01:43:01.000 take an opportunity to sell our products to the world to help countries like china reduce their

01:43:06.440 emissions i think that's it and i see no more paddles being raised i i just want to say that

01:43:14.360 you have been also incredibly disciplined uh with your time that we find ourselves in a lovely

01:43:19.960 position of me being able to offer some time back to all of you throughout this debate no doubt you

01:43:27.240 have been dying to say something about what has been discussed here today so i want to go down

01:43:33.880 the line and we'll just take it in in in geographical order here starting with dr lewis

01:43:40.120 and go down the line 30 seconds to say anything that you have wanted to say that you didn't get

01:43:45.400 to say so far 30 seconds each dr lewis i i wanted to add on my point for the environment that we

01:43:52.200 can protect the environment without punishing average canadians every time they're filling

01:43:57.720 up their gas tanks they're heating their homes they're putting food on the table they're being

01:44:02.120 punished with the carbon tax i would cancel the carbon tax thank you very much uh mr paper

01:44:10.280 first of all uh i really enjoyed uh today's debate and and of course i appreciate the tone

01:44:15.480 uh i i think it's okay to have a little bit of fun as we did last time around and and also i

01:44:20.920 think that we should encourage people to speak more freely a lot of candidates may wish to respond to

01:44:26.200 one another we should perhaps accommodate such opportunity and finally if i may um in the 10

01:44:32.680 seconds they'll give me uh i think that we should not be afraid to to stand for what we believe is

01:44:38.440 the conservative party and unfortunately i'm out of time you're out of time mr shere i look forward

01:44:44.760 to working with everyone on stage here and mr aderson i appreciate the invitation i want to

01:44:50.280 talk about resources and point something out here about canada we have a knowledge-based economy but

01:44:55.880 but a good part of our exports are resources.

01:44:58.440 Whether it's mining, oil, gas, whether it's pipelines,

01:45:01.480 we need to stand up for the development

01:45:04.240 of our resource industry.

01:45:05.540 And we need a prime minister who's actually gonna say,

01:45:07.500 this is a good idea.

01:45:08.880 We can do this in transition to zero emissions in 2050.

01:45:12.760 It is possible to do it.

01:45:14.280 And only the Conservative Party of Canada

01:45:16.200 has the ability to offer that leadership.

01:45:18.360 Thank you, Mr. Sherey and Mr. Aitchison.

01:45:20.640 What have you been dying to say?

01:45:23.300 Well, I guess I really think it's important to say

01:45:25.380 as Conservatives, we need to have the courage of our convictions to defend our values and

01:45:31.100 our principles. Our values and principles as Conservatives are timeless. And if we stick to

01:45:35.060 those, and if we offer a principled, consistent message to Canadians, we can form the next

01:45:40.280 government. Thank you very much. Mr. Brown. I believe in technology, not taxes. And Brampton

01:45:46.920 will be the first big city in Canada to have a fully electrified transit fleet, clean, green,

01:45:51.780 and no emissions. I should also say, you know, we need to have a conversation about a carbon

01:45:56.420 tariff at the border. The fact that some candidates on this stage are okay to allow

01:46:01.520 India and China to flood the market where they have no environmental standards, they have no

01:46:05.740 labor standards and compete with Canadian goods is wrong. We need to create a Canadian advantage

01:46:09.980 and protect against product being dumped with no environmental cost.

01:46:15.380 Thank you very much. Mr. Polyev.

01:46:16.960 The biggest issue I've heard about that people haven't talked about today

01:46:20.260 is housing. Our 32, 33-year-old people living in their parents' basements. We have the fewest

01:46:26.240 houses in Canada per capita in the G7. At the same time, our central bank has been printing

01:46:32.400 money to inflate prices. The solution is, of course, to fire the gatekeepers. I've already

01:46:36.700 announced that I will fire the governor of the central bank to get inflation under control. But

01:46:41.380 I will also tie infrastructure dollars for cities to the number of houses they allow to get built

01:46:47.220 by removing the red tape and allowing builders to build homes for our young people to live in.

01:46:53.060 Thank you very much.

01:46:54.960 We are now going to the final section of the debate.

01:47:00.580 And once again, all the candidates have been advised in advance of this.

01:47:07.440 And it is simply to, we started the debate with the question,

01:47:10.920 what is your, my vision for Canada is dot, dot, dot.

01:47:13.720 This question is, why should I be the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, dot, dot, dot.

01:47:21.400 45 seconds to each of you to answer that question, and we are going to start with Scott Aitchison.

01:47:27.880 I believe it's 30 seconds.

01:47:29.600 We've increased it to 45.

01:47:31.480 Really?

01:47:32.140 I got my 45 back.

01:47:35.020 We must welcome more people to our party if we are to succeed, but we cannot do it with angry rhetoric and attacks on each other.

01:47:43.720 Leaders always engage, empower, and inspire the team around them.

01:47:48.080 As leader, I will bring Conservatives together,

01:47:50.680 and we will learn the trust of all Canadians to govern again.

01:47:54.220 I know our best days lie ahead.

01:47:56.600 With our team focused on all that unites us,

01:47:59.140 we will fulfill the promise of a brighter tomorrow.

01:48:02.340 And if you seek a Conservative government focused on making life more affordable,

01:48:05.660 join me.

01:48:06.960 Join me at votescott.ca.

01:48:09.280 Thank you.

01:48:10.840 Thank you very much, Mr. Acheson.

01:48:13.180 Mr. Brown. Thank you, Tom. I want to be leader of the Conservative Party of Canada because we

01:48:18.060 need a leader who can defeat Justin Trudeau, not just yell at him. We need to expand our party

01:48:23.180 with new members, new supporters, new volunteers, and most importantly, new voters. But it'll never

01:48:28.860 happen if we choose a leader who repels voters and supports failed election-losing policies

01:48:35.260 that trample over the religious freedom of Canadians. I won in the GTA by proving to

01:48:41.020 voters who have traditionally not supported the conservative party that their values are our

01:48:46.220 values conservative values with your support we can do that on a national scale from coast to

01:48:52.060 coast to coast and win thank you very much mr brown we are now going to dr lewis 45 seconds

01:48:59.260 are we not doing mr polio no oh okay we drew for these slots and you drew number three so

01:49:06.700 thank you there you go canadians are tired of legacy politicians that will say anything to

01:49:13.100 get elected wokeism and cancelled culture are robbing people of their voices our charter of

01:49:19.980 rights needs to be defended as your leader i pledge to work tirelessly to heal our institutions

01:49:27.900 and win back the trust of canadians but i can't do it alone i hope you will join this movement

01:49:35.740 to restore our declining democracy and return prosperity to canada because only then

01:49:43.340 will we remain glorious and free thank you very much dr lewis and uh mr shere thank you tom there

01:49:52.460 are millions of canadians who are orphans in this country right now they're political orphans and

01:49:58.220 they are looking for a national alternative and a conservative alternative we need to be that party

01:50:05.100 I want to lead that party, I want to unite the party, and I want to offer a national vision,

01:50:11.260 not based on anger, not based on tearing down institutions, but on building our country.

01:50:19.100 We are the most privileged citizens in the world. We won the lottery of citizenship.

01:50:24.140 We should be living up to that aspiration, passing on to our children the country that

01:50:29.020 we received from our parents. It is your responsibility and mine to do that. And as

01:50:33.660 As leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, I will give you a national majority government.

01:50:40.400 Thank you, Mr. Chere.

01:50:42.100 Mr. Pollyann.

01:50:44.100 People feel like they've lost control of their lives. 0.97

01:50:47.380 Elderly people who have to choose between heating and eating.

01:50:50.720 Single moms who can no longer afford sporting for their kids. 1.00

01:50:54.500 Full of grown adults, stuck in their parents' basement, not able to start a family or build 0.99

01:50:59.740 home equity for the future.

01:51:02.340 Inflation out of control at a 30-year high, and a government that instead of hearing these concerns, tries to censor them by cracking down on the population.

01:51:10.320 I'm running for prime minister to put you back in control of your life by making Canada the freest nation on earth, by removing the gatekeepers so that we can build more homes for our young people,

01:51:20.860 unleash opportunity for our energy workers, reduce our energy costs so everyone can go where they want and heat their home.

01:51:28.200 Make this the country that is the freest on earth so you can take back control of your life.

01:51:32.340 thank you thank you mr polyev and final word goes to roman baber thank you my name is roman baber

01:51:39.860 i was born in a communist regime and i'm very scared for what is happening to canada's democracy

01:51:44.340 and i'm running to become prime minister so i can defend canada's democracy with me what you

01:51:48.980 hear is what you get for the last two years i've been standing here trying to defend canadians

01:51:54.660 because i'm not afraid to say what i believe i'm not afraid of cancel culture or the left-wing

01:51:59.620 lockdown mob i love canada and i love canadians and you can always count on me to defend you

01:52:05.780 and your family no matter how hard it gets you will always know where i stand i ask that you

01:52:12.020 become eligible to vote at joinroman.ca and that you rank me number one thank you so much

01:52:19.060 for welcoming all of us tonight thank you candidates very much it was a challenging

01:52:26.420 format but i think that we uh we did well i just want everybody to know that you will all be the

01:52:32.020 band we're getting the band back together again on may 25th in laval quebec for the french debate

01:52:37.700 uh you can all tune into that as well uh on behalf of myself i just want to thank all of you

01:52:44.500 uh for uh a superb debate tonight an exchange of ideas as i said good passionate debate is the

01:52:52.900 the lifeblood of good democracy.

01:52:55.900 Thank you all very much.

01:52:56.900 Ladies and gentlemen, that is tonight's debate.

Western Standard - May 12, 2022

LIVE： The 2022 CPC English Leadership Debate

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