Eli from True North News joins me to talk about his journey into journalism, including his experience covering the Freedom Convoy and Rolling Thunder rallies, and his thoughts on the Rolling Thunder rally. He also talks about why he decided to leave his job at the Postmillennial to become a full-time journalist.
00:06:20.880So when I started, this was right in the middle of Quebec putting in place some of the harshest restrictions in the Western world.
00:06:29.160They had a vaccine passport that was banning unvaccinated Quebecers from buying groceries at Walmart and Costco,
00:06:37.120which tend to be places where groceries are cheaper and they're relied on by less low-income people.
00:06:41.960So I did a lot of coverage about Quebec and there was all these scandals around the curfew and it not having a lot of scientific evidence behind it.
00:08:00.920We were – what I do personally is that I have basically cut most of my partisan ties.
00:08:08.740Probably all of them because as much as I can trust myself to be a neutralist, it's out of a matter of principle.
00:08:15.600I don't feel comfortable walking into parliament or into my role as a journalist with partisan ties.
00:08:21.760So I've mostly cut – I've cut my partisan ties and I really try to write a story and I – if I have biases – because we all have biases.
00:08:30.220I always try to get – to make sure that I am aware of what my biases are going into a story so that by the time the story is done, the biases are removed.
00:08:39.260Because we, as independent media at True North, we tell – we don't just tell the other side of the story.
00:09:36.740And I know Roman personally and I think he's a very – he's a very strong and very principled politician.
00:09:43.500But I think that most people who maybe didn't know that were kind of surprised by his performance.
00:09:49.920Leslyne Lewis came off as very powerful.
00:09:52.640Like, she talked with a lot of conviction.
00:09:54.380And, of course, Pierre Polyèvre just knows how to deal with a crowd.
00:09:58.380I would say that the loser probably would be Patrick Brown.
00:10:02.380And he sent an email this morning calling it a debate, quote-unquote.
00:10:05.980And, like, if you're – what we were saying, like, if you are scared of being in a room full of Conservatives, what does that say about becoming leader of the Conservative Party?
00:10:27.120And the fact of the matter is if you want to get the support of a partisan base, like the Conservative base, you've got to talk to the medias that that base listens to.
00:10:37.060And that tends to be right-of-centre, independent media.
00:10:39.880Actually, it was a strange strategy from Patrick Brown.
00:10:43.260And you saw that the debate moderators even called him out and gave the candidates an opportunity to have a free shot at him, which is quite unfortunate.
00:10:49.760Unfortunately, I will add, I was disappointed that the candidates didn't address – so, you know, Candace asked about Aaron O'Toole and we were asked about Patrick Brown.
00:10:58.360Most of the candidates kind of skated around the issue.
00:11:01.280Like, I would have liked to see every candidate admit why Aaron O'Toole lost.
00:11:04.420And the reason why Aaron O'Toole lost was because he became more progressive and that alienated the base.
00:11:10.380And I was out in Alberta and I saw it from my own eyes.
00:11:32.980We did see the last election how you need to stick to your convictions and be, once you become elected as leader, what you said you're going to be.
00:11:39.540And that was, unfortunately, why Aaron O'Toole did not do very well.
00:11:44.160Any other thoughts on the debate last night or what you'd like – perhaps, like, what you'd like to see asked at future debates, what you'd like to see discussed?
00:11:52.640I would – actually, the one issue that I think we need to talk about is life issues.
00:11:58.500I think there's a lot of opportunity to present good pro-life policy that's not without restricting any woman's rights.
00:12:06.900I think – I mean, I hold a position personally that I think, looking on policies, you could probably reduce a large – the rate of abortion without banning it.
00:12:15.520And so I think it would be cool to see conservative candidates maybe talk about that.
00:12:19.280I would like to see more about accountability.
00:12:21.520The next leader of the Conservative Party, I think, if the party is going to avoid another O'Toole situation, I think they have to have a mechanism in place so that there's an automatic leadership review within six months of an election loss if that were to happen.
00:12:37.440Because, like, Aaron O'Toole, the way he went down hurt the party.
00:12:44.240To have caucus kick out someone like that, and you had some people in the caucus supporting him, some not, that's bad for unity.
00:12:50.380So I think whoever becomes the next leader has to have some accountability mechanisms in place to ensure we don't end up in this – the party doesn't end up in that type of situation.
00:13:14.380It would be nice for Pierre Polyev, who, from my memory, I think he used to have an almost perfect or perfect pro-life voting record, and he kind of abandoned that.
00:13:41.760I think he's likely testing in waters at this point, and he doesn't want to attach himself to a position that will end up being unpopular in a general election.
00:13:49.820This issue is so, and it's unfortunate the way that the left is so capitalized on this issue that, like, you're not even allowed to have a, like, nuanced conversation about it anymore.
00:13:59.560And, I mean, to be quite honest, I don't know what's the future, but I don't want to see people be forced to censor themselves against defending something that, you know, is strong, a strong conviction of theirs.
00:14:16.960I don't tend to personally like to talk too much about it, given that I don't have a womb.
00:14:20.340But there definitely is a lot of nuance to it and a lot of different positions that need to be heard out, and the debates and discussions need to be had on that.
00:14:39.840Every dollar that you give to True North goes towards supporting our independent journalism.
00:14:45.720And, yeah, continue supporting us or supporting outlets like the Western Standard and Rebel News and others.
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