Western Standard - Roman Baber speaks on the Emergencies Act, Senate Appointments, Supply Management among other issues

00:00:00.000 So I guess it'd be safe to assume you would have opposed the imposition of the Emergencies Act

00:00:06.240 against Canadians who were protesting against the mandates.

00:00:09.360 Absolutely. Well, first of all, the invocation of the Emergency Act does not meet the letter of the

00:00:14.000 law in that there's other pieces of legislation that are able to deal with it, in that there is

00:00:18.960 no prevalent national emergency that was dangerous to many lives or safety of Canadians. And to add

00:00:27.680 insult to injury, the emergency itself was invoked by Parliament after the alleged emergency

00:00:34.400 was over. You know, when I think back to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, I think back

00:00:41.040 to February 18th, which was probably a very difficult day for many Canadians, including myself, to watch

00:00:46.960 truly peaceful protesters be handled in that manner by police. But I think a wonderful thing has also

00:00:56.160 happened that day, in that we saw that there was no injuries to the police, there was no resistance

00:01:02.400 by the protesters, and that they peacefully accepted regretfully the regretful conduct of the police,

00:01:09.840 and had vindicated all of those that have accused this movement, be it the mainstream media or the

00:01:16.960 government, and proved that indeed, that was a peaceful movement. And that is how we'll choose to

00:01:22.800 remember it and hope that history will reflect on it appropriately.

00:01:26.480 Yeah, I believe, I mean, hopefully we'll see some investigations and look back and really get a

00:01:30.320 clear picture of what happened there, because we can't let this be swept under the rug, such an

00:01:34.240 unprecedented and dangerous move in Canadian history.

00:01:37.840 Look, we've seen regretfully a lot of overreach by the federal government. I think what's most regretful is

00:01:46.000 that Justin Trudeau, or in fact, no level of government had the decency or the leadership to

00:01:53.440 speak to the truckers or anyone else there about the reason they were there, which is mandates.

00:01:59.200 And I'm on record, in fact, I'm the only politician to my knowledge in Canada that brought legislation

00:02:05.520 to protect workers against workplace mandates. And in Ontario, unfortunately, my jobs and jabs bill was

00:02:13.840 defeated by the Duckport Conservative government on second reading. But no, no one had the decency to

00:02:19.920 speak to them about the reason they were there, which is their ability to put food on the table

00:02:26.080 without doing something against their will. And that is a trite proposition that I would think

00:02:30.960 most Canadians would agree with. And it's regretful that the conversation had delineated to this discourse.

00:02:36.880 Yeah, there's a lot of lives, unfortunately, have been very disrupted and ruined through all of that.

00:02:42.800 So I'll pivot back, though, to some more broad concern, you know, as I've been asking other

00:02:47.120 candidates on some of those federal issues, and we come quite often from a regional approach,

00:02:51.360 of course, we're a Western publication, and there's been a lot of regional, you know, unrest,

00:02:55.680 I guess you could say, from the West. Some of these issues, well, one's a little bit regional,

00:03:00.720 but I might as well jump right to that, because I was talking about it just before you came on,

00:03:04.080 and that's our supply management system. That's been, you know, an issue and problematic for some

00:03:09.520 people and dairy producers, well, dairy consumers, for some years now, would you be willing to start

00:03:14.000 looking towards dismantling that? I don't know, I'll have some consultations on that issue.

00:03:19.920 But I certainly appreciate that. I think that the global supply chain has been disrupted by

00:03:26.960 lockdowns and government overreach. And then regretfully, when you reopen the market,

00:03:34.000 then you obviously have a great deal of demand. And that in part causes a significant appreciation

00:03:41.120 in pricing. But I think that generally, I think Ottawa needs to rethink the way it deals with the

00:03:46.640 West. I'm going to embrace Canada's natural resources, I will not let oil and gas be cancelled.

00:03:54.640 I think our natural resources are a blessing, and not just energy, I think we need to develop mining for

00:03:59.680 precious metals that are very much needed right now around the world. We need to stop buying resources

00:04:05.360 from rogue regimes, not just to fix our balance sheet, but I think doing so will be better for

00:04:10.480 the planet, because Canada will do it safer and cleaner than anyone else in the world. I think we

00:04:15.600 need to repeal Bill C-69 to build new pipelines, and to ensure that provinces, all provinces are included

00:04:22.560 in the national conversation. Great. So I'm going to move on to Senate for a moment, and something I've

00:04:29.200 asked every candidate as well. In Alberta, we've had a tradition for quite some time of going through

00:04:33.200 the motions, at least, of electing our senators to nominate, I guess, as a province to put forward.

00:04:38.320 Sometimes that's actually succeeded, and we've had some who were appointed after we've elected,

00:04:42.480 and other times we haven't. The Liberals are very strongly against that. But would you commit as a

00:04:46.640 leader in assuming, presumably, eventually Prime Minister to appoint elected senators from provinces,

00:04:51.520 whether Alberta or otherwise? I think as someone who is very interested in the Charter and

00:04:57.600 Canada Constitution, I am a lawyer by profession. I practiced for 12 years prior to my election to

00:05:03.680 Parliament, primarily in commercial and civil litigation. I think that perhaps a national

00:05:08.880 conversation may be in order about the role of the Senate. I think that, if anything, the role of the

00:05:16.480 Senate has been magnified subsequent to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, because I'm of the view,

00:05:23.440 and I suspect that, in fact, Justin Trudeau withdrew the legislation because he didn't have the votes

00:05:30.480 in the Senate. It appears as if the House of Sober Second Thought, as our first Prime Minister referred

00:05:37.760 to it, may have a much greater role to play in our democracy than we frankly thought. I think that,

00:05:48.240 as Prime Minister, I will engage in robust conversation to see not just what makes sense

00:05:56.960 for Canada and Canada's democracy, which is the principal reason why I'm in the CPC leadership race,

00:06:02.560 but also to see what our provincial partners might be thinking and what is on the table. I would not

00:06:09.520 want to presuppose that outcome, but I certainly think that there's room to improve Canada's democracy.

00:06:14.080 Okay. And then going further, we also had a referendum here in Alberta recently on equalization.

00:06:21.040 Most of the province, at least the citizens, feel that the program, the way it's set up right now,

00:06:25.440 hasn't been fair to Alberta and much of the West. And we do understand it's constitutionally entrenched,

00:06:30.720 but the formula is within the authority of the federal government to calculate, and it doesn't

00:06:36.560 feel like it has served us well. Would you look at equalization reform?

00:06:39.440 I would certainly look to have a conversation with all provinces about where we are. But I think that

00:06:45.440 we need to have a greater conversation beyond equalization. And that is, I think that

00:06:53.920 I'm running on restoring not just Canada's democracy, which I feel has been eroded, but also

00:06:59.280 Canadian opportunity. And that's by way of housing, by way of access to healthcare. We know that Canada has

00:07:05.440 one of the lowest number of beds per capita in the OECD countries. I think we need to look at energy and

00:07:14.080 the way that we transport energy across the country, and frankly, allow every province to be included in

00:07:23.440 the national conversation. And that would probably include a discussion as to how we do equalization in

00:07:30.080 our country. Okay. Something that came out kind of out of the blue, but I mean, it was refreshing to

00:07:35.760 see something new in a leadership race, but I didn't quite anticipate, but it was when Mr. Paglia

00:07:40.160 mentioned expanding the role of digital currencies or encouraging it and things such as that. Do you

00:07:45.120 see a role in embracing further with digital currencies within Canada or how it should be regulated or dealt with?

00:07:51.120 So I respect and like human ingenuity. And when it comes specifically to cryptocurrency, I would suggest

00:07:59.920 that I would encourage the progress that we're making as Canadians on cryptocurrency. As long as it

00:08:09.680 meets principal conditions, which is transparency in the market and equal access to the market, then I'm

00:08:16.320 in favor of that. What I am, however, concerned with is any friction by government as to the ability

00:08:23.840 of Canada's citizens to use digital currency or currency generally. That's the nature of cash,

00:08:30.320 is that it is negotiable. And that means that it's non-negotiable. It doesn't matter who uses a $20 bill

00:08:36.960 or where they use it. It's just as good, a $20 bill anywhere or by anyone. And it's that nature of currency

00:08:45.040 that I do not wish for government to interfere in any way. I think that in the last couple of years,

00:08:52.240 we have seen a great erosion of rights and freedoms around the country. And I do not believe that we

00:09:00.240 want to go down the path where government has any friction as to how Canadians deal with their monetary

00:09:07.040 currency. Okay. So going a little wider into foreign affairs, which of course is very pressing right now.

00:09:14.800 We've got a terrible situation going on in Eastern Europe in particular. And sort of in a broader question,

00:09:20.800 what do you see as Canada's role on the international scene? Like, are we to be something of a military power,

00:09:27.440 a peacekeeper, an intervener or staying clear? Where do we land and where do you see Canada in the future?

00:09:34.720 Sure. Well, you know, my mom's family is from Ukraine and I myself was born in Russia when it was still

00:09:40.400 the Soviet Union. And I'm very heartbroken by the events in Ukraine. And we're witnessing a catastrophic

00:09:48.240 loss of life and infrastructure. And I believe that first and foremost, there needs to be a greater

00:09:53.760 effort to end the conflict. And so I'm glad that negotiations are ongoing, but I think we have to

00:09:59.680 bring the parties to a ceasefire. With respect to Canada's general role in the world,

00:10:05.040 I think that I would not be in favor of interventionism, but I would want to broadcast

00:10:12.720 a hopeful message of human rights and Canada's democracy around the world. However, I think that

00:10:18.960 that opportunity is now eroded because Canada's credibility on the world stage as a democratic

00:10:23.760 nation has eroded. And so really, we can't be advocates for democracy around the world,

00:10:30.000 where three and a half million Canadians cannot board a plane because of their medical status,

00:10:34.000 or when folks are losing jobs daily because they made a different medical choice. And so I think

00:10:39.760 that before we can restore Canada's standing around the world, and before we can be a credible voice

00:10:46.320 in international affairs for the better, we have to have to restore Canada's democracy.

00:10:52.000 Great. I'll kind of finish here perhaps with one more kind of economic

00:10:56.880 question. Since I just remembered it's April 1st, our carbon taxes went up yet again.

00:11:01.680 Where do you stand on carbon taxes and pricing in the future?

00:11:07.040 So I oppose the carbon tax. Today's increase increased, I think the price of a litre of gas

00:11:12.080 by about 2.2 cents to a total of 11 cents per litre just vis-a-vis carbon. And look, I'm on record.

00:11:22.800 I do not believe that taxing Sally at the gas pump or making everything more expensive

00:11:27.600 by virtue of the carbon tax will do anything for global temperatures. And so it's regretful at a time

00:11:36.000 when life in Canada is already unaffordable. And especially with the price appreciation,

00:11:42.560 the price inflation that we're seeing in the last couple of years as a result of us overprinting

00:11:48.080 money and the result of the jolting in the market resulting from lockdowns and then reopening of the

00:11:54.160 economy that we would further burden the consumer with what I believe to be effectively a virtue signaling

00:12:01.360 measure.

00:12:01.680 Great. So just in kind of wrapping up, it's going to be a long campaign. It's going all

00:12:07.280 the way till September 10th there. It's quite the marathon. Can we look forward to you coming out

00:12:12.400 west at some time soon?

00:12:13.440 Absolutely. I anticipate being in Manitoba over the next couple of weeks. I then believe I have

00:12:20.400 a trip to Saskatchewan. And also we are just in the process of finalizing a trip to Alberta,

00:12:30.000 literally in the next two weeks. And I'm looking forward to having conversations all around the

00:12:35.200 country. I think that we are in a very, I would say that we're in a very challenging time for Canada's

00:12:45.200 democracy. I think that without democracy, we don't have anything. And it's not just democracy

00:12:51.040 that's being eroded. It's Canada's opportunity. I may take a moment. I'm an immigrant to Canada.

00:12:56.560 I came here when I was 15 and I had every opportunity to work, to succeed, to join a small

00:13:01.680 business, to be elected from the very electoral district that welcomed me as an immigrant. And

00:13:06.000 I don't think that many Canadians feel the same optimism that I felt about our freedoms and economic

00:13:13.600 opportunity.

00:13:14.160 Okay. Well, that's excellent. I do appreciate you putting yourself out there. We got such a wide

00:13:20.240 range of candidates this time around. It makes it hard, but the more we can talk to it and can,

00:13:23.920 you know, I'm a free market person and it comes to that with democracy, the more we get in there,

00:13:28.080 I like to think that the best we'll get in the end. So where can people find more information

00:13:32.560 about yourself and your campaign, Mr. Brabber?

00:13:34.720 Well, our website is just being finalized, but I do see, I do see the temporary homepage at

00:13:41.440 www.joinroman.ca. That's joinroman.ca. But of course, folks cannot give us their vote unless they

00:13:48.400 register to vote with the Conservative Party of Canada, and they can do that at our portal at

00:13:53.440 www.joinroman.ca. Now.

00:13:55.200 Bye-bye.

00:14:00.320 0

Western Standard - April 04, 2022

Roman Baber speaks on the Emergencies Act, Senate Appointments, Supply Management among other issues

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