Western Standard - The Cory Morgan Show： Erika Barootes and the race for the Senate.

00:00:00.000 Hey there, welcome to the Cory Morgan Show. This is the episode before Turkey Day comes up. So I'm

00:00:12.960 going to start right into my first controversial take. Turkey is overrated. Can't stand it. There's

00:00:17.920 not a good way to eat that stuff. If you must, deep fry it. Do it carefully. At least it makes

00:00:25.860 it palatable. Otherwise there's better meals to eat on that day. Now that I've got you stirred up,

00:00:30.320 I do want to thank the viewers and subscribers. You know, we've been doing really well going in

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00:01:29.000 on YouTube, you know, make sure to subscribe to that, share it, like us on Facebook, all that good

00:01:33.760 stuff. Now this civic election, I got to go into, turn into that. What a pile of issues we've got going

00:01:40.100 on in this thing. You know, we've got the mayor's council, all of those things. It's huge in Calgary.

00:01:45.780 We're going to be getting a new mayor, at least nine new council members. It's a total turnover.

00:01:49.840 So we're either going to get, I think, one of the best city councils we've had in a generation,

00:01:53.860 or we could get the absolute worst one. It'd be hard to get worse than Nenshi, but his chosen

00:01:59.400 successor, Gondek, is dedicated to making sure she is as bad or worse than he is. But we'll see what

00:02:05.480 happens. As well, we've got an equalization referendum going on. You know, and that thing's been getting

00:02:11.280 a little bit controversial because people who support equalization, or it's, what do you call

00:02:17.920 socialists, really don't want to see Albertans expressing their distress with what is an

00:02:24.160 interprovincial welfare program. I mean, that's really what it is. You're taking from the productive

00:02:28.120 and you're giving to the nonproductive, and it doesn't work. If it did work, this hand up to Quebec

00:02:34.700 would have brought them up by now. Well, they're still sucking in, what, 16 billion, I think, this

00:02:40.000 year. Alberta's been getting their budgets kicked to death. Massive deficits. Quebec's on the brink of

00:02:45.320 balancing theirs. Why? Equalization. And now, this referendum won't change equalization. We

00:02:53.100 understand that. Albertans understand that. But it's at least a means for us to get out and say,

00:02:57.500 we've had it with it. It's a step. It's a step in the right direction. It's expressing ourselves.

00:03:01.360 It's not an internet poll. It's not a Twitter poll. This is people going in to vote, and you're

00:03:06.260 going in to vote anyway. You know, hopefully you're going in to vote for your municipal candidate and

00:03:10.180 other issues and such, you know, daylight savings time, things like that. But take a chance and vote

00:03:17.020 on the equalization and vote yes to say, you know, we want to get that chunk taken out of the

00:03:22.840 Constitution. It's a ridiculous policy. It's destructive to Canada. People are trying to tie it to Jason

00:03:28.360 Kenny and trying to turn it into a vote, you know, or an exercise where they can use that to slap back

00:03:35.660 at Kenny. And whether you like Kenny or dislike Kenny, whether you're right or left, it doesn't

00:03:39.600 matter. Vote on the policy. You'll have plenty of time to express your discontent with Premier

00:03:44.600 Kenny if that's really your intent. But this referendum, don't let the people who are trying

00:03:51.220 to protect the status quo get away with that. Don't let them have us come in with only 55% of us

00:03:55.840 saying we don't like equalization. And then they can point at it every time we complain about it and

00:03:59.660 say, oh, you guys are, it's just a minority of you talking or just a handful. Most Albertans are

00:04:04.160 pretty happy with it. So get up, go out there, cast that ballot. It's worth it, okay? It's moving,

00:04:10.700 as I said, in the right direction. And it's good practice. I'd like to see other referendums down the

00:04:16.120 road. I want to see the big referendum down the road, the one that the Clarity Act allows for,

00:04:20.500 the one where we're going to question our entire role within Confederation. But you've got to get there

00:04:24.180 in steps. And well, this is one of the cards we can lay on the table. Here's one of the beefs we

00:04:30.200 have within Confederation. Here's one of the problems we have within Canada. Fix it, and maybe

00:04:34.860 we can maintain national unity. More than likely, Ottawa is going to tell us to take it and roll it

00:04:39.480 up and stuff it up our collective butts. Okay, we tried and we went that route. Now we've got to start

00:04:45.520 looking at other routes and how we can change that system. And maybe full outright independence will be

00:04:49.840 the way to go. But right now, we've got the option to express that we don't like this bloody

00:04:55.800 equalization program. Get out there and vote on it. The other thing that's voting that's happening is

00:05:01.620 our Senate election. So we're going to choose three people to stand as elected senators in Alberta.

00:05:07.820 We've been doing that since the end of the 80s. We've had a number of senators get appointed based

00:05:12.580 on our selecting them that way. It's again, it's similar to the equalization thing. Ottawa can ignore us on

00:05:18.120 it. And chances are for the short term, they probably will. But why not choose anyways,

00:05:23.200 at least we can express that. And again, it helps expose the ridiculousness of the system.

00:05:28.660 I was in the oil field for 20 years. My last five years in the field were predominantly working in

00:05:32.480 the states. I was all over the place, Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma. And of course, you know,

00:05:36.640 there's political people down there. I'm a political person. We would talk politics.

00:05:39.340 And they would just be astounded. I mean, just leveled when I tell them that we appoint our senators.

00:05:45.540 Really? That's ridiculous. Yeah, I know. But yeah, the prime minister appoints the senators.

00:05:50.720 I mean, it doesn't even register with them. And they basically, they'll say it outright. It's

00:05:55.320 stupid. Yes, it is. At least we can start the process to changing that. So getting on with that,

00:06:02.140 I have a guest today. She's running for Senate. She's with the Conservative Party of Canada. She's

00:06:06.680 the candidate for them. She's been campaigning for a month and some. And you know, it's been hard to

00:06:11.840 campaign with all these issues going on, a federal election that was going on, municipal candidates

00:06:16.200 out there. You pull up on any street corner and you see a hundred signs all over the place for all

00:06:20.220 sorts of things. But she's in speaking with us today. And she had a good chat with me about how her

00:06:25.980 campaign's going and what she wants to bring to the table as an elected senator for Alberta. Her name

00:06:30.840 is Erica Baroudis. And have a listen. All right. Well, thank you very much for coming in to join us

00:06:39.840 down here in Calgary in studio, Erica. I hope the drive went well. Oh, yeah, it was. I spent a lot

00:06:44.520 of time on the QE too. So it's pretty quick. Yeah, that's a hair raising run that one. At least the

00:06:49.860 weather's been good. So your Senate campaign has been going and running under the radar, I guess,

00:06:55.620 for, you know, a couple of weeks. I mean, this is a political couple of months already.

00:06:59.480 Everybody's kind of tired out. How have things been? I mean, just in reception, you know,

00:07:04.020 I guess part of it's just even letting people know there's a race going on.

00:07:06.660 Yeah, I would say that that's the biggest thing is just making people aware. A lot of folks,

00:07:10.680 once you start talking about it, remember the Senate elections we've had in the past.

00:07:15.060 But I've kind of had a pound pavement, get in front of folks and just have the conversation.

00:07:19.360 But I think you're right with the federal election that happened. There was a lot of confusion,

00:07:23.680 especially because it's a federal appointment and because, you know, there's an association

00:07:29.060 to federal political parties. So I think a lot of individuals are like, I'm going to go vote for

00:07:33.400 you today on September 20th and realize that I was like, no, it's on October 18th. So a little bit

00:07:38.740 of confusion there. Yeah. And maybe since I've got you, we'll clarify a little bit of it because

00:07:42.040 it's been different from some of the other Senate elections. It used to be that they would get the

00:07:45.480 provincial parties to put forth candidates and they would run and people would select. In this case,

00:07:50.120 it's federal representatives. So you're representing the Conservative Party of Canada in this case.

00:07:54.460 Yes, that's correct. And so, yeah, it's shifted. And I think that the rationale on changing the

00:07:59.860 Senate Act was actually because it's a federal appointment. So to be tied to a federal affiliated

00:08:06.600 party made a little bit more sense, at least in the process of them thinking that.

00:08:10.780 At least those who chose it. Yeah, I won't get you into critiquing it. I've already criticized it.

00:08:15.680 Personally, I think it should have been provincial, but at least we're holding the exercise.

00:08:20.340 I'm conservative. That's what I've been under. And it's been a long standing Alberta tradition

00:08:25.200 all the way back from. 89? Waters. Yes. Stan Waters. Unfortunately,

00:08:30.640 he did actually get appointed. It took a while and then he passed away early, unfortunately.

00:08:36.720 I think we've had a couple of others. Doug Black was appointed and Burt Brown.

00:08:40.300 Scott Tannis. There's five of the 10 that have actually gone through the election process.

00:08:43.620 Just to remind people, because I mean, people say, oh, it's a waste of time. It's not going to

00:08:46.660 happen. It's never going to happen. Well, it doesn't happen nearly enough.

00:08:49.300 But it can happen. And then let's try to pick the ones we can when we can.

00:08:55.160 So why should people pick you? I'll get right to that part. There's going to be a number of

00:08:58.600 candidates on there. What are you offering? What are you going to take to Ottawa on Alberta's behalf?

00:09:02.300 Yeah, of course. Well, I mean, the biggest thing is I strongly believe that the Senate and how it

00:09:07.120 operates currently isn't working for Albertans and it's not working for Canadians. So the biggest

00:09:11.720 thing is being that champion, being that voice, traveling the province and maybe changing up the way

00:09:16.860 that people view the Senate or how it currently operates. So traditionally, it's a sober second

00:09:22.320 thought and supposed to be a regional voice. We've seen the Senate, especially with some of the

00:09:29.140 appointments under Justin Trudeau, shift away from being that and instead being another echo chamber

00:09:34.820 voice of Ottawa. So I want to change that. I want to be that voice and make sure that I'm given a mandate

00:09:41.680 by Albertans to take to Ottawa. Okay. So what are some particular issues though on Alberta's behalf?

00:09:48.560 Because it'll be a regional voice then in that case rather than, and we do feel we need that voice.

00:09:54.400 I mean, that was a kind of a frustration in the federal election perhaps. We understand, okay,

00:09:58.060 you've got a campaign to the middle. That's where the seats are. That's where the votes are.

00:10:02.240 Where and when do we get our voices heard? And what Alberta issues could you take that wouldn't be

00:10:06.480 taken by members of parliament? Yeah, of course. I mean, there's the famous C-48 and C-69 that I

00:10:12.820 think are two bills that worked against our natural resources. I would continue to advocate for our

00:10:16.960 natural resource and our economy and our energy sector as a whole. So working towards changing

00:10:23.120 legislation and continuing to bring that Alberta perspective about what is kind of our bread and

00:10:29.300 butter of an industry across our nation coming from Alberta and being able to champion that

00:10:35.080 and consistently in the upper chamber. The other thing and something that's happening is alongside

00:10:40.940 on October 18th is equalization referendum. So I believe right now the equalization formula is broken.

00:10:48.320 We need to fix it, but that doesn't happen necessarily from screaming and shouting about it.

00:10:52.900 It needs to happen alongside other members. The Senate is a powerful body that can help make that

00:10:59.100 change as well and just continuing to champion, you know, our fair deal as a whole and being heard.

00:11:07.100 Because it resonates with Albertans regardless of what industry is that we don't have the respect from

00:11:13.100 Eastern Canada that we deserve because we're a member of Confederation. So finding issues that also

00:11:19.340 matter to Albertans and continuing to bring those forward. Okay. So Prime Minister Trudeau hasn't shown much

00:11:27.740 interest in appointing somebody yet. But I mean, chances are within two years that people have

00:11:31.260 another chance on picking another prime minister, the way we're looking at things. And we're going

00:11:35.420 to have an elected slate of senators at that point. What work, say, presuming you were one of the, I

00:11:41.420 believe it's three will be selected? Yes. Would you be doing in the, say that period until you get

00:11:46.780 appointed? I mean, you kind of get locked into a Senate elect role and you know, it's an unpaid role,

00:11:51.740 so you can only do so much. But is there advocacy and things you could be doing in the meantime? I

00:11:56.220 guess in that period in between? Yes. I've done it before and I'll continue to do this be stand up for

00:12:02.860 Albertans. So I don't see it. If anyone that knows me, I'm not very quiet. So I'm happy to champion

00:12:09.820 what I know are issues that matter to the people that call Alberta home. So I will continue to do what

00:12:15.420 I've done. You know, hold the government accountable, get out there and voice the concerns

00:12:20.540 of Albertans and use whatever power I can have or platform to be able to advocate for the beautiful

00:12:26.300 place that we call home. Great. Yeah. Well, we need loud voices in there because a lot of those

00:12:30.220 senators tend to fall asleep at times during committee work and such. So livening it up a

00:12:35.180 little bit in there would be good as well. So is this coming as more of a team effort though,

00:12:40.060 like with other Conservative Party members going forward or are you kind of all individuals that just

00:12:44.140 have endorsements in a sense, I guess? I would say, you know, obviously we're members of the same

00:12:49.260 team or members of right-leaning party. So obviously if you can pick three individuals,

00:12:55.820 picking the best three candidates, but you know, I think as any candidate in any race, I want to win.

00:13:03.500 Yeah. So I just think it's a different dynamic running for Senate, you know, in a sense, you've kind

00:13:08.860 of almost got an internal competition going or think of it like an Olympic team, a bunch of gymnasts.

00:13:12.700 Okay. You want your, your co team members to do well, but you want to be the first of the

00:13:16.620 bunch. Uh, but at the same time you're supporting them. So it's just a different, uh, atmosphere,

00:13:21.900 but is there like a central campaign for the three conservative nominees?

00:13:25.660 Not necessarily. I think that that might be something that evolves in the future,

00:13:28.780 but because this was so new, uh, new legislation, new affiliation with a federal party, as well as an

00:13:35.180 election happening, I can't speak for some of the other parties that have put affiliates together or

00:13:40.140 nomin, uh, nominees. Uh, but in our sense, we're all kind of doing what we think is best. And like I

00:13:47.260 said, um, I think it's up to Albertans to decide if I'm the best voice or someone else, uh, within

00:13:52.940 the province, but I'll, I'll keep doing the hard work. Great. Well, going this far into the race,

00:13:57.660 then, I mean, I don't expect, you know, a heavy critique. You're in it, you've accepted it,

00:14:01.580 but see for future Senate elections, is there room to change then the process? I mean,

00:14:06.460 as you're saying that it'd be a process for parties perhaps to change how they're going to run for it,

00:14:10.220 but are there ways we could do it better in Alberta and in future ones? Uh, you know what I mean? Is

00:14:13.580 that an aspect of reform we could work on as well? Yeah, I definitely think that just more timeline,

00:14:18.220 more runway, uh, by the time that we started kind of getting things going or elections, Alberta,

00:14:23.420 uh, was focused on it. Um, it was the first time. So we were already in a campaign period. I think

00:14:29.660 that it just limits the abilities and what folks can do and how much they can travel. I'd also say a pandemic

00:14:34.620 kind of played into it a little bit, some restrictions, folks not being comfortable

00:14:38.460 coming to events. So we've, we've changed a little bit more digital, but that's not,

00:14:42.940 that's not because of the act. It's just because of the world we live in right now.

00:14:46.460 Yeah, no, it's just been a bizarre couple of years. No rules are solid anymore. Uh, so in that light,

00:14:53.180 I mean, you can't, you know, door knock as you would for a local representative. Well, you could,

00:14:56.460 but it wouldn't be as effective. Perhaps you need kind of a broader presence. Uh, what sort of

00:15:01.180 reception have you been getting with events or, you know, uh, campaigning that you've done so far?

00:15:05.900 Have you been getting good feedback from people or interested? I think one of the biggest things

00:15:09.980 is a lot of people haven't met senators. A lot of people have never met a Senate candidate. Uh,

00:15:14.700 so the biggest thing was just showing up and, and shaking someone's hand. And I think that that,

00:15:19.740 my, my ability to travel and get out there in the province has already, uh, warranted a warmer

00:15:26.140 reception than just trying to, you know, only be digital or try to do from my home. So I, I've got

00:15:31.820 great feedback. I think what I've heard is a lot of people were so frustrated with Trudeau, um,

00:15:36.940 frustrated with his appointment. I was campaigning during the time he appointed

00:15:41.260 Karen Swanson and, and, uh, former mayor of Banff. And there was so many people that were like,

00:15:47.580 that's ridiculous, took it as a slap to the face. And we're just insulted by his, his disregard for

00:15:53.420 our democratic process. So that was actually became more top of mind when he did something like

00:15:58.780 that. But it was people that, and I think even getting more engaged and advocating, uh, for folks

00:16:03.980 that they've been able to meet, which in, in my case was me. Well, that's been a problem with

00:16:08.460 appointed senators in the past. They really didn't have much need to reach out to people on the ground.

00:16:12.460 And they didn't, as you said, yeah, I've met a lot of politicians and very, very few senators

00:16:16.540 I've interacted with, uh, you know, they, a lot just, once they're in, they disappear. Uh,

00:16:23.580 at least even be, uh, there would be no, um, obligation on your part to keep up with if,

00:16:28.300 if you got appointed, but I hope that, uh, an elected senator off the beginning has gotten that

00:16:32.300 good attitude and, you know, thought of engagement. I definitely think it changes your view on what

00:16:38.300 effectiveness means. Um, for me, you know, I campaigned, uh, by traveling the province,

00:16:45.100 should I be, uh, appointed? I would have that same mentality. I don't know all the answers to

00:16:50.060 everything. And if I'm voting on behalf of 4.4 million people, I should get out and meet those

00:16:55.900 folks as much as face to face as possible as well. I think you have way more honest conversations and,

00:17:01.180 and we have so many industries in different regions within our province. I don't, I think it's a

00:17:06.060 disservice and an insult to the Senate, uh, to not do your homework. Great. Well, so have you got

00:17:11.580 events upcoming? I mean, the, the, the voting day is, uh, coming up on us quite quickly now. Uh,

00:17:16.300 are there things where people can, uh, see you and listen to you? Yeah, so I'm doing a few obviously

00:17:21.420 media. I'm, I'm likely going to put together a town hall. Uh, so on my Facebook page, so just to follow

00:17:27.180 along with that, um, just getting out. I have a few obviously more virtuals with court companies and

00:17:33.020 corporations just to try and get out there as much as possible. And coming back to door knocking as

00:17:37.900 it is, uh, effective. Um, I'm going to pound payment for the next couple of weeks, trying to

00:17:42.140 just, like you said, raise awareness, talk about, this is a way the Senate election is a way to send

00:17:47.260 Ottawa a message that we won't be ignored, that our Senate elections are the beginning of Senate reform.

00:17:53.740 And that, you know, I have the ability to, to champion and lead that. And, and Alberta can show other

00:17:59.900 provinces how effective an elected Senate can be, um, both in the process by giving them a mandate,

00:18:06.780 but also once they're, they're in the upper house, because I think that there's a different

00:18:10.700 level of accountability than filling out an application and, and being picked by Trudeau.

00:18:16.620 Yeah. Well, and just to, you know, and often kind of a little bit of political history for people,

00:18:19.740 I believe the American Senate was appointed initially too, a long, long time ago. And it was a

00:18:25.020 number of States just started on their own. I think Oregon or some oddball was it, but they said,

00:18:28.380 no, we're going to elect ours. It started like this and it got the ball rolling. And now it's

00:18:31.980 unimaginable that they would ever not be elected in the States. And senators are very effective,

00:18:36.460 powerful representatives for their regions and areas at this point. So, you know,

00:18:39.500 people saying it's feudal doing this exercise right now, there's a precedent and it can work.

00:18:44.540 But to be honest, I mean, Trudeau's new process, um, is, is just as partisan as it has ever been.

00:18:52.060 So when you say it's an independent body, when they look at the people that he's appointed,

00:18:56.060 they're, they're all affiliated with the liberal party. They're all going to vote the way that he

00:18:59.900 wants. There is a government caucus and I'll, uh, you know, an opposition caucus, a Canadian caucus.

00:19:06.060 So there is partisanship and also people have ideologies that they have values and beliefs

00:19:10.540 that are tied to. Um, or, or in this case, we have a very strong conservative hold in the province.

00:19:16.780 So it just, I think it's a joke that he says it's not partisan because it is. And you know what,

00:19:22.780 I'd be okay if he called a spade a spade and just owned it, but he's not.

00:19:26.140 Well, yeah, the only thing worse than, you know, outright official partisanship is,

00:19:30.220 is, uh, unofficial partisanship because then you don't know where people are coming from,

00:19:33.260 necessarily. But people can typically see through, I think, with the actions and past

00:19:37.340 about the senators who've been appointed. So, uh, where can people find information on your

00:19:41.340 campaign if they want to take part or just find out more about you and things such as that?

00:19:44.540 Yeah, of course. So kept it simple. It's well, not that my name is simple in any way,

00:19:48.060 but ericabrudis.ca. Uh, my website has all the information, some of the, uh, topics that I've

00:19:53.740 been able to publish on my passion for firearms, uh, passion for our military and then, uh, fiscal

00:20:00.140 responsibility and that we need to, you know, not put capital gains on primary residents and things

00:20:05.100 like that. So all of that is captured on the website. Um, happy to reach out to folks, uh, just

00:20:10.860 emailing the campaign or any way like that and setting up calls because I believe that

00:20:15.500 we need to change the Senate. Um, they need to be accessible. They need to be individuals that will

00:20:20.620 listen and, and consult with Albertans when sitting in their committees or what have you.

00:20:25.740 And I think that if you want something done, right, you got to do it yourself. So change comes

00:20:30.540 from within and that's what I'm working towards. All right. Well, excellent. Well, thank you very much

00:20:34.540 for coming in. I'll let you get back on the campaign road there. We're looking forward

00:20:38.860 to election night to see how you do there. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. All right.

Western Standard - October 08, 2021

The Cory Morgan Show： Erika Barootes and the race for the Senate.

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