In this episode of the Cory Mendoza Show, I sit down with Independent MLA for Medicine Hat, Saskatchewan, Drew Barnes, to talk about the end of the Alberta session, the upcoming fall election, and what to look forward to in the summer.
00:03:28.420And as I like to say before, the government's not offering us any.
00:03:31.100We're not really much of a friend of the state.
00:03:33.600But a lot of sponsors do step up and help us along and keep us broadcasting and giving news that other mainstream outlets won't cover for you.
00:03:44.560So the CCFR, they've been sponsoring these shows.
00:03:46.900That's the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights.
00:03:49.760and nobody works as hard as a ccfr to fight for your ability to own and use firearms you know that
00:03:54.800that use portion is important i mean some of them say oh you can own it but we just want to have it
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00:04:03.680able to use it you know target shooting hunting whatever it's up to you as long as you're safely
00:04:07.360using it not violating other people's rights that's lost on a lot of progressive-minded
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00:04:29.120they'll give all the reasons on why to join them and what they're doing to stand up for your rights
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00:05:19.860wanted no part of supporting, yet you indirectly supported them. You know, I mean, you buy soap
00:05:24.320and then you feel dirty afterwards. It kind of defeats the purpose. Well, Resistance Coffee
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00:05:42.060for Constitutional Freedoms, you know, with John Carpe and some of the others that have been
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00:06:41.580us. And it's the great alternative media cycle of life here. Hi, I'm Andy. Thanks for coming on
00:06:49.560and good to see you. What's this? I'm sorry. I just like to watch the comments. It is a live
00:06:55.600show and comments are welcome. I know I do pause as we go. So Damien's saying something about
00:07:00.600Fauci partnering with Moderna. I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with that one.
00:07:06.020Starting with some COVID news, though, something is happening today
00:07:08.520in Calgary and a number of city councils around Alberta is they're discussing whether or not to
00:07:16.500get rid of their bylaws for mask mandates. And Jason Kenney's made it clear the UCP numbers are
00:07:22.520dramatically dropping. Every number is dropping. Deaths are dropping. ICU admissions are dropping.
00:07:28.740r values all the numbers they love using to lock you down they're all going down into the toilet
00:07:34.180which is fantastic you know the infections are going down there's no more reason to maintain
00:07:39.540these restrictions on us and those restrictions are all coming off on july 1st we're all looking
00:07:44.020forward to it unfortunately many crazed control freak municipal politicians do not want to let
00:07:51.940these controls go at all they made their own even if it's outside of their jurisdiction actually you
00:07:57.620You know, health is supposed to be a provincial mandate anyways, but still, you know, you get people like Nenshi and Iverson and others.
00:08:04.000I guess Lethbridge has been pretty bad and Innisfail.
00:08:06.620They want to jump in and get control, whether it's their jurisdiction or not.
00:08:09.620So they put in their own mask bylaws and not to be outdone by the federal government or provincial government.
00:08:14.500They put their mask bylaws all the way to the end of 2021.
00:08:17.640These things don't expire until after Christmas.
00:08:20.700So if they had their initial way, you would be masked all the way through summer.
00:08:27.200Now, they are getting some pressure, finally, because the rest of the province is going to
00:08:32.900be unmasked. There'll be no more provincial mandate for it. So there really is no good
00:08:37.540excuse or reason to maintain those bylaws. All the same, they are going, I believe Calgary City
00:08:43.340Council is discussing it today. It's actually going before them. City administration, and who,
00:08:49.100why do we give a shit what city administration says? You know, we're supposed to be telling them
00:08:52.420what to do. They're not a health authority, but their recommendation, and I tell you,
00:08:56.580Nenshi and his little gang bows to those city administration bureaucrats, and they want the
00:09:02.360mask by law in Calgary to stay all the way till the end of July, at least. The other option they
00:09:07.660have is to get rid of the mask mandate when the province drops theirs, which would make sense.
00:09:12.520We'll see if common sense prevails in City Hall, and it's a rare thing when it does. Maybe some of
00:09:19.280them are going to realize though that keeping people masked up all summer when it's no longer
00:09:24.220part of the law and the infections are a thing in the past might be stupid. And some of these guys
00:09:29.820are facing elections this fall. Ninchy, I got a feeling he's facing one, but it'll probably be
00:09:33.400federal. He really seems to be positioning himself. You know, he's in the news. No matter
00:09:37.940where you turn, you see Ninchy's face, bug eyes looking at you and he's going on about something
00:09:43.880that's way outside of certain city's jurisdiction. I mean, that's not too terribly new, but I mean,
00:09:47.460he's going anywhere and everywhere. I mean, he's just surfacing all over. It reeks of campaigning
00:09:51.980is what it does. We know he's not running for mayor because he knew he probably wouldn't win
00:09:56.160it. So he's moved on to a federal campaign. Some people think he might be going to the Senate.
00:10:02.520That could be possible. I mean, I'll give my theory. I think the Senate's his final backstop.
00:10:06.560He'll run. He's cut a deal for the liberals. He's going to run for MP this fall. If he loses,
00:10:11.960yeah, Trudeau will put him in the Senate. If he wins, he'll be an MP and he'll be in cabinet
00:10:15.480because, yeah, unfortunately, Trudeau is probably going to win a majority this fall.
00:10:20.700So either way, Nenshi's got nothing to lose.
00:10:22.920Well, he does have stuff to lose, but he's not so concerned about city issues.
00:10:26.640So he'll push his mask mandate, if only to give the middle finger to Premier Jason Kenney
00:10:30.960because Kenney has put a lot of political capital into the reopening.
00:10:36.300You know, he said this is the best summer ever.
00:10:37.760He's hoping that Albertans will breathe such a sigh of relief with the mandates
00:10:42.100and the restrictions ending that they'll finally start warming to the provincial government again
00:10:47.940and the UCP might get a bit of bounce in the polls and they can move on with other things
00:10:51.300in this next two years and hope to get re-elected. Now progressives like Minchin and Iverson do not
00:10:57.060want Kennedy to recover whatsoever so they are looking at this mask mandate I think as a way
00:11:01.620to keep Albertans miserable they don't want us to have the best summer ever they want Albertans to
00:11:05.620remember it and be miserable another lost summer a second lost summer and one way to do it is to
00:21:55.740They're not scared to push for what's best for Quebec families and communities.
00:22:01.300Albertans are there now, and it's time to organize that,
00:22:04.540and it's time to make Ottawa and make the rest of Canada aware that,
00:22:09.340in spite of Premier Kenny's unpopularity, that we want more prosperity
00:22:14.740for our companies, our communities, and our families.
00:22:18.160Yeah, and I really appreciate that. And that's why I wanted to bring you on today, because, I mean, there's clearly been some sparks and so on, and you're in a different seat in the House with the legislature, but you're not taking it on as a role of blind opposition.
00:22:30.680You're going to impose every initiative that comes out of the UCP or from Jason Kenney. And something that's very important, you see the value of the equalization referendum this fall and that hazard that people might use it as a de facto way to show discontent with Premier Kenney.
00:22:46.680And we've got to ask Albertans to differentiate between the two.
00:22:50.140I mean, even if it was a UCP initiative, it's still a worthwhile one, and we can express our discontent with the government in other ways.
00:31:31.040But again, Corey, I'm so grateful that everywhere I go now, Albertans are telling me that, yeah, you know, enough's enough.
00:31:37.600They've seen their families, their friends and their communities hurt in so many ways and not be able to prosper.
00:31:44.260You know, from smaller communities and smaller rural communities not being able to get the linear taxation that oil companies paid for years and years.
00:31:54.420But, of course, they've had some trouble to the number of young people that have had long periods of layoffs.
00:32:02.840Or, you know, the one I like to talk about because it's accurate is, you know, a guy with a welding truck used to put himself out for $85 an hour.
00:32:11.800You know, now he's lucky if he's getting $45 or $50.
00:32:14.480And, you know, it's been a lot of changes in our local economy that people are saying is enough, enough.
00:32:23.820And, of course, we've also seen that in spite of the fact that the Alberta economy has been hurting, the fact that this year Travis Taves and Jason Kenney are running a $20-plus billion deficit, we're still probably a net contributor to Ottawa paying into it.
00:32:38.740And when we went back to Ottawa, cap at hand, asking for a cap on the fiscal stabilization, that was turned down again, of course, or a small win.
00:32:48.400It wasn't near the win that we wanted.
00:32:50.600And so, yeah, Albertans are ready to push back and it's political and I know we'll get the job done.
00:32:57.840Yeah, well, I hope enough people are saying enough is enough.
00:33:00.740And I just recently reread Preston Manning's book, The New Canada, from back in 92.
00:33:05.620And what was frustrating at reading that is you could just change the dates and republish that book today and nothing has changed.
00:33:12.080You know, this was when he was pushing the Reform Party.
00:33:42.780I'm looking forward to hopefully voting for a senator candidate, but I'm not sure if we're
00:33:46.160going to have many options this time around is that exercise you know still worthwhile or
00:33:51.480well yeah thanks for that Corey yeah that that's a good way to to frame it because
00:33:57.020it's only a small part of all all the changes we we need done but it is at least some control
00:34:04.580for Albertans for Alberta voters as to who goes in there and what I think we've had four uh of
00:34:11.620our elected people appointed over the years. It's something like that. So there's a good chance for
00:34:16.640it. I saw in the media about a month ago that the Canadian Senate had just set a record over 25
00:34:24.460years since it had overturned a law from the House of Commons. And that's the longest in the
00:34:31.340Westminster system that an upper body had ever gone without changing the law. So if that doesn't
00:34:37.040look like pure patronage and it makes you wonder. So I would encourage everybody to get out and
00:34:46.780vote against equalization continuing. It's time for Alberta to get a fair deal. It's time for
00:34:51.840Alberta to help the rest of Canada prosper. And that's what will happen. And again, it's ridiculous
00:34:58.600that hydroelectricity revenues don't count, but oil and gas ones do. There's so much that needs
00:35:03.300to be changed and and and there's there's many many reasons but you know what i would say when
00:35:09.080it comes to to voting for your senator senator elect with every party they're with um i'm going
00:35:15.680to drill down and find out who's interested in reform who once they get there will work towards
00:35:20.400those triple e's uh equal effective um and elected and uh if i can get strong commitments uh you know
00:35:28.000out of the people running for that. Yeah, that's, that's where my support will go. And, you know,
00:35:33.620and again, more of a independent, more of an autonomous Canadian confederation where,
00:35:40.720where Alberta can be free and prosperous with our people here, the great risk takers we have,
00:35:46.180the great hard workers, and as good as we are in so many ways, Alberta should be the freest,
00:35:51.100most prosperous place in North America. Yeah. So getting farther along, I mean,
00:35:56.820Now, let's say we have some great Senate elections and a strong turnout and we've definitely determined, you know, who we want to represent us in the Senate and say we have a very strong turnout also saying we want to see equalization taken out of the Constitution.
00:36:12.200If and when, say, a Trudeau majority tells us to take our notions and stuff them somewhere, where do our options land then?
00:37:57.120But hopefully, you know, one of the things that I said in the fair deal panel that I still believe in is Ottawa has to have a date knowing there's consequences for not giving us a fair deal.
00:38:08.940And the consequences, I think, should be an independence referendum.
00:38:14.940At times, I thought it should be the same date as the provincial election between March and May of 2023.
00:38:21.940in 2023, Albertans can go and say, yeah, Ottawa has tried to give us a fair deal, done this,
00:38:26.660this, and this, and is in the right way. So let's see what happens. Or no, they haven't. It's time
00:38:31.940for Alberta to pursue its independence. There has to be consequences. Nothing's changed in
00:38:38.200over a hundred years. Nothing's changed in 20 years. Let's make it happen.
00:38:44.480Yeah. And just along those lines, outside of the party aspect, I guess you and Todd Lohan,
00:38:48.260One amendment, I believe you tried to get through when it came to the, whether it was recall or the referenda, perhaps both, was getting the bar lowered to enable, you know, for citizens to be able to initiate those actions.
00:39:01.640Those amendments didn't pass, though, I believe, did they?
00:41:28.580They wanted the law to be put in, even though it's basically unachievable, and be worked at over time.
00:41:36.480Well, the way I look at it, Corey, we're taught when we're young and we're helping dad or we're helping a friend, you measure twice and you cut once.
00:41:44.260This seems to be a law of measuring once and cutting several times until it's done.
00:41:50.180And it also depends on whose government.
00:41:52.000As you said, to open up our talk this morning, in our Westminster system, who's ever in power, has tremendous power.
00:42:00.280They, you know, with the majority, they do what they want.
00:42:03.660And so that will make Albertans subject to the whims of that.
00:42:08.840But, Corey, that's one more reason for Albertans to get involved.
00:42:12.900When a politician knocks on your door, when it's time to send an email,
00:42:18.080Now, put in there that you want citizen initiative and recall that it's got a lower threshold, a more achievable threshold in terms of the length of time to gather the signatures and the number of signatures needed.
00:42:30.560It's, again, one of my concerns that when Albertans tell me they want to be more involved and they want to hold me and all the politicians more accountable, let's give them the chance to.
00:42:40.480Great. Well, I appreciate that. And, you know, just sticking to those core principles while you first got into politics with, you know, sometimes being stubborn, hopefully it'll pay off in the long run. I know you've been asked before, and then we'll see before I let you go. I mean, you're going into the summer as an independent. You still got a couple of years ahead of you. I know you haven't pointed any party directions yet, and you may not even by election time, but are you taking any considerations on a party front at this time?
00:43:10.480Well, thanks for that. I'm certainly listening. I'm certainly talking to Albertans. And,
00:43:17.600you know, it's interesting. Up until four or five months ago, and of course, I was
00:43:24.400ejected from the UCP caucus a month ago, probably 70% of my constituents were saying,
00:43:30.880try to stay within the UCP, try to work within the UCP. Now, wherever I go, people are saying they
00:43:38.720I think less and less, they are saying they believe the UCP is not the answer.
00:43:44.400Certainly, the desire for Premier Kenney to resign and change there is huge.
00:45:56.720I mean, we've got flaws in our democracy, but it is a democratic system.
00:46:00.700If we really get off our butts and do something about it, we can.
00:46:04.540I mean, we think of true authoritarian states. You can't. You can't do anything shy of a revolution. We do have peaceful tools at our disposal. We're just too lazy to utilize. And one of which is firing politicians or demanding better.
00:46:19.080One of the things Drew was pushing for, again, was with the legislation, which really ticked me off out of the UCP, unfortunately, was that, yeah, they gave us recall and referendum legislation, but they set the bar so high, it is completely impossible.
00:46:31.700It's just totally impossible to get those signatures in time in order to invoke a referendum or a recall.
00:46:42.060and I mean some people don't understand like these when you've done official petitioning I
00:46:47.040see Craig Chandler watching there boy he's done a whole heck of a lot of a lot of campaigning
00:46:50.680even going out say for a provincial election I think you need 30 or 40 signatures on your
00:46:56.200nomination papers to run that is a day's work quite often I mean petitioning on an official
00:47:02.260forum means you go in person to that person you've got to get their physical signature there's not
00:47:07.540internet signatures you got to get their address you got to get their phone number it's got to be
00:47:11.260matched up against the voters list later. And not everybody wants to sign and you've got to get them
00:47:16.580in person. Like it is a whole lot of work. So some people say, Oh, just getting a couple hundred
00:47:20.420thousand signatures is easy. No, not even close. It's a massive endeavor. And the Kennedy government
00:47:26.660darn well knows that they've campaigned before too. So when they set that bar there, that was
00:47:30.620their way of saying, we're going to give them the legislation, but we're going to make sure they
00:47:33.040never, never, ever actually use it. And that I found to be insulting. I would have felt better
00:47:38.000if they had not even given us the legislation and just be honest about it and just say we don't want
00:47:43.860to empower you with the ability to bring issues out in a referendum or the power to fire us
00:47:52.200midterm. That's what the reality is. So yeah, and Craig there had asked Drew if Kenny was gone,
00:47:58.840if he'd come back to caucus. It's a good question, but I got this the last time Drew was on kind of
00:48:04.240as well in that. It's just that I don't want to corner Drew on those things because he said over
00:48:08.960and over he's kind of keeping all doors open at this time. I mean, it's only been a month since
00:48:14.000he's been ejected. He's been able to speak openly as an independent, but he also understands there's
00:48:19.840a lot of handicaps in being an independent. You don't get as much voice, you don't get as much
00:48:24.160budget in the legislature and things like that with not being with a party. Others are wondering
00:48:27.780whether he'll join the Wildo's Independence Party. As Drew had kind of said there, though,
00:48:31.900he's he's not uh ruling anything out either so i'm gonna let him do his job and then hit the
00:48:36.620ground running this summer and see what he comes up with a great one from elaine i like seeing
00:48:40.700that somebody's uh elaine mcneil saying i'm enjoying my resistance coffee right now and
00:48:44.860it's yummy that's good again thank you for supporting our sponsors it's really important
00:48:48.780to us it's important to those small businesses uh that are doing a great job out there for for
00:48:53.820everybody. And then we got Patricia Lineker, probably mispronouncing there, but putting it
00:49:01.720again, an election should be based on a resume. When us little people lie on our resume, we don't
00:49:06.300live up to it. We get fired. It's called accountability, hired on skill and honesty.
00:49:12.220So, I mean, yeah, when a campaign is coming as a first time person coming in, they really have to
00:49:16.660get out to the people and tell them what they're going to do, why they should be chosen, why they
00:49:21.800should be entrusted to get into those positions. And then they get in and they turn around and
00:49:26.240they don't do what they promised. But the problem is we don't fire them. What are we teaching them
00:49:32.840if we put them back in every time they lie to us? And we got to fire them. People say,
00:49:37.660well, the next guy will be just the same. Okay, fire that one too. Fire a third one if you have
00:49:42.020to. Eventually, some of them are going to figure it out and think, you know what, if I want to be
00:49:46.680in my job for more than four years, maybe I should actually do it. But it's up to us.
00:49:52.660And the same goes for the Senate and the equalization referendums coming up this fall.
00:50:01.280I've talked about this and ranted about it.
00:50:03.640I really feel it's important for us to get out and take part in these things.
00:50:08.860You know, get out and strongly register our votes one way or another on those.