Western Standard - The Cory Morgan Show： Meet the People's Senate

00:00:00.880 Hey, welcome to the Cory Morgan Show.

00:00:03.420 This week after the federal election, the $600 million stalemate, you know, spending

00:00:10.820 a month stressing out the nation, spending money.

00:00:14.000 I mean, the $600 million was just the tax dollars expended, donors and time and energy

00:00:19.180 resources.

00:00:19.640 We're all poured into this and we're all right back where we started.

00:00:23.700 What a catastrophic waste of time.

00:00:27.020 But we've been discussing that election a whole lot.

00:00:30.380 I'm going to move on from that federal election.

00:00:32.700 You know, there was lots on the pipeline.

00:00:34.060 You can review that.

00:00:35.460 And we certainly, we had a great show on Monday night covering it live from the Western Standard

00:00:40.380 Studio.

00:00:40.980 Some fantastic viewership numbers and interactions and great guests.

00:00:45.940 And we got to move on to the rest of the politics that are still developing.

00:00:49.240 This is turning into like the political fall of a lifetime for people like me who thrive

00:00:55.280 on it.

00:00:55.640 It's fantastic for normal people who are sane.

00:00:58.240 It's a nightmare, but you got to live with it either way.

00:01:00.660 Some people who are living with what we're doing too are our Western Standard members.

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00:02:12.120 So now moving on further with the coverage.

00:02:14.140 One of the things that has been forgotten in this whole federal election thing, well,

00:02:17.720 we've got the provincial politics that are a hornet's nest.

00:02:20.460 Jason Kenney is, as we're recording this, fighting for his political life behind closed

00:02:24.840 doors with his caucus.

00:02:25.840 You know, the only really thing now at this point is when is Jason Kenney finally going

00:02:32.060 to pack it in?

00:02:33.240 How many more pieces can they, you know, can they cut off of him? 0.87

00:02:36.500 How many more knives coming at him?

00:02:38.260 It's got to be exhausting.

00:02:39.700 It's got to be dejected.

00:02:40.640 But he's also a very stubborn man and he's put a lot into this.

00:02:45.020 You know, there's almost, I guess, perhaps that feeling of ownership.

00:02:47.340 I mean, he was the guy who came back from his federal position.

00:02:50.440 He did manage to win two leadership races.

00:02:53.160 He managed to merge those parties.

00:02:54.820 He managed to bring the new merged party into the election and unseat Rachel Notley.

00:02:59.440 And now it's all falling apart.

00:03:01.800 I can't imagine how that feels.

00:03:03.660 But the reality is he's lost general support and I just can't see how he can hang on much

00:03:08.860 longer.

00:03:09.280 So sometime within this next couple of weeks, I mean, we're just going to see this hornet's

00:03:13.360 nest continue to swirl.

00:03:14.800 Caucus members like Lila here out and calling for Jason Kenney's resignation out in the open.

00:03:20.020 Richard Gottfried being borderline on that.

00:03:23.180 There's been a number of other caucus members who have been antsy over time and I just can't

00:03:27.040 see them holding their tongues much longer, especially when they're at risk of losing their

00:03:31.620 own seats.

00:03:32.100 On top of all of that, we have, and nobody's talking about it because we've almost forgotten

00:03:36.760 about it, a municipal election going on.

00:03:39.460 All of Alberta is going to be electing their mayors, their reeves, their councillors, their

00:03:43.240 school board members.

00:03:44.520 Plus, we've got a number of referendum questions, one of which, the more boring of which, but

00:03:49.160 I really hope goes through, is the time change.

00:03:51.440 We're going to stick to one bloody time for an entire year at a time.

00:03:54.600 What a crazy concept.

00:03:55.580 Saskatchewan did it, the world didn't end.

00:03:58.960 Really shouldn't even have to go to a referendum in my view, but whatever.

00:04:02.100 Make your mark on that.

00:04:03.080 We're talking about equalization too.

00:04:05.140 Maybe, you know, that's one of the problems of the equalization referenda that's been going

00:04:08.520 on, is people saying, well, they're going to use that as a referenda on Kenney.

00:04:10.880 Well, I think there's a pretty good chance that Premier Kenney might not be in that role

00:04:14.680 by the time that voting day comes along.

00:04:16.420 So we can make our statement on the equalization.

00:04:19.280 We can vote to tell Ottawa to stuff their equalization.

00:04:23.160 Probably won't achieve anything, but we'll feel better about it.

00:04:25.340 And we'll certainly express ourselves and show us where we're going with that.

00:04:28.580 I mean, it's a, it's a democratic exercise.

00:04:30.880 It's a big poll.

00:04:31.840 You're going there anyways, cast that ballot, do that.

00:04:35.280 The other thing that's happening, one of these Alberta traditions is a Senate election.

00:04:38.780 We are going to actually put forth a bunch of names, give Albertans the chance to vote

00:04:44.280 on them, choose them.

00:04:45.620 Unfortunately, it's only federal parties that are allowed to run and a couple of independents.

00:04:50.700 Again, a sign of, in my view, this is part of, you know, I'll tie this together.

00:04:54.680 There, where Jason Kenney started to lose that grassroots support, where he dangled direct

00:04:59.480 democracy carrots in front of us and democratic reform carrots in front of us, and then turned

00:05:04.840 around and gave us a turd. 0.93

00:05:06.960 I mean, the, the, the citizens initiated referenda legislation.

00:05:11.220 He set that bar so impossibly high, he knew damn well, it's never actually going to be

00:05:15.280 utilized.

00:05:16.300 That's just an insult to people who actually support that kind of legislation.

00:05:20.120 Same with recall.

00:05:21.460 It wasn't real.

00:05:22.560 It wasn't something that he wanted to be achievable.

00:05:24.920 He just wanted to get those votes.

00:05:26.220 And yeah, that ticks me off as a former supporter, because I believed him when it was coming along.

00:05:30.320 And now the Senate race, you know, which we've held a number of times.

00:05:33.680 Some senators have been appointed, you know, Burt Brown and, and like elected senators,

00:05:37.860 Stan Waters way back in the day.

00:05:40.800 We do get some in.

00:05:42.180 It's an important tradition.

00:05:43.340 It's something we owed in Alberta to show that say, we want this system reformed.

00:05:47.100 Well, the UCP sets the stage though, as the provincial government for the Senate requirements.

00:05:51.320 And what they did for the first time is made it that you had to be aligned with a federal

00:05:55.620 party in order to run.

00:05:56.720 Well, or at least you, you couldn't do it through a provincial party.

00:05:59.140 You can run as an independent too, which just means that you can't raise funds and gain

00:06:02.860 any profile and won't win.

00:06:04.260 So he stacked the deck and again, made a sham out of a democratic process that we've been

00:06:09.120 trying to at least force along through within Canada.

00:06:12.180 And that way, of course, it looked like there was going to be a slate of nothing but

00:06:15.780 Conservative Party candidate, Canada candidates running in it.

00:06:19.480 And it looks like there's a couple of good ones.

00:06:20.820 And I still like the exercise, but come on, we need a race.

00:06:22.800 We need to make it competitive.

00:06:23.640 Well, to their credit, Maxime Bernier and the People's Party of Canada

00:06:28.640 are fielding three candidates in this Senate election.

00:06:32.220 So we have a chance to make a statement, I think, to say that we want to send somebody

00:06:36.720 different to Ottawa.

00:06:38.900 These guys, this time it's different than the federal race.

00:06:41.480 There's no vote splitting to think about, not even to worry about, because the Liberals

00:06:44.060 and the NDP don't even put candidates into these races.

00:06:46.640 So the campaign goes on.

00:06:49.180 For those of us exhausted with politics, well, I know it'll be frustrating, but it's another

00:06:52.720 mark on the ballot for you to make.

00:06:54.680 And it'll be an important one, even if it's just one of principle.

00:06:57.960 We'll see.

00:06:58.520 Some of these senators do end up in office.

00:07:01.140 Something that'll be really fun is if a PPC candidate becomes one of the elected senators

00:07:05.640 and two years from now, say, we managed to get a Conservative Party of Canada government

00:07:09.440 in, oh, won't it be fun watching that Conservative Prime Minister squirm and try and make their

00:07:14.580 excuses as to why they won't appoint a PPC winner of an Alberta Senate election?

00:07:19.420 Either way, the three candidates for the PPC who are running in the Senate election have

00:07:24.140 come on and I had a great chat with them on how their campaign is kicking off and how

00:07:28.680 it's going.

00:07:30.580 I'm joined today with two out of three of the PPC candidates who have jumped right out

00:07:35.900 of a federal campaign for the general election.

00:07:38.800 And now they put their names forward in the Senate campaign that's going to be held on

00:07:42.420 October 20th in Alberta in conjunction with the municipal elections.

00:07:46.120 We've got a long tradition of holding Senate elections, a short tradition of them actually

00:07:50.660 getting appointed into their senatorial seats.

00:07:53.560 But it does happen occasionally.

00:07:55.700 Most of it tends to be, though, a fight on a point of principle.

00:07:58.940 But these guys apparently are pretty tireless and ready to take that fight out to another

00:08:03.180 campaign yet again.

00:08:04.920 So maybe, you know, I'll mention Anne McCormack is running up in Fort McMurray.

00:08:09.120 She had an impressive showing with the PPC up there in the federal run.

00:08:13.420 And it's good to see the regional spread because senators are supposed to be covering 0.64

00:08:17.120 a number of areas within Alberta.

00:08:19.920 We have Kelly Lorenz.

00:08:21.100 He's running in Red Deer, which, you know, rates smack in the centre of Alberta, at least

00:08:25.640 population-wise.

00:08:27.120 And Nadine, who is from Banff-Airdrie.

00:08:28.980 So we've got a good variety of people covering Alberta in this Senate race.

00:08:33.220 I'm going to start with you, though, Kelly.

00:08:34.720 What are you hoping then?

00:08:36.080 You know, the big, broad question, what are you looking to accomplish in this run?

00:08:40.700 Well, you know, Albertans express themselves very, very clearly with the Fair Deal panels

00:08:45.960 with Jason Kenney that were spread out through Alberta.

00:08:50.260 And really, it's about bringing a voice to the Senate for the people of Alberta and standing

00:08:55.060 up for Albertans and what their interests are and helping that move forward.

00:09:01.180 Great.

00:09:01.760 So the platform, I imagine, is going to be a little bit different.

00:09:05.560 I mean, you guys are kind of doing a pivot.

00:09:08.000 It's still the same issues to a degree, but what are you going to be focusing on?

00:09:11.620 What are you going to be reaching out to Albertans within this race?

00:09:15.240 Like, what's differentiating you versus the Conservative candidates you'll be competing

00:09:20.260 with?

00:09:20.920 You know what?

00:09:21.500 I don't think that there's a whole lot of difference with the campaign right now.

00:09:25.720 What we'll be focusing on, again, is what's important to Albertans.

00:09:29.060 And that includes, you know, the mandatory vaccinations.

00:09:34.240 That includes the vaccine passports, pipelines, getting Alberta's industry, oil and gas to

00:09:43.280 Tidewater.

00:09:43.840 All of these issues that we need to bring forward and start addressing and holding the Trudeau

00:09:50.540 government accountable.

00:09:51.440 Yeah, well, those issues don't go away, you know, and they certainly do cross from the

00:09:59.180 federal parliament to the Senate.

00:10:03.100 Nadine, I'll switch to you.

00:10:05.320 Let's flip the clock ahead, though.

00:10:07.420 Say you and another compatriot got into the Senate.

00:10:11.180 The two of you are in there.

00:10:13.180 You're a minority within the Senate, though.

00:10:14.560 What are you going to be pushing for first thing after your appointment?

00:10:18.500 I think the important thing here is that Alberta has a voice.

00:10:22.100 And one of the key things for me when I ran in this election is so many Albertans asked

00:10:28.900 me, Nadine, what happens on September 21st?

00:10:33.160 You know, so we were very realistic.

00:10:34.780 We didn't know whether or not we would win our seats.

00:10:37.520 And they were like, you've got our vote.

00:10:40.200 You've got our support.

00:10:41.080 We believe in the principles.

00:10:42.120 We love the shared values.

00:10:44.660 But what happens on September 21st?

00:10:46.540 How are you going to stay in the fight?

00:10:48.340 So for me, this is my way of assuring Albertans that the People's Party of Canada and myself

00:10:54.720 were staying in the fight.

00:10:56.300 And we're going to continue to stand for the principles that we've promoted and stand

00:11:00.980 by the policies and stand by Albertans.

00:11:03.720 So, you know, when I get in to Senate, if that were to happen, nothing really changes.

00:11:09.980 I'm going to be the voice for Albertans.

00:11:12.640 I'm going to be the one fighting for provincial autonomy and making sure that the province

00:11:17.940 has the jurisdiction and the tools and the resources it needs to do what Albertans want.

00:11:24.380 And that's supporting our oil and gas sector.

00:11:27.460 That is supporting smaller government, more fiscal responsibility.

00:11:33.000 So our policies really are not changing.

00:11:35.940 And I think that whether it was a position as a member of parliament or as a position of Senate,

00:11:41.520 I don't really think much is going to change.

00:11:43.620 Well, and I'm glad you guys have made this a race because something that was done this time

00:11:50.820 around with the Senate election was that they made it a federal party only thing, which really

00:11:54.680 shut out a lot of what would have been other contenders.

00:11:57.480 And I think, in my view, they were trying to set up just a cakewalk for the federal conservative

00:12:01.920 party to come in and take those, which isn't a selection at all.

00:12:05.220 In fact, it's something of a joke.

00:12:06.500 So you've got to have some competition or it's a farce.

00:12:11.160 Getting to the nuts and bolts, though, Kelly, with your campaign then.

00:12:14.800 So you guys are pivoting.

00:12:16.080 This is different.

00:12:16.880 You've spent, you know, months campaigning in a local riding.

00:12:20.940 Now you guys are looking at a province-wide thing.

00:12:23.320 I mean, you're in different regions, but it's a ballot with a number of names.

00:12:26.800 And you're going to want people all over this province to be putting their mark next to

00:12:30.180 your name and hopefully Anne's name and Nadine's name.

00:12:33.500 So what are your campaign plans in the next coming weeks here?

00:12:36.500 Well, ideally, Nadine and I have talked about this briefly.

00:12:41.380 We're going to talk with our team here in Alberta.

00:12:44.720 We're going to connect with our team in Ottawa.

00:12:46.400 And we're going to come up with a plan that will allow us to hopefully travel through the

00:12:51.760 province and help each other get that message out and work with each other within those regions

00:12:58.320 as well.

00:12:59.660 This is very much a team effort.

00:13:03.280 And quite honestly, I look forward to doing that with both Nadine and Anne.

00:13:08.040 Great.

00:13:10.420 And we've heard that your leader, Maxime Bernier, is going to be coming back out to Alberta.

00:13:15.900 I anticipate there'll be some more rallies.

00:13:18.060 The weather's right for it.

00:13:20.060 Are you going to be touring a bit with him, Nadine, you know, doing those sorts of public

00:13:23.260 events while this is going on?

00:13:24.720 Because it's going to be challenging as the restrictions are really cracking down in Alberta

00:13:28.440 all over again.

00:13:29.080 And it's going to be tough to gather people in one spot without having the authorities

00:13:34.280 breaking it up.

00:13:36.040 Well, as we saw in the federal election, you know, we can handle an outdoor rally and we

00:13:42.360 are able to rally the people.

00:13:44.300 And, you know, Maxime coming back again is his commitment to Albertans to make sure that

00:13:51.000 Albertans in particular, you know, their voices are heard.

00:13:56.220 And Max has always propped up his candidates here in Alberta and across the country.

00:14:01.920 And, you know, his support for me in particular in this race, you know, we had some higher profile

00:14:08.780 candidates, you know, parachute their way into Alberta.

00:14:11.640 Again, it's his way of saying, look, you know, you've got good people here in Alberta and

00:14:17.380 he's going to stand behind us and back us in the promotion of the message and the message

00:14:21.980 hasn't changed.

00:14:23.080 So, yeah, I think we can rally just as much support with or without restrictions, because

00:14:29.140 I think the reality is people understand what's on the line and that we're not done.

00:14:34.780 We're not done.

00:14:35.340 We're still in the fight.

00:14:36.160 I got a really great comment this morning from a YouTube who watched one of my videos

00:14:40.480 and he says, Nadine, keep the stick on the ice.

00:14:43.040 The game's not over.

00:14:45.780 Yeah, well, it answered a question that a lot of people have been asking.

00:14:48.540 We've been asking in our coverage, you know, the PPC made a mark, but there's no seat.

00:14:54.320 You know, where are you going forward?

00:14:56.140 This has given a rallying point for this, at least this next month to continue campaigning,

00:15:01.620 continue promoting what your vision is as a party and as candidates.

00:15:05.760 So it's kind of a, in my view, a bit of a lucky opportunity to show continuity from where

00:15:11.360 you'd left off.

00:15:12.820 Absolutely.

00:15:13.580 And Kelly and I have worked together since 2019.

00:15:18.540 And, you know, if there's been one person, candidate in particular, who's, you know,

00:15:24.160 been my support and my pillar, it's been Kelly.

00:15:26.500 And, you know, I think I've always been there for him too.

00:15:29.820 So, you know, it's exciting to be able to do this together this time, truly go across

00:15:35.560 the country.

00:15:36.060 I mean, it's two names on the ballot and that's for Albertans to decide which one that they

00:15:40.500 feel, you know, best resonates with them.

00:15:42.460 But the message is there's a lot of similarities.

00:15:46.740 You know, I have different strengths.

00:15:48.680 Kelly has different strengths and people will have some choice.

00:15:51.740 But the People's Party of Canada, I mean, this is how we work together.

00:15:56.240 I think we have one of the best teams and the best team spirit of any party, you know,

00:16:05.280 available today.

00:16:07.200 Yeah, well, and something with Senate is you're selling the individual a lot more than the

00:16:13.020 party in some senses.

00:16:13.980 The party gives a basis.

00:16:15.000 But again, due to our crazed system, we appoint our senators for life.

00:16:19.900 So, you know, you really want to scrutinize the individual who's going in there carefully.

00:16:25.740 So, you know, people are going to want to get to know Nadine Wellwood and Kelly Lorenz

00:16:30.460 and in order to know, you know, is this person selecting somebody I'm going to want to be

00:16:35.240 in there for a period of time.

00:16:36.580 So you're going to have to change a little bit of your campaign approach and be a little

00:16:39.840 more self-centered rather than party-centered, I guess you could say.

00:16:42.940 Well, you know what, Corey?

00:16:44.840 Sorry, Nadine.

00:16:45.340 But that's exactly what is so great about the People's Party of Canada.

00:16:51.840 I mean, individual freedom, personal responsibility, fairness and respect, those are things that

00:16:58.740 are the four pillars of the People's Party of Canada.

00:17:01.520 And I believe that those are values that Albertans share and they want to move that forward.

00:17:08.840 Right now, what's interesting about this race is that it has nothing to do with boat splitting.

00:17:13.960 It has nothing to do with, you know, trying to get Trudeau out or whatever the excuses might be.

00:17:21.520 Now this is about, you know, the representation.

00:17:24.380 Who's going to represent you best and do their values meet up with yours?

00:17:29.300 And I believe Albertans will speak loud and clear when it comes to this vote.

00:17:33.780 Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up because, of course, and I don't want to delve too far

00:17:38.040 into that whole vote splitting discussion and what's going on.

00:17:40.700 And the bottom line is it's not a consideration in this race.

00:17:44.500 So people can fully vote with their conscience on what they feel better,

00:17:47.500 whether it's the federal conservative view or the PPC or anybody else who might enter this Senate race

00:17:53.040 before it wraps up.

00:17:55.360 So where, I guess, with each of you, I'll start with, Kelly.

00:17:58.060 Can we find more information about your campaign, keep track of what you're doing,

00:18:01.020 where you're going and what you're up to?

00:18:02.740 Yeah, right now, the website that we're using is kellylorenz2021.ca.

00:18:08.260 We'll be changing that to kelly4alberta.com coming up here, but they will link to each other.

00:18:15.940 And definitely watch for reports coming out of our headquarters, coming out of my website,

00:18:23.980 from my team, from Nadine's team.

00:18:27.400 We'll be getting out as much information as to where we're at and how to come and meet us

00:18:31.440 and talk with us.

00:18:32.480 And I encourage everybody to come out and share in this process.

00:18:37.020 Great, and Nadine, where can everybody find you?

00:18:41.280 You're usually pretty easy to find out there, but all the same, there'll be a few new viewers

00:18:45.180 who might want to look you up there.

00:18:47.320 Yeah, so I'm going to keep things consistent with the election campaign, nadinewellwood.ca.

00:18:53.560 And obviously, we'll amend that for the Senate race.

00:18:58.260 But, I mean, as you pointed out, Corey, this one is a little bit more about who we are as

00:19:03.720 individuals, as well as the party.

00:19:06.400 And I think with my YouTube channel, my social media, I think that really is the best way

00:19:12.600 for people to get to know who I am, what I stand for, what I believe.

00:19:17.640 And the fact that, you know, I walk my talk.

00:19:21.340 And, you know, that's the one curse and blessing with social media.

00:19:25.860 Once you say it, you can't take it back.

00:19:27.860 So, you know, I've got two, three years of history on social media, Twitter, Facebook,

00:19:33.980 YouTube, and my website.

00:19:36.080 And I want to leave all of it there for people to see so that they can make their own decisions.

00:19:40.720 And it's an informed decision.

00:19:42.660 It's not just, you know, me saying something that, you know, today, that it's been consistent

00:19:47.340 for the last three years.

00:19:48.740 I've been here fighting for Albertans.

00:19:50.880 And I'm staying in this fight.

00:19:52.740 I'm not going anywhere.

00:19:53.620 And, you know, go back, look, listen, and ask your questions.

00:19:57.760 You know, one thing that for me has been really important this election is every person who's

00:20:02.580 asked a question, whether they agreed with me or not, I've always responded.

00:20:07.180 So, aidingwellwood.ca is a great place to go.

00:20:10.300 Be patient with us.

00:20:11.340 We'll update some of the information here over the next few days.

00:20:14.760 But that'll take you to every other social media platform that I have available as well.

00:20:20.500 Great.

00:20:20.700 And I imagine Anne has a website for her campaign as well, and people will be able to go to the

00:20:24.760 People's Party of Canada website to just kind of find all three of you and track the campaign

00:20:28.220 as it rolls.

00:20:30.120 That's right.

00:20:30.860 Thank you.

00:20:31.680 All right.

00:20:32.100 Well, thank you very much for joining me, guys.

00:20:33.720 We'll be watching with very great interest as this campaign unfolds during these crazy

00:20:38.360 political times.

00:20:39.740 And I'm certain we'll all be talking again soon.

00:20:42.800 I look forward to it, Corey.

00:20:44.000 Thank you.

00:20:44.980 Thank you, Corey.

00:20:46.440 Great.

00:20:46.800 Thanks, guys.

00:20:47.220 Talk to you.

Western Standard - September 23, 2021

The Cory Morgan Show： Meet the People's Senate

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