Western Standard - The Pipeline October 7, 2020

00:00:00.000 Welcome to the Pipeline, Western Standard's weekly current affairs show. I'm publisher Derek Fildebrandt. This is Dave Naylor, our news editor, and Corey Morgan, our digital editor, and rage columnist extraordinaire.

00:00:16.340 Thank you for joining us today, Wednesday, October 7th, from our offices in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Today we're going to be going through a number of very hot topics right now.

00:00:31.780 The Alberta to Alaska Railway, under potential threat from Justin Trudeau. The Alberta Federation of Labor's union boss, Gil McGowan, has launched a boycott against businesses that have supported the Tories.

00:00:47.340 The Saskatchewan election, a whole hodgepodge, nothing really happening there, just a lot of controversy, but not much actually happening on the policy front.

00:00:54.560 And British Columbia, a little bit happening on the policy front, but again, a pretty static election.

00:01:01.660 We're going to talk about all four of those issues today. Before we get started, if you're not already a member of the Western Standard, please go to westernstandardonline.com right now and go to membership.

00:01:13.160 And consider becoming a member. The Western Standard does not take a dime of taxpayer subsidies from the government.

00:01:19.680 We are one of the very, very few truly independent media organizations in Canada.

00:01:25.980 We closed out September with 600,000 readers, making us the third largest, most well-read news organization in Western Canada, in large thanks to all our contributors and led by our news editor, Dave Naylor.

00:01:39.980 So if you want to support that, become a member right now for just a few bucks a month.

00:01:45.480 You can ensure that we have an independent and subsidy-free media here in Western Canada.

00:01:52.380 But let's get it started.

00:01:55.860 We're going to, I think, first turn to the Alaska-Alberta Railway, maybe a bit of background and what's happening right now, Dave.

00:02:04.460 Derek, this is a project that's been in the works for years, a very long time.

00:02:10.040 It's a $22 billion rail track from Alaska, from Anchorage, down through to probably Edmonton, the Edmonton area.

00:02:18.280 And it would be used to get Canadian resources to Tidewater.

00:02:23.700 Obviously, great news for the West, but Justin Trudeau on the weekend said, okay, let's not get overexcited.

00:02:32.480 Before anybody buys any rail track, don't forget, it's got to go through rigorous environmental assessment.

00:02:40.040 That is what everybody knows now is Bill C-69.

00:02:44.660 Some people say there'll never be another massive project built in the country again because of it.

00:02:49.680 And if this is the case, I think, Corey, it's another slap in the face to the West.

00:02:55.040 Well, absolutely. I mean, we were getting pretty excited about that.

00:02:57.320 I mean, this was a new potential export to the ports, to the coast.

00:03:02.500 It bypassed British Columbia, which I think was very purposeful because we've had a lot of issues with them.

00:03:07.920 It would be great for all sorts of products, whether lumber, potash, even if we'd upgraded and manufactured things.

00:03:13.380 And, of course, that big hot button, I think, which brought about Trudeau's resistance is bitumen and oil.

00:03:17.740 And the language Trudeau used was distressing because it was along those lines of basically saying,

00:03:24.520 don't put your dollars in now on something that we might not approve.

00:03:28.200 He's already warning investors because this thing needs a large chunk of private money.

00:03:32.600 Now, anybody who was starting to open their wallet after hearing the Prime Minister saying that,

00:03:36.220 after seeing what they've done, the pipelines in Canada and other things, he already killed it, in my view.

00:03:42.780 There's got to be some positive language saying it's going to go ahead coming from Ottawa,

00:03:46.580 or nobody's going to invest in this thing.

00:03:48.780 I mean, why would you?

00:03:49.600 You might as well buy lotto tickets.

00:03:50.920 You don't know where Trudeau's going to land.

00:03:51.960 Well, we've got an idea where he's landing.

00:03:53.120 He didn't sound very positive on this.

00:03:54.620 So why they oppose it is difficult.

00:03:57.740 I mean, you know, it does start to feed that.

00:04:00.080 Like, do you guys really just fear any form of Western independence from centralized control?

00:04:07.160 It's infuriating, and they seem to have killed this right dead in the water.

00:04:11.940 I mean, his language wasn't strong, to be fair, but it was, you know,

00:04:17.700 so the context of the question was, well, you know, this, you know,

00:04:21.400 runs through areas that have First Nations around them and whatnot.

00:04:24.820 As any kind of infrastructure project running through remote areas is inevitably going to do.

00:04:32.620 But, you know, he seemed to be trying to assure his base that, don't worry,

00:04:40.540 this isn't a done deal.

00:04:42.520 We've got this C-69 process in place, and that's, you know, so it was kind of two-sided.

00:04:50.580 He was trying to reassure his base that this isn't necessarily going ahead.

00:04:53.680 We've got this process I put in place, wink, wink, and we all know what it's really meant to do.

00:04:59.380 And it was a warning to potential investors not to get to put too much money into this thing

00:05:05.120 before it really gets off the ground.

00:05:08.560 I mean, we could read this as, you know, so we'd be careful what we read into Trudeau.

00:05:12.260 I mean, how much is he actually really trying to subtly and carefully message things, 0.99

00:05:16.060 and how much is him just being a moron and not understanding? 0.99

00:05:19.040 So it's difficult to tell with him. 0.99

00:05:22.420 But I would take it as a big warning shot that this is not necessarily going forward,

00:05:29.300 that this is still very much up in the air.

00:05:32.860 This is a railway that's been in consideration for about 50 or 60 years.

00:05:39.280 The better part since World War II this has been considered,

00:05:41.760 because it's obviously a major missing artery in North America's transport and trade infrastructure.

00:05:50.900 And it's been considered uneconomical until now,

00:05:55.420 because pipelines are just impossible to build.

00:05:58.040 And for political reasons, they need ways to get oil from Alberta to international markets.

00:06:05.400 Because rail, despite being much less environmentally friendly than pipelines,

00:06:12.180 is for some reason more politically palatable,

00:06:15.600 for reasons we all can speculate on.

00:06:19.360 But because of that, because pipelines are taboo to too many people politically now,

00:06:25.080 and because we can't get anything through BC or through eastern Canada,

00:06:30.680 this is now an option.

00:06:33.060 And the federal government throwing cold water on it,

00:06:36.120 I hope it's not a deliberate thing.

00:06:38.780 I hope this is just Trudeau not being particularly intelligent with his remarks,

00:06:41.860 but I fear that it's not.

00:06:43.600 I sure hope that's the case.

00:06:45.620 But the other thing with the rail, as opposed to pipelines,

00:06:47.960 it can do a lot of things.

00:06:49.420 It can bring things into Canada.

00:06:51.100 That's the aspect that I think is really exciting as well.

00:06:53.340 We could get manufactured goods, products, cars, you name it,

00:06:56.980 coming in and then distributing from a central North American location.

00:07:00.760 Well, I'm not sure that's necessarily needed.

00:07:02.640 I mean, what are we going to bring from Alaska?

00:07:04.320 I imagine it's going to be a lot heavier going to Alaska than back.

00:07:07.240 We already have the Port of Vancouver.

00:07:09.300 I mean, we know what is the smart way to trade,

00:07:12.780 and that is directly from Alberta through BC, Port of Vancouver, Surrey, these areas.

00:07:17.560 We just can't do it for political reasons.

00:07:19.740 Our smart ways are getting stopped, so this is a bypass.

00:07:21.940 Yes, and even though it might be a little more expensive.

00:07:24.500 But, I mean, having multiple paths can also keep the one port a little more honest, perhaps.

00:07:29.600 That's entirely possible because we know that if it's completely empty coming back,

00:07:36.940 then trade routes are going to find a way to, you know,

00:07:41.140 they'll probably get it at discounted rates.

00:07:42.860 But I don't think this is going to be a major...

00:07:46.320 Actually, it could end up, funny enough,

00:07:47.500 being at least a little bit of a competitor for the Port of Vancouver to bypass it.

00:07:53.160 Hey, I mean, if Alberta all of a sudden couldn't go through BC for some unforeseen reason, 0.98

00:07:58.920 I mean, having a railway through Alaska could help.

00:08:02.400 It certainly could.

00:08:03.200 Okay, well, bring it a little closer to home.

00:08:10.560 You know, there's a big...

00:08:12.040 Was it just yesterday that this took place?

00:08:14.800 Or the day before?

00:08:15.760 Day before.

00:08:16.320 Day before.

00:08:16.580 So two days ago we had Alberta Federation of Labor Union boss Gil McGowan

00:08:23.100 start a campaign to boycott businesses in Alberta that have given to the UCP

00:08:29.640 or to UCP-affiliated-slash-fronted third-party advertisers,

00:08:36.600 political action committees,

00:08:38.400 saying that Albertans shouldn't shop at these businesses.

00:08:43.140 How much of an effect it's going to have,

00:08:44.560 I don't really know.

00:08:46.760 Boycotts tend to be flashes in the pan. 1.00

00:08:48.160 On the left and the right, they tend to be a flash in the pan.

00:08:50.080 Everybody gets over it.

00:08:50.740 I got pissed off at Tim Hortons.

00:08:52.420 That lasted a couple of months,

00:08:53.520 and I was like, I really want my coffee.

00:08:56.320 So I went back.

00:08:57.340 I got over it.

00:08:59.140 But either way, this has turned out to be a wildly controversial move.

00:09:03.960 Premier Rachel Notley has refused repeatedly to condemn it,

00:09:08.720 more or less just saying,

00:09:10.960 well, there's consequences to your actions.

00:09:12.460 Dave, do you want to fill us in on what the reaction has been,

00:09:19.100 how the NDP have been handling it,

00:09:20.420 and how the AFL and Gil McGowan have responded to the backlash they've received?

00:09:27.460 Well, as you mentioned,

00:09:29.480 NDP leader Rachel Notley was asked twice about it yesterday.

00:09:33.200 She dodged the question.

00:09:34.320 Jason Kenney, obviously the UCP people are strongly opposed to this.

00:09:41.280 It covers all sorts of businesses who have donated from, you know,

00:09:45.600 500 bucks to tens of thousands of dollars.

00:09:48.860 And, you know, Gil McGowan says, you know, tough.

00:09:52.800 In fairness, this is publicly accessed material.

00:09:58.160 Anybody can go online and find out who has donated to what political party.

00:10:03.640 But this boycott UCP donors website is very specific.

00:10:08.140 You click on an icon and it shows you the name of the business

00:10:11.180 and how much they've donated.

00:10:14.140 So certainly drawn a lot of anger on the right-wing side of Alberta.

00:10:21.540 And as you said, how much damage it will do, nobody knows.

00:10:25.540 Corey, you know, as Dave said,

00:10:28.460 this is already publicly available information.

00:10:30.380 I received an email from one of our members this morning

00:10:34.860 in response to the newsletter where this was the main featured story.

00:10:39.580 And he said, well, where can I find a list of who's donated to the NDP

00:10:42.460 or NDP-affiliated third-party advertisers, political action committees?

00:10:46.980 I said, well, we don't have anything posted ourselves.

00:10:49.540 We're not going tit for tat with AFL here.

00:10:52.940 We're not partisan here.

00:10:55.140 But I sent him a link to Elections Alberta's website

00:10:58.900 where you can find all this.

00:10:59.820 So this is all publicly available information already.

00:11:03.240 So I don't think it would be fair to call it doxing.

00:11:06.200 But it certainly is something.

00:11:08.780 Do you think this is, you know,

00:11:11.260 regardless of how we might feel about the AFL

00:11:12.900 and its pseudo-Marxist policies,

00:11:17.540 regardless of how we feel politically,

00:11:19.080 do you think this is fair game?

00:11:20.760 I mean, it's fair game as far as legality goes.

00:11:23.380 I mean, there's nothing much to be done for it,

00:11:24.700 but we can call them out.

00:11:26.000 And what I see this as a form of intimidation and thuggery,

00:11:29.540 which is, of course, the basis of a lot of organized labor.

00:11:32.540 And Gil McGowan's always been unashamed about supporting things like that.

00:11:35.860 We saw that with the co-op strike and his views on it and things such as that.

00:11:39.680 I mean, it's highlighting these businesses for shame and potential abuse.

00:11:44.340 And we're in a charged environment.

00:11:45.640 And I would hope that, you know,

00:11:47.500 you don't see a brick going through a business's window or something else.

00:11:51.580 As you've shown, too, a picture of Gil quite tightly with Rachel Notley.

00:11:55.200 If you remember the last election,

00:11:56.800 I actually put a complaint in to the chief electoral officer for collusion

00:12:01.420 because the scene's really been changed.

00:12:03.640 Unions and businesses can't donate directly to parties any longer.

00:12:06.660 So, of course, what happened, PACs formed all over the place

00:12:10.180 because people still want to find ways to support their parties

00:12:13.160 and their businesses want to find ways to support them

00:12:15.040 and unions want to find ways to support them.

00:12:16.940 And the AFL is essentially a PAC.

00:12:18.860 It's not a union, but it represents labor groups.

00:12:23.140 But the AFL, the ANDP, is very unique in a lot of ways.

00:12:26.060 In their constitution, it's mandated.

00:12:28.700 They have to have seats on their board for the AFL

00:12:31.500 and all of the AFL affiliates, which are dozens.

00:12:34.900 So the AFL actually wags the NDP dog in a big way.

00:12:38.440 And that's why Notley's very reticent.

00:12:40.480 I think this is backfiring on Gil.

00:12:42.240 I think Albertans are annoyed with this.

00:12:43.720 It's a hard economy, whatever the motivation might be.

00:12:46.540 We don't want to see anybody targeting businesses that are struggling

00:12:49.080 and workers who are working at them.

00:12:51.200 But Notley won't disassociate from it either

00:12:53.340 because she's actually tied at the hip with the AFL.

00:12:55.580 It's a branch of the NDP, technically.

00:12:57.660 Well, yeah, so this goes back to, I think, the 1960s,

00:13:01.500 or at the early, latest, the early 1970s,

00:13:05.880 when the old CCF, Canadian Commonwealth Federation,

00:13:10.040 merged with the Canadian Labour Congress,

00:13:13.180 it, across Canada, built these labor federations

00:13:16.840 formally into the NDP constitutions

00:13:19.100 in every single province where they exist.

00:13:22.260 I mean, this would be comparable to Suncor

00:13:25.140 having automatic seats on the UCP board.

00:13:27.840 Like, okay, well, here's the Suncor seat

00:13:29.840 and here's the Imperial seat.

00:13:33.220 I mean, like, it would, people would have something to say about that.

00:13:38.180 I mean, you could be pro-labor without having organized labor

00:13:42.180 formally embedded into the governing structure of your party.

00:13:46.100 You could be pro-business without having big corporations

00:13:48.880 with automatic seats granted onto your party.

00:13:51.320 It's quite bizarre stuff.

00:13:54.200 You know, Gil's been a federal NDP candidate before.

00:13:56.740 He's openly campaigned for Rachel Notley before.

00:14:02.140 So, you know, they're not some non-partisan union.

00:14:04.800 These are explicitly political, explicitly partisan.

00:14:08.560 And McGowan is, I think, a departure even from most of the provinces left.

00:14:13.160 He is a bit, not just more extreme in policy,

00:14:19.120 but he has been, he takes anyone who disagrees with him

00:14:24.380 as an objectively evil person.

00:14:27.900 So the language that was used here, you know,

00:14:31.320 in his response to a lot of the backlash

00:14:34.700 has been that these businesses are just trying to destroy

00:14:41.900 the lives of working people in Alberta.

00:14:44.080 They're trying to get these people fired and whatnot.

00:14:46.860 And, I mean, it is possible to disagree with someone politically

00:14:51.920 and not believe that they just want the wanton ruin

00:14:56.620 and destruction of the place.

00:14:58.700 They just have different political views.

00:15:00.560 Most people who support the NDP, I think,

00:15:02.480 are obviously a bit out there.

00:15:05.560 But they have a worldview, and they, you know,

00:15:08.140 other than some people who might just have a naked self-interest.

00:15:10.440 Some businesses donate for naked self-interest.

00:15:12.900 We know that that happens.

00:15:14.080 It's happened a lot before,

00:15:15.120 especially in the previous Tory government.

00:15:16.780 Happens still today.

00:15:18.380 And unions and whatnot support,

00:15:20.440 because they have a naked self-interest

00:15:21.740 and, you know, wetting the appetite of the government of the day

00:15:24.880 to give them a better union contract.

00:15:26.620 But most people who support political parties

00:15:29.440 don't have a direct financial stake in it.

00:15:32.820 They are supporting it because they share their values

00:15:34.880 and want them to do something that they think

00:15:37.320 is going to make the world a better place.

00:15:39.080 McGowan, by contrast, believes that anyone who supports a party

00:15:42.140 to the right of Mao

00:15:43.880 is just hell-bent on the destruction of all that is good.

00:15:48.820 He's a polarizing character.

00:15:52.940 So, yeah, just an ugly scene.

00:15:55.480 I got a feeling it's going to backfire.

00:15:56.900 It seems to be backfiring.

00:15:57.800 People aren't responding to this well.

00:16:00.740 But they brought it on themselves.

00:16:02.200 Just I want to quickly hit, too,

00:16:03.440 is people are, you know, we are live,

00:16:05.240 and they're offering some questions.

00:16:06.720 And so back to the rail quickly, though,

00:16:08.500 with somebody, Stacey Leanne Ellertson, saying,

00:16:12.080 other than separation, what can a province do

00:16:14.080 to protect itself from government controls or reject them?

00:16:16.900 And that's a big question, of course,

00:16:19.020 which applies to a lot of things.

00:16:21.240 To be honest, it's not a heck of a lot.

00:16:23.320 Well, you know, you can fight in the courts,

00:16:25.060 but the courts in Canada more often than not

00:16:28.220 side with federal control over things,

00:16:30.840 indirect federal control.

00:16:32.280 I mean, they won't allow, say, on health care,

00:16:33.980 they won't allow the federal government

00:16:35.020 to directly administer a hospital,

00:16:36.500 but they will allow the federal government

00:16:37.760 to dictate provincial policies

00:16:39.240 via the carrot and stick of health transfers.

00:16:43.000 So our Supreme Court has a very long tradition

00:16:45.580 going back over 100 years

00:16:47.460 of more often than not

00:16:49.740 siding with federal control.

00:16:51.320 So you can fight in the courts on these issues.

00:16:54.040 You can, you know, like happens regularly,

00:16:56.140 you can write an angry missive

00:16:57.580 to the prime minister

00:16:58.700 and publish that

00:17:00.200 and try to get people worked up.

00:17:02.100 But at the end of the day,

00:17:03.380 there's not a lot we can much do

00:17:06.340 as long as there is a government in Ottawa

00:17:08.880 that has the support,

00:17:10.280 the confidence of the House.

00:17:11.240 You have effectively now,

00:17:12.400 and increasingly,

00:17:13.620 we should maybe talk about this next week,

00:17:15.340 the increasing formalization

00:17:16.680 of the federal, liberal, and NDP coalition

00:17:20.260 that is really coming together

00:17:21.780 as a solid governing coalition.

00:17:24.180 You know, the NDP and liberals voted together

00:17:26.360 to shut down the WE investigation.

00:17:28.500 Oh, it's Deputy Prime Minister Singh.

00:17:30.960 Yeah.

00:17:31.860 So, you know, when you've got a government

00:17:33.820 in Ottawa that wants to do that,

00:17:35.000 there's not terribly much you can do

00:17:36.620 if you're still here.

00:17:37.680 One last thing on the AFL ban.

00:17:42.860 One of the things that's backfiring,

00:17:44.600 and I think Corey's right, it is,

00:17:46.280 is the timing of it.

00:17:48.180 Alberta businesses are struggling

00:17:49.880 with this COVID pandemic.

00:17:51.980 And to go out and deliberately try

00:17:53.560 and take money away

00:17:54.980 from struggling businesses

00:17:56.480 is just not going to,

00:17:58.640 as Jason Kenney says,

00:18:00.360 it's on Alberta.

00:18:01.420 Yeah, I mean,

00:18:04.540 I, you know,

00:18:05.940 people are free to boycott businesses

00:18:07.560 that do things that they disagree with.

00:18:09.540 You don't, you know,

00:18:10.700 there are consequences to actions.

00:18:13.760 And if I know that a business

00:18:16.300 is supporting the NDP,

00:18:17.760 like, I don't support the NDP or the Toros,

00:18:19.320 but I particularly don't support the NDP.

00:18:21.360 And if a business is supporting the NDP,

00:18:23.220 I might be less likely to shop there.

00:18:26.120 So, I mean, I'm trying to be fair about it.

00:18:28.520 But if you support a political party,

00:18:32.440 people have, you know,

00:18:34.220 I think it is fair.

00:18:35.840 I think it's just more the tone of this

00:18:37.280 that they're saying that these businesses

00:18:38.600 are trying to destroy your lives.

00:18:40.440 These are evil businesses 0.80

00:18:41.620 and evil people with them. 0.89

00:18:43.560 And so you should, you should punish them.

00:18:46.200 But, you know, political boycotts

00:18:47.900 are a long and I think fair tradition

00:18:50.300 in most cases.

00:18:51.320 I think it's just more,

00:18:52.220 more of the tone that they've gone about saying

00:18:53.940 instead of, well, these,

00:18:55.980 these businesses supported the Tories.

00:18:59.060 If you don't support the Tories,

00:19:00.080 then you shouldn't shop there.

00:19:01.080 I think that actually would be fair,

00:19:03.080 however unkindly it might be.

00:19:05.620 But to say that, you know,

00:19:06.700 these are evil people,

00:19:07.700 these are evil businesses

00:19:08.560 trying to bring you down

00:19:10.060 and destroy your lives. 0.91

00:19:11.500 I think that's where they go a bit far.

00:19:14.040 Well, let's, let's turn to Saskatchewan.

00:19:17.760 I hadn't heard this before.

00:19:19.200 I'm not sure if the public had heard it before.

00:19:21.140 But Premier Scott Moe

00:19:24.900 fighting for re-election here,

00:19:27.100 apologizing for a car accident

00:19:31.540 that resulted in someone dying

00:19:32.700 roughly two and a half decades ago.

00:19:36.240 Dave, why don't you fill us in on that?

00:19:37.920 Sure.

00:19:38.260 It came as a shock to me too, Derek.

00:19:41.460 23 years ago,

00:19:42.920 he was driving to his parents' farm

00:19:45.640 on a gravel road

00:19:46.540 when Scott Moe ran a stop sign.

00:19:49.620 He hit a car containing a family

00:19:51.920 and killed the woman inside the car.

00:19:55.320 Yesterday, a gentleman called Steve-O Balag

00:19:58.160 posted on his Facebook site

00:20:00.500 that he had just learned

00:20:02.120 that Scott Moe had killed his mother.

00:20:04.720 And he went on a tirade

00:20:06.300 about how Scott Moe had ruined his life

00:20:08.420 and he would hate Scott Moe forever.

00:20:12.600 Premier Moe did talk about this,

00:20:16.400 apparently in 1997.

00:20:17.800 Sorry, 2017,

00:20:20.020 when he was running for the leadership

00:20:21.440 of the Saskatchewan party.

00:20:23.160 But certainly anybody I've ever talked to

00:20:25.420 had never heard of this before.

00:20:27.740 He apologized at a campaign event yesterday,

00:20:30.740 said, you know, he regrets it.

00:20:32.920 He's had to live with it

00:20:33.820 every day of his life.

00:20:36.040 And it's part of what...

00:20:38.600 Dealing with it has become part of

00:20:39.980 what he's become as a man.

00:20:41.600 But some shocking news, Corey.

00:20:44.100 Well, before we go to Corey,

00:20:45.440 I'm trying to get a better idea.

00:20:47.020 Do we know if this was public knowledge

00:20:49.680 when he was running for the Saskatchewan

00:20:51.420 party leadership?

00:20:52.060 Or was this just simply disclosed

00:20:53.560 in his interview process

00:20:55.120 with the party's hierarchy?

00:20:56.700 That's a good question.

00:20:57.440 I don't know the answer.

00:20:58.300 Because I hadn't heard this.

00:21:00.240 I feel like it would have come up.

00:21:03.360 I mean, I guess it could be new news

00:21:04.840 that now the guy whose mother

00:21:07.400 had been killed has found out.

00:21:09.660 I mean, it is a long time ago.

00:21:13.360 23 years.

00:21:14.400 Yeah, you know, it was an accident.

00:21:17.680 But, you know, we're still responsible

00:21:19.360 in many cases.

00:21:20.800 But he was not criminally responsible.

00:21:22.540 He got a ticket.

00:21:27.120 It is pretty shocking news.

00:21:29.840 I don't think it...

00:21:30.920 Do you think this is going to have

00:21:32.160 much of an impact on the campaign?

00:21:34.040 I don't think it will.

00:21:35.740 It did sidetrack.

00:21:37.060 It certainly opened a raw wound

00:21:38.360 for that young gentleman

00:21:39.360 who'd lost his mother.

00:21:42.440 I mean, the thing with Moe,

00:21:43.740 the reason he didn't get

00:21:44.560 a large conviction or due time,

00:21:45.880 I imagine, is that, of course,

00:21:47.220 he didn't find any malintent.

00:21:48.780 I mean, it was truly an accident.

00:21:50.840 He got tickets, which meant

00:21:52.200 there was some bad driving

00:21:53.760 and negligence on his part,

00:21:55.100 but not grossly so.

00:21:56.760 He wasn't going 100 miles an hour.

00:21:58.360 He wasn't drunk, of course,

00:21:59.680 or things such.

00:22:00.860 He did have a DUI a different time.

00:22:02.060 That's a separate thing.

00:22:03.680 Which brings it a little more

00:22:04.940 into question, actually.

00:22:05.900 In 1992, he was done

00:22:08.080 over on car driving.

00:22:08.900 Yeah.

00:22:09.320 Well, I think for most people,

00:22:11.080 they look at it that this is a tragedy.

00:22:13.320 This is a man who feels 0.89

00:22:14.920 genuinely bad about it, I believe.

00:22:17.440 And it's just kind of,

00:22:19.160 it's behind.

00:22:19.720 It's in the past.

00:22:20.500 I mean, it's not been a pattern

00:22:21.400 in these things.

00:22:22.400 He certainly didn't set out

00:22:23.420 to harm anybody.

00:22:25.980 It's one of those things,

00:22:26.700 enough of us perhaps at times

00:22:28.000 had rolled a stop sign

00:22:29.280 or ran through a yellow

00:22:30.860 too quickly where, you know,

00:22:32.280 you're taking that chance

00:22:33.120 that that one in a million

00:22:34.100 tragic accident can happen

00:22:36.900 and it's just a...

00:22:38.080 Well, you know,

00:22:38.600 you're driving through,

00:22:39.740 you know, he was on a gravel road

00:22:40.840 in the middle of nowhere.

00:22:42.420 I, any one of us

00:22:44.040 who have driven around

00:22:44.980 below Albert on a regular basis,

00:22:47.800 you're on a gravel road,

00:22:49.460 I mean, you generally do

00:22:50.580 a rolling stop.

00:22:51.960 I mean, if you're a traffic cop

00:22:53.420 listening, I, for legal purposes,

00:22:56.560 I'm lying.

00:22:56.860 You should do it.

00:22:57.620 But, um, I'm lying

00:22:58.900 if you're a cop listening.

00:23:00.200 But if, uh, I mean,

00:23:01.660 you're in the middle of nowhere,

00:23:03.760 you generally can...

00:23:04.780 You can do a safe rolling stop,

00:23:06.460 but, you know,

00:23:07.380 sometimes you don't.

00:23:08.320 I don't know

00:23:08.580 at the time of day

00:23:09.080 this happened.

00:23:10.200 Uh, this is...

00:23:12.580 It's something that happens.

00:23:14.340 You know, my aunt nearly died

00:23:16.000 driving from Saskatchewan

00:23:17.960 to Calgary,

00:23:19.460 I think, kind of south of Drumheller

00:23:22.900 towards the Hazard Standard area.

00:23:25.100 It was kind of a similar situation.

00:23:27.140 This happens,

00:23:27.740 especially when you're

00:23:28.400 on the prairies.

00:23:29.980 I mean, you...

00:23:30.980 You get, uh...

00:23:33.680 You know, almost, uh...

00:23:36.940 I don't know what the term is.

00:23:37.760 You get, uh...

00:23:39.440 A kind of psychosis of the road.

00:23:40.900 Like, you just kind of...

00:23:41.560 Everything blends together.

00:23:42.620 You've been driving

00:23:42.980 in a straight line for a day.

00:23:46.340 And a lot of accidents happen

00:23:47.860 in places where you can see

00:23:49.960 for, you know,

00:23:51.060 15 kilometers in every direction.

00:23:52.840 And people still hit

00:23:53.620 each other like this.

00:23:54.400 It does happen.

00:23:55.680 Uh, his apology seemed genuine.

00:23:59.520 It's a long time ago.

00:24:01.460 Um...

00:24:02.060 I mean, some people

00:24:02.580 might hold it against him.

00:24:03.280 I do certainly don't blame

00:24:04.200 the son for holding it

00:24:05.160 against, uh, against Moe.

00:24:06.440 But...

00:24:07.280 I...

00:24:07.580 I think most reasonable people

00:24:09.580 would accept it

00:24:10.320 as a genuine apology.

00:24:11.280 Uh, the tragic thing, Derek,

00:24:12.540 is accidents do happen.

00:24:14.360 Yeah.

00:24:15.240 Just, I guess,

00:24:15.940 just take it as a lesson,

00:24:17.060 too, to remind all of ourselves.

00:24:18.140 These things can happen,

00:24:19.080 and so take care

00:24:19.820 on those roads.

00:24:20.580 Slow down at those...

00:24:21.180 That being said,

00:24:21.960 if one of his candidates

00:24:22.840 had been found with this,

00:24:23.940 he...

00:24:24.400 There's a good chance

00:24:24.960 he would dump them.

00:24:25.680 Wow.

00:24:26.400 But, I mean,

00:24:27.500 whoever said politics was fair.

00:24:28.760 Yeah.

00:24:29.680 So, uh,

00:24:31.580 let's move on

00:24:32.300 to controversy

00:24:32.900 on the other side

00:24:33.600 of the aisle.

00:24:34.420 Um,

00:24:35.380 an NDP candidate,

00:24:37.000 uh,

00:24:38.000 in Saskatchewan,

00:24:39.860 uh,

00:24:41.760 uh,

00:24:42.020 I'm not sure,

00:24:42.800 uh, Dave,

00:24:43.100 maybe you'll fill us in,

00:24:43.780 but an NDP candidate

00:24:44.680 said, uh,

00:24:46.240 that the oil sands

00:24:47.080 are effin' awful.

00:24:48.860 Uh,

00:24:49.600 I'm not sure,

00:24:50.300 let me give us some context

00:24:51.300 of when she said this.

00:24:52.160 Certainly the,

00:24:52.700 the remarks just came out

00:24:53.780 now to light,

00:24:54.900 but maybe give us

00:24:55.400 a little background

00:24:56.000 of what happened.

00:24:56.840 Sure.

00:24:57.340 The media found

00:24:58.720 two-year-old Facebook post

00:25:00.540 by a candidate

00:25:01.620 named Mira Conway,

00:25:03.620 uh,

00:25:03.900 NDP candidate,

00:25:04.860 and the Facebook post

00:25:05.880 basically said,

00:25:06.980 well,

00:25:07.180 did say,

00:25:08.200 the oil sands

00:25:08.980 are an effin' disaster,

00:25:10.840 they're effin' awful, 0.92

00:25:12.020 and she also posted

00:25:13.860 her opposition 0.70

00:25:14.780 to the,

00:25:15.400 uh,

00:25:15.960 Trans Mountain

00:25:16.520 pipeline expansion.

00:25:19.280 You know,

00:25:20.120 obviously,

00:25:20.760 the,

00:25:21.220 the,

00:25:22.560 uh,

00:25:22.740 the party leader,

00:25:23.460 Ryan Millay,

00:25:24.800 fired back that it was,

00:25:26.740 or,

00:25:27.440 fired back that the

00:25:29.260 NDP as a whole

00:25:30.640 supports pipelines,

00:25:32.420 and that,

00:25:33.300 uh,

00:25:33.500 Conway supports

00:25:34.660 the party policy.

00:25:36.400 Uh,

00:25:36.760 Conway said it was

00:25:37.680 just the Saskatchewan

00:25:38.680 party trying to,

00:25:39.500 uh,

00:25:39.960 stir up some dirt.

00:25:41.680 Uh,

00:25:42.800 but,

00:25:43.240 yeah,

00:25:43.620 it's,

00:25:44.120 you know,

00:25:44.480 uh,

00:25:44.800 people in Alberta

00:25:45.580 aren't happy with it

00:25:46.440 again,

00:25:47.200 uh,

00:25:47.460 you know,

00:25:47.980 because they're

00:25:48.740 dissing,

00:25:50.020 dissing what drives

00:25:50.740 our economy.

00:25:52.860 Yeah,

00:25:53.360 well,

00:25:53.560 and that drives a big

00:25:54.360 part of the Saskatchewan

00:25:55.120 economy,

00:25:55.660 too.

00:25:55.880 I mean,

00:25:56.160 in northwest Saskatchewan

00:25:57.540 is,

00:25:57.720 is oil sands,

00:25:58.420 heavy oil country.

00:25:59.760 Uh,

00:26:00.080 it's a resource-based

00:26:01.020 province as well,

00:26:02.040 and,

00:26:02.140 and,

00:26:02.440 again,

00:26:02.780 I just think,

00:26:03.540 uh,

00:26:04.520 it's just an NDP

00:26:05.560 candidate who slipped

00:26:06.460 through with what most

00:26:07.240 of them are,

00:26:07.660 is their true colors.

00:26:08.860 They are anti-energy,

00:26:10.020 they,

00:26:10.240 they are anti-conventional

00:26:11.900 development.

00:26:12.820 They've got that ideology,

00:26:14.480 um,

00:26:15.340 it's not going to help

00:26:16.340 her party's fortunes

00:26:17.380 in that province,

00:26:18.120 because Saskatchewan

00:26:19.500 needs that energy

00:26:20.380 as much as Alberta does,

00:26:21.680 but,

00:26:22.000 uh,

00:26:22.640 welcome to social media

00:26:23.540 and modern campaigning,

00:26:24.480 you've got to wear

00:26:25.060 your words,

00:26:25.660 and those were pretty blunt.

00:26:26.800 I,

00:26:26.900 you know,

00:26:27.100 it wasn't something

00:26:27.560 that was taken out of context.

00:26:28.720 She's pretty clear.

00:26:30.080 Well,

00:26:30.620 go ahead.

00:26:31.040 Melee also said,

00:26:32.740 uh,

00:26:33.040 it might be time to start

00:26:34.120 having a discussion

00:26:34.940 about how far back

00:26:36.300 people have to go

00:26:38.420 and,

00:26:38.700 and candidate social media

00:26:40.240 posts.

00:26:41.260 Uh,

00:26:41.400 you know,

00:26:41.600 we've all said stuff 1.00

00:26:42.560 that's been stupid. 0.99

00:26:43.800 Uh, 1.00

00:26:44.380 speak for yourself.

00:26:45.340 You know,

00:26:47.940 I mean,

00:26:48.240 are we going to get

00:26:49.360 to the point now

00:26:50.020 where people,

00:26:51.540 anybody that's written 0.99

00:26:52.360 something stupid 1.00

00:26:52.980 on social media 1.00

00:26:53.780 is going to be ruled out

00:26:55.100 as a political candidate?

00:26:57.160 Well,

00:26:57.640 so,

00:26:57.980 so Melee says,

00:26:59.120 is that my saying

00:26:59.700 that way?

00:27:00.140 Melee?

00:27:00.840 Yeah,

00:27:01.260 Melee.

00:27:01.660 Melee.

00:27:02.440 You know,

00:27:02.700 he says,

00:27:03.160 you know,

00:27:03.480 it's two years ago,

00:27:04.540 where are we going

00:27:04.960 to draw the line?

00:27:06.360 Well,

00:27:07.080 it tends to be

00:27:08.020 we draw the line

00:27:08.760 very far

00:27:09.600 when it's our side,

00:27:10.540 and we draw,

00:27:12.300 sorry,

00:27:12.700 very close

00:27:13.300 when it's our side.

00:27:14.100 Like,

00:27:14.240 if you haven't said it

00:27:14.720 in the last six months,

00:27:15.320 it doesn't matter.

00:27:15.940 But when it's your opponent,

00:27:16.800 if they said it

00:27:17.900 in preschool, 0.92

00:27:19.040 goddammit, 0.99

00:27:19.840 they are terrible 1.00

00:27:20.980 and they should, 0.99

00:27:21.740 they are unfit for office.

00:27:23.600 Uh,

00:27:23.920 so the problem is

00:27:24.580 we're inconsistent

00:27:25.280 about this.

00:27:25.900 People are willing

00:27:27.280 to attack

00:27:28.020 when it's not your team

00:27:29.340 and when it's your team,

00:27:30.220 well,

00:27:30.880 you know,

00:27:31.180 if it was more

00:27:32.040 than six months ago,

00:27:32.800 it's old history.

00:27:35.020 you know,

00:27:36.120 like the oil sands

00:27:37.180 and the oil industry,

00:27:38.240 it's big in Saskatchewan,

00:27:39.260 but it doesn't

00:27:40.020 bloom as large

00:27:41.240 as in Alberta.

00:27:42.060 In Alberta,

00:27:42.660 I mean,

00:27:43.000 it is everything.

00:27:44.340 If it's in the crapper,

00:27:46.060 the whole province

00:27:46.740 is in the crapper,

00:27:47.780 Saskatchewan is less

00:27:48.760 reliant on this portion

00:27:49.880 of their economy.

00:27:51.200 So I think,

00:27:51.660 and I,

00:27:52.500 I mean,

00:27:52.900 among people in Saskatchewan,

00:27:55.340 I guess,

00:27:55.640 a big part of their identity

00:27:56.540 for many of them,

00:27:57.500 but for many of them,

00:27:58.160 it's less so a part

00:27:59.980 of like the mythology

00:28:00.860 of Saskatchewan

00:28:01.740 than it is in Alberta

00:28:02.480 where we've been

00:28:04.440 in the oil business

00:28:04.940 a lot longer,

00:28:06.100 largely because we had

00:28:06.760 policies that actually

00:28:07.460 encouraged it longer

00:28:08.280 than Saskatchewan,

00:28:09.160 whereas Saskatchewan

00:28:09.860 when we started

00:28:10.260 in the last few decades

00:28:11.260 with policies that

00:28:12.840 allow it to be exploited.

00:28:15.140 I mean,

00:28:15.440 if she was right

00:28:16.620 that the oil sands

00:28:17.500 were effing awful

00:28:18.360 or effing,

00:28:19.280 whatever it is she said,

00:28:21.360 then there wouldn't be

00:28:22.220 anything actually wrong

00:28:23.020 with it.

00:28:23.740 The thing is,

00:28:24.220 it's just not true.

00:28:25.780 You know,

00:28:26.080 it's her opinion,

00:28:26.800 but like the Alberta NDP,

00:28:29.820 like this stuff is just

00:28:30.900 below the surface.

00:28:32.400 They try to keep a lid on it.

00:28:34.560 And there's a real

00:28:35.220 double standard here.

00:28:36.340 So she says this,

00:28:37.620 and yes,

00:28:38.000 it's controversial.

00:28:39.500 It gets a little bit

00:28:41.180 of hot water in the media.

00:28:43.200 But when the NDP

00:28:44.160 calls the industry

00:28:46.080 of her home province

00:28:47.620 awful,

00:28:49.080 it's seen as just

00:28:51.420 a controversy.

00:28:52.000 But if someone on the right

00:28:53.200 says something

00:28:54.160 just mildly,

00:28:56.700 ever so mildly,

00:28:57.720 even construed

00:28:58.920 as homophobic

00:29:00.040 or racist,

00:29:01.200 most of the time

00:29:02.000 of which these comments

00:29:02.920 aren't,

00:29:03.280 you know,

00:29:03.460 sometimes they are,

00:29:04.080 but most of the time

00:29:04.760 they're not really,

00:29:05.740 but it can be construed as,

00:29:07.700 well,

00:29:07.980 then like this person 0.63

00:29:09.180 is a Nazi. 0.97

00:29:10.480 They need to be put away 1.00

00:29:11.640 in a deep dark cellar 0.84

00:29:12.800 and never seen up again.

00:29:14.320 So there is a real

00:29:14.900 double standard

00:29:15.480 in how we handle this stuff.

00:29:17.640 People mess up.

00:29:19.200 No,

00:29:19.420 I don't think she messed up

00:29:20.560 in this case.

00:29:20.920 I think this is something

00:29:21.560 she intended to say.

00:29:22.620 I don't think it can be

00:29:23.520 misconstrued any other way.

00:29:24.640 It's pretty clear.

00:29:26.480 But there is a bit

00:29:27.280 of a double standard

00:29:27.880 about how this stuff

00:29:28.820 is reacted to.

00:29:31.420 Geez,

00:29:31.780 even on bigotry

00:29:33.020 and whatnot,

00:29:33.700 when,

00:29:33.920 you know,

00:29:35.240 when New Democrats

00:29:36.180 or Greens

00:29:38.500 talk about

00:29:39.880 boycotting Israel

00:29:40.840 with pretty overtly

00:29:42.040 anti-Semitic language,

00:29:44.440 they get a pass

00:29:45.440 as not racist

00:29:46.320 or not anti-Semitic

00:29:47.480 because they're on the left.

00:29:49.060 But, you know,

00:29:49.480 if you get any kook

00:29:50.560 on the right

00:29:51.100 with some of the more

00:29:52.140 right-leaning tropes

00:29:53.220 of anti-Semitism,

00:29:55.000 well,

00:29:55.300 then that's unforgivable.

00:29:56.440 So there is really

00:29:57.400 a double standard

00:29:57.960 in how we deal

00:29:58.520 with this stuff here.

00:29:59.680 And I'm not saying

00:30:00.480 there's any way

00:30:00.920 to change it.

00:30:01.360 It's just what it is.

00:30:04.760 Well,

00:30:05.120 let's move on

00:30:05.540 to other crazy,

00:30:06.200 even crazier 0.99

00:30:07.200 New Democrats. 0.96

00:30:08.060 Let's move on 0.85

00:30:08.560 to an even crazier

00:30:09.720 version of the NDP

00:30:11.160 in Saskatchewan.

00:30:13.740 Sorry,

00:30:14.120 sorry,

00:30:14.600 in British Columbia.

00:30:15.320 Yeah.

00:30:16.420 Dave,

00:30:16.980 why don't you

00:30:17.320 give us the lowdown

00:30:18.700 on the latest polls

00:30:21.060 in B.C.

00:30:21.680 and what the landscape's

00:30:23.040 looking like

00:30:23.600 as we get close

00:30:24.460 to election day.

00:30:25.940 Derek,

00:30:26.380 I just got back

00:30:27.480 from five weeks

00:30:28.140 in British Columbia

00:30:29.020 and I can tell you

00:30:29.780 without a doubt,

00:30:30.980 nobody cares.

00:30:32.860 Nobody cares.

00:30:34.540 When I was driving

00:30:35.500 back to Calgary

00:30:36.660 on Saturday,

00:30:37.660 I did not see

00:30:38.220 one single election sign.

00:30:40.300 Nobody's talking

00:30:40.900 about it.

00:30:41.340 The whole way.

00:30:42.000 Not one single election sign.

00:30:44.220 Nobody's talking

00:30:44.920 about it.

00:30:45.740 Angus Reid poll

00:30:46.660 out today

00:30:47.160 even said

00:30:49.200 the majority

00:30:51.600 of British Columbia

00:30:53.760 didn't want

00:30:54.960 the election

00:30:55.340 and they're not

00:30:55.880 following the election.

00:30:57.160 At the moment,

00:30:57.880 the B.C. NDP,

00:30:59.560 the governing party,

00:31:00.400 is holding

00:31:00.700 an 18-point lead

00:31:02.020 over the Liberals.

00:31:03.420 The NDP

00:31:03.940 is at 49%.

00:31:05.860 The Liberals

00:31:06.420 at 31%.

00:31:07.740 And one thing

00:31:09.220 that is going

00:31:09.840 big in B.C.

00:31:11.180 is mail-in ballots.

00:31:13.320 Numbers released

00:31:14.100 today said

00:31:14.560 they've got

00:31:14.900 over half a million

00:31:15.720 applications

00:31:16.400 for mail-in ballots.

00:31:18.180 Obviously,

00:31:18.600 because nobody

00:31:18.980 wants to go

00:31:19.500 stand in line

00:31:20.280 in these COVID times.

00:31:22.180 So,

00:31:22.500 to me,

00:31:23.880 that's going

00:31:24.320 to be the most

00:31:24.800 interesting thing

00:31:25.520 about the election

00:31:26.220 is how they handle

00:31:27.080 all these mail-in ballots

00:31:28.540 because they can't

00:31:29.500 even start counting them

00:31:30.440 until all the other

00:31:31.140 ballots are done.

00:31:34.000 Well,

00:31:34.580 I think

00:31:35.180 one reason

00:31:35.880 there's no

00:31:37.100 or so few

00:31:37.700 lawn signs

00:31:38.300 is no one's 0.68

00:31:39.280 got them

00:31:39.540 because it's

00:31:39.800 a snap election.

00:31:40.920 John Horgan

00:31:41.580 broke the election

00:31:42.380 law to call

00:31:42.960 this thing

00:31:43.380 a year early

00:31:44.080 and broke

00:31:45.040 his agreement

00:31:46.520 with the Green

00:31:47.680 Party,

00:31:48.060 which had backed

00:31:48.540 him in a

00:31:49.040 more or less

00:31:49.840 coalition government.

00:31:52.260 So,

00:31:52.940 except for incumbents,

00:31:53.880 no one's actually

00:31:54.340 got any signs.

00:31:55.820 And people haven't

00:31:57.220 got the campaign

00:31:57.760 teams together.

00:31:58.780 And this kind of

00:31:59.240 thing really tends

00:32:00.000 to advantage

00:32:00.560 incumbents.

00:32:01.540 Snap elections

00:32:02.160 really advantage

00:32:03.180 incumbent governments

00:32:04.300 and uncovering

00:32:05.120 MLAs.

00:32:06.460 So,

00:32:07.040 I mean,

00:32:08.520 I think

00:32:08.900 that's one reason

00:32:10.020 that it's going

00:32:11.020 to be,

00:32:12.220 it's so boring.

00:32:13.340 No one's even

00:32:13.680 got their platforms

00:32:14.440 ready.

00:32:14.780 They've had to

00:32:15.360 scramble to get

00:32:15.820 their platforms

00:32:16.320 in.

00:32:16.560 We'll talk about

00:32:17.220 that in a bit.

00:32:19.620 Corey,

00:32:20.120 do you think

00:32:20.440 there's any

00:32:22.160 chance

00:32:22.700 that there could

00:32:23.120 be anything

00:32:23.520 other than

00:32:23.940 a big NDP

00:32:24.760 government

00:32:25.120 in BC right now?

00:32:26.140 Only if

00:32:26.820 a massive

00:32:27.980 scandal

00:32:28.840 somehow broke.

00:32:30.680 I mean,

00:32:31.220 it would have

00:32:31.600 to be huge.

00:32:32.140 It would have

00:32:32.320 to devastate

00:32:32.880 the whole party.

00:32:33.500 We're not

00:32:33.660 talking about

00:32:34.140 an individual

00:32:34.980 NDP candidate

00:32:35.880 or something

00:32:36.400 getting in trouble

00:32:37.040 or even the

00:32:37.540 leader.

00:32:38.100 It would have

00:32:38.460 to be something

00:32:38.860 that tears

00:32:39.480 that party

00:32:40.020 down.

00:32:40.580 I mean,

00:32:41.100 polls,

00:32:41.560 well,

00:32:41.720 we've seen

00:32:42.020 they could

00:32:42.300 shift.

00:32:43.240 In Alberta,

00:32:43.940 you know,

00:32:44.200 I mean,

00:32:44.420 there was a

00:32:44.700 couple of times

00:32:45.100 we thought

00:32:45.400 there was

00:32:45.660 going to be

00:32:45.940 a Wildrose

00:32:46.360 government

00:32:46.680 and that

00:32:47.020 never happened.

00:32:48.940 But in this

00:32:49.640 case,

00:32:50.000 as you said,

00:32:50.580 and there's

00:32:50.860 just not a lot

00:32:51.340 of activity

00:32:51.840 that's shifting

00:32:52.500 it.

00:32:52.760 Those up-and-coming

00:32:53.900 parties,

00:32:54.560 the BC Liberal

00:32:55.220 Party,

00:32:56.400 they can't

00:32:57.080 campaign traditionally.

00:32:58.300 That's a real

00:32:58.840 handicap too.

00:32:59.560 Not just the

00:32:59.960 snap election

00:33:00.480 thing,

00:33:00.760 but the COVID.

00:33:01.500 You can't

00:33:01.880 hold a big

00:33:02.360 rally and get

00:33:03.660 a bunch of

00:33:04.040 excited volunteers

00:33:05.480 together and

00:33:06.580 have some beer

00:33:07.440 and cheer and

00:33:08.420 have some speeches

00:33:09.140 and get everybody

00:33:09.780 galvanized,

00:33:10.460 get those donors.

00:33:11.800 Door knocking,

00:33:12.540 not everybody's

00:33:13.100 welcoming somebody

00:33:13.760 walking up to

00:33:14.440 their door,

00:33:14.900 going door to

00:33:15.420 door to door

00:33:15.880 to door.

00:33:16.460 I'm sure they're

00:33:17.120 doing it to a

00:33:17.600 degree how they

00:33:18.440 can,

00:33:18.880 but it's,

00:33:19.520 again,

00:33:20.380 very handicapped.

00:33:21.420 So as you

00:33:21.760 said,

00:33:22.000 this all really

00:33:23.560 serves the 0.94

00:33:24.840 incumbent party.

00:33:25.780 I mean,

00:33:25.980 they've got the

00:33:26.760 recognition,

00:33:27.440 they've got the

00:33:27.820 resources,

00:33:28.840 I,

00:33:30.640 it's going to,

00:33:31.360 by all appearances,

00:33:32.120 it looks like it's

00:33:32.660 going to be a

00:33:33.040 blowout. 0.91

00:33:33.520 And the spoiler in

00:33:35.020 the last one were

00:33:35.720 the Green Party,

00:33:36.540 but they just don't

00:33:37.100 seem to have that

00:33:37.680 traction.

00:33:38.520 Weaver's gone.

00:33:40.500 Yeah,

00:33:40.960 we're probably going

00:33:41.720 to see a big

00:33:42.140 majority.

00:33:44.060 Well,

00:33:44.620 there has been at

00:33:46.380 least one interesting

00:33:47.720 policy out of BC,

00:33:49.360 the BC Liberals

00:33:50.580 promising to do

00:33:52.660 with the ICBC

00:33:53.820 monopoly.

00:33:54.420 I think that's,

00:33:55.360 what is it sent

00:33:55.760 for the insurance

00:33:56.280 company in British

00:33:57.040 Columbia,

00:33:57.460 something like

00:33:58.660 that.

00:34:00.000 I was astounded

00:34:01.440 to learn that

00:34:02.600 it is a legal

00:34:03.600 on pain of the

00:34:05.260 law to buy

00:34:06.200 private auto

00:34:07.000 insurance or

00:34:07.920 basic auto

00:34:08.480 insurance in BC.

00:34:10.640 I thought we

00:34:11.420 were crazy in

00:34:12.000 Alberta.

00:34:12.700 I thought that,

00:34:13.460 I don't even

00:34:14.140 know what they're,

00:34:14.640 I don't know where

00:34:15.420 they have this

00:34:15.800 elsewhere.

00:34:16.260 I know in

00:34:16.600 Manitoba they do

00:34:17.200 have government

00:34:17.660 auto insurance,

00:34:18.500 but I wasn't

00:34:19.700 aware that it

00:34:20.320 was mandatory.

00:34:21.600 That,

00:34:22.300 you know,

00:34:22.740 if you don't

00:34:23.140 comply with most

00:34:23.960 laws,

00:34:24.380 you get a fine,

00:34:24.920 and if you

00:34:25.200 don't pay your

00:34:25.560 fines,

00:34:25.860 you go to

00:34:26.200 jail.

00:34:26.760 So theoretically,

00:34:27.600 if you buy

00:34:28.160 private auto

00:34:28.700 insurance in BC

00:34:29.480 and you refuse to

00:34:31.700 comply,

00:34:32.060 you'll get a fine.

00:34:32.640 You refuse to

00:34:33.000 comply with the

00:34:33.740 fine,

00:34:34.100 you go to

00:34:34.420 jail.

00:34:34.840 You could

00:34:35.180 theoretically go

00:34:35.720 to jail for

00:34:36.220 buying private

00:34:36.780 auto insurance in

00:34:37.520 BC. 1.00

00:34:38.200 Holy shit, 1.00

00:34:38.900 that is a crazy 1.00

00:34:39.740 thing.

00:34:40.460 Dave,

00:34:41.300 you spent a lot

00:34:42.400 of time in BC,

00:34:42.980 you got parents

00:34:43.480 there,

00:34:43.840 you were just out

00:34:44.800 in Lotus Land.

00:34:45.980 Why don't you

00:34:46.280 tell us what the 0.98

00:34:47.540 hell, 0.89

00:34:48.800 maybe give us a

00:34:49.340 background on ICBC,

00:34:50.900 some of the

00:34:51.240 controversies that have

00:34:51.980 been going on there,

00:34:52.700 and what the BC

00:34:54.380 Liberal policy proposal

00:34:55.800 has been.

00:34:56.540 It's known as

00:34:57.600 Icky Bicky out in

00:34:58.980 BC and it is

00:35:01.200 universally hated.

00:35:03.880 Funny thing is,

00:35:04.820 it's got a

00:35:05.200 monopoly but it

00:35:06.020 loses a billion

00:35:06.940 dollars a year.

00:35:08.480 Only government

00:35:09.020 can do that with

00:35:09.660 a monopoly.

00:35:10.260 I just don't

00:35:11.480 understand it.

00:35:12.460 So last week,

00:35:14.120 Andrew Wilkinson,

00:35:15.360 sorry this week I

00:35:16.140 guess,

00:35:16.380 I'm losing track of

00:35:17.220 all time,

00:35:18.020 Liberal leader

00:35:18.580 Andrew Wilkinson

00:35:19.380 proposed that if a

00:35:20.660 Liberal government

00:35:21.080 is elected,

00:35:21.740 he would open

00:35:22.680 up the market

00:35:23.320 and let private

00:35:24.340 companies come in

00:35:25.280 which is a huge

00:35:26.800 issue in BC.

00:35:29.000 The amount of

00:35:30.020 money that people

00:35:31.600 pay for car

00:35:33.160 insurance in BC

00:35:35.000 is much,

00:35:35.640 much lower than

00:35:36.180 Alberta.

00:35:37.200 There's even

00:35:37.760 stories of people

00:35:38.940 coming from BC

00:35:41.100 into Alberta

00:35:42.220 to insure their

00:35:43.260 vehicles just

00:35:44.180 because it's

00:35:44.900 so much cheaper.

00:35:46.420 And he promised

00:35:47.340 to bring in

00:35:48.020 cheaper rates

00:35:48.660 for younger

00:35:49.120 drivers which is

00:35:50.320 another huge issue

00:35:51.980 out there.

00:35:52.840 If you're an 0.51

00:35:53.480 18, 19 year

00:35:54.360 old kid,

00:35:55.360 you could be

00:35:55.840 ending up

00:35:56.300 paying $8,000,

00:35:57.360 $9,000 a year

00:35:58.480 for insurance.

00:35:59.460 So it is a real

00:36:00.800 detriment to

00:36:01.780 getting young

00:36:03.500 drivers out there.

00:36:04.620 So it is a

00:36:05.460 hot button issue.

00:36:06.580 Whether it will

00:36:07.240 help them in the 0.81

00:36:07.840 polls remains to

00:36:08.680 be seen.

00:36:10.220 Corey,

00:36:10.880 you have even

00:36:12.000 a bit of experience

00:36:12.900 with the ICBC

00:36:14.260 indirectly.

00:36:16.680 Why don't you

00:36:17.220 tell us about that?

00:36:17.740 Yeah, well,

00:36:18.540 my daughter is

00:36:19.340 out there going

00:36:19.740 to university

00:36:20.240 and she's been

00:36:21.900 out there for

00:36:22.360 some time.

00:36:23.680 She's insured

00:36:24.380 but she has

00:36:25.780 to keep her

00:36:26.280 Alberta residency.

00:36:27.660 She loves BC.

00:36:28.480 She might move

00:36:29.020 there.

00:36:29.420 So she insures

00:36:30.280 in Alberta?

00:36:30.940 Yeah, she

00:36:31.380 insures in Alberta

00:36:32.140 because it would

00:36:33.020 double or triple,

00:36:34.640 I believe,

00:36:35.200 if she tried

00:36:36.120 to insure in BC

00:36:37.100 which was stressful

00:36:38.260 for her.

00:36:39.000 Some of the

00:36:39.580 shaming of Alberta

00:36:40.240 plates out in

00:36:41.120 Vancouver and

00:36:42.120 Vancouver Island

00:36:42.680 where she's at

00:36:43.540 made her very

00:36:45.140 self-conscious for a

00:36:46.440 while driving

00:36:46.860 because cars

00:36:47.360 are getting

00:36:47.680 keyed in a

00:36:48.860 number of

00:36:49.240 things.

00:36:50.160 But she has

00:36:51.680 a household here

00:36:53.700 and family in

00:36:54.500 history so she

00:36:55.120 can at least

00:36:55.820 escape the

00:36:57.060 reach and

00:36:57.540 clutches of

00:36:58.200 the ICBC

00:36:59.040 system but it

00:37:01.720 doesn't allow

00:37:02.260 her to fully

00:37:02.740 reside within

00:37:03.520 British Columbia

00:37:04.100 either.

00:37:04.860 And I'm

00:37:05.320 certain there's

00:37:05.880 a number of

00:37:06.220 other stories

00:37:06.640 like that.

00:37:07.060 So this is

00:37:07.880 actually a

00:37:08.340 pretty reasonable

00:37:08.880 plot.

00:37:10.140 I don't know

00:37:10.840 why they have

00:37:11.300 government

00:37:11.660 insurance to

00:37:12.600 begin with.

00:37:12.960 They should

00:37:13.260 just sell 1.00

00:37:13.840 the damn 1.00

00:37:14.260 thing. 1.00

00:37:15.360 But I

00:37:15.740 mean,

00:37:15.960 give credit

00:37:17.960 where it's

00:37:18.220 due for a

00:37:19.000 relative change

00:37:19.740 from where

00:37:20.080 things are

00:37:20.640 now.

00:37:21.180 A monopoly,

00:37:22.340 no monopoly

00:37:23.000 is better

00:37:23.440 than a

00:37:23.720 monopoly.

00:37:24.800 No

00:37:25.080 government

00:37:25.460 ownership

00:37:26.380 would be

00:37:26.880 better than

00:37:27.480 just breaking

00:37:28.440 the monopoly.

00:37:28.940 But it's

00:37:29.380 a big step

00:37:29.820 in the right

00:37:30.180 direction.

00:37:31.360 And maybe

00:37:31.660 we should

00:37:34.300 just spend a

00:37:35.260 minute talking

00:37:35.760 about the

00:37:36.240 BC Liberals

00:37:36.820 because they're 0.88

00:37:37.080 such a weird

00:37:37.960 party in

00:37:38.600 Canada.

00:37:40.980 They've been

00:37:41.540 described as a

00:37:42.420 liberal conservative

00:37:43.300 coalition.

00:37:44.100 I don't

00:37:44.640 think that's

00:37:45.060 necessary because

00:37:46.060 federal conservatives

00:37:47.220 would support them

00:37:48.000 provincially.

00:37:49.960 I'm not sure

00:37:50.880 that's fair

00:37:52.000 necessarily.

00:37:53.220 BC has always 1.00

00:37:54.180 been the

00:37:55.080 NDP on one

00:37:55.980 side and

00:37:56.920 then the

00:37:57.360 anybody but

00:37:58.800 coalition.

00:38:00.820 And that's

00:38:01.160 been called the

00:38:01.720 Social Credit

00:38:02.180 Party before.

00:38:03.160 It was once

00:38:03.540 the conservatives.

00:38:04.980 It was then

00:38:05.420 with Bennett.

00:38:06.520 And then you

00:38:06.900 had the

00:38:07.360 Social Credit.

00:38:08.680 And then it

00:38:09.500 became the

00:38:10.060 Liberal Party.

00:38:10.700 And under

00:38:10.920 Gordon Campbell,

00:38:11.440 he was actually

00:38:11.980 one of the

00:38:12.280 most conservative

00:38:12.760 premiers in

00:38:13.200 the country

00:38:13.560 early on.

00:38:14.380 He became

00:38:14.760 a, I would

00:38:16.120 say, a

00:38:16.440 moderate business

00:38:17.280 liberal by

00:38:17.720 the end of

00:38:18.380 his premiership.

00:38:20.960 Carbon taxes,

00:38:22.000 HST, stuff

00:38:22.640 like that.

00:38:23.320 But it's a

00:38:25.060 funny, funny

00:38:25.940 party.

00:38:26.540 Christy Clark

00:38:27.060 was sometimes

00:38:27.640 welcomed into

00:38:28.220 conservative circles.

00:38:29.220 I never thought

00:38:29.680 she was conservative.

00:38:31.100 She was just

00:38:31.400 not a hardline

00:38:32.000 socialist.

00:38:33.220 Federal liberals

00:38:33.800 in BC actually

00:38:35.060 kind of break

00:38:35.560 down between

00:38:36.020 both.

00:38:36.440 A lot of

00:38:36.760 federal liberals

00:38:37.360 do support

00:38:38.400 the NDP

00:38:38.960 on the provincial

00:38:40.380 level.

00:38:40.720 Like in Alberta,

00:38:41.420 the overwhelming

00:38:42.700 majority of

00:38:44.100 federal liberals

00:38:44.600 in Alberta

00:38:45.000 support the

00:38:46.080 NDP on a

00:38:46.740 provincial level

00:38:47.400 because they

00:38:47.800 just know

00:38:48.080 that that's

00:38:48.820 the left-wing

00:38:49.360 option.

00:38:51.900 And, you

00:38:52.840 know, there

00:38:53.060 seems to be

00:38:53.720 such an

00:38:54.120 opening for

00:38:54.700 an actual

00:38:55.600 party of the

00:38:56.340 right in

00:38:56.840 BC right

00:38:57.520 now.

00:38:59.600 The BC

00:39:01.800 liberal leader

00:39:02.280 is a federal

00:39:03.040 liberal.

00:39:03.500 He comes

00:39:03.800 from the

00:39:04.260 federal liberals.

00:39:05.380 You know,

00:39:05.520 he's not a

00:39:06.100 Trudeau, you

00:39:07.900 know, socialist

00:39:08.580 liberal, but

00:39:09.120 he's still a

00:39:09.640 pretty liberal

00:39:10.340 liberal, but

00:39:12.000 I guess just

00:39:12.480 next to the

00:39:13.320 BC NDP, which

00:39:14.320 is a pretty

00:39:14.720 radical party,

00:39:15.980 the BC

00:39:16.420 liberals are

00:39:16.940 able to

00:39:17.240 appear as

00:39:17.700 a reasonable

00:39:18.260 and moderate,

00:39:19.660 even semi-conservative

00:39:21.400 party.

00:39:22.140 They're putting

00:39:22.620 forward platform

00:39:23.800 proposals that

00:39:25.340 just make sense.

00:39:26.400 Like the

00:39:26.920 ICBC one,

00:39:28.300 you can see

00:39:29.220 it will save

00:39:29.960 you X amount

00:39:30.600 of dollars.

00:39:31.700 The plan to

00:39:33.640 eliminate the

00:39:34.200 GST for a

00:39:35.300 year, you can

00:39:36.760 see it will

00:39:37.180 save each

00:39:37.580 family, X

00:39:38.140 number of

00:39:39.120 hundreds of

00:39:40.040 dollars.

00:39:40.620 So they're

00:39:40.940 not just

00:39:41.260 proposing pie

00:39:42.020 in the sky

00:39:42.440 stuff.

00:39:43.280 They're proposing

00:39:44.660 what seem to

00:39:45.640 be common

00:39:46.040 sense ideas.

00:39:47.760 Well, it's

00:39:48.040 strategically

00:39:48.460 smart because

00:39:49.400 one solid

00:39:51.660 part of the

00:39:52.120 NDP base,

00:39:52.780 of course,

00:39:53.040 is youth vote.

00:39:53.640 They get a

00:39:54.040 lot of young

00:39:54.760 supporters, but

00:39:55.700 even a young

00:39:56.720 starry-eyed

00:39:57.400 socialist who's

00:39:58.240 just graduated

00:39:58.940 high school, if

00:39:59.560 they're getting

00:39:59.820 hit with those

00:40:00.240 $6,000, $7,000,

00:40:00.800 $8,000 insurance

00:40:01.920 rates, that's the

00:40:03.160 sort of thing that

00:40:03.640 can make them turn

00:40:04.180 their eyes to a

00:40:05.260 different party.

00:40:05.720 So it's an

00:40:06.100 interesting wedge

00:40:06.720 approach and

00:40:07.460 an issue to

00:40:08.360 grab because it

00:40:10.120 forces the NDP to

00:40:11.980 try and defend the

00:40:12.700 ICBC, which again

00:40:13.960 in BC was such a

00:40:14.860 hated corporation

00:40:15.680 that it puts them

00:40:17.160 in an awkward

00:40:17.640 spot.

00:40:18.520 So it's got a

00:40:19.840 widespread in that

00:40:20.500 election, but

00:40:21.100 strategically the

00:40:22.120 Liberals actually

00:40:22.640 are taking a good

00:40:23.080 approach here.

00:40:24.260 ICBC, too, has

00:40:25.060 been plagued by

00:40:26.660 waste and

00:40:28.040 mismanagement over

00:40:28.760 the last few

00:40:29.280 years.

00:40:29.940 The Canadian

00:40:30.260 Taxpayers

00:40:30.760 Federation, my

00:40:31.460 old home, has

00:40:32.380 been waging a

00:40:33.540 holy war on the

00:40:34.740 ICBC out there,

00:40:35.560 Chris Sims, maybe

00:40:37.260 she's someone we

00:40:38.680 should get on,

00:40:39.280 BC director of the

00:40:40.120 CTF, to talk about

00:40:41.420 this.

00:40:42.520 They have been

00:40:43.700 burning through

00:40:45.360 money, billion

00:40:46.300 dollar annual

00:40:47.080 deficits like

00:40:47.880 they're a

00:40:48.160 government in

00:40:48.640 their own

00:40:48.940 right, wild,

00:40:52.080 wild wasting of

00:40:53.300 money on very

00:40:54.160 controversial,

00:40:54.980 frivolous items.

00:40:57.600 They have really

00:40:58.740 become a whipping

00:40:59.440 boy there. 0.75

00:41:00.880 I don't know, you

00:41:02.380 spent more time

00:41:04.260 there than me.

00:41:04.900 I've lived in BC

00:41:05.640 before, quite some

00:41:07.380 time ago, but I

00:41:08.540 don't know, do

00:41:08.940 British Columbians

00:41:10.040 like the ICBC as

00:41:13.900 an institution, but

00:41:15.300 just kind of hate

00:41:15.760 what it's doing, or

00:41:17.520 do they hate it

00:41:18.220 overall, or is it

00:41:20.240 kind of like Canadian

00:41:21.360 health care, where

00:41:22.100 Canadians are

00:41:23.260 dominantly

00:41:25.060 worshipping the 0.91

00:41:26.400 system, but might

00:41:27.180 get angry about how

00:41:28.040 things happen within

00:41:28.840 it's just been very

00:41:31.420 badly run over the

00:41:32.520 years, and if you're

00:41:34.920 a young driver in

00:41:36.060 British Columbia and

00:41:36.900 you can see a kid in

00:41:38.420 Alberta getting an

00:41:39.860 insurance rate that's

00:41:40.740 $8,000 to $9,000

00:41:41.420 less, that's going to

00:41:42.360 make you angry.

00:41:43.360 So I think there's a

00:41:44.060 general hatred for

00:41:46.040 ICBC in the

00:41:48.340 province, and I

00:41:49.280 think it's just, you

00:41:50.020 know, the longer it's

00:41:50.720 been there, the more

00:41:51.800 the anger grows, and

00:41:54.440 when they see them

00:41:55.040 losing the billions

00:41:55.760 of dollars, you

00:41:57.060 know, something's

00:41:58.580 got to change, you

00:41:59.200 would think.

00:42:00.120 Well, everybody in

00:42:00.720 BC listening, trust

00:42:02.460 me, private insurance 0.99

00:42:03.420 kicks ass. 0.99

00:42:04.140 Everybody in Ontario 1.00

00:42:04.860 listening, trust me,

00:42:06.380 buying liquor from

00:42:07.340 people other than the

00:42:08.120 government also kicks 1.00

00:42:09.560 ass. 0.99

00:42:12.220 And any final thoughts? 0.99

00:42:13.760 No, that pretty much

00:42:14.960 covered a lot today.

00:42:15.640 No, nothing from

00:42:16.820 Corey, I've never

00:42:17.560 heard that before.

00:42:18.160 I'm saving some for

00:42:19.220 later.

00:42:19.500 All right, well, do we

00:42:20.920 know the dates of the

00:42:21.720 Saskatchewan-BC elections

00:42:22.900 on hand here?

00:42:23.560 Yes.

00:42:24.420 BC is October 24th, and

00:42:26.660 Saskatchewan, September

00:42:27.960 26th.

00:42:29.080 Okay, so we're going

00:42:29.700 to be doing live

00:42:30.180 broadcasts on the

00:42:31.400 24th and the 26th for

00:42:32.680 the BC and Saskatchewan

00:42:33.980 elections, respectively,

00:42:35.660 and very soon after

00:42:36.760 that, the United States

00:42:38.040 general election,

00:42:39.780 presidential, and

00:42:40.520 everything else down

00:42:41.580 the ticket.

00:42:42.500 We're going to be doing

00:42:43.100 live broadcasts of

00:42:44.040 those.

00:42:44.820 Our production quality

00:42:45.580 has already markedly

00:42:46.400 improved since our very

00:42:47.220 first broadcast, which

00:42:48.640 was the marathon,

00:42:49.820 never-ending Tory

00:42:50.660 leadership race results.

00:42:53.760 I think we're already

00:42:54.580 doing a lot better.

00:42:55.160 I think we're going

00:42:55.580 to have a better

00:42:56.240 broadcast, but we're

00:42:56.940 doing the best we can.

00:42:59.300 So make sure to tune

00:43:00.740 in.

00:43:00.920 We're going to send

00:43:01.360 out notifications.

00:43:03.340 Even if you're not a

00:43:04.200 member, you can sign up

00:43:05.500 for our newsletter on the

00:43:06.900 Western Standard website.

00:43:08.580 We'll send you a

00:43:09.180 notification when we're

00:43:10.080 going live with our

00:43:10.880 broadcast.

00:43:11.560 It's free to watch.

00:43:13.320 But again, if you're a

00:43:16.680 member of the Western

00:43:17.220 Standard, we want to

00:43:17.900 thank you for your

00:43:18.440 support.

00:43:18.880 If you're not a member

00:43:19.760 of the Western Standard

00:43:20.360 already, remember a

00:43:23.140 monthly membership for

00:43:23.940 the Western Standard is

00:43:24.840 less than you're

00:43:25.440 already paying in taxes

00:43:26.700 to support mainstream

00:43:28.560 media outlets dominantly

00:43:29.880 owned by the Toronto,

00:43:30.880 Ottawa, Montreal

00:43:31.580 Triangle that are

00:43:33.180 bought and paid for by

00:43:34.000 the government.

00:43:34.580 Western Standard doesn't 0.98

00:43:35.300 take a penny from the

00:43:36.420 government.

00:43:37.000 We're one of the very

00:43:37.960 few genuinely independent

00:43:40.340 free press organizations

00:43:41.660 in Canada.

00:43:42.880 And we've had just

00:43:43.840 tremendous success with

00:43:44.880 your help and our great

00:43:46.260 team, wrapping out

00:43:47.500 September with over

00:43:48.240 600,000 readers.

00:43:50.040 So we're tremendously

00:43:51.100 grateful to you for

00:43:52.620 giving us your time,

00:43:54.240 which is building our

00:43:55.120 numbers.

00:43:55.580 And those of you who are

00:43:56.280 members, we thank you for

00:43:57.440 your support.

00:43:58.660 So Dave, thanks for

00:44:01.000 everything.

00:44:01.540 Corey, informative and

00:44:03.500 entertaining as always.

00:44:05.760 And thank you all for

00:44:06.780 watching.

00:44:07.580 Thanks a lot.

00:44:08.560 God bless the West.

00:44:09.380 God bless the West.

Western Standard - October 08, 2020

The Pipeline October 7, 2020

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