Western Standard - November 06, 2026


Time's up for disunity

Alberta’s campus neutrality legislation needs teeth

Episode Stats


Length

30 minutes

Words per minute

160.39

Word count

4,867

Sentence count

193

Harmful content

Misogyny

11

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Good evening, Western Standard viewers, and welcome to Hannaford, a weekly politics show of the Western Standard.
00:00:21.460 It is Thursday, November the 5th. With me today is Erika Baroutes.
00:00:26.920 We call her a Smith surrogate. 0.99
00:00:29.320 Certainly, she knows her way around the United Conservative Party.
00:00:33.260 Good evening, Erica.
00:00:35.360 Good evening. Thank you for having me.
00:00:38.080 It's always a pleasure.
00:00:39.220 Erica, we want to talk about Alberta and Daniel Smith's government,
00:00:42.700 but I couldn't help reflecting on one similarly between the politics here
00:00:48.800 and what's just happened in the U.S. midterms.
00:00:52.480 in both places. You've got a leader who wants to change things. It was never going to be business
00:00:59.520 as usual with Trump. And you know, closed the southern border. He deported criminal, illegal
00:01:06.800 aliens, ramped up the economy, prepared a million private sector jobs, and pushed back hard against
00:01:12.540 wokeism, men in women's gyms, that sort of thing. But the price of gas was too high, so he lost the
00:01:19.380 terms. Now, you could say about
00:01:21.580 Premier Smith that she does 0.99
00:01:23.600 things that matter long
00:01:25.580 term. She's standing up
00:01:27.600 for Alberta against Ottawa. She's
00:01:29.400 reforming public health. She's building up the 1.00
00:01:31.320 Heritage Fund, trying to get a handle on immigration, 0.98
00:01:33.780 keeping men out of the women's locker rooms,
00:01:35.980 and when 700,000
00:01:37.560 people asked for a referendum,
00:01:40.180 she gave it to them.
00:01:41.960 Well, she's 0.98
00:01:43.400 going into what's
00:01:45.080 shaping up to be an 1.00
00:01:47.380 ugly annual party annual general meeting in a couple of weeks what do you say she should be 0.99
00:01:54.740 judged on well first of all i don't know that two days after uh midterms where you lose the
00:02:00.660 house of representatives and this anyone wants to be compared or contrasted to that or maybe
00:02:05.860 could contrast it to uh president trump but i think what you're talking about is you know
00:02:11.540 know leadership style and I definitely think that they're both not they're both um willing to to
00:02:18.940 pick the tough battles for what they believe to to be right so um when it comes to what should
00:02:24.620 she be judged on I think the biggest thing um you know she did I think it needs to shift from
00:02:31.000 the AGM tone and the focus uh I do think you know she's obviously wanting to have a board that
00:02:38.200 supports her at the provincial level. And there's elections on that at the AGM. But I think 0.82
00:02:43.260 otherwise, it's like, what is she going to do now? You know, she's kept the commitment, she's given
00:02:47.180 her a lot of red meat to the base and the party over the last, you know, year or so, or one would
00:02:53.680 argue her entire tenure thus far, and really needs to focus and shift and be judged on what she's 1.00
00:03:00.540 going to do as premier as opposed to leader of the UCP. So that's what I'll be watching for heading
00:03:05.840 into to the AGM and into 2027. You know, Erica, the problem with red meat is that there is 0.98
00:03:14.120 endless appetite for it. You know, some of the things that we're talking about now are things
00:03:20.240 that could have been done, I suppose, when she first came to office in 2022, thinking like
00:03:27.500 pushing ahead on the Alberta Police Project, for example.
00:03:34.860 Do you find that the expectations of Conservatives in this province to be reasonable ever?
00:03:43.520 I think that they're reasonable, but when we talk about Conservatives,
00:03:46.820 I think that's a very, very large tent.
00:03:49.000 I think there's a fraction of the Conservative movement or of the party
00:03:52.660 that will never be satisfied.
00:03:55.160 I mean, even this session, I look at you're a year out from an election.
00:04:00.180 What do you need to signal to, you know, Albertans on what you're doing?
00:04:05.680 And they're introducing still what I would consider a red meat policy around ending DEI.
00:04:10.880 I support it. But like, is it the right time for that?
00:04:14.340 Or should that be something that maybe would come after the next election?
00:04:19.680 And so I do think that they're still sprinkling in maybe more than the general public is expecting. 0.53
00:04:25.160 but I think that she also has set a consistency of delivering continual red meat to the conservative
00:04:33.360 base so she's kind of trying to juggle that and and after a referendum I sit here and I'm kind of
00:04:38.340 like okay you've done what you said you were going to do let's move on and start talking about
00:04:42.380 governing for the best interests of Albertans to win an election which is what I'm always focused
00:04:47.140 on and I think that she's still she's still juggling and balancing and maybe this stops
00:04:53.360 after the AGM, but really satisfying that smaller collective of conservatives that I think you're
00:05:01.060 kind of alluding to. Well, that's the thing. The appetite for red meat does continue long after
00:05:07.520 it's been served. So do you think that's a winning play province-wide? People like us,
00:05:17.320 okay, I won't include you, people like me and the people who, you know, come to my house and read
00:05:22.540 my columns, are always looking for something more, some firmer commitment to solid conservative
00:05:30.140 principles, however we define them. Something about the results of the referendum make me think
00:05:38.760 that conservatives aren't always as conservative as the word sounds. Do you think she has to
00:05:45.900 moderate her tone a little to get the you know the sort of the the elderly people who are living
00:05:52.660 in fear of running out of rrsps and losing the value in their house the fearful ones what do
00:06:01.100 you say i don't think you ever need to veer away from your conservative values i mean it's a
00:06:05.440 conservative party i think the difference is maybe you're talking about more of the
00:06:10.820 contentious wedge social issues around conservatism where I look and where I challenge
00:06:17.420 this government to continually strive and sometimes I'm disappointed and sometimes I'm
00:06:22.180 thrilled is on things like fiscal prudency. I mean, the government in my mind is still too
00:06:27.200 large. I think that there's need to explore more tax relief. I think that so when we're looking at
00:06:34.600 small government, fiscal prudency, free enterprise, you know, working for letting business run the
00:06:42.900 economy and kind of government staying out of the way on a lot of that. So I do think that there's
00:06:49.300 room for them to shift on what part of conservatism they're focused on and, you know, still tie into
00:06:56.820 the traditional values and priorities. And I think that they just have to do it right. Something like
00:07:01.840 the immigration, they got a, you know, one of four were supporting some reforms or more
00:07:07.540 provincial autonomy in immigration. But I think that they need to do this right. And I wouldn't
00:07:12.580 hope that they would all of a sudden be announcing what they're going to do at the AGM. I don't think
00:07:17.540 that's enough time. So I do think that there's lots between now and the next election that they
00:07:23.340 can do to continue to appease conservatives. But I think at the end of the day, and where we're
00:07:28.340 seeing even federally, the conversation is like, what is it in? What's in it for me? Why am I
00:07:33.300 supporting you? Why do I believe in you? And how are you making my life easier? You know, when I
00:07:37.800 think of conservative values, it's like, get the hell out of my house. Let me be. And you go be
00:07:43.440 doing government stuff, but don't interfere in my freedoms and my autonomy. And so I hope that
00:07:50.440 they focus more on that in the next year, because I think that also appeals to a broader population
00:07:56.860 of Albertans than just true blue conservatives. You see, Erica, that really appeals to me.
00:08:03.980 And I can imagine a lot of people would be nodding in vigorous agreement with you
00:08:08.640 right up to the point that they say, well, while we're doing that, can you also make sure
00:08:20.260 that you put more money into health care because I'm going to need an operation and I don't want
00:08:24.520 wait for it and by the way my my grandchildren are starting school next year and there's a class
00:08:31.000 size of 40 30 and they're all from small government right up until the point when they are affected
00:08:40.680 by what government does do you think we've got a few fair-weather friends who aren't prepared to
00:08:46.280 back her up when the going gets tough absolutely you know what i would say that's the biggest
00:08:50.840 criticism of conservatives or fiscally prudent individuals in Alberta is that for a long time,
00:08:57.180 we didn't have to be truly tighten your belt conservative, because we had the money to be
00:09:02.540 able to invest in the infrastructure, over invest if need be without compromising, balancing a
00:09:08.980 budget. And so I do think I mean, this government is spending more on healthcare and education
00:09:14.860 never before. So I don't know how people can criticize it. However, I think what we're really
00:09:20.440 going to see the public scrutinize is, did the healthcare reforms work? And there's been three
00:09:27.900 years at this point of being able to put that into motion. And I think people are going to be
00:09:35.080 looking at it like, did it get me a family doctor? Did it get me my surgery faster? And maybe the
00:09:41.960 answer is no. And that's something that this government will need to combat. But that doesn't
00:09:45.660 mean you have criticism of them, like four pillars to address that, or more bureaucrats
00:09:52.220 higher than ever before. I don't think that that's solving the problem as much as did we recruit the
00:09:58.080 right amount and train the right amount, and do we create a talent pipeline of the individuals that
00:10:02.580 we need? And that's, I think, where people will be critical. But the alternative is, well, what is
00:10:10.180 the NDP going to do? And I think that's something that conservatives need to be conscious of heading
00:10:14.480 into the next election is like, you might not always be happy that your surgeries sped up
00:10:20.820 as much as you'd like, but the alternative is significant deficit dumping into a system reverting
00:10:28.460 back to AHS and the dumpster fire in which that was. And so I think it's also a reflection period
00:10:36.820 for Albertans on is the grass greener or is the grass yellow on the other side, or in this case,
00:10:42.740 orange and it's not going to actually move the needle to what we we want it to be or what we
00:10:47.460 want our province to look like so i think when we actually judge the performance of the government
00:10:52.400 on health we need to take into account that there are today half a million more people living in
00:10:58.060 alberta than there were when premier smith came to office in 2022 um that's something like a growth
00:11:07.520 of what 15 16 17 percent has the health budget gone up 17 percent um if it has did it need to
00:11:18.000 uh how much can the the smith government turn around and say well look we're doing our best
00:11:24.020 but people keep coming here and it costs money so i don't know and i'm not an economist if 16
00:11:31.700 percent increase equals 16 percent need to increase in the health care system i believe
00:11:36.200 actually there's more reforms that could happen in order to streamline care to expand scope for
00:11:43.240 multiple health providers to be able to make it so you don't have to see seven people and
00:11:48.420 go into multiple wait lists as opposed to being able to have a clear pathway through our health
00:11:54.800 care system and that's what I mean by small government too is like getting the red tape
00:11:59.820 out of the way getting the infant like you know the numerous bodies that you have to visit or
00:12:04.960 regulators and hoops you have to jump through. And so I do think that it is going to be tricky
00:12:12.520 for them. And what is that number? I think anyone that says that they know what that number truly
00:12:17.180 would be, I think is just giving false hope because I don't think throwing money, regardless
00:12:24.040 the amount at the problem, is going to be the true solution. And so this is something that
00:12:30.760 they're going to have to navigate. I think they're out of the challenges with education. I think that
00:12:38.740 with last year's teacher strike and classroom sizes and a lot of the commitments and infrastructure
00:12:46.820 that they've committed to, I think that there's a lot of people that understand that
00:12:50.760 and can kind of appreciate what's still happening or will happen in the classroom. But I do think
00:12:58.200 they're going to be heavily judged like you said on on health care and i i honestly would love to
00:13:04.120 know what the ndp would plan that's an alternative that could actually give uh kpis because right now
00:13:10.280 they just complain that it's not enough money and to me that's not that's not a just solution no
00:13:15.880 well no i mean when it's the ndp and they're saying it's not enough money that is the only
00:13:20.520 answer they have for most things that usually translates into more union members paying more
00:13:26.680 fees and earning higher wages so you people don't become twice as good as
00:13:30.820 what they're doing if you pay them twice as much money that's the big problem
00:13:34.360 with the NDP approach but it does you know we have had three and a half years
00:13:39.520 and she's managed to part out the you had some lovely phrase for the Alberta
00:13:46.240 Health Service but you know it was a it was a large and unresponsive bureaucracy
00:13:51.940 It is now responsive, but there still seems to be a delay in getting relatively simple treatments.
00:14:01.300 And we're just looking for, so many people are just looking for a solution.
00:14:05.480 Is it just institutional blockage that we're fighting here?
00:14:10.300 Or are there some, this is the last question on health,
00:14:13.660 but are there some vested interests that are just fighting with all their might
00:14:18.640 to make sure that nothing changes so that their personal interests are not skewered?
00:14:25.860 Well, I definitely think that there's been such a big desire for culture change
00:14:30.300 within what was the AHS model going to for different care providers
00:14:36.840 and AHS being an operator now,
00:14:40.200 that there are a lot of people that felt that that was wrong
00:14:43.640 and they're sticking their heels in and not making it any easier.
00:14:48.020 But the government's still been able to go through and get a doctor's deal done.
00:14:52.980 There was an announcement recently about recruiting more surgeons.
00:14:57.000 Now, I don't know if the surgeon backlog is what's going to alleviate surgery times or if it's physical space.
00:15:05.000 You mentioned, you know, the kind of red herring situation that is the premier having a catastrophic increase in population come to Alberta.
00:15:15.920 And so she's got challenges there that I don't think people will ever be able to equate to empathy or sympathy for not getting their own access.
00:15:26.700 And like I said, I don't think it's appropriate to rush what immigration looks like in hopes that that could potentially address wait times or access to care or public dollars going towards health care and education.
00:15:40.600 And so there's some things that they're just going to have to live with and have to be prepared to defend going into the next election and have, you know, proof points as much as they can.
00:15:54.780 But there are some things that they just didn't get fully accomplished, which they have to continue to tell that vision and that story and kind of ignore the people that are still within the system digging their heels in.
00:16:07.980 Because that's always going to be the case when you have robust change.
00:16:11.560 There's going to be people that are constantly trying to validate that they were right and this change was not needed.
00:16:17.480 Erica, let's talk about the upcoming convention.
00:16:20.560 Party chairman Bob Smith says there will be no leadership review before the election next year,
00:16:27.140 but with several factions, you know, sore losers, separatists,
00:16:30.960 people who thought the referendum should never have been held and so on.
00:16:35.240 The upcoming AGM still isn't going to be a cakewalk for her.
00:16:39.960 Where do you see trouble coming from for Premier Smith?
00:16:44.780 Well, if I was just looking at what I would deem success coming out,
00:16:48.780 if I was the premier or the leader of the party,
00:16:51.440 I think I've said it earlier,
00:16:52.600 but is that you have a board that's willing to work with you.
00:16:55.840 I mean, who you're alluding to,
00:16:57.900 Rob Smith is the president of the party.
00:17:02.660 He is the chair of the operational
00:17:07.860 and governance side of the party.
00:17:12.800 And so I think he's been a great example
00:17:15.000 of what not to do or how to overstep your authority
00:17:18.440 in that role. And I can say that because I was the founding president and I know what the role is
00:17:23.660 through and through. And so I do think he is right on this one, though, because but coming back to
00:17:30.340 what I was going to say is that he does she does need to have a provincial board that is looking
00:17:35.940 out for the members, but also is supporting the leader. And I know that the last few AGMs have
00:17:41.680 been a little bit rocky getting there. And so that to me would be success is that she comes out with
00:17:47.840 a strong united board that doesn't have people that are trying to shake the agenda because
00:17:54.500 especially going into an AGM and nominations where you know there's the board is the appeal
00:18:01.620 process or the appeal board that can just cause a lot of hiccups on some administrative stuff that
00:18:08.460 you wouldn't want to so I think that's her biggest I don't know I looked at the policies I don't know
00:18:12.920 that I think anything specific is coming out that could be contentious that they'll have to talk
00:18:16.620 about or that would be the mainstream news of the day. And I don't think we'll see what we saw last
00:18:25.320 year with Jeff Rath. Well, obviously not him because he was not welcome there anymore, but
00:18:28.840 anyone of that fraction standing up at the microphone and kind of bombarding. I think if
00:18:34.020 they are, they will be removed because it's not proper protocol. Whereas I think last year they
00:18:40.360 would have let more slide just because of the shaky grounds that I think that AGM was operating
00:18:45.280 off of. Yeah, that was a memorable moment. It seems to me that the Premier's strategy going
00:18:54.880 forward is to take the result of the referendum as an endorsement of her policy. Certainly she
00:19:01.620 immediately framed it as a clear mandate there would be no further separation referendum while 0.84
00:19:07.260 she is premier. And so the pursuit of the approved and immigration measures with caution on closer
00:19:18.080 margins and a call to move forward as a strong and free Alberta within a united Canada.
00:19:24.940 I like the sound of that, but isn't that where we were three years ago? Strong and free Alberta
00:19:31.980 within a united Canada, followed by the Sovereignty Act and a number of very strong
00:19:36.500 statements about the federal government staying out of provincial jurisdiction. Stay in your own
00:19:43.180 lane. We were all repeating that phrase for a while. Have we actually moved ahead in this file
00:19:50.820 in three years? Well, yes and no. I think that, you know, when Premier Smith was running for
00:19:58.260 leadership and there was a Sovereignty Act, that has changed significantly since she was running
00:20:02.220 for leader and what that looks like. I mean, I think it was to some softened down from what her
00:20:08.000 platform looked like in the UCB leadership race in 2023 or 2022, pardon. And it's become kind of
00:20:18.460 more of a, and it shifted with the same intention of always standing up for Alberta. I believe that
00:20:25.580 they don't usually use the freedom as much. It's just a strong Alberta within a United Canada. And
00:20:30.180 I think that that should always be the case. So I don't know that we can equate a tagline to
00:20:36.040 are we in the same place? Because I think forever, we as Albertans will continue to
00:20:41.200 push back for our more autonomy, more freedom, more strength in our economy, allowing us to be,
00:20:49.140 you know, the bread and butter of the country that we have always been. And so I don't think
00:20:56.680 we needed a 180 change of tone. But they have made good progress. I mean, I'm shocked every day
00:21:02.940 that I think of Premier Smith and Mark Carney having conversations that are constructive and
00:21:08.020 where he is, you know, actually truly listening because we have been conditioned to think that
00:21:15.420 Ottawa hates us and that they'll actively work against us like we saw with Justin Trudeau. And
00:21:22.020 So I'm maybe less of a Kearney fan than I think a lot of other conservatives across maybe the country or even in Alberta are.
00:21:31.820 I think that there's still a bait and switch coming, but I do think that Premier Smith, with her actions in the referendum,
00:21:39.560 her actions of how she would not put the energy sector on the table for tariff negotiations and other things like that,
00:21:47.080 she's really actually pushed appropriately on the federal government and they've responded
00:21:52.460 accordingly. I don't think she gets the credit that she deserves for that. I think a lot of
00:21:56.660 people are equating it just solely to Mark Carney. And we see that in Premier Smith taking a dip in
00:22:01.480 her numbers and Mark Carney doing well in Alberta. The Liberals doing well for the first time in
00:22:07.320 decades in Alberta. And so, yeah, go ahead. I want to read you what one person wrote to me personally.
00:22:14.860 and tell me how we need to respond to this point of view.
00:22:21.320 He writes that the fractures in the party
00:22:23.480 make some interesting comparison.
00:22:25.400 I wonder how you would think the Premier would respond to this.
00:22:28.740 He writes,
00:22:29.520 The party seems fractured,
00:22:31.720 and so many people I know are not happy.
00:22:34.920 The ratios are interestingly and remarkably consistent.
00:22:38.720 About one quarter voted for independence.
00:22:42.640 About one quarter did not take the COVID vaccine, and about one quarter of Albertans own firearms that are affected by the liberal gun bans, etc.
00:22:54.280 Put it another way, about three quarters of the population in Alberta listen to mainstream media, believe the narrative, believe in the liberal vision for Canada, the CBC and so on.
00:23:08.180 and they're still hanging on to the old system that served them so well,
00:23:14.520 especially those people over 60.
00:23:17.000 But I believe, my writer says, that if you poll the separatists,
00:23:22.120 more than half would say that they never took the vaccine,
00:23:25.740 and many would have lost their jobs during COVID
00:23:29.380 or were harmed in some way, shape, or form.
00:23:35.160 And while I understand that nobody wants to talk about this,
00:23:37.700 I believe it's a primary reason why many wish to separate, as it remains an unheralded, festering wound that nobody wants to acknowledge as an issue.
00:23:49.800 Instead, the talk is all about pipelines and equalization, which, while important, I believe are secondary to the lockdowns, mandates, firearms, and wokeism, Marxism, and so on.
00:24:02.900 what do you say when so much of that seems intuitively plausible yeah i mean i i think
00:24:13.780 that they're completely entitled to their opinion i haven't really looked at it that way um and i
00:24:19.240 would say i check some of those boxes that he listed i don't check some of them so i don't
00:24:23.780 think we can lump the entire group i think there's also people you have to remember that it was
00:24:28.180 option two, you were voting to have the conversation on independence or separation,
00:24:32.980 you weren't necessarily saying that you support it. And I think that of that 25, 26%, there's a
00:24:40.000 few percentage points of people that, you know, we're more of the, I want to keep holding Ottawa's
00:24:45.640 feet to the fire in getting a fair deal. And I think that in that fair deal, a lot of people
00:24:53.100 would look beyond covid um and the reason i say that is because you can't go back and fix it
00:24:59.980 uh and you can only learn from it so when the next pandemic happens i think that's where
00:25:05.180 there's going to be a lot more skepticism and and push to reverse action of what we what we saw um
00:25:13.020 but i don't know that i think that that would equate to the numbers maybe the writer is
00:25:17.820 attributing to it rather that it is a soft like a a position that many people still feel is close
00:25:26.140 to their hearts because it impacted them so directly and they're still carrying that and
00:25:30.540 that's totally fair i do also think that when we watched premier smith during her leadership run
00:25:37.820 she was speaking of those issues she was speaking about giving a voice to those that didn't feel
00:25:42.700 that they had a voice. She brought lots of people into the UCP tent or the conservative tent
00:25:51.260 that felt that way and were angry at the federal government for that piece of their freedom.
00:25:57.580 But I think it's evolved beyond that and more towards the other pieces that the writer mentions
00:26:04.860 and it is about pipelines and equalization and we're now here to stay. Let's fight for what we
00:26:10.780 can. And I mean, this government has done a lot to combat wokeism, DEI, you know, get freedom of
00:26:17.880 speech back in universities and classrooms and, you know, not having any flags besides Alberta and
00:26:25.460 Canada within our school system. You know, I think that there's a lot of curriculum reform,
00:26:32.660 like there's a lot that they've done to, I think, combat a lot of the narrative that we were all
00:26:37.060 very, very sick of during the same time as COVID.
00:26:41.160 See, now, Erica, everybody's going to say,
00:26:42.960 what kind of people does Nigel Hannaford hang out with?
00:26:45.180 Well, there, that's, look.
00:26:47.140 No, but I think his point, this writer's point is fair
00:26:50.680 because Daniel Smith did recruit people
00:26:52.940 that were never involved in politics before
00:26:55.020 and it was motivated around their discontent
00:26:58.260 with how their freedoms were impacted during COVID.
00:27:01.580 And so those members are still members of the party
00:27:03.560 and many of them, I'm sure,
00:27:04.900 because they were impacted by jobs and their careers had to change and they couldn't provide
00:27:09.320 for their families as a result of not taking a vaccine is going to live with them forever and so
00:27:15.380 I think that they're fair to have those feelings I just don't know that I would I would compare and
00:27:21.360 contrast the numbers of individuals on independence to that and just knowing who I know supported
00:27:28.240 option to I don't think that was their their reason why okay certainly you know as an older
00:27:34.420 man, I remember a time when the consensus was that freedom mattered, and I don't see that consensus
00:27:40.360 so popularly reflected in the politics of today. A lot of people are prepared to give the government
00:27:46.600 more than it deserves. I'm going to give you the last word, though, Erica. One thing Alberta
00:27:51.100 conservatives all agree upon is that they don't want an NDP government, yet if they don't get it
00:27:56.080 together, that's what they're going to get. What's the matter with Alberta conservatives, and how can
00:28:02.300 the premier get those people back on her side who are presently condemning her from both from
00:28:08.920 all directions yeah i think yeah i would say focus on what unites us and brings us together i mean a
00:28:16.080 prime example is look what happened in bc less than a month ago uh we saw fracture more than
00:28:23.360 what i think we see here on the conservative movement i mean there wasn't even really a
00:28:27.540 movement. It was just like a spray and pray of people that identify as conservatives. And they
00:28:32.600 got together and they all came in line behind the BC Conservative Party. And now they are government.
00:28:39.800 They were going up against an individual who called an election. So usually you're in an
00:28:44.880 advantageous position if you're going to do that in Premier Evie. And they were able to unite the
00:28:52.660 right, stand up for what they believe in as core values. So it's not going to be everything for
00:28:58.900 everyone. And people need to accept that. The option two was defeated significantly by a
00:29:08.200 majority. And I think we need to move on from that. And that we really need to focus on if we're not
00:29:13.780 together, we're splitting a vote. And this is what we get. We're not, you know, do we really want an
00:29:20.680 NDP government to base on
00:29:22.720 the one or two issues that are
00:29:24.280 sticking for us within our own
00:29:26.560 movement, I think that we need to
00:29:28.400 move past that and come together.
00:29:31.360 Erica Barutis,
00:29:32.760 thank you for being with us this afternoon.
00:29:34.980 You always shine light in
00:29:36.620 dark places. God bless you.
00:29:39.120 You're very welcome.
00:29:41.240 For the Western Standard,
00:29:42.540 I'm Nigel Hannaford.
00:29:50.680 Thank you.