Western Standard - Triggered： Internet anonymity empowers cowards and censors

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:00:30.000 Good morning. It's July 21st, 2022. Welcome to Triggered. I'm Corey Morgan. This is the

00:00:39.500 Western Standards daily live broadcast. As you can see, I guess you're already here.

00:00:44.380 It's still, it could be some first time visitors. We run this show every day from 1130 AM Mountain

00:00:50.300 Standard Time till about 1 PM. Depends on the guest, depends on the conversation. Some

00:00:54.680 of the fun things with being live is that we'll just take it where it goes. And of course,

00:00:59.060 the challenges are they don't always go where we want it to. But I always like a little bit of

00:01:02.980 chaos and anarchy and live sort of broadcasts give us that opportunity. So if you're tuning in,

00:01:12.420 I appreciate it. Good to see you checking in. We've got that comment scroll on the right. Some

00:01:16.120 of it will tie in a little bit to what I'm going to rant about later when it comes to

00:01:19.160 internet anonymity. It's a good conversation. I think people get confused whenever I talk about

00:01:23.900 saying that I'd want to enforce people to show their identities or anything like that. No,

00:01:29.580 that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the government bringing in more laws and

00:01:32.540 I'm not talking about choice, guys. It's always choice. I just think there's room to allow choice

00:01:38.640 so we can get rid of some of the bad sides of internet anonymity, even though I do understand

00:01:42.720 some people choose it for very good reasons. But we'll get into that a little later. Okay,

00:01:46.640 a couple of daily observances. I'd like to get those going while people are all getting lined

00:01:52.200 up and checking in for the show today and we got a couple of very big and important ones today so 0.95

00:01:57.880 start with we got the invite an alien to live with you day and they aren't talking about mexicans who

00:02:03.400 swam across the river down in the southern uh into the states or anything like that no we're talking

00:02:07.960 about those green strange people from other planets this one came about i guess from mork

00:02:13.720 and mindy way back from people who can remember that far back that's where uh uh boy am i it's

00:02:19.400 a TV series, and I'm forgetting his name. A recently passed comedian. I get the weirdest

00:02:24.680 name brain farts, and I mean, come on, this is a big name here. Robin Williams, there we go,

00:02:29.140 with Mork and Mindy, if people remember that. Anyhow, there's a day with Invite an Alien to

00:02:32.960 Live With You, and this is the day to celebrate it. So if you do actually know one out there,

00:02:36.960 they're sneaking out there, they're living in the garbage or somewhere, bring them into your house.

00:02:41.180 Not only is it a nice thing to do to the alien, but you might have a fodder for a new sitcom,

00:02:45.260 you know, I mean, it's been a while since ALF. It's also take a monkey to lunch day.

00:02:50.740 So again, if you keep strange circles and whatnot, well, this is the day you will take that monkey,

00:02:57.120 you know, and take them out for lunch, give them a bite, see what monkeys want to eat that day. I 0.89

00:03:03.020 don't know what monkeys are into. I guess the stereotypes, bananas and such and everything,

00:03:07.460 they'll probably rip your face off if they get half a chance to. But if you're really into monkeys

00:03:10.880 and you know when today's the day, you got to take one to lunch. Or if you want to avoid the

00:03:14.980 lunch problems, just send them a card or something. And the other day, which I got to

00:03:20.480 talk about, and that one's 15 years ago today, a beautiful woman made a crazy decision and 0.62

00:03:29.200 wed herself to me. So it's my 15th anniversary with Jane. And thankfully, she's got terrible

00:03:35.860 taste in men and it's paid off really well for me so far, and still carries on. So yes,

00:03:41.180 I want to take advantage of the show to point out and celebrate I've had 15 fantastic years

00:03:47.820 with a beautiful woman, and I'm hoping I can have decades, decades more, and I'm a lucky man.

00:03:55.480 I love you, Jane, and thanks for putting up with me this long. Of course, it's probably a day Jane's

00:04:01.720 not watching the show anyways, but at least I said it, damn it, and it is recorded. So again, 0.98

00:04:06.780 Happy anniversary. And as I said, it's happy for me. I'm lucky. And it's been one of the best

00:04:13.120 things that have ever happened to me. All right, let's get on to less sappy stuff and see what

00:04:18.260 else we're going to talk about today. We've got Dr. Amariza Gunnick on and she's a private 1.00

00:04:24.100 healthcare or private healthcare, private childcare provider with preschool and things 1.00

00:04:29.520 such as that. And she wants to talk about, and we're going to talk about the impacts because,

00:04:35.000 of course, we've got a national daycare policy, that big $10 a day daycare policy. How's that

00:04:39.880 impacting our providers? How's it impacting parents? Things such as that, because it seems

00:04:44.440 to be just a lot of money thrown out blindly and it's not doing kids or providers a bit of good.

00:04:49.320 So we're going to talk to her about that. And then our Edmonton legislative reporter,

00:04:54.420 Arthur Green, is going to come on. He's that guy with that fantastic Newfie accent,

00:04:58.840 but he watches the Alberta issues and the UCP race, at least one of the bars passed yesterday.

00:05:03.960 It sounds like seven of them are still hanging in there and a couple others got cut and we'll

00:05:09.420 talk about who's remaining in the race and who isn't and where it's going to go. We'll talk

00:05:16.220 about some other Alberta issues in general. Okay. I'm going to get onto that anonymity thing I was

00:05:20.320 talking about and just a bit of a rant, you know? So, I mean, discourse on social media can be

00:05:24.440 pretty ugly and it happens on every platform. I mean, I even go to beekeeping forums where people

00:05:28.480 start fighting with each other and calling your names, you know, it's unreal. And people are

00:05:33.260 called every name in the book, they can be shamed, slandered, have their personal information posted

00:05:37.220 by others. I mean, it gets bad. Extremists, and they happen on every end of the political spectrum.

00:05:42.000 They use social media to spread their vile messages and sometimes organize violent and

00:05:46.980 destructive actions. And the common denominator, though, with pretty much all of those extreme

00:05:50.960 accounts, the bad ones, is that they're anonymous. That is the root of a lot of problems. Most of us

00:05:58.000 play reasonably. Sure, we get worked up now and then and say regrettable things online. But there's

00:06:02.800 a population out there comprised of anonymous trolls, and they're a tiny minority, but they

00:06:06.740 could dominate and destroy discourse. I mean, the time they got in their hands, they can obsessively

00:06:11.280 post and spawn accounts faster than accounts can be banned. They're cowards, and the only thing 0.98

00:06:16.880 that's going to stop them is to take away the shroud of anonymity they hide behind. 0.98

00:06:20.740 In a relatively recent incident, and I like bringing this one up, there was a self-styled

00:06:25.040 Twitter ninja out there who would vitriolically and tirelessly troll public figures online. He

00:06:30.340 bragged of the number of elected officials who'd blocked him. He felt courageous and bold. He felt

00:06:35.280 he was an online warrior for the left. Well, then he was exposed. Yeah, somebody figured out who he

00:06:40.600 really was, and the transformation was instant. That was what was striking. Suddenly, he was an

00:06:44.840 apologetic pussycat. He did an interview, and he was just all meek and apologetic. Now, he's still

00:06:50.760 online, but he's very subdued, because without the craven cloak of anonymity, he really is nothing.

00:06:56.220 He tweets under the name Neil before Zod if he wanted to have a look at it or check back into that sad little story.

00:07:03.100 Now, I'm not big on doxing, folks, but the tale of poor Neil did prove a valuable point.

00:07:08.160 The loss of anonymity defangs trolls.

00:07:11.280 And I understand there's a lot of people who are anonymous for very good reasons,

00:07:14.380 and we don't need to take the ability to be anonymous away.

00:07:17.300 Another problem, though, is people are leaving social media platforms because they just can't handle the rage and venom anymore.

00:07:23.580 And selective culling of people with conservative views is starting to create echo chambers.

00:07:28.420 And that's no good either.

00:07:29.300 Gab, unfortunately, part of the reason it hasn't really done that well is because it's just a bunch of people saying the same old stuff to each other.

00:07:36.080 What I'd like to see is a platform that verifies users.

00:07:39.500 And it's understandable.

00:07:40.880 Again, like I said, people want to keep their anonymity.

00:07:43.800 I mean, they could have issues with their job.

00:07:45.720 They could be stalked by weirdos.

00:07:46.960 There's a lot of things when you put your name out there.

00:07:48.980 But it doesn't mean your name has to be out there.

00:07:51.800 It just means there should be a way to verify that you're real.

00:07:55.260 You can only form one account, one verified account,

00:07:58.920 with a different colored checkmark next to it or something like that.

00:08:02.180 And again, leave it to private business to do it.

00:08:04.280 I'm not talking about regulating it.

00:08:05.980 Verification doesn't assure that a person has to be nice.

00:08:08.660 I mean, my Twitter account's verified. 0.99

00:08:10.080 I got that precious blue checkmark, but I'm still an asshole. 0.99

00:08:13.640 I mean, it doesn't have to stop you. 0.99

00:08:14.960 It just means that you've got to be within reason.

00:08:17.600 And if you go beyond reason and you actually get dangerous or abusive,

00:08:20.840 or, you know, attack people, then you could potentially be charged.

00:08:25.580 We don't need more laws.

00:08:26.540 We don't need speech police.

00:08:27.520 We just need some voluntary controls and social media platforms

00:08:30.080 that would eliminate the anonymity,

00:08:31.920 which cloaks the small but damaging troll army out there.

00:08:35.040 Because right now it's giving the government excuses to try and step in.

00:08:38.140 And we might see speech being limited by the state

00:08:40.240 before people realize that it didn't need to get done.

00:08:42.940 Rights are really hard to regain once we lose them.

00:08:44.920 So let's hope the private market can step up on this one

00:08:47.140 before the government does.

00:08:48.420 Musk was talking about doing something like that.

00:08:50.720 And as I'm saying, you know, coffee-breath conversations, no more laws.

00:08:53.260 I never said we want more laws.

00:08:54.560 Never.

00:08:55.480 Don't worry.

00:08:55.880 That's not what I'm saying.

00:08:57.200 Like Elon Musk wanted to do, private industry can fill the void.

00:09:00.920 We can do it, guys.

00:09:02.340 All right.

00:09:02.740 That's what's got me going today.

00:09:04.540 Let's get on.

00:09:05.680 It's been a while.

00:09:06.380 And check in with our news editor, Dave Naylor, and see what else is making news today.

00:09:10.800 Hey, Dave.

00:09:11.140 How's it going?

00:09:12.360 Good morning, Corey.

00:09:13.220 Do I take it by that grovelingly sappy message to Jane that you actually forgot it today?

00:09:21.200 I haven't forgot it.

00:09:22.300 I even had the picture.

00:09:23.640 I might not have bought anything.

00:09:24.960 This is a cheap gift.

00:09:25.800 You know, hey, look, you got a plug on the Cory Morgan there.

00:09:28.080 It's a triggered show.

00:09:28.860 But hey, I didn't forget this time.

00:09:31.440 I got Facebook.

00:09:32.920 That's the gift that keeps on giving.

00:09:35.140 So my parents are visiting from BC and talking to my mom this morning.

00:09:41.120 they're thinking of packing up and moving into a hotel. They just said they can't take it anymore

00:09:45.700 because of those darn chickadees. They're starting to chirp at 4 a.m. in the morning 0.99

00:09:51.040 and they just don't, they have no clue how I live with it. And my mom's thinking of investing in a

00:09:57.680 slingshot to try and deal with the problem. Well, I'll keep her busy there. Go for it.

00:10:02.040 You know, just to be ready to buy some windows. Yeah. So, you know, just so people may have

00:10:08.260 thought I was, you know, exaggerating. I'm certainly not. They're chickadees from hell, but

00:10:13.360 lots of stuff on the website this morning, Corey. Those clowns at the Bank of Canada that 0.99

00:10:19.620 have no clue how to keep inflation down managed to give themselves huge bonuses, 0.96

00:10:25.180 millions and millions of dollars worth over COVID. So, you know, job well done, guys, and

00:10:31.120 And we'll all go out and have our money worth 8.1% less.

00:10:36.500 Speaking of which, the CBC did the same sort of thing.

00:10:40.260 Millions of dollars in bonuses to staff averaged about $15,000 apiece.

00:10:46.120 So nice work if you can get it.

00:10:49.320 Arthur Green, whose name you mentioned, has a story out of Edmonton on the killer of a 19-month-old.

00:10:55.520 He's been released on day parole after serving only a third of his nine-year sentence.

00:11:00.480 Apparently, he had a bit of a tough time in jail and had to be segregated.

00:11:04.840 And because of that, they've sprung him two-thirds of the time, still left on his sentence for that horrible crime.

00:11:15.220 And speaking of horrible crimes, the truck driver involved in the Humboldt bus crash has been granted day parole.

00:11:22.280 You remember he pled guilty after that horrible thing, and he's now out also on day parole.

00:11:28.940 Edmonton Oilers owner, Mr. Katz, is in some legal difficulties south of the border.

00:11:35.020 A 17-year-old ballerina from the States is alleging he paid to have sex with her.

00:11:40.880 So that's a very interesting story that we'll have to keep an eye out on.

00:11:45.420 And our Dave Makachuk has a longing look back in the glory days of air travel around the time of, you know,

00:11:52.780 ward air where you can actually go on and be welcomed by a smiling flight attendant and

00:11:57.820 eat your lunch or dinner off cutlery with actual knives and forks and all that good stuff that

00:12:04.140 that used to happen when you fly that of course is no longer available to us you're just lucky

00:12:09.100 if your luggage arrives on the same continent as as you do these days uh corey so uh we've got that

00:12:16.060 And with that, our Eva Suddick is just wrapping up a good exclusive on three, the 19 Calgary firefighters have launched a lawsuit against the city of Calgary, their actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. And Eva's got exclusive interviews with three of them and they lay out their reasons behind why they're suing. So that'll be coming up shortly. And it's definitely worth a read, Corey.

00:12:40.960 great well lots on the go going on out there uh let's see you folks have missed you some of them

00:12:48.000 they're welcoming you back and others with offering tips like using a biodegradable uh pellets with an

00:12:53.240 airsoft gun for your uh chickadee problems so i mean you know there's a solution to everything

00:12:58.340 online if we talk about it long enough there i was thinking of blasting them with opera music

00:13:02.920 at 4 a.m but i'm not sure the neighbors would be appreciative yeah you might uh trade one problem

00:13:08.660 for another that way. Exactly. All right. Thanks, Dave. I'll let you get back at it. I'll see you

00:13:14.880 after the show. Thanks, Corey. All right. So that is our news editor, Dave Naylor, and he is out

00:13:21.120 there making sure we have the good stuff, the stories, the exclusives, and are staying on top

00:13:25.940 of things, guys. And the reason we can do that, this is that part of the show, yes, where I nag 0.80

00:13:30.560 you all to subscribe. And I know most of you guys who are reviewing today already have subscriptions,

00:13:35.240 but for the couple who may not, this is, you know, the opportunity to do it. Guys, $10 a month,

00:13:41.220 $99 for a year. And this is how we can stay independent. This is why we don't ask for tax

00:13:47.420 dollars because we rely on you guys as members. And you've been doing great. That's why we've

00:13:52.740 been expanding. That's why we've got reporters across the country, new gear, stuff going,

00:13:57.160 getting better all the time. Consider taking out a subscription if you haven't already, guys. I

00:14:01.620 mean, it's really important. You know, we're not asking for charity. We're talking about you paying

00:14:05.060 for a service that we provide. And of course, the more people subscribe, the better the product

00:14:09.380 we're going to be able to get out there for you. So again, thank you to all you people who have

00:14:13.860 subscribed already. Oh, I said you people, that could be a problem. And if you haven't already

00:14:19.420 get on it, come on guys, help me pay those bills. I got to nag Derek for a raise eventually, but we

00:14:23.960 got to get more subscriptions before that can happen. All right. So yeah, some of those news

00:14:28.380 items. It's been interesting. You know, with the air travel, I haven't read that one yet. Dave

00:14:32.840 Makachuk is actually going to be on tomorrow. And we're going to talk about a few of his columns.

00:14:36.180 And that's one that we can certainly talk about. I know he'd been flying recently too. Perhaps he

00:14:40.620 talks about that a bit in his column. And I mean, it's really changed. It's like Dave mentioned,

00:14:44.280 you know, the Ward Air. I remember flying on that once when I was a kid. And yeah, we're talking

00:14:49.720 real cutlery, real meals. You know, flying was made to be a comfortable endeavor. And nowadays,

00:14:56.480 I mean, you get on a plane, you're squashed on like a sardine, you're herded through like cattle, 0.66

00:15:01.000 but it's a bit of a mixed thing, right? It's cost-benefit. I mean, back then when you'd fly

00:15:06.760 with Ward Air, that was a very big expenditure for a family or an individual. Flying back then

00:15:12.980 was something you didn't take casually. Like when you look at the cost to fly, you know, then

00:15:20.960 today versus what it was back in those days, it's way, way lower. I mean, people are demanding to be

00:15:27.680 able to get across the country or out of the country at a much lower rate than they ever had

00:15:31.940 before. So, I mean, that's brought it down to people. You don't have to be rich to be somebody

00:15:35.900 who flies anymore, although it helps, but you certainly lose a lot of those comforts. Now it's

00:15:41.820 a matter of being squished in there and, you know, have that little bag of peanuts thrown at you and

00:15:48.240 have your luggage lost and certainly people at the front gate. So it's a balance, right? I guess

00:15:54.820 if you want to spend enough, you can get to first class. But the airports are a catastrophe all over

00:15:58.080 the world, particularly in Canada right now. I mean, we're seeing the stories all the time with

00:16:02.300 the delays, the crowds, the lost luggage, the nightmares. It's not doing the tourism industry

00:16:08.160 a lick of good these days. I'm looking forward to some travel this winter, but I'm going to drive

00:16:13.120 south like I did last winter to hell with dealing with all that airline stuff. Of course, the cost

00:16:16.880 of gas will make that pretty cheap as well. Let's see, there's Joe's snake there. So let's look at

00:16:23.820 the comments, you know, saying won't subscribe because there might be separatists and he hates

00:16:27.720 separatists. Okay. Well, a separate Alberta might have a better education system so we could have

00:16:34.180 better literacy among commenters and Joe won't be, you know, embarrassing himself with that sort of

00:16:39.860 semi-English sort of thing on a comment scroll on a live show. But all the same, if you subscribe

00:16:46.580 to the paper, to the publication, it doesn't mean, of course, you share the ideology of every other

00:16:52.320 subscriber or any columnist who might write within it. So I'm sorry if the separatists

00:16:58.980 among the Western standard might not be the one you want to keep company with, but I guess there

00:17:05.560 might be a few in there. What are you going to do? Some people I don't like, you know, and this

00:17:10.200 segues in, CBC, you know, Dave mentioned that. So here we are tightening our belts. You know,

00:17:15.900 we've got, uh, uh, you know, tough times, inflation's flying up. The interest rates are

00:17:21.720 shooting up. And meanwhile, CBC execs, yeah, they're getting bonuses, $30 million, you know,

00:17:29.000 uh, the equivalent for these executives of 15,000 each. Nice work. If you can get it,

00:17:34.680 nice work, $30 million in bonuses. We're all struggling. This is the CBC that was groveling

00:17:40.120 and sniveling and whining and crying during the pandemic that they needed more bailout money. 0.87

00:17:45.740 I think it was another 21 million they suckled out of the taxpayers' teat during the pandemic

00:17:51.220 on top of the $1.5 billion they get a year from the taxpayers.

00:17:56.620 And how are they spending it?

00:17:58.440 Bonuses.

00:17:59.240 Great bonuses, eh?

00:18:01.100 Nice.

00:18:02.180 See, yeah, over 1,000 of their employees got bonuses, you know, well over $14,520 each.

00:18:11.280 And yeah, there's your tax dollars at work, right?

00:18:15.060 I mean, the CBC radio was howling, oh, my God, we had to lay off 11 staff in their international division, and they needed another $21 million bailout.

00:18:24.040 Like, come on, guys, it just never stops.

00:18:27.120 People, we're getting robbed.

00:18:29.060 We're getting robbed by the civil service on so many levels by government that cannot run anything competently.

00:18:34.460 The airport mess that's going on is one thing.

00:18:38.020 Another thing is the passports, you know, I keep bringing that up.

00:18:41.760 What is it? Immigration is backlogged now by millions and millions of people.

00:18:47.180 They can't process the immigrants trying to come into the country.

00:18:49.780 Basically, every level of the bloated government bureaucracy is failing. 1.00

00:18:54.760 We're spending record amounts.

00:18:56.660 We've massively increased public spending and tax spending throughout this country.

00:19:04.220 And what are we getting for it?

00:19:06.440 Worse service. Worse and worse service all the time.

00:19:10.340 And it's going to collapse.

00:19:11.760 I mean, as inflation goes up, the government keeps bloating. 1.00

00:19:15.000 I mean, speaking is stupid. 1.00

00:19:16.960 And you know what? 1.00

00:19:17.380 I'm not going to talk about Trudeau this time. 1.00

00:19:19.520 He's not the only idiot out there. 1.00

00:19:21.400 He's among them, though. 1.00

00:19:22.500 I'm going to talk about his little subservient partner, Jagmeet Singh.

00:19:26.180 He got ratioed beautifully on a tweet the other day.

00:19:29.900 And what a ratio means is if you've thrown something out there on Twitter,

00:19:33.260 and rather than having people hit the like button,

00:19:35.900 you get overwhelmed with a bunch of people commenting 1.00

00:19:37.780 because what you said was so profoundly wrong, offensive, or stupid, 1.00

00:19:41.040 that they just had to step in and say, you're an idiot. 1.00

00:19:44.560 And that's the case of Singh. 1.00

00:19:45.940 It's an NDP policy, a federal one.

00:19:47.860 They're pushing, they're demanding that the liberals

00:19:51.080 immediately give everybody in Canada $1,000 to help with inflation.

00:19:57.640 You'd think it was something out of Beaverton or The Onion to hear this.

00:20:02.420 And it really demonstrates just how economically illiterate 0.93

00:20:06.300 and incompetent the NDP are.

00:20:09.480 Not least not sounding a hell of a lot better in Alberta, but just better than this one.

00:20:13.140 When you're saying inflation's a crisis, okay, you figured that one out, Jagmeet.

00:20:16.580 Good work.

00:20:17.240 Good work.

00:20:18.700 It needs to be addressed.

00:20:19.580 Okay.

00:20:20.060 Okay.

00:20:20.320 We can go with that, Jagmeet.

00:20:22.460 We're going to reach into everybody's pockets, pull out $1,000 and give it back to them to

00:20:26.220 fix it.

00:20:28.080 Okay, Jagmeet, you kind of blew it there.

00:20:29.940 You kind of lost the narrative there because it's our money.

00:20:35.840 You're talking about helping us deal with inflationary pressures

00:20:39.780 by taking money from us and giving it back to us. 1.00

00:20:43.140 It doesn't work that way, you ass clown. 0.99

00:20:45.340 And what it will do, of course, is just cause more disruption. 0.99

00:20:50.000 Where are you going to get it from?

00:20:51.160 You're going to raise taxes immediately? 0.81

00:20:52.540 That'll do wonders for the economy.

00:20:54.180 That'll help us out in spending or getting by.

00:20:57.840 Or are you going to borrow it?

00:20:59.520 And again, I know it's asking a lot,

00:21:01.640 But just read some rudimentary economics and understand what happens when the government keeps printing money, because that's essentially all government borrowing really is. It's just printing more money and flushing it out there. You're not helping anything. But that is the man that partnered with Trudeau, the unholy alliance, to continue to, you know, try and manage this country through a pandemic, inflation, all these crises.

00:21:30.280 Oh, it's a sad outcome, guys, a sad thing.

00:21:32.380 Let's hope the Conservative Party of Canada can manage to get their stuff together enough to unseat this government.

00:21:38.220 I mean, we had Trudeau, he's already, like I said, prancing around the country, looking like he's getting ready for another campaign.

00:21:43.980 And I mean, part of what will happen, here's some of the irony if we're talking about political play.

00:21:47.380 One of the only reasons that Harper got the majority that he did and, you know, held power for the while he did

00:21:55.600 is because Jack Layton had a strong NDP and it split the liberal vote.

00:22:00.420 And that was a contributing factor towards it.

00:22:02.720 And as long as Jagmeet Singh is as weak as he is, we're not going to,

00:22:10.340 the liberals are looking better and better.

00:22:13.380 I mean, it's not just the conservative party, you know, losing support or not doing strongly

00:22:17.560 that might convince Justin to try and pull the pin and make a desperation run for an election this fall.

00:22:23.840 it's if the NDP collapses under the ridiculous leadership of Singh, same thing, that could lead

00:22:30.860 to a liberal majority. And he desperately wants that majority. He wants it so bad. I mean, he's, 0.54

00:22:35.860 like I said the other day, he's only got one kick left at the cat. That's what he really does.

00:22:41.460 I mean, if he gets another minority, the party is going to chuck him out, whether he likes it or not.

00:22:46.140 So he can sit there and do this slow death for the next three years in a partnership with Singh,

00:22:51.360 or he can wait. And it might not happen this fall, but I think they're waiting. They're just

00:22:55.860 sitting on the edge to pounce whenever they think they might be able to call the election and get

00:23:00.740 a majority. Because that's the only thing that'll save his butt. And he's got no legacy. You know, 0.98

00:23:05.140 here he is, Pierre Trudeau, loathsome as he is, is an established part of Canadian history. And 0.96

00:23:11.180 he's had some legacy, which, you know, most of us in the West think is a terrible one, but all the

00:23:15.220 same. He has one. But Justin has nothing. What's he got? He's the guy who ran the government and

00:23:22.300 declared the War Measures Act against, you know, bouncy castles. That's not a good legacy. He ran

00:23:27.700 us into the mess of inflation and overspending we're in. Not a good legacy. I'm sure he would

00:23:32.500 like to get a majority so he can come up with some sort of large project and program that's

00:23:37.160 going to last and he can shove through and get in there. But he needs a majority to do it. Diana's

00:23:41.920 saying he legalized pot. Yeah, yeah, I don't think that's going to make world history, but he did do 0.69

00:23:45.720 that. And I don't think that was one of his worst moves, actually. That wasn't such a, you know,

00:23:51.640 a bad policy out of him. He's had a lot worse than that. But I think he wants something more.

00:23:57.000 And he knows he's not a brilliant man, but he knows if he can't win another majority, this is

00:24:02.360 it. This is his final term. And he's going to do whatever he can to try and get it. So we're in for

00:24:09.180 some ugly and unstable politics for a while. And here we go. Let's see more of their money,

00:24:16.300 our money going out there. This is a federal agency mandated to counter slow economic growth

00:24:21.960 in Quebec. You know, I love it when federal agencies get tasked for something. They do such

00:24:25.840 a good job with it. Canada economic development. It's like Calgary economic development. In other

00:24:30.000 words, which again, what these are slush funds, all of bureaucrats taking your money and giving

00:24:35.460 it to buddies. That's typically what it tends to be. Doesn't help the taxpayers. Really good if

00:24:40.060 you're on the inside track, though. And this is the Canadian Canada Economic Development for Quebec

00:24:45.320 Regions. In a series of briefing notes, it says mandate was to create jobs. And they've got these

00:24:51.320 guys, though. Yeah, they put Calgary to shame. 2.4 billion in subsidies for 4,900 projects. Billion

00:24:57.080 is what this group has put out. But a recent one, they found $10 million in subsidies for a tennis

00:25:03.620 tournament in Montreal. Yes. A tennis tournament. And here's something. The idea was to draw media

00:25:09.520 attention to the province. I didn't even know what happened. Did anybody else see it? I guess

00:25:15.000 the media coverage didn't surface, or at least not a hell of a lot. I guess they're kind of

00:25:17.720 getting it now, but not in the way they want to. It's just showing they wasted our money. We have

00:25:21.640 a broken, broken system in Canada, guys. We're getting milk dry, and they're running us into

00:25:27.260 the ground. So you wonder why there's movements for independence out here? We'll see. That's a

00:25:33.540 column I just put up today. I edited the columns and one from Alred, Ken Alred. And he was an MLA

00:25:42.840 with, I believe it was in Ralph Klein's time there. And he's come right out and said, you know,

00:25:50.540 it's the last gasp. We either got to get a sovereignty act, do something, distance ourselves,

00:25:56.860 or it's just time. The West has to get out. The West wants out. And this was a guy who was a

00:26:02.540 pretty federalist in the past. He talked about that. And he's just had enough. He's been watching

00:26:06.600 politics for a long time. He was one of the original reformers. And yeah, he's said enough

00:26:13.980 is enough. And he's on the way out. So we're seeing that more and more. We're seeing more of

00:26:18.680 that, you know, people saying it's time to go nuclear with this. It's time to get out. We're

00:26:23.780 running out of options. And it's not a minority conversation any longer. It's coming out from

00:26:32.000 established politicians, established public figures, they've had enough. And this UCP race,

00:26:38.600 it's getting ugly. You know, I'm going to talk a bit more with Green about that. It seems like

00:26:44.960 I'm rambling a bit. Looks like I might have another guest standing me up. That'll be two

00:26:48.000 for this week. The joys of a live show. But we do what we can. And so I'll just talk to you guys

00:26:56.400 some more and we'll carry on until we get to our next one. There's always lots to talk about.

00:27:00.120 Let's look at the other federal front. You know, the Conservative Party of Canada has decided to hold a third debate now. And so I guess they asked their members, you know, 24,000 responded to a poll. So they overwhelmingly want a third debate. They want to listen to them one more time. Sometime today, I guess they're going to release the difference. All right. See, now, Joe Sneak, you know, I'm going to sidetrack this. This commenter is over trolling it.

00:27:25.660 he's anonymous of course because he's a coward and he's just sitting there trying to disrupt 0.54

00:27:32.780 things but you see watch this block user there did it now Joe can go talk to himself so yeah

00:27:39.780 there are ways you know to control adverse media discussion going on and you know somebody I was

00:27:48.260 talking on Twitter a little bit about that I'll get back to the UCP race but as I'm live I just

00:27:52.480 kind of go where it's going. I see Diana's asking, hosting it. It'll be the party hosting it. So

00:27:57.480 you know, somebody else had said on Twitter, hey, I've got the power to just get out there

00:28:03.060 and block people. We don't need media to, social media to give the ability to

00:28:07.940 verify accounts and things like that. See, it's not a matter of needing. Yeah, it's not a matter

00:28:14.400 of mandating. Everybody's minds always go towards, he's proposing a law or a rule. No, I'm not.

00:28:19.600 And like I said, I liked what Parler was trying.

00:28:24.020 They had that different tiers.

00:28:25.420 You had like a public figure checkmark

00:28:28.000 that might've been blue or whatever it was.

00:28:29.380 And you had a red one.

00:28:30.100 If a person voluntarily said,

00:28:33.080 I'm willing to prove my identity

00:28:34.840 to this social media platform,

00:28:36.240 they trusted enough to do so.

00:28:37.480 Again, everything's voluntary.

00:28:39.420 But they still wanna have their fake name out front.

00:28:42.660 That's fine.

00:28:43.480 But they can only register one account

00:28:45.220 with that checkmark because it's been verified.

00:28:48.100 So it's not like they're gonna have 20 accounts.

00:28:50.300 And if they cross the line, if they go too far,

00:28:55.100 you know, they can be held accountable.

00:28:57.680 And if you don't want to do it,

00:28:59.060 you could have an anonymous account

00:29:00.920 with no checkmark whatsoever.

00:29:02.400 Then you can choose.

00:29:03.120 I don't want to interact with any of the anonymous ones,

00:29:05.200 perhaps, you know, the fully anonymous.

00:29:07.260 I mean, the other ones are still anonymous,

00:29:08.600 but they've had to verify.

00:29:10.440 Does everybody trust sending their information

00:29:12.020 to that private entity?

00:29:13.080 No, not everybody.

00:29:14.180 But guess what?

00:29:14.840 You got your ID going out there

00:29:16.640 all over the place all the time,

00:29:18.460 Whether you've bought something online, whether you've registered for something, it doesn't matter.

00:29:24.680 And potentially, yes, it could always get hacked and released.

00:29:27.480 That's always a risk of living day-to-day now.

00:29:30.880 And, you know, one analogy I'll use was when I used to play online poker, I don't do it so much anymore.

00:29:38.960 But for a while, when it was really big, too, it used to be really, before they banned it in the States, it was pretty fun.

00:29:44.200 You get in those tournaments, there'd be thousands of people.

00:29:46.000 And, boy, I did really well.

00:29:48.460 Because one of the things I found, though, is you go in the free tournaments

00:29:51.600 where you don't have to pay any money to get in, pointless, just pointless.

00:29:56.380 Everybody just goes all in, all in, all in, all in.

00:29:58.360 They don't play it seriously.

00:29:59.340 They don't care.

00:29:59.840 They don't have anything in the game.

00:30:02.500 And anybody can just sign up an account and play the free tournaments.

00:30:05.960 You go into a tournament where even a dollar is the entry,

00:30:09.380 and it's amazing how much different the play in the tournament becomes.

00:30:14.520 Because whoever is in that tournament actually had to put some money into an account,

00:30:18.060 even if it's just a little bit, they actually had to register. And suddenly, with a little bit of,

00:30:26.220 you know, stake in the game, their play became way, way better. Now, again, the play at the $1

00:30:32.520 level versus the $100 level was still dramatically different, but huge difference between the free

00:30:37.020 and the even $1. Because again, that full just, I'll just sign up on a whim and do something and

00:30:43.100 play with it and make a mess is gone. And that can apply as well. I'm not talking about charging

00:30:47.760 for social media accounts, but I'm just talking about having social media platforms that allow

00:30:54.920 different types of verification so that you can get rid of these things. I mean, Musk was talking

00:31:00.240 about that. Part of how, whether it was always his intention or not to just get in and out of

00:31:05.360 the Twitter deal, but he's saying they won't provide the information to tell just how many 0.71

00:31:08.920 fake bots and troll accounts and all that crap are in there. I mean, it's true. It's an asset. 0.85

00:31:14.280 I mean, the asset of any of these social media accounts is the accounts.

00:31:19.080 It's the followers, these businesses.

00:31:21.520 If you can prove you have 500 million real people engaged in it, that's worth a lot.

00:31:27.440 If it turns out 20% of those people are fake, well, then it's not worth that much, is it?

00:31:36.260 And Twitter wouldn't share that openly with them.

00:31:39.080 But he was also talking before when he was talking about purchasing some of the changes he'd like to make

00:31:42.480 is finding ways to flush out those fake accounts

00:31:44.460 and give some abilities for other people

00:31:46.740 to verify themselves.

00:31:49.560 And yeah, I mean, there's room to change things

00:31:53.220 and it doesn't have to take a law.

00:31:54.340 I'm just talking about watching social media evolve

00:31:56.400 and hope that something reasonable can come along.

00:31:59.160 Because again, it's as long as it's voluntary.

00:32:05.220 I mean, Shane Fitzgibbon saying,

00:32:06.500 what about sending your ID to Facebook?

00:32:07.720 I know somebody who's being forced

00:32:08.760 to use Facebook Protect.

00:32:10.460 I don't know.

00:32:10.960 I mean, you know, if you don't trust Facebook, don't.

00:32:15.240 It's up to you.

00:32:16.300 I mean, there's some people,

00:32:17.400 they pull out their wallet on a whim

00:32:19.000 and give their ID to some of the worst things online,

00:32:21.740 whatever it might be.

00:32:23.980 And, you know, AB Friesing won't be signing up

00:32:26.300 for anything that asks for ID online,

00:32:27.580 whether it's from a government fascist or big tech fascist.

00:32:29.780 Well, don't.

00:32:30.700 I'm not saying you have to,

00:32:32.420 but I won't take anonymous accounts

00:32:34.000 as seriously as the real ones, that's all.

00:32:36.800 And again, I'm not saying a person

00:32:38.460 doesn't have good legitimate reasons

00:32:40.100 to remain anonymous? Of course they might. But give us the means. Because right now I'm getting

00:32:46.200 sick of blocking, blocking, blocking, blocking. And I do. I block without hesitation when they're

00:32:49.840 going too nuts online. But either way, you know, and Jet Gorgon, not ID, Alberta, never. Okay.

00:32:56.660 So do you guys buy nothing online ever? Have you never purchased anything online? Have you never

00:33:01.500 purchased a ticket to an event? You've never subscribed to anything like the Western Standard?

00:33:05.620 uh you've never uh purchased an item from amazon or uh you know any of those things ever never

00:33:13.780 i mean if you haven't power to you but the thing is you're sharing your idea out there all the time

00:33:19.360 uh pick and choose you still want to be careful with it but it's it's already happening guys

00:33:24.620 and it's kind of unavoidable but as long as it's voluntary that that's that's up to the individuals

00:33:29.300 getting back to the conservative race you know speaking of hopefully somebody will be able to

00:33:33.200 come in and free us from Trudeau's reign. Yeah, I guess there's going to be a debate held in

00:33:41.540 August at some point. They said they'll release the details of the timing. And something that's

00:33:45.660 interesting, under their party rules, they say it's mandatory for leadership contestants to

00:33:50.700 attend official debates or they'll face fines. So, you know, because something we tried at the

00:33:55.600 Western Standard that was a bit of a frustration, we tried to get a debate going out here,

00:33:59.140 and it led to a lot of problems. And it was, well, due to one of the perceived front runners

00:34:08.820 refusing to come out to the debate. When you can't get the front runner, then it's hard to

00:34:11.840 get the others. And it just leads to a lot of problems. So these party ones, these official

00:34:15.720 party ones, they may get mandatory. You have to attend or you're going to get fined. So it sounds

00:34:20.760 like there will be one that all of the remaining candidates anyways, I mean, Patrick Brown's off

00:34:25.000 trying to desperately keep his job out there as a mayor of Brampton, but the rest of them will show

00:34:32.300 up for that one in August. It'll be interesting because those first two debates were so bizarrely

00:34:41.700 different from each other. One wasn't an official one anyways, that first one, but it was very

00:34:47.260 vitriolic and yelling and a little divisive. And then the second one was just bizarre with those

00:34:53.700 sad trombones and strange things like that and everything. So, uh, uh, we'll see what they come

00:35:00.020 up with for a third option. I think, you know, they're probably just, there's not too many people

00:35:03.360 paying attention to the debate right now. And they, they gotta make sure that, uh, to the

00:35:07.840 leadership that something else will bring it about as Tyler's saying, yeah, hopefully this

00:35:10.820 will be better than the last one. Um, and, uh, let's see. Okay. Well, there's some interesting

00:35:19.540 comments going on anyways um ab free so you take my comments less seriously because my name is an

00:35:25.940 ab free yes i do actually uh not to say i don't take them seriously whatsoever you say some good

00:35:31.120 things you've been a regular commenter and i appreciate it and you're not abusive to people

00:35:35.040 and you give reason to comments you know one of the things that gets lost in social media comments

00:35:40.260 though if you're anonymous is uh anecdotes personal experiences and again it's your choice

00:35:46.660 say, be free not to put it out there. And that's fine. And I respect the choice, but it does

00:35:50.220 undercut things. Like I get some of those comments, you know, when you get into, and I've learned,

00:35:53.740 I don't even bother engaging them anymore. When somebody, an anonymous account will say,

00:35:57.700 I know this because I work in this industry, or because I've done that, or because I know this.

00:36:02.340 Well, if you're not going to prove who you actually are, you can make anything up.

00:36:05.900 You can say, I was an astronaut. You can say, I'm a brain surgeon, whatever. If you're not really

00:36:10.360 got your name there, I don't know if I can believe that. So it doesn't lend credibility necessarily.

00:36:15.300 It doesn't mean the person behind that account isn't an astronaut.

00:36:18.020 They might be.

00:36:19.580 But when the anonymity is there, a little bit of credibility gets lost.

00:36:23.940 It's not like I dismiss every anonymous account out there.

00:36:26.200 Not at all.

00:36:27.000 And I know people get really sensitive when I talk about this every time.

00:36:29.980 I'm not saying people can't be anonymous.

00:36:31.920 I'm not saying they don't have reasons to choose to be anonymous.

00:36:35.160 But it's a problem for some.

00:36:37.360 And I'm looking at ways that you can filter that amount.

00:36:41.020 That's all.

00:36:42.020 And again, you know, let's see, Linda's saying,

00:36:46.640 Corey, you talk about TELUS selling their customers info

00:36:48.580 and tracking to the government.

00:36:50.560 There should be a class action suit.

00:36:53.880 Yeah, you know, invasions of privacy.

00:36:55.860 We got all sorts of problems.

00:36:58.060 I mean, there's that.

00:37:00.060 That's part of it is, again, we don't have much anonymity,

00:37:02.400 even if we think we do or want to be.

00:37:04.780 I wouldn't be shocked if a lot, again, you know,

00:37:06.520 people are being a lot more tracked with their online activities

00:37:09.860 than they think they are.

00:37:10.840 and is likewise with the banks, you know, sharing people's information for the sake of Trudeau's

00:37:15.140 panicked invocation of the Emergencies Act. Our information is not nearly as private as it should

00:37:22.100 be. Apps that kids had to use for online learning were also gathering information on the kids and

00:37:28.860 it was being sold. I mean, not personal stuff like a picture of the kid in which household they live

00:37:32.240 in and everything, but generalized data. And again, it's an abuse of our privacy. But either

00:37:39.100 I'm just talking about online discourse. I'm talking about, you know, discussions that happen

00:37:46.440 online. This has been happening forever. People look back in the early days of internet forums

00:37:49.780 or the new Usenet. I mean, that was essentially just a giant internet forum to begin with. That

00:37:54.100 was the start of the internet. And it used to be terribly vitriolic on there. But also that's

00:38:01.440 where Godwin's law came about. And I can't remember, I'm probably going to slaughter it

00:38:05.000 when I paraphrase it. But it's when he talks about, you know, whenever there's an internet

00:38:07.920 discussion, the probability of somebody eventually referring to Nazis or calling somebody a Nazi or

00:38:13.960 Hitler comparison pretty much become, you know, it's a done deal. It's going to happen. It's just 0.72

00:38:18.640 a matter of time. And it's true, whether it's a forum about kittens, or as I said, even beekeeping,

00:38:23.680 we watch people get fighting. And almost 99% of the time, the one stirring the pot, the one making

00:38:30.100 the mess, the one going bananas is an anonymous one. So this is just a way to reduce it. It's not

00:38:36.240 a cure. But the total free for all can be a mess. And again, just make sure it's always choice.

00:38:44.540 That's what's important out there. Jane Pricing, who changes their last name with same-sex

00:38:51.800 marriages? I guess whoever the hell they want to. It's back to choice. I don't care. Change your 1.00

00:38:56.220 name, keep your old one. Question out of the blue. But you know, we're having conversations with the

00:39:00.740 commenters since I got stood up by a guest. So let's look at some of the other things. Speaking

00:39:05.660 of Amazon, actually, this one's kind of interesting. And I like to see where this might go.

00:39:10.160 This is a, I talk about, you know, private health care and getting better advancements. I mean,

00:39:15.740 I've always showing how the public sector sure is inefficient and, you know, runs things terribly

00:39:22.400 from passport renewals to immigration to pretty much anything. They suck. Well, they've got the 0.99

00:39:27.180 monopoly on our health care provision in Canada. That's why we've got one of the shittiest health

00:39:30.660 care systems on earth. And they won't allow competition in. Well, Amazon just said they're 1.00

00:39:36.560 going to buy one medical. It's a primary care organization for almost $4 billion. So now

00:39:43.560 Amazon's actually going to expand into health care provision. What an unusual expansion. But

00:39:51.580 I mean, whether you like or dislike Amazon, you know, or Bezos, I mean, they've been a game changer

00:39:58.900 in business, in the world.

00:40:01.060 I mean, they started as a website

00:40:04.180 that basically sold books

00:40:05.680 and they've expanded into an empire.

00:40:07.820 I mean, they're incredible with what they're into.

00:40:09.520 Everything from Amazon Prime television streaming

00:40:12.640 to, of course, I mean, it's hard to see anybody's doorstep

00:40:15.720 with an Amazon delivery on there anymore.

00:40:18.380 And now they're looking to get into some healthcare.

00:40:20.980 And I think it's brilliant.

00:40:22.820 I wanna see what they're gonna do with it

00:40:24.600 because now we're gonna apply creative,

00:40:26.920 outside the box thinking from a company that's there to disrupt, not disrupt in a bad way,

00:40:33.040 but to shake up the status quo. And I'm just really going to be watching this very closely.

00:40:40.460 And they're talking about how they want to reinvent the healthcare experience from everything

00:40:44.120 from things like booking an appointment to taking trips to the pharmacy. And I mean,

00:40:47.400 some of those things that a private industry could fix a lot faster. And I know doctor's clinics are

00:40:51.760 predominantly private anyways in Canada, even if they're publicly funded. But I mean, they can come

00:40:57.880 up with all sorts of, Amazon's going to come up with apps, I imagine, ways to safely renew

00:41:02.780 prescriptions, things like that. We're creeping along in the socialized system we have towards

00:41:07.760 some of those advancements. But I got a feeling Amazon, if they get into the game, are going to

00:41:12.100 be a lot faster and more targeted and be able to bring in some of these reforms, you know,

00:41:18.780 better than the others. So I'm pretty excited watching this happen. Plus it's a south of the

00:41:23.360 border. So, uh, Hey, if it really goes to hell, it won't be our problem anyways. It's the American

00:41:27.080 one, but, uh, you know, it's, it's, uh, because the Americans allow these private enterprise to

00:41:32.040 come in and do different things and enter the market, we can get more innovative things coming

00:41:36.460 along and, uh, changing, uh, changing the game. I mean, we can't learn if it's all under one

00:41:43.880 system with a monopoly um you know i see uh arthur uh idling in there in the background maybe i'll

00:41:49.320 pop him in and if he's ready to roll there um we'll start talking about some of the stuff arthur's

00:41:54.960 been covering and talk about that united conservative party race so let's pull him in

00:41:59.360 and have a conversation and see how it's going there hey arthur how's it going uh not too bad

00:42:04.700 enjoying the uh the sunny weather here in uh here in bonnieville today oh good good i i see your

00:42:11.460 your internet seems to have improved for now. I mean, at the stuff meeting this morning,

00:42:14.300 it was horrible. Yeah. The, uh, the person outside in the poll is no longer in the poll. So,

00:42:20.160 uh, maybe that had something to do with it, but, uh, on another note, uh, Corey, the, uh, yesterday

00:42:25.300 marked the, uh, the last day for people to register with the, uh, with elections candidate

00:42:30.080 to run for the, uh, Alberta's United conservative party leadership. And, uh, you know, we had some,

00:42:36.220 We have some candidates confirmed, Brian Jean, Danielle Smith, and Travis Taze, of course, were confirmed ahead of Wednesday's deadline.

00:42:46.080 John Horseman did tweet that he was on track to meet the deadline with signatures, but quickly withdrew on Wednesday afternoon and said it was a crowded leadership race.

00:43:01.420 So that's one of the reasons that he withdrew.

00:43:04.940 And, of course, there are results still pending, and we'll bring you up to speed with those as soon as they come in.

00:43:12.700 Yeah, so it sounds like seven of them at least have made the bar, or they're saying they are.

00:43:18.020 That next bar, I guess, is being fully approved.

00:43:20.420 It's got to go before the UCP's leadership committee for them to sign off on it.

00:43:24.920 But, I mean, if they've gotten the money and the signatures, I mean, those are some very major bars to accomplish first, right?

00:43:31.400 That's right.

00:43:32.020 But, again, they have to be approved.

00:43:35.180 Like you said, now the race is heating up.

00:43:40.300 I've reported this week that it started to turn into a little bit of a slugfest 0.75

00:43:45.900 between Danielle Smith and Travis Tays.

00:43:48.680 And there's a story on our website about how Tays actually texted the UCP Party

00:43:56.340 blast texts, whatever they use, and said that she was for PST when she says she's clearly not.

00:44:04.380 So again, we'll see what happens in the future. I know Danielle Smith does have a rally planned 0.99

00:44:10.720 for Bonneville this weekend. And I was in touch with Brian Jean's press secretary on a daily

00:44:18.260 basis. And he's going to be coming out with some of his policy decisions in the near future.

00:44:23.480 yeah i i had both uh rush sherman and uh john horseman on the show just a couple of days ago

00:44:30.600 so they're getting right up on the deadline i guess trying to get their their signatures but

00:44:34.680 uh i know uh you know horseman saying he had enough but he you know stuff to get in but he

00:44:39.780 just didn't feel the the race was a bit it was a bit too crowded i don't know everybody makes

00:44:44.440 their out you know they always leave politics to spend more time with their family and everything

00:44:47.620 else too i i suspect he entered a little bit too late and just couldn't quite get it that fast

00:44:51.880 because he came in pretty late in the game there

00:44:53.380 and just kind of needed an out.

00:44:56.300 Yeah, he actually stated on Twitter

00:44:58.460 that he looks forward to future opportunities

00:45:01.840 with the UCP party.

00:45:03.700 So we'll see what the future holds for him.

00:45:07.380 Yeah, yeah, he's not stomping out the door,

00:45:09.060 you know, embittered or anything like that.

00:45:10.940 He's just saying he's moving on.

00:45:13.880 Have you heard anything from Roz Sherman since?

00:45:17.020 I haven't, but again,

00:45:19.180 I will be reaching out to all of the candidates

00:45:21.800 via email and waiting for the response.

00:45:25.220 I know they're quite busy to talk to the media, you know,

00:45:29.060 on a constant basis, but in between we've caught them in between meetings

00:45:34.180 and stuff and been able to get some responses.

00:45:36.880 So I'm looking forward to actually covering the race once it begins

00:45:40.620 and we'll see who the new premier of Alberta is going to be.

00:45:44.840 Yeah, I mean, it's quite a race.

00:45:46.880 I mean, we do have the winner of this is going to become our premier.

00:45:50.140 It's not like any other party race.

00:45:52.040 I was talking to, you know, Reid Small out there in BC.

00:45:54.960 They've got one going on in BC, and that'll be the same thing.

00:45:59.020 Whoever wins that's going to become the premier with the NDP.

00:46:01.960 But they've only got one contestant so far, and it sounds like they might only have one.

00:46:05.080 I mean, quite different than what's going on out here.

00:46:07.820 Yeah, I mean, there's some big talk, you know, with the Smith campaign and the Alberta Saventry Act.

00:46:13.980 And, you know, she called out Justin Trudeau yesterday with his admission targets for 2030 saying that, you know, it's going to cut Alberta oil production, not just Alberta oil production, but all oil production in Canada by 2030, upwards of 46%.

00:46:29.740 And, you know, the oil industry employs a lot of people across Canada, especially here in Alberta and Calgary.

00:46:37.440 So, you know, she really is looking forward to pushing that act if she becomes Premier.

00:46:44.880 And then, you know, we have Brian Jean who has been actively voicing actively his opinion on gas prices here in Alberta

00:46:54.560 and saying, you know, Albertans are getting ripped off.

00:46:57.720 So we'll see what he brings to the table and, you know, what's going to happen in the next few weeks.

00:47:04.340 How about Rajan Sani?

00:47:06.100 I had her on the show a while back, and I just don't hear anything going on with her campaign.

00:47:11.260 I don't hear of events.

00:47:12.320 I mean, something must be happening out there.

00:47:14.640 I haven't heard much from her campaign at all, actually.

00:47:18.800 Like I said, I will be reaching out again today now that the deadline has passed to put a push on, you know, getting the latest information for our readers because, you know, that's why they follow us, Corey, is really, you know, the latest and the most truthful information.

00:47:35.540 So, like I said, now that the deadline is passed, I can really put the pedal down, as we say in Newfoundland, and try to get some comments and some different decisions.

00:47:46.720 And things are saying, you know, Twitter is always a good place to hang out because you never know what's going to be tweeted during the day by a politician.

00:47:57.180 Well, that's it. I mean, you can catch the stuff as it breaks on Twitter. It's just not necessarily the best spot for the exchanges of ideas.

00:48:04.900 Well, moving on from that, then we'll look at some of the other stories you've been writing on.

00:48:09.220 The recent one, I mean, that's kind of a rough one, but the parole board has released that gentleman who would, you know, with a child who died that he left outside of a church.

00:48:22.420 Yeah, that's correct.

00:48:23.520 You know, they made a decision on Wednesday to release him from the Edmonton Remand Center, basically.

00:48:31.380 He was granted parole, and he only served two-thirds of his sentence.

00:48:36.880 The parole board said that he had a difficult upbringing in a First Nations community.

00:48:43.140 He is Indigenous, Corey, and that he was getting treated pretty badly in prison.

00:48:50.660 And there are reports that inmates took it in their own hands to give him a warm welcome while in prison for committing a crime against a child.

00:49:00.540 And, you know, they said that the conditions, you know, that he was experiencing, he spent most of the time in the hole.

00:49:07.220 But, you know, they kind of gave him a little bit of leeway and granted his parole.

00:49:12.220 Now, he's going to be supervised.

00:49:15.120 I guess he'll be residing at a halfway house, as we call it, in Edmonton, somewhere where he will be supervised.

00:49:24.420 And, you know, it just amazes me sometimes, Corey, when we see different headlines.

00:49:31.880 You know, it was a serious crime.

00:49:34.500 You know, the child was essentially beat to death with a blow to the head and then left outside of a church in Edmonton.

00:49:42.960 Pretty sad.

00:49:43.720 And, you know, he only served two-thirds of a sentence.

00:49:46.120 And a lot of people, I've been reading some comments on the story today.

00:49:49.820 And a lot of people, you know, said, you know, this isn't justice.

00:49:53.080 And then others are saying, well, the only justice he got was from the beatings he received from other inmates while in the center.

00:50:01.040 So, like I said, he's been released and we'll see if he reoffends.

00:50:06.380 Yeah, I mean, that's the biggest fear.

00:50:08.160 I mean, you know, I don't like to think of prisons as being a place where we can offload and have people beaten by other prisoners.

00:50:14.120 It's not really a civilized way of dealing with things.

00:50:16.440 But if they present a danger, the goal is to keep those people out of society so they don't reoffend.

00:50:22.260 I mean, this guy killed a 19-month-old child.

00:50:25.860 That sounds very dangerous to me, and he only did three years for it.

00:50:29.120 Let's just hope, I guess, that he doesn't reoffend those excuses.

00:50:32.820 I mean, this guy had a hard upbringing.

00:50:34.560 He had a tough time.

00:50:36.040 Probably very true, but it doesn't mean he's not dangerous.

00:50:40.400 Exactly, Corey.

00:50:41.600 And like I said, there's lots of people in Canada who have had tough upbringings and rough childhoods, and, you know, they don't kill people.

00:50:49.900 No, and yeah, our justice system is unfortunately anything but. I'm just kind of moving down through your scroll, though. I see Rachel Notley calling for inflation relief. That's interesting. I always like that when I see NDP talking economics. What's she proposing that's going to help us all?

00:51:09.840 She never really proposed a whole lot, Corey.

00:51:13.060 I think it was more or less just her speaking her mind to get media's attention.

00:51:19.500 I noticed that, you know, when a big story comes out, such as the one with inflation and, you know, 8.9 percent, I do believe, or 8.1 percent was the figure, 8.4 here in Alberta.

00:51:32.560 And, you know, she's immediately calling for inflation relief, even though, you know, our readers are pretty smart here at the Western Standard and, you know, they don't forget politics and what happened in the past.

00:51:47.020 So, you know, there were a lot of comments on the story saying, you know, the NDP were the start or that created, you know, some of these problems when they were in power years ago.

00:51:56.400 But, you know, she is calling for inflation relief.

00:51:59.040 She thinks that, you know, Albertans are having a tough time putting food on the table.

00:52:03.900 And, you know, with the price of everything, from used cars to cars, dealerships, you know, we've seen the real pinch happen in the last couple of months, you know, especially since COVID happened in Canada.

00:52:18.980 It'll be interesting to find out, you know, what she says in the future.

00:52:23.840 I find that she always speaks her opinion, of course, against being in the opposition against the UCP when something big happens.

00:52:37.440 And, you know, we'll see what she proposes to reduce inflation impact in Alberta, Corey.

00:52:46.460 Well, that's it. That's the other half.

00:52:47.960 I mean, OK, it's fine. You pointed out that Albertans are suffering under the high cost of living.

00:52:51.660 I think we all kind of know that, but what are you going to do about it?

00:52:55.120 We need to hear that second half of the conversation, Madam Notley.

00:52:58.740 Well, maybe we'll see more as time goes.

00:53:00.900 I was kind of ranting about that earlier, that her boss, Jagmeet Singh,

00:53:05.500 and I know it chafes them when I say that,

00:53:07.960 but those parties are literally tied constitutionally, so he is her boss.

00:53:11.740 He proposed giving $1,000 to everybody in Canada to battle inflation,

00:53:16.200 and he got roundly ripped to shreds on Twitter because of it, of course,

00:53:19.900 because it's not really a good economic plan.

00:53:22.840 But I guess at least he proposed something.

00:53:25.400 Like I said, at least the proof is in the pudding, as we say, in Newfoundland, Corey.

00:53:32.040 So, you know, $1,000 seems nice to say that and seems nice on paper.

00:53:37.700 But really, when you think about it, how far does $1,000 go?

00:53:42.580 If you're driving a Dodge pickup, probably four tanks of gas right now in Canada.

00:53:47.120 Yeah, literally, actually.

00:53:48.620 Oh, that's scary.

00:53:49.900 Okay, well, I'll tell you some of the other policies yesterday.

00:53:52.080 The UCP, speaking of things they put out then,

00:53:54.460 they're talking about enhancing support for victims of crime

00:53:57.100 if we're on the justice end of things.

00:53:59.180 I mean, that's an area that gets forgotten a lot.

00:54:00.880 You know, we always focus on the perpetrator.

00:54:02.800 Forget that there's always a victim behind there somewhere too.

00:54:05.900 Yeah, that's right.

00:54:06.380 They're partnered with the Red Deer Police to offer opiate assistance

00:54:11.000 to people who are arrested, you know, when they're first incarcerated.

00:54:15.640 And, you know, I applaud the USCP government for taking a stand and investing in a program like this, Corey, because, you know, I have many off-the-record conversations as an investigative reporter.

00:54:28.620 And, you know, I spoke to the RCMP before different members, not saying they're from Bonneville, but different locations within Alberta.

00:54:35.780 And, you know, they see the same people in the system over and over catching release.

00:54:40.700 And, you know, addiction is, don't quote me on percentage, but 90% of the time, it's, you know, it's someone who's addicted to drugs and struggling with mental health.

00:54:52.360 And, you know, the justice system is a revolving door sometimes for these people.

00:54:58.120 And, you know, they're just trying to survive.

00:55:00.360 And, you know, you don't judge the person, Corey, who's down and out, because when you're up, you never think you're going to be down again.

00:55:07.400 And when you're down, you never think you're going to be up again, of course.

00:55:09.580 and you know don't judge the person who's doing drugs on the side of the street because you

00:55:15.500 haven't been in their shoes so you don't know what they've been through and i think it's a

00:55:18.860 great program that you know uh people who are struggling with with drug addiction and mental

00:55:24.180 abuse will now have a chance to go virtual with with an organization here in alberta when

00:55:29.660 incarcerated to see you know what is the root of the problem uh you know it's just not petty crime

00:55:35.080 and they like to steal there's a there's a reason behind the crime and and that's drugs cory

00:55:41.580 yeah no absolutely and we saw that in the south and we saw that with the people who'd been

00:55:46.860 repeatedly robbing my uh pub when i owned it and and uh or the fellow that uh eddie maurice shot

00:55:52.860 while defending his family in southern alberta years ago that that guy's a chronic uh re-offender

00:55:58.080 and he's almost every time he gets picked up he's also in possession of meth so i mean it's

00:56:03.920 difficult uh you know because i mean they're criminals or they can act as criminals and they

00:56:08.480 put people at risk but at the same time just throwing them in jail isn't solution enough

00:56:12.260 either you got to get them off the drugs because they're just going to keep re-offending so i mean

00:56:16.900 we got to look at more treatment so it's always good to see more treatment options coming anyways

00:56:20.340 because that's the only way that's really going to break that cycle yeah and again the the federal

00:56:25.300 government stepped up yesterday and announced that they'll be spending 40 million dollars on

00:56:30.880 Canadians who are addicted to substances.

00:56:35.440 So before I let you go, I pulled you in a little early, so I'll let you escape a little

00:56:39.880 early too.

00:56:40.580 But what else are you working on this week, you know, further away as we head towards

00:56:43.880 the weekend?

00:56:45.800 I've got a couple things up my sleeve.

00:56:49.520 I was just poking around on Twitter and it appears that Joe Biden has announced that

00:56:54.260 he's suffering from cancer.

00:56:56.400 So I'm going to want to dig into some international stories here this evening.

00:57:00.440 I noticed a trans swimmer was just nominated for a Woman of the Year Award.

00:57:08.300 So that's another story that I'm sure our readers will have lots to say about.

00:57:14.280 And, you know, again, I'll be talking with the press secretary from Brian Jeans' campaign.

00:57:19.740 I've reached out to Danielle Smith, and I'll do the same for Travis Tays.

00:57:24.140 Maybe we can get some some reactions now that it's official that they're they're in the leadership race for for Premier of Alberta.

00:57:32.000 Great. Well, you'll have an interesting political time, especially as it gets closer to the end of the race.

00:57:36.720 And they start, you know, some of the candidates get desperate and the gloves really start coming off.

00:57:40.980 So we'll we'll see if it turns into a an old Donnie broke as.

00:57:48.440 Yeah, you bet. All right. Well, thank you for bringing us up to date and checking in, Arthur.

00:57:52.820 and I'll enjoy things up there

00:57:55.360 in the warm weather in Bonneville

00:57:56.620 and we'll talk to you again later.

00:57:58.780 I'll be in Edmonton soon.

00:58:00.620 Thanks, Corey.

00:58:01.520 Right on, thanks.

00:58:02.740 So that's our, yes,

00:58:04.100 our Edmonton Legislative Reporter Chief there,

00:58:07.500 Arthur Green.

00:58:08.360 And you see all sorts of his stories,

00:58:10.200 of course, at thewesternstandard.news

00:58:12.120 and he's covering all the provincial affairs up there.

00:58:15.460 And this race, yeah,

00:58:16.500 it's still evolving, essentially. 0.98

00:58:19.500 I'm kind of surprised that seven of them made it in.

00:58:21.980 And I thought with that high bar, $175,000 to get in there and all of those signatures required, I figured it was going to be more like four or five.

00:58:30.100 It looks like seven of them have reached that bar.

00:58:32.040 So there's a lot of big money out there to back some candidates.

00:58:34.940 Now let's just hope we get a productive one of it.

00:58:37.680 Right now, we're really only hearing of two.

00:58:39.680 You know, it's mostly Taves and Daniel Smith, Travis Taves and Daniel Smith.

00:58:45.220 And the other candidates are there, but they're not leading the conversation.

00:58:50.360 And maybe as they, you know, again, this gets going,

00:58:52.780 they're going to have to try and find a way to jump into the mix

00:58:55.560 and get some attention, which could be good or bad.

00:59:00.520 Let's see here what else we got going on.

00:59:04.440 All right, I'm just checking the comments.

00:59:06.340 Scroll, and things are interesting.

00:59:09.760 You know, something that, oh, Mike DeMoore saying,

00:59:14.100 prisons are unpleasant, we need action now.

00:59:16.620 Oh yeah, I know. I mean, if, if it's beyond the pale and if this guy's getting abused too much

00:59:23.100 in there, then fix the prison problem, but don't let him out, you know, and, and how cushy does

00:59:27.760 it have to be? I do believe, you know, as tempting as it is, especially with a guy who killed a child

00:59:31.900 like him, it's hard to feel any sympathy, but we are a civilized society or like, we like to think

00:59:37.380 we are. And, uh, just throwing them to the animals isn't a civilized way to do it, but, uh, we've

00:59:44.360 try to fix it, but letting him out into the public is definitely not the way to do it either

00:59:47.740 with that guy. That's just an awful story. So getting back to the NDP, I want to lay out a

00:59:55.200 little bit about how their party works because as I said, it drives them nuts whenever I go into

00:59:59.700 that. I've written blogs on that before and I've talked on social media about it. They don't like

01:00:04.180 to admit it, particularly here in Alberta, but the NDP is not like any other party in that they are

01:00:10.760 subservient to the federal one. See, most of us who'd never bought

01:00:15.080 memberships, the NDP, you know, wouldn't know this. But like any

01:00:18.260 other party, if you bought a membership for the liberals in

01:00:22.400 Saskatchewan, it doesn't mean you're a member of Trudeau's

01:00:25.420 liberals in Ottawa, like I was with BC, or even in the old days

01:00:28.960 when it was progressive conservatives in Alberta, and

01:00:31.540 progressive conservatives in Ottawa, same name in the parties

01:00:34.940 and association, but they were separate. You didn't know the

01:00:38.420 NDP, you buy a membership with Notley's NDP, you're automatically a member with Singh's NDP. You can't

01:00:44.160 distinguish because it's all one party. They're socialists. They don't believe in spreading out

01:00:50.880 authority. They don't believe in regional governance. You got to remember that. These

01:00:55.480 are centralized governance people. These are authoritarians. Notley is actually a provincial

01:01:01.260 representative of Singh. She has a degree of ability to act as a party leader and respond

01:01:08.240 to local issues in Alberta. But if push comes to shove, and it's right in the NDP constitution,

01:01:14.540 you can go look at it. Push comes to shove, the federal party comes out on top. So if she differs

01:01:20.940 in policy from anything with the federal party, they will say, we're overriding you, you follow

01:01:27.800 the federal line. No other party is like that. So again, when you think, and when you sounds like

01:01:33.560 Notley standing up for our interests. Keep in mind, she is subservient to Singh. So, and whoever

01:01:40.700 the next federal leader of the NDP is as well. As well as that, their party is so convoluted,

01:01:46.260 they also are basically beholden to the Alberta Federation of Labor. Yeah, the unions hold them

01:01:50.580 by their short and curlies. They've actually got a number of guaranteed spots in their party

01:01:55.940 governance roles that are given to the Alberta Federation of Labor. They have to have them

01:02:00.520 within their party. And it's a huge amount of it. Basically that the AFL has most of the ability to

01:02:05.560 do it, control anything in the NDP in Alberta. Notley, she's a voice. That's why she could sit

01:02:12.500 on the side and beak off, but not throw out a policy because she's probably not allowed to put 1.00

01:02:16.260 one out. She's got to talk to Gil McGowan and ask what she's allowed to say, or maybe talk to

01:02:21.120 Jagmeet Singh. So understand the NDP again is not like other parties and I'm not blowing smoke.

01:02:28.220 their stuff is online. You can download the NDP constitution and see what their rules and bylaws

01:02:33.820 are. And holy cow, it's just one big socialist organization, one big group, and there's no

01:02:39.000 independent thought allowed. So keep that in mind when she starts pretending that she would stand

01:02:45.160 up for over. She'll do whatever the federal party does in the end. Oh yeah, there's a candidate I 1.00

01:02:52.520 haven't mentioned a couple of times. He's been on the show and I've known a long time. Joseph

01:02:56.180 Basque bringing up. Yeah, Todd Lowen. He's another one running. He's still an independent

01:03:01.160 MLA right now. I don't believe they've let him back in caucus officially yet. He got kicked out

01:03:05.060 by Jason Kenney. And I believe he's met the bar, so he'll be in there. And that's a different voice.

01:03:10.340 You know, he's been on the show. He's a unique sort of candidate in that way. I mean, he's from

01:03:14.840 inside yet outside at the same time. He's in the race as well. And let's see, what else do we got

01:03:23.080 here. Be sick of the excuse of a tough childhood for murder. Yeah. You know, that's from Marvin

01:03:27.680 and Sherry Stewart. And yeah, you know, and that's something that Arthur kind of said along

01:03:33.460 the lines too. There's a lot of people had some really tough childhoods and they didn't commit

01:03:37.140 murder. I mean, it can certainly, I think if you abuse children, you're going to increase the

01:03:41.340 likelihood that they're going to have a lot of problems and become potentially dangerous down

01:03:44.840 the road. But it's not an excuse. We've got to stop using it for an excuse. And the same thing

01:03:51.160 when we let people out based on, you know, mental health, like they're not criminally

01:03:57.440 responsible for something if they're insane. Well, fair enough. But again, it doesn't mean

01:04:01.240 they aren't dangerous. And it doesn't mean you have to let them out right away. It just means

01:04:05.580 that, you know, they weren't in their right mind. And maybe we can medicate and treat these people,

01:04:09.260 but you don't let them out right away. I still worry, thankfully, to this day, as far as I know,

01:04:14.360 that crazy man who ate a guy on a Greyhound bus, he's out walking the streets. He has been for a

01:04:20.180 few years. And it sounds like he hasn't reoffended, or at least we haven't heard of it. And let's just

01:04:24.600 hope it keeps that way. But again, just because a person isn't responsible for something doesn't

01:04:28.300 mean they aren't dangerous. What else we got here? Lots of comments. Boy, you guys are busy with each

01:04:36.420 other today. I'm trying to keep up. All right. So let's see what else is in the news. Brad saying

01:04:42.400 Corey has nicer hair than Trudeau. Oh, I don't think so. As much as that hammerhead went and

01:04:47.680 cut it in the Dumb and Dumber cut there. I think he did it himself. I think maybe Sophie turned 0.95

01:04:52.200 her back on him and he got a hold of the scissors and thought, hey, I got a good idea. And he went

01:04:56.620 at it and that's the mess he was left with. Mine's gray wiry and does whatever the hell it wants. But 0.90

01:05:00.960 hey, I knew guys who were bald 20 years younger than I am. I won't complain about the hair I've

01:05:06.380 got. And Trudeau's hair is amazing. He doesn't even have a single gray. Kind of wonder whether

01:05:12.480 there might be a little color involved in there. But you know, the funny thing is, and I know it

01:05:16.740 sounds petty and everything, but, you know, when we're talking about Trudeau's hair and it's

01:05:21.480 supposed to be serious with politics and things like that, but we got to remember that he built

01:05:26.220 his career around his hair. He built his career around being pretty. He had the flowing locks. He

01:05:30.560 was the federal Fabio. He'd make the middle-aged mamas in Toronto weak-kneed and, you know, you'd

01:05:38.120 have to have mops following them when Trudeau would pass their way. I mean, just look at how 0.99

01:05:42.720 Rosie Barton bats her eyes and simpers whenever she mentions his name. 0.99

01:05:47.780 And the one ass that he had, it's not like he could stun them with his brilliance, his discourse, his ideas. 0.98

01:05:53.340 He had his hair and his prettiness. 1.00

01:05:55.240 Well, now he went and screwed with that. 1.00

01:05:57.840 Moron. 1.00

01:05:58.740 So he's not doing himself favors. 0.99

01:06:01.040 Again, most politicians, if they cut their hair differently, people wouldn't really take much notice or say much about it.

01:06:05.980 But when your hair was actually a large part of who you are, yeah, it's saying something.

01:06:13.960 I still, if you look it up, check out that video where his eyebrows seemed to be sliding

01:06:18.160 off and creeping.

01:06:19.180 I mean, people keep saying it was just shadowing and lighting, but I don't know. 0.95

01:06:22.100 I wouldn't put it beyond the peckerhead having perhaps tried to light a barbecue or do something 1.00

01:06:26.680 like the commoners and blew his eyebrows off and glued on fake ones for a while until he

01:06:32.880 could grow them back.

01:06:34.160 I don't know.

01:06:34.620 So if you've ever had a drunk and shaved their eyebrows off, sorry about that.

01:06:39.900 You learn eyebrows take a really long time to grow back.

01:06:44.840 Let's see.

01:06:46.180 Here's a, you know, some stating the obvious from the federal government.

01:06:50.620 Just going through some new stuff now.

01:06:52.360 And a cabinet agricultural minister, Marie-Claude Bibot,

01:06:57.000 probably somebody who's never actually been on a farm,

01:06:58.800 but she's the agricultural minister.

01:07:00.620 and they acknowledged that, you know, that they can't control food prices.

01:07:06.360 The cabinet has minimal control anyway.

01:07:08.920 That's yes and no. 0.99

01:07:11.240 One of the ways they can control food prices is just get the hell out of the way. 1.00

01:07:14.480 Get out of the way. 1.00

01:07:15.340 Get rid of the fertilizer taxes.

01:07:16.700 Get rid of the carbon taxes.

01:07:18.260 Get rid of a lot of the regulations.

01:07:19.780 Get rid of the BS.

01:07:21.480 And it will lead to food prices coming down from farmers.

01:07:24.720 And get rid of supply management.

01:07:26.800 They also acknowledge, yeah, the federal regulators raise the prices for milk and butter higher than a rate of general inflation because they actually control.

01:07:35.620 So you can't pretend you don't control food prices when you literally, by legislation, do control those food prices, those particular ones, dairy and chicken and turkey.

01:07:46.440 So don't make your excuses, guys.

01:07:47.840 If you want to be free of that responsibility, I'm all with you.

01:07:52.260 Dissolve supply management.

01:07:53.360 Get the hell out of the food business and let it land where it will. 0.87

01:07:55.700 Get out. Government makes things worse every time. So just stop. Just stop. Let's see. 0.52

01:08:07.240 There's an MP who pleaded guilty to a breach of the Defense Act and doesn't get automatic

01:08:11.840 expulsion. I guess he's got to be stripped by a House vote. Well, I don't know. This is, I guess,

01:08:19.260 getting into some federal politics and inside ball, but there's truth to it. You don't want it

01:08:24.520 easy to throw a person out of election elected office i mean we want the means to but we don't

01:08:28.840 want to make it easy um i'm just seeing oh okay i see my guest in the lobby there actually uh

01:08:36.440 dr gunnick so we will bring her in i'm glad we could recover this because i've been wanting to

01:08:40.520 speak to her maybe we had some uh confusion on the time zones or something uh so we'll pop her

01:08:46.040 in because at least i'm glad we've got her and we'll talk about what we wanted to so uh hello

01:08:50.360 Dr. Gunnick, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much, Corey. I apologize. I thought you were

01:08:56.760 adding me into it. So that's great. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, we'd had it scheduled actually for,

01:09:03.080 for a while back, but okay. Well, we've got you. Yeah. This is good. I've been rambling

01:09:08.200 incoherently and they're eager for a different voice and changing. So you are a, your specialty

01:09:17.720 is in early childhood care and development. And you've been outspoken about, I mean,

01:09:23.880 we've got a government daycare plan that's supposed to bring about a $10 a day daycare

01:09:28.280 for everybody. But there's not been a real good uptake on it. And it doesn't seem to be working

01:09:33.800 out well for a lot of private providers. Exactly. So the entire deal is premised on

01:09:41.560 the goal to bring forth a national daycare or child care system across the country,

01:09:49.800 decreasing child care costs, increasing accessibility for families, and incentivizing

01:09:56.120 quality through grants. That would be the goals provincially. But what's important to remember

01:10:03.640 is that it's an example of what we call a redistributive policy. It was efficient. We did

01:10:09.480 see a quick turnaround of child care funding in the hands of families. However, some child care

01:10:15.560 entrepreneurs who were in the process of building out spaces, signing contracts, getting their fire

01:10:21.880 and health collateral, they arrive at the licensing stage only to be told, you can't no longer be in

01:10:27.800 this child care deal when others are going to be receiving affordability grants for their families.

01:10:34.920 So the lack of sector-wide consultation, the lack of transparency in the process

01:10:42.520 has been quite difficult for childcare operators. And as well, we are now subject to a lot of

01:10:52.360 strains that we weren't quite aware of. And so I hope that we can unpack that today together.

01:10:59.160 Yeah, well, I mean, I'm looking at a story, for example, out of Toronto with only 17% of their licensed daycares have signed up for it so far, but then the people who are regular customers who might be bringing their children back again to these centers or already, they're starting to ask the operators questions.

01:11:16.160 Well, why am I not paying $10 a day for my care?

01:11:18.160 And you know, 80% of them aren't signed up.

01:11:21.160 And so there's a lack of clarity in the ability to qualify, is it?

01:11:25.160 qualify, is it? Yes. So I can't speak to the Ontario deal per se. I can speak to what we

01:11:33.200 experienced in Alberta. There seemed to be a rush to get us to sign into this deal. But there

01:11:41.140 wasn't the transparency of what would this mean down the road for private providers. So here are

01:11:47.900 few um issues with with this deal first is that uh we are now subject to a control framework

01:11:56.300 that's going to be implemented in 2023 so um uh the government is going to uh be able to tell us

01:12:05.740 how we can um spend uh our our the public funding that we are receiving and um in through a bit of a

01:12:15.820 cost control framework we're not really privy yet to to what the final um framework will be

01:12:23.100 but we are definitely going to be subject to um to some control we also cannot grow um organically

01:12:32.940 so so as private operators these spots available for for growth for expansion um is limited it's

01:12:41.980 not really clear how how many there will be however um the government is going to be uh

01:12:48.940 expanding about 42 000 uh spaces in non-profit over the next few years and for profit is not

01:12:56.300 really clear so if we have organic uh growth within our communities uh demand we cannot

01:13:02.460 respond to it and we're already seeing in particular communities um families are being

01:13:08.380 wait-listed. And as private operators, we cannot respond to this need or this demand.

01:13:16.780 Yeah. I mean, to draw a bit of an analogy, I know it's different province by province,

01:13:20.380 but it seems similar to like when rent controls are applied. I mean, they come to a conclusion,

01:13:25.260 people can't afford rent, thus the government's got to get in there and deal with the larger

01:13:29.900 landlords and we're going to control it. And they'll even say, we might subsidize those

01:13:33.420 landlords. But what happens is they mess around in the market and you actually end up with less

01:13:37.340 rental property available so it doesn't matter how low the rent is if there's none available

01:13:42.540 people are in trouble yes and i the the other issue too is there there will be inevitably

01:13:48.060 winners and losers as the government is determining which entrepreneurs are going to expand spaces

01:13:54.780 and in what community when their plans are in place related to the spaces that are allowed to

01:14:00.540 open under the private sector in a given year this is not equitable as you can imagine it will

01:14:06.540 likely drive a lobby industry with the most influential and powerful fighting for spaces

01:14:11.900 rather than again what i i speak of this organic and free enterprise growth uh pivoting and

01:14:17.660 reacting to creating spaces um and programming based on the needs of families in their community

01:14:24.380 um you're going to see a generally a decline of of growth of and and private capital investment

01:14:30.060 in the sector and this and this is really unfortunate what what i think is is sad is

01:14:35.500 is that the rights, interest and vocation of entrepreneurs,

01:14:39.280 the years of laboring service and sacrifice,

01:14:42.540 the risks that these entrepreneurs took

01:14:44.460 related to capital investment,

01:14:46.380 often against their own personal assets,

01:14:48.900 were certainly not considered in this deal.

01:14:51.400 We needed a deal that actually fought

01:14:53.520 for a win-win solution for all stakeholders in the sector,

01:14:57.300 not just parents, and not mere our inclusion in a deal

01:15:01.680 that comes with significant strings attached,

01:15:04.440 determining how we can run our business in the future.

01:15:07.560 This isn't in keeping with free markets

01:15:10.300 and free enterprise or entrepreneurship.

01:15:13.160 We're creating a bit of an inequality in a cross sector 1.00

01:15:17.460 for primarily in a female industry 1.00

01:15:21.740 where as entrepreneurs, we're not allowed to grow 1.00

01:15:26.180 or we don't have the capacity for that expansion anymore

01:15:31.180 expansion anymore or we're going to be significantly restrained in how we operate our businesses so

01:15:38.300 this is quite an overreach and and the scapegoating of private businesses um it we see it in other

01:15:44.780 sectors as well and i think it's a signpost of what may come across other industries so we need

01:15:51.900 to we need to look at this more carefully we can't just we can't just be upset because there's a cap

01:15:57.580 on oil and gas and forget to look at oh but actually we did cap our private entrepreneurs

01:16:02.860 in child care it's quite um incongruent we can't speak of um setting up shop abroad and talk about

01:16:12.540 luring or incentivizing business and capital investment in alberta and we've we've um

01:16:19.740 we're capping our own entrepreneurs in the child care industry we've always had a mixed model and

01:16:26.940 and mixed economy approach we we honor the the net benefits that our entrepreneurs are bringing to

01:16:34.620 the economy here in alberta so i'm not really quite sure how we can speak of reducing red tape

01:16:42.380 but then we're implementing uh regulatory burdens to child care operators i don't understand how we

01:16:49.100 can talk about female empowerment but now we are hampering the empowerment and career advancement

01:16:56.380 and our entrepreneurial endeavors of the many childcare entrepreneurs in the sector. It doesn't 1.00

01:17:03.100 quite make sense. We didn't have to sign into this deal at all.

01:17:09.660 So this is a jurisdictional questions, I guess, like this was a federal program,

01:17:14.300 but it was kind of imposed on the provinces. Alberta wasn't really that willing, but basically

01:17:17.980 they were saying, well, either you embrace it or we'll just give the money to somebody else.

01:17:21.420 So it kind of put them into a rock and a hard place. But who do you deal with as an operator

01:17:25.820 in alberta for example then is it an alberta government agency for your regulation or is it

01:17:29.980 a federal one yes we deal with the children's services uh ministry yes so we it's it's a

01:17:35.660 provincial jurisdiction um and i i i content that we really didn't have to take on this deal we

01:17:43.820 could have built our own system we just don't have the political leadership the the innovation in in

01:17:50.700 the policy environment or the political will to actually build our own. We could have seen

01:17:57.020 our families funded three years ago already through subsidies or grants that would have

01:18:07.260 allowed them to be paying $10 a day. We didn't need to cede provincial jurisdiction. We have

01:18:13.980 the capacity to build this um internally it it will require will political will it will require

01:18:21.100 some work and some creativity and also um this respecting the role of government the role of

01:18:29.180 civil society the role of market coming together and actually understanding social entrepreneurship

01:18:35.500 for um answering and and coming up with policy inputs that um that deal with social challenges

01:18:44.940 and complexities in a multi-faceted way not simply constantly oh government-run program

01:18:50.460 or make it public make it universal because then we will deal with quality issues or then we will

01:18:55.900 deal with inequality there are quite a few false premises um that belie this this whole quest that

01:19:03.820 we also need to be talking about and having public discourse over because um if we truly want to see

01:19:10.620 uh change and um affordability for families we we need to have a multi-pronged approach that

01:19:17.020 includes markets civil society and government not just government alone so is there other conditions

01:19:23.340 then like is there certain ways that a facility has to qualify before they can apply or or be

01:19:29.020 able to get the funding then or or is it just kind of as long as you're licensed you can be part of

01:19:33.340 the program when it was originally rolled out all current licensed programs were able to be included

01:19:42.620 in this grant right now moving forward only those who are opening spaces under a non-profit corporate

01:19:53.660 structure are able to open spaces and be licensed so are actually there they're able to be under this

01:20:01.260 this child care deal and pass on the subsidies and grants to families anybody can open um a

01:20:09.020 a child care center in the province currently it just um might mean that they're not going to be

01:20:15.660 part of the deal and so the the daycare across the street might be offering 450 dollars in grants

01:20:23.660 while you have to offer full pricing so you can already imagine that um that competition will be

01:20:29.500 stiff and families might not choose your location based on the fact that they can't quite get the

01:20:37.980 grants. So what do you propose as a solution though? Should the government just kind of back

01:20:43.580 out of this program altogether or change it? How can this be addressed? That's the big question.

01:20:50.380 Yes. So I think when we understand the false premises on which this is based,

01:20:56.540 that quality is a factor of the care that is provided and not necessarily corporate structure.

01:21:05.980 When we are able to understand, for example, that the price point is not high or child care costs

01:21:14.920 have not increased because of the for-profit operators entering the market, but pricing is

01:21:22.000 factor of real estate costs as salaries and utilities and and food so so and and it it

01:21:30.000 doesn't discriminate uh regardless of of um or based on corporate structure right so when we

01:21:36.720 begin to understand the premises on which this is based and we're able to move away from from some

01:21:43.120 of these um the foundational framework of of women's equality movement of feminist politics

01:21:50.000 and social justice but actually anchor the way that we look at our children relate the way that

01:21:55.680 we look at family life i think we can build a system that is far more uh holistic and integrative

01:22:02.640 that considers the ecology ecology what we call the ecology of of children's uh lives their their

01:22:08.960 nested reality so their reality within the family within a care structures their reality within

01:22:15.760 community where where they are interacting intergenerationally because right now we are

01:22:21.360 seeing an uh a breakdown in intergenerational constellation so why not build a far more

01:22:28.000 comprehensive a system why not begin with the answer um what is in the best interest of children

01:22:35.920 which guides our alberta family law why not ask the question what is the quality

01:22:41.200 of life look like for our children rather than simply uh simplistically myopically focusing on

01:22:49.000 child care let's some place children and create a child care system for for children how about

01:22:55.140 the the entirety of a family life and start there and so do i believe we can back out i'm not sure

01:23:03.540 what the clauses are i'm not sure if the province is able to cancel the deal but i i do believe that

01:23:10.500 um alberta is uniquely positioned in a in a way economically socially where we can construct

01:23:19.220 something entirely new something entirely innovative if we have the the leadership if we

01:23:26.420 have the will to do so um and i i think that if we presented something to to our communities

01:23:33.620 that looks far more holistic for children's optimal development that takes care of of

01:23:39.060 of family life, of children in parenting, in attachments, in community life, their visibility,

01:23:47.940 that we are caring for those families who truly need the $10 a day or even free daycare because

01:23:55.940 they need this support. When we're looking at immigrant families, when we're looking at

01:24:01.060 refugee families, we have a holistic system, not simply an institutionalizing approach or

01:24:08.980 highly regulating the lives of our children and the lives of those who care for them that's not

01:24:15.060 the answer so i'm really confused and surprised that this is the road we actually took as opposed

01:24:22.820 to saying no i think that i think that we have the the ability to to build our own maybe i'm

01:24:30.420 i'm idealistic but we do need to start with new ideas um for for all of these complex uh

01:24:38.340 societal challenges that we are presented with it cannot be about creating a child care system it

01:24:45.700 does not lead necessarily to quality if we are not accounting for what i what i just had said

01:24:52.820 is that ecology of childhood the the the entirety of children's lives their communal interaction

01:25:00.340 intergenerational interaction so so we we need to go back to the drawing board and have a greater

01:25:06.820 public discourse about what it means to to care for our children and give them a good quality of

01:25:12.500 life does it does it look like um institutionalizing them does it what what could it look like um

01:25:19.860 alternatively and then we start there and then we absolutely mobilize um our financing our um

01:25:28.260 social programs to answer the complexity with which um our society uh finds itself in and in

01:25:36.020 the care of our children i hope that that um makes sense somewhat so some so we're kind of up

01:25:43.060 against the clock now so where can people find more information on on what you're doing and and

01:25:47.460 about these programs and things like that in general is there a website they could go to

01:25:51.940 um right now i do post my thoughts on meaningmakersglobal.com um i am very much interested

01:25:59.300 in in the arts and cultural development of children so so um the community can contact me

01:26:06.180 but i am very much involved in um advocacy for child care operators i am involved in this uh

01:26:13.620 leadership contest right now because i do believe that we need new leadership for the future we

01:26:20.180 cannot simply continue to go to government as the solution for our challenges and we seem to kind of

01:26:30.340 really want government to be funding everything government to be providing the solutions when the

01:26:36.100 solutions are are nestled within our daily lives within within our communities our social

01:26:44.100 structures are ready. And so I hope that if anybody wants to contact me, they can do so

01:26:51.460 through my website, meetingmakersglobal.com or contact me through the various connections.

01:26:59.620 I'm sure some people watching already know me, so they're welcome to continue these conversations.

01:27:05.780 Yes. So thank you for this opportunity, Corey. Great. Thank you. And yeah, we'll talk again

01:27:12.500 down the road and hopefully we can come up with a good policy somehow. It's costing a lot of money.

01:27:16.660 Oh, for sure. Thank you so much. Have a good day.

01:27:20.020 Thank you. Bye. So that was Dr. Amarisa Gunnink and yeah, so she's a private daycare provider,

01:27:27.540 early learning and things like that. And there is a convoluted program. People have been hearing 1.00

01:27:33.300 about that. Basically, Trudeau imposed it on us. He said, look, we're basically going to give the

01:27:37.620 money to someone else if you don't take it, but we're going to force you to bring in a government 0.81

01:27:42.180 run childcare program. And it doesn't sound like it's, it's working out that well. Uh,

01:27:47.140 AB free. Why don't you interview more doctors, such as those warning people about the, uh,

01:27:51.820 some of the things with the vaccines? Uh, we do with some, we do with some, I don't do it on this

01:27:57.140 show. Uh, you know, watch for a lot of Melanie's interviews. She does a lot of really, she talks

01:28:01.400 to some great people and things like that. An issue we've had, and I've talked about that on

01:28:05.480 here before, uh, particularly with this show, cause it's live is, uh, we get kicked off our

01:28:11.060 social media platforms. We get punted. I got kicked off of YouTube, you know, a little while

01:28:16.220 back or the Western Standard did. We were suspended for a few weeks. If we get one more, we're off

01:28:19.700 permanently. I mean, I do encourage people to get on and watch on Rumble. A lot more are now

01:28:24.120 and that's great, but it does limit us. So those particular interviews, we don't run on this show.

01:28:29.480 We do have them, but I just can't at this point or we risk too much. Unfortunately, we're a little

01:28:34.380 beholden to those giants because a lot of our viewers come from some of those small amount of

01:28:38.380 platforms, but we do cover those. And of course, there's a lot of stories on it. And Sineco saying

01:28:43.500 YouTube censorship. Yeah, it is. And they're the worst of the bunch. I mean, all of them have their

01:28:47.300 things, but YouTube is terrible. And you just say a combination of the wrong words and their

01:28:51.980 algorithms will grab you and suddenly you're suspended and you're done. Hopefully we get

01:28:56.880 more and more free and we get more social media platforms that can open up and do these things

01:29:00.440 and we'll all be better off for it. All right. So we'll be talking tomorrow with Franco Tarazano

01:29:05.780 from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

01:29:07.340 He's a regular on here.

01:29:09.400 And of course, there's always lots to talk about.

01:29:11.680 Our government is flushing our money

01:29:13.080 every way they can.

01:29:15.120 And I'm going to have Dave Makachuk coming on.

01:29:18.380 He's our Western Standard columnist

01:29:19.880 and he'll discuss some of his more recent columns

01:29:22.360 and things and came live from Paris

01:29:24.840 the last time we had him on in here.

01:29:26.620 Now he's back in Canada.

01:29:28.180 And of course, there's going to be other news

01:29:29.580 and items and things to cover.

01:29:31.120 So thank you all for tuning in today, guys.

01:29:33.460 And I'll see you tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. sharp.

01:29:35.780 Thank you.

01:30:05.780 Thank you.

Western Standard - July 22, 2022

Triggered： Internet anonymity empowers cowards and censors

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