Western Standard - Western Standard Special： The CPC Leadership Race 2022

00:00:00.000 .

00:00:30.000 Our media landscape is dominated by a few big players, almost all of which are owned by big eastern and foreign corporate interests, or by the government itself.

00:00:49.000 As taxpayers, we're forced to pay billions of dollars every year to support the liberal CBC.

00:00:55.000 But now even the non-government-owned mainstream media are on the take, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in a massive taxpayer bailout from the federal government.

00:01:05.000 This means that even those few bright spots of independence and free-thinking in the mainstream media are now on the government dole and cannot speak without fear that the government could pull their funding at any time.

00:01:17.000 There are a few great journalists in the non-government-owned media, but they mostly work for large corporate interests owned and operated out of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and New York.

00:01:29.000 Western voices, voices that speak for the West without fear of what their bosses in Toronto will say, are far and few between.

00:01:37.000 The West needs a strong and independent voice that is willing to take on the issues facing our people.

00:01:43.000 This is why we refounded the Western Standard in 2019.

00:01:47.000 Since then, the Western Standard has burst onto the scene and shaken up Western Canada's media landscape.

00:01:54.000 With a growing and dedicated team of reporters and opinion columnists, we have quickly become the third most read online news platform in Western Canada,

00:02:02.000 with an average of 3 million readers per month and hundreds of thousands of people watching our videos and listening to our podcasts.

00:02:10.000 Our news team is made up of credible reporters, largely recruited from the mainstream media, but who focus on issues that are all too often ignored by the old players.

00:02:19.000 Our opinion columnists fearlessly take on controversial issues that most of the old players are too afraid to touch directly.

00:02:26.000 The Western Standard's mission is to be the independent voice of the new West.

00:02:31.000 This is why we need to receive the receipts. What did you actually spend the money on?

00:02:35.000 We got some major news breaking at the moment for you.

00:02:38.000 We're making a big difference and giving Westerners a homegrown alternative to the big government-owned and government-funded mainstream media.

00:02:47.000 We're changing the conversation.

00:02:49.000 Now, obviously, I condemn those symbols. I think those are...

00:02:52.000 For sure, we all do at the Western Standard.

00:02:54.000 What are your thoughts on that debate?

00:02:56.000 I think that Tom Clark, the moderator, certainly lost.

00:02:59.000 There's issues with the current Ablett system run by the province.

00:03:03.000 We refuse to accept a penny of the big media bailout that has corrupted Canada's once-free press.

00:03:09.000 Because we are one of the only genuinely independent media in Canada, we are able to speak freely and cannot be cancelled by Ottawa.

00:03:17.000 We have a large and growing team of journalists with bureaus in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, and on Parliament Hill.

00:03:26.000 Our reporters and columnists are fearless and work tirelessly to give you straight news and cut through the spin.

00:03:32.000 That is why we need you, the reader, to step up and become a member of the Western Standard.

00:03:39.000 You can become a Western Standard member for just $10.

00:03:43.000 Thank you for joining us at the Western Standard Conservative Party of Canada.

00:03:52.000 Leadership sort of kind of revised format, not really a debate debate.

00:03:58.000 Several months ago, we invited all of the eligible candidates for the Federal Conservative Party's leadership election

00:04:05.000 to join us during the Calgary Stampede for a debate that would focus on Western issues.

00:04:10.000 The West makes up four out of six Canadian provinces, drives the Canadian economy, and largely pays the bills around here and out there,

00:04:18.000 but receives a disproportionately small focus of federal political attention.

00:04:24.000 Or more accurately, a small positive focus of federal attention.

00:04:30.000 The eight most terrifying words to a Westerner, and especially an Albertan, is,

00:04:35.000 I'm from Ottawa, and I'm here to help.

00:04:38.000 Our discussion today will focus on key themes and questions directly related to Westerners specifically,

00:04:45.000 and federal issues of concern to all Canadians, but that are of particular importance to many Westerners.

00:04:51.000 As I noted, all eligible candidates for the leadership were invited to debate here in Calgary.

00:04:57.000 Four of the six candidates, Jean Charest, Patrick Brown, Roman Baber, and Scott Atchison, accepted.

00:05:04.000 Two candidates, Pierre Polyarver and Leslyn Lewis, have unfortunately declined.

00:05:10.000 And on Wednesday, the Conservative Party's leadership election organizing committee disqualified Patrick Brown.

00:05:19.000 I have no real opinion on that, other than that it'll make for a less lively debate.

00:05:24.000 With that, we've made a last-minute decision to revise the format of today's event,

00:05:29.000 from that of a cut-and-thrust debate to that of a fireside chat.

00:05:32.000 I was personally looking forward to seeing some stampede-style bull wrestling on stage today.

00:05:38.000 But with three of the five candidates participating, there were requests from some campaigns to change the format to that of a fireside chat.

00:05:45.000 So for the record, I'm obliged to note that Roman Baber was less than pleased with this change since he already brought his lasso.

00:05:54.000 In place of the debate, I'm going to sit down with Mr. Atchison, Mr. Baber, and Mr. Charest, who I'll recall just the ABC,

00:06:02.000 for a one-on-one discussion about why Westerners should consider them as a leader and as a Prime Minister that would have the best interests of the West at heart.

00:06:12.000 I personally want to thank Mr. Scott Atchison, Mr. Roman Baber, and Mr. Jean Charest for having the guts and courtesy to join us here today

00:06:21.000 in what most would probably call the beating heart of Canadian conservatism.

00:06:26.000 Every politician in Canada shows up to the Calgary Stampede looking for votes.

00:06:31.000 It's aptly been called a petting zoo for politicians.

00:06:34.000 But Westerners deserve more than politicians who simply come on a plane, strap on a buckle, and don a hat.

00:06:41.000 They deserve leaders that are willing to look them in the eyes and explain why they should be trusted with the loaded ammunition of democracy, your vote.

00:06:48.000 With that, I'm going to introduce our first candidate today.

00:06:52.000 The Honorable Jean Charest was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

00:06:55.000 He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1984 as a Progressive Conservatives.

00:07:00.000 Two years later, at the age of just 28, Mr. Charest became the youngest minister in Canadian history.

00:07:06.000 And speaking of two, when the Progressive Conservatives under Kim Campbell were reduced to two seats in 1993,

00:07:12.000 Mr. Charest was one of the only survivors, one of only two survivors.

00:07:16.000 He went on to become the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party before running to become the Premier of Quebec,

00:07:21.000 an office which he served in from 2003 until 2012.

00:07:25.000 Since then, he has been in the private sector until making his re-entry into politics for this very race.

00:07:32.000 So please join me in welcoming to the state the Honorable Mr. Jean Charest.

00:07:37.000 There we go.

00:07:42.000 There we go.

00:07:44.000 Thank you, Derek.

00:07:45.000 Thank you.

00:07:46.000 Right over here.

00:07:47.000 Okay.

00:07:48.000 Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

00:07:53.000 Well, thank you for joining us.

00:07:58.000 You launched your campaign in Calgary here.

00:08:01.000 You actually did a good place, the Wild Rose Brewery.

00:08:05.000 I was a Wild Roser.

00:08:07.000 I appreciated the tribute.

00:08:09.000 You launched your campaign in Calgary.

00:08:12.000 And just yesterday on Triggered with Cory Morgan at Western Standard Show, you announced an equalization policy.

00:08:18.000 And I'm going to ask you another question on equalization.

00:08:21.000 Okay.

00:08:22.000 But maybe a broader question here.

00:08:25.000 There's been a lot of conflict between Alberta and Quebec for a long time,

00:08:28.000 and it's at least perceived probably to be at a greater level now than it has been in a very long time.

00:08:33.000 Is my microphone off?

00:08:35.000 We hear you well.

00:08:38.000 Can you guys hear me?

00:08:39.000 There we go.

00:08:41.000 You've served as the Premier of Quebec.

00:08:44.000 Thank you.

00:08:45.000 Here to serve.

00:08:46.000 You've served as the Premier of Quebec, and you served in the Mulroney government.

00:08:51.000 But, you know, the last time when the Mulroney government kind of ended badly,

00:08:57.000 as the National Conservative Coalition fragmented very much along regional lines.

00:09:02.000 Why should Westerners trust you as, you know, coming from Quebec, 0.99

00:09:06.000 and you have to defend the interests of your province when you're the Premier,

00:09:09.000 why should Albertans look to you to have their best interests at heart?

00:09:13.000 Now, Derek, and thank you, first of all, for the invitation and for pointing out that we,

00:09:18.000 I think we accepted spontaneously, Roman and Scott and I, this invitation to be with you today.

00:09:25.000 And I'm delighted to join you and to share some thoughts about this leadership race and to do it here in Alberta and Western Canada.

00:09:33.000 Let me start by saying that, yes, I talked and I'm proposing an Alberta Accord.

00:09:39.000 And there's a reason for that and the reason why I chose to come to Calgary on the very first day of my campaign.

00:09:46.000 I'm very much running as someone who has a very deeply held belief in Canada.

00:09:52.000 And that belief includes the reality and the fact that if we want this country to succeed, Alberta has to be at the very heart of what we do.

00:10:03.000 It can't be on the sidelines. And what I wanted to do early on in the campaign is acknowledge the fact that a lot of Albertans today feel left out.

00:10:15.000 They feel they've been set aside, that they're not recognized, that the rest of the country, not just the federal government,

00:10:21.000 but the rest of the country has not acknowledged the fact that Alberta has gone through a very tough time.

00:10:27.000 And yet when Alberta is prosperous and doing well, the rest of the country is very happy to share the wealth with Alberta, with the rest of all of Canada.

00:10:38.000 And when times are not as good, well, all of a sudden, it's as though Albertan doesn't count anymore.

00:10:44.000 And it's one of the reasons why I'm in this race, Derek, because I know from the experience I've had,

00:10:51.000 and as someone who believes very deeply in Canada, that the only way this country can succeed is if Alberta is at the table,

00:11:00.000 and participating in shaping the agenda of the country and its policies.

00:11:06.000 It's what I believe in. And it's been the common thread of my whole political life.

00:11:11.000 And so I'm here to say that not only do I think that's the case, but I also think it's important that we put it into policies.

00:11:23.000 And I understand the anger and the disappointment.

00:11:26.000 But the real question in a leadership race and for a leader is, what do you do after?

00:11:31.000 What happens, what do you do if people are disappointed and they feel that anger?

00:11:35.000 How do we translate that into something that is going to be substantive and real and change things?

00:11:43.000 And that's what I want to do in this leadership race.

00:11:45.000 And that's why I've proposed an Alberta Accord, starting with Alberta for all of Western Canada,

00:11:52.000 but Alberta as the centre and the focus of how we need to change the country, starting with Alberta.

00:12:00.000 So I want to talk about what that looks like. I mean, I don't have to remind anyone here, yourself or anyone attending.

00:12:07.000 Is my microphone cutting out again? It's good? Okay.

00:12:12.000 That's okay. I can do the talking.

00:12:15.000 I was only ever in an opposition as a politician. So I only ever got to ask questions that answer them.

00:12:21.000 Alberta and to a lesser extent, BC and Saskatchewan have paid a ton into equalization.

00:12:28.000 Alberta pays into equalization, even when we're going through a bust, not just in the booms.

00:12:34.000 We've got a boom right now. We'll probably screw it up again.

00:12:36.000 But, you know, we do it even in busts. And at the same time, I think Albertans feel punished

00:12:43.000 because despite the contribution of Alberta and the West more broadly, the federal government

00:12:48.000 and some provinces go out of their way to hem us in from fully developing the resources that pay the bills nationally.

00:12:53.000 So you put forward the idea of this Alberta Accord, the Cory Morgan Show, and this is going to involve equalization.

00:12:59.000 Why don't you flesh out a bit more what you... I understand there's negotiation in these things.

00:13:04.000 And it would be between you and premiers, Council of the Federation.

00:13:08.000 But what would you see as a starting place for what this might look like?

00:13:12.000 Well, I become leader of the party and were successful in forming a national government.

00:13:17.000 And forming a national government also means including Alberta.

00:13:20.000 In the first 30 days after my election, I would meet with the Premier of Alberta to start the process of defining what is going to be an Alberta Accord.

00:13:30.000 And in the first six months of my mandate, I'd also meet with the provinces through the Council of the Federation that I was part of creating in 2003, the chair.

00:13:40.000 A meeting that, by the way, would be co-chaired by whoever is the chair of the Council of the Federation and the Prime Minister.

00:13:49.000 And that's not a matter of detail. We live in a federal system of government, ladies and gentlemen.

00:13:54.000 Canadians tend to forget that. Certainly Ottawa does. They don't seem to be aware.

00:13:59.000 In this federal system of government of ours, which is very decentralized, it is the provinces that run this country on a day-to-day basis.

00:14:07.000 I know, I've been there. I've been on both sides. Education, health, I mean, you name it.

00:14:14.000 And so we need to acknowledge that. And the provinces are not a sub-level in a federation of the federal government.

00:14:21.000 They each work within their areas of jurisdiction.

00:14:24.000 And so within the six months, the idea behind that, Derek, would be I would sit down to shape the agenda with the provinces.

00:14:32.000 And then within the year, I would conclude an agreement, an Alberta Accord, that would be the lead province for all of Western Canada.

00:14:40.000 It's not just about Alberta. It's also, as you mentioned, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia, who may may not see itself as part of Western Canada.

00:14:49.000 And the idea here is to conclude an agreement on a few subjects.

00:14:52.000 First, equalization, making equalization fair for Alberta, which means that if you pay into equalization and when things are not as well, then you're not penalized for it.

00:15:04.000 And that equalization has to be understood throughout the country as being an extraordinary contribution by those who have the good fortune of having an economy that's doing well,

00:15:14.000 but other provinces have a responsibility also in regards to receiving equalization.

00:15:19.000 The second issue would be I would I would be inspired by the Fair Deal panel is pensions.

00:15:27.000 Quebec has a Quebec pension fund. They've done it since the 1960s.

00:15:32.000 I think Alberta should have its share of the Canadian pension fund that goes to Albertans and do like Quebec has and has and run that own pension fund.

00:15:42.000 By the way, I was in the House of Commons in the 1990s when the CPPIB was created.

00:15:47.000 We had a debate at the time, very few people know this, about creating more than one fund instead of the mega CPPIB.

00:15:54.000 Why? There were two reasons. One, to de-risk. If there were more than one fund, you wouldn't put all the eggs in the same basket.

00:16:02.000 And two, to create more competition. Makes sense.

00:16:06.000 Now, this is a significant for Alberta because if Alberta is running its own pension fund, this is a very powerful economic tool for Alberta.

00:16:16.000 One you do not have now. You have the Alberta Investment Board, but this would be a very powerful tool.

00:16:22.000 So the third, I know I'm taking a lot of time, but the third one's immigration. Quebec has a specific deal on immigration.

00:16:28.000 Alberta should have the same deal. It's good for Quebec. It should be good for Alberta.

00:16:33.000 And what would this allow you to do that you're not able to do now?

00:16:37.000 Choose the immigrants that you want to bring in according to your priorities in the labor market, for example.

00:16:44.000 The other area is a police force. If you wish and have an Alberta provincial police, that's fine. That's your decision.

00:16:51.000 And as the federal prime minister who are responsible for the RCMP, I would facilitate that.

00:16:56.000 And the fifth area would be trade, non-trade. So that would be the beginning of the Alberta Accord.

00:17:02.000 A fresh start for Canada in regards to how we deal with Alberta and we deal with all of the country.

00:17:17.000 So anyone who watches the pipeline will know I get very impressed with my ability to segue.

00:17:21.000 And I'm equally impressed with myself right now. Alberta's going through a not-so-quiet revolution right now.

00:17:28.000 You know, in the 1960s and early 70s, Quebec started to assert itself as, you know, Quebec nation or what have you, and to take back control.

00:17:37.000 See this great segue? We had the firewall letter of 2001 signed by Stephen Harper and other, largely academics and some other people in the business community in Calgary.

00:17:47.000 We had the Fair Deal panel in 2020. And I think, so the direction continues to get more aggressive in terms of what a lot of, at least a large segment of Alberta is demanding.

00:17:56.000 Yeah. And Saskatchewan is, I think, coming along on some of these things.

00:18:00.000 One of the major candidates for the leadership of the United Conservative Party of Alberta, Danielle Smith, has proposed something she calls the Alberta Sovereignty Act.

00:18:08.000 I'm not sure how much you know about it, but this would more or less be an act that allows the legislature to declare certain federal legislation will just not be enforced in Alberta.

00:18:19.000 It would be on the books, but it will not be enforced. Other provinces have experimented with things like this in the past, just not quite so brashly enshrined it in legislation.

00:18:28.000 But there were things like that with drug policy in British Columbia over time, and Quebec has done it to one degree or another.

00:18:34.000 If the Alberta Sovereignty Act passes and you were elected prime minister, how would you react to it?

00:18:41.000 Well, and what you're describing in your introduction, by the way, is, you know, a move towards more autonomy of the provinces.

00:18:48.000 There's nothing wrong with that, by the way, folks.

00:18:51.000 I mean, again, Canada is one of the most decentralized federations in the world.

00:18:57.000 The only other country that is more decentralized than Canada, and I hope there's no one from Belgium here, is Belgium, and no one understands how Belgium operates.

00:19:06.000 And the best period is when they had no government for a year and a half.

00:19:10.000 But Canada, and also one of the features of Canadian federalism, contrary to other federations, is that the provinces are responsible for natural resources.

00:19:19.000 That's an exception, more than rule.

00:19:22.000 And so there's nothing wrong, Derek, with provinces assuming more autonomy.

00:19:27.000 And the idea is that the federal government's job is to coordinate this to make it work.

00:19:32.000 The federal government will continue to have very real powers.

00:19:35.000 One of them is called the federal spending power, which is extremely important and gives them the ability to do a whole number of things.

00:19:42.000 But we are stronger when provinces are strong.

00:19:46.000 Okay, so I know you've spoken a lot about autonomy and provinces taking control over their areas in provincial jurisdiction.

00:19:53.000 But I mean to press on this specifically, the idea of not enforcing certain federal legislation on the provincial level.

00:20:01.000 Well, it depends.

00:20:02.000 Let's try to give it an example.

00:20:04.000 Let's take the environment, for example.

00:20:06.000 You know, we could very well coordinate environmental processes so that whatever the provincial environmental process is, it is value for what the federal environment process is.

00:20:17.000 You understand what?

00:20:18.000 And I've seen that done before.

00:20:19.000 You say, instead of doing two environmental processes, we're going to do one.

00:20:24.000 Or there will be the provincial environmental process that the federal government recognizes as being the equivalent of what the federal government would do.

00:20:33.000 That is the kind of intelligent thing you do in a federation that works.

00:20:38.000 I understand, by the way, very well what Danielle Smith is saying in regards to how we operate our federation.

00:20:45.000 And that's one of the reasons why I'm running, by the way, and why I think I would be, for this job, the right person, is that I actually think it'd be a breath of fresh air in Ottawa to have someone as prime minister who's been the premier of a province and who actually understands how the country operates.

00:21:01.000 And what I'm going to say may surprise a lot of people.

00:21:04.000 I've been on both sides.

00:21:05.000 But you know what?

00:21:06.000 There's a lot of people in Ottawa who don't know how this country operates.

00:21:09.000 They don't have a clue.

00:21:10.000 And it's a bubble.

00:21:12.000 And it is a bubble.

00:21:15.000 I've experienced it.

00:21:17.000 And I remember being a premier and saying to my colleagues, I only wish the feds would be as federalist as I was federalist.

00:21:26.000 And let's say, I'll give you an example.

00:21:28.000 For example, Mr. Trudeau comes out of the campaign.

00:21:31.000 He delivers a budget, does a deal with Mr. Singh.

00:21:34.000 They're back on spending when actually we should be reining in spending.

00:21:38.000 And then with Mr. Singh, he makes a deal where he says this.

00:21:41.000 He says, we're going to try to do an agreement on pharma care and dental care.

00:21:47.000 Ladies and gentlemen, that is provincial jurisdiction.

00:21:50.000 A.

00:21:51.000 B.

00:21:52.000 Can I tell you something?

00:21:53.000 When they come to the table, Derek, and say to the provinces, we want to do a deal on pharma care.

00:21:57.000 And we'll co-fund it.

00:21:58.000 I guarantee you the answer will be, we have seen this movie before.

00:22:03.000 And as soon as there are downturn in the economy, you guys are going to walk away from funding.

00:22:08.000 And we'll be left holding the program.

00:22:10.000 It's not going to happen.

00:22:11.000 And what does that say about that government?

00:22:14.000 They don't get it.

00:22:15.000 They don't understand how it works.

00:22:17.000 Well, I think it'd be good to have a prime minister who does and who's been there.

00:22:21.000 Okay.

00:22:22.000 Well, thank you.

00:22:23.000 By the way, I've never thought in my lifetime I'd have Jay Hill and his wife Leah applaud me so much.

00:22:30.000 I may run you as a candidate in my campaign.

00:22:35.000 My reporters have just taken...

00:22:37.000 Oh, I'm sorry.

00:22:38.000 Don't record that.

00:22:39.000 Since 2020, the federal government and the provinces have engaged in...

00:22:46.000 We're switching gears a bit here.

00:22:48.000 The federal government and the provinces have engaged in a very large suite of restrictions involving COVID.

00:22:56.000 Lockdowns, mandatory masking, mandatory vaccines.

00:23:00.000 This in many respects has created a breach.

00:23:04.000 This has been particularly difficult for conservative leaders to handle.

00:23:07.000 I think as the libertarian portion, for lack of a better term, within the conservative coalition, I think has become probably a larger segment than it has been maybe in the past.

00:23:17.000 And it's created a breach with those kinds of voters.

00:23:21.000 It has arguably taken down the last conservative leader, Erin O'Toole.

00:23:25.000 It, I think, very arguably took down the premier of Alberta.

00:23:29.000 We're having two leadership races here.

00:23:32.000 You know, you've been critical of Mr. Polyev and Mr. Baber's support of the Freedom Convoy.

00:23:40.000 And I know that you've said you want to get rid of the remaining federal mandates.

00:23:44.000 I think absolutely everybody does.

00:23:46.000 But I want to know if you believe that, at least the federal mandates, and I know the provincial ones are a whole other kettle of fish here.

00:23:53.000 Yeah.

00:23:54.000 But the federal mandates, do you believe that they were ever justified at any point in the last two, two and a half years?

00:24:00.000 You mentioned Roman, and I want to say something about Roman.

00:24:04.000 And I didn't know him very well before this leadership race, but I know enough about Roman to say this.

00:24:09.000 Roman stood on a question of principle and sacrificed a lot to stand on those principles.

00:24:17.000 And I want to recognize that because that is something that doesn't happen very often and is admirable.

00:24:26.000 And says something about character.

00:24:28.000 And he wasn't the last one to arrive at this, by the way.

00:24:31.000 He didn't follow the parade.

00:24:33.000 He was ahead of it and he paid a price for that.

00:24:37.000 Now, on this issue, which is always a very difficult issue, I think the federal government, I can't follow what their positions are now.

00:24:44.000 I think as we all started on this COVID episode, we all, no one had a playbook on how you do it.

00:24:51.000 And I think we all cut slack for everyone, including whether it's Kenny Ford, whether it's Legault in Quebec or everyone.

00:24:57.000 We're trying to figure out what is this and how do we deal with it and how do we protect people?

00:25:01.000 One thing stands out in my experience and the Canadian experience relative to the rest of the world.

00:25:06.000 It's our inability to treat people in hospitals, what we call our capacity.

00:25:10.000 And that's what the main difference was between Canada and the United States.

00:25:15.000 We did not have the hospital capacity to actually treat people.

00:25:18.000 And that's something that speaks to a very urgent problem in the country.

00:25:22.000 Our health care system was broken before COVID and it's been made worse.

00:25:27.000 I would, as a prime minister, do something that some people think is attacking a sacred cow, especially federal liberals.

00:25:34.000 I would table a new Canada Health Act.

00:25:37.000 I would allow the provinces to innovate.

00:25:39.000 I'd then tie their hands and allow them to bring in private sector care and remaining with a single payer so that we have a health care system to deliver services. 1.00

00:25:49.000 And why? So that we not have lockdowns.

00:25:52.000 So that we have a health care system that has the ability to absorb people who are sick, whether it's COVID or anything else.

00:25:58.000 Now, right now, the confusion is, you know, in the federal government, we have to admit it's broken right now.

00:26:05.000 Can't deliver passports.

00:26:06.000 Airports are a mess.

00:26:07.000 The immigration department has a huge backlog.

00:26:10.000 Michelle and I, my wife is with me.

00:26:12.000 We traveled over here.

00:26:13.000 She's on me every day. 0.99

00:26:14.000 Put the mask on, take the mask off at the airport.

00:26:17.000 We walk through the desk.

00:26:18.000 We don't, no mask.

00:26:19.000 We go for security, have a mask.

00:26:21.000 Take off security, take the mask off.

00:26:23.000 Put it back on.

00:26:24.000 Get on the plane, put on the mask.

00:26:25.000 I mean, and that's all federal.

00:26:27.000 I mean, it's total confusion.

00:26:28.000 It doesn't make sense.

00:26:29.000 In the meantime, everywhere else here in Alberta and in Quebec and everywhere else, you don't wear a mask.

00:26:34.000 I get it.

00:26:35.000 I mean, the federal government, I don't know what game they're playing with this, but it doesn't make sense.

00:26:40.000 And on this issue, now we're going to go through different waves.

00:26:45.000 I think we're not going to go back into lockdowns, but please, let's have the courage and wherewithal to fix our healthcare system so that we don't have to contemplate the worst of solutions to deal with an epidemic.

00:26:56.000 So I appreciate your answer around healthcare reform.

00:26:59.000 That would obviously be a monumental change.

00:27:02.000 Yes.

00:27:03.000 And ICU capacity was one of the big distinguishing factors.

00:27:07.000 I don't want to get my numbers wrong, but little Montana with about a quarter of our population just south of us had the same ICU capacity as Alberta.

00:27:14.000 Exactly.

00:27:15.000 And that should say something.

00:27:16.000 And that obviously means we have a greater stress on our system than the Americans had, and that would contribute to things like lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine mandates.

00:27:23.000 Yep.

00:27:24.000 But I have to press.

00:27:26.000 The lockdowns were pretty much provincial, but vaccine mandates were federal and provincial.

00:27:34.000 When they brought in vaccine mandates, you know, I suppose September last year, I'm sure it had nothing to do with election timing, but.

00:27:42.000 Not much.

00:27:43.000 No.

00:27:44.000 Do you believe it had, do you believe that there was ever any justification for federal vaccine mandates for, say, federal workers or travel?

00:27:50.000 There was a lot of reasons to encourage people to get vaccinated.

00:27:51.000 There was a lot of reasons to encourage people to get vaccinated.

00:27:53.000 I got vaccinated, by the way.

00:27:55.000 Three times I got vaccinated.

00:27:56.000 And I got COVID, by the way.

00:27:58.000 It didn't stop me from getting COVID.

00:27:59.000 But let me share an experience that gives you my perspective on it.

00:28:03.000 In the province of Quebec, Legault gets this idea that everyone in the healthcare system has to be vaccinated.

00:28:08.000 Everyone.

00:28:09.000 No exceptions.

00:28:10.000 And then they go out there and every week they pound it.

00:28:13.000 We have until I think was the 15th of November.

00:28:15.000 Not vaccinated.

00:28:16.000 You're going to be fired.

00:28:17.000 Well, guess what?

00:28:18.000 They backed off because there were going to be 15,000 people in that system who were walking away from their jobs.

00:28:24.000 And then they said, well, you know what?

00:28:26.000 We can't afford to let them go.

00:28:28.000 Now, truckers who were the heroes of the COVID period and celebrated and rightfully so.

00:28:35.000 Rightfully so.

00:28:36.000 I mean, they're the ones carrying goods.

00:28:38.000 And all of a sudden we discovered how valuable those who in their economy were either on trucking or working in shops or other words were.

00:28:47.000 And then he comes in with this rule.

00:28:49.000 Well, I don't think it works.

00:28:50.000 So I don't.

00:28:51.000 And looking into the future, Derek, I don't see how you can impose it on everyone because it's just not going to work.

00:28:57.000 And we're going to hamper ability to deal.

00:28:59.000 There's other ways of working around it and making sure that we do as much as we can so that people have the ability to choose to protect their health.

00:29:08.000 And protect those around them.

00:29:09.000 So I've got the five minute warning on our chat here.

00:29:12.000 So what I'm I'm going to try and be brief.

00:29:15.000 And if you can, too, I'm going to try and get two questions.

00:29:17.000 This is the lightning round.

00:29:18.000 I heard your warning.

00:29:19.000 All right.

00:29:20.000 This question is a little self-interested, maybe a lot.

00:29:24.000 In addition to the CBC, the federal government now directly subsidizes virtually the entire media, all the legacy media and even a lot of the independent media.

00:29:31.000 This means that independents like the Western Standard and some of the other independents here today, we're subsidizing massive, even multinational corporations that are media corporations with our corporate income taxes.

00:29:43.000 And even more concerning, it means that the federal government now was in essentially the media licensing business.

00:29:48.000 We went through it for fun just to see what would happen.

00:29:50.000 And it was positively Orwellian.

00:29:52.000 We've also now we also got the Online News Act coming, which would forcibly it would force social media giants to give preferential ranking and feeds to government approved media.

00:30:02.000 You're elected prime minister.

00:30:04.000 Where would you stand on the media bailouts and the Online News Act?

00:30:07.000 Would those be pieces of legislation you'd be prepared to do away with?

00:30:10.000 And congratulations.

00:30:11.000 You do not receive any federal government money and your subscribers are the ones who support what you do.

00:30:17.000 And so we're stuck with them.

00:30:19.000 Well, and they're stuck with you.

00:30:21.000 And so it's a two way street, Derek.

00:30:24.000 And so and so that's what I believe in.

00:30:27.000 And I as a conservative and someone who believes in the freedom of the press, I find it very difficult to accept federal government is funding.

00:30:35.000 And can you actually look at a society in which the federal government's funding the press and the press is independent?

00:30:43.000 They can say they're independent as much as they can and keep a distance.

00:30:46.000 I I find it difficult to accept that.

00:30:48.000 So I would not fund the press.

00:30:50.000 I don't I don't think that's accepted.

00:30:56.000 And I'm here, by the way, I'm here with Western Standard because I also believe in the independent press.

00:31:01.000 Thank you.

00:31:03.000 In 2020, the federal liberals use the cabinet, an order in council to ban about 1500 different firearms that they claim were military or assault style rifles.

00:31:16.000 This include some anti tank missiles that I didn't know weren't banned until now.

00:31:20.000 I really wish I would have known I got my hands on some Russian anti aircraft missiles.

00:31:26.000 You don't know what we get up to in Alberta.

00:31:28.000 But many of these were just otherwise normal hunting and sports shooting rifles, but largely just that had an appearance that looks scary to the uninitiated.

00:31:41.000 But you said several months ago you would not change any firearms legislation since then.

00:31:46.000 But since your announcement, the liberals have also said they're going to bring in a bill to ban the sale of handguns.

00:31:52.000 Does this mean you would not reverse the band on what the so-called military assault style?

00:31:58.000 If you could maybe clear that up, where do you stand on the changes between the liberals on on the 1500 guns and then the handgun changes they say they're going to make your prime minister?

00:32:09.000 What are you going to do on those two fronts?

00:32:11.000 Well, let me let me touch the essential points. The issue on guns in Canada is illegal handguns in cities.

00:32:17.000 That's the issue today in this country. I'm you know, we have a home in Montreal.

00:32:22.000 There's not a day, not literally not a day where there isn't a shooting in plain daylight.

00:32:28.000 I mean, people are shocked by that. That's what the federal government needs to deal with and make sure that we stop the illegal commerce of these illegal handguns coming in.

00:32:38.000 Number two, this OIC should be revised by experts who are independent from the government and politics and really define what it is that they call an assault and weapons.

00:32:50.000 And you know what? We're going to end up with a much smaller list than what we have in terms of the federal government's baiting.

00:32:57.000 So the anti-aircraft missiles stay banned?

00:33:00.000 Well, we'll have to see. The experts will pronounce on that.

00:33:05.000 By the way, just an anecdote of that. The 97 campaign, some of you may remember, Jean Chrétien made a statement.

00:33:11.000 He was running for a liberal prime minister that we have to stop children having nuclear weapons in the basements of their families' homes. 0.51

00:33:19.000 And then the third thing I would add about all of this is something for conservatives.

00:33:27.000 Every time we get an election campaign, the liberals bait us on handguns every time.

00:33:35.000 And you know what? Every time we take the bait.

00:33:38.000 I'm going to run as a leader of a party and as a in the next campaign on my agenda for the economy.

00:33:45.000 And I'm very determined that there's one thing we're not going to do is run on the issues that the liberals are going to throw at us.

00:33:52.000 But which and we're going to stop. It's gotten to the point where I'm convinced now that conservatives are the most generous political party in the world.

00:34:01.000 They go into election campaigns. They actually give it away to the liberals.

00:34:07.000 The liberals don't win campaigns. We lose them and we give it to them.

00:34:11.000 But can we agree on one thing on the whole issue? They will trot it out again.

00:34:17.000 I guarantee you this will be and if they will want to make this an issue because that is exactly the way that they operate in a campaign.

00:34:26.000 So all of us agree on what the main problem is in terms of guns.

00:34:31.000 Please, let's focus on the things that we believe in as opposed to responding to our adversaries' taunts.

00:34:39.000 Thank you, Derek.

00:34:40.000 Thank you very much.

00:34:41.000 Thank you.

00:34:42.000 I appreciate it.

00:34:44.000 I'll let you.

00:34:46.000 Thank you very much, Mr. Charest.

00:34:52.000 I'm going to introduce our next candidate here.

00:34:56.000 Scott Atchison was born in Huntsville, Ontario.

00:34:59.000 At the age of just 21, he was elected to the council of his hometown and served in different municipal offices until being elected the mayor of Huntsville in 2014.

00:35:09.000 During this time, he worked in real estate and in consulting.

00:35:12.000 Since being elected to the House of Commons in 2021 as a conservative, he was appointed the Shadow Minister of Labour for the Official Opposition.

00:35:21.000 So please join me in welcoming to the stage, Mr. Scott Atchison.

00:35:26.000 Good job, as always.

00:35:29.000 Ron.

00:35:30.000 Thank you.

00:35:31.000 Sorry.

00:35:32.000 It's okay.

00:35:33.000 I had to shake hands with Jean Charest.

00:35:34.000 I think he drank that water.

00:35:35.000 It was a big deal.

00:35:36.000 I think he was drinking from that.

00:35:37.000 You got over COVID, eh?

00:35:38.000 I can just drink out of that one?

00:35:39.000 Yeah.

00:35:40.000 You're good?

00:35:41.000 Okay, good.

00:35:42.000 Scott, thanks for joining us.

00:35:43.000 I think it's fair to say, you know, you might not be the most known of the candidates.

00:35:54.000 So I think part of what this is, is trying to help people get to know you.

00:35:57.000 Scott, nice to meet you all.

00:35:59.000 Say hi, Scott.

00:36:00.000 Hi, Scott.

00:36:01.000 Sounds like an AA meeting.

00:36:02.000 Great.

00:36:03.000 As this campaign began, I think it's probably safe to say that nobody knew me outside of

00:36:10.000 Paris-Saint Muskoka, but that's changing.

00:36:12.000 So, you might not be that well-known, but you do have a long history in local politics,

00:36:18.000 and it's often said but seldom understood that local politics is where things actually

00:36:23.000 happen.

00:36:24.000 It actually affects people's lives the most.

00:36:25.000 You've been on council a long time.

00:36:26.000 You've been the mayor of Huntsville.

00:36:28.000 You've made the trek out here to Calgary to make the case for getting the support of Western

00:36:34.000 conservatives.

00:36:35.000 What is it that you are offering Western voters that none of the other candidates are right

00:36:39.000 now?

00:36:40.000 In a short sentence, it's years and years of experience of getting things done, solving problems,

00:36:47.000 fixing things, actually focused on changing things for the better, for people, without

00:36:53.000 any Ottawa baggage.

00:36:55.000 Ottawa is a broken place.

00:36:58.000 John made that point very well, I think, that the partisan political rancor that goes 0.95

00:37:03.000 on there is disgusting. 0.64

00:37:05.000 And that was probably one of the first things I noticed when I got there, that I just simply

00:37:09.000 could not believe the penchant for, you know, just the next great line that'll play

00:37:17.000 well on your Twitter feed, versus actually solving problems and focusing on getting things

00:37:22.000 done to Canadians. 0.59

00:37:23.000 And so I think Canada's ready for some small town mayor who actually focuses on doing things.

00:37:29.000 Things like the housing crisis that exists in our country.

00:37:32.000 It's everywhere.

00:37:33.000 These Liberals have promised billions and billions and billions of dollars, literally,

00:37:37.000 over the last seven years, and have not solved the problem.

00:37:40.000 They haven't moved the needle.

00:37:41.000 The CMHC has made that very clear.

00:37:42.000 They haven't moved the needle.

00:37:43.000 They've never got anything done.

00:37:45.000 I appreciate that.

00:37:46.000 But my question is more geared to the West specifically.

00:37:50.000 I mean, it's a big country.

00:37:51.000 It's very diverse.

00:37:52.000 And we hardly agree on what the time of day is sometimes.

00:37:56.000 But it's the Western standard debate.

00:37:58.000 We're holding this because we want to focus on Western issues.

00:38:02.000 Obviously, these things have national residents.

00:38:04.000 National issues are often Western issues.

00:38:06.000 Western issues are national issues.

00:38:07.000 But speaking more to Western issues, and you can define that broadly, but what is it you're

00:38:14.000 offering to Westerners, kind of addressing some of the concerns that are maybe more acute

00:38:19.000 here to Albertans, Saskatchewans, I always have trouble calling them, British Columbians.

00:38:25.000 Right.

00:38:26.000 You want to address their more specific concerns.

00:38:29.000 What is it you're offering that others aren't?

00:38:31.000 I think that that's part of, I guess, what I offer is that I'm not an Ottawa-centric guy.

00:38:36.000 I'm actually just a small town mayor.

00:38:38.000 And one of the first things I did when I became a federal member of parliament, the first trip

00:38:43.000 I was able to do, keeping in mind that COVID had started, I came to Calgary.

00:38:47.000 I came to visit my colleague, Tom Kamich, came to visit Greg McLean, and I wanted to,

00:38:52.000 you know, visit and learn more about what's going on here.

00:38:57.000 And I was surprised and dismayed, I guess, at the number of people that said, sorry, you're

00:39:03.000 from Ontario?

00:39:04.000 And what are you doing here?

00:39:06.000 You know, they just didn't get it.

00:39:07.000 They said, people in Ontario don't care about us.

00:39:09.000 And that's fundamentally what I think we need to change.

00:39:12.000 I do care very much what goes on here in Alberta.

00:39:15.000 Alberta is the economic engine of our country.

00:39:18.000 And I think Albertans are tired of feeling used.

00:39:22.000 And that's the kind of leadership that I bring.

00:39:25.000 I'll be here.

00:39:26.000 And I'm making sure that I run an inclusive, engaged, and involved government that includes

00:39:32.000 all parts of the country, especially the West.

00:39:35.000 So let's talk about that specifically.

00:39:39.000 Equalization is a huge issue in Alberta, and it's increasingly an issue in British Columbia

00:39:45.000 and Saskatchewan, maybe less so in Manitoba.

00:39:49.000 Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't heard you make any proposals around equalization.

00:39:54.000 Forgive me if I have missed it.

00:39:56.000 Alberta held a referendum last fall to abolish equalization from the Constitution.

00:40:02.000 It was a pretty resounding majority, despite some problems with the government at the time.

00:40:07.000 How do you respond from the demand of a large majority of Albertans to abolish equalization?

00:40:13.000 You're in the Prime Minister's chair.

00:40:14.000 How are you responding to that?

00:40:15.000 Yeah, I think it would be tough to abolish equalization.

00:40:18.000 It's one of the founding principles of why the provinces got together and created this

00:40:22.000 federal government in the first place.

00:40:23.000 Well, actually, I believe it was added to the Constitution in the 1930s.

00:40:26.000 I don't mean to be pedantic, but it wasn't always there.

00:40:28.000 But in fact, an equalization formula started almost instantly.

00:40:32.000 One of the reasons the provinces came together to create this federal government was to help,

00:40:36.000 frankly, with some of the issues related to debt.

00:40:39.000 The federal government was born with 75 million of the $80 million worth of debt that the colonies,

00:40:45.000 provinces had.

00:40:46.000 It was created in part to help ease the burden and spread some of the wealth.

00:40:51.000 So it exists.

00:40:52.000 But the problem is, of course, is you've got generation after generation of federal governments

00:40:56.000 and politicians that are constantly trying to buy votes in different parts of the country.

00:41:00.000 And they use the equalization formula and they play around with it.

00:41:04.000 And it's been changed over and over again to buy votes where they want to buy the votes.

00:41:08.000 And this is, frankly, the problem with our federalism.

00:41:11.000 John spoke to it, I think, very well about the fact that the provinces actually run this country.

00:41:15.000 They do.

00:41:16.000 And it was designed that way.

00:41:17.000 I think it's time for us to get back to how the founders actually envisioned this country in the first place.

00:41:21.000 And so I say, yes, we need to meet with all the premiers,

00:41:24.000 but we need to take a look at that equalization formula and bring it back into how it was envisioned initially.

00:41:31.000 No more special deals.

00:41:32.000 This is one area where I actually disagree with my friends.

00:41:35.000 Time for the special deals is over.

00:41:38.000 No more special deals for Quebec.

00:41:40.000 Albertans don't want a special deal.

00:41:42.000 They just want a fair deal that everybody gets the same deal.

00:41:45.000 That's what I fight for.

00:41:48.000 All right.

00:41:49.000 I think, I know I'm paraphrasing, but Ernest Manning, who was the premier of Alberta for many, many years with social credit.

00:41:57.000 Hey, we got a fresh water for you.

00:41:59.000 He was around when they were putting the equalization formula together.

00:42:04.000 And I recall he said something along the lines of the premiers were told, just said, here's how much we want.

00:42:10.000 Ottawa, just go find a formula to make it happen.

00:42:13.000 And it's been a very Byzantine formula the entire time.

00:42:16.000 Yeah, it doesn't make any sense.

00:42:17.000 Probably less than even those of us who think we understand it probably don't entirely.

00:42:21.000 It's quite complicated.

00:42:24.000 Your campaign is really focused on trying to unite conservatives and have maybe a more civil discussion.

00:42:33.000 But in trying to be the nice guy, your campaign maybe carries a risk of being the Switzerland candidate,

00:42:38.000 between the big guys trying to bring everyone to peace.

00:42:42.000 And that maybe carries the risk of maybe being lost in the noise between maybe the different kind of polar opposites within the campaign.

00:42:51.000 How do you stand out from the other candidates on the big issues that have largely defined this campaign?

00:42:57.000 I think the fact that I've actually focused on the issues very specifically.

00:43:01.000 I think some of the other campaigns have, you know, focused on each other.

00:43:05.000 And I've focused on issues very specifically and come up with specific ideas to solve those problems.

00:43:10.000 Whether it's the housing crisis, I've come up with very specific policy proposals.

00:43:14.000 I actually understand it pretty well, having done the real estate business and been a municipal politician.

00:43:19.000 I know it well.

00:43:20.000 I've come up with some very specific policy proposals on addressing some of the sacred cows that exist in our system,

00:43:26.000 like supply management.

00:43:27.000 I think it's time for us to move away from that system.

00:43:30.000 It's my favourite.

00:43:31.000 It's time for us to move away from that system.

00:43:33.000 I think it's going to be chipped away at every new trade deal we do.

00:43:36.000 It's time for us to actually be honest with ourselves and say we need to create new markets,

00:43:40.000 which again is another one of the reasons we created this federal government,

00:43:43.000 to create new markets for our world-class dairy products around the world and create some competition.

00:43:48.000 Because we have to make food more affordable for Canadians.

00:43:51.000 Getting tougher and tougher to feed our families.

00:43:53.000 Inflation's out of control.

00:43:54.000 So I'm putting together this very specific policy proposal.

00:43:57.000 I'm not talking about the other candidates.

00:43:58.000 I'm talking about ideas that actually are solutions to problems.

00:44:02.000 Okay.

00:44:03.000 Well, I had that as my last question if we had time.

00:44:06.000 We're going to go straight to that one now.

00:44:07.000 Okay.

00:44:08.000 Those who know me know that it's a real, it might not be the biggest, most pressing political

00:44:14.000 issue in Canada, but I think it's difficult for Conservatives to look someone in the eye and

00:44:18.000 say, I believe in free enterprise, except for this entire section of the economy that should

00:44:22.000 be run along Soviet lines.

00:44:25.000 But it's obviously fraught with political risk.

00:44:28.000 It's obviously had impact on previous Conservative leadership campaigns.

00:44:33.000 I think this issue, unless I'm missing something from the other candidates, I think you perhaps

00:44:39.000 stand alone, maybe we missed something with Roman before.

00:44:41.000 Roman, I think.

00:44:42.000 Yeah.

00:44:43.000 Roman, I think, is actually mentioned on the Cory Morgan show as well.

00:44:46.000 Why do you believe that Conservatives have to get around this issue, supply management

00:44:51.000 in particular?

00:44:52.000 Because it is probably the most powerful lobby in Canada.

00:44:57.000 It is extremely able to, it can exert its influence on the pressure points in Canadian

00:45:02.000 politics.

00:45:03.000 And you're obviously, you're playing with fire doing it, but I think it's clearly something

00:45:09.000 that needs to be addressed.

00:45:10.000 Why do you think Conservatives need to address it?

00:45:12.000 Well, I think individual Canadians' voices should matter more than the lobbyists, for starters.

00:45:15.000 And that needs to change.

00:45:17.000 But I think this is one of those issues that it's, I call it a sacred cow.

00:45:22.000 But it is because of the lobbyists.

00:45:24.000 And it is because, you know, they've created this system that provides stability.

00:45:28.000 I understand that.

00:45:29.000 Provides security.

00:45:30.000 And they like that.

00:45:31.000 There's no question about that.

00:45:32.000 But I haven't tried to demonize farmers either.

00:45:35.000 I think our farmers have done an amazing job of creating a system where they produce literally

00:45:42.000 world-class products within a system that is flawed.

00:45:47.000 And I'm not suggesting for a second we throw farmers to the wolves either.

00:45:51.000 I'm thinking we need to transition away.

00:45:53.000 We need to create new markets.

00:45:54.000 And we need to do it in a rational, responsible way.

00:45:58.000 And it won't be cheap.

00:45:59.000 But it's something that we have to do.

00:46:01.000 Because I think that it's also important to introduce competition into the market as well.

00:46:06.000 Because, frankly, I think the biggest issue that Canadians face across this country right now is an affordability crisis.

00:46:13.000 And we need to make food cheaper.

00:46:18.000 As I was talking about with Mr. Charest, you know, from 2020 to 2022, we've had a long series of lockdowns from the provinces, mandates federally and provincially.

00:46:28.000 It is hugely divided Canadians, but it is especially divided Conservatives.

00:46:32.000 It has been, you know, left-leaning parties have generally not had the kind of party discipline issues and unity issues.

00:46:39.000 The parties on the center right and the right have, you know, because it's been framed by many, and I have to admit, me too, as very much a lot of authoritarianism coming in.

00:46:51.000 And so it divides Conservatives, sometimes along traditional, conservative, and libertarian lines.

00:46:56.000 You know, you've portrayed yourself as someone able to unite Conservatives and find compromise that, you know, comes from experience in municipal politics.

00:47:06.000 But this issue is probably a little less maybe prone to compromise.

00:47:10.000 One side sees the other as, you know, maybe racist, sexist, anti-science, and selfish.

00:47:15.000 And the other side sees the other as heartless, cold, authoritarian.

00:47:20.000 There doesn't seem to be a lot of room for compromise on something that has become so incredibly polarizing.

00:47:25.000 Do you believe you'd be able to find a satisfactory compromise on this kind of issue that would be able to keep Conservatives together where perhaps Aaron O'Toole and Jason Kenney could not?

00:47:39.000 Yeah, and I think, and this is where it has to begin.

00:47:43.000 And this is part of the problem with our politics overall for several generations now.

00:47:47.000 But I think one of the reasons why this became such a difficult issue is because Justin Trudeau turned it into an issue that way.

00:47:55.000 He chose to demonize Canadians who chose not to get vaccinated to try to win votes with those who are vaccinated. 0.82

00:48:02.000 That's disgusting.

00:48:04.000 It should never have happened.

00:48:06.000 But that's how our politics works in this country.

00:48:08.000 We seek to capitalize as politicians on the differences of opinion that exist, whether it's East versus West, urban versus rural, vaccinated versus unvaccinated, and demonize people.

00:48:20.000 So, to me, that's something that should never have happened.

00:48:23.000 It's something that I would never operate as a prime minister.

00:48:26.000 I believe that it's time to start calling this country together, all the things that do unite us.

00:48:30.000 The other issue here, too, though, is that when it came to this issue, I think Mr. Shray spoke about this very well also.

00:48:36.000 Nobody had a playbook.

00:48:37.000 We didn't really know what we were facing.

00:48:39.000 And I think it's important for us to remember that freedom is absolutely fundamental to our society.

00:48:46.000 But with freedom comes responsibility.

00:48:48.000 And so, in my mind, thank you, what I said about COVID all along has been this.

00:48:56.000 I trust my doctor.

00:48:57.000 I trusted him when he told me I needed to have surgery.

00:48:59.000 I trusted him when he said, you need to get this vaccination.

00:49:02.000 Okay.

00:49:03.000 But I also respect the rights of other Canadians to choose their medical choices.

00:49:08.000 That is a fundamental right as well.

00:49:10.000 And so, I also believe, and trust me, I hated wearing a mask.

00:49:15.000 And I am just as frustrated as Mr. Shray getting on a plane and not playing.

00:49:19.000 I complain about Justin Trudeau quite vigorously on the plane when I do it.

00:49:22.000 But if I have to wear a mask a little bit longer to respect your choice not to get a vaccination,

00:49:28.000 then I'm prepared to do that.

00:49:29.000 And I think we should all be prepared to do that.

00:49:31.000 To respect your choice and make sure that we get through something like a pandemic that we don't entirely understand

00:49:37.000 and make sure that we get through it.

00:49:39.000 Mr. Shray also made the very good point about our health care system.

00:49:42.000 And this is another one of those areas of federal responsibility where we created a system in the 60s

00:49:48.000 predicated on a promise where the federal government would pay 50% of the cost

00:49:51.000 and we promptly never lived up to that promise.

00:49:53.000 We have a broken health care system and we wear it as this badge of honor like we have the best system in the world

00:49:58.000 and it simply is not.

00:50:00.000 And the federal government needs to stop meddling in provincial affairs promising to pay 50% of the costs

00:50:05.000 and get back to the job that it was created for in the first place.

00:50:09.000 Like creating new markets for our dairy products.

00:50:11.000 Like focusing on spending 2% of GDP.

00:50:13.000 I want to follow your sidewinder here and onto health care here.

00:50:19.000 Would you be willing to amend the Canada Health Care Act to allow private delivery of services with or without the single payer system?

00:50:30.000 Absolutely, 1000%. That needs to happen.

00:50:33.000 In fact, we need to drive more private delivery of services into the single payer system to create those efficiencies.

00:50:40.000 Ontario did a reasonably good job of creating some efficiencies within their system through their funding formula

00:50:47.000 that drives, basically the funding formula is driven by volume.

00:50:52.000 And so that's driven some efficiencies into the system.

00:50:55.000 But we need more of that and we need more private care.

00:50:57.000 And frankly, the federal government needs to pony up its share of what it promised to share in the first place,

00:51:02.000 which is never done.

00:51:03.000 And so if we did that, then the provinces wouldn't be facing fiscal unsustainability either.

00:51:09.000 So it needs to be reopened and the federal government needs to come to the table with its promised share

00:51:15.000 to make sure that we have a system that doesn't have to be locked down to save it like we did through this COVID-19 business.

00:51:22.000 So right now the boundaries of the seats in the House of Commons are being redrawn and redistributed based on population changes.

00:51:30.000 The Bloc Québécois put forward a motion that would override the legislated formula that would give Quebec an extra seat

00:51:38.000 that its shrinking population does not warrant.

00:51:40.000 This comes at the direct expense of provinces that are growing in population like British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan.

00:51:47.000 All of the parties except for the Conservatives voted pretty much all for this.

00:51:52.000 The Conservatives, however, were divided.

00:51:54.000 I did a little research on this.

00:51:56.000 I think you voted against it.

00:51:58.000 I was one of the few that voted against it.

00:52:00.000 Absolutely.

00:52:01.000 I want you to maybe explain why you did that because the Conservatives were divided pretty sharply along those lines.

00:52:10.000 Why did you vote against that?

00:52:12.000 Obviously it's going to be a popular vote to vote against that here in Alberta, but tell us about it.

00:52:16.000 It's another example of special deals for different regions of the country.

00:52:20.000 Either we believe in representation by population or we don't.

00:52:26.000 I believe in representation by population.

00:52:29.000 I used to have this argument when I was the mayor of Huntsville.

00:52:32.000 In Muskoka, it's a region of lakes and really, you know, very outrageously expensive cottages that exist on waterfront properties.

00:52:39.000 And the townships always felt like they paid the biggest freight, so they should have more votes.

00:52:44.000 And I said, well, that's representation by wealth.

00:52:47.000 I don't agree with that either.

00:52:48.000 Representation by population, full stop.

00:52:51.000 All right.

00:52:52.000 After that softball, I'm going to give you a little tougher here.

00:52:56.000 Okay.

00:52:57.000 Canada's not run a balanced budget since 2008.

00:53:00.000 Under both Liberal and Conservatives governments, we've run a long stream of deficits.

00:53:05.000 They're now just much larger, wildly out of control.

00:53:08.000 The last election, however, the Conservative Party under Erin O'Toole did not run on a balanced budget.

00:53:14.000 They paid some kind of lip service to it, but there was nothing even vaguely representing a credible plan to return to balanced budget in any kind of realistic timeframe.

00:53:23.000 As Prime Minister, would you balance the budget within your first term?

00:53:27.000 And if so, what are the key action items you would take to get there?

00:53:32.000 The answers are guarded yes.

00:53:34.000 I think it's absolutely possible.

00:53:35.000 I think it would be possible to balance it now.

00:53:38.000 The economy is firing on all cylinders, and yet this Liberal government borrowed another $50 billion because they think they need to stimulate the economy.

00:53:46.000 In fact, it could be balanced within that first mandate based on what's going on in this country.

00:53:51.000 There's no question that this government, this current Liberal government, has borrowed way too much money.

00:54:01.000 But it's also important to acknowledge that there's good debt and bad debt.

00:54:05.000 If we're boring to invest to grow the economy, that's one thing.

00:54:09.000 But this government just spends recklessly and continues to grow the Federal Public Service with reckless abandon.

00:54:16.000 And honestly, we need some smart fiscal managers to rein in the spending and focus on the core responsibilities the Federal Government's created for.

00:54:26.000 Now, the economy is firing pretty hot right now.

00:54:29.000 But the deficits are so massive that it's unlikely that economic growth alone is going to get us there.

00:54:35.000 I think it's fair to say there's going to need to be, perhaps even beyond spending restraint, some spending cuts.

00:54:42.000 Because we're spending more now, we're boring more now than we have, even at the highest point of the Second World War or the First World War.

00:54:48.000 It's at record levels.

00:54:50.000 Are you prepared to cut spending, if necessary, to get there?

00:54:54.000 And if so, what are some of the significant items that you would put on the block?

00:55:00.000 Well, I think in what is now an over $400 billion budget, there's lots of room to trim, not cut, to rein spending in.

00:55:09.000 This is Calgary, we want cut.

00:55:12.000 Yeah, well, I get that.

00:55:13.000 But I couldn't tell you what I would cut, other than I would say we need to trim in a lot of areas.

00:55:18.000 The Liberal Government has grown the Federal Civil Service outrageously so, and we need to rein that in.

00:55:24.000 There's no need to have the bureaucracies we have.

00:55:27.000 And again, I come back to this issue of if we were to live up to the original promise on our healthcare spending,

00:55:32.000 we could get out of an awful lot of other businesses that we meddle in the provincial responsibilities now,

00:55:37.000 and we wouldn't need bureaucracies to try to manage what we're trying to do in provincial jurisdiction.

00:55:45.000 Think about how many bureaucrats there are between the provinces and the Federal Government

00:55:50.000 to determine how much money the Federal Government is giving the province,

00:55:53.000 whether the province got enough money, and whether this was done right,

00:55:56.000 so they have to go back to the bureaucracy here for this, and back and forth, back and forth.

00:56:01.000 The fact is, bureaucracies giving money back and forth to each other cost us billions.

00:56:05.000 Let's just stop that.

00:56:06.000 I want to make sure I understand something you said.

00:56:08.000 Are you proposing that the original Canada Health Act and the agreement with the provinces was 50-50?

00:56:14.000 We're obviously nowhere near that.

00:56:16.000 But for Ottawa to meet that obligation, which it was supposed to from the 60s in Pearson,

00:56:22.000 that would be a massive increase in federal spending.

00:56:25.000 If I understand you correctly, were you saying that the Federal Government should be paying 50-50?

00:56:28.000 I think that would be part of the discussion. Absolutely.

00:56:30.000 And I think that if we did that, then the provinces could afford to deliver all the other services that we meddle in now.

00:56:36.000 We could get out of all those other businesses.

00:56:38.000 Right now, there's no reason for the Federal Government to be involved, you know,

00:56:42.000 funding over here for this social program, funding for that, funding for education.

00:56:46.000 We fund all these different little areas, and it's a constant fight about how much we give.

00:56:51.000 If we focused on the original promise and renegotiated the Canada Health Act,

00:56:57.000 we could eliminate huge swaths of a federal bureaucracy meddling in provincial affairs.

00:57:03.000 So I want to kind of bring it back to more specifically Western issues right now.

00:57:09.000 Alberta last fall, in addition to the equalization referendum, we had municipal elections and a Senate election.

00:57:16.000 Every once in a while, the rest of Canada kind of cocks its head sideways and says,

00:57:20.000 what the heck is that?

00:57:21.000 We had a Senate election, and to the surprise of everyone, three Conservatives won.

00:57:26.000 You know, it's been the longstanding policy of Conservative Prime Ministers going back to at least the later part of Brian Mulroney,

00:57:36.000 when we were in the kind of middle of Meach Lake and Charlottetown, that they would appoint provincially elected senators,

00:57:43.000 or senators of waiting, if you call them what you will.

00:57:45.000 My question is two part.

00:57:47.000 One is, would you honor that if you're Prime Minister, would you appoint elected Alberta Conservatives to the Senate?

00:57:53.000 And second, and I know this is a bit of a Pandora's box here, would you entertain the idea of more fundamental Senate reform?

00:58:02.000 Right now, Alberta, with a population of greater than all four Atlantic provinces combined, has less seats than just New Brunswick or just Nova Scotia.

00:58:10.000 It's quite the opposite of representation by population.

00:58:13.000 It's like the inverse of how much money you pay is the seats you get.

00:58:16.000 It doesn't really make much sense. It's almost medieval.

00:58:19.000 But I understand that's a constitutional Pandora's box.

00:58:22.000 So, two parts of that question.

00:58:24.000 It is. I'd be inclined to honor the elections.

00:58:29.000 I haven't given it a lot of thought because it is a quagmire.

00:58:33.000 And I think, you know, Stephen Harper tried his level best to reform it and really didn't get very far with it.

00:58:39.000 And so, you know, constitutional discussions in this country are difficult and Mr. Chiré has cut the scars on his back to prove that I think.

00:58:49.000 By the time I was going to ask him that one too.

00:58:51.000 And so, it is a difficult thing.

00:58:53.000 I think that I would focus more on, you know, fixing the things that you can fix as opposed to tackling, you know, issues like that that, you know, take you down a rabbit hole and you don't ever get sold.

00:59:05.000 So, major center reform would be more or less off the table, which is, I think, a fairly standard position because it is quagmire.

00:59:11.000 But appointing elected senators to the Senate, that is something you would do?

00:59:15.000 Yeah, I'd be inclined to support that.

00:59:16.000 Yeah.

00:59:17.000 All right.

00:59:18.000 Is there anything else you want to leave us with before we're done?

00:59:22.000 You're actually so good at answering questions, I didn't have to bring it back to it.

00:59:26.000 My campaign team tells me, stop answering questions, focus on your own issues.

00:59:29.000 Yeah.

00:59:30.000 Well, no, I don't really have anything else to say either.

00:59:32.000 But, listen, I've really enjoyed this very much.

00:59:35.000 I appreciate the opportunity.

00:59:36.000 I've enjoyed getting to know my fellow candidates better.

00:59:38.000 I've enjoyed getting to know Canadians and conservatives across the country better.

00:59:42.000 And I'm proud of what we're doing.

00:59:44.000 And I'm looking forward to continuing right through until September the 10th.

00:59:48.000 Well, thank you very much for joining us today.

00:59:49.000 Thank you.

00:59:50.000 And good luck on the campaign trail.

00:59:51.000 Thanks.

00:59:52.000 I'll take that with me.

00:59:59.000 Our next candidate is Roman Baber.

01:00:05.000 Roman Baber is a relative newcomer to politics, but he has come out of the gate like a stampede bucking horse.

01:00:12.000 He was born far behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union.

01:00:15.000 When he was eight years old, he and his family emigrated to Israel and then to Canada when he was 15.

01:00:21.000 He made his career as a lawyer before winning a seat in the Ontario legislature as a progressive conservative in 2018.

01:00:27.000 But when COVID-19 hit our shores in 2020, governments across Canada began a series of lockdowns and other restrictions on liberties that shocked many, few more than Mr. Roman Baber.

01:00:38.000 He became an outspoken critic of his own government's policies, something that earned him an expulsion from the Ontario Progressive Conservative Caucus by that province's premier, Doug Ford.

01:00:49.000 Since then, Mr. Baber has taken his fight national and thrown his hat into the ring for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.

01:00:57.000 Please join me in welcoming to the stage, Mr. Roman Baber.

01:01:01.000 For the record, I told him to bring a hat.

01:01:11.000 But as Calgary, Alberta politicians will know, it's important to put it on the right direction.

01:01:19.000 You don't like the look?

01:01:20.000 Oh, no, no.

01:01:21.000 I was a Rachel Notley joke.

01:01:22.000 No, no, no.

01:01:23.000 It's not about you.

01:01:24.000 All right.

01:01:26.000 Well, hardy har.

01:01:29.000 Thanks for joining us.

01:01:32.000 Western tensions, we have a lot of tension with Quebec.

01:01:36.000 It gets a lot of attention, as I discussed with Mr. Charest.

01:01:41.000 But a secret you're going to find here at the Stampede is the ones we really got a beef with is Toronto.

01:01:48.000 And it's not just the Leafs.

01:01:51.000 But you were elected as a member of the provincial legislature, member of provincial parliament to the Ontario legislature, representing a Toronto constituency.

01:02:01.000 Conservatives put a lot of effort into fighting for seats in the GTA, because that's where the votes are, and they swing back and forth.

01:02:10.000 That's where the elections are decided.

01:02:12.000 And the West largely gets taken for granted.

01:02:14.000 That's Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the interior of BC, the part of BC we consider part of the West, except for the Westernmost part.

01:02:22.000 Why should Albertans trust you as a Conservative leader to not take them for granted the way we have often felt in the past?

01:02:31.000 I think I've been blessed to develop my reputation on the basis of trust.

01:02:35.000 It's that Canadians can count on me to make a difficult decision, even when the balance of the political class will not.

01:02:42.000 And it's well known that, you know, you might disagree with what I have to say, and that's fine, that's democracy.

01:02:48.000 But at the very least, you'll always know where I stand.

01:02:51.000 I take pride in the fact that I won a key North Toronto riding.

01:02:56.000 It's exemplary of the fact that Conservatives can win in the city.

01:02:59.000 And Prime Minister Harper understood very well, and in fact, multiple times said that you can't win a national election without making a strong gain inside the GTA.

01:03:13.000 And I believe that I'm able to do so.

01:03:15.000 We have to speak to many communities that call urban centers home.

01:03:21.000 And we have to speak about their issues without fear, whether it's housing, whether it's transit.

01:03:26.000 I think we also have to speak to young people on issues that affect them most.

01:03:31.000 And we have to be willing to speak to new communities.

01:03:34.000 I'm an immigrant to Canada.

01:03:35.000 I've had every blessing that Canada had to offer.

01:03:38.000 And I think that immigrants come to Canada for democracy and opportunity, which are the themes of my campaign.

01:03:44.000 Those are actually conservative principles, and we should not be ceding them to the Liberals.

01:03:50.000 So I think I'm actually very excited about the prospect of leading an election and winning in the cities.

01:03:58.000 But as it comes to the West, I love Canada coast to coast.

01:04:01.000 I think people know that very, very well.

01:04:03.000 And it's now my third time in Alberta during this race.

01:04:07.000 And I'm very, very optimistic that I'll be able to deliver for Alberta and the rest of Western Canada, if you'll permit that to be the next question.

01:04:20.000 I know you've got something to say on equalization.

01:04:22.000 And I'll ask you to hold that.

01:04:25.000 Keep that one in the chamber for now.

01:04:29.000 But so I want to talk about the feeling of being taken for granted here, especially conservative Westerners, Albertans, Interior, BC, Saskatchewan.

01:04:38.000 The feeling that our votes are in the bag.

01:04:40.000 You guys could do anything, and we're still going to vote conservative.

01:04:44.000 So as a result, we are just, we're just not, you know, we're not a battleground state using the American parlance.

01:04:50.000 The GTA is where it's at, and then some parts in around Vancouver and here and there, like those swing areas.

01:04:56.000 We get the attention because that's strategically smart.

01:04:59.000 That's where you want to spend your time and your money in campaigns.

01:05:02.000 But that's really where the focus is.

01:05:03.000 And as a result, there's a big feeling in the West that we're taken for granted.

01:05:08.000 Hold on equalization for a second.

01:05:09.000 But what would you do as a conservative leader to make Westerners feel that that vote isn't just in the bag and taken for granted?

01:05:18.000 First of all, I think that the best thing we can do to unite our country and heal regional divides

01:05:24.000 is to unleash our economic opportunity.

01:05:27.000 And that means availing ourselves of Canada's natural resources.

01:05:31.000 I think that Canada's natural resources are a blessing.

01:05:34.000 I'm not going to let oil and gas be cancelled.

01:05:36.000 And I'll encourage pedal to the metal on natural resources.

01:05:40.000 You will never have to worry about production or being able to transport your oil.

01:05:45.000 I think all of Canada benefits from Alberta's energy.

01:05:48.000 And so that's something I'll encourage.

01:05:50.000 Second of all, I will speak to equalization separately.

01:05:53.000 But it's well known that I have committed to abolish equalization before the end of my first term

01:05:58.000 and provide a tax cut, a corresponding tax cut across the board.

01:06:02.000 Third, I believe in the principle that all Canadian votes should be weighed equally.

01:06:07.000 The fact that we have postal writings in Calgary, one in Edmonton, close to 150,000 by population.

01:06:15.000 And we have electoral districts in other provinces between 50 and 70, some even with 35, 40,000 voters.

01:06:24.000 And so I think that it's rightful for every Canadian to expect that their voice and vote is weighed equally.

01:06:31.000 And finally, it's the recognition.

01:06:33.000 I had dinner yesterday with a group of folks here in Calgary and a woman said to me,

01:06:38.000 it's like it's as if, you know, they come and we're used and then they come back and then they punch us in the guts.

01:06:46.000 And I think that we need to speak about the fact clearly that there are not just regional divides,

01:06:51.000 but there are sentiments of separation that need to concern every Canadian.

01:06:57.000 And it's not just taking your vote for granted, but making sure that you remain part and parcel

01:07:03.000 and important part of the Confederation.

01:07:05.000 I'm committed to that.

01:07:11.000 And actually, I'm going to come back to those feelings around secession in a bit,

01:07:16.000 but I'm going to let you out of the gate now.

01:07:18.000 I don't know what you want to talk about.

01:07:20.000 Mandates and lockdowns?

01:07:22.000 Hold your horses.

01:07:24.000 Equalization is a big issue here.

01:07:28.000 As I mentioned with Scott, Albertans held a referendum in the fall to abolish it,

01:07:33.000 but it was like a tree falling in the forest.

01:07:35.000 No one heard it.

01:07:36.000 I think a lot of that was perhaps the provincial government was kind of consumed by internal political chaos

01:07:39.000 and didn't really try to do much about it.

01:07:41.000 It just didn't really have much political capital.

01:07:43.000 But either way, Albertans expressed themselves in a referendum, remove equalization from the Constitution.

01:07:51.000 I know you've got a pretty, I'll say bold, some would say brash, policy for equalization.

01:07:58.000 What are you going to do?

01:07:59.000 Brash is not a term that I typically get described as.

01:08:03.000 Look, I love Canada's Constitution and I lecture on it occasionally.

01:08:07.000 Section 36 of the Constitution prescribes that the federal government is committed to the principle of equalization

01:08:14.000 to ensure that each province is able to deliver a comparable level of services.

01:08:19.000 So I think that it be rightfully interpreted that the section is somewhat conditional.

01:08:24.000 And the condition precedent that you must meet is that a province is unable to provide a comparable level of service.

01:08:30.000 Well, what if we go out there and we determine that provinces are in fact able to provide comparable levels of service?

01:08:36.000 And what is a comparable level of service?

01:08:38.000 If one province has $7 or $8 a day day care, that's a very different type of service that another province might provide.

01:08:45.000 And what if we were to go out and say, well, wait a minute.

01:08:48.000 Even if we were to concede that someone is unable to provide a comparable level of service, well, why not?

01:08:55.000 And should their unwillingness in develop their natural resources, for instance, come at the expense of other provinces needing to pay equalization?

01:09:05.000 So I know my way around the courtroom. I don't think that we need litigation.

01:09:13.000 But what I will do is on day one, I'll invite the provinces and I'll say, look, let's have a review as to whether you're actually able to provide a comparable level of services.

01:09:21.000 If you cannot, then let's work to unleash, to unlock your natural resources before the end of my first term, because it's time to do away with it.

01:09:29.000 I'm running against socialism in Canada. I think that getting rid of equalization is going to help heal regional divides.

01:09:37.000 But most importantly, I think that we need to turn Canada into the national resources superpower that we ought to be.

01:09:44.000 And ending equalization is an important way to get there. 0.99

01:09:48.000 So let's go a bit beyond equalization is the one that gets a lot of attention, but it's not just that.

01:09:59.000 A lot of the concern is around federal overreach in many things.

01:10:05.000 Anger ranges from being able to keep more money, but putting out firewalls, demands, and to demands for outright independence among some.

01:10:14.000 Depends which poll you're looking at, but last October, we commissioned Main Street to do a poll around support for independence.

01:10:22.000 Support in Alberta for independence was at 40%.

01:10:25.000 If combined with other Western provinces, it was up to 45%.

01:10:28.000 Other provinces, other pollsters have put it lower.

01:10:32.000 I think it depends if you call it independence or separatism.

01:10:34.000 I think it's like calling someone newly single or divorced.

01:10:37.000 It's the same thing, but it has a different connotation.

01:10:40.000 So it depends how you ask the question.

01:10:43.000 Either way, there is a significant minority of Albertans who are moving from the West wants in to the West wants out.

01:10:50.000 Beyond your proposal to abolish equalization, what would you do to ensure the West is in and wants to stay in? 0.71

01:10:58.000 Look, offering a meaningful national conversation.

01:11:03.000 As I've said before, I think many folks, especially in Ottawa, do not appreciate that there is life outside of Quebec and Ontario.

01:11:11.000 And I think it's time for us not to recognize that there is so much strength in our diversity, but also in the fact that we need our country together and united.

01:11:27.000 As I said, we're facing unprecedented challenges around the world, and this would be devastating for Canada to suffer any type of exit.

01:11:39.000 And so beyond equalization, I will certainly look at the representation formula.

01:11:45.000 I think it needs to be simplified considerably.

01:11:48.000 I read a lot of texts and I'm having difficulty consuming that text.

01:11:52.000 The only exception I would make is maybe for provinces and territories.

01:11:56.000 I will not have a situation where a territory does not have at least one MP.

01:12:01.000 I think that that's probably sensible.

01:12:03.000 But beyond that, I think that we need a fair representation formula.

01:12:06.000 As I said, natural resources is a gateway.

01:12:10.000 But also, I think in the last couple of years, and people know that I've been very passionate about what's been happening to our country vis-a-vis the division that the Prime Minister has been peddling.

01:12:21.000 And at the very least, if we had government extricate itself out of our lives, to the extent that it's still much involved in public health, to the extent that it still stirs division among Canadians,

01:12:35.000 I think we're all going to simmer down, we're going to take a deep breath, and we're going to start working again, loving each other again, being kind again, something that I think has been missing for the last couple of years.

01:12:47.000 I have optimism for the future of our country, United.

01:12:51.000 So I want you to take a deep breath for this question.

01:12:54.000 Lockdowns, forced masking, mandatory vaccines.

01:13:00.000 I think your fight against this kind of government overreach has defined your candidacy more than any other suite of issues.

01:13:09.000 You spoke against these issues when you were a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Government.

01:13:16.000 And it earned you an expulsion for it.

01:13:19.000 And I think, you know, I'd not be the only one in the room who recognizes that that was quite a sacrifice to pay for a point of principle.

01:13:28.000 But now you're taking your fight national.

01:13:32.000 Derek, it wasn't for principle.

01:13:34.000 It was for human lives.

01:13:36.000 The idea was not to compromise lives by suggesting or, you know, if you look at my two-page letter of January 15th to the Premier, 2021,

01:13:49.000 there's maybe less than a line in there about the economy.

01:13:52.000 The idea was that we have to factor in the toll, the collateral harm of lockdowns into our public health exercise because we're potentially costing lives.

01:14:02.000 And regretfully, the evidence is bearing the case.

01:14:05.000 So your fight when you got started was provincial, but your national...

01:14:09.000 Okay, I'll let you guys go.

01:14:14.000 I could just see them itching over there.

01:14:16.000 Okay.

01:14:17.000 You're now federal.

01:14:19.000 The lockdowns were pretty much provincial, but mandates, you know, masks and vaccines obviously are a big part federally.

01:14:29.000 So leaving aside the provincial stuff, because you're in the national stage now, what would you do as Prime Minister to ensure those kinds of restrictions on freedoms never happen again?

01:14:40.000 All right.

01:14:41.000 So a couple of things.

01:14:42.000 I've enjoyed listening to my friends today about their proposals for the Canada Health Act.

01:14:47.000 And it's good that we have a vibrant race of ideas and we have courage to go places we haven't done before.

01:14:54.000 That's great.

01:14:55.000 And I do support a reform that would provide for more private delivery systems with a single pair.

01:15:02.000 But at the same time, I will also amend the Canada Health Act to provide that we can never have discrimination against the Canadian because of their medical status.

01:15:12.000 Ever.

01:15:13.000 I would think...

01:15:17.000 But beyond that, the fight has not just been about mandates and choice and lockdowns.

01:15:23.000 It's been about the culture, in fact, the political correctness, the radical cancel culture that precipitated this public health exercise.

01:15:36.000 And part of it was foreclosing on discussion, right?

01:15:41.000 I've never...

01:15:42.000 You can't just tap your chest and yell freedom.

01:15:45.000 And to those that try to make this argument as simplistic as freedom versus mandates or freedom versus health, that respectfully, I don't think is the right prism.

01:15:57.000 I would propose that we're sensible people and intelligent and we can have a conversation if conversation is permitted.

01:16:06.000 Freedom is not absolute.

01:16:08.000 You know, liberty is prescribed in Section 7, but we still incarcerate people if we believe that democratically established principles warrant so.

01:16:19.000 So I didn't say we have to fight for freedom.

01:16:23.000 I said it's up to government to...

01:16:26.000 The government carries the burden if it's going to engage in this remarkable action of foreclosing on our freedoms.

01:16:33.000 And I don't believe that the case actually warrants so.

01:16:36.000 We knew very early on that 80% of the risk is in long-term care homes.

01:16:39.000 We knew that the virus is considerably more transmissible, making some of the metrics that we're worried about, like hospitalization and death considerably lower.

01:16:48.000 Let's reassess the risk.

01:16:50.000 Instead, we continue to operate as if we're still stuck in March or April 2020.

01:16:58.000 And so once we actually look at some of the metrics and appreciate what we've learned, thankfully, then there was no reason to engage in this remarkable public health exercise that was so devastating and will be devastating, I think, for generations, especially on our children who regress considerably.

01:17:16.000 So that brings me back to your question on democracy, which is allow for discussion.

01:17:21.000 And that means I will eliminate all the preconditions that precipitated what had transpired.

01:17:28.000 And that is the limit on our ability to communicate, whether it's in Parliament.

01:17:33.000 I suffered from a deficit of democracy in Parliament.

01:17:35.000 Our ability to communicate on social media.

01:17:37.000 I will enter into an arrangement with social media giants to ensure that we're not going to be abridging the right of Canadians to free speech online.

01:17:46.000 I will protect regulated professionals, certainly federal ones, and through agreement with the provinces.

01:17:53.000 And I will ensure that we have free and independent media, because you can't have free and independent media when the government signs the media's paycheck.

01:17:59.000 So let me ask this next question.

01:18:00.000 Sure.

01:18:01.000 I apologize.

01:18:02.000 I'm happy with my segues here.

01:18:07.000 Freedom has been a major theme of your campaign.

01:18:10.000 And so I want to talk about freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

01:18:13.000 The federal government now subsidizes nearly the entire Canadian media.

01:18:18.000 It means now that they're essentially licensing media, going through their content, you know, saying, are you good media?

01:18:28.000 Are you bad media?

01:18:29.000 Are you bad media?

01:18:30.000 And the government can pull your funding at any time.

01:18:32.000 And, you know, I think a lot of journalists who are in that media, they're doing their best.

01:18:36.000 But there's got to be, at least in more of the business side and the publishers, there's got to be that sort of Damocles hanging over them that if they cross some line, the government's going to pull their funding and they're in trouble.

01:18:47.000 And I think that's got clear and obvious consequences.

01:18:50.000 We've now got the Online News Act forcibly, you know, forced certain ranking of government approved news sources, the Online Harms Act censoring users, the Online Streaming Act to create taxes on independent content creators to redistribute it to big ones to create CanCon that no one will probably watch.

01:19:09.000 It's a large suite of legislation, and I know it's a lot to take in, but if you're Prime Minister, what would be the fate of these bills and the media bailout?

01:19:21.000 I will defund and I'll spin off CBC by lunchtime.

01:19:25.000 That's easy.

01:19:32.000 I don't think they like that.

01:19:34.000 But beyond that, I'll go a step further.

01:19:36.000 Of course, I'll end all media bailouts and all media subsidies, but you have to go a step further.

01:19:41.000 One of the new phenomenas we've witnessed in the last couple of years is the record buys of government, of ad buys, advertising buys.

01:19:50.000 By government in the media.

01:19:52.000 I don't know where that was.

01:19:54.000 We didn't get it.

01:19:55.000 And that's been prevalent throughout.

01:19:58.000 And many of that advertising was also self-serving.

01:20:02.000 And that is not just anti-democratic.

01:20:06.000 I think it's shameful that we would spend taxpayer money to promote our own government agenda.

01:20:13.000 So I'm going to limit and end.

01:20:19.000 If I may, so as you said, I was born in the former Soviet Union.

01:20:23.000 I still remember there's a newspaper called Pravda and Pravda means truth, which ironic in and of itself.

01:20:30.000 So they would plaster Pravda all over.

01:20:34.000 And essentially, it was a machine for government talking points.

01:20:39.000 And that's what we've been witnessing the last couple of years.

01:20:41.000 That's why we're in this mess right now.

01:20:43.000 There is no democracy without free and independent media.

01:20:46.000 I'm committed to restoring democracy in our country.

01:20:56.000 I'm going to kind of come at you with a similar question that I asked Mr. Shere around firearms.

01:21:01.000 In 2020, liberals banned about 1,500 different weapons.

01:21:08.000 Most of them just look scary.

01:21:10.000 A bunch of them, as I was saying earlier, I was very surprised to learn we're not somehow illegal.

01:21:16.000 There were anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles on there.

01:21:18.000 But a bunch of them were just regular hunting and sport shooting rifles that were painted black and maybe just look scary.

01:21:24.000 But we're not functionally different than that old Woodstock shotgun that your grandpa left above the camp adore.

01:21:30.000 But they just, if it looks scary, it was banned.

01:21:32.000 And now we've got pending federal legislation that the Liberals have promised it's going to come in the fall.

01:21:41.000 It's obviously going to pass with support of the NDP that will ban the sale and transfer of handguns.

01:21:48.000 I think it's pretty clearly a clear step in the direction of just banning handguns.

01:21:53.000 And maybe that'll go further than even just handguns.

01:21:56.000 If you're Prime Minister, is there any part of that you would not roll back?

01:22:01.000 I'll roll back all of it.

01:22:04.000 So I can buy the anti-aircraft missiles.

01:22:06.000 So I'm definitely going to repeal the regulation.

01:22:09.000 And I'm going to roll back on the legislation that's proposed right now.

01:22:14.000 Keep in mind, so York Center is regretfully home to one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country.

01:22:22.000 And all of that violence is perpetuated with illegal guns.

01:22:26.000 And so any Liberal suggestion that any of their attempts to, in some cases even, expropriate the property of Canadians would make a dent in crime or any meaningful difference in crime is false.

01:22:45.000 This is an issue that we failed to communicate as Conservatives.

01:22:49.000 Almost all gun crime is committed with illegal guns.

01:22:52.000 Instead of penalizing law-abiding gun owners, I would propose that we actually tackle the issue.

01:22:58.000 And that is the flow, the illegal smuggling of guns across the border.

01:23:04.000 The Canada Border Agency is dysfunctional, much like most federal agencies these days.

01:23:10.000 It's got bad culture, it's poorly managed, and it's underfunded.

01:23:15.000 Instead, I'm going to restore a culture of responsibility and professionalism in government.

01:23:21.000 And that would include the Canada Border Services Agency.

01:23:25.000 We need to focus on preventing the flow of illegal guns instead of punishing law-abiding Canadians.

01:23:32.000 Let's talk a little bit about the Senate, as I've talked to some of the other candidates.

01:23:42.000 We have these things in Alberta we call Senate elections to elect Senators-in-waiting.

01:23:47.000 I think it's the only election in Canada that doesn't actually get you anything.

01:23:53.000 Well, it gets you brownie points.

01:23:56.000 And if there's a Conservative Prime Minister, generally, there's a good chance they're going to appoint you.

01:24:02.000 So I'm going to ask you the same questions I asked Mr. Atchison.

01:24:05.000 If you're Prime Minister, would you commit to appointing elected Senators-in-waiting?

01:24:09.000 And second, would you entertain any kind of broader constitutional reform that would see changes to the Senate?

01:24:15.000 You know, again, Alberta has a greater population than all four Atlantic provinces combined, quite a bit more.

01:24:21.000 But we have just over half the Senators of New Brunswick by itself.

01:24:25.000 Or Nova Scotia by itself.

01:24:27.000 It's not just not representation by population.

01:24:30.000 There is no logical rhyme or reason to it.

01:24:35.000 So that's a two-part question.

01:24:38.000 Yes, to the first part.

01:24:39.000 I'll absolutely respect Alberta's desire to put forth elected Senators.

01:24:44.000 But at the same time, Derek, and I think most voters know that I say it like it is, or at least the way I perceive it.

01:24:51.000 And I'm not sure that there's appetite in Canada for constitutional reform, especially given how divided we are as a nation these days, as you need very, very broad consensus.

01:25:03.000 That doesn't mean that I'm not going to have a conversation.

01:25:06.000 I was so pleasantly surprised towards the end of February, where on the Tuesday or Wednesday, the invocation of the Emergencies Act was on Monday, after the alleged emergency was behind us.

01:25:22.000 And of course, I'm of a very strong view that it was an unlawful invocation of emergencies.

01:25:27.000 But on the Wednesday, the Prime Minister pulled the legislation from the Senate because he didn't have the votes in the Senate.

01:25:34.000 And all of a sudden, a lot of Canadians, including myself, and I'm very interested in these subject matters, realized that we have a house of sober second thought, as John A. Macdonald famously noted.

01:25:48.000 And they were able to make a material difference in the development of our nation's history as it was about to invoke the successor of the War Measures Act for the first time.

01:26:00.000 So I think that there may be a greater role for the Senate to play.

01:26:05.000 This is, regretfully, probably more of an academic discussion, which I enjoy very much, but I'd like to have a look at it.

01:26:12.000 I just think that in order for us to have meaningful Senate reform, we need to start healing regional divides.

01:26:19.000 We need to restore the rule of law, something that I think is absent right now from Ottawa.

01:26:23.000 I think we need to reframe the conversation. Like Scott said, if there was just one area of disagreement I'd have with John today is that I don't think that we need a special deal.

01:26:32.000 We're all Canadian. I think it's time to start treated provinces equally. Equalization comes to mind or the lack thereof.

01:26:42.000 I'd like to have a look at Senate reform, if possible, recognizing that it's very, very difficult.

01:26:47.000 I don't know if it was Sir John McDonough who coined the frame House of Sober Second Thought.

01:26:52.000 But if so, it's particularly, it's deliciously ironic that he would talk about it being sober.

01:26:58.000 I'm going to have to get into that, but it's a good chance it wasn't.

01:27:02.000 Many lawyers make that joke after they get called to the bar and go to the bar.

01:27:08.000 Speaking of called to the bar, we're going to be wrapping up here in a second.

01:27:14.000 Actually, no, I guess we're out of time now.

01:27:17.000 Robyn, I'm delighted that you could join us here today.

01:27:20.000 I appreciate you speaking to Western Centre readers, members and everyone joining us here.

01:27:25.000 Thank you and good luck on the campaign trail.

01:27:27.000 Thank you so much, Derek.

01:27:38.000 So I'm about to call you all to the bar too.

01:27:41.000 Mr. Babber, Mr. Shere, Mr. Atchison, on behalf of the Western Standards readers and members and those joining us,

01:27:51.000 thank you for coming and sharing your thoughts with us today.

01:27:54.000 When I'm finally done whinging, I would like to invite the candidates back up to the stage for a group photo and to suffer the abuse of the local Calgary media.

01:28:09.000 I've done my best to be fair and balanced here today.

01:28:13.000 If any of you do not think I've been, I invite you to unsubscribe.

01:28:18.000 Because the Western Standard refuses to accept government money, that might actually hurt.

01:28:24.000 So before I let you go, though, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that we have this beautiful room here at the Calgary Petroleum Club today,

01:28:31.000 not because we actually rented it, but because I promised them that we would run up a giant bar tab.

01:28:38.000 I'm not joking.

01:28:40.000 This means that if everyone here today doesn't have at least one or two tastes of the hooch,

01:28:46.000 the poor Western Standard will have to foot the bill for an extra room rental.

01:28:50.000 So this being a room of Alberta Conservatives at the Calgary Stampede,

01:28:54.000 I am confident that you will all do your duty to eat, drink and be merry.

01:29:06.000 So thank you all very much for joining us today.

01:29:08.000 Have a great stampede.

01:29:09.000 God bless Alberta.

01:29:19.000 Our media landscape is dominated by a few big players,

01:29:22.000 almost all of which are owned by big Eastern and foreign corporate interests,

01:29:26.000 or by the government itself.

01:29:28.000 As taxpayers, we're forced to pay billions of dollars every year to support the liberal CBC.

01:29:33.000 But now even the non-government owned mainstream media are on the take,

01:29:37.000 receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in a massive taxpayer bailout from the federal government.

01:29:43.000 This means that even those few bright spots of independence and free thinking in the mainstream media

01:29:49.000 are now on the government dole and cannot speak without fear that the government could pull their funding at any time.

01:29:56.000 There are a few great journalists in the non-government owned media,

01:29:59.000 but they mostly work for large corporate interests owned and operated out of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and New York.

01:30:07.000 Western voices, voices that speak for the West without fear of what their bosses in Toronto will say,

01:30:14.000 are far and few between.

01:30:16.000 The West needs a strong and independent voice that is willing to take on the issues facing our people.

01:30:22.000 This is why we refounded the Western Standard in 2019.

01:30:26.000 Since then, the Western Standard has burst onto the scene and shaken up Western Canada's media landscape.

01:30:32.000 With a growing and dedicated team of reporters and opinion columnists,

01:30:37.000 we have quickly become the third most read online news platform in Western Canada,

01:30:41.000 with an average of 3 million readers per month and hundreds of thousands of people watching our videos and listening to our podcasts.

01:30:49.000 Our news team is made up of credible reporters, largely recruited from the mainstream media,

01:30:54.000 but who focus on issues that are all too often ignored by the old players.

01:30:59.000 Our opinion columnists fearlessly take on controversial issues that most of the old players are too afraid to touch directly.

01:31:06.000 The Western Standard's mission is to be the independent voice of the new West.

01:31:10.000 This is why we need to receive the receipts. What did you actually spend the money on?

01:31:15.000 We got some major news breaking at the moment for you.

01:31:18.000 We're making a big difference and giving Westerners a homegrown alternative to the big government owned and government funded mainstream media.

01:31:26.000 We're changing the conversation.

01:31:28.000 Obviously, I condemn those symbols. I think those are-

01:31:31.000 For sure, we all do at the Western Standard's.

01:31:33.000 What are your thoughts on that debate?

01:31:35.000 I think that Tom Clark, the moderator, certainly lost.

01:31:38.000 There's issues with the current system run by the province.

01:31:42.000 We refuse to accept a penny of the big media bailout that has corrupted Canada's once free breasts.

01:31:48.000 Because we are one of the only genuinely independent media in Canada, we are able to speak freely and cannot be cancelled by Ottawa.

01:31:57.000 We have a large and growing team of journalists with bureaus in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, and on Parliament Hill.

01:32:05.000 Our reporters and columnists are fearless and work tirelessly to give you straight news and cut through the spin.

01:32:12.000 That is why we need you, the reader, to step up and become a member of the Western Standard.

01:32:18.000 You can become a Western Standard member for just $10 a month or $99 a year for unlimited access.

01:32:25.000 Much cheaper than a subscription to one of the big government funded newspapers.

01:32:29.000 We are reinvesting every penny of that back into improving our ability to provide you with real, independent, and original Western news and opinion coverage.

01:32:40.000 Supporting independent media with your membership is the price of having any media left in this country that isn't on the government take.

01:32:47.000 If you want there to be any independent Western media left, then we need you to step up and support it.

01:32:53.000 Without people like you supporting independent media, all that will be left is the corrupt, government-owned, and government-funded press.

01:33:02.000 We've built something great that is challenging the old media, and we're making a big difference.

01:33:08.000 Together, we can make sure that we have a voice that speaks for a West that is strong and free.

01:33:23.000 We're working the

01:33:25.480 buckle up so we can get other people around that.

01:33:30.000 Seth Letz

01:33:30.360 You

01:33:31.080 END

01:33:32.180 UNDITIONS

01:33:32.780 多

01:33:34.000 une

01:33:34.180 traveling

01:33:35.700 How is energy?

01:33:39.800 We are in a drinking government

01:33:40.900 Most of the reasons are important to most education.

01:33:43.860 Re 아니면

01:33:44.180 Women 1.00

01:33:44.880 People

01:33:45.860 People

01:33:45.940 Lo

01:33:47.160 People

01:33:48.000 Pe..!

01:33:48.400 We do

01:33:49.360 We are in a up

01:33:50.880 southern

Western Standard - July 11, 2022

Western Standard Special： The CPC Leadership Race 2022

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript