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Tony Chats With Pierre Poilievre About His Leadership Campaign
70 Plays3 years ago
This week, Tony and Jodie catch up with Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre. The MP for Carleton discusses why his vision is the best way forward for the party and why he believes he'll be a threat to the Liberal Party.
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Transcript
Introduction and Acknowledgments
00:00:00
Speaker
And another thing. And another thing. And another thing. And another thing. Welcome to another episode of And Another Thing podcast. I'm your host, Tony Clement. Our co-host, Jody Jenkins, cannot make it today and he sends his best regards
00:00:29
Speaker
So I will be taking over the reins today. Firstly, we want to thank our sponsors. Of course, our presenting sponsor is John Mutton and Municipal Solutions, Ontario's leading MZO firm. So if you need development approvals, permit expediting,
00:00:46
Speaker
planning services or engineering or building permits, you go to municipalsolutions.ca and you will get your needs satisfied there. We also want to thank Julie, the Muskoka Chef, a female-owned local food services company that services the Muskoka Lakes region all year round,
00:01:06
Speaker
They have onsite and offsite catering, private chef experiences and micro wedding catering services located right on Lake Joseph. So go to the MuskokaChef.com or call Julie directly at 416-846-3653. We also want to direct you to Looney Politics. We have a specific podcast that we do for them. Go to LooneyPolitics.com and subscribe and get 50% off.
00:01:35
Speaker
And finally, this podcast will be rebroadcast on terrestrial radio at huntersbayradio.com.
Interview with Pierre Poliev
00:01:44
Speaker
Our special guest today is Pierre Poliev. He is the Member of Parliament for Carleton. He is a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada and ultimately for Prime Minister of Canada. Pierre, welcome to our program. Good to be with you.
00:01:59
Speaker
So I know we have you on the road and thank you for taking a bit of time to speak to our audience as well.
Campaign Success and Membership Growth
00:02:06
Speaker
I guess my first question is, you've obviously been campaigning for months for leader now. What's been the biggest surprise for you, this leadership so far? The level of interest, we signed 311,958 new members to join the Conservative Party.
00:02:28
Speaker
They are enthusiastic and want to take back control of their lives. As you know, Tony, the party typically has only about 100,000 members total. I sold about three times as many of that all by myself. That shows that people are taking to my message, giving people back control of their lives and making Canada the freest country on earth.
Freedom and Criticisms
00:02:52
Speaker
Now, this freedom message obviously has resonated, as you've indicated, big time. There are others who have said that you shouldn't have built your campaign around freedom, that that's some sort of dog whistle or something. What are your thoughts and your reaction to that? Well, look, I think the Joshua Ray's campaign has said that
00:03:30
Speaker
for the weather. And so I find it strange that a self-described conservative would be so afraid of the word freedom. Freedom basically means that you can maximize control of your life, do whatever you want, as long as you don't hurt others. And I think that is the hallmark of our civilization. And normally you don't even have to talk about freedom that much because you can take it for granted
00:04:00
Speaker
in most times in a place like Canada, but it's like oxygen. You only notice it when it's gone and lately our freedom has been under attack as big bossy government has taken your money and told you what to do. Whether it's the excessive COVID controls early on or more recently, the vaccine mandates that have shut people out of the
00:04:36
Speaker
or the government trying to censor what you see and say on the internet through Bill C-11 or the loss of economic freedom as growing government has priced people out of the essentials of life because government is inflating the cost of everything. People don't have the freedom to buy a home or eat the foods they prefer.
00:05:04
Speaker
have the freedom of mobility that requires you by gasoline to get around. These freedoms are under attack, all of them, because government has gotten too big, too powerful, and my goal is to reverse that so that we can go back to having big citizens and smaller government.
Government and COVID Power Dynamics
00:05:25
Speaker
Who'd have thought that freedom would be controversial with some people, eh? I mean, that was not on my bingo card. No.
00:05:41
Speaker
not masters, but you know, politically leads took advantage of a very real health crisis in order to grab more power for themselves. And this isn't not my allegations. They said so. Um, Christie Freeland said that COVID was a quote, political opportunity. Uh, and from the very beginning, Trudeau attempted to use COVID as an excuse to give himself all kinds of new and unjustified powers that were unrelated to the pandemic itself.
00:06:10
Speaker
And then what they tried to do is gaslight anybody who disagrees. So if you disagree that you're scary, that you're going to spread virus and that you're spreading disinformation, that is just become an ad hominem attack on anyone who dares speak out and disagree with them. But I've decided I'm going to, I am going to disagree with them and I'm going to stand my ground.
00:06:35
Speaker
Now, some have called you a populist, but I kind of see you as a common sense conservative. Can those two concepts coexist? Well, you know, sometimes these labels, it's hard to know what people are referring to when they use these labels, right? I'm on the side of everyday people who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules.
00:07:06
Speaker
it refers to the common people, and our system is meant to serve those people. That's why we call it the House of Commons, right? The government can't spend what the House of Commons hasn't approved. No regulator can impose a single rule without having the Commons pass a law authorizing them to do so. The government executive can't wage war without having
00:07:35
Speaker
House of Commons approval for. It's all the big decisions about money and rules and foreign policy and war all have to be approved by the House of Commons in our system. And that's by design because we believe in our parliamentary tradition that the common people have the ultimate wisdom and they should be free to decide for themselves.
Economic Concerns and Bank Policies
00:07:59
Speaker
And I stand for that principle of a commoner ahead
00:08:08
Speaker
Now, you've had, I guess for years, you've had concerns about inflation. You've expressed those concerns for many months and years now. The Bank of Canada has recently concluded that it did not take the threat of inflation seriously until very recently. Do you feel vindicated by that? Unfortunately, I do. I began warning about inflation around the midpoint
00:08:52
Speaker
last two years, give or take. And more money chasing fewer goods always equals higher prices. Lately, it's been trendy for so-called economists to claim that that relationship between money supply and inflation is gone. And that's an old-fashioned concept that's been left in the dustbin of history, well, until it wasn't. And it's certainly
00:09:23
Speaker
They persevere throughout time. It doesn't matter who's in charge. It is the same cause and effect outcome. And here we are with 40 year highs in inflation. House prices had been up a full 50% in two years, although they are reversing now because the bubble of the government inflated is now bursting.
Fiscal Responsibility Proposals
00:09:45
Speaker
But this is my real concern, Tony, is it's not just
00:09:50
Speaker
consumer goods, it's that all of this cash was introduced to the economy through debt. That's how governments introduce money into the economy. The bank buys bonds, which effectively lends money out to the government and to the financial system, and that debt just expands across the economy. So now, to tame consumer price inflation, they're raising
00:10:23
Speaker
a bigger price for what they thought was a harmless financial transaction only a short time ago. The bank of Canada, in fact, said, don't worry, we won't raise interest rates for the foreseeable future. In fact, when I asked the bank of Canada governor what happens if rates go up, he almost looked at me like I had three heads saying, what are you talking about? There will never be a rate height. And what do you know?
00:10:50
Speaker
That was only a year ago. Here we are with rates having gone up tenfold. You're talking to the bank of Canada's policy rates up tenfold from 0.25 to 2.5. And all of that then reverberates through mortgage, through consumer debt, through corporate borrowing, through government debt. All of them are paying more. And so the question is how much more can these sectors afford to pay before we start to
00:11:19
Speaker
and bankruptcies. So is part of the solution radically changing Canada's fiscal policy then? Is that what you're advocating? So fiscal policy is at the origin of the problem. Monetary policy had had been cut become nothing more than a tool for fiscal policy. It's not supposed to be. Monetary policy is supposed to promote price stability, inflation at 2 percent. But in the last two years,
00:11:49
Speaker
printing money for the Truro Liberals to spend, which has caused the inflation that we now suffer. But had Truro not been overspending, there would have been no need to print that cash in the first place. So it always starts with government overspending, and that's what we have to contain. We need to get rid of wasteful programs, cut unnecessary bureaucratic waste, and then finally bring in a firm legal limit on
00:12:17
Speaker
government spending with a new dollar for dollar act that requires the government cut a dollar of spending for every new dollar, sorry, for every new dollar of expenditures that it brings in. So just like your household, if you decide you're going to spend an extra two random occasion, well then you spend
00:12:47
Speaker
having the taxpayer with more debt and more bills. Well, as a former Treasury Board president, I certainly endorse that way forward, certainly. Now, you've- Yes, well, I know you had to work very hard after the great global recession to find the savings that allowed us to balance the budget in 2015. And that wasn't easy, but it is necessary. And unfortunately, Trudeau squandered that here.
00:13:13
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't last for long, I'm afraid, Pierre. That's for sure after we left office. Now, you've also talked about things really not working in Canada anymore. Complicated things like approving pipelines, but also basic things like passport renewals or using our airports. Is this a Trudeau failure or is this a failure of state capacity or is it a bit of both?
00:13:41
Speaker
I think it's government trying to do too many things. So here you have Trudeau who wants a new daycare program
00:14:08
Speaker
But he's not doing the basic core procedure.
00:14:56
Speaker
live their lives. I know you don't want to count chickens, and I know you're working very hard. In fact, maybe our listeners should know that you're on the road right now in Northern Ontario. Is that right? In Timmins, Ontario. So I know you're busy making sure that people get out to vote in the leadership contest, but there's a lot of talk recently about party unity as well. What do you think is the best way to unify the party after the leadership? Well, I think we should
00:15:48
Speaker
rural conservatives want freedom over their property and their lawful firearms. Progressive conservatives want women, minorities, diverse nations, and all Canadians to be free for discrimination or persecution. And so these, I think these different groups of conservatives disagree on many things, but they are united around the basic concept
00:16:19
Speaker
that that is a principle that can pull our caucus and our party membership together. Last question for you. I know it's summertime and the Ottawa media get bored, but there has been speculation of an early election call, possibly as early as this fall. Are you ready to take on Justin Trudeau as early as this fall? Well, I'll be ready whenever the election comes. That said,
00:17:10
Speaker
the job rather to keep running for election, depending on promotion. So I would be surprised if he did, but if he does make that nonsensical decision, we would have to be ready to take him on. And I think it's pretty clear that you've got a team in place in caucus and elsewhere that you intend to build on that team.
Personal Support and Campaign Involvement
00:17:38
Speaker
It'll be a full court press.
00:17:50
Speaker
parliamentary team to fight for taxpayers against inflation, to bring back common sense delivery services, and to restore confidence. That will be our focus.
00:18:14
Speaker
I know I said last question, but I'm wondering if you could just give a bit of a shout out to Anna, your wife. I know she's been very, very busy at the home front, but also helping you campaign and she deserves some commendation, right? Yes, she's been phenomenal. Anna is obviously not just the mother of my children, but also my best friend and best political advisor.
00:18:41
Speaker
And the love of my life, she's been on the road for much of the tour. I'd say about half of the stops she's come on. She always gets on stage and gives a rousing introduction. I sometimes worry that people are going to favor her over me for prime minister. Uh, but, um, they, uh, she's a fighter. She comes from a refugee family, started her Canadian life in Montreal, uh, was born and raised, been warned for her, her early childhood was in Venezuela.
00:19:10
Speaker
She brings a great life story, a lot of life, a common sense experience, and she's a real problem solver. So I'm very glad that she's part of health and not just obviously my life, the most important part of my life, but also helping guide our campaign. You really can't ask for anything more than she's provided. Well, on that note, I know you have to get back on the road. So, Pierre Poliev, thanks for joining us today. Excellent. Thanks very much, Tony. Really great to be with you.
00:19:40
Speaker
I know you love Northern Ontario, so thanks for some of the tips I want to see up here. You got it.