Canadian MP TORCHES Trump Plans in RESURFACED SPEECH

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast: Canadian MP Torches Trump Plans in Resurfaced Speech

Release Date: December 16, 2024

In this compelling episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, hosts Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas delve into a heated discussion featuring Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) Charlie Angus. The episode centers around Angus's critical stance on the Conservative Party's policies, the state of democracy in Canada compared to the United States, and the international implications of rising authoritarianism. Through incisive analysis and engaging dialogue, the Meiselas brothers illuminate key issues affecting both Canadian and global political landscapes.

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1. Gun Control Debate in Canada

The episode opens with a segment highlighting a recent speech by MP Charlie Angus, where he vehemently criticizes the Conservative Party's position on gun control. Angus challenges the party's leader for seemingly shifting the focus from banning AR-15 rifles—a weapon infamously used in the tragic Sandy Hook massacre—to instead targeting hunting rifles.

Notable Quote:

"[...] the Conservative leader was tweeting that the government wasn't going after the AR15 but hunting rifles. So little wonder he gets endorsed by Alex Jones who's notorious for taunting families and children murdered by the AR15."
— Charlie Angus [01:03]

Angus demands clarity from the Minister of Public Safety regarding the government's true intentions. In response, the Minister emphasizes that the current regulations aim to remove firearms designed for mass casualties, ensuring that law-abiding hunters and sportspersons remain unaffected.

Minister of Public Safety's Response:

"We're taking away guns that were designed to kill people on the battlefield and we're also prepared to compensate the people that bought those guns lawfully."
— Minister of Public Safety [02:10]

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2. Comparing Canadian and U.S. Political Systems

Host Jordy Meiselas commends Angus for his forthright approach in the House of Commons, contrasting it with the often polarized and financially influenced political environment in the United States. He underscores the strengths of the Canadian system, particularly in campaign financing and the nonpartisan judiciary.

Key Points:

• Campaign Financing: In Canada, campaign limits are stringent, with candidates typically spending around $100,000, far less than the exorbitant sums seen in U.S. elections. This ensures a more level playing field, allowing individuals from diverse backgrounds to run for office without the backing of billionaire donors or powerful Political Action Committees (PACs).

• Judiciary Independence: Unlike the U.S., where the Supreme Court has become increasingly politicized, Canada maintains a nonpartisan Supreme Court that upholds constitutional integrity without undue political influence.

Notable Quote:

"There are campaign limits. Corporations cannot donate upfront. So that allows a level playing field and allows people like me, a kid from a mining town, to actually run and represent people that I couldn't probably be able to do in the United States."
— Charlie Angus [05:10]

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3. Threats to Democracy: Disinformation and Authoritarianism

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the broader threats to democracy, both within Canada and internationally. Angus highlights the surge of dark money and online disinformation campaigns that undermine democratic processes. He draws parallels between these tactics and those employed by authoritarian leaders globally, suggesting that these strategies transcend national borders.

Key Points:

• Dark Money Influence: The influx of untraceable funds into political discourse, particularly through platforms like Twitter (formerly X) and Meta (Facebook), fuels toxic narratives and hate campaigns.

• Disinformation Campaigns: The spread of false information, often propagated by offshore bot farms and entities with vested interests, poses a significant threat to informed public discourse and democratic stability.

Notable Quote:

"We have a lot of dark money appearing and it's certainly on the platforms. [...] How much of that was driven by offshore bot farms and Russian disinformation is a huge question."
— Charlie Angus [05:10]

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4. Resilience and Community Rebuilding

Angus delivers a poignant message emphasizing the importance of resilience and community rebuilding in the face of rising authoritarianism. Drawing inspiration from historical figures and his own family's legacy, he calls for a unified grassroots movement to combat hate and political manipulation.

Notable Quote:

"We got to start rebuilding at the grassroots. We got to start rebuilding our communities, we got to start rebuilding our networks. We got to make ourselves resilient to hate and resilient to grifters."
— Charlie Angus [11:29]

He urges Canadians to draw strength from their ancestors' perseverance during times of uncertainty and to embody that same toughness to safeguard democracy.

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5. International Implications and the Need for Global Solidarity

The hosts expand the discussion to the international stage, noting that the challenges faced by Canada are echoed in other countries experiencing political turmoil and authoritarian shifts. They cite examples from Hungary, Belarus, Russia, and China, illustrating how similar tactics are employed to consolidate power and undermine democratic institutions worldwide.

Key Points:

• Global Authoritarian Leaders: Figures like Viktor Orban (Hungary), Luka Chenko (Belarus), Vladimir Putin (Russia), and Kim Jong Un (North Korea) are highlighted as leaders leveraging authoritarian methods to maintain control.

• Trump's International Stance: The hosts critique former President Donald Trump's approach, particularly his reluctance to condemn adversarial leaders while targeting allies, thereby reflecting and possibly fueling authoritarian tendencies.

Notable Quote:

"The threat of authoritarianism is international in its scope. [...] These are ideas that permeate the international zeitgeist."
— Host [09:12]

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6. Conclusion: Strengthening Democratic Institutions Through International Collaboration

In wrapping up the episode, the Meiselas brothers emphasize the necessity of an international perspective in combating authoritarianism. By fostering global alliances and sharing strategies, the pro-democracy community can more effectively counteract the pervasive influence of authoritarian ideologies and protect democratic values.

Final Thoughts:

• Pro-Democracy Movement: A united, international effort is crucial to resist the encroachment of authoritarianism, ensuring that democratic institutions remain robust and resilient.

• Call to Action: Listeners are encouraged to engage with and support initiatives that promote transparency, accountability, and the safeguarding of democratic principles both within their countries and globally.

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Closing Remarks

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast offers a thorough examination of the current state of democracy in Canada and its parallels with global political trends. Through insightful conversations and powerful testimonies, the Meiselas brothers provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced and the strategies necessary to uphold democratic integrity in an increasingly complex world.

Transcript

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[Host/Moderator]

Member for Timmons James Bay this government.

[Member of Parliament (MP)]

Promised to ban the AR15. That's the weapon that was used to murder 26 year old children at Sandy Hook. And yet on Thursday the Conservative leader was tweeting that the government wasn't going after the AR15 but hunting rifles. So little wonder he gets endorsed by Alex Jones who's notorious for taunting chilled families and children murdered by the AR15. So will the Minister confirm is the government going after hunting rifles or the AR15? Or is this the Conservative leader being the quote real deal of disinformation for the likes of Alex Jones, the hon.

[Host/Moderator]

Minister of Public service public safety.

[Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question and salute his long service in this House on behalf of the people of nag Ontario. Mr. Speaker I share.

[Host/Moderator]

The hon Minister of Public Safety.

[Minister of Public Safety]

I've never had that much applause. Mr. Speaker of the House before. Mr. Speaker, I share our colleagues concern about the Conservative policy with respect to gun control. We have said from the beginning law abiding hunters and sportspersons are not the subject of these regulations. Mr. Speaker, what we're doing is taking away guns that were designed to kill people on the battlefield and we're also prepared to compensate the people that bought those guns lawfully. It's something the Conservative Party will undo and we're committed to keeping Canadians safe.

[Host/Moderator]

Absolutely. There he is once again. That's Member of Parliament Charlie Angus. Just speaking truth to power right there. He was calling out the Conservative Party in Canada for getting an endorsement by Alex Jones. That's how you do it. I frankly would like to see more of that like combativeness, style in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, which you see there in the House of Commons. Let me just by the way, that was from a few months back. And of course, we've been profiling Charlie Angus here. I did a one on one interview with him after we did a report on his previous House of Commons speech where he appealed to Canadians pride in their country and said, do not let Donald Trump bully us here in Canada. Do not let America, America export disinformation and lies and authoritarianism here in Canada. And I saw that speech that Angus gave a few days back. It's getting close to 2 million views here on our YouTube channel. What you just saw there was another House of Common speech by him recently that again, I wanted to applaud and highlight because that's the type of courage I'd like to actually see from politicians right here in the United States. Now, one of the factors that Charlie Angus and I talked about that is corrupting, eroding, destroying our politics here in the United States, which is not the case in Canada. And I think it's important to have this international perspective on things is that, number one, they don't have big money in their politics. People who run for their congressional races, their version for to become members of Parliament in their communities, it's like $100,000 at most. There's not huge billionaires funding campaigns. There's no political action committees there. That's number one. Number two, their Supreme Court is not politicized. They are kind of nonpartisan people who are focused on the interests of Canada. Watch how Charlie Angus describes the contrast between those bulwarks that preserve democracy in Canada and preserve their system there and the authoritarian encroachment. And as compared to what we have in the United States. Watch this.

[Charlie Angus]

We have a couple of bulwarks to protect democracy in place that are really important. And it's one of the reasons we haven't gone so far down the mega rabbit hole. Number one is our Supreme Court is nonpartisan, scrupulously nonpartisan. We have not allowed our judicial system to be overtaken in the way the Supreme Court in the United States has been completely turned over to the far right. You need an independent judicial system because the independent judicial system has called out our prime ministers in the past. In fact, the last conservative government had numerous battles with the Supreme Court on laws that just weren't constitutional. So that's a really important bulwark that we still have. I would imagine it'll be attacked soon enough. The other is electoral financing. I represent A region that's bigger than the United Kingdom. I run my entire campaign for about $100,000 because there are campaign limits. Corporations cannot donate upfront. So that allows a level playing field and allows people like me, a kid from a mining town, to actually run and represent people that I couldn't probably be able to do in the United States. What's concerning me, there is a lot of dark money appearing and it's certainly on the platforms. We saw that with X and we see it with meta Facebook. The amount on my political page, the amount of toxic memes, hate memes against trans people, against climate change, attacking our prime minister. Who's paying for that and how's that money being spread? It's an enormous online campaign. That's what worries me. The inability, the unwillingness to call out that certainly we had. You probably saw the crazy convoy of the Great White Lives Matter protests that occupied our capital for weeks and weeks and weeks with disinformation and crazy. How much of that was driven by offshore bot farms and Russian disinformation is a huge question, but people are tiptoeing around it because they don't want to take on the rage mob. But these are things that are threatening our democracy. Added to the kind of language that Trump is bringing in on everything from vaccinations to migrants, it will put a lot of stress on our nation and we need to stand up and say, no, you're not going to go down that road, but we have to protect the institutions that we have.

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[Host/Moderator]

That was a great part of that interview I did with Angus. Now there was another part of the interview that I think is important. It's what I say here all the time on the Midas Touch network that the threat of authoritarianism is international in its scope. And to combat it, the pro democracy community, we all need to be international in our scope. Because these authoritarians, regardless of what their ideology is, their ideology, they recognized, is a mere pretext for what they truly care about as authoritarians, which is their wealth, the oligarchy. Right? So whether you are, you know, an authoritarian wannabe in the us, whether you are Putin, whether you're Kim Jong Un, whether you're President Xi in China, whatever it is, ultimately, at the end of the day, it's power and wealth. And the ideology is a subterfuge that is used by these authoritarian leaders as a way to kind of control the people so they go to themselves, hey, let's all unite at the money, wealth, power level and repress the people. Let's join together. So we need to combat that with the pro democracy movement of the people here. Watch this.

[Charlie Angus]

But I think the issue of defending democracy is no longer within our individual borders. That's what we've learned from the Steve Bannon playbook. They have no intention on the far right of focusing on an election here or there. They're using strategies globally to undermine democratic rights. We're in a time of crisis. We're in a time when we need to learn from each other and work together. So having a platform like yours, getting information out to people and information that's not disinformation, but conversation is a really, really important thing at this time, you know.

[Host/Moderator]

And then finally I asked Member of Parliament Charlie Angus about what's your message to the people of Canada as they're hearing this horrible stuff from the United States. And he's like, think about what our ancestors did. Think about what our elders did for us here. Watch this incredible moment. Let's play it right there.

[Charlie Angus]

I think we need to remember who we are at this time. At a time of such great uncertainty. People don't seem to know what's up and what's down. It's like, wait a minute. Remember what our grandparents went through. You know, I think of my, my late father in law, 17 years old, went on the Navy convoys to get supplies to Murmansk and then ended up in the battle at Japan. You know, my uncles who left at 17, 16, they worked in the mines. My aunt and mother, sisters and that who worked in the polio wards when they were dealing before vaccines. These were tough people. They gave us our values. We have to be tough now and we have to be tough, especially when you got hair the color of mine. For the young generation, they're suffering a lot of stress right now. They should be looking to us to stand up to them. So when a convicted predator like Donald Trump thinks he's going to slap us around, I don't think so. We got to have backbone. Nobody else is going to come and save us. This is my message for my friends in the United States. We got to start rebuilding at the grassroots. We got to start rebuilding our communities, we got to start rebuilding our networks. We got to make ourselves resilient to hate and resilient to grifters.

[Host/Moderator]

I thought that was another great part of that interview with Charlie Angus. And you know, here at the Midas Touch Network, we are expanding our coverage internationally because I think we truly need an international perspective to appropriately have the framework of how to deal with Trumpism maga and recognize that these ideas are ideas that permeate the international zeitgeist. Right? I mean, we see this over here, for example, with people in argentina like Javier Millay, 52% poverty right there. He's like, we need to end the state. In total, he's propped up in kind of this MAGA triumvirate. You've got Viktor Orban over in Hungary, you got Luka Chenko in Belarus, You've got Vladimir Putin, you've got Kim Jong Un giving troops by the way to Russia to fight in Ukraine. Right? You have all of that and you have Donald Trump not saying negative things about Putin. Has Trump said one negative thing about Putin ever yet alone in the transition? No, but who does he attack? Trudeau, Canada? Who does he attack Mexico? So he attacks our allies, says nothing about our literal enemies. And that tells you all that I think you should know about this too. And so we're going to highlight international perspectives. By the way, feel free to tag me on Blue sky if you have other international speeches in your home country that you want me to see. Hey, here's a member of our parliament. Here's a politician in my country. Can you, this is the type, send it to me. That's how I found out about the Angus speech. Someone tagged me on it. I'm like, oh, this is pretty cool. This is pretty tough stuff right here. So tag me on it as well. Okay. Thanks for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 4 million subscribers.

[Midas Touch Host]

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