I RECENTLY HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INTERVIEWING SOMEONE I PERSONALLY CONSIDER TO BE "THE REAL DEAL" IN THIS CONTEST.
A genuine, non-red Tory! Wow! Getting rarer these days! A true-blue Conservative Candidate for the leadership of our CPC (Conservative Party of Canada). And, she checks all of the boxes for me. In fact, she checks them all and then some. This is very encouraging.
Before I share the excerpts from our telephone interview, let me preface this by saying I "like" all of our candidates present in this leadership race. I've heard almost all the good, bad, and ugly, (I think... or hope I have!) about them. And though all of the pedigrees do seem impressive, I strongly believe there is only one choice among the four we presently have which, in my estimation, would stand "a snowflake's chance in a heat-wave" of beating out Mr. Trudeau in the next federal election.
Wait, allow me to rephrase that, let me rather say that, "If our CPC puts Dr. Lewis into the race for P.M., Mr. Trudeau won't stand a snowflake's chance in a heat-wave against her.
Like I've said, all the candidates do indeed check many boxes, for sure in so many departments but Dr. Lewis? C'mon, she's a quantum leap, by a country mile, (imho) ahead of them all.
FOR INSTANCE:
She's brilliant. ("uhhh..." [yes, that uhhh... stumbling-bumbling and mumbling, part is a blatant and shameless Trudeau reference] what should I say? He's not? Yes, Justin Trudeau is not brilliant.)
She's accomplished. (I'd just be being mean to try to find a suitable comment on Mr. Trudeau's list of foibles to compare against her accomplishments, you know, pitting his "nothings" against her "multiple degrees, and her "law practice" and such? What's he done again? Oh, right, brought us international embarrassment, and shame, and... wait, no, don't let me get started on this. Laying all jokes aside, that is a dark place I don't want to go. Honestly.)
She's Incredibly well educated. (and never even taught drama classes as far as I know!)
She's a strong and articulate woman. (Present PM's dedication to feminism aside, I think we'll all agree, this point goes to Dr. Lewis)
She's Black. Should I even say Trudeau and "Black", or maybe better, "Black- Face" in the same sentence/article? Hello somebody? Canada should be more than ready to put its total diversity on full display to the world. It's 2020 for crying out loud! Isn't It high time we see a person of color, any color, be they indigenous, or if they were Asian or any other culture in our PM's office? That would be astounding. That would be such an exciting and glorious cut against bigotry and to tell the whole world Canada believes racism needs to be over. Especially in light of what is unfolding after the Floyd George murder down in the USA.
And then there is her faith. I know some might not appreciate the sincere value this aspect implies, and may even resent it being listed, but hey, you can't please everyone right? I'll mention the fact that she is a Christian only for the significance that it goes toward the idea that her moral compass is pointed in the right direction. At least in my way of thinking.
And then there's her level of honesty.
Her Integrity.
Her stance as an avid pro-life advocate, she's passionate about real solutions that speak to the heart of the real problems that are very much the source splitting moderate lefts from us on this issue.
Her position on the Environment. (Not an alarmist, even with a concentration on environmental studies to achieve her degree).
Her dislike for political correctness and all the associated PC culture.
Her attitude of inclusiveness.
Her practical position on UN Policies and common-sense prioritization and Canada-First approach.
And the election debates? I can't even for one second imagine Justin Trudeau getting on a stage beside her. She'd wipe him out. No way Justin Trudeau stands up to her. No way!
There is just so much to like, I better stop, or this will be an article of a thousand bullet-points. But all across the reasonable political spectrums, there really are just so many excellent things to love about this candidate that I could keep going on, and on about her. Seriously.
I'd call every member of the party to have a sincere and thorough online perusal of her platform, her personal history, and commits within the context of this contest because they are definitely worth a good look. That's a great way to find out what Dr. Lewis is all about.
Candidate Dr. Leslyn Lewis. You can visit her campaign page here. Click the link, find out more.
Visiting her page is a great way to get started. Or just "googling her name" "Dr. Leslyn Lewis" she's providing plenty of articles, videos, and content that can really give you the low down on her candidacy.
Even the left, try as they always do to muddy up conservatives, are having little luck spinning her platform into derogatory coverage. From what I've seen so far they only have their usual out of context, vitriol-laden criticisms of her faith and obvious crime of simply being a conservative.
My take-away point today is there is every reason for our party to choose her for leader, and none, zero reasons -- at all -- not to! That whole "Not a sitting MP, part?" That's just a formality, and it means literally nothing.
CAN THEY DO THAT?
I'll tell you what I'd like to see happen, would be for someone to move over now and graciously offer her their seat in parliament before the vote is even taken. Could they do that? I'd love to see something like that as a show of intent to get this country back on track and to show the rest of the free world, we're still worthy of our reputation as "Canadians" and our peace-loving culture! We are those peoples who cherish honesty and trustworthiness, Tim Horton's Coffee, toques, hockey, and, of course, that irresistible Canadian gullibility, and our loveable-ness, that reputation is still rightly deserved.
I GOT A QUESTION. HOW DID WE GET HERE?
We've been signing off for the bottom of the barrel for far too long now. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Why are we so ready to accept this... "that's just politics!" Or "We can only have the least bad! This is how politics work!" Just why is it? Please, tell me again, why it is that all of our discussions about "good candidates" for our Prime Minister, always turns into a concession whereby the discussion ends in the argument for the "least-worst" to be chosen? I don't get it.
Picture us, leaning over the drum digging down deeply looking for a candidate at the bottom of the barrel and coming up with the least-worst scenario. Ridiculous! Somehow, since we have a distaste for politics and politicians, maybe? Is that it? That, in general, we have come to accept that our options are only ever going to be to take those who would be "not as bad" as the next guy, or as what we presently have. (which, in our present case indeed, is historically and arguably the worst of the worst of the worst.)
I'm just so tired of the usual politics. I want a great choice instead. And fortunately, we have it right in front of us. let's not blow this.
I don't want the least bad. Instead, I say, "who would make the best, or who would be the "ideal" choice"? How did we ever get here to this weird place? How do we arrive at this point? And are we really prepared to stay here? I'm certainly not.
THE BEST CHOICE
Just about everyone I speak with about my guest today gets excited when I tell them what I know about Leslyn Lewis. Dr. Leslyn Lewis, a Jamaican-born, Canadian Lawyer who has let her name stand for nominations to become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, or the "CPC".
Dr. Lewis is presently being inundated with many requests for interviews as you could well imagine, and, she's getting a lot of attention too. There are great demands on her time, understandably, given the present pursuit, she is occupied with as a bona fide contender in the leadership race. In light of this, I consider my publication at WFR incredibly blessed to have Dr. Lewis and her team grant me a little time for this interview.
I wanted to keep it brief and so limited my questions to a couple of items I think maybe Albertans or all Canadians might like to hear about.
I'm not writing a comparative analysis against her running-mates, but rather, hopefully, I'll be presenting you with a glimpse of what I can see. Having learned about her campaign I can look to her and see a very refreshing, and optimistic place on my ballot to make my mark come election day.
I will personally be voting for her for party-leader because to me, with my unique perspective, being both a clergyman, but also being a clergyman who is politically active, and one who actively advises the church, Christians, weigh in on politics -- Everywhere, to also be "woke" about politics, to stay informed and to make your say loudly known within and about the politics around you, that everyone needs to educate themselves to vote articulately. Listen, we aren't going to save the world through politics, Jesus does that through His Love, and His finished work on Mount Calvary, but we can make the world a better place to live in here and now.
Okay, enough of my sermon for the day, sorry, now back to politics. To me, she is the right vote for Prime Minister in the soon-coming federal election. Yes, and that is precisely what all this leadership race is about for the CPC, and this decision to choose the right leader, which, is coming up right away.
Choosing a candidate that can beat Justin Trudeau is vital. Pivotal, really. And of those running, she is the only one that has any appeal for centrists, while remaining true to genuine Conservative ideologies while legitimately respecting true diversity and inclusivity. For me, it's not that the others are not good it's that she is much better.
How's that for a departure from the sickening prospect of needing to always select the least-worst! This is what choosing the "right" candidate is really about at the core of our present challenge. Dr. Lewis will decimate the campaign of Mr. Justin Trudeau, leaving his rabid identity politics no chance.
SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB
I am also going to vote for her because I want someone whose integrity and social conservative principles are important to them. I also am thoroughly convinced she is well-able to do over and above, what ostensibly, would be, "the job" as our PM. Yes, for me, it is so clear to see. Especially when you take a minute to compare her and what she offers against any recent past history in the PMO.
I hope you enjoy the following interview. Also, please keep in mind, this is my first live one on one interview. I only got into this as your every day average Canadian, a small business owner, with grave concerns as I watched what the NDP did to our province in Alberta. I suppose after writing so many articles over the last few years I'm getting there, but go easy. I know I still have a long way to go. But this interview is not about style or expertise, it's about doing my part to bring awareness of a great person and a great candidate to you.
I confess I was a little excited for this, so my pace, (not Dr. Lewis's) may be reminiscent of a hyper-ish, squirrel, looking for peanuts, but I do think the basics are there, and my hope is to introduce you if you haven't yet heard of her already, to a wonderful lady, with the best intentions to serve the people of this country, bringing her expertise to bear and the best thing to happen to politics in this whole recent mess we've seen develop over the past few years.
Not to mention, in my opinion, Dr. Lewis really represents our best hope yet to push back against the stormy and frightening special-interest driven ideologies and the "pandemic-exploitations" that are present and the worst to come still festering right now, hanging, looming in our uncertain future where ambiguous "new-norms" are sure to be dictated to Canadians by a "leftist-regime" presently threatening Canada's horizons.
Without further ado...
THE INTERVIEW
Telephone conference-call
interview with WFR
Date: May/29/2020
Time: 1:00 PM MST
Location: Slave Lake
Interviewer: Paul George
Interviewee: Dr. Leslyn Lewis
Transcription: Paul George
Please Note * [Additions, interpretations, or inflections - either real or suggested/inferred added and contained within brackets]
Copyright. 2020 All rights reserved PGM - WFR.
Paul George:
OK. So I'm ready to get started. You good?
Dr. Lewis:
Sure...
Paul George:
And here we go. All right. Thank you. Just getting acquainted here, briefly, with My guest Dr. Leslym Lewis. She is running for the Conservative Party of Canada's leadership role. And I want to thank you [Dr. Lewis] for taking a few minutes to visit with me and granting me the interview. Thank you to both you, and your team.
Welcome. [to WFR].
Dr. Lewis:
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Paul George:
[You are welcome]
Yes. And in the spirit of brevity, I'll try to keep my questions fairly short.
Dr. Lewis:
Sure...
Paul George:
Initially thinking, you know, I'm an Albertan and have been for a number of years. You're from the East. So we're "East meets West" kind of here.
Dr. Lewis:
Right!
Paul George:
Interesting aspect. But my question that I'd like to ask you first, is, have you heard much of the concept of Western alienation? Is it viewed with the same fervor or the same attention maybe from the East [by Easterners] as Westerners are feeling? Of course, I'm including people from Manitoba, people from Alberta, people from B.C., that Western-Canadian's feelings of [there] being a failure to represent and their influence or impact and making any decision as to who governs nationally?
Do you have anything to share on how that, you know, votes out of the West may bring, you know, may impact this decision? this run for leadership with the federal party?
Dr. Lewis:
Well, I think that there's a lot of different areas in the country [where] they are feeling some aspect of alienation. And when I went to Alberta in February, I got a very deep sense of the level of [that] alienation that they were experiencing.
And it is one where they truly believe that a number of policies have been implemented to specifically stifle their economy. And I've detected four main concerns that they've had. And the main one is just the inequity in equalization payments. And so they feel, see that that area needs to be redefined and needs to be resolved. There's also concern about the Senate seats and how they are allotted. They also have concerns about even just the riding sizes and just the large number of constituents that are in Alberta ridings compared to other parts of the country.
And that puts strain on the elected representative to be able to service all of those individuals. And it sends a message too that you know, that there is not fair allocation with respect to various ridings. And also by the time that a lot of the election is decided, Alberta, even though, for example, it went primarily blue in the last election, it didn't really have an impact. And so...
Paul George:
Right, we're the Bible Belt [Alberta votes blue by and large since large population are Christian]
Dr. Lewis: we have... right, So so they [many Albertans] have concerns about that [lack of impact despite the large population] also. [unfair representation in federation]
And I think the last thing is just their inability to develop their natural resources without foreign interference. And so they've seen a lot of the policies that have been implemented, like Bill C-48 and Bill C-69, as directly interfering with their ability to develop their natural resources. And because of that, you've seen huge unemployment rates. At the time that I was there, there was over a hundred and eighty-seven thousand] people that were unemployed. And you see the real magnitude of that where people are losing their homes and losing their businesses.
And it's just devastating. And so I can understand the level of alienation that arises in [the West]... geographically.
Paul George:
So you recognize it as a real problem for the West?
Dr. Lewis:
It is. It is a real problem.
Paul George:
I get the sense you're in touch, you understand the position of the West. I just want to shift the focus [now] just for a brief moment here and see if you have any thoughts or anything you can share with Western Canadians about the prospects of "a firewall", "independence", "autonomy".
Those are the terms. [of great relevance today] Personally? Full disclosure, my Canada includes Alberta. I'm not a separatist by any stretch of the imagination, but, I'm a realist also. You know, when you can continually, constantly get a raw deal, eventually you're going to have to stand up to the ones responsible. We're going to have to take action. So just on that; firewall, autonomy, independence, do you have any thoughts you'd like to just briefly share on that?
Dr. Lewis:
Well, to be honest with you, I've spoken to a number of people who are, you know, thinking that this is something that they have to seriously contemplate. And that's "EXIT-ing" [references Canada's WEXIT movement]. And my take is that it's really a cry for help. I don't think it's a cry of departure like It's not a cry of war...
Paul George:
I live in Alberta, it's getting worse.
Dr. Lewis:
I'm sorry?
Paul George:
I live in Alberta. Let me assure you. those cries are getting worse.
Dr. Lewis:
Yes. Yes, I do know that.
And you know what we are sending bad messages too because even when we look at the COVID economic bailout or the economic policies that we have, you know, we allocated two hundred fifty-two million towards farmers. Nine billion for students and eight hundred and fifty million for the W.H.O. [World Health Organization] So we're not doing anything to really send a message that we are hearing those cries and that's the problem. But I'm an optimist and I do believe that if we elect the right leader in our party and somebody that is going to take all of the regional discontent that is felt throughout the country and actually start having conversations about them and trying to find real solutions, I think that we could build bridges to toward keeping the country together.
But that's going to have to [be a] "sit down", have to have Canadians sit down and be fair-minded about issues like equalization and, you know, in Senate seats, in ridings. What we're going to do with, you know, to deal with getting Albertans back to work and how we are going to develop the natural resources because we're going to need to do that in order to rebuild the country.
Paul George:
Right, and I want to keep this interview about you, but I'm going to suggest here just, you know, a good relationship with our leader, Mr. Kenny. so far, our leader, who, you know, I pulled strongly from Mr. Kenny, voted for him, agreed with the "unite the right" movement, the whole works. But I don't know how close you are to Mr. Kenny, but again, all those items are going to [need to be] on the table, you know? [and] I like your comments very much. I think you have, [you get it] you know, you're strengthening my resolve [to vote for you] for sure.
[Thank you]
I really want to shift the focus now onto [you're] eligibility, which, is, I mean, not eligibility I'm sorry, electability, which I think is vital to look at. We've got so little time [some frustrated laughter] for...
Dr. Lewis:
True! True, yeah!
Paul George:
Electability. My intimation is that last time [2019 federal election] we didn't defeat Mr. Trudeau in the election. The conservatives did not win a majority government in Canada. And many of the detractors, many of the NDP people, (I'm plugged in at different levels and to various community, social media, et cetera) [so I've had] a lot of discussions about that election.
And I tried to remain cautiously optimistic [before the actual election] we'd maybe see a conservative majority government in Canada, and many of the left [had often] commented to me, "oh, you're a one-horse guy. You think this [2019 federal election] is all about defeating Mr. Trudeau?" I personally [...?] think that is the largest challenge in Canada right now, is to check "an out-of-control" liberal government. But that's me personally. I wanted to use this next question to give you an opportunity to speak to your electability.
[Is] there something specific you want Canadians to know? [To convince them to vote for you] [and] Not just Westerners but all across Canada, about why they need to elect you? I mean, I see your platform. I think I understand where you stand on many of the very important topics to someone like myself and the perspective that I have. But is there something you want to really put out there that I can help you bring out in this interview today?
Dr. Lewis:
Well, I think that the most important issues that I think we have to consider are issues of national unity. Strengthening our democracy and building a strong economy and fiscal responsibility, and basically restoring our national sovereignty and our position on an international front.
And I feel that I'm, you know, a very unifying voice. I can reach out to diverse groups within the country and bring them into the broader conservative big blue tent. And, you know, many people feel that a lot of our freedoms are being eroded. And so I believe that people should, you know, should be free to live in accordance with their beliefs and also just freedom to earn a living. People are very concerned even about that.
And so I think that we have to start focusing largely on [improving] our economy and emboldening small businesses to take a chance again.
Paul George: I like that... oh, are you there? [momentary telephone connection issue] are you still with me?
Dr. Lewis:
Yes, yes, I'm still with you.
Paul George:
Excellent. No, I like that. I like that very much. Good stuff.
Okay, I know that we're really running short on time here, but I wanted to bring up the subject of traditional family values with you.
There's a lot of [changes within our nation these days] Canada, really, it's changing. And coming from [the] Christian perspective, I mean, I'm you know, I'm unapologetically Christian. I [even to the extent I] shut down a newspaper that I had over five-hundred thousand viewers that I recently had [for an] online newspaper. That was excellent, but, I'd made the mistake of launching that out from a media, reporter, journalistic lane [with "smackings of" or real political underpinnings -- in response to there being much too much leftist biases in everyday main-stream news content] And I had to bring myself back to [remember], hey, I'm a Christian first.
Dr. Lewis:
umm hmmm...
Paul George: And, you know, in life, in pursuit [of a good life] as a Canadian, I celebrate a lot of [our] heritage for the freedoms that we enjoy in Canada that we attribute, we ascribe to God, who has given us [the great Canadian Heritage] you know, this didn't happen [just] by people. This was people of God, [with God, led by God] who trusted God to give us a democracy we can be proud of [and] to make us the greatest place on earth. We are the greatest country in the world. And I believe that. And that's for a lot of real good [personal] reasons.
So as I've seen Canada change over the last few years, and especially what I would even term "a [severe] slide to the left, [far left] different ideologies, [socialism-communism] shifting, modernization, modernization of thought [about same-sex issues, gender identity/transformation issues for a few good exmaples] Some [politician(s)], [chuckles] are referring to social conservatism being an "albatross around our necks" not at all, but, you know, it brings out a big question. Are we going to have to seek to protect our Christian principles and foundations?
Is [our] freedom of religion, [our] traditional family values, going to be as protected, as respected, as the newer mindsets that are coming on in Canada? What's your idea [on] that as, you know, as, [well] ostensibly, as [our next] prime minister of Canada?
Dr. Lewis:
Well, I believe fundamentally in democracy and I believe in freedoms, fundamental freedoms such as our freedom of expression and freedom of beliefs. And I would want people to respect my freedoms, and therefore I will respect others and vice versa. So I think that what we have to do is we have to foster an environment of respect where people realize that we are a pluralistic society.
So we're going to have divergent beliefs and perspectives. But essentially, we have to say that we trust the democratic process and we're going to trust that [that democratic process] is going to uphold our fundamental freedoms and that includes our right to believe what we want to believe. It includes our right to raise our children in accordance with our values, and it includes our right to practice our faith without persecution.
Paul George:
Excellent. Well, time has run out on us. [I've seen that] you have a good online presentation I would say, just in my estimation. [And] Your platform is available and searchable and [specific items about what you believe, and the premises you are running on are easy to find] by people. I'll be including, of course, links to your Web site, to you, to your platform right here.
And I just want to thank you so very much for [this interview] I know that you're very busy and I know that you've got a lot of work to do ahead of you, you and your team. And I want to thank you for stopping by [for this visit] with WINDOW-FALL-RESURRECTED.
Dr. Lewis:
Okay, sounds great. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.
Paul George:
Excellent. Thank you.
God bless!
\\end.
pg.//
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