Nobody Has Time for the News… So Here’s What Actually Matters | Season 1 Finale

In this Season 1 Finale, we sit down with Harman Bhangu, current MLA, for a conversation that breaks down what’s really happening in Canada  in a way that actually makes sense.

Let’s be real: most people don’t have time to keep up with the news anymore. Between work, life, and everything in between, staying informed can feel overwhelming. That’s exactly why we started this podcast.

In this episode, we talk about:

•  Why understanding politics matters now more than ever 
•  What’s really going on behind the headlines 
•  How everyday Canadians are being affected 
•  And how to stay informed without overcomplicating things 

This episode isn’t about politics as usual it’s about making information simple, relevant, and accessible.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re falling behind on what’s happening in the world, this episode is for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:30

So uh season season one, this is actually our last episode of season one. Yes. This is the finale, actually. I don't think we told you that.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Later on for the finale. Save the bus for the last episode.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

So uh for those of you don't know, this is Harman Bangu. He's actually the current MLA for uh Langley Abbotsford, and he's also the transportation critic, but I'll let him actually go into uh explaining exactly what it is you do, but just to kind of give you an idea of uh why we Nick and I actually started this podcast. Um it was really about keeping things simple, and we wanted to also help Canadians like understand what's actually going on. And for work-wise, Nick and I are working with everyday people all the time, right? Hardworking British Columbians, and we know for a fact, like firsthand, that they don't have time to keep up with the news because they just have to focus on keeping their head down, working, providing for their families that by the time they have any free time, it's not gonna go, they don't have any energy to invest into what's going on. And obviously, we want the best for Canadians, British Columbians, we're proud Canadians ourselves exactly. We want to see everyone thrive.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Yeah, kind of first approach, right? Yes, everyone's kind of waiting for and BC's approach, especially, because by the time that federal election gets down to Alberta, we already know the writing on the wall. Yeah, exactly. So we need a government on the West Coast that actually really advocates for British Columbians in their best interests.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Yeah. I feel like we're uh I do feel like we're always forgotten on the West, and when we're such a vital part of the Canadian economy, but we are definitely not prioritized at times. Yeah, well that's what it at least feels like.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

It's like it's like what you just said, you alluded to. I mean, by the time you get to Alberta, BC, the writing's on the wall, you know what's happening. And being on the coast, where we're in such a unique, uniquely positioned geographical area, it's kind of unfortunate that by the time it gets to us, it's all over. So it's tough. Yeah, it's it's a tough pill to swallow for sure. And uh to kind of just add on to what Rinesh was saying, we just wanted to, not only do you not have time to watch the news, but to filter through what's accurate, what's not accurate. You know, there's a lot of stuff out there with social media and with all sorts of different means for getting information. It's really tough for people to kind of filter through and and and be uh in a position to make an educated decision about what's gonna help their future. So the point of this podcast was give it to them straight, unbiased. What are the facts? Here's the information. We don't know all the information ourselves either, but to have the discussions to maybe make that listener have a different perspective or to go seek out further information, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:13

So that's exactly where I started. I come from the blue-collar class. I come with callus on my hands, still have them, and I probably won't get rid of them. Yeah, you know, but that's the thing is that's the voice I wanted to bring is to the blue-collar class. The ones that wake up at 4 or 5 a.m. leaning against the tailgate, you know, figuring out what they're gonna get done today. And it's the job doesn't get done. You don't leave till it's done. And that's how a lot of entrepreneurs are. And I feel like that whole base has been forgotten about. And for me, my dip into politics was kind of unfortunately the same when my dad passed, having to take over a lot of the responsibilities, what's going on day to day with the family business, helping my brother and figuring things out, how are we gonna manage this and move forward? Then you look at the bureaucracy that came in under the NDP, right? So you assess that and you go through it and you're like, these policies that they're putting out, first it was a carbon tax as a trucker. I'm paying X amount extra on fuel. That it's not like the companies eat this cost. No, it all gets passed down, like you said, like your podcast, it's red tape. Yeah, that red tape means more costs.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yeah, and uh just to kind of like on a personal note, like my dad's a truck driver, so and he had his own truck, and a lot of the times, like you know, we'd go through his uh ledgers and all that, and the amount that went to fuel and everything, it was working his ass off.

SPEAKER_04 4:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

And you know, especially just seeing all these policies in place that are taxing us more, and he still has his maintenance and everything on top to a point where it almost felt like it's it's it was harder for him to decide to grow or not, because he knew that if he grows, then he's gonna have to double day of stress that he currently has.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Well, that's the forgotten thing. People think just because you in a business, you're very well off and you're loaded. That's not the case. Just say there's a supermarket someone has. Jim comes in, wants to buy a peanut butter, and you're out of peanut butter. You're gonna make sure next time Jim comes in, there's peanut butter on the shelf. You're gonna make sure next time anyone comes in, you wanna become that one-stop shop. You wanna be there for your customers. So instead of going and living lavishly, you're gonna reinvest that money. And that's what your your dad was probably in a situation. Wait a minute, I might have my kids, you know, school, there's gonna be other payments coming up. Maybe I shouldn't scale up. This is steady enough to get through and get by. These are things that business owners, small business folks, right here in British Columbia, think about the time they get up and the time they go to bed.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Yeah. You wake up an entrepreneur, you go to sleep an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

100%. Yeah, that's the thing is the clock doesn't shut off till then. Yeah, and coming from that, a lot of people are like, hey, I see you everywhere in this role. I'm like, well, that's what I signed up for. Because at the end of the day, you guys pay my tax, my my salary with your tax dollars. And it's my responsibility to come out here and engage you and be there for you so we can actually break those barriers, be transparent. And that's one thing that I've really liked to do in my role is when bills are out, they're explaining them it for the general public and giving them the knowledge what is going on, why is this happening, and especially with things like DRIPA. The Interpretation Amendment Act was the one that took the cap off the lid and made it a huge mess. And that was when David Eve, I went through a timeline and figured out that hey, that happened October 2021. Unfortunately, John Horgan was diagnosed with cancer. Then David E. Attorney General, he's supposed to have the utmost responsibility and the caution to move forward in a proper manner. Literally, on November 17th, there was a state of emergency declared because of floods. Hour and 50 minutes later, David E.B. goes in and puts to the Interpretation of Amendment Act. That tells the statute in the court system on land title now, you have to look through the lens of DRIPA. DRIPA says refer to section 35, and that's where the mess has been created. It is him, his policies. I know he loves to call everyone else extremist, but I think David E.B. should look in the mirror. He is the one who came here 15 years ago. I honestly's like a temporary foreign working um premier in this province as an activist, you know, protesting the Olympics. Then he went to becoming a, you know, getting on with all those NGOs and being representative, got into politics, wrote the pocket handbook, how criminals can use to avoid the justice system. Then he decriminalized drugs, made it easier for people to get their hands on drugs, then safe supply. He went to the most vulnerable, said, Hey, I don't think you should get treatment and recovery. Here's some safe supply and stay in your current state. That's not compassion. Like he calls everyone, everything under the sun. He needs to look himself in the mirror, and so does the rest of the NDP MLAs that vote the way that he has been voting. He's been putting legislature on the floor. It's shameful.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah, and to that note, and you know, I obviously I can't speak on behalf of other NDP MLAs because I don't necessarily follow their actions. I'm I am following what EB is doing, and based off of my own thoughts and feelings, you know, sometimes given certain circumstances, it'd be nice to see some accountability. Yes. Um, I just feel like that accountability, we're not receiving it. So what makes the BC Conservative Party any different? Would if you guys were in his shoes, would there be accountability taken, or would you guys focus more on like what tell me what you guys would do if uh you guys made a mistake? Because we're all human.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Yeah, first of all, we gotta start undoing some of the mess. Yeah, and that's obvious, and that is repealing DRIPA, which our interim leader, Trevor Halford, has been advocating for from day one since he became interim leader. And a lot of the other stakeholders and people who are involved have been calling for that. Now, David E. wants to put a pause. That's not gonna lure in investment. And we need to get serious about our resources. We can't lock them under the ground. We need to get them to global markets. This is something that our party has always advocated for is getting our resources going again, our forestry, our mining, and also we need to expand our logistics capability. That is something that I've really been focusing on. We have a huge potential in critical minerals and metals. Getting these minerals to global markets is gonna be key, and we need to be first to the punch. Let's build that rateway, let's build the economic corridors with Alberta and the territories. In 10 years, we're gonna have Grays Bay, deep sea passage to the Eurasia market. Let's be the first to the punch. When these minerals are extracted and metals, let's get them on a system that we can ship them there safely and efficiently with a low cost and get them to the global market. So we can't have happen what happened with LNG. It's shameful that we're even importing this. Hearing reports that we're importing it.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, we are.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

We should have been first to the market, beat Japan, and we could have been carving out where is our short-term hold, medium-term, and long-term hold. And then we can invest it in the long-term heavily and kept those markets for the future generations to come. Right now, we're chasing on the LNG end. We're trying to figure out where we should invest so we can capitalize and hold this market. But that's the problem. Let's be the ones first to do this.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

So, since we're we're talking about that previously in our first few episodes, Nick and I actually we were talking about the oil pipeline. And um, obviously there was a whole cluster F, let's just say, of how Alberta and Carney met behind EB's back and said that they basically will prove a pipeline, basically giving an MOU. David E. B immediately said that there's gonna be no pipeline. And then after the fact, you have Ravi Callant, you have um David E. B and all these guys saying that, oh, there's no private proponent even yet. Now, I don't believe a lot of people understand how that works, is because obviously a private proponent means that we have to find a private investor, has to commit to investing that money to get that structure, to get this project going. Now, the one thing that they do look for is stability. And when they sense in instability comes from a lot of it comes from government policies. Exactly. So when you have your the premier already saying that, oh, there will be no pipeline, there isn't even a private proponent. In a way, I I don't know if I'm overstepping here, but I how I feel is maybe that could fall under self-sabotage. Like that, like it's indirect sabotage is in self-sabotage. Yeah, to basically for like do that's the outcome that they're sort of sort of.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

And the problem is now I feel like we're so far behind. If there is a change in in government, it's it's a lot of work to even put those steps in place to get us back on the right track. And what does that even look like now at this point? Because so much has happened that's put us kind of behind the gun on so many aspects the oil pipeline, uh, housing, uh, infrastructure, all of these things. There it's an uphill battle for decades ahead of us. And you need the right leadership sustainably for decades in order to make those changes. So it's it's tough, man. I don't know. Like there's so many things to go with.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

To the first point, it is self-sabotage because David Eby has created things like the DRIPA. He has put in legislation that has created uncertainty. So a lot of private entities are they gonna go and do try and find private components when they know it's a big headache? They've seen what's happened in mining now. You know, minerals, it takes 10, 15 years just to get a permit. Like pretty much right now, if I was to invest, maybe my grandkids could be benefit off it. No one invests like that these days. They want to see a return in a tolerant time. And to your point, how are we gonna get this back on track? It's having a vision. Like I just talked about. If we have these critical minerals and metals coming out of the ground, let's start working on that access of logistics so when they're online and they're ready to go, we are sending them off for a revenue, a return. Yeah, people forget this whole Lower Mainland that we're in right now wasn't just built from the dollars of Lower Mainland. It was built from places like Fort St. John, the Kootenys and the North, the other regions that had a lot of forestry industry that was giving us the growth that we could start building here and creating that coastline industry as well. This is a forgotten forgotten part of history that we need to let the general public know, hey, if we're investing dollars in the rural areas, maybe that's a good thing in the long term. Maybe my kids will see a benefit. Get us out of this mess. Yeah, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

You brought up the timelines for mining, 10 to 15 years. So Nick and I actually we went and listened uh after the budget was uh released, we went actually and uh in person to listen to David Eve actually talk about the budget. And we had a actually the previous episode we were discussing it actually with the CEO of Langley Commerce. Okay. So one of the things he mentioned was that uh Corey. Yeah, Corey, yes, yeah, great guy. Yeah, amazing guy. And um one of the things that was mentioned within that was Eevee mentioned that, oh, hey, by the way, we have this mining company that's ready to now double down on another mine because of how fast we were able to approve the permits. Now, that's very vague because what is fast?

SPEAKER_01 15:01

20 years. Yeah, exactly. 20, it's maybe 14.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

And this is the thing is private companies aren't gonna blindly invest just because you get rid of the red tape and everything else, too. Yeah. Now Canada and BC is in an unfortunate situation where we've locked them up for so long that we're gonna have to sell others a vision because right now, as a mining company, you can get into certain markets. Hey, I'm gonna get the permits, I'm gonna be getting returns within eight to ten years. They look at BC, they're like, first of all, your logistics don't add up, you don't have the infrastructure, you don't have the capacity, you don't have any of these things, so how can I even invest here? Unless if a government comes in with a vision and says, hey, we are gonna build this area, you come in, apply for your permit, you'll get in in X amount of time, and by the time you're building and you're ready to go, the routes will be built in place for you to ship your product off. And we can work and partner up in a lot of different ways. Yep. You know, there's been projects where there's been governments that put in royalties. Hey, we helped you build this right now, but in the long term, we're gonna collect royalties off a product. And what does that do? That royalty comes into a government where we can start offsetting some of the costs, right, which could be all over the province.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah. And right, like obviously, being the transportation critic, uh, like obviously, you're basically the opposite counsel to the current transportation uh minister, right? Yeah. Now, obviously, like so it's it's good to hear like obvious like that you're big onto that infrastructure. Now, what potash, potash, sorry? Potash, yeah, sorry, potash, is one of Canada's biggest resources. You know where I'm going with this.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Because of what I'm just talking about, because of logistics. Yes. We don't have the logistics. I was just in Ashcroft terminals. Yeah. That is that is gonna be the beacon of hope in BC if we get a government that invests right. Okay. That is the area that you can connect the Prince Rupert port down to the Vancouver, down to the American American pockets and other places. We need to invest in real our infrastructure is aging. We are not gonna be able to come back on three decades old infrastructure, lanes, and everything else. Literally, projects that we put in place today, they're approved for today's needs, not five, ten years down the road. That is the big issue. And that's why Century and other companies are looking elsewhere. They're like literally going around beach. That's a shame.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

That's such a shame instead of through. So, how do you feel about at a time where literally it's all about Canada first? And everybody acknowledg every Canadian acknowledges that, like, let's put, let's keep the business in Canada at a time we're in a trade war, and you have one of the biggest companies, Nutrion, had to make a business decision that got them to go to Washington instead of Vancouver, where they already have a satellite hub set up where they're already exporting four. But the moment they had an opportunity to open up to Asia and open up, and that's about a $40 billion market that they have, which would have been so beneficial. Why did they go to Washington instead of Vancouver when we share the same coastline? And they're a Canadian company based out of Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

It's because of the logistics and the nightmares. Even if they do run through there, are they gonna face maybe a share that you have to give up because of DRIPA or other things? There's a lot of issues. Labor shortages and labor shortages, how are we gonna move forward on this? There's a lot of issues, and it's just the environmental regulations, too.

SPEAKER_04 18:35

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:35

They don't know if it's gonna get shut down by some uh eco-radicals one weekend. We've seen that happen with the rail yards just just a few years ago during the COVID lockdowns.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Well, what would you have liked to see in terms of how could we have how could we have persuaded them to come through our Canadian VC ports?

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Well, that's exactly showing a vision. Hey, we're gonna invest in the logistics, we're gonna make it so your product moves smoothly through our corridor. Yeah, and we're gonna constantly make sure that we have an infrastructure in place that's not just for today's market, but for the future markets. That is how entrepreneurs invest. It seems like a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

It's common sense. Like I'm asking we're asking you the same question three, four times in a row because it's like it's a common sense. It's common.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

There's different ways of that question, like different aspects of it. And it all comes back to a common sense approach. Yeah. What does a business want? Every product needs to be transported with logistics. Like if you can't get the products for a certain cost in this region, it won't get to market because it's just not feasible. Yeah. You need you need to be in the right place in the right time. And right now we know the resources are here and it's the right place in the right time because everyone is knocking on the door. And that's why you have the Americans trying to cut a deal with Greenland. If that happens and they start extracting in Greenlands, our minerals become a reserve. Yeah, they're gonna get to the global markets, they're gonna have deep sea passage there too. So, what advantage are we gonna get? And that's why I'm saying it's crucial that governments and elected officials think about these things and consult the groups and get on a path and a vision that we can actually bring some prosperity for British Columbians. And timing matters.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Urging is a it's we need to be urgent about this. And I don't feel like the urgency is there all the way through from the like the provincial level all the way to the federal level, it's not there.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Well, that's what it looks like for the general public. Look, they were told DB was gonna come back and do amendments to DRIPA. That didn't happen. So is there urgency? Doesn't seem like it, right? With a lot of these projects that are going on, is there urgency to do anything about them? Seems like everything's just sitting at a standstill or moving at a slug's pace. That is not what we need. We need action right now. We need to drive people to being like, hey, you know what? That's up and coming, things are coming to a completion, we can invest here. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

So if you're if you're um your party formed government, and as trans if you became transportation minister, what would be the top three project? What would be the top three things that you would prioritize?

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Well, hopefully, you know, we get a leader that would support them. And I would say is building our infrastructure to connect our resource communities, our upgrade of our port systems, and also our vital transportation corridors like Highway One. We need to get it built. It can't take 10 years to build this straight stretch of highway.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

That is shameful. I know now they're expanding a portion thereof by Langley.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

I just feel like we've as as like you know, people living in the lower mainland, I feel like uh we've just settled with the fact that we're always going to be driving through construction zones.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

We live in a construction zone, that's what it feels like. Yeah, yeah. And another thing too is how are we gonna keep the youth here? We're not gonna keep them just in the lower mainland. People are literally at a point they're hopping on a plane, going to Calgary in Edmonton. Yeah, yeah. Well, I've traveled across this province a few times, I've been very fortunate enough. To do it first as a trucker in business, then also in this role. Yeah. And talking to these communities. People want to have hope there. And I've been to Cranbrook. There's brand new homes by a golf course, $500,000, $600,000. But you know what? They don't have an industry like Forestry that's booming like it was. A lot of mining expiration that's not being done. So people would move and take a pit stop to these areas, put down some roots, and maybe one day they'd be able to move somewhere else. Sure. And also, tell you the truth, I love the other parts. Kootenis, go to the Prince George, you go down to Prince Rupert. It's phenomenal. We are blessed to live in this province. And it's a shame that people are leaving this province and the youth. And the reason why I say that is because a lot of the folks that did everything right, they paid their taxes, paid into a system, thinking their health care was going to be great, everything. And they're watching their sons and daughters pack up their bags and leave.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

I personally know three families who just moved across the border into uh into the Birch Bay Bellingham area. And they growing up here, I'm 33 years old, they're all roughly in my age bracket. They kicked it across the border because it's just it makes more sense for them to go there and go through the trouble of buying a house there and doing everything that they have to do because here the income taxes are crazy. It's one thing if we're paying taxes and we have infrastructure and we have health care and we have child care and we have everything, but we don't. And so a lot of these people, yeah, they kicked it across the states. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

See, this is a huge reason why I got into politics is that is your generation too. I'm 41. And I was on that cusp of the millennial class that, hey, if you did everything right, I was playing football, family business, right, happened to have a good base, was able to invest with them and buy a truck, use equity, you know, going on investments and grow. But I saw others that took the route of maybe even being in healthcare as a doctor or nurse, and I was relying on them when my child was born and knowing how much they went in debt, then when they got out, the market has just gone up like you know, so much that they were left in a rental state. Then they were finally saving up to buy a home, then the stress test comes in, and they got taken out from a home to a condo or a townhouse, and it was your age. Yeah, yeah, it was your generation. Yeah, and you know, being in politics, I've always said, hey, it's always the same folks that created some of the problems saying we're gonna fix it. And that's why this party was formed. Is I was sick and tired of sitting there on the sidelines, not being heard. So a friend of mine, Aaron Gunn, who is now an MP, he was making documentaries, he reached out to me. We did one on the carbon tax, he ran for the BC Liberal leadership, was disqualified, and I was like, really? You're gonna disqualify him just because he's talking about issues of building pipelines and other things and shedding light to the issues like we are seeing now, like TRIPA. So we didn't want to give up, we're not gonna give up. We went in and we revived the Conservative Party of BC, around in the first by-election, and we end, you know, I was told you're gonna get 100 votes, maybe 1%. And I'm like, we'll see how it goes. I'm gonna, you know, we had 18 days by the time I had literature, I would just knock indoors every day, like a full-time job. Like nine, nine, nine, I realized, you know, people are taking their kids to school, they're come back around 9:30, 10. I can catch them then and work till about 12, then you know, that time when they're going to pick up the kids, no one's at the doors, and just defining different ways, and that's just how I was raised, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah, we do that in real estate too. Yeah, it's gonna time it out, time it out, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:39

It's you gotta grind, you gotta invest in the grind, and yeah, that's just how this party honestly was built from the grassroots up. Yeah, and that's why I have faith in this party. And I know a lot of people like way, we're losing faith, but I have a lot of faith because I've been here from the very get-go. Yes, things go this way, that way, but I know there's a core group of folks and MLEs that have worked their tails off.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Yeah, and in all fairness, like you know, my parents, they they came here with nothing. You know, I'm first generation, and uh they grinded and for the longest time that they were NDP voters strongly because at that time NDP supported the working class. Yeah, the mill. Do you feel like that's still the same?

SPEAKER_02 26:20

No, I don't. And you know, my dad worked at Mills, and you know, when he was younger, and when they shut down, it was under the NDP. And I remember, like, you know, like I grew up with poor. We grew up in a one-bedroom basement, you know, my brother and sister used to share a room. And then me and my dad used to put we used to push the couch to the side and a little table plug down the mat. Yeah, but like, see, this is the thing. Now I'm traveling the province, and it's not just newcomers, it's people who have been born and raised here for generations that are saying, you know, I met a family out in the Kootenies, it's uh they have two kids, they live in a one bedroom. You know, there's people that have four kids living in two bedrooms. Yeah, and that is the hard reality on the ground. We're supposed to leave this a better place where people can come. This place has been a beacon hope for mall folks. We should cherish the Western civilization values, and you know, just have an Easter. People are afraid to say, hey, Easter is here because of Christians. I think we should celebrate that. They have been amazing to us here in Canada of all faith. We can have religious freedom. We can celebrate our religious holidays. You're gonna have a sake, I'll be out in Vancouver and in Surrey, yeah, and a lot of people take part. We should actually say, Hey, you know what? This was a great model of what the Christians did here in Canada, included others and everyone over a period of time. And now look at us, we should be proud to be Canadian. Yeah, like you know, we're lumped in, me and you, South Asian. I don't know what that is. That is like where my heritage, my geographical area is from, but I'm a Canadian and happen to be of sixth eight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

I I that's exactly how I explain it as well. I'm Canadian first, and I'm you know, I love the fact that I come from a cultural background because it adds like you know, a bit of a story of like how I got here.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

And but uh is the beauty of Canada, yeah. The beauty of this place, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Without a doubt, without a doubt, and we've always diversity has always been one of our strongest, um strongest traits as Canadians, right? And it does feel it's getting a bit divided without a without a doubt, and I feel like we're starting to regress the progression. I feel like it's to a certain degree.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Where it's like, hey, let's be diverse. We come from other areas, but man, Canada gave us this opportunity. Like without Canada, what what would we be? Exactly without that beacon of hope. So why don't we say Canada is our biggest strength? It's given us things like diverse, it's given us things like opportunity where we didn't even have in our own homeland. Yeah, where my parents obviously left. They just felt like, hey, you know what, there's more opportunity. I want my kids to have a great opportunity, even though they were doing well there. They just felt like investing here, coming here, putting the roots down was a better opportunity. And you can't say this country's racist and it's built on this actually. I am. Yeah. Like, you know, I don't have this fancy background of education, all this stuff. But I've been boots on the ground, it's the Canadian dream. You get here, you work hard, and you will succeed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

And just to kind of go back to it, yeah, I'm not definitely, I wasn't actually trying to go there. What I meant was more so I think that we're losing touch with the fact that we're more Canadian. Yes. Then I think we're starting to not be as like you don't have Canadians as proud to be Canadians and starting to look at it in a different way. Like that's what united us was we're all from different backgrounds, awesome, but we're all Canadian. And I feel like that's not as strong as it used to be. But I also feel like there's it's just I don't know, I I I really can't explain it.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

It's hard to explain what's the movement to race the society, like you see statues being pulled down. Instead of being a teaching utensil, you can use it as a teaching moment. People have evolved in life. Like I always say, I'm a student of life, and I'm evolving as time progresses. You go through, you learn from your mistakes, you learn from where you went this way, that way, and you evolve. And that's what I plan to do in this role because I realize I can't just go in there and be like, hey, I'm only gonna help conservatives. No, you gotta help people. I have constituents that are from all walks, all parties. They all deserve my utmost attention when they're in need, and that's one thing that I take a lot of pride on.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah. So, like, you're gonna be say hypothetically, like, okay, you guys get into office, you talked about how you're gonna have to work on Dripa and all that, but there's also all these other goals that you guys have. How are you gonna manage to? I mean, within you have to prove yourself as a new party elected in within four years, you gotta prove that. How are do you feel that undoing a lot of things could dip into that time heavy before you get started?

SPEAKER_02 31:06

How would you guys it's so I'll give you an in inside perspective how it would work is if we came in government. So if we win by 50, 52 seats, it's gonna be hard to get change moving real fast. Yeah, we need to win by 65 plus seats. The reason why I say that is when a bill gets put forward, a legislation that you want to maybe most likely we're gonna have to undo a bunch of legislation too. So we're gonna have to put that forward. And the other opposition could put up speakers, 30 minutes and whatever the time allocation is. They can draw that one bill out several days, weeks, like we did with Bill 7, Bill 14, Bill 15, and others, because we felt they were detrimental. You want to try and restrict that. So that's the thing is you got to get in there with a heavy majority so that you can pass bills in a sufficient manner and undo the chaos that this NDP government has done. It's been nine long years, and you know, that's a lot of undoing that we have to get going here.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

So there's a lot of things in the budget that they obviously had to make some budget cuts and everything and get to the deficit. But how what's is the deficit a priority for you guys? Like, are you how would you guys how do you fight that? How do you how do you fix the deficit? How do you fix the deficit?

SPEAKER_02 32:21

Like just like your podcast, the red tape, the bureaucracy that's been created. Look, we were told that they were gonna create 40 positions for building homes that would speed up the process. You're in the real estate market, you talk to developers. Has the process gotten any faster? Not at all.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

It's got worse.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

So you've created 40 more positions of bureaucracy that are probably over a hundred thousand dollar jobs each. Yeah. So there's waste in these areas, and that's where we can cut some of the waste. And one thing I will say is we need to really look at our healthcare system and reshift the way it is being done. And one thing I want to make clear the NDP last election campaigned on health cuts. Conservatives will do health cuts. Right now, in real time, you're seeing health cuts under this NDP government, whether it was with Charlie Pollock, the girl that was had medication taken away, that our MLAs fought day and night for to help. Whether it's the autism funding that's going on right now. It's killer. And you know, it's it's um our my generation a lot. I've seen the effects that's happened, you know, with families struggling, mental stress, and we care about you know, mental stress all the time, and we say depression and all these things. Well, these are the things that it leads to. And kids young, when you catch that at a young age with therapy and treatment, you your outcomes are way better. Yeah, because my nephew was on is on the spectrum and he's autistic, but he's living a great life. He's actually just got his license. He can drive. But you know why? Because there was an early engagement, we realized it. And you know, we had to take other routes too. We couldn't couldn't just go through the regular system, you know. And this is it, it impacts a lot with our generation. And then you look at the $10 daycare that they had promised. They're I talked to my friends, like, I can't even work overtime like my dad did to earn a little money to take my family on vacation. You know why? Because I have no child care. Yeah, I have to rush back and pick my kid up from school. There is nothing there for me. And that's why, even on some of the models, like you saw, I believe it was Bill 19, that we supported with the NDP was with the early child care, like expanding existing spaces before school and after school. Because just those few hours would let someone work a little bit longer. Would maybe one parent can come and take care of the pickups. Yeah, it would help our generation.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Can I give you a quick fun tip like on like what I feel like would help with child care since we're talking about it? Uh I was actually Nick and I were talking about this on the phone the other day because uh back in 2020 or so, right? Yeah, so a friend of uh friend of mine and I, we went to the franchise expo. We talked to Tiny Hoppers actually, a franchise, uh a daycare franchise, and you know, I figured okay, like let's look into it. So did my market research, called a bunch of daycares and asked to how their long their wait lists are, and they gave us like, oh, 30, 20. So then we're like, okay, awesome. Like this is depth, there's definitely a market. You know what made it challenging, and this is why I believe that they're not opening up as fast as they can, is because the bureaucracy behind it, the amount, like I totally understand the um obviously safety and everything, but it practically is damn near impossible to actually find a location that can fit the city's requirements to open the daycare. It is next to impossible. And it's just that's what makes it more challenging. Because I'll tell you, if they actually found a way to make it a little bit easier, like they even want like uh a certain amount of parking stalls, uh specific amount of parking stalls so that the for the daycare, but it's like, what do you mean, kids like parents are just going in and out, like kids don't drive.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

The thing is, too, with all the population growth, uh there's just because there's not enough locations and there's not enough of these franchises, no matter which company it is, it's like 17 grand a year for early childhood education. Yeah, yeah. Not everyone can afford that. No, that's it. That is a massive, massive expense.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

That's what I'm saying. A lot of people are having to find jobs that are just certain hours. Yeah, someone can drop the kids up, pick them up, yeah, and one person's working, trying to work as much as they can, or it's two parents doing one's doing morning, one's doing evening, and it's just it's so difficult.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

How are you supposed to get ahead? No, you can't. You don't have the time. Everything's constrained. And uh, and yeah, me and my wife are looking through this is what I know about how much it costs now because we're looking we're in that process where we're looking through that those options right now and we're seeing what's available, and it's like, man, like I need to sell like three houses extra a year just to just to fund the early childhood education. And and so you know it's it's not easy, and uh yeah, I think that that's also a huge problem that we're facing is there's there's a lot of population growth still happening. Um, the infrastructure is not there all the way through. Healthcare, childcare, um, roads, whatever it is that you it's we need as a as a society, we don't we're behind. We hit we hit a lot of red tape, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:37

And to be honest, like we're very interested, we're ready to go, and we pulled back because I even called the realtor that I know, like a commercial realtor, because I just do residential. Called as soon as I said, hey, like uh I was explaining how I'm looking for daycare, and he's like, Rinesh, I'm gonna stop you right there. I don't want to, as much as I'd love to help you, I don't want to help you open, I do not want to look for uh daycare. He told me about how he invested two years with one client, looked at numerous spaces, and he's like, it was always one little thing that then made it uh from the parking down to even, for example, like the sprinkler system, you can update it like of the unit completely, but if the building is attached to isn't updated, then no go.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

So pretty much you need a new build.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

You need a new building, and now developers, even that I'm talking to, they're building out commercial units, so they're building out a space for daycare, which is great, but they're leasing it back for double the rate of any other unit, knowing that it's going to be a daycare.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Well, yeah, because the cost of a lot of the building and everything else, people are looking ways to offset it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

Yeah, and in all fairness, that but that also does add on to the cost of like child care, like especially I feel if it was there was ways to find where we could how you can have an upgrade done and so on, increase competition, exactly, spread it out where then at least it could potentially bring it down for people in a way where the at least the that's what I feel gets missed. And uh I would say like our current, it feels like with our current government, it feels like they're not long-term thinkers.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

It's just like I said, with every project for infrastructure that I look at, they're approving it for today's needs. Yeah, are they looking at it for the next needs? And a perfect example is BC Ferries. I've been dealing with that long weekend. Yeah, tell us about that. So I re this was the same pattern last year. It was ceilings that were getting canceled, you know, mechanical issues, one thing after another, but this time we had the potable water issues during spring break. Right where there was E. coli, lead, and other things found, and there wasn't running water, no hot food on these vessels. Thing is, you can be transparent. We talk about being transparent, you know, letting people know. It would have been nice if you're booking your ferry, you can go on there and it says, hey, you know what, you won't have running water or this, just prepare when you come. You shouldn't be pulling up to the terminal and reading signs and he listening to announcements telling you on the spot.

SPEAKER_04 40:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

And then with the BC Ferries issue now. Look, we have four ferries that are going to be going offline by the time like four new ones are done. So we're just replacing them. I've looked over the specs. You're not getting a lot of extra capacity. It's not like all these ferries are gonna be carrying 50 extra cars. That's not what they are. They're literally almost they're almost replacing what it is, they're not adding extra capacity like that would be really helpful. So in 2029, you look at the population now and then, you look at how much the ferry system is being used now and how much it's gonna be used then. Don't you think it'll be a growth? You think, right? So either we're bringing these vessels in with the added capacity that can really like you know, 50 extra that would make up for like, you know, it's almost having one extra vaccine capacity. Yeah, that's not thought thought there. Then after I was like, was there an extra one coming on? Maybe there's more frequency. Yeah, you see trade, you see growth, service of goods being taken on, equestrian, we huge horse communities back and forth, especially for my riding of Langley Abbotsford. And there's no thought behind this.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Everything you're saying seems like it's a no-brainer. Everything that you've said from start from the very beginning here is is an absolute no-brainer. So I'm I'm I'm not understanding. Is it in terms of this uh this specific case? Is it uh do taxpayers need to pay more taxes?

SPEAKER_02 41:29

What why are we not getting to We are back to the 1990s Mud Hut managed decline under the NDP? This is exactly what happened back then. It was, you know, you got Joy McPhail on the board now, she was a minister back then when the Fast Ferries fiasco happened. It's like a cycle repeating itself. Yeah, and we need to break this. Yeah, yeah, no, but it's like you don't learn from the mistakes, you don't have to do that. Well, now there is different new ones. Information is accessible at your fingertips. Like this podcast will be done. Yeah, people can go on and watch it. We need to start sharing the message, making little clips, getting it out there. Yeah, so more and more people are engaged. I think the future, our generations, that's what we want to see is people actually taking the time to get out there, answer the questions, have conversations. I think that's a way we can bring back that, you know, people can have faith again in politics. Yeah, faith in getting involved in it, taking out memberships, getting involved local RAs, having a voice in who's gonna be your representative as well.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

Well, I I encourage everyone, I I I encourage everyone to vote because I feel like it's your responsibility as a Canadian to go and vote every election. Doesn't matter. You go vote any party. But I I know like uh in one presidential election that a lot of people went to the polls and voted for Harambe. Point is they got to the polls and they caught to the polls and they voted, right?

SPEAKER_02 42:58

They took the time to sit in that lineup and raise it in.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

And before before every election, provincial, federal, you know, I whomever I talk to, I always bring it up. I'm like, oh, are you gonna go, when are you gonna go vote? Are you gonna vote? I bring it up in a way so like in case of it's so it's on the front of mind for everybody. And a lot of the times you'll be, I'm sure you're not surprised, but a lot of Canadians just I think they it feels like they lost faith in our political system in voting because the exact words they use, they say there's no point, it's gonna make no difference.

SPEAKER_02 43:33

See, I say, you know what, go and engage all parties. Yeah, see where it resonates the most with you, then buy a membership to that party. Go to the events. Yeah, if you want to really have a say, become a member. That way you can be on your local RA. You can start saying, Hey, this is what I want to advocate for. You know, when it comes around to a provincial election, we have a million people that voted for a party. How many people were actual members of that? Party, yeah, not not a restaurant. So if we want to actually push for transparency, we want to engage, become a member. It is very important. You can go and switch over wherever you want. Yeah. But engage and see if you're being res, you know, they're welcoming you in, they're hearing you. We we need to get more involved this way because we can't be blindly saying, hey, I'm a concern, I'm gonna vote this way every election, or I'm an NDP, or I'm so-and-so. Let's get involved, guys. This is what I always have wanted to create, and that's what we did as this party. We gotta weave a people that go into an AGM and vote for our board, and next year we did it again and we've done it again. This is what we need out of British Columbians, this is what we need out of Canadians. Get out there, check out which party resonates with you, and get involved and push that narrative for there. Because if it's that same echo chamber in there, and then that's all they're gonna hear. And I'm telling you, when you become a member and you start voicing your opinion and it starts resonating, you start changing the course of the tone of what's going on. And that's important. That's why I feel like if we complain a lot, but hey, let's put it into action now. Yeah, I agree. Right? That's the key. That's the key.

SPEAKER_01 45:19

I think that's the key. Because if you're just also, you know, to your point too, get out there and vote. If you're blindly voting and you don't know what you're voting for at the end of the day, I think that's also probably not the most responsible thing to do. You need to be engaged, you need to have all of the information so that you can make the decision that resonates with you and what you want to see for the future. Engagement is key for that because that's the only way to really know what's going on and to be involved and to hopefully that's when your voice starts to count. If you're blindly voting, it goes back to what I was saying earlier in terms of where are people getting their information from. If you don't have time to consume everything, you're just picking and choosing, and you're you don't have the key details that you need. Right. And so for me, I think what you said you hit it nail on the head. It's it's engagement. Go and get involved.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Yeah. Right? Yeah. You can sit the amount of time you sit there complaining, writing posts and everything else, researching this. You could have gone on to a local event, yeah, and there might have been an elected official or someone on a board, a riding association, EDA, and they could have heard that voice. That you know, the voice of you know, crying out, being like, hey, I need help. This is what it is. Maybe someone didn't hear that perspective. Yeah, and you can add to the part, you can add to the movement.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

That's what we need. Yes, a hundred percent. Even uh this uh what just happened with the with the ferries, you know, a lot of people when they hear about this, they think, okay, well, people missed their boat, they couldn't get to Tefino or whatever it is, right? It's so much deeper than that. Do you want to get into it?

SPEAKER_02 46:51

There's goods that are being transported over. That means the store is not gonna be with products, right? It could be a lot of different things and doctor appointments, trips that you need to do out of necessity for work. It means maybe not going to work that day, and then you know you're missing out on the one day of work. There's a lot of things that actually just spin off and spin off and spin off. Yeah, and when you don't have reliable systems like this, you might see one end homes go on sale, then you have abandoned communities. Yeah. Yeah. This is the down, these are the spin-off effects that always happen. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

I briefly saw a clip of the CEO of BC Ferries essentially pleaing, saying that we need another reserve ferry for these cases. We don't have a reserve ferry. Now, obviously, he's uh it's almost as if he's asking the BC government to cover that. So that means as a taxpayer, and they're asking for more funding. Is that something that you agree with at a time where we're seeing a major, like a record-breaking deficit to now then be shelling? I do see the necessity of it, but now it almost feels like because of the deficit and how record-breaking it is, like, it's almost like we're gonna be more sensitive to these scenarios of like be more stingy on the city.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

Well, now you're seeing also, you know, the CEO makes over half a million. He has a write-off on rental when he's in Victoria, lives in North Vancouver. And I get it, but I echo what Eric McNeely, what the Marine Union rep says, and he's saying it's the bureaucracy, it's the bloat, it's the padded benefits, it's the high wages for some of them. That is a big issue, too. And maybe the ferry structure needs to be remodeled, and they knew there was not we're not gonna get a new ferry online until 2029. How much money do we maybe think about not paying all the bureaucrats and bumping up their salaries and giving bonuses? Put that towards some retrofit, some core maintenance on some of these vessels that are gonna keep it operational. Maybe that aspect should have been thought. Maybe it's a management issue too. It can't always be you just throw endless amounts of money at things. Yeah, as an entrepreneur, you're not just gonna say, Oh, you know I need help here, I'm just gonna throw money at it. Is that money you're throwing in gonna be an added value? Is it gonna be a cost plus? Are you gonna see a return on it, or are we just burning through it?

SPEAKER_00 49:18

Sometimes we have to get scrappy. So if we need money for, let's say, social media, then it's like, okay, well, if I can't pay somebody, I gotta do it myself.

SPEAKER_02 49:25

Yeah, there's like little things like that, or like you big things. This weekend yet, Angela Zhang go on there, try and reach BC Ferry. She got a hold of Joy McPhail, she's on the board. Like I said, former NDP minister during the Fast Ferry Fiasco. You know what she said? Hey, I'm on vacation. I was, you know, and it's a holiday. I'm off. Yeah. Well, I was off to Easter Sunday. Yeah, I was out with my family. I'm like, hey, you know what? I there's some work that I feel that's urgent. Talk to my wife. I'm like, hey, we love AJ Brooklyn. So, you know, just a little plug for them. Great pizza place. We always used to go to Vancouver, and now they have one in Twast. So I was like, hey, I can just cut down there. This you know saves my drive a lot, or always grab it on the way back. I'm like, how about this? I'll grab that and I'll go do a quick video, and by the time it's done, I'll come back and we'll eat. Yeah, and you make it work, yeah. Right? Yeah, and that was you were right there on the phone. Yeah, don't tell me you're not ready, you're getting paid over a hundred thousand dollars to sit on a board. And in a time of crisis is when British Columbians need you. They needed you for this weekend, they didn't need you for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They needed you to address this while it was happening in live stream, live time, yeah, in real time.

SPEAKER_00 50:37

You guys need to record recruit more uh realtors, man. We don't know what a day off is. You call us.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

Oh we're on vacation and we have to respond in the It's that's honestly that's the lives of a lot of British.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Yeah, and it's just uh I mean obviously it's it's no joke exactly what's happening. So how would if you like how would your role play into like how does BC Ferries technically they're not a crown corporation, right? They're a private, they're a private company.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

They're not a component, but they have a board in place cherry-picked by the current government.

SPEAKER_00 51:08

So then how does the current government oversee these things and pre like essentially prevent these things from happening? Because it seems like this was, I mean, you don't have to be a problem.

SPEAKER_02 51:18

They're messed that they brewed up and they created, and now they pin the blame and say it's a private, private, private, private. But you know what? It is also still has a little uh crown element to it. Yeah. And and talk about that. Who is the ones who point the boards who look over the management? Yeah, those are all the cherry-picked insiders.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

Well, I mean, I like it's just seeing all these maintenance issues. It's like when you're driving your car, you see the check engine light on, what do you do? You call your mechanic and say, Hey, I need to bring my car in. Why? Because you have to get it fixed to make sure, and then eventually, if you ignore it, next single check brake light comes on.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

You just record your broken down just like the ferries were in the water broken down. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 52:01

So, did somebody just not check the engine light?

SPEAKER_02 52:03

Or like and it's just like the coastal communities, right? Like I've heard John Henderson, I've talked to him a bunch of times, Great Mayor from Seashelt area. And man, like that is a huge debacle. When the Texeda ferry went down, people were taking water taxis and everything else. People there was there's just no way to get over, there's no capacity. Good chunk of the people had to just stay there in their cars because they had no place to go. Yeah, right. So, this is the thing is we gotta treat our ferry systems like our highway systems, they're essential. Hey, I'm taking it on Sunday, I'm you know, knock on wood, it's it's good to go, right? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Yeah, that's why I'm hesitant now to book the later ferries, and like, you know what, I just gotta go over in the middle of the day. Yeah, I used to love to stay for dinner, have it with my kids and family. Yeah, and now I'm like, okay, maybe I'll get there in time, then I'll try and do a video call or something. Bubbles up, man. It's yeah. Yeah, let's chip off all the and that's another thing, too, is you know, with the BC Ferries, why you saw me fight for it so hard to them to be kept here. So we saved $1.2 billion on the build by doing it in China, but we lost $2.7 billion in spin-off revenue. And we also lost $8,000, 10,000 good paying jobs that are mill rights, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and just good jobs that we need to keep people here. And we just shipped all that, your tax period dollars to another country that doesn't see eye to eye in our values or way of life. They still have the industrial carbon, they don't have industrial carbon tax, so they can beat us on production that way, procurement from the local company, slave labor, and that's another issue too. The procurement was broken. C-SPAN and Davies, it's gonna cost them money to put in a bid. They knew they were just put burning it on fire, so why not use that to do internal upgrades, maybe staff raises and whatnot, or more training programs? Why are you gonna just burn it on fire?

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Yeah, and truth be told, um, you know, going back to something I was saying earlier about how we don't think long term, the current government does not think long-term, because that is some long-term thinking right there. And I feel that's where like we're getting taxed immediately and looking to scrap dollars, but you're not thinking about all these things exactly, all those benefits that you talked about. Um, there that's not being taken into consideration. And at the same time, the long-term tax revenue that comes in from a properly working vessel, let's just say, right? That doesn't even make sense.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

You know, catering businesses, and so forth. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

That's all revenue that could be built.

SPEAKER_02 54:49

So I just going back to that part about building that second pipeline. Well, earlier today I actually did a tour of Trans Mountain, and the capacity is over 90% now. David Eby keeps saying it's at 80%. Well, actually, it's at an over 90 now. Wow. And within the next few years, that's gonna be at 100. Yeah, you know, there's other ways with DRD, certain products they can put in, they can increase the capacity by 10%. Yeah, but that is the company going through that and figuring it out how can we internally still stay competitive, still lure more investment, till it got playing partners here that can help us expand. So Northern One could help in other ways, could free up some of the markets here. It could be, and again, the private component isn't there because self-policies, people don't see the stability to invest.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

So, would you say that your um your party is much more economically driven? 100%.

SPEAKER_02 55:42

Yeah, absolutely. I think traditional conservatism is a staple of it. Yeah, and we need to invest in things that bring a return for British Columbians, and that's what we need to do.

SPEAKER_00 55:52

Yeah, simply told, yeah, I just wanted to kind of have you have a chance. That way I reason I asked her like that, I wanted to have a chance to explain it. Yeah exactly. And it's I feel that's um something that gets dismissed because I feel, and this is like for example, like I'm really not liking how I'm hearing like especially the NDP Federal Party, and one of the things like we're gonna tax the rich. Now, I'm not a rich person myself, but I have no problem with rich people. Why? Because at some point, money had to be exchanged for labor, right? You didn't just wake up, we're rich. I'm sure you inherited exactly jobs, exactly, and it creates jobs. And I know that, especially at the time when Trudeau was talking about increasing capital gains tax. You already had my my family doctor was he's from South Africa, and he was already talking about how he's leaving. He's like, he cannot do that, he hates it here in this country. A doctor, and where we need doctors, they're talking about leaving. We had, um, for example, the Shopify CEO created one of the biggest IPO companies, like, you know, and it's Canadian. He's staying here, it's here's here, and he's saying even other tech companies spoke out and said, you know what, we're gonna leave Canada because we're sick and tired of being like shamed for being rich when we're creating high-paying jobs. And I feel that's a part that gets dismissed is the fact where you're taking investment away, and at the same time, you're that gives you as a person, like in your situation, an opportunity at least to get ahead. And I think that that's the part we're missing a lot of the times. I think there's such bold statements when you say tax the rich, it's like it just makes yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:33

We are taxing the rich. That is happening.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

Well, okay, it's like you know, tax the rich. Okay, no one should drive Lamborghini, no one should drive a court, no one should drive this. Well, you're gonna lose jobs. Yeah, that wealth makes it that they create this, and those are usually high-paying, good paying jobs. Yeah. So this is the side that they just do not see. And it's a shame because we need entrepreneurs, all that investment, you know, everyone can work a job and just take all their money and take it home, and just that's it. But if no one pulls up in teams and starts building things and doing that, then what growth are you gonna have?

SPEAKER_00 58:08

Yeah, well, one time my partner, like my girlfriend, her friend couldn't get a job, and she was just looking for a base entry job as a receptionist because at this time she's competing with people with their master's degree. Like, that's how when there's jobs created, then that means like the like it at least spreads it out. Like there's opportunity then for everybody to at least have an entry point. But when you're like you're basically bottlenecking that entry point when you're not giving, you're not giving the tools to the people to you know essentially build it up. Like, look at uh I I we can go into this all day, but I think there's definitely a much more important approach. And I feel that yes, like you know, you talked about your nephew who has autism and all these supports, and we're talking about how the NDP said, Oh yeah, like the conservatives are gonna do health cuts. Like they make it sound as if like, you know, we're gonna take away you guys are gonna take away from the people, but at the same time, if you empower them, that brings more revenue in to spend on these things. No, do you like I correct me if I'm wrong? That's just my take on it. At least that's my thought process. If I'm missing something, let me know.

SPEAKER_02 59:21

Yeah, no, I get what you're saying there. It is like, you know, it's the counterproductiveness needs to kind of go away. And you gotta be able to look at a lens on certain situations, realize this does bring prosperity. Why are we creating all these hiccups? Why are we creating all these nuances? And that's what NDP loves to do, is I've realized is take a narrative and put a spin on it. You see it with their investment in joke writers and everything else. And it's like they're literally trying to spin their deflection of what they're gonna do and say others are gonna do this, and literally when they're doing it, and still blame others. Yeah, yeah. And that's what I think a lot of British Columbians are seeing in real time too that we're being lied to in a way. Yeah, it seems like misled, I want to say, you know, not all it's but misled. Yeah, I would the narrative of the way we're gonna do something, but it never works out that way.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:17

Yeah, I I would definitely I that's where, like I said, going back to why Nick and I started this podcast was because we wanted to eliminate the jargon, because there's certain like you have to understand the verbiage. As realtors, we always have to be very careful on how we write contracts because technicalities are everything in how you word something. So, for example, when the pipeline was introduced, like they talked about an MOU. Nobody actually, everyone's like, oh yeah, they approved a pipeline, awesome. No, they're just saying, all right, cool, like sure, if you want to get it done, we're not gonna oppose it, but hey, you still have to go through the rest of the hurdles, you know. Like you still have to go through all like it's just it's not that strange.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

Oh my god, it's coming, it's happening, but no, there's still a lot of work to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:00

There's there's this is just the first, this is like starting the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:04

Yeah, exactly, right? And it's just uh, I feel a lot of the times this is uh, I mean, you're the first politician on our show. Yeah, and hopefully first of many, because it's interesting to hear what you guys have to say. And once, yeah, congratulations, by the way. Yeah, of course. Yeah, but um, you know, I feel that uh with politicians, sometimes it could be more about scoring political points and give telling the people what they want to hear. But you said something very powerful today, and it's about taking action. So do you feel that that's something like everyone in your party today, because the PC Conservative Party, like you know, you guys came up from nothing, built it to what it is currently. Do you feel that everyone in your party is ready for that action today?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:50

Yeah, you're seeing it. Yeah, you know, a lot of people have taken on a lot of issues, and we've gotten private members' bills approved. And that doesn't normally happen, hasn't happened in like 30, 40 years.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:01

And we've been able to do that. There's a lot of things that we can all all approve on, but I do believe that we are taking action. We are getting out there in our communities, we are engaging, and we're literally being that what British Columbians want. Be get out there and breeze that noise for a long time. You don't even know what the opposition is doing. For the first time, you're actually hearing what the opposition's doing. Right. Maybe that's a good thing. It is, right? Absolutely, it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:27

Yeah, that's actually very true. Because realistically, I just thought it only really happened in you know, in Ottawa, where you don't really hear, you just feel like it is what it is out here.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:37

Yeah, it's just people thought a lot of the BC front was gonna die out after the federal election, but I think it's even gotten even harder and stronger. People are realizing, you know, we gotta pay attention, not just municipal, provincial and federal. Yeah, there's three levels of government that we have to engage, and a lot of yours is municipal through real real estate and development, and it has a provincial and a federal component too.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

So, how would you like, especially on a for example, I where we're sitting right now? I it should not have taken as long as it did with the city of Surrey, for example, to get all this done for the simplicity of it and everything, but they just they did not care, and they're not a customer service-based business.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:20

Like it depends like when it happened, you know. Was it done during the current or was it done previous, or yeah, you know, there's a lot of shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:28

And I get that, right? And uh, and I'm a very understanding person, but let's just say when I know that how old is the building? This is uh well, the building itself is uh only about five years old, I want to say, I think you roughly, but this unit was a shell at the time, and it was just tenant improvements I was going after, and it should did not should not have taken long.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

I had to swap out of actually a bathroom from that side to this side because there was too much rebar on there, and they took a well being used to exchange on the provin on the municipal ends to like you know, it's not you know, I'm not too well into the whole like I know the understandings, but you know, when you see change constantly as mayors and other things, you have one agenda coming in and the other one, and sometimes you see certain things speed up, certain things take a little longer, but it's having like I said, you never really get that long term, yeah. So that's where I find a lot of hiccups on the municipal end sometimes happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:24

How is one big part, like you know, as realtors, we like to like we feel that people actually miss the fact where yes, house prices go up. Now, developers are not running a charity, so if they incur a cost along the way, it's gonna get tacked on to the it's gonna get tacked on to the price of the house. That's no question, right? Now, there's holding costs that they have to incur while these permits are taking as long as they do, they're increasing development costs, local municipalities are increasing them frequently. DCCs, everything, uh, they're charging all that kind of stuff. So that all gets implemented into the housing cost as well, speed, everything. Knowing that from a provincial level, that it you guys want to see housing costs come down, how would you then penetrate the local governments to actually how how would how would that work? How would you get the local governments then to either speed things up, lower development costs, be more efficient? How would you guys because that's a lot of I feel like that's a lot of levels, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:34

That you guys would have to bring density, but one thing that I've realized is we just don't have the underground utilities and capacity to keep up with the what we're pushing. So there needs to be a hard conversation. How is this gonna happen? But one thing I always like to say is you know, it's municipal election year. Pay attention to what everyone's talking about. Figure out if there's solutions, and this is a way your industry you can tell that you can go out. And reach out to and be like, hey, we should all be paying attention and see who's going to put out a platform that helps and helps mitigate who reaches out, who has the meetings, the consultations with your groups, and vote accordingly. Yeah. Yeah. Right? That's what I can say. Is but like as someone right now in opposition, I can't just say I'm going to come in with a blanket policy and everything without meeting the people in the industries fully.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:23

Right? That'd be short-sighted policy legislation. So that's why I feel like our next if we form government, our caucus would go through the due diligence, talk to various aspects, and what works in this region might not work for another region. Maybe we need to shift and have regional ways of doing things. And that can unlock a lot of development possibilities and prosperity for British Columbians. And uh sorry sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:49

I was gonna say to your to your point on um on lacking the infrastructure needed to keep up with the densification requirements or needs. To that point, where do you think I know prices have taken a dip across the Fraser Valley, across Greater Vancouver? Where do you see prices going in in the next five, six years? If you had to, if you had a if you had to pinpoint it, do you think they're gonna go up? Do you think they're gonna go continue to go up?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:12

Man, that all comes down on who's gonna be the next provincial and federal governments because if it's if it's the same, the trajectory you see it. If you see conservatives, you're gonna see us take approaches that is gonna be bold and something that's gonna benefit all British companies and all the communities too. Look, you know, you can't go into you gotta have this consultation. Like we were just talking about, it seems to be developing right here. We're in Surrey, right? Just Newton used to be your entry level close to some of the markets, lots rate, 10,000 square feet. They're all have 5,000 square foot mansions. Yeah, yeah. These houses were the houses that we used to see in Sunshine Hills, Panorama Ridge. Yeah, right. And now they're all here. And now we're like, hey, we want to bring densification. Now every one of them needs more parking. They all have two basement suites. But maybe we should have built two or three homes and done three thousand square foot lots, put and the government invested somewhat, provincial and others in the underground utilities, keep costs down, build the cost, be more palatable. Then we could have had three, you know, property tax issues, maybe municipalities right now hear property tax is high. Well, if there's three lots, you can balance that over three lots. You can actually part just say it's eight thousand dollars. If you have three lots, have four, four, four. That's two thousand less on the consumer, and it's you know extra for the municipalities than the service deliveries and everything. You gotta create a model that actually makes sense. Because, like you said, if every kind of development is gonna be passed on to developers and on to cons it's gonna get passed on to the consumer at the end of the day, which is why you see the rise. And now you've seen this building happen in the entry-level areas. Now, in all the prestige areas, they're like, hey, we need to densify this. That's the last area left to build. Yeah, and those communities, like, wait a minute, time out. You want to build another downtown in this area? It makes no sense. So build it in Morgan Creek, right? Like, this is why a lot of these issues arise. Yeah, and you see it happening in Vancouver, left, right, and center, too. People are complaining, Sean is the area. We don't want to see all these higher, we don't want bull, yes, because you didn't give them the opportunity to grow the way they asked to. You know, they could have maybe split off, uh, helped out uh one of their kids in a build or something, yeah, left something to pass on to the next generation, but it's tough.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:36

I liked what you said about um the idea of you know potential funding to add on to those services. I think that would go such a long way. Because now now, as a developer, you're paying for those service upgrades. And again, passed on to the consumer at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:50

That is the hard truth that no one wants to actually address. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:54

And you know, I don't think people actually know the actual costs. Like, I don't think people actually really know that those costs are in the hundreds of thousands.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:02

Oh, it's ridiculous it's ridiculous. That's what I mean. You can imagine that being taken off. It's not like all these developers are gonna gouge you, and people would find out that and there's enough developers out there, they just start, you know, cutting it down. It's just how it goes. Exactly. See, that's how the market works, and you gotta let it work. We need to work with municipalities, figure out their vision for their landmass. This is where we want to see more of a city and entertainment district. This is your work area, this is your homes, close to this, and this is your other homes, and your, you know, maybe your estate type homes. Yeah, you gotta have a vision and work with them and try and work that you can put together an actual roadmap for the future. Then you're building to the future's needs, not just to the current. Yeah, correct. And that's been kind of the main echoing thing during this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:48

And to a certain degree, I mean, those developments do happen, but on a much smaller scale. Like, for example, Nick and I, we met at the Coast Capitol, uh, we used to work at Coast Capital at the head office there, right here and right here by the King George Hub. Okay. And at that time, that building was the first one there, and it was just the we were the first tenants, and uh they actually we had a meeting and they were showing the proposed um like the vision for the master plan community there just before any of the hub high rises and everything were going up. And um, they had that plan in place for that corridor. PCI was doing the whole thing, and even Vesta just did Latimer Village, and they do that, and I think and they're successful. The sales and everything were successful, and these communities they're they're vibrant. Imagine doing that for an entire, like actually doing that, planning that with the city. Imagine how vibrant and lively, and it's just how yeah, prosperous even it just sounds prosperous, even like for local businesses to even open up a small cafe or you know, just a little retail shop or something, and just maybe a day, maybe a day as long as they meet the code, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

And also, if that was there, then you can think of even like a light rail transit that connects all these communities. Yeah, and the reason why I say that is like you know, hey, you're talking NDP trip. No, it's this is would make sense if there was a vision because it takes that form of transportation and we know where it is. Yeah, that means the roads are freer for us to get to where you need, and all the rural suburbs that need to be connected can be done by buses. Yeah, yeah, but in those main corridors, you would know where the rail is, and then goods and services, and people that just need to get to where they need to get to go. Yeah, can get there.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:32

Yeah, without a doubt. And I that's yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:35

No, that's that's just how I see it is you've got to have a vision, and that's one thing that I feel when you see a conservative government, we will do the due diligence, we'll talk to the communities, we'll see what we need. We need it a blanket policy or we need a regional, yeah, and that's something that I'll advocate for. Hey, it's not I don't I'm not gonna get my way on everything, but I can be a voice and bring it up and you know talk other members in supporting this, and that's how democracy works. Yeah, no, no kidding, right? Like I have to be a team player, and what I'm saying here, some of it's personal and some fits, you know, you can have a voice, but you gotta have a combined vision too, because there's other MLAs that represent other unique communities, and what works there might not work here. Yeah, and we need to be cognizant of that, and that's the message that I want to let your viewers know that we need to actually be mindful of is helping some of these other rural communities build up. So I don't know if my kids will be able to afford to stay here in the future, but hey, maybe if the Kootenis or Prince George is decent and they can have a life there, at least they're close by.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:41

Yeah, without a doubt. And at least they're building a life and a happy one like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:44

And they have the ability to do that. Exactly, and to and to still keep that Canadian dream alive, which we're we're seeming to get from.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:50

Don't be afraid to move to other areas either, right? Put down some roots, be the first to get there, and be the first to start that coffee shop, build on and have that other thing. You have that opportunity in this province, and I've seen it firsthand, firsthand driving around this province, untapped potential. We just need a government that lets the people work.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:12

Yeah, without a doubt. I couldn't, I really liked how you uh one thing you said about how you would work with different communities because one thing I've seen over the last five years, especially, is there's been, especially with real estate, there's been there's obviously been different issues that have come up, you know, when at first it was like the foreign buyers tax that they implemented, which foreign buyers make such a small percentage of our buyers as it is fine. So they right away, okay, 20% foreign buyers tax, done, slap that on. Um, then there was the short-term rental ban. And now, like they I feel there's just oh, even the um the four-month tenancy loss. Which they had to walk back on because they didn't talk to any, like you said, you talked to the professionals in the industry. Now I have a uh one of my developers is doing a project in Kelowna, and right now Kelowna's. I've I was going to Kelowna back and forth and talking to other agents out there, and the real estate the tourism market took such a massive dive. You have wineries that have been in families for generations that have been like beautiful places for people to go there and visit. They're the tourism industry got destroyed because the short-term rental ban. Once they gave the control back to the hotels, they spiked up prices like crazy to a point where Albertans would have they used to go there all the time. But then when you see the prices for a weekend to go to Kelowna paying a hotel, it's like, you know what? I can pack up and go to Disneyland. I can go to Cancun. Why am I gonna go spend that for a weekend in Kelowna?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:46

Like well, first thing I'll say is we've uh had Lang the Avstor actually has the second most wineries, and I know Kelowna is huge on that, but another thing, engaging these groups. Well, that is what this BC conservative leadership is about. You're having people who are vying for this position who are going to all these communities and doing those engagements with different groups. That is happening in real time. Like, for example, tomorrow morning I'm going out with uh Caroline Elliott of Endorser supporting her, and she's gonna be doing these meetings, and we're gonna have a rally later on. We're gonna engage people, get that engagement, back and forth dialogue, and hear from them directly what they want. And that is what I feel is very important is pay attention to this race, yeah, get your membership, and have a say. This is probably gonna be the next leader and the next premier of British Columbia. Yeah, and it's good to get involved, and that's what I've always said is get on the ground, get out there. And if anyone's out in Klona, pop by the Ramada, we'll be there at 6 p.m., I believe, tomorrow night. It'll be a big rally, a lot of people are coming out there, and it'll be a good time to engage and get out there and take part.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:56

Awesome. And uh we'd love to even like your it seems your obviously your endorsement of uh Caroline was very strong, and uh, you know, we'd love to have her here as well one time sometime and have her inside.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:09

What it does is this endorsement. I feel sorry about it. No, it's good but I wanted to say is it being here from the beginning, it kind of brings that big group in there that can actually move forward and get things going and defeat the NDP and get things done. And it kind of what I felt like with her is she was that voice on the outside of the legislature that was talking about the hard-pressing issues that no one wanted to touch. Right. She's not scared. And I was talking about that in the legislature and I was voting that way. Yeah, and now you're seeing everyone saying the same things, but who first had the courage? Yeah, and that's important. And she had that courage, she led by it, and that's why even when I was running, and I was like, listen, it reminds me early of the 90s again. I brought that up. And are we going into a 2001 election or a 96 election? And I remember, you know, growing up, one bedroom basement, yeah, thinking might have to pack up my bags, and it was tough. I don't know if we can do four more years after this. We need to win now. No, right? I don't think we can. And that's why being there from the beginning, knowing she was the vice president of the BC Liberal, said I was a vice president over here. And I'll tell you one thing, just because you're a vice president, you have this fancy little title, you're only one person on a board. You have to convince five to six others to vote for you. And then if it's a full board vote, you have to convince 15, 16, who knows how big that board, depending on the party you're on. Right. You're not always gonna get your way. Right. But I know she has been an advocate for a lot of these issues, and I know she's had to say a lot of things that the party puts pressure on you to say, but hey, she's out there right now and she's speaking up. She was the first to lead on those charges and have a good relationship with her over the years. A lot of us had the original people that created the party, we're kind of on both sides, now everyone's kind of united, right? And it's a great atmosphere, and I think we're gonna, she's gonna do a lot of good for this province.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:02

Yeah, it seems momentum is is is is is swinging with you guys, and uh, you know, it's fantastic. And a lot of what you said today is uh, you know, I I can appreciate a lot of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:11

I think it's a fresh perspective that gives the youth a voice because she's the same age. We're born the same year. I was on one, she went to Manwitz, she's from me okay. Yeah, she might be on the North Shore now, but she knows what we went through. She probably, you know, she knows what we need. She has friends here, she's here.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:43

You know, the one thing is, is uh in speaking from the ground level, is I feel that uh like it's easy to say a lot of people feel that politicians are out of touch with the actual communities and their needs. You guys are in your offices, you guys are, you know, whatever, prancing around, but you know, everyone obviously has like this thing about how politicians are shady and whatnot. But how like it's kind of I'm glad it uh you guys are you came on this show, you can at least give people the idea of like, well, it's give everyone the vision that you really want from this. And exactly, and you start off the bigger.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:19

I still remember where I come from and I always will. And I hey, I was on the outside and I always wondered what happened in Victoria, what happens in the legislature, what happens in these roles. Uh and now I'm here, and I want to share that experience and let people know hey, you can get here and take part in this and give them insight. Like, you know, I'll never forget where I came from, and the people who helped me along the way, who guided me in the sports. And that's even before getting into politics. I think it's very important you never get to a point where you think you're bigger than the actual team, the party, the everything. And being there from the beginning, knowing that seeing it from the ground up, I've been very fortunate, but also it's gave me the temperament of evolving and realizing, hey, what is the main thing? It's like a team, right? You look at Tom Brady, yeah, took pay cuts, yeah, you know, did things to keep the core group and they won championships. And that's what we need. That's what I want to see out of this party is you know, have a leader in there like Caroline who will let people get out there and do the work that she they need to get done, and not have that heavy top-down approach that everyone is like, hey, yeah, I don't believe these politicians, that guy's just telling them what to do. Well, there's a different approach, and that's why she's engaging industry professionals, she's on the ground, and hey, a lot of other candidates too in this race. I'm not gonna take anything away from them because I think every one of them have something they have to offer, and I want to work with regardless who the next leader is. Because I've my main mission from day one is to bring change for British Columbians, and that means defeating the NDP.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:59

Yeah, that's fair. And in all fairness, it doesn't matter which party you're a part of. If you're if you're fighting, you're obviously fighting for something you believe in, right? And now, more than ever, I think it's a matter of who's fighting for what this province, especially this province currently, needs the most right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:19

And also, I want to just say that I've worked great with my counterparts on the NDP side on a lot of things. This is the side you don't see, you see us just throwing going back at each other. It's not like that. There's issues that have happened in my riding with agriculture, big agriculture. I've had a great relationship with Lana Popham. She's actually listened to me on certain things and helped out where she could. Yeah, and we do have these engagements with a lot of other folks, and what you see always out there isn't always what it is, but we will hold them to account because that is what you want. But we also need to have a relationship where we can get things done.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:54

Yes, yeah, right. So and that's another, it's it's about working together without a doubt, right? And if you're spending more time bickering and arguing, that is more time not spent on resolving the actual issues. And it's it and it almost feels as if we're the ones paying for it half the time because we're sitting here waiting for you guys are the decision makers. You guys are you guys have such an important role in everyone's day-to-day lives out here. And we thank you for your service. Thank you for fighting for us, without a doubt. And yeah, like we really hope to 100% then. Yeah, we really like we let's just say, like, as realtors, you know, there's been this stigma that oh, you're a real estate agent, you just care about money. It's like, no, like I we we love our jobs, and we go to battle for our clients.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:42

Realtors that they don't just see it as the real estate, it's you know, hey, I want to help you invest, I want to help you grow. I want your kids, hey, you're here. Do you have a little excess of income? Maybe you can get a property for your two kids to split later on, and that'll put them at a better end. And you know, we've seen generationally it's a good investment. Without a doubt, it's not like you know, it's not like you're saying go buy up everything and do this, this, and this. You're trying to tell them, hey, you have two kids, we see the way the market is going. Yeah, it is rising fast. If you can help, right, you're hey, first of all, we're gonna build, we're gonna create more jobs and other things, and the return will be your kids will be have a little head start.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:23

Yeah, definitely. And I guess where where I was what I was trying to kind of get at essentially is that it's definitely a much better feeling when we're helping our clients because their families are growing. They just worked up hard enough and finally saved enough for that down payment, and you know, they're getting right, you know, it's not as it's I mean, we have to still do it, but you know, when foreclosures are happening because you know they got priced out of their payments, or you know, things they lost their jobs, or you know, there's a nasty divorce or anything like that, like when that starts to overtake the positivity in the market, then something needs to change, yeah, without a doubt. And it it's power's in your guys' hands.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:09

Well, it's also in your hands too. It is and all the watchers at home, yeah, get involved. Like I said, a lot of the parties, a million people vote provincially, but how many people are actually members of that? And how much of them push the agenda of policy and candidates and everything else? You have a vital part and take part. This is something that we can change the direction by getting involved. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:36

I really appreciate your time today.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:37

Yeah no, thank you guys for having me on. Hey, it's been a pleasure. Thank you, man. It's an honor. Hey, I work for you. So if I don't show up, well, then I'm not doing that.