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Populism | Munk Debates

August 2, 2022

Populism

Be it resolved, Populism is the future of Conservatism

Guests
Andrew Lawton
Tasha Kheiriddin
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About this episode

At the beginning of the year, a group of Canadian truckers took their frustrations of government mandated vaccines to Ottawa, which quickly grew into what became known as the Freedom Convoy. For about a month, the convoy shut down the nation’s capital as thousands of people pushed for an end to covid restrictions and vaccine mandates for cross-border essential workers. This was just another example of a populist swell in Canada that has pushed Conservative party candidate Pierre Poilievre to the role of front-runner. Andrew Lawton extensively covered the truck convoy and reports in his new book The Freedom Convoy on a group of people who held dance parties and pig roasts. However, as Tasha Kheiriddin reports in her new book, The Right Path, many more moderate Tories and centre-right voters fear the Conservative Party is pandering to anti-immigration, anti-vaccine and anti-urban sentiments to gain these far-right votes. Is populism the future of Conservatism?

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Guests

Andrew Lawton

“The fact that [the vaccine mandate protests] have reshaped the conservative leadership race months after an election in which the leader would not even talk about that, is a very real example of how conservative politicians in this country realized this populist issue is a necessity for them to be relevant to the voters and to their own base.”

Andrew Lawton

“The fact that [the vaccine mandate protests] have reshaped the conservative leadership race months after an election in which the leader would not even talk about that, is a very real example of how conservative politicians in this country realized this populist issue is a necessity for them to be relevant to the voters and to their own base.”

Andrew Lawton is a journalist, broadcaster, and author of the #1 Globe and Mail bestseller, The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World. He is a senior journalist at True North where he hosts 'The Andrew Lawton Show.' He previously hosted a daily talk radio show on Global News Radio. His written work has appeared in the National Post, the Washington Post, the national Sun chain, and on Globalnews.ca.

Tasha Kheiriddin

“The future of conservatism lies in providing solutions to populist concerns without the rhetoric upheaval and yes, sometimes violence that accompanies populism. It is not simply about removing elites or institutions, but enabling people to rise to the full level of their abilities.”

Tasha Kheiriddin

“The future of conservatism lies in providing solutions to populist concerns without the rhetoric upheaval and yes, sometimes violence that accompanies populism. It is not simply about removing elites or institutions, but enabling people to rise to the full level of their abilities.”

Tasha Kheiriddin is a public affairs consultant, political commentator, writer and speaker based in Toronto. She is a principal with Navigator Ltd., Canada’s leading high stakes strategic advisory and communications firm and Vice President of the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation. She is also the national political columnist for Postmedia. 

Named one of Canada’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” for her work in media and communications in 2016, her career in media spans two decades, as host of the daily radio program The Tasha Kheiriddin Show on Global News Radio in Toronto, a host with CTV NewsChannel, a member of the editorial board and columnist at the National Post, a columnist at iPolitics.ca, a producer with CBC Newsworld, and an award-winning host-producer at the Cable Public Affairs Channel. She was also a political analyst for Radio Canada for nine years and she continues to comment on both Radio Canada and CBC News Network. 

Tasha's book: ​https://therightpathbook.com/

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