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BIGGER THAN ME PODCAST
198. Brad Vis: Conservative MP Exposes What Went Wrong in the 2025 Election
Aaron Pete sits down with MP Brad Vis to break down the 2025 federal election, Conservative strategy, Pierre Poilievre’s loss, Trump’s impact, Mark Carney’s rise, political messaging, and how to regain public trust in Canadian politics.
In Ottawa, there's a culture of denialism. There is a culture of not coming clean. When did you know that the election was heading in the wrong direction and that the Conservative Party was unlikely to be successful in the election? What is your position on Trump's approach? Is there any merit to what he's done? What Donald Trump was doing is disrupting one of the most successful economic relationships the world has ever seen. I would have Brad from a senior, you know, I just don't think Carney's the right guy for the job facing the challenges we're facing. And then the next door I'd go to a young mom who's like, I can't afford the groceries. I don't know what I'm going to do at the end of the month. And I don't know what's happening or if I'm even safe in my community anymore. And it was like people were living on two completely separate planets.
Aaron Pete:What is your message to Canadians and your constituents who might be frustrated? I'm
Brad Vis:going to fight for you. I take this job extremely seriously. Pierre
Aaron Pete:Polyev lost his riding. What was your reaction to that? Brad, it is an honour to be speaking with you today. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Would you mind first briefly introducing yourself?
Brad Vis:I am Brad Viss, the Member of Parliament for Canada's number one riding Mission Matsui Abbotsford.
Aaron Pete:Fantastic. I wanted to start perhaps at the beginning and just reflect on Justin Trudeau's decision to step down as Prime Minister. Prior to that, the polls showed something very different than how the election went. And I just, I'm curious as to how you reflect on his decision to resign?
Brad Vis:Well, I think the biggest takeaway is what we have today, is that many people were, rightfully so, extremely upset with our previous prime minister. And as a result of his resignation and the election of Mark Carney in conjunction with a newly elected president down south, the election we thought we were going to be undertaking turned out to be much different. Would
Aaron Pete:you say that it was a... A good, responsible decision that Mr. Trudeau chose to step down?
Brad Vis:I think he did it because he read the tea leaves and he knew that he was set up for electoral defeat.
Aaron Pete:Okay. And then they have a liberal internal election to go through that process and make a decision on who is going to lead the party. And I had the opportunity to interview Karina Gold, who was one of the individuals running. Yeah. And it ends up being Mark Carney. Yeah. What was your reaction to that? I
Brad Vis:sort of understood from the very beginning that Mark Carney was going to win. And I say that because one thing Justin Trudeau was very good at was building a very effective political apparatus around him. Most of that political apparatus, including Jerry Butts, his former principal secretary, the likes of Evan Solomon, who was elected from the Eurasia group, all went behind Mark Carney for what the leadership was doing. So Mark Carney inherited one of the most successful team. And so he set himself up very well for a win amongst liberals.
Aaron Pete:Interesting. And then we call an election shortly thereafter. And it was 36 days. And I wrote an article just about my frustrations with the democracy isn't just voting. To me, there's little pieces that go alongside that. And the 36 days stood out to me as a challenge where you have a new face, Mark Carney, who's running. To me, we needed perhaps more time to get to know Mr. Carney and have a more clear process to get to know all of the candidates.
Brad Vis:What was your reaction to the 36 days? Well, the nature of our political system in Canada is that it allows a prime minister, whether they're elected or not, in this case, non-elected, to determine when an election takes place. That's something unique to the Westminster system and Canada especially. So that's just real politics. That's just crass political engineering So I don't fault anyone for that. It's just a tool Canadian prime ministers hold in their favor. And Mark Carney used that for his own benefit.
Aaron Pete:Do you think, though, that we should aspire for our politicians to not want to go with crass politics? That we should aspire to individuals to, I don't know, I keep saying this, but I feel like we're in a time where leadership doesn't have the instinct to want to look a camera dead in the face and go, my fellow Canadians, I've failed you sorely, or I could be doing better here, or I've fallen short of the vision in which you gave to me on what you wanted from me. And so when I hear, like, yes, that can be a strategy, but that builds the mistrust that people have of politics.
Brad Vis:Yeah, that's a loaded question. The mistrust in politics. I think in Ottawa, there's a culture of denialism. What is your position on Trump's approach? Is there any narrative? And that's reflected in our access to information laws that are completely out of date. And it's a reflection of the parliament we had just before when Mark Carney was elected. Let's not forget that there was like basically no legislation passed in the last year because the Liberal Speaker, Mr. Fergus, found that the Liberal government was in contempt of parliament for not giving members of the industry committee, which I was a part of, access to the documents that we were constitutionally allowed to access to understand the relationship between all of the companies that received hundreds of millions of dollars from Sustainable Development Technology Canada after a federal whistleblower came forward and the inappropriate professional relationships that existed when those monies were allocated to those respective companies. Parliament was shut down. We weren't getting anything done because The government said that it was a charter violation if the Conservative Party went forward and shared that information with the RCMP. But from what we heard from the public servants and members of SDTC at Industry Committee is that there were serious breaches in the conflict of interest laws of Canada, that the government did everything in their power, including this election, to cover it up so Canadians wouldn't know.
Aaron Pete:And maybe more... layman's terms, it sounds like there was a fund being used and there weren't proper protocols and procedures being followed. Yeah.
Brad Vis:Canada has a lot of very strict and rightfully so very strict rules about the allocation of money, who gets it, what's the relationship between people. So this is a liberal appointed board and members of the board were dispersing money to their own companies, which is against the law. That's what took place.
Aaron Pete:Wow. Okay. So Trump wins and then there's these comments about the 50 Yeah. Fear.
Brad Vis:That was my reaction. And that was yesterday. I was with the mayor of the city of Abbotsford at his luncheon, and I was sitting with some companies, local companies in my riding, where they're export-based companies. We have a lot of export-based companies in the Fraser Valley that manufacture tools, provide services to American firms and American customers as they should under the existing economic relationship we had. What Donald Trump was doing is disrupting one of the most successful economic relationships the world has ever seen. That means jobs lost, mortgages not paid, and my constituents suffering. So it was fear.
Aaron Pete:The challenge, and you can correct me if I'm mistaken, but was the ability of the Conservatives to break from Donald Trump. That's some of the blame that's being put out there, that there wasn't a clear differentiation on where the Conservatives stood and where Donald Trump stood. Is that
Brad Vis:accurate from your perspective? If I'm going to say one thing about what the Conservatives did wrong during the election is that we didn't pivot quickly enough. We were rightfully focused on cost of living issues, on changes that we need to see in the criminal code. But we didn't speak enough about the challenges that Donald Trump raised before and during the election in a quick enough manner that Canadians thought we were the best party to govern the country.
Aaron Pete:Is Donald Trump, is there any merit to his argument that it seems like he wants to reinvigorate his country? And I'm not saying what he did is correct, but the only... interesting thing that's come as a byproduct is this intense nationalism that has been revived that for a very long time there has not been pride in the Canadian flag the way that I've seen it recently and when the trucker protest happened my only comment on how much they were raising the flag is flags and symbolism do a good job of at least forcing us to reckon with what does that flag mean to us as Canadians like what do we hold that flag up for what are the values that make us Canadian and we've just been going through that process as of late, and it gives me a lot of hope to see us starting to go, what does it mean to be Canadian? What are those qualities we want to hold up as being a Canadian? And so what is your position on Trump's approach? Is there any merit to what he's done?
Brad Vis:Well, I think there's a takeaway, and the takeaway is exactly what you just expressed, is that Canadians are thinking about Canada for a change. We're a very outward-looking country. We're a country where a lot of young people see it as like a rite of passage to go to Australia France, New Zealand on a work visa and spend a few years abroad going around the world. That's something very, very common amongst Canadians. Many Canadians love international institutions and believe that Canada has a strong role to play in the world. But more locally, I think the takeaway from Trump is that we have to reconcile with what Canada has done in the past, what Canada means in the future. And really, we're having the conversations of a young country for the very first time. We're barely over 150 years old. We're maybe close to 160, right? 157, 158. So we have a lot of growing up to do as a nation. And the threats from Trump have necessarily forced us to have those challenging but important conversations. But in respect to is there merit to what Trump has done, I don't believe on the economic front there is. But I do believe the United States of America and the goes beyond Trump and our other NATO allies make valid criticisms of Canada as it relates to our defense spending and our inability to meet the targets that pretty much every other advanced economy nation in NATO has done.
Aaron Pete:Right. Going back to how the election went, what would have been some of the pivots that you would have thought would have been important in starting the election, knowing these comments coming from down south?
Brad Vis:Well, I think that we did show our messaging. And when we did shift our messaging and we talked about the things that we can do in our own backyard, Canada can't control an uncontrollable president. We can't predict what Donald Trump is going to do in the future. We don't know what's in store, but we do know that there is a lot of things that we can improve right here in our own backyard. And when we started focusing on those things, our message really did resonate with a lot of people. And some of those policies related to interprovincial trade. The Conservative Party talked a lot. Well, we've had it in our election platform for like the last three elections, but a national energy corridor. We talked about a Blue Seal program to allow all the nurses and doctors trained abroad to actually practice in Canada because they were only accepted to come to Canada because of their credentials in the first place. So eliminating the discrepancy between credentials and practicing their profession so we can address the doctor shortage. There's a lot of things that we don't do very well in Canada that we could, if we tackle those issues, we could measurably improve our quality of life.
Aaron Pete:May I ask, what is the structure in which you get information around messaging? What is the process when an election is called? How do you find out what the process is going to look like, what you're supposed to do, not supposed to do? I assume that there are some things outside the bounds where you shouldn't be doing some crazy things and Yeah. Some things that you're allowed to do that they recommend or support. How does that all work? Oh,
Brad Vis:well, in terms of the operationalization of the Conservative Party, is that what you're getting at? Yeah. Yeah. So we have a desk officer. We have regular calls and discussions amongst colleagues and candidates to make sure that we're all on the same page in respect to messaging. And then we go out and we knock on doors and we talk to people and we share that messaging and we identify voters that believe in our messaging. And we use the Conservative Party headquarters and our BC reps within that whole apparatus to talk about the issues that are coming up at the doorstep and making sure we have appropriate responses that are in line with our messaging and our approach to govern Canada.
Aaron Pete:Is that an effective system? Because it just seems like coordinating all of that, you might hear different things than somebody else in an urban setting. It just might look different. So is that system effective?
Brad Vis:Well, you know, if you want to be a leader in any political party, you have to have some personal judgment and you have to have some personal discretion. And if you're running for office, I would hope that you're able to take national messaging and you can adapt it and use that in a local context. And that's a big part of what every candidate is required to do in any political party. But I believe very strongly that the messaging the Conservative Party had really did resonate with people in the Fraser Valley, and that was reflected in the way the votes went.
Aaron Pete:Is it true that candidates—I've seen this on Twitter—is it true that candidates were directed not to do long-form interviews and participate in more processes like that? In some
Brad Vis:cases, yes. How do you feel about that? Well, you know what? I believe that I'm an independent voice, and And I did a lot of media during the campaign, and I'm going to continue speaking to people. And that's why I'm happy to be here with you today. At the end of the day, what conservative voters want is for Brad Vist to be a local and effective representative that's going to respond in good faith to local issues. And that involves being on a podcast like yours, which is, I believe, a local podcast to the Fraser Valley and British Columbia at large.
Aaron Pete:Well, I appreciate you being willing to be here So if candidates are directed not to participate in certain podcasts or that is going on, what are the consequences that come with, not even just with that specifically, what are the consequences for stepping beyond the lines of what you're being directed from senior leadership?
Brad Vis:Yeah, well, there is a level of message discipline that has to take place. The consequences are that, and I think you already know the answer to this, is that People won't hear from you. And so you got to play ball. Wow. That makes me... There's no easy answer to that because you have to, in any political structure, you have to balance those two aspects, the message discipline and the individual autonomy. And sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. I try my very best to get it right as often as possible for my community and for my writing. If you could
Aaron Pete:make any changes to that system, what would you make recommendations towards? Because my personal, like what I would advocate to to all parties is we are moving in the direction of more transparency and more longer form interviews which are participating now. We're seeing that like I first started to understand this when the provincial election was happening and all provincial party leaders agreed to come on this show and not just this show but several other shows and do long form interviews where they didn't know what the questions were going to be and of course you expect the interview to be fair and respectful but that was a part of the movement and then And we also saw this in the U.S. election where Donald Trump, again, hate him, like him, however you feel. He went on several long-form podcasts. Yeah.
Brad Vis:You have to be vulnerable. You have to be vulnerable. And it's not always easy. I actually believe that some of the best moments Pierre brought to Canada during the election was when he was on a long form podcast and spoke about some of his personal family dynamics. And so I commend him for that. I know a lot of people would have hoped he did more, but he's his own decision maker. And he decided to do what he did. And just like I did during the election. The only long form what I did was with the Fraser Valley current. I guess that turned out to be more long form.
Aaron Pete:Exactly. And I guess just reflecting on that, to me, Pierre did do a lot of long form interviews prior to the election and building up to it the year before. He was on Jordan Peterson. He was on some more long form interviews. I guess I will put it to you. One of the challenges I saw was that it was with what I would personally consider more friendly individuals. Jordan Peterson's known to lead more right. He was very interested in our election and he was very unhappy with Mr. Carney in several of the videos he made. He did a longer form interview with Candace Malcolm. I've had her on the show. She has a lot of perspectives. We disagree on some things. I think, again, just being able to be an independent voice, I admire her ability to build out a platform where it's her voice, but it was all very conservative focused. And that just frustrated me because I really expected this election to be more around Yeah. doesn't lean left, but he's certainly open to those perspectives. And other individuals had reached out to him wanting to speak with him and get his perspective maybe from a position that was less right-leaning. Did
Brad Vis:you notice that as well? Well, he decided to do what he did and decided to do what he did. And Mark Carney didn't do any long-form podcasts during the interview. He barely spoke to the media at all. And then if you looked at his video clips throughout the campaign, there was silence. There was no dialogue. It was just him shaking hands and elbows up. And that was basically the end of it. So Pierre did do a lot. Uh, I, I, I gather from your points that you feel he could have done more. And I, I absolutely hear that. Um, but those are like in the conservative party, uh, we really focus on, on the individual. So he made those decisions. Um, and I think when he did do it, he did really well. And a lot of people would agree with your perspective that he could have done more because they love hearing from him. And, uh, so if that's a criticism you're making, I take it in good faith about for the leader of the conservative party. And, And I, well, let's move forward.
Aaron Pete:Absolutely. Yeah. And I would give the same criticism to Jagmeet Singh and Mark Carney and Elizabeth May. We didn't hear long form and it just, it was just disappointing because the feedback that I got when I interviewed the provincial leaders was, geez, it was just nice to have a conversation, to hit play, listen, and then just hear how they think about things and not necessarily this issue, that issue, how they are going to address like housing and fix that. It's like, obviously this is a complex issue. flex issue and there's multi-level governments, but how they kind of approach the conversation, how honest and vulnerable they are is really what builds that trust and transparency. So I really think that's important and I hope everybody learns from that.
Brad Vis:I think that's a really good point.
Aaron Pete:The next piece I wanted to touch on was when the platforms were released. That was another piece, just as again, being a huge advocate for the pieces that make up a democracy. When platforms are released, to me, ideally, you would release that when the election starts. So everybody can go through, read them, get an understanding and make an informed decision. But I have that the Liberals and NDP released their platform on April 19th, just a few, like a week before the election, and the Conservatives released it April 22nd. What are your reflections on that?
Brad Vis:I think those are strategic decisions that are beyond my pay grade. I think we did our very best to put forward a platform that was costed independently, and we made certain economic assumptions in there that we had to be transparent about. I think, sure, the timing maybe could have been a little bit earlier, but I think there was still ample time for people to see the platform and make a decision about what they thought of the Conservative Party. So I'm not going to criticize anyone in the Conservatives for when it was released. I think the party did their very best to put forward a platform that was transparent, and they did achieve that objective. So people knew what they were voting for, and it was written clearly and effectively for people to understand.
Aaron Pete:I heard people from CTV News interview Andrew Scheer several times in like August, September, October, being like, why don't you give us some pieces of your platform so we can start to get an understanding? So, of course, you're starting to reflect what are our positions? How are we going to approach these things? And so, Justin Trudeau resigns in January. And then the election doesn't happen until a while after that. So, there was writing on the wall from my perspective that maybe— Maybe the platform could have at least started, information could have started to be shared and been made clear. Yeah,
Brad Vis:I'll push back on that one a bit. I think that the, you know, Pierre did a massive rally with national attention on the Canadian flag. Yeah, I think that's in late, sometime in February. And he did a massive rally in Ottawa and he outlined a lot of the policies that were already in our platform. We came forward with many points on criminal justice. We had our point on skills recognition. We had come out with policies on energy, on LNG. We came forward with policies on equity sharing for First Nations. In fact, we had more policies outlined than any other political party, even the Liberals, before the election took place. And Pierre did that responsibly in a way that everyone had the chance to hear. So we got that criticism a lot, but I don't think it's valid. There was a lot out there. We talked about, look at how effective we were with our platform before it even was released. We're going to ask the carbon tax? What did the Liberals do right before the election started? They eliminated the consumer carbon price. We came forward with an energy corridor before the election started. What do the Liberals do? We're going to have an energy corridor too. So those are two major policy platforms where we shaped the agenda. We came forward with a policy on changing the bail laws so repeat violent offenders aren't released. And the Liberals said before their platform came out, well, we're going to address repeat offenders as well. All of those points were in our platform. All of those were major issues that Canadians were Okay. I think
Aaron Pete:that's a fair response. What did you start to hear in your riding as the election was taking place? The polls were not showing a good position for the Conservatives. Were you hearing that at the door? What was the reaction that you were hearing as the election was getting ramped up?
Brad Vis:At the beginning of the campaign, I was taken aback by the number of seniors who had traditionally voted for me, who had decided to go to the Liberal Democrats. There was a shift, a real shift. And the people that decided to go to the Liberal Party had a few things in common. One, they were all baby boomers. Two, they were financially stable. And three, most of them own their own homes. And I don't think the senior generation suffered as much in the last 10 years as, say, our generation. Well, I'm 40. You're a bit younger than me, but not much. 29. Okay, well, we got 11 years apart, maybe 12. And so for my generation, like I'm an old millennial born in 1984, there are still friends of mine who don't own a home, but they make over $100,000 a year. You live in the Fraser Valley, and traditionally, if you have a six-figure income, you're going to be able to buy a nice property. You're going to provide that security. You're going to have that security to start a family and to start a life. So what we saw during the election was older voters who were more secure financially tended to think about some of those broader existential threats that Canada was facing in respect to the United States. On the other side, we had, you go to like the West Hills neighborhood of Mission or like some of the neighborhoods below 7th Avenue where young families are buying an old BC box home and they're putting a lot of sweat equity into their property. But they also feel a lot of insecurity about that $900,000 mortgage they have And the challenges that come with it, if they're able to get into the housing market, there's just as many who are paying $3,000 plus a month for rent who don't feel that they have a future in Canada anymore. And the conservative message really resonated with younger people. more so than it ever has in any election, especially the last four that I've been in. So I found support in neighborhoods where the NDP traditionally did very well. And in the BC context, that makes total sense because Mission's an old sawmill town. There's still a few cedar shake and shingle mills that work full time. Vancouver Island, where you had that same type of dynamic and the same type of labor force, all went conservative for the first time in for as long as I can remember. So it was like what Pierre did very, very well was get young people and workers in unions to vote conservative like we've never seen before. And that's a huge positive takeaway and something that I'm very excited about what Pierre can do to continue speaking up for that generation. But I definitely saw it on the ground in my riding day to day. I would have Brad from a senior, you know, I just don't think I think Carney's the right guy for the job facing the challenge. Right.
Aaron Pete:What does that do to you? Like, how do you carry those heavy messages? Yeah. Yeah.
Brad Vis:Well, I really love doing petitions and I feel that petitions are a really underrated aspect of our parliamentary system. I can talk about any issue in parliament for one minute if I get 25 signatures on a petition and I submit that to the clerk of the House of Commons. That gives me a lot of voice for my constituents and I use that very, very effectively. I think I was in the top 10 in the country for putting forward petitions, but I think I had one of the widest range of issues covered in the petitions I presented. So I use that. I make sure that when I speak, just like I'm trying to do with you today, that I always bring it back to my writing. It starts and ends in my writing. It starts and ends with my neighbors. Those are the people I'm fighting for. That's really beautiful. And I'm going to add one point. I'm going to give a story. So I'm walking down the street and this was an emotional election because people are really hurting and people really are living on the edge right now. It is a fact. And there was this dad. He just opened the door and he, like, nice enough guy, but he just said, Brad, be one of us. Be one of us, Brad. And I took that through the entire campaign. And that's sort of what drives me. So I'm just a regular dad. I live in a nice BC box home. I'm raising my kids in the community. Going to baseball or gymnastics or a community event with my family is just as important as the work I do in Ottawa. But my participation and living in the community that I represent and being born in that community drives everything I do in Ottawa because that's what people expect of me. And it gives me hope that we can change things. And it gives me hope about Pierre Pauliev moving forward too because even in opposition, he was able to shape the national narrative on a lot of big issues. right when the election started, the Liberals cut the carbon tax and there was a 20 cent drop in gas and people were talking about it because they're living on the edge every month. Pierre was able to do that in opposition and that was really, really, that really helped a lot of people. And that's one small example. But on criminal justice reform too, he's been able to shape the national discussion and force the Liberal Party to change their policies because they're not working for Canadians.
Aaron Pete:That's really interesting and It does go to the point like I watched the CBC throughout just to get a sense of what was going on from other people's perspectives. I don't want to end up in a silo. As I've told others, I don't vote, not because I don't think it's an incredibly important process, but because I want to remain unbiased as I hear from individuals like yourself, from people on the other side. And maybe this is throwing negativity. But when I saw I've interviewed Evan Solomon twice and it was very interesting to get his perspective as a journalist when I saw him run for the liberals I was disheartened because to me you're meant to be unbiased you're meant to not have a finger on the scale and he put his finger on that scale and that made me mournful for what he stood for because I do think that impacts his track record from my personal perspective
Brad Vis:well the I think that's a really good point and I can give you another one another example Peter O'Neill I believe his name was used to be the only BC based journalist in the Ottawa Press Gallery, he left his job to work for Miriam Monsef, a Liberal minister in her ministerial office. And I always had a lot of respect for Mr. O'Neill, and he's interviewed me and I've spoken to him before, but it didn't sit well with me when you went to being one of the main reporters for the Vancouver Sun to working in a Liberal office.
Aaron Pete:I agree, and I wouldn't like it if Candace Malcolm joins and joins the Conservative Party. The goal is to be impartial and to show respectful Yeah. Yeah. person to your life. And this is ultimately, you want to leave a legacy within your community where people are proud that you were there and that you were representing them. And I think sometimes that gets lost with the power hunger that can take people over when they're going for premier or they're going for a federal leadership position, opportunity to control the conversation. Sometimes you can lose yourself chasing after power.
Brad Vis:Yeah. You're sort of getting me on thinking about the balance between being a delegate for the community I represent but also being a trustee for my community and that is where when I'm working on a committee for example I can I use my own faculties to make judgments about how I'm voting or amending a piece of legislation and how it might impact my community the average voter is is going to have no way of knowing what's in that legislation and that's why they entrust me as their representative to be able to do that on their behalf. But it's a constant battle between, internal battle between the role of a delegate and the role of a trustee as an elected official. But it's one I take very, very seriously.
Aaron Pete:When did you know that the election was heading in the wrong direction and that you were unlikely, the Conservative Party was unlikely to be successful in the election?
Brad Vis:I had a lot of roller coasters on the election. I can't point to a specific date, but I held high that we were going to win till the very end. And even after the polls closed in Newfoundland and the Conservatives seemed to be doing really well, I was like gung-ho because I can remember in 2015 when the polls closed in British Columbia, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that we were going to be wiped out. And we were. We were not wiped out in this election. We gained a lot of new seats and we built up a strong coalition of young people. And I think that's important to reflect on the positive side of it, that we have a very strong coalition going forward. If we keep talking about issues that impact workers, if we keep trying to bring novel and innovative policy ideas to the forefront, which we did, which we don't get enough credit for, if we keep doing those things, we're going to be successful in the future. And that gives me a lot of hope. So I... I don't think there was any specific time I thought we were going to lose. I think the polls did under-report, and we saw that on election night.
Aaron Pete:So I've heard this. On the one hand, I've heard voices who lean liberal or left-leaning have been critical. You didn't perform. You had a 25% lead. You guys didn't live up to that. You were unsuccessful. Then I've heard the conservative perspective, which is we actually gained in a lot of communities. This was a much clearer election. There was growth but then and maybe
Brad Vis:this is the middle i'll interrupt i'll interrupt don't get me wrong we lost yeah we weren't good enough we missed the the field goal okay we missed the goal posts i don't like at the end of the day that's what it comes down to yeah there's a lot of that we have a good foundation but we weren't good enough and we have to improve
Aaron Pete:so and then the middle ground perspective from my understanding is that neither the liberals or the conservatives should count on this in the future because it was very unusual that the bloc and the NDP did so poorly in this election and that you shouldn't expect that in a future election. Do you see that perspective as well?
Brad Vis:Well, there's a lot of dynamics at play. It's a minority parliament. The prime minister, like we talked about before, can call an election at any time. What's to stop Mr. Carney from using his powers as prime minister to call an election in favour of the Liberal Party when Donald Trump is still president? Nothing stops him from doing that. And nothing stops on the side with the new Democrats. If they choose a good leader, maybe they will come back. Who knows? There's so many unknowns right now. But I do believe... So time will tell. Time will tell what the next election is going to be fought on and on what policies will be at the forefront of the minds of Canadians at that time. We don't know right now. But what we do know right now is that Canada has a horrible economic performance that we We have rampant crime in our communities that all of the issues that we talked about federally as the Conservative Party haven't gone away. We just have an additional threat with tariffs from the United States. And I desperately hope that the government does go forward and makes those changes that they talked about, those ideas that we have in common that they took from our platform and they enact those policies for the good of our economy and the well-being of Canadians. Can I give one
Aaron Pete:other criticism just in regards to the Conservatives' approach to the election at large? Yeah. And the video of Mark Carney and Mike Myers was a little odd. Yeah. But it resonated. And it resonated in a big way because showing that Canadian flag, showing some Canadian icons was in the zeitgeist. There was a hunger for that. And credit to Mr. Carney and his team for recognizing that there was hunger for that. I didn't see the Conservatives do any type of play that reached to the same degree as that commercial. That still sits in my mind. I can't think of an example where the Conservatives did something to that level.
Brad Vis:Okay. I don't think I have any example as well um but point taken
Aaron Pete:do you see how like that like from my perspective that was a huge piece of the conversation is is is the conservative party committed to canadians and to canadian culture to the same extent as the liberal party demonstrated and and i think you can poke it at lots of pieces there's conversations around mark carney uh and his business dealings and moving that to the u.s there are legitimate critiques i think of the liberal party but they just kind of they gave you exactly what the voters were looking for, which is we're Canada first here and that's not up for conversation. And you just didn't get that kind of smack in the face. Well,
Brad Vis:you actually, you just proved, you just stated the conservative position. It was Canada first. Yes. And so I guess we did do something that did resonate. And in the last part of the campaign, Pierre was out and speaking about those national issues much more. And I think he was very, very effective. And that's why the polls were so tight near the end of the campaign.
Aaron Pete:That's a, That's a fair criticism. And I did just use Canada first, which is the other piece that I wanted to ask about is Pierre Polyev lost his writing.
Brad Vis:Yeah.
Aaron Pete:What was your reaction to that?
Brad Vis:Oh, I was upset for him. Yeah, he's represented that riding for 20 years. But there's a lot of examples of leaders in the country losing their ridings and going on to have very successful careers. The first guy that comes to my mind is Mackenzie King. And so it's happened before. It's not uncommon. It's happened provincially here too. I think what Pierre is doing is the right choice. And I stand behind him as leader. And I think his best days are yet to come.
Aaron Pete:Is there any, like you're knocking on these doors. You kind of get at that front level what that relationship is with those voters. Yeah. There's got to be a heaviness to the fact that that happened to him, right?
Brad Vis:Oh, absolutely. But, you know, when Pierre ran for leader of the Conservative Party, he had overwhelming support in every corner of the country, especially that riding, which is one of the safest in the country. So I have no doubt that Pierre is going to be an effective representative for the riding name, which is escaping me right now, in eastern Alberta.
Aaron Pete:Yes. And so Mark Carney chose to proceed and prioritize a by-election so that Pierre can do that, is my understanding. Is that your understanding as well? Yes, it is. Okay. And then that's going to cost taxpayers $2 million in order to do this. As a taxpayer yourself, what is your reaction to that?
Brad Vis:Well, the cost to democracy, at least we're transparent about it. There's lots of things in Ottawa that cost much more money that don't get any level of scrutiny. So with Elections Canada, we do have that scrutiny and people are able to make up their own minds. But again, he's not the first political leader to do this. It's a pretty common practice at the provincial and federal level of government, and Pierre needs to be back in the House of Commons.
Aaron Pete:Do you feel like there's a lot of talk about reflections, where can things be done better? Do you feel like that's properly taking place within the Conservative Party?
Brad Vis:Well, yeah, it's properly taking place in my own heart and mind right now. I'm very disappointed we didn't win, and I believe that we need to do better. Like I said, we missed the goalpost, and we can do better. And when we start thinking about the next election, I'm very hopeful that we'll be in a position to present new ideas in a clear way where we can earn the trust of Canadians. And that's what democracy is all about. In the meantime, we've got a very important constitutional responsibility to hold the government accountable, to make sure that they follow through on their big promises during the campaign, and make sure they do so in a transparent way. Mark Carney said he's going to be a transformational prime minister, that he's going to upend the way we've done things Let's see him do that.
Aaron Pete:Interesting. And so when you move forward, can you just expand for listeners, what is the role of the official opposition?
Brad Vis:The role of the official opposition is to critique the government and to propose policies to outline that you are a government in waiting. So that dual role, criticize everything they do and look under every document, look under every policy to make sure that they are being transparent with Canadian money and that they are being transparent to the promises they made to Canadians. At the same time, proposing solutions and ideas to show that you are ready to govern this country and that you can be responsible in that role too.
Aaron Pete:Is there a recommendation you would have, say the leader of the Conservative Party is listening to you, their team is listening to you, what would you suggest to them? Would you have any advice for how they proceed from your local constituents that you heard that maybe they're not alive to yet?
Brad Vis:Yeah, well, we haven't. I'll bring it really local. The infrastructure. We, in Abbotsford, the dike system, the pump stations, haven't received enough federal attention. And although I won with a big majority, more than I thought I was going to get, my criticism is that making sure that local MPs can raise those issues effectively in the House of Commons because there's other issues in other parts of the country. I need to be that local voice and I need to be empowered by my party in Parliament to do that. And so I'm going to continue pushing for that, but that I can raise those local issues effectively.
Aaron Pete:The other piece I just wanted to ask is when you have individuals like yourself who are making a positive difference, who understand that role, how do you proceed and kind of grow your voice in a responsible way within the party? Is there a process to go about that? I just don't know the internal mechanisms of how the party system
Brad Vis:works. I think that's a good question. There is no formal process for that. It's about how you perform in the House, how you help other candidates during an election period. It's how you speak to the top issues that the party is raising at the national level that you need to be speaking on. And so there's different, like the Conservative Party is It's a big tent. There's lots of different perspectives. So I think just putting your head down, doing your work effectively, finding that right balance between talking about national issues and local issues, being a delegate and a trustee, and treating everyone with respect. If you do all those things in politics and you play the long game, you're going to have a successful career.
Aaron Pete:That's the one criticism I've shared multiple times is conservative leaning individuals. My general critique of them, and I spoke to this with David Coletto, is that sometimes they might have a good point, but they do it. And I've used the word like they don't do it with kindness or gentleness. And that's what I've generally seen. Have you seen that for me? No, no. That's actually what I'm leading to is I've seen with the discussions of the Indian in residential school mass graves. I've seen, and I've spoken to Candace Malcolm, and I just felt like there wasn't a lot of compassion with the issue, that maybe she disagrees on the mass graves issue. She helped author a book about that. And there were points there that I think are valid, that I think we can discuss, but there's this general inclination to hammer on a vulnerable community. And I don't think that that piece is necessary. And I'm not accusing you of doing that, but I'm saying when I see conservatives kind of find an issue that they're strong on, it's not always with a gentle touch that they bring that approach. And I think that was a critique of Mr. Polyev when he was eating the apple is like, what was the approach of that? Is that prime ministerial when you do something like that? And I think we saw a significant movement from him on that piece, but that's just one general piece. The reason I was excited to speak with you and why am honoured to be able to do this is because we've met previously to this and you've been nothing but a genuine, kind, thoughtful person throughout the entire process of knowing me, not knowing that this would ever come to light. You've always been honest and transparent and we've had important discussions about Indigenous communities and how we support them and I greatly appreciate that and I do think that there's a space where Conservatives can be tough on issues but kind to people and sometimes I feel like those lines get blurred.
Brad Vis:Okay, well I would say on your points on Candace Malcolm, she's not a conservative MP. No. She's an independent journalist.
Aaron Pete:But the lean conservative. She does lean conservative. So the conservative voice, I would say generally, is very tough
Brad Vis:at times. Yeah. Well, maybe that's why we need to do long form podcasts and hear from other conservatives and more people in our caucus. And I'll take that criticism to heart about the broader conservative movement. As you just said, I I don't think that would embody the way I operate locally. And I'm going to try to continue to be a voice of compassion and trust and to talk about conservative issues in a way that resonates with the people that I represent. Because the way I operate is because that's what people expect from me and that's what I can offer in terms of my own personality. And that goes well together. So I'm going to continue doing that because that's what people want. But on your broader point. Okay, I hear you. Some people can be really crass about things, but on the other side, on the residential school system, there was Brad Viss who got money for St. Mary's to do the ground sonar work and got David Shepi a big grant to conduct that research on behalf of the regional bands. I think that's important to outline as well. I hear you. I appreciate
Aaron Pete:that. What does the future look like if you have a crystal ball? Where are we heading? And I'll just tie that in with, we just had an election. I do think that there's pent up steam, there's pent up frustration among some of the people you described, where the Liberals just put in a cabinet, from my perspective, that's very reflective of the previous cabinet. I agree. Some of the policies seem to be consistent with the old guard, and so we're not seeing the revolutionary change from these, and we're in the very early stages, but we're not seeing the change. And I really do want Yeah. Yeah. probably another four years of a very similar approach that we've seen from what we're gathering in the tea leaves right now. And I worry about those people. I understand the frustrations that Albertans are feeling, particularly where they're like, they're very strongly conservative and their voices aren't going to carry the day. And of course, they're going to have the opposition. But I just, I want this to be a Canada for everybody. And I do worry that we've divided ourselves even more so.
Brad Vis:Yeah, I was shocked by the cabinet choices, more of the same. Like, I can't believe it's more of the same. And that's exactly the opposite of what Carney said during the election. He said he was going to do it differently. Well, he didn't with his front bench. That is a fact. And I think you agree with me on that. So looking in the future, what's the crystal ball telling Brad Viss right now? I will, man. Like I said, I really hope that Mark Carney does, the Prime Minister does listen to Alberta and throws them a bone and comes to a consensus on some of the key demands from the Premier. Many of those concerns are very, very valid and we in Alberta deserves to have those issues dealt with. So that's what I hope for. What I'm concerned about with this government is more spending at a time in areas that won't address the key issues we're facing. And when I go to Ottawa, I'll be focused a lot on that. We're overdue for program reviews in Ottawa. Stephen Harper, when he was prime minister, had the deficit reduction action plan, where he gave broad powers to deputy ministers and ministers to make... cuts they felt were necessary in their departments without the heavy hand of a prime minister. Before him in the 1990s, John Chrétien cut healthcare spending, transfers to individuals quite a bit, and program spending across the board. He was ruthless in that, and I don't blame him for it at the time. But so I do believe that Ottawa needs to get its house in order and begin listening to Western Canada. I'm I'm not answering your question very well right now. So on the one hand, I'm apprehensive about the operationalization of government. On the other hand, I'm going to remain hopeful that Mark Carney is going to listen to Western Canada and we get some projects built to protect Canadian sovereignty.
Aaron Pete:What is your message to Canadians and your constituents who might be frustrated?
Brad Vis:I'm going to fight for you. I take this job extremely seriously. I'm going to bring up the issues I heard at the doorstep into the House of Commons through the petition process, through my work at committee to make sure that we fight, that I fight for a Canada that works for you. People don't expect a lot. They just want to make sure that when they pay their taxes, that it's being used wisely. And right now, most citizens don't think that's the case. And all All you have to do is go to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital to see how it's not working. All you have to do is speak to the 6 million Canadians who don't have a family doctor. All you need to do is speak to the trucker that's been waiting 20 years for Highway 1 to finally be expanded through the Fraser Valley. All you need to do is speak to a mother, like I did this week, who lost a family member in a murder. All you need to do is speak to the mum who in mission, who lost her son to fentanyl at a treatment center. There's so many things that we can do right now that won't cost money, that will drastically improve the way people see their country and how it operates and what it's doing for them. And that takes good governance. So I'm going to focus on good governance. I got one of 342 seats now. I'm just going to do my best. I'm going to fight. And then I'm going to go back home and I'm going to tell people what I'm doing. And I said, This is how I'm earning my paycheck. This is what I'm showing up to do for you every single day. And I'm going to be transparent about it. Do you get my email blasts? I do not. Okay. You got to sign up then. I will sign up. Can you tell people how they can follow your work? Yeah. Well, Brad underscore this on Instagram is a good way. And then on my website at bradvis.ca, you can sign up for my email newsletters. I give a regular update about my work in Ottawa, some of the things I'm thinking about and some local issues as well. But mostly it's just to show people that, yes, I take this job seriously. I'm going to Ottawa on your behalf. I'm raising local concerns so that you know your voice is being heard in Ottawa.
Aaron Pete:Brad, thank you for being willing to come on today and do a postmortem of where we've been and where we're heading. I greatly appreciate it, and I have a great deal of respect
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