Andrew Lawton, a former True North journalist, credits media experience for his Conservative candidacy in Elgin St. Thomas–London South, a riding with no incumbent and 100,000 voters. Recruited by Pierre Poilievre’s team—including Aaron Gunn, Jamil Giovanni, and Matt Strauss—he highlights the party’s shift toward bold communicators, contrasting past leaders’ media caution. Campaign costs, like gas (hurt by carbon taxes) and printing, are detailed at andrewlawton.ca, where donations help offset expenses. His 20-year-old Calgary Southwest campaign, once the best-funded in Canada, mirrors his current strategy: concise messaging and grassroots door-knocking. If elected, Lawton’s expertise and long conservative involvement could secure him a cabinet role, while his defiance of media narratives—like Poilievre’s refusal to criticize CTV over doctored footage—appeals to disillusioned young voters. [Automatically generated summary]
Tonight, one of Canada's best journalists throws his hat in the ring to become a Conservative MP.
A feature interview with our friend Andrew Lawton.
It's October 2nd, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug.
I'm very excited about the kind of candidates that Pierre Polyev is recruiting to run for the Conservative Party.
A couple of weeks ago, we spoke to Aaron Gunn.
Remember that?
The filmmaker from Vancouver Island and his new movie about the state of the Canadian military?
You know, Aaron is such a good egg, and I love the fact that he is a wonderful storyteller in video, but the idea of having him in the bosom of government is even better.
And I'm very excited for Aaron Gunn.
And there is another person who is a great communicator.
You know him well.
And to learn that he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Conservative Party nomination.
So he's not yet the confirmed candidate, but he is seeking that.
And I have high hopes for him makes me feel good because Pierre Polyev is recruiting an excellent team of people.
I'm talking about our friend Andrew Lawton of True North, who is a now a candidate nominee.
And he joins us via Skype from his home in London, Ontario.
Andrew, first of all, congratulations.
It's sort of exciting and a little dangerous to jump from journalism to politics, isn't it?
Yeah, it is.
And I should clarify, I've not been recruited or anything, but I do think Pierre Polyev is attracting some very top-tier talent.
And when I wrote about him in my book that came out earlier this summer, it was one of the things that I noted.
And this was long before I thought that I might end up doing the same thing.
But unlike in the past where conservative leaders have really shied away from anyone who has said anything and done anything, Pierre Polyev has welcomed that.
People like Aaron Gunn and Jamil Giovanni and Roman Babber and Matt Strauss.
And I think that, you know, regardless of what happens with my own political ambitions here, it's going to be a really, really strong bench when the Conservatives form government next election.
You know, that's such a good point.
I mean, Jamil Giovanni, I see him.
He won that by-election, I think, in Aaron O'Toole's old writing.
And I see him in parliament, and he's hitting hard.
And I like to see it.
But some of the other names you mentioned, including Matt Strauss, for example, you mentioned that Polyev is a little more comfy with candidates that might attract criticism from the left wing of the left wing of the media party.
I think that's very right.
Give me your thoughts on that because politicians normally are terrified about some old statement being dredged up on Twitter.
I mean, and I suppose it's fair enough because it's hung around the neck of the whole party.
So to show some courage and to hire some spicier people, for example, people who were pro-trucker, people who were skeptical of forced vaccine mandates, that's a statement I think that Polyev's not going to allow the wackos in the press to veto his candidates.
And I think it's more importantly about not letting the tail wag the dog and not letting the media set the agenda.
You may remember, and I talked about this on my show, in the 2021 election, there were points when the Conservatives changed their platform, their printed bound, laminated platform after it was released because they didn't like the types of questions they were getting from the media on things like firearms, for example, or free votes on matters of conscience.
Conservative Party's New Tone00:14:05
I think there is a very different tone in the Conservative Party today.
And I would also point out that it doesn't just extend to candidates.
There was a younger woman who was working in Doug Ford's government who donated, I think it was $50 to the Freedom Convoy when that was happening a couple of years ago.
And when the hack came out and the names were released, she was fired.
She, not long after, was hired by Pierre Polyev's Conservative Party of Canada to be, I think it was in the communications office some way, someone who had been shown the door for donating to the truckers had a home there.
So I do think it's a very encouraging sign as someone like me who's been a longtime advocate for a very real set of principles that we desperately need in politics and in our country.
You know, I didn't know that about that young lady.
I remember the story of her getting sacked.
It was outrageous.
The fact that she was hired after that incident is very encouraging.
You know, it's dangerous to go from journalism into politics, although a lot of people do it.
I think of Danielle Smith, the current premier of Alberta, John Torrey, the former mayor of Toronto, same thing he had a talk show.
The reason it's dangerous is because you opine on everything under the sun.
And maybe you say things in the moment that make sense journalistically.
But if people say, ah, this is the core of your character and your policy, I mean, I guess what I'm saying is you have a lot more fodder out there for critics to choose from.
Although it is practice at handling questions.
Like there's really no better training to be a politician than to manage a call-in radio show because you're going to hear from everybody.
And I don't know, it's it, I guess it's good practice.
What do you think?
I mean, you've, you've done it, you've done the radio, you've done the print, and of course, you were the chief reporter over at True North for years.
Yeah, I think that it's two things.
Number one is that it makes me a much more desirable candidate, I think, to voters because they know where I stand on the issues.
I'm not someone that is coming who's just devising a poll-tested, focus-grouped set of positions that I think will work.
I have been talking about the things that matter to me and advocating for the issues that I care about for years.
And, you know, it's a thing that people will know keeps me accountable because the last thing I want to be in Ottawa is the guy who has to field calls from people that used to look at my show or listen to my show and say, well, hang on, you used to say this on this, and why are you doing this?
So I think it keeps me honest and keeps me accountable.
But also, I think in journalism, one of the great skill sets is knowing which questions to ask.
It's not where I say that I'm an expert on every issue, but I pride myself on being able to know who the experts are to really get to the bottom of it, to root out the BS.
And that's a skill set that I think is very necessary in government.
I mean, anyone who's seen my interviews that I've done over the years with people that might be more hostile to me could probably quite easily picture me jumping into a committee role when we're trying to get to the bottom of, you know, the ARRIVE scam or the Wii scandal or something like that, because I was doing that on my show already.
So I think there is a transferable skill set there, most definitely.
Well, how's your book doing, by the way?
I mean, I remember you and I spoke about it before, and you told me, and this surprised me, and I felt good about it, that actually the CBC opened their doors to you and they actually let you talk about your book, even though it was sympathetic to Pierre Polyev.
And you yourself are on the conservative side of the aisle.
Are they still friendly to you, the CBC, now that you've thrown your hat in the ring?
I mean, I don't quite know why they were friendly to you.
Maybe because you were really the first guy to come out with the book, and it was quite an authoritative book about Polyev.
So they all wanted to read it and they all want to sort of crack the code of polyev.
So maybe they were just actually being journalists for once.
Are they still friendly to you?
Well, look, I haven't been fending off many CBC calls, and I think that's probably good for their sake and for my sake since they ran.
I mean, there was a relatively fair article about me when I launched my campaign, and I don't have any issues with that or their coverage of me in the last little while, although we'll see in the future.
I think a lot of the legacy media had realized by looking at the poll numbers that they were clearly missing something.
How does this guy that they put out this message on as being Trumpian or far right or this or that?
How is he resonating with so people?
So, I do think for some in particular, there was a genuine and earnest desire to at least understand a bit more about him.
And yeah, I did dozens of interviews with CBC, with other legacy media outlets as well.
And the book was on the bestseller list for a couple of months.
And I'm very grateful for that.
And I think that as the election nears, probably more people will be interested in it because still I'm getting messages from people that say, Oh, I just got your book or I'm just about to get it because they're seeing like this guy, Pierre Polyev, is not just a flash in the pan.
Like he is prepared to do something very monumental in Canadian politics just by virtue of the mandate he's on track to get.
And people are wanting to understand a little bit more about where he's come from and also what that is likely to mean for a future polyev government.
You know, I like to follow David Coletto, the pollster from Abacus.
First of all, he's actually a really nice guy and a really smart guy.
But second of all, that firm has some connections to the Liberal Party.
In fact, its founding chairman was sort of a liberal insider.
And the reason I say that is because if they say things are looking good for Pierre Polyev, they're not saying that because they like to hear it.
They're saying that sort of contrary to their own political instincts.
So I trust them extra when they have, quote, good news for conservatives.
And I saw they had a poll about a week or two ago that talked about how firm voters are in their commitment to Pierre Polyev.
You know, people can lean one way or lean the other, but the firmness with which people say they're going to vote for the conservative candidate, Pierre Polyev, is so hard.
Like those people will not be swayed by anything.
And then there's the probably won't be swayed.
The number who said they're still open to changing is so low.
I mean, unless some cataclysm emerges, and that is always possible, I think that he's going to be the next prime minister.
And I think the whole country is sort of getting ready for that.
I know grassroots people are like ordinary citizens are waiting for that.
I think CEOs are coming around to that.
I saw a weird attack on him in the Globe and Mail yesterday saying he wasn't friendly enough to CEOs.
He needs to listen more to CEOs.
And I thought that, and that was written by a former communications director for Brookfield, which of course is Mark Carney's company.
And I thought, if the Globe and Mail is writing columns telling Pierre Polyev he needs to listen to our kind of people more, it's because they know he's going to be prime minister.
The one thing I love, Ezra, because there has been from the legacy media over the last few months, no shortage of columns and stories about what Pierre Polyev really needs to do is this.
He needs to be nicer.
He needs to be nicer to the media.
He needs to be more conciliatory to the left.
And it's really difficult to take seriously any article based on the premise of Pierre Polyev needs to do X when he's been consistently polling over 40%.
Like that was one of the questions when my book came out.
And again, I stress I was not at all eyeing political office at the time.
But when my book came out and I was doing interviews, people were saying, well, you know, do you think Polyev needs to do this and that?
And I'm saying, look, whatever he's doing now is working.
So if you're trying to suggest that some course correction is needed, it really isn't for his benefit.
It's for yours.
It's because you think or you want him to conform to your expectations and demands of what a conservative leader is.
And I hate to break it to you.
The conservatives did that in 2021.
And where did it get them?
Nowhere.
You know, it's sort of funny.
All the people coming out of the closet sort of want, now that it's sort of clear who the winner is going to be, they want to bet on the winner now that it's a certain thing.
Ken Bozenkuhl, the lobbyist who was drummed out of the BC government for a sexual harassment scandal, he wrote a piece recently that, oh, don't take Polyev seriously.
There's no way he's going to repeal the carbon tax.
And I saw that Jenny Byrne, the chairman of the campaign, was saying, who?
Ken who?
Yeah, he was the lobbyist, but we haven't had anything to do with him in years.
It's sort of funny.
It's no longer uncool to be conservative.
It's no longer uncool to support Polyev.
All these late supporters are rushing aboard.
And part of me bristles at the fact that these oleaginous lobbyists are sort of circling now.
But that's also a sign when the weasel lobbyists start to ingratiate themselves with the conservatives.
That's a sign the conservatives are going to win.
I don't.
Here's, let me tell you my favorite thing about Pierre Polyev, and I've said this before, and I'd like your reaction to him.
I like him on policy.
I like his personality.
I like that it's sober-minded.
I like he's a good communicator.
I think he's pretty smart, actually.
I think he understands things like monetary policy better than 95% of people, certainly better than our current finance minister.
If you say, what's your favorite policy, Ezra?
It's not actually a policy.
My favorite thing about Pierre Polyev, and Andrew, I'd like your thought on this, is that he won't like this word, but he abuses the mainstream media.
Not viciously or heartlessly, but he's a little bit mean on purpose.
No one thinks he's sucking up to the media, neither the public nor the media.
And he's not shy about dropping the gloves and smacking them.
Sometimes it's subtle, like when he was chewing the apple in the orchard, challenging bad faith questions from just some local reporter.
But other times it is very strategic, like a couple of weeks ago when CTV doctored a video and to splice together different comments to make a sentence Pier Polyev never said.
Polyev not only said, I'm not talking to anyone from CTV, I'm not talking to anyone from their owner, Bell.
And Bell is a questionable company and their lobbyists are cut off.
And it was a real showdown.
And it basically said, I am making an enemy out of Canada's largest private broadcaster.
I'm going to fight them harder than anyone has ever fought them before.
I'm going to question their CEO's pay package.
I'm going to point out that their debt is almost junk debt level.
That's how rough I'm going to be because CTV was rough with me.
Suck on it.
And he did that, and it worked.
They came out with an ironic apology, and then a day later realized it wasn't enough.
They came out with a more groveling apology, fired the two people involved, and he still hasn't forgiven them.
I love, this.
I love this as much as I love his carbon tax repeal point, Andrew.
What do you think of my little rant?
I see it as being him not viewing as sacred cows things that the Laurentian elites claim should be treated as sacred cows.
And I think this is not to say he has a disrespect for institutions, but his respect for institutions has to be earned.
He's not going to avoid criticizing the Bank of Canada governor just because, oh, you're not supposed to do it.
He's not going to avoid criticizing the parliamentary press gallery because, oh, you're not supposed to do it.
If these groups want respect, if they want to be treated like grown-ups, they have to earn that.
And I think that's where I would say what he's doing really falls into.
And at the end of the day, I don't think Canadians are viewing institutions in a way that suggests they should be treated with kid gloves either.
We've seen trust in institutions of all kinds across the world has been at an all-time low.
And you may remember when you and I were reporting on the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, you weren't there at the time, but I ran into Christine Lagarde, who's the head of the European Central Bank.
And I said, the theme this year, Ms. Lagarde, is rebuilding trust.
You know, how are you going to get?
I hadn't even gotten the question out.
And she said, well, I'm not taking questions right now.
I'm in a quiet period.
And that's true of the Davos elites.
It's true of the legacy media in Canada.
It's true of the Bank of Canada.
These people do not believe that they should have to take questions from ordinary folks.
And Polyev is saying, listen, I'm going to just call you on that.
And I think that's resonating with Canadians who have had enough of these groups and institutions too.
You know, I think there's a phrase, turnaround is fair play.
Turn about is fair play.
And I look at the criticism and the abuse, frankly, and the unfairness that Rebel News has been treated with, that True North was treated.
You and I were in court together in 2019.
We were both in the same hearing fighting for our right to get into the debates commission.
In fact, the case is known as Lawton versus Canada, if you look how it's categorized.
That was a wonderful victory for both of us.
But look at how we were abused.
We had to run to court to get our constitutional rights.
Look at how both entities are routinely disparaged, ad boycotts.
So I think Polyev, he's not going as far as that, but he's saying, well, why should CTV be immune from criticism?
And why can't I poke at the owners there?
I mean, I hate Bell because I have their cell phone and I'm charged their outrageous prices and their customer service is non-existent.
Why can't Pierre Polyev use that?
Is that a little bit unfair to take on CTV?
Justin Trudeau's Media Moment00:09:22
Maybe a teeny tiny, but the reason I love all of this, Andrew, here's why.
It's not just because I like to see left-wing journalists taken down at PEG.
It's not just that I like to see people who are used to playing offense play defense once in a while.
Here's why that is the most important thing to me about Pierre Polyev: because I know that if he's willing to lose the potential friendship and personal relationship with CTV, I know he will never fool himself into thinking that if I just abandon this principle, CTV will like me.
Because that's what Aaron O'Toole and Andrew Scheer did.
You mentioned before that the Conservative Party used to actually edit their platform because some reporters mean to them.
I know in my bones Pierre Polyev will not succumb to the peer pressure of the media party because he's the one on the attack skewering them.
That's my favorite thing about him, Andrew.
I'll stop rambling on that subject, but give me one last word and we'll keep on to other stuff.
I think you're right.
And I think it means that he's being utterly true and consistent.
And look, one of the core theses of my book, the core thesis, I'd say, is that he has been a consistent champion of his form of conservatism since going back to his teenage years and certainly his early 20s.
I refer in the book a couple of times to that essay he wrote for the Magna competition when he was, I think, 2021 of us Prime Minister I Wood.
And his title was Building Canada Through Freedom.
And I think more recently, it's germane to point out how his message in the leadership race did not change after he became the leader.
He was still talking about defunding the CBC.
He was still talking about standing up to the media.
He was still talking about all of the core red meat issues that drove him to victory in the leadership race afterwards.
And what we're seeing now, after a year of polling on this, it's been, well, actually, you know, two years since he became the conservative leader.
It's working.
And no one can say that this has been a failed strategy on his part because it isn't really a strategy.
It's just who he is.
I think you're right about that.
I mean, as you point out in the book, I've known him for a while.
He was my communications director when I myself had a very brief run for parliament in the by-election in Calgary, Southwest.
So, I mean, I remember him when he was just out of college.
The guy was then the same as he is now.
And we can never know what the future will bring.
A person could always change, but I think past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.
Hey, I want to say one more thing because I was thinking about this the other day about the truckers and obviously the trucker convoy.
And you wrote a best-selling book on that as well.
You've got some great books out there, by the way.
That was the Freedom Convoy, The Inside Story of Three Weeks That Shook the World.
And that did very well.
That book was a literally the number one book in Canada for eight weeks, despite being ignored by the media and banned from Indigo.
Yeah, I'm so glad you wrote that book.
And I'm so glad that it did so well because there's always a battle over who gets to write the history books, right?
And that certainly was a central part of the Trucker Convoy.
You can see the Trudeau and the regime media wanted to write the January 6th narrative of violent insurrectionists.
That's what they tried to get out of the Coots border blockade.
And I feel like Diagalon, that goofy, you know, white nationalist group, was trying to, like, I think they were trying to give that narrative of January 6th.
And I think citizen journalists stopped that from happening.
Anyways, not only was it the news story of the year because it really broke the fever about the lockdowns and the vax mandates, but look what it did to the Conservative Party.
It hastened the exit of that dud, Aaron O'Toole, and brought in Pierre Polyev.
I think the best hope the party's had since Stephen Harper and may, God willing, in the long term, even exceed Stephen Harper.
In a way, the Trucker Convoy gave us Pierre Polyev, don't you think?
Yes, it very much is the case.
And I wrote in that book about the Freedom Convoy that, yes, the convoy had set out to basically have Justin Trudeau be its political casualty, but its political casualty was really Aaron O'Toole.
And, you know, later on, you could argue Jason Kenney as well.
But I think that was an important moment.
And the conservatives realized that they did not want to be and could not be on the wrong side of history on that.
And I think that really drove what happened in that leadership race, which culminated in September of 2022 and brought us Pierre Polyev, but also people that he has around him that he hasn't relegated to the back benches that are up front in his government.
Leslie Lewis is a great example of this.
So I'm actually feeling really good right now about where things are.
And I think that's really the recurring theme I've gotten as I've talked to prospective voters: that for the first time in years, people are feeling good to be a conservative.
They're feeling good about their beliefs, good about their values, and not like this is some dirty little secret they need to hide.
They're out and proud and saying, yeah, we want to get rid of Justin Trudeau.
You know, what's so incredible?
Again, I'm looking at the polls all the time, is young Canadians are the most conservative youth in the UK, in the US, in countries we often compare ourselves to.
I think it's because Pierre Polyev doesn't talk down to young people like Trudeau does.
And more importantly, he's addressing youth issues.
How can I afford to buy a home?
How can I afford to move on to my parents' house?
It's also a group that has realized now that they were lied to 10 years ago by Justin Trudeau.
Because Justin Trudeau's victory was in no small part due to his engagement of youth, a demographic that traditionally leans left but often doesn't show up to vote.
Justin Trudeau was the youth prime minister.
He got the young people out.
And folks who were 18, 19, 20 when he was elected are now 26, 27, 28, pushing 30.
They can't find a job.
They can't afford a house.
And this dream of a Trudope in Canada, they were sold has ended up being a lie.
And I think they're seeing in Polyeb a much more genuine and authentic voice that they have more confidence in as being able to tackle these challenges.
I think you're so right.
I think also Pierre Polyev doesn't dumb it down.
Trudeau does.
And I think young people can see through that.
Even if they don't understand every word Polyev says, because sometimes he's a little bit technical, I think they can see the authenticity there.
Whereas Christia Freeland and Justin Trudeau, it's clear they never know what they never feel like they have a true command of things.
Christia Freeland's even worse.
She'll give a three-minute answer to a simple question.
And at the end, it's just a fog machine.
And that may work on the parliamentary press gallery, but I don't think anyone who actually pays attention is convinced by it.
Hey, let me throw one more thing at you about Aaron O'Toole.
And I know it's unfair to beat a dead horse, but I want to tell you two thoughts I have.
And you can give me your reaction to it or we can move on to something else.
The first is, I think in his heart of hearts, Aaron O'Toole was probably sympathetic to the truckers, but he didn't dare say so out loud.
That's my whole media peer pressure point, Andrew, is that if Aaron O'Toole was against his MPs meeting with the truckers, it wasn't because he was necessarily anti-trucker.
He was absolutely terrified that he would be painted as a January 6er by the media.
And the second thing, and I don't know if I've ever told the story, someone who one of the truckers met Aaron O'Toole at a truck staging area.
Maybe you know this story as well.
It was outside of the city.
Aaron O'Toole came to meet the truckers with his own videographer.
And they shook hands and they chatted.
And Aaron O'Toole had someone filming it as in to make an ad or something.
But that ad never saw the light of day.
So O'Toole went there.
And his instincts, I think, were conservative and freedom-oriented.
But either he had second thoughts or someone talked him out of it.
And this goes to my point.
You're either terrified of the media and thus obedient to them, or you brace yourself and blaze through them.
And that's why I like Polyev.
What do you think of that?
Have you ever heard that O'Toole anecdote before?
I didn't.
I'd heard that he went out.
I didn't know about the videographer component, but I guess it makes sense.
Most politicians probably don't.
If I get elected, maybe I have that to look forward to.
I bring my own cameraman everywhere I go.
But the reality is, I think there are a lot of politicians in Canada and politicians in general that are far too susceptible to the voices in their ear.
And I've heard from some where only later on do they really realize just how much that took them away from who they are and what they believe.
And I think that one of the real answers to that is having leaders who are prepared to be leaders and having leaders that want to hear from a variety of perspectives and not just one.
And I think this is an issue that some politicians fall victim to, where they have their one chief advisor, and that person is really a funnel for all the information.
Leadership And Perspectives00:07:25
And just to give you one story about this, I've heard from one politician that I reached out to when I was writing my book about the Freedom Convoy, and I asked this person to respond to a list of questions, and I never got a response back.
And I ran into this person later on after the book came out, and they told me that they did actually write a response and they gave it to their staff to provide to me, and it was never provided to me.
Now, was this just some political ineptitude, or was this a staffer trying to enact their own agenda over the will of the person they were supposed to represent?
I don't know the answer.
But I think if you do not have direct lines with the people you're supposed to represent, you are going to have that consultant syndrome, I think.
And one thing that I learned when I was writing my book about Pierre Polyev is that he canvasses a large array of people, even outside of his team.
He'll call up vendors.
He'll call up random people.
He'll call up acquaintances.
And it's not that he's trying to build consensus and make everybody happy, but he wants to know what the perspectives are.
And I think that's a very valuable leadership trait and only something that you can do if you're very self-assured about who you are and what your perspective is.
Yeah.
So when is the nomination date?
And what is the official name of your electoral district?
So I don't know when the nomination is going to be.
My focus, if anyone's ever been involved in a political nomination before, it's you have to sell memberships because the only people that get to vote for who the candidate is are members of the party who live in the riding.
And the riding is Elgin St. Thomas London South.
So it's a bit of the southern part of London and also St. Thomas and Elmer and the whole of Elgin County, a beautiful part of the country.
And I hope to have the honor of representing them.
But it's going to be a fight for the nomination first.
And then if all goes well, we'll take the fight to Ottawa.
And how urban and how rural?
I'm sorry, I don't know that riding personally.
Is it mainly the city?
Is it small town?
Is it countryside?
It's a fascinating riding because you have, I think about a quarter of it is suburban London.
So it's a very city riding with city priorities, but a lot of it, the majority of it, is rural and smaller communities as well.
So you really get a mix.
And I think really, in a lot of ways, it's representative of the Canada.
And we also have a beautiful coastline as well, which is nice.
But it is a very large riding as well, not as big as some of the rural Alberta ones.
But, you know, I get to see lots driving back and forth across the riding, meeting with people.
And who is the incumbent MB there?
The incumbent is a conservative, Karen Vecchio, but she's not seeking re-election.
So that's why the race opened up for the nomination.
And did she have a strong margin of victory last time?
Sounds demographically like the riding.
It's a pretty strongly conservative riding.
I mean, like anything, I don't take the belief that you should ever take these things for granted.
I think you have to earn every vote.
And to be frank, I think after what happened in St. Paul's this summer, you could argue most of the country is a safe conservative riding right now.
But yes, it's a pretty solidly conservative riding right now.
But as I said, when you're winning the nomination or running for the nomination, that has to be the first priority because that's to get on the ballot.
Are there other candidate nominees who have put their name forward?
There are a couple of names, yeah.
I was the first to announce because, you know, I wasn't comfortable straddling the media and politics world at the same time.
I knew that if I was going to jump into politics, I had to jump with both feet and have a clean break from media while I was campaigning.
So there are some other names, though, yes.
Yeah.
So obviously to vote for you, people have to live in Elgin St. Thomas, London South.
So that limits it to, you know, you have to be one of the 100,000 people who live there.
Can people who are not in the district, can they chip in if they like you because of your work and your journalism and your book?
Can they still contribute financially?
Yes, absolutely.
And I appreciate you asking that.
Donations can be made from anyone who lives in Canada.
And that is, I think, very much appreciative.
As I mentioned, it's a big riding.
So even just gas money alone with the carbon tax is taking up a fair bit of the campaign budget.
And there are also costs associated with printing off brochures and managing the website and all of that.
So, yes, if people live in the riding, the most important thing they can do is take out a membership and agree to support me.
And there are details about how to do that at andrewlawton.ca.
But if you don't live in the riding and you want to help, my website, andrewlawton.ca has a link to donate, and it's truly, truly appreciated if those folks who are able to can.
Are you putting together a bit of a campaign team?
Do you have, have you started recruiting volunteers?
Do you have a campaign manager?
Yeah, yeah.
I've actually been quite honored at how many people have really wanted to and have just come out of the woodwork saying, I want to help out.
I want to do this.
And I think it goes back to what I said earlier about it being a really good time to be a conservative.
People are feeling energetic.
It's not a campaign that's built around anger.
Yes, there's a frustration, but more importantly, there's an enthusiasm about this.
And, you know, I've had people locally that say, I want to come out and knock on doors.
And I've had people elsewhere in the country that say, hey, I can make calls from anywhere in the country.
So let me help you make phone calls.
So absolutely, the volunteer step up has been amazing.
You know, you're making me think back to 20 plus years when I was briefly a candidate in Calgary Southwest to succeed.
I think you would like the best funded nomination campaign in Canadian history or something.
I think I did.
And I spent so much time going door to door.
And first of all, it's good exercise.
You're running around.
And second of all, people were so surprised to see me at the door because no one had ever knocked on their door before.
And they all told me that.
And, you know, you keep your message brief, but I felt like I made a lot of really strong connections.
You know, it's sort of like going to the gym.
You don't want to, you don't want to, you don't want to.
But when you go, you feel great about it.
And I hope you do a lot of door knocking and I hope you get a good team of volunteers.
And it's obviously my personal hope that you become the candidate and win it.
And to be candid, I wouldn't be surprised if you were in cabinet, I mean, or at least in the junior cabinet, or were given some other position of responsibility because you, you know, you've been around the conservative movement.
You've at your work at True North, you've really drilled down into a lot of issues.
You're an excellent communicator.
And I hope that, like our friend Aaron Gunn, who I believe is destined for cabinet, I have high hopes for you, Andrew.
And we wish you good luck.
And again, the website is andrewlawton.ca.
Of course, you can get his book, Pier Pauly of a Political Life, or his trucker book, which you can still find online, of course.
But if you are in that district of Elgin, St. Thomas, London South, that's really what counts is because it's those votes on nomination day.
Last word to you, my friend.
Well, I'll personally hang up the clothes sign on the CBC headquarters if I get elected.
That can be my commitment.
But it's always good to talk to you, Ezra.
Thanks for having me on.
Well, there you have it.
Our friend from True North, who's now thrown his hat into politics.
Good luck, my friend.
Thank you.
All right.
Well, that's our show for today.
Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, see you at home.