Born in Trenton, ON “back in the 1980s,” as he puts it, Andrew Lawton is a recent graduate of the University of Western Ontario. He is the founder of the Strictly Right blog and radio show and a leader in the Canadian Tea Party movement.
Libertas Post recently had the opportunity to interview Lawton.
Did you grow up in a political family?
It was more of a military family. My dad was in the military and stationed in Trenton, ON at the time that I was born.
What got you interested in conservative politics?
In high school I did a project for civics. One of the things we had to do was look up different political parties and do a report on what they stood for … I found the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada was the one that resonated with what I believed, so I got a membership and hopped right onto the campaign trail.
What kind of conservative do you see yourself as?
Generally speaking, I consider myself a Reagan conservative. I am a social conservative, but at the end of the day I think the most important issues that we have to work on as conservatives are the issues that we agree on, which are economic issues.
Are there any authors that got you interested in conservatism?
On the intellectual side, Ayn Rand, Adam Smith and John Locke to some extent … on a more modern political scene, the ones that I’ve really enjoyed have been Ann Coulter and Mark Steyn.
I understand you helped organize the Ann Coulter speaking tour of Canada.
That was my brain child. I had come up with that idea a couple years ago. The problem we had was a matter of getting the money and getting the publicity built up. Finally, I partnered with a friend of mine at the International Free Press Society and we said, ‘Alright, we’re going to make this happen’—but we’re not going to do one event, we’re going to do a whole cross country tour. As you saw from the news, we could not have paid for the publicity that we got.
Coulter was kicked out of the University of Ottawa. Was the reaction what you expected?
We didn’t expect it at all. We knew there would be some controversy. We were expecting some protesters. A couple days before the event, we received the famous letter from the University of Ottawa which said, ‘You may be charged criminally [if Coulter speaks]’. We weren’t too put off by that, and neither was Ann—that’s when all the publicity started. The first event was the University of Western Ontario, my alma mater. There were no protesters. There were a couple of hecklers but they shut up after a couple of seconds. The president of the university came out and said ‘We have to entertain all viewpoints’. That’s what we were expecting in all cities, but Ottawa U had something else in store for us the next day.
On your Strictly Right web blog, you write, ‘Strictly Right was born in 2006 as the musings of an angry conservative’. Are you still angry?
I’m a little less frustrated now but we also have Obama so I’m a little more frustrated [in some ways]. I started off the blog as rightcanada.com. It was basically, me. I had some ideas, some visions I wanted to get out there. I wasn’t too big on checking analytics and readers. I assume I probably had about three readers a day, but as time went on, I got very fortunate in terms of opportunities … we decided to switch over to strictlyright.com last year to tap into the American market as well as the Canadian market.
Which came first, the blog or the radio show?
The blog.
And your radio show—where is that broadcast from?
It’s broadcast wherever I am. My colleague Ari Fine and I—I brought him on to write on the blog last year—we hook up and we talk a couple times a week. The radio show has been such a surreal experience. I started the radio show in December. We had a couple thousand listeners—it was just for fun. When the network Take That! Radio offered to pick us up, I brought Ari onto the radio show. We started broadcasting on the new website and in less than six months, we’ve gone from a couple thousand listeners to a million listeners. So it’s been an incredible experience.
Who are your mentors in terms of radio? Do you look at Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck? Are you trying to model selves after them?
Not Glenn Beck … I like to make it my own opinion, but take some formatting advice from people like Rush Limbaugh, people like Marc Levin—so the show is formatted in a similar way to a lot of those shows. Charles Adler in Canada. But the opinion is purely my own, and purely Ari’s … any influence we do take is format advice, not advice on the opinions we express on the show.
Speaking of opinion, what’s your opinion of Harper? Is he doing a good job or are you angry at the Conservatives now?
I’m not angry at the Conservatives. I’ve never been one of those people that wanted to throw the Conservative Party under the bus. I am a member of that party. I will vote for that party in the next election, most likely, unless something really major comes up. From an analytical standpoint, I think Harper does need to do a lot between now and the next election to get back some of the base—our listeners, people who read our blog. There are some genuine conservatives out there, who have been conservatives their whole life who have issues with Harper as a leader. They feel he has been going too much to the centre. I think there are reasons for making compromises in government. I’m not blind, however. I do think he has some work to do to hold onto the base.
What’s your take on Brian Mulroney?
I do think that Brian’s been treated unfairly by the media. Brian Mulroney did have some successes as Prime Minister that have been gone unnoticed or unspoken, but at the end of the day, I don’t think he should be on the top of our greatest Prime Minister’s list.
What about Joe Clark?
I don’t think he should be anywhere near the greatest Prime Minister’s list.
Who in your opinion would be on that list?
I think you need to go back to the classics—you have Sir John A. Macdonald, who wanted Canada to hold onto its heritage, have strong British ties, then you have Wilfrid Laurier who recognized the importance of making allegiances with the United States. I think for Canada the greatest Prime Ministers in history [lived] in the 19th Century.
Do you have a greatest Presidents list? I assume Ronald Reagan would be pretty high up on that list?
I have him at number two on the list. Number one is Lincoln … here you have this president who has done one of the biggest things in history in terms of the freeing of the slaves and he was a Republican. I know that parties change but I find it very amusing that the Democrats are always trying to label the Republicans as racists when Democrats were the ones who opposed the efforts of Lincoln to free the slaves.
So you said Reagan would be number two on that list?
Lincoln first, Reagan second, and I think if we’re going for number three I’d say [Calvin] Coolidge
Silent Cal. What’s you opinion of the current occupant of the White House?
Well, I try and convince myself that he’s not there. But I’m learning that closing your eyes and plugging your ears doesn’t work … I don’t think we’ve proven he’s a post-racial president. I think we’ve proven that America doesn’t care about race as much as the left likes to think it does.
What about Sarah Palin? What’s your take on her?
Here’s where I’m going to divide your audience. I like her as a person. I do think, like Brian Mulroney, she’s been treated unfairly by the media. With Ms. Palin there are intellectual disagreements and discussions you can have about her, but I don’t think to attack her you need to go into what the media does … I do think Sarah Palin has made some dumb choices when it comes to endorsements, particularly in the last couple months. I think she’s a nice person [but] I don’t want to see her as president
On your website, Strictly Right, you have a banner ad denouncing Obamacare. What’s your opinion on the Canadian health care system? Would you like to see more private initiative in the Canadian system?
It’s not something I’d like to see more private, it’s something I’d like to see completely private. It’s really sad to me, when I talk to people on the street and ask, ‘What are you proud of to be Canadian?’, it’s amazing how many people say public healthcare is the reason they’re proud to be Canadian. Public healthcare has become so much of an identity issue that people are too blinded to look at the actual practical aspect of it. And the fact is, public healthcare doesn’t work. Public healthcare nearly killed me. I have no respect for this system.
I was diagnosed last summer with a rare heart condition. Because I’m younger, they assumed it wouldn’t affect me. During four emergency room visits in three weeks, they kept telling me it’s a one-off, it’s a one-off [problem] ... and they finally put me on a wait-list for an urgent referral … and in that time I had a stroke. Thankfully, it didn’t kill me. It really has brought me to a place where I can more accurately access the issues of the healthcare system. Here I was, I’m in my twenties and I was in a walker for a while. I still walk with a cane occassionally. I had this happen while I was on a wait-list for something I should have never been on a wait-list for.
And you feel if you were in the United States you would have been looked after right away?
Absolutely
Are there any other residual effects from the stroke?
There’s some. It’s been almost a year now. I’ve been very fortunate that the post-stroke care I received was good. Once you get into rehab, it’s very good. The issue I have with Canadian care is not so much the quality, it’s access to the care.
I’ve considered writing a book on [my stroke] … I’m working on another book at the moment. But it’s something I’m absolutely okay to talk about, because I think, if you cannot sell the economics argument on healthcare to people, you can sell anecdotal argument, say look what happen to me. I think this is how we can make ground to push the system towards privatization.
What is the book you are working on?
The book is partly on political correctness and partly on freedom of speech. How political correctness is the number one threat to free speech in North America.
I noticed on Strictly Right you had a ‘Come up with a caption for Prophet Muhammad cartoon’. Did you get any death threats because of that?
It’s funny, the death threats I usually get are for stupid things which kind of offends me, because I think that I say things that are so much more offensive that people should want to kill me for. We had some people say ‘You’re racist’. The reason that contest existed was because I wanted to combat political correctness and I was successful. The inspiration for that was the Comedy Central fiasco where they censored an image of Muhammad on South Park.
I noticed you had a button on your website asking people for donations, because ‘We’ll be sued eventually’. Have you been sued yet or had any run-ins with Canadian human rights tribunals?
Well, I haven’t been sued. Back when I was still blogging on my own on a very small scale, I was [hit] with a Human Rights complaint … the reason was classic. I was talking about Obama’s inauguration so it was back in January, 2009 and I used his middle-name and according to the complaintant, use of Obama’s middle-name—Hussein—was racist and derogatory [towards Muslims] … that was for me one of my major breakthrough points as a blogger. My readership went up by thousands that day. The Commission did drop the complaint, however. It was the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
I noticed you are administator of the Maple Tea Party on Facebook. What’s that all about?
To clarify, it’s actually now the Tea Party Movement of Canada … the Tea Party movement in the United States has been one of the most successful national movements in recent memory. Conservatives hate rallies—if you can get hundreds of thousands of conservatives out to protest, you’re doing well. I’ve organized protests before so I know how difficult it can be—herding libertarians is difficult. Daniel Hannan the British MP, he had come out and started British Tea Party. We decided it’s time for Canada. People are caught up with the name, ‘Oh, it’s the Boston Tea Party’. For me, the name’s not important. It’s what it represents, which is citizens rising up to tell their government to back off. I think that should be a goal that most Canadians share.
Are there any particular laws or legislation you think people should get riled up about? The long-gun registry?
The long-gun registry is one of the bigger ones. Healthcare is also a big issue. People say, healthcare is done, but the United States having this [discussion on Obamacare] has forced Canadians to rerevaluate [their own system]. That’s been one of the major discussions people have had with me. People want to rise up about. Geneally speaking, the Tea Party movement of Canada is not a political party … it’s an ideological movement. It’s people who want less government.
We started it in the winter. Until now, we’re just trying to build up momentum and grow … this summer, I’m starting a couple of rallies. I don’t know what cities they will be in, but they’re coming around July, August, maybe September.
Sort of like the traveling Tea Parties in the United States?
It’ll be similar to that. What I envision, would be like the Rally for Canada in December 2008. This was an event to protest the coaltion attempt of the Liberals, NDP, Bloc. I was the organizer of the London, ON version of that rally. We had 17 or 18 rallies across Canada that day—thousands of people came out united for a cause. That’s what I envision the Tea Party of Canada becoming.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m not so much worried about my success but the success of the movement … Strictly Right is successful because [conservatives] need a voice that we provide. I am hoping to have the opportunity to pitch a television program to Sun TV, the new conservative TV network. We’re also not ruling out potential for growth on the radio side.
To play Devil’s Advocate, some people might say, ‘If you’re so big on conservatism, why not move to New Hampshire?’
Firstly, if I was wanting to be American, I wouldn’t pick New Hampshire … people have said me, ‘You seem so anti-Canadian’. It’s not that I’m not a patriot, it’s that I believe there are changes my country must make. At this point, I don’t have a plan to move to the United States and give up my citizenship. It’s my plan to see how much change I can affect in Canada. In the last couple years, conservatism—not the party, but the ideology—has had more of a voice than it’s ever had in Canadian history.
What are some of those changes you would like to see?
Healthcare is a big one … if [Ottawa] can convince people you need government [for healthcare], you’ve created an entire country of people dependent on the government for the most important thing in their lives. And that keeps them dependent on the government for other things as well … if you can make that one change, make a major change in terms of the way Canadians view the role of government, you’re going to be moving forward in leaps and bounds.
What’s your take on climate change and the Kyoto Protocol?
I do believe that global warming is a hoax and I’m going to maintain that until I see scientific evidence that suggests otherwise.
What about gay marriage? Should we let it stand because courts have made their decision?
I personally am against gay marriage, but I do recognize that the Supreme Court has the final say on these issues. What I would like to see is getting government out of marriage altogether—don’t let government deal with straight marriage or gay marriage. Let the government issue civil unions. Let anyone, man/woman, man/man, woman/woman have access to those sorts of benefits but leave the institution of marriage up to the church.
Are there any other issues you are particularly concerned about right now in Canada?
Specifically in Canada, the major issue is healthcare. I do think fiscal issues and issues that are more practical, affecting day to day Canadians are the more important ones. Ending the long-gun registry for example. I would love to see gun control really loosened up [and Canada adopt a position] similar to a U.S. model for gun control and gun ownership.
Do you have any plans yourself to run for office?
There was a time when I first got involved that I thought that would be just a fantastic idea, but at this time in my life, I can do more from outside the political arena than I can inside. There are some fantastic MPs out there—Rob Anders for one. But most MPs don’t get to have an individual voice in any party and that turns me off from running.
What about being a campaign manager?
I’ve been a campaign manager before and I enjoyed the experience. It’s not something I’m actively pursuing but if there is a candidate that I have a rapport with that I think I can help them, I would very much support that.
Which campaign did you manage?
I worked for the Conservative candidate for London/Fanshawe— Mary Lou Ambrogio— in the 2008 election. She was going up against an NDP incumbent. We came in second place.
Is social media the wave of the future in terms of changing people’s attitudes towards politics?
There is actually a section on this topic in my book. I do think blogs will continue to make ground and increase in readership but I do think traditional media is still there. As conservatives, it’s easy to say. ‘We have blogs, the mainstream media doesn’t matter’ but we do need to worry about mainstream media because there still is a segment of the population that relies on the traditional media. New media is a supplement to traditional media, not a replacement.
Any final words of wisdom?
One thing I would add, if you do have an opinion, if you have the ability to talk politics, do it. I started off just as a guy who wanted to write about some issues on my blog, I didn’t have many readers. If you had asked me three or four years ago would I be a regular panelist on Michael Coren show, would I be on talk radio interviews, would I have a show with a million listeners, I never would have imagined that possible. Anyone should just get out there and start writing and talking. If that’s not your thing, get involved at the electoral level … anyone can make a difference.
