Full Comment - November 18, 2024


The Trump train is bearing down on Trudeau


Episode Stats

Length

46 minutes

Words per Minute

169.83597

Word Count

7,931

Sentence Count

534

Misogynist Sentences

6

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary

Chris Selle is a columnist who covers all things politics in the National Post. He joins me to talk about the Green Slush Fund scandal, the Trump Train is coming, and Canada looks like it s going to get run over rather than jump aboard.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Did you lock the front door?
00:00:04.080 Check.
00:00:04.620 Closed the garage door?
00:00:05.780 Yep.
00:00:06.300 Installed window sensors, smoke sensors, and HD cameras with night vision?
00:00:09.780 No.
00:00:10.620 And you set up credit card transaction alerts, a secure VPN for a private connection,
00:00:14.060 and continuous monitoring for our personal info on the dark web?
00:00:17.080 Uh, I'm looking into it?
00:00:19.600 Stress less about security.
00:00:21.360 Choose security solutions from Telus for peace of mind at home and online.
00:00:25.220 Visit telus.com slash total security to learn more.
00:00:28.800 Conditions apply.
00:00:31.000 Wait, I didn't get charged for my donut.
00:00:34.400 It was free with this Tim's Rewards points.
00:00:36.600 I think I just stole it.
00:00:38.000 I'm a donut stealer!
00:00:39.920 Oof.
00:00:40.580 Earn points so fast, it'll seem too good to be true.
00:00:43.600 Plus, join Tim's Rewards today and get enough points for a free donut, drink, or Timbits.
00:00:48.400 With 800 points after registration, activation, and first purchase of a dollar or more.
00:00:51.960 See the Tim's app for details at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time.
00:00:55.400 Ontario, the wait is over.
00:01:00.420 The gold standard of online casinos has arrived.
00:01:03.560 Golden Nugget Online Casino is live, bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips.
00:01:10.680 Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple.
00:01:15.620 And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games.
00:01:21.680 Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino.
00:01:31.340 Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action.
00:01:37.820 All from the comfort of your own devices.
00:01:40.040 Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino?
00:01:44.900 Gambling problem? Call ConnexOntario, 1-866-531-2600.
00:01:50.540 19 and over. Physically present in Ontario.
00:01:52.820 Eligibility restrictions apply.
00:01:54.440 See GoldenNuggetCasino.com for details.
00:01:56.920 Please play responsibly.
00:02:04.760 The Trump train is coming, and Canada looks like it's going to get run over rather than jump aboard.
00:02:10.960 The economies of our two countries are about to diverge, just as we have diverged politically, and it's not going to be good for Canadians.
00:02:19.480 Hello, my name is Brian Lilly. Welcome to the Full Comment Podcast.
00:02:23.120 Looking at the way Canadian and American politics are sitting right now is fascinating.
00:02:28.960 We have an extremely weak government, one that cannot control Parliament.
00:02:32.920 We have a government that is mired in scandal.
00:02:35.220 When you talk about the Green Slush Fund, you talk about a Rive scam, you talk about the two Randys, which now may be five Randys,
00:02:42.440 and when you try to explain that scandal to people, you sound insane.
00:02:46.960 All of that's going on at a time when the government can't control the House of Commons, which is now returning,
00:02:51.940 and they have no intention of getting control of the House of Commons because they have very little to pass in the way of a legislative agenda.
00:02:59.340 Compare that to south of the border, where President-elect Trump is being aggressive in announcing new cabinet picks,
00:03:07.240 showing that he plans to hit the ground running on Inauguration Day, January 20th, 2025.
00:03:13.280 He's looking to bolster the U.S. economy at the same time as the Trudeau government is handcuffing the Canadian economy.
00:03:20.380 Our dollar trading at a place that we have not seen in years, just at about 70 cents U.S.
00:03:27.080 What is it that Conservative leader Pierre Polyev said a little while ago?
00:03:31.360 Do you ever feel like everything's broken in Canada?
00:03:33.940 Truly, it does feel like everything in Canada is broken.
00:03:37.120 Will we be able to fix it, or is the Trump train going to run us over and make a big mess of it?
00:03:42.440 Chris Selle is a columnist who covers all things politics in the National Post.
00:03:45.780 He joins me now.
00:03:47.420 Chris, before we get into the changes Trump is going to bring in,
00:03:51.380 can we just talk about the state of the Canadian government?
00:03:55.420 As I said, Parliament's returning, but the government hasn't been able to move any bills
00:04:00.140 or do any government business since October 2nd because they still refuse to hand over documents
00:04:05.800 in the Green Slush Fund scandal.
00:04:09.140 So that's all MPs have been talking about on a question of privilege since October 2nd,
00:04:13.760 and the Liberals seem fine with that.
00:04:15.800 They've done nothing to change it.
00:04:18.360 Yeah.
00:04:19.180 I mean, you should have mentioned that they didn't have much of a legislative agenda.
00:04:23.920 I would say that they have a bunch of stuff that they actually do, in theory, want to pass.
00:04:29.440 There are online harms bill that they've spent so much time and effort trying to sell to us,
00:04:37.440 and it's enormous and doesn't make any sense to me.
00:04:40.780 But, you know...
00:04:41.360 This is the one that bandages together the idea of protecting kids from predators online,
00:04:48.100 but also policing speech.
00:04:49.760 Yeah, exactly.
00:04:50.700 And I mean, why would you put child pornography and hate speech or something like that in the same bill?
00:04:59.600 You would do that because you want to accuse your opponents of supporting child pornography
00:05:02.700 if they don't support your bill.
00:05:03.920 I mean, this is not subtle lawmaking, but that's why, you know...
00:05:09.220 But they can't do anything, as you say.
00:05:11.560 So if they've got no legislative agenda...
00:05:13.680 Or, sorry, if they've got no means to pursue their legislative agenda,
00:05:17.140 and the opposition party can't squeeze anything out of them,
00:05:19.700 then what are we even doing here?
00:05:21.440 I mean, it just seems like a waste of time.
00:05:24.420 Well, it is a waste of time that that's all they're debating.
00:05:28.020 And a question period still happens.
00:05:29.660 Committee work still happens.
00:05:30.920 Next, I believe it's this coming week,
00:05:35.080 that Randy Boisino, the employment minister,
00:05:37.980 who we now know was involved in deals with his former company,
00:05:44.780 trying to sell to the government and others while he was in cabinet.
00:05:48.060 We've got the text messages.
00:05:50.240 They showed up...
00:05:51.000 More text messages showed up in a lawsuit.
00:05:53.340 This is enough to get anybody fired,
00:05:54.860 but, you know, in a government where the prime minister regularly breaks the ethics rules
00:05:58.880 and then tells people they experienced it differently.
00:06:03.300 I don't see how Boisino gets fired,
00:06:05.980 but that whole scandal is something that should be concerning to the government.
00:06:11.400 They just don't seem to care.
00:06:13.780 I mean, they're kind of like a honey badger without the attitude
00:06:17.400 and without an agenda or a reason.
00:06:22.020 They literally just don't care.
00:06:25.480 It sure looks that way.
00:06:26.980 I mean, the only thing they can really do, in my view, at this point,
00:06:30.940 to try and re-ingratiate themselves to Canadians is just govern.
00:06:35.040 But they're not even willing to do that
00:06:36.540 if it means that they have to bring forward these documents to Parliament.
00:06:40.840 So either there's something in there
00:06:43.000 that would somehow make their lives even worse than they are now,
00:06:47.500 or they're just being completely bastardly about it.
00:06:49.780 And I could believe either thing, frankly.
00:06:53.500 But again, what is the point of this?
00:06:58.180 What's the endgame?
00:06:59.220 And I mean, if I'm a liberal MP who had a chance
00:07:02.600 to kind of lead a revolt against Trudeau and say,
00:07:04.920 look, we've got to get rid of this guy,
00:07:06.980 and now you're just stuck in neutral having let him stay around.
00:07:11.460 I mean, it's just a sad-looking show.
00:07:18.040 I mean, it's just not – nothing's happening there.
00:07:22.300 The Green Slush Fund came about –
00:07:25.840 I mean, this is an organization that's been around since, I believe, around 2003.
00:07:29.780 So it survived the Kretchen-Martin handover.
00:07:32.500 It survived during the Harper years.
00:07:34.440 No scandal.
00:07:35.080 And then over the last few years, Auditor General does a look, see,
00:07:39.420 and says, oh, $400 million, misspent money,
00:07:42.220 all these different conflicts of interest with the board,
00:07:45.440 apparently board members voting to give money to their own companies
00:07:50.080 multiple times and multiple board members.
00:07:53.140 It was so shocking that the liberals shut it down
00:07:58.400 and transferred it to the National Research Council,
00:08:01.020 the funding portion.
00:08:02.540 They just disbanded the organization and got rid of it,
00:08:05.400 but it's still causing them headaches.
00:08:07.180 So that makes me think that the documents that they don't want to hand over
00:08:10.800 are bad because they'd rather shut down parliament,
00:08:14.900 they'd rather defy an order of the House of Commons,
00:08:18.820 an order of the Speaker, than hand it over.
00:08:21.780 We saw what happened in the Winnipeg Labs case.
00:08:24.640 They took the Speaker to court
00:08:26.460 and were going to sue the Speaker to overturn his ruling
00:08:31.100 that they had to hand over documents in the Winnipeg Lab case.
00:08:34.700 And then the election happened, that court case disappeared,
00:08:37.760 but eventually the documents came out
00:08:39.420 and it showed the government was incompetent
00:08:41.980 in stopping two Chinese scientists
00:08:44.700 with affiliations to the People's Liberation Army
00:08:48.160 from gaining access to our top biohazard lab.
00:08:54.020 Yeah, I mean, it's certainly reasonable.
00:08:57.100 I mean, if there isn't something in those documents
00:08:59.480 that the liberals are desperately trying to hide,
00:09:01.400 then what are they doing?
00:09:02.900 I mean, just table them and get on with your lives.
00:09:06.640 It's, it's, but I think it's, it's entirely predictable
00:09:13.920 in hindsight, at least, that, that it would all go wrong
00:09:18.240 under the Trudeau government.
00:09:19.120 Because, you know, I've always, to my mind,
00:09:21.800 the, the, the, the sort of the original sin
00:09:24.600 of the Liberal Party of Canada
00:09:25.860 is to just conflate their interests with the countries.
00:09:30.220 And, and that leads them down all kinds of scandalous places
00:09:34.440 like ad scam and, you know, party financing rules
00:09:40.260 and things like that.
00:09:41.480 And this, this is another classic example.
00:09:43.740 I mean, it, we know from all kinds of different examples
00:09:48.100 with this government that it's an easy mark
00:09:50.620 for people, for grifters to, to come in.
00:09:53.940 I mean, you look at a Rive can, a Rive can.
00:09:56.540 I mean, the, the.
00:09:57.420 You can call it a Rive scam, it's fine.
00:09:59.000 I mean, these two guys made out like bandits
00:10:03.480 for doing nothing except taking work
00:10:06.280 and distributing it to other people.
00:10:09.860 And the biggest one worth millions of dollars was KPMG.
00:10:13.240 Yeah.
00:10:13.760 KPMG had to work through them.
00:10:15.300 And the, the, the, the two guys at, what is it?
00:10:17.860 Uh, GC Strategies took a 30% cut.
00:10:22.720 Yeah.
00:10:23.340 Why don't just, why don't you just call KPMG?
00:10:25.520 I'm sure they'd be happy to help.
00:10:30.000 Uh, it's just.
00:10:30.500 Because this, this government in, this part I'm going to say
00:10:34.260 is not about the Liberal Party writ large.
00:10:36.220 I, I, the Liberals have spent so much time in power
00:10:38.560 over the last century that they often do see
00:10:40.660 what's good for the Liberal Party is good for Canada.
00:10:43.120 Well, that's not necessarily the case, but whatever you think of him,
00:10:47.860 Kretchen actually, and his team actually managed departments.
00:10:51.600 Now they had their own scandals.
00:10:53.140 They, they seem quaint compared to now,
00:10:56.200 but they did have managers of their departments
00:10:58.680 and ministers who were in charge
00:11:00.400 and, and tried to make things run smoothly.
00:11:02.420 And Stephen Harper had that, uh, these guys don't manage,
00:11:06.200 they announce.
00:11:07.020 And, and so a good minister, a good manager
00:11:11.660 would have been asking questions.
00:11:13.500 Instead, you know, the bureaucrat's attitude is,
00:11:16.180 well, it's not our money.
00:11:17.080 So, you know, keep sending it to these guys, uh,
00:11:20.560 with their basement office and we won't care.
00:11:23.580 Well, look at immigration.
00:11:24.700 I mean, you talk about our ministers doing their jobs or not,
00:11:28.340 or deputy ministers for that matter,
00:11:30.280 or assistant deputy ministers.
00:11:31.320 I mean, the liberal government,
00:11:33.860 the liberal party of Canada screwed up immigration
00:11:37.740 for, for a generation.
00:11:40.720 I mean, that's, that's not a good look
00:11:43.960 for the liberal party of Canada.
00:11:46.100 Uh, you know, they must have seen,
00:11:50.740 it's not like people weren't warning them,
00:11:53.420 but, you know, I, that's sort of,
00:11:55.600 that's another kind of characteristic of the liberals.
00:11:59.980 I feel like is that they, they hold onto what they hold
00:12:02.640 onto a rising balloon until it's almost too high to jump
00:12:07.120 without killing themselves.
00:12:08.240 You know what I mean?
00:12:09.500 They will never just cut bait until it's too late.
00:12:13.880 I had one liberal who's worked at the most senior rank,
00:12:17.220 say to me a while ago,
00:12:18.100 I don't know why we double down on issues that are hurting us
00:12:22.720 and that don't work.
00:12:24.320 Why do we stick with policies that are clearly not working?
00:12:28.080 And we can all understand that you've got a theory of,
00:12:31.880 hey, maybe we should do this,
00:12:33.680 such as wildly ramping up, uh, permanent residency,
00:12:37.880 or, okay, we're in the middle of the pandemic.
00:12:41.720 Uh, people say they can't get workers.
00:12:43.280 Let's really open up the temporary foreign worker program
00:12:47.500 and you try it and then you see it's not working.
00:12:50.440 Well, when you see it's not working, you change course.
00:12:53.840 You don't just double down on it.
00:12:55.420 And they doubled down on this.
00:12:56.840 They, they were warned about the impact on housing.
00:12:59.680 They were warned that it was being abused.
00:13:02.720 They ignored those warnings.
00:13:04.320 Uh, I mean, it was, uh, last April that Justin,
00:13:08.500 I think it was April 1st or 2nd, even that Justin Trudeau said,
00:13:12.120 we're bringing in people faster than we can absorb them.
00:13:14.580 And it's, it's lowering wages and it's having an impact on housing.
00:13:18.600 And then, you know, you go, okay.
00:13:21.000 So I assume you're going to do something like,
00:13:23.120 I think, you know, the guy in charge and it,
00:13:26.260 it was late October before they did anything.
00:13:28.920 And it will take months for those changes to take effect.
00:13:32.340 I mean, I suspect it's two things that are going on there.
00:13:36.320 One is just that I suspect that, you know,
00:13:40.940 the liberals will sacrifice just about any principle to, uh,
00:13:47.900 to, uh, get themselves 50 votes.
00:13:49.840 But I suspect that there is some institutional, uh,
00:13:55.420 resistance to being the party that's cutting immigration.
00:13:58.200 I mean, that can't be where Mark Miller thought he would end up.
00:14:02.340 Right.
00:14:03.220 Uh, when you,
00:14:04.440 but is he,
00:14:04.880 is he really cutting it or is he bringing it back to an,
00:14:07.960 a sane level?
00:14:09.620 Right.
00:14:09.860 Yeah.
00:14:10.660 Well, that's cutting it right.
00:14:12.220 From an insane level.
00:14:13.840 Yeah.
00:14:14.380 Or not an insane level,
00:14:15.480 but it's an insane level.
00:14:16.960 Like I'm all for like,
00:14:18.760 we got lots of room,
00:14:19.760 but we can't build houses.
00:14:21.520 So what are we doing?
00:14:23.660 Like if we could build houses,
00:14:25.620 then more of the merrier,
00:14:28.260 but we can't.
00:14:29.540 Um,
00:14:30.040 but I also think that,
00:14:31.340 that,
00:14:31.480 so I,
00:14:32.280 I suspect that,
00:14:33.020 you know,
00:14:34.420 the liberals just didn't want to do that because it,
00:14:36.500 it knocks them off a high horse.
00:14:38.380 But the second thing is,
00:14:39.860 is just that nothing gets done in this government unless it gets done from three people in the prime minister's office.
00:14:46.540 That's what it seems like.
00:14:48.240 Ministers don't really make decisions,
00:14:49.720 or at least a lot of them don't.
00:14:52.140 Stephen Gilboa seems to be able to make lots of decisions.
00:14:55.680 Um,
00:14:56.560 Christian Freeland,
00:14:57.560 but you know,
00:14:58.580 everybody else waits for marching orders from the center.
00:15:04.100 Yeah.
00:15:04.560 The capacity for them to do many,
00:15:07.080 to walk and chew gum at the same time seems very,
00:15:09.960 very limited because there's only three people in charge of walking and chewing gum.
00:15:15.920 I can't remember a time when there were so many scandals for a government at once.
00:15:21.060 I mean,
00:15:21.240 we can,
00:15:21.880 you know,
00:15:22.100 every opposition says this is the most scandal plagued government.
00:15:26.600 Uh,
00:15:26.620 while Rooney got that funny,
00:15:27.960 funny enough,
00:15:28.800 while Rooney got that because if he thought you were doing anything wrong,
00:15:31.660 he fired you.
00:15:33.440 And that got him labeled as the most scandal plagued government.
00:15:36.440 So since then,
00:15:37.100 every prime minister has learned,
00:15:38.600 Chrétien,
00:15:39.020 Martin,
00:15:39.420 Harper,
00:15:39.880 Trudeau,
00:15:40.460 don't fire anyone.
00:15:41.760 Yeah.
00:15:42.220 And so the scandals just keep going.
00:15:44.480 No one's held accountable.
00:15:46.040 Uh,
00:15:46.620 but you know,
00:15:47.920 accountability is an admission of guilt.
00:15:50.840 Yeah.
00:15:51.680 The conservatives would say that Chrétien was scandal plagued.
00:15:55.120 And then the liberals would say that Harper was.
00:15:58.080 These guys have more scandals going on at one time than we can properly cover in a podcast or,
00:16:07.940 or a newspaper.
00:16:09.700 So I was trying to explain.
00:16:11.000 I'm at an event in Kingston the other day.
00:16:13.260 And there were some people at the event who I'm talking about the two Randys.
00:16:18.420 And I said,
00:16:19.320 does everyone know what this is?
00:16:21.080 Cause I said,
00:16:23.020 do you guys all know what this is?
00:16:24.300 Or do some of you have lives,
00:16:25.660 uh,
00:16:26.500 who put up your hand if you don't know.
00:16:28.200 And some people put up their hands,
00:16:29.900 fair number.
00:16:30.820 And I said,
00:16:31.540 okay,
00:16:31.680 well,
00:16:31.820 let me try and explain it to you.
00:16:33.520 And I just realized how ridiculous I sounded trying to discuss how a cabinet minister was in this company,
00:16:44.540 was,
00:16:45.120 uh,
00:16:46.380 reelected,
00:16:47.180 but then kept working with the company.
00:16:49.280 And there's text messages and implicating him in attempts to sell to other companies,
00:16:54.560 to the government.
00:16:55.480 There's lawsuits going on,
00:16:57.060 uh,
00:16:57.860 apparently really shady dealings.
00:16:59.780 And when asked about this at ethics committee,
00:17:02.700 they say,
00:17:02.940 oh,
00:17:03.120 no,
00:17:03.600 that was the other Randy.
00:17:05.260 Well,
00:17:06.000 which other Randy in the company?
00:17:07.200 Well,
00:17:07.300 there's no other Randy in the company,
00:17:08.560 but it was another Randy.
00:17:09.740 Well,
00:17:10.020 which Randy?
00:17:10.660 No one can find the other Randy.
00:17:12.800 Then this Randy,
00:17:14.780 we find out the company was also trying to sell,
00:17:17.680 um,
00:17:19.340 by identifying as an indigenous owned company.
00:17:23.240 And Randy Boisino has at times been called an indigenous MP by the liberal party.
00:17:28.660 At different times,
00:17:29.860 he's been called Cree or Métis.
00:17:31.540 Turns out he's none of the above.
00:17:33.980 And,
00:17:34.040 and,
00:17:34.240 and so I'm wondering are the five different Randis,
00:17:36.800 right?
00:17:37.020 Like the regular Randy,
00:17:38.160 the other Randy,
00:17:39.420 the Cree Randy,
00:17:40.520 the Métis Randy.
00:17:41.480 How many do we have?
00:17:43.280 They're all the same person.
00:17:44.600 They're all the same person,
00:17:45.820 but it's an absolutely ridiculous scandal.
00:17:49.240 Uh,
00:17:49.280 but it is a clear violation of the rules to have a minister,
00:17:54.200 uh,
00:17:55.160 involved with the company selling to the government.
00:17:57.200 Oh yeah.
00:17:57.700 Well,
00:17:57.800 I mean,
00:17:58.040 it's,
00:17:58.360 it's ridiculous because that's so bloody obvious as it should have been safe for the
00:18:03.040 prime minister,
00:18:03.540 not to go on vacation to the Aga Khan's Island,
00:18:06.100 a man who receives hundreds of millions of dollars of Canadian government support for
00:18:11.220 his,
00:18:11.720 you know,
00:18:11.960 by all accounts,
00:18:12.680 good works.
00:18:13.980 Um,
00:18:14.700 it's not,
00:18:15.360 it's not a problem with the Aga Khan.
00:18:17.000 It's a problem with the flagrant conflict of interest.
00:18:21.300 Um,
00:18:21.800 I was really interested.
00:18:22.800 Uh,
00:18:23.080 Steve Marr,
00:18:23.980 uh,
00:18:24.520 has a new book out.
00:18:26.240 Um,
00:18:26.800 where he had them on the podcast,
00:18:28.220 about it.
00:18:28.660 Oh,
00:18:28.800 did you?
00:18:29.180 Okay,
00:18:29.620 great.
00:18:30.260 Well,
00:18:30.600 I was,
00:18:31.900 I'd always been intrigued about the,
00:18:34.080 the sort of interior workings of the prime minister's office with respect to that trip.
00:18:39.860 Because like,
00:18:41.140 I mean,
00:18:41.460 I would have,
00:18:42.300 if I worked in the prime minister's office and my boss was saying he was going to do that,
00:18:45.900 I would sit on him until he said,
00:18:47.640 no,
00:18:49.560 I mean,
00:18:50.560 what the hell are you doing?
00:18:53.200 Well,
00:18:53.460 you know,
00:18:54.080 for people that don't know how tight the rules are in Ottawa,
00:18:57.560 um,
00:18:58.620 a company that's doing business with the government,
00:19:03.220 you know,
00:19:03.520 and let's say you're the person doing the buying,
00:19:05.760 you work for the government and you're buying,
00:19:08.800 um,
00:19:09.600 in,
00:19:10.000 in normal course of business in the private sector,
00:19:12.500 if we're constantly doing business,
00:19:15.500 I might say to you one day,
00:19:17.280 Hey,
00:19:17.580 Chris,
00:19:18.000 uh,
00:19:18.360 you know,
00:19:18.640 thanks for all that business.
00:19:20.080 You know,
00:19:20.280 we've got a box at the hockey game,
00:19:22.880 but we're not using all the seats.
00:19:24.560 You want to go take,
00:19:26.040 take your wife,
00:19:26.600 take one of the kids.
00:19:27.280 You want to go?
00:19:28.200 And people would say,
00:19:29.220 yeah,
00:19:29.580 Joe,
00:19:29.940 sure.
00:19:30.560 Thanks.
00:19:31.060 You're not allowed to take a second.
00:19:32.920 Nevermind a box seat.
00:19:33.940 You're not allowed to take a,
00:19:35.180 a,
00:19:35.540 you know,
00:19:36.300 nosebleed seat.
00:19:37.560 Yeah.
00:19:38.140 If you're a civil servant and quite rightly.
00:19:40.360 And Stephen Harper used to go to hockey games all the time.
00:19:43.480 People would invite him and he would go,
00:19:45.900 but he paid for the tickets and demanded it be done by check.
00:19:52.540 So there was a paper trail for a hockey ticket.
00:19:56.960 Nevermind a multimillion dollar vacation on a private Caribbean Island that you get to by private helicopter.
00:20:04.200 I it's yeah.
00:20:06.020 I mean,
00:20:06.740 the,
00:20:07.280 the,
00:20:07.900 I mean,
00:20:08.080 entitlement is a word that's always,
00:20:10.380 uh,
00:20:12.520 hovered over Justin Trudeau's head.
00:20:14.500 And I mean,
00:20:14.960 what else can you call it?
00:20:16.500 You know,
00:20:16.980 he says,
00:20:17.380 Oh no,
00:20:17.580 we're family friends.
00:20:18.580 When was the last time he saw him?
00:20:19.940 Oh,
00:20:20.340 uh,
00:20:21.020 my dad's funeral.
00:20:22.540 Okay.
00:20:23.860 Um,
00:20:24.220 16 years ago.
00:20:25.480 Uh,
00:20:26.020 so look,
00:20:27.400 we could go on and on about scandals,
00:20:29.000 but we played the clip off the top of it.
00:20:32.140 Everything feeling broken.
00:20:34.340 As you and I are talking,
00:20:35.840 um,
00:20:37.800 Canadian dollar is now trading in the 70 cent range below 71 cents.
00:20:41.920 That's yet another sign of a broken economy.
00:20:46.780 And so I,
00:20:48.900 I know people freaked out when Polly have came out with that ad and they said,
00:20:53.960 Oh,
00:20:54.020 you're saying Canada's broken.
00:20:55.220 Canada's not broken.
00:20:56.140 He actually said,
00:20:56.980 does it feel like everything's broken?
00:20:59.720 And quite frankly,
00:21:01.000 I look around and I say,
00:21:01.960 yeah,
00:21:02.100 it does.
00:21:02.580 Uh,
00:21:03.060 the economy is not doing well.
00:21:06.140 70 cent dollar.
00:21:07.400 So we've just come off the inflation,
00:21:09.180 uh,
00:21:10.020 binge driving up all the prices.
00:21:12.160 Now,
00:21:12.640 um,
00:21:13.260 our dollar,
00:21:13.960 you know,
00:21:14.140 this time of year,
00:21:14.860 if the dollar stays here and a lot of economists believe it will stay here for a while before rallying to 74 sometime next year,
00:21:22.680 uh,
00:21:23.960 you know,
00:21:24.380 all the fruits and vegetables that we have to buy from south of the border in the winter have become much more expensive.
00:21:32.200 The dollar has dropped dramatically since,
00:21:34.660 since Trudeau took office.
00:21:36.860 This is not a sign of a healthy economy.
00:21:38.840 We've got oil prices down,
00:21:40.500 which helps at the pump,
00:21:41.880 but helps drive up the dollar.
00:21:43.620 Um,
00:21:45.120 all of,
00:21:45.660 or sorry,
00:21:46.140 drive down the dollar.
00:21:48.480 We've got a,
00:21:49.300 an economy where the government's putting on handcuffs with emissions caps,
00:21:52.680 on the oil sector.
00:21:53.540 One of the few growing areas,
00:21:55.520 uh,
00:21:55.720 oil and gas in the public sector are the best performing areas of the,
00:22:00.460 or growth areas of the Canadian economy.
00:22:03.460 And Trudeau's trying to grow the public sector even more,
00:22:06.600 but putting emissions caps,
00:22:07.880 which are really production caps on the Canadian economy.
00:22:10.720 We're being governed by economic illiterates and it is really hurting.
00:22:17.000 Well,
00:22:17.040 it's a mixture of,
00:22:18.180 yeah,
00:22:19.300 it's a mixture of economic illiteracy.
00:22:21.320 And this sort of activist instinct,
00:22:24.700 I think when it comes to,
00:22:26.160 uh,
00:22:27.180 things like climate change,
00:22:28.340 you really want to be seen doing that.
00:22:30.980 But at,
00:22:31.360 at,
00:22:31.540 at the end of the day,
00:22:32.600 it's,
00:22:33.040 it's just become self-destructive for them.
00:22:34.720 I mean,
00:22:34.960 the,
00:22:35.100 the carbon tax is dying if,
00:22:36.780 if polyeth takes over anyways,
00:22:39.060 right?
00:22:39.560 They've already completely,
00:22:40.960 the liberals have already completely undermined the carbon tax by exempting home
00:22:44.080 heating fuel.
00:22:44.740 And now,
00:22:45.860 like the whole idea of an emissions cap goes against the best case for a carbon tax,
00:22:51.180 which is that you,
00:22:52.740 you,
00:22:53.240 it's,
00:22:53.500 it's supposed to sort it all out for you.
00:22:54.820 It's supposed to be simple.
00:22:55.780 It's market-based.
00:22:56.640 You don't have to cap things.
00:22:58.120 You just have to make things,
00:22:59.540 uh,
00:23:00.600 more expensive.
00:23:01.240 But I don't think they ever really believed in that.
00:23:03.700 I know Stephen Gilboa didn't believe in that.
00:23:06.200 I mean,
00:23:06.940 Stephen Gilboa as a,
00:23:08.820 his previous life as a genuine,
00:23:11.260 like environmental radical,
00:23:13.120 um,
00:23:14.500 best known in Quebec,
00:23:15.560 but known in the rest of Canada for climbing onto Ralph Klein's house and putting solar panels on it.
00:23:21.440 I mean,
00:23:21.740 this guy doesn't believe in carbon taxes.
00:23:23.360 He believes in shutting down the oil sands.
00:23:25.460 Yeah.
00:23:26.240 Um,
00:23:26.740 so it's just,
00:23:28.140 it's a bizarre mixture of sort of half-assed activism.
00:23:34.560 and economic illiteracy and just,
00:23:37.080 but also like,
00:23:38.200 what are they like on emissions cap now?
00:23:40.420 Like you guys are backed into a corner.
00:23:42.660 You,
00:23:43.200 you,
00:23:43.460 you,
00:23:43.860 I'm sure you guys would do anything to stay in power.
00:23:46.580 Why are you poking people in the eye?
00:23:49.040 Like this is going to impress a few people in Quebec.
00:23:52.400 You have,
00:23:53.040 you have nothing to get,
00:23:54.020 you have nothing to lose in Alberta,
00:23:55.280 but you don't have much to gain anywhere else.
00:23:58.080 So it's,
00:23:58.920 it's just inexplicable.
00:24:00.080 The,
00:24:00.340 the choices they make.
00:24:01.780 The,
00:24:01.980 um,
00:24:02.280 the first time I've talked,
00:24:03.240 I know I've told this story before,
00:24:04.660 but the first time I met Guibo,
00:24:06.500 uh,
00:24:07.020 it's telling.
00:24:08.080 It was,
00:24:09.060 uh,
00:24:09.800 2000,
00:24:10.760 early 2001.
00:24:12.240 I'm at the,
00:24:12.960 the newsroom on St.
00:24:14.000 Jacques in Montreal.
00:24:14.660 And it,
00:24:15.320 we get a call.
00:24:16.100 There's a protest at the SO.
00:24:17.540 I think it was over on Rennie Levesque.
00:24:18.920 And we run over and Guibo and a bunch of others had,
00:24:21.780 uh,
00:24:21.980 used those U bicycle locks to chain themselves to the gas pump so that no one could pump gas.
00:24:26.820 Why?
00:24:27.220 Because he doesn't believe anyone should pump gas ever.
00:24:29.340 The man's never owned a car,
00:24:31.800 a private car.
00:24:32.640 He has a car given to him.
00:24:33.900 And then,
00:24:34.480 and then we've got Chrystia Freeland who I've got her book plutocrats in front of me,
00:24:37.880 where she quotes from economists like Emmanuel says,
00:24:41.880 and Thomas Piketty,
00:24:42.820 who had a,
00:24:43.720 a very well-received economically,
00:24:46.360 uh,
00:24:47.140 viable book.
00:24:48.260 It was big capitalist success advocating for socialism a few years ago,
00:24:53.200 uh,
00:24:53.860 that the marginal tax rate should be between 70 and 90% on high income earners.
00:24:59.560 And you look at that and you say,
00:25:01.180 okay,
00:25:01.340 well,
00:25:01.480 this makes sense for how she brings about policy.
00:25:04.260 This is what she believes in.
00:25:07.240 Yeah.
00:25:07.720 Well,
00:25:08.580 I mean,
00:25:09.880 you know,
00:25:10.560 this,
00:25:10.900 I mean,
00:25:12.440 that book,
00:25:13.260 right,
00:25:13.580 that was a book about income inequality in the United States.
00:25:17.560 And essentially the liberals ripped it off and pretended that it was a book about economic inequality in Canada,
00:25:23.000 which it wasn't.
00:25:24.260 The,
00:25:24.300 the,
00:25:24.980 the situation was very difficult,
00:25:26.780 different.
00:25:28.440 Um,
00:25:28.920 and they just kind of leveraged it that they were going to be this,
00:25:32.240 this,
00:25:32.460 this was part of their brand.
00:25:33.640 And in hindsight,
00:25:34.600 it never made any sense.
00:25:36.720 Um,
00:25:37.140 I don't know what Christian Freeland believes at this point.
00:25:40.000 I mean,
00:25:40.400 she can barely string together a sentence.
00:25:43.660 Um,
00:25:44.400 I hope she still can on a keyboard.
00:25:47.840 Uh,
00:25:48.700 I'm sure she'll have an interesting book to write,
00:25:51.740 but like,
00:25:52.440 I,
00:25:52.620 I,
00:25:52.800 I just,
00:25:53.620 yeah,
00:25:53.880 as you say,
00:25:54.940 I mean,
00:25:55.200 it's,
00:25:55.560 it's just,
00:25:56.480 it's,
00:25:56.860 it's flailing.
00:25:58.060 It's like,
00:25:58.600 you just doesn't know the priorities they choose.
00:26:02.480 Why?
00:26:03.340 The tactics they choose.
00:26:04.680 It's baffling.
00:26:06.220 I mean,
00:26:06.640 it's,
00:26:07.060 it's quite something to watch.
00:26:09.100 I don't think I've ever seen a government.
00:26:10.900 I mean,
00:26:11.140 the only one that really comes to mind is sort of the last days of Dalton
00:26:15.340 McGinty in,
00:26:17.100 uh,
00:26:17.280 here in Ontario,
00:26:17.980 but you know,
00:26:19.260 where there was just every day was a new sort of embarrassment,
00:26:22.960 embarrassment and,
00:26:24.180 uh,
00:26:25.180 uh,
00:26:25.680 sacrificing of principles,
00:26:26.940 but it's,
00:26:27.740 it's,
00:26:28.140 it's a spectacle.
00:26:28.920 We need to take a quick break.
00:26:31.840 When we come back,
00:26:32.600 I am going to play a clip of Chrystia Freeland.
00:26:35.100 Uh,
00:26:35.980 she did strain words together.
00:26:38.660 They do not sound like an adult speaking and we'll explain why.
00:26:42.600 When we come back.
00:26:46.360 Bank more on course.
00:26:47.740 When you switch to a Scotiabank banking package,
00:26:50.120 learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages.
00:26:54.380 Conditions apply.
00:26:55.260 Scotiabank you're richer than you think.
00:26:58.840 Tom Homan is the man.
00:27:00.580 Every Canadian wants to know right now.
00:27:02.160 If your name doesn't ring a bell,
00:27:04.120 you're not a political junkie.
00:27:07.420 He is Donald Trump's new borders are.
00:27:09.920 And the reason that he has become of interest to Canadians is that he knows
00:27:16.060 the Northern border as they call it in the United States.
00:27:18.960 And he has said that the Canada U S border is a national security threat.
00:27:23.860 Um,
00:27:24.540 he comes from upstate New York,
00:27:26.740 little place called West Carthage,
00:27:28.240 just outside Watertown,
00:27:29.640 about 40 minutes South of the St.
00:27:31.740 Lawrence river.
00:27:33.240 And he said that,
00:27:35.680 uh,
00:27:36.100 you know,
00:27:36.700 he wants changes because he talked about human trafficking across the border,
00:27:40.120 which happens drug trafficking,
00:27:41.520 uh,
00:27:42.780 the vast increase in the number of illegals being caught.
00:27:47.340 Chris,
00:27:48.000 I want to play this clip of Chrystia Freeland.
00:27:50.380 And then I want to get you to react.
00:27:54.220 Um,
00:27:54.700 we take the border very,
00:27:56.640 very seriously.
00:27:58.100 And that's why the border was the first issue that we discussed at this
00:28:02.980 meeting of the Canada U S cabinet committee.
00:28:05.120 Minister LeBlanc spoke at length.
00:28:08.640 Minister Miller spoke at length.
00:28:10.900 The head of the RCMP was present as well and talked about actions.
00:28:15.760 He is taking as with the head,
00:28:18.000 as was the head of the CBSA.
00:28:19.900 So we take the border very,
00:28:22.180 very seriously.
00:28:23.660 So Chris,
00:28:24.080 uh,
00:28:24.300 she said that,
00:28:25.020 uh,
00:28:25.580 Canada takes the border very,
00:28:27.040 very seriously.
00:28:27.640 Many times.
00:28:28.360 She said some people spoke at a meeting.
00:28:31.240 There was nothing of substance in that,
00:28:33.800 that if I'm Tom Holman or anyone in the,
00:28:35.960 the Trump grouping,
00:28:37.520 that's going to form the next American government,
00:28:39.860 there's nothing in that.
00:28:41.020 That makes me say,
00:28:41.920 yeah,
00:28:42.560 they get it.
00:28:43.260 No,
00:28:43.520 she sounds like a grade six student who got asked by the teacher to
00:28:46.900 comment on something that she hadn't read.
00:28:49.980 Once we fell back on that old Canadian chestnut,
00:28:54.060 right?
00:28:54.260 Oh,
00:28:54.400 we want to work collaboratively with Washington.
00:28:57.540 You know,
00:28:57.720 we're all about collaboration.
00:28:59.360 You know,
00:28:59.880 we're,
00:29:00.120 we're,
00:29:00.420 we convene people.
00:29:02.020 We,
00:29:02.340 we honest broker.
00:29:04.200 Uh,
00:29:04.640 we do all these things,
00:29:05.700 but if you're Washington,
00:29:06.860 it's like,
00:29:07.100 no,
00:29:07.680 no,
00:29:07.920 we don't,
00:29:08.520 we've collaborated plenty.
00:29:09.820 Like the Biden,
00:29:11.040 the Biden administration gave Trudeau a great deal.
00:29:15.640 Um,
00:29:16.600 an amendment to the safe third country agreement that essentially let
00:29:19.020 both countries send illegal border crossers back to the other.
00:29:23.120 Um,
00:29:23.640 which effectively shut down rocks and road.
00:29:26.040 It did.
00:29:26.740 Yeah.
00:29:26.960 It didn't shut it down entirely.
00:29:28.960 Um,
00:29:29.440 and I,
00:29:29.760 I'm being very interested to see whether what happens if people start
00:29:33.640 flying over the border or,
00:29:35.340 or trying,
00:29:36.260 trying it again,
00:29:37.440 walking over the border.
00:29:38.340 It doesn't sound like Freeland.
00:29:40.780 I mean,
00:29:41.120 if I'm,
00:29:41.580 if I'm home and listen to that,
00:29:43.200 I'm just,
00:29:44.200 I mean,
00:29:44.440 that that's just complete gibberish.
00:29:46.760 As you say,
00:29:47.660 you're not offering me anything there.
00:29:50.040 Like there isn't a single thing in that statement that implies Canada would do
00:29:55.220 something on its own other than calling up Washington and asking them to help.
00:30:00.900 Well,
00:30:01.700 you know,
00:30:02.160 and yet,
00:30:02.780 you know,
00:30:03.020 I I've seen,
00:30:04.000 uh,
00:30:04.880 two interviews of home and,
00:30:06.120 uh,
00:30:07.200 one was recorded before he was named borders are once since with a local journalist
00:30:11.820 in Watertown,
00:30:12.600 which he calls home.
00:30:14.800 Uh,
00:30:15.360 and you know,
00:30:16.000 you,
00:30:16.300 this is my area.
00:30:17.180 You're not going to come into my area and,
00:30:19.200 you know,
00:30:19.580 not face trouble.
00:30:20.800 He has offered statistics.
00:30:23.360 He has offered,
00:30:24.500 uh,
00:30:25.340 identified problems.
00:30:26.420 He has offered solutions in each of the interviews that I've watched,
00:30:30.620 uh,
00:30:31.980 Freeland way for people that haven't seen the whole clip and,
00:30:35.560 and I've posted it.
00:30:36.340 She,
00:30:36.580 she was asked three times in a row about the border and each answer sounded the
00:30:41.040 same.
00:30:41.260 So I posted the clip of the first two answers,
00:30:44.140 uh,
00:30:45.280 up on X.
00:30:46.200 And it's at this point about half a million views of people.
00:30:50.360 And the comments are just scathing about her because as you said,
00:30:56.120 she offers nothing.
00:30:56.940 So,
00:30:57.120 I mean,
00:30:57.300 this is going to be one of the big,
00:30:58.600 uh,
00:30:59.760 big issues.
00:31:01.100 Mark Miller,
00:31:01.820 the immigration minister was asked about it and he said,
00:31:04.740 well,
00:31:04.880 we're going to have some tough conversations.
00:31:07.760 Again,
00:31:08.340 again,
00:31:08.600 like it's a mutual,
00:31:10.020 like it's a mutual obligation.
00:31:14.440 Conversations.
00:31:15.320 No,
00:31:15.620 no,
00:31:15.820 just get your act together.
00:31:17.960 Like,
00:31:18.440 how about that?
00:31:19.540 And then you can have a conversation.
00:31:22.180 I,
00:31:22.660 yeah,
00:31:22.960 I think on this one,
00:31:23.900 they need to show that they're acting.
00:31:25.380 Uh,
00:31:25.780 let's,
00:31:26.320 let's talk about the,
00:31:27.140 the difference between the emissions cap that we discussed earlier that
00:31:32.020 Gibbo and Trudeau are bringing in on the Canadian oil and gas
00:31:35.300 industry.
00:31:35.640 It's going to lower production.
00:31:38.100 Uh,
00:31:38.580 Trump has promised to increase oil and gas production.
00:31:41.580 Oh,
00:31:42.060 and by the way,
00:31:42.620 Canada is the only one doing the emissions cap of any of the major oil
00:31:45.700 and gas producers,
00:31:46.420 not even green progressive Norway is doing that.
00:31:49.640 And in fact,
00:31:50.100 they're boasting about it.
00:31:51.320 Yeah.
00:31:51.800 Norway is also increasing production.
00:31:55.160 Uh,
00:31:55.480 but Trump is going to increase oil and gas production in the United States and
00:31:58.680 lift the ban on exporting liquefied natural gas,
00:32:02.100 which conservatives in the last two or three elections have campaigned on
00:32:06.360 that saying,
00:32:06.760 we need to get this done so that we can export liquefied natural gas to China,
00:32:10.320 get them off of dirty burning coal onto a cleaner burning fuel.
00:32:15.740 Trudeau has said that there is no market for LNG exports.
00:32:19.280 And they've also there.
00:32:21.020 I can't remember if it's passed or it's still before the house.
00:32:24.040 They want to ban companies from claiming things like liquefied natural gas
00:32:29.020 burns cleaner than coal,
00:32:30.420 but that that's not a claim.
00:32:33.080 That's scientific fact,
00:32:34.840 but they want to criminalize that not criminalize.
00:32:37.460 I think you'd be subject to a multimillion dollar fine for saying it.
00:32:40.260 And they leave it up to activist groups of which there are many to bring
00:32:44.300 forward complaints that lead to lawsuits.
00:32:46.620 Well,
00:32:48.580 I just saw today that the Taiwan wants our natural wants our LNG.
00:32:53.460 But there's no market.
00:32:55.540 Yeah.
00:32:56.060 Yeah.
00:32:56.600 Well,
00:32:57.060 I mean,
00:32:57.360 other than Japan,
00:32:58.260 Taiwan,
00:32:58.840 Germany,
00:32:59.560 other than all the countries saying they want it,
00:33:01.560 there's no market.
00:33:03.720 But other than that,
00:33:04.760 what have the Romans ever done for us?
00:33:07.540 I mean,
00:33:08.200 it's just all these,
00:33:10.560 it's there's this giant list of stands the liberals have taken over the
00:33:14.400 years that I think when they look back on it,
00:33:16.620 they'll think,
00:33:17.160 what,
00:33:17.420 what was this for?
00:33:18.620 Like,
00:33:18.840 what did,
00:33:19.340 why did we spend capital,
00:33:21.160 political capital on this?
00:33:23.220 I mean,
00:33:23.400 the carbon tax is almost an ex carbon tax at this point.
00:33:27.660 The liberals have undermined it enough themselves without poly I've coming
00:33:31.380 along and just canceling it for good.
00:33:33.980 why they're still dying on these hills.
00:33:38.600 It's,
00:33:39.040 it's,
00:33:39.440 it's mind boggling,
00:33:40.420 but I,
00:33:40.740 I just don't think,
00:33:41.940 I mean,
00:33:42.180 one of the things that I think,
00:33:43.380 uh,
00:33:45.280 has always been true is that these guys just aren't very good at politics.
00:33:49.260 It's,
00:33:49.360 it's,
00:33:49.980 well,
00:33:50.120 Trudeau is very good at campaigning.
00:33:52.500 He's good at campaigning.
00:33:53.680 If people are receptive to his brand of touchy feely.
00:34:00.880 Well,
00:34:01.500 eventually everyone,
00:34:02.860 everyone wears out their welcome.
00:34:05.800 That's,
00:34:06.080 that's a true,
00:34:06.740 true of some politics,
00:34:07.880 but he,
00:34:09.260 he has proven to be very good at campaigning and his team,
00:34:12.220 uh,
00:34:12.600 in 2019 and 2021 were very good at reading the data and knowing,
00:34:17.920 okay,
00:34:18.900 I don't need to win all the writings.
00:34:21.020 I need to win these four here and those five there by pushing these buttons.
00:34:26.340 And that's what they did.
00:34:27.980 And they were able to squeak by with the smallest minorities in terms of popular
00:34:33.160 vote and such in Canadian history.
00:34:35.960 And this latest one,
00:34:37.960 they've been governing like they've had a majority the whole time.
00:34:41.220 I've never seen such a stable minority,
00:34:43.180 even after Chugmeet saying ripped up the agreement,
00:34:45.880 but kept voting for him.
00:34:48.580 Well,
00:34:49.080 the NDP doesn't want to,
00:34:50.180 I mean,
00:34:50.600 NDP goes to an election.
00:34:53.600 They're going to get obliterated by the looks of it.
00:34:57.520 So we know the Trump administration,
00:34:58.900 their goal is to unleash the American economy and love them or hate them.
00:35:03.360 I know most Canadians don't like them,
00:35:04.740 but an abacus poll recently showed that Donald Trump is about as popular as Justin Trudeau in Canada,
00:35:11.640 only about 22% like each of them.
00:35:14.220 But Trump has a slightly higher,
00:35:16.760 really don't like them mark,
00:35:18.580 but only by about four points.
00:35:20.500 So that gives you some sense of where they're at.
00:35:23.000 But do you think that with Trump looking to unleash the economy,
00:35:28.920 which he did in 2016,
00:35:31.040 they went on a boom.
00:35:33.880 Does Trudeau turn around and say,
00:35:35.660 okay,
00:35:35.760 well,
00:35:36.000 we've got to roll these policies back,
00:35:38.020 or is he the,
00:35:39.860 uh,
00:35:40.560 the bastion of progressivism?
00:35:42.780 And I don't think he's overly progressive.
00:35:44.340 I think he's just misguided,
00:35:45.400 but does he try and play that role and,
00:35:48.700 and play off Trump for the coming election,
00:35:52.820 whether it's in the spring or in the fall?
00:35:55.620 There's nothing that I wouldn't put past,
00:35:57.260 uh,
00:35:59.140 the liberals in terms of just,
00:36:00.700 you know,
00:36:01.900 throwing a policy or a principle under the bus for,
00:36:07.760 uh,
00:36:09.920 for the sake of trying to,
00:36:11.960 you know,
00:36:12.480 save the family photos,
00:36:13.780 so to speak.
00:36:15.140 Um,
00:36:15.800 you know,
00:36:16.680 hold on to however many seats,
00:36:19.500 you know,
00:36:20.140 maybe try to do better than Michael Ignatiev did,
00:36:22.580 uh,
00:36:24.020 in 2011.
00:36:24.660 I mean,
00:36:25.100 the,
00:36:25.240 the,
00:36:25.540 the whole idea of the liberal party of Canada is,
00:36:28.380 I mean,
00:36:28.560 they,
00:36:28.940 they hate ideology,
00:36:30.060 right?
00:36:30.800 Ideological is the worst term.
00:36:32.780 I mean,
00:36:32.940 ideology,
00:36:33.460 their ideology is power.
00:36:37.020 That's it.
00:36:37.820 Staying in power.
00:36:38.400 I mean,
00:36:38.960 yeah,
00:36:40.600 but I mean,
00:36:41.400 they love that idea that ideology is a bad thing.
00:36:44.380 Like actually believing in things for philosophical reasons and sticking to those principles is just a,
00:36:50.140 that's not the right way to run your life.
00:36:53.240 You should,
00:36:53.640 you should be able to throw anything into the garbage when it,
00:36:56.940 when it suits them.
00:36:58.140 To me,
00:36:58.400 they've already gutted the carbon tax with exempting home heating oil and now the emissions cap.
00:37:05.280 I mean,
00:37:05.700 the whole idea of a carbon tax or a revenue neutral carbon tax anyways,
00:37:10.520 which is the liberals sort of is,
00:37:12.280 sort of isn't,
00:37:13.060 or it claims to be anyways.
00:37:14.820 Is,
00:37:15.400 is to take those decisions away.
00:37:18.700 You don't have to make those command and control decisions.
00:37:21.460 The,
00:37:21.920 the market sorts it out for you,
00:37:23.160 but Stephen Cubot has never believed in that.
00:37:25.640 Uh,
00:37:26.240 so I,
00:37:27.340 I could see them doing anything.
00:37:29.180 Nothing,
00:37:29.800 nothing would surprise me.
00:37:30.840 I mean,
00:37:31.000 this is a government that,
00:37:32.560 that,
00:37:33.200 you know,
00:37:34.660 they know that they can switch.
00:37:36.680 On Friday,
00:37:37.200 they can be,
00:37:37.760 if you oppose immigration,
00:37:39.080 you're a filthy racist.
00:37:40.820 And on Monday,
00:37:41.420 they can wake up and cut immigration,
00:37:43.140 um,
00:37:44.380 significantly,
00:37:45.240 not,
00:37:45.920 not relative to previous governments,
00:37:47.140 but relative to now.
00:37:48.080 And then say,
00:37:49.160 no,
00:37:49.380 we're,
00:37:49.680 no,
00:37:49.900 we're doing it because we're doing this because we mean well,
00:37:52.100 but if conservatives were doing it,
00:37:53.520 it's because they're evil.
00:37:55.320 Look at what they did in the,
00:37:56.680 the last campaign.
00:37:58.440 Uh,
00:37:58.940 Justin Trudeau went around,
00:38:00.340 uh,
00:38:00.600 you know,
00:38:00.940 basically saying your body,
00:38:02.360 your choice,
00:38:03.000 uh,
00:38:03.760 when it comes to vaccination and we're not going to force anyone.
00:38:06.860 And then he saw the polling that said,
00:38:08.960 well,
00:38:09.160 Canadians want you to force people who aren't getting the vaccine to get it.
00:38:13.360 And he decided an election was coming.
00:38:16.040 They put out a government policy forcing civil servants to get it or lose their jobs.
00:38:21.080 And suddenly,
00:38:22.020 uh,
00:38:22.240 my body,
00:38:22.820 my choice was only valid for abortion.
00:38:24.360 And not for vaccines.
00:38:26.620 It worked for him though.
00:38:28.140 It's,
00:38:28.460 it's a great example.
00:38:29.700 I mean,
00:38:30.280 you know,
00:38:31.060 he had that legendary interview with,
00:38:33.120 um,
00:38:33.560 Brandon Gones,
00:38:34.740 um,
00:38:35.540 where he said,
00:38:36.280 uh,
00:38:36.860 Canada is not the kind of country where we force people to get vaccinated.
00:38:41.080 And then he called an election for no reason.
00:38:44.020 Let's,
00:38:44.660 let's not forget that 2021 election was pointless.
00:38:49.900 And,
00:38:50.380 and,
00:38:50.920 but you,
00:38:51.440 do you know why he said that to Brandon Gones specifically?
00:38:54.360 Uh,
00:38:56.360 well,
00:38:56.580 I think he probably believed it.
00:38:58.140 It was true.
00:39:00.560 Yes.
00:39:00.980 And no,
00:39:01.400 there's also the fact that one of the highest,
00:39:04.040 uh,
00:39:05.160 areas of hesitancy for vaccine was in the black male community.
00:39:10.740 And this was being talked about in,
00:39:15.680 especially,
00:39:16.160 uh,
00:39:16.920 uh,
00:39:17.580 Jamaican immigrant community.
00:39:19.160 And,
00:39:19.640 and people were saying,
00:39:21.060 no,
00:39:21.260 like this has been done to us before.
00:39:22.680 We don't want this.
00:39:23.340 No,
00:39:23.640 we're,
00:39:23.940 you know,
00:39:24.120 we're not doing it.
00:39:25.520 That's,
00:39:26.120 I believe why Trudeau did that specific statement on that specific show.
00:39:30.520 Brandon's got a huge audience,
00:39:31.860 uh,
00:39:32.560 here in Toronto.
00:39:33.220 And he specifically tailored that because he tells which audience he's talking to,
00:39:38.440 what they want to hear.
00:39:41.280 Yes,
00:39:41.720 I can totally see that.
00:39:44.200 But I,
00:39:44.600 as I recall,
00:39:46.320 um,
00:39:46.820 it was some time after that,
00:39:49.400 that,
00:39:49.540 that he finally,
00:39:50.400 uh,
00:39:52.280 just went,
00:39:52.900 it was,
00:39:53.120 it was only after the election was called that he went full,
00:39:55.520 you know,
00:39:55.960 unacceptable opinions,
00:39:58.200 non-vaccinated people are enemies of the people or,
00:40:00.620 you know,
00:40:00.800 enemies of the state that the whole ludicrous,
00:40:03.880 uh,
00:40:05.060 moral panic over people traveling.
00:40:07.200 Like that was,
00:40:08.380 that was a deliberate decision by him to abandon what I think he,
00:40:13.560 he may well have said that for the reasons you say on the Brandon Ganas show,
00:40:16.820 but I think he actually believed that this is not a country where we force people.
00:40:21.000 And it shouldn't get vaccinated.
00:40:22.940 Well,
00:40:23.320 it isn't.
00:40:24.140 I mean,
00:40:24.400 we didn't really force anyone,
00:40:26.060 but I take the point.
00:40:27.120 If you just want to,
00:40:27.800 you want,
00:40:28.140 yeah.
00:40:28.940 Well,
00:40:29.260 if you want it,
00:40:29.780 if you want it to travel,
00:40:31.160 paid in daily life at all,
00:40:32.420 you have,
00:40:33.020 it's kind of a distinction without a difference.
00:40:35.300 If you,
00:40:35.780 if you,
00:40:35.880 if you don't,
00:40:36.480 if you want to keep your job,
00:40:37.480 you want to travel,
00:40:38.360 um,
00:40:38.700 you want to go to a restaurant,
00:40:40.280 you want to go to a movie,
00:40:41.120 you want to go to your gym,
00:40:42.180 uh,
00:40:43.000 then you have to get it.
00:40:43.800 But otherwise we're not forcing anyone.
00:40:45.580 Yeah.
00:40:45.660 What's the pro like,
00:40:46.960 come on guys.
00:40:48.020 Um,
00:40:49.460 but I mean,
00:40:50.420 you know,
00:40:50.800 and,
00:40:51.140 and,
00:40:51.480 uh,
00:40:51.920 I can't remember exactly how we've gone out of this,
00:40:53.320 but I,
00:40:53.620 I do think that that's exact,
00:40:55.060 like that's,
00:40:55.440 that they'll change their policy at any point.
00:40:57.780 Yeah.
00:40:58.140 Uh,
00:40:58.340 but since we're talking about vaccines,
00:40:59.720 let me ask you about this.
00:41:00.800 Uh,
00:41:01.200 a bunch of people in the Canadian commentary at pulling their hair out at every single
00:41:05.780 Trump,
00:41:06.200 uh,
00:41:07.280 cabinet pick,
00:41:08.040 and I'm not here to defend them,
00:41:09.740 but,
00:41:10.660 uh,
00:41:11.340 it is fun to watch our colleagues.
00:41:12.960 Uh,
00:41:13.500 some of them who seem obsessed with Trump and they're,
00:41:16.240 they're going to have ulcers or coronaries before he's even inaugurated at this rate.
00:41:20.980 Um,
00:41:22.140 you know,
00:41:22.540 the,
00:41:22.820 the secretary of defense,
00:41:24.580 he's just a Fox news guy.
00:41:26.040 Uh,
00:41:26.720 we have a couple of people from CTV Canada AM in Trudeau's cabinet,
00:41:31.340 or we did.
00:41:33.300 We,
00:41:33.500 we've got so many more people to choose from,
00:41:36.440 Brian.
00:41:36.800 We've got,
00:41:37.540 we've got Freeland running,
00:41:39.480 uh,
00:41:40.160 a G seven economy as,
00:41:42.900 uh,
00:41:43.340 I could argue at length that she is economically illiterate and her policies have done damage to this country.
00:41:51.060 It's not like,
00:41:52.120 you know,
00:41:52.440 we're doing so great up here.
00:41:54.220 No,
00:41:56.260 absolutely not.
00:41:56.980 I mean,
00:41:57.180 look,
00:41:57.420 I'll be frank.
00:41:58.540 Like I,
00:41:58.840 I Trump,
00:42:00.200 Trump does scare me a little bit.
00:42:02.600 Um,
00:42:03.400 I don't know.
00:42:04.820 You know,
00:42:05.260 I think it,
00:42:06.060 it just depends where,
00:42:08.860 where his moods take him.
00:42:11.900 It seems like,
00:42:12.500 and I don't know where they're going to take him,
00:42:15.040 but Canada needs to be,
00:42:16.840 Canada needs to be minding its own business.
00:42:19.420 Your Canada needs to be getting its own house in order so that it can deal with,
00:42:24.220 uh,
00:42:25.020 uncertainties from Washington,
00:42:26.540 whether it's under Trump or whether it's under Biden or whether it's under a future president.
00:42:30.960 I mean,
00:42:31.040 I couldn't believe this story that,
00:42:32.540 that,
00:42:32.720 that the,
00:42:33.700 the,
00:42:33.960 the,
00:42:34.360 the liberal caucus had disbanded its Canada,
00:42:37.200 us,
00:42:37.600 uh,
00:42:39.200 relations working group,
00:42:40.460 apparently as soon as Trump was out of office.
00:42:42.600 What?
00:42:42.940 Because we,
00:42:43.920 because it,
00:42:44.300 well,
00:42:44.400 that wasn't worth discussing when Joe Biden was president.
00:42:46.820 I mean,
00:42:47.000 we had a few issues there as well.
00:42:49.460 So when,
00:42:50.900 when the inflation reduction act came out and there were the,
00:42:53.340 the,
00:42:53.640 the first,
00:42:54.700 um,
00:42:56.420 uh,
00:42:57.140 policies that would have gutted our auto industry,
00:43:00.080 had they gone through,
00:43:01.060 when those were first unveiled,
00:43:02.720 I remember talking to people in Washington and I said,
00:43:07.620 how did he not see this coming?
00:43:10.020 Like Biden's trying to do what he,
00:43:11.760 he failed to do in 2008,
00:43:13.280 2009 when he as VP Obama sent him to go to negotiate a bailout.
00:43:19.160 And his first attempt was to try and get all the jobs.
00:43:22.040 That's why Harper and McGinty ended up joining the bailout because the,
00:43:25.640 the Obama administration's rule was we get all the jobs.
00:43:29.440 Um,
00:43:30.340 and,
00:43:30.840 and so he was like,
00:43:32.160 well,
00:43:32.400 if you're not ponying up money,
00:43:33.980 all the jobs are coming to us.
00:43:35.460 This is the second time he tried doing that.
00:43:37.520 And Trudeau was caught blindsided.
00:43:39.260 And I talked to people in Washington who said Biden won.
00:43:43.280 And Canada fell asleep.
00:43:45.080 They just said,
00:43:45.540 Oh,
00:43:46.120 thank God that awful nightmare is over.
00:43:48.240 The Americans are never going to do anything bad to us.
00:43:50.700 He cancels Keystone XL on his first day.
00:43:52.840 Then he ups the softwood lumber tariffs.
00:43:55.480 Then he comes after the auto industry.
00:43:57.220 None of that being a surprise at all.
00:43:59.780 Yeah.
00:44:00.140 But you know,
00:44:01.040 it is apparently to a bunch of people in the Canadian media who over the past
00:44:06.240 several months,
00:44:06.800 what do we do if the Americans turn protectionist?
00:44:09.980 Uh,
00:44:10.440 where y'all been?
00:44:11.640 Yeah.
00:44:11.860 Yeah.
00:44:12.640 Yeah.
00:44:13.020 It's just,
00:44:13.700 it's protectionism is baked in.
00:44:15.300 It's just a question of how much and what kind,
00:44:18.700 um,
00:44:20.400 in the U S and it's true here too.
00:44:21.660 I mean,
00:44:21.820 we retaliate to all of those,
00:44:23.460 uh,
00:44:24.780 tariff announcements with our own tariffs,
00:44:26.420 uh,
00:44:27.640 which just hurts us more.
00:44:29.860 Uh,
00:44:30.420 but yeah,
00:44:32.360 I mean,
00:44:32.880 it's,
00:44:33.680 I just don't think,
00:44:34.800 I just feel like so many Canadian capabilities.
00:44:38.760 I mean,
00:44:38.920 we haven't even talked about military spending,
00:44:41.320 but like at the border,
00:44:43.040 you know,
00:44:43.480 they're going to face demands at the border.
00:44:45.200 Well,
00:44:45.380 what is Canada going to do with the border that we haven't done before?
00:44:49.060 Especially if Trump doesn't want to maintain that,
00:44:51.720 uh,
00:44:52.700 agreement under the safer,
00:44:53.860 safer country rule.
00:44:55.420 What,
00:44:55.900 what do we do?
00:44:56.400 I mean,
00:44:56.580 military spending,
00:44:57.780 I mean,
00:44:58.340 we might get to 3% of GDP just from the cost overruns on the submarines,
00:45:02.280 but that's not going to help anything.
00:45:05.800 Uh,
00:45:06.380 you know,
00:45:06.880 we,
00:45:07.040 we can't,
00:45:07.640 there's so many things he's talking about.
00:45:09.060 Canada's broken.
00:45:09.720 There's so many things we cannot do,
00:45:11.780 or we will not do,
00:45:14.000 or we've just lost the sort of ability to do.
00:45:18.900 Uh,
00:45:19.460 and that's good when you've went and when Washington is,
00:45:23.820 is up our backsides about that.
00:45:25.860 That's not something we're used to.
00:45:28.200 Um,
00:45:28.920 and I don't think this Trump administration is going to be nearly as friendly
00:45:32.540 to,
00:45:32.860 to the Trudeau administration as it was the first time around.
00:45:36.760 Uh,
00:45:37.260 no,
00:45:37.800 they,
00:45:38.080 they've watched a Trudeau campaign against them for the last while and,
00:45:42.140 uh,
00:45:42.380 they're not going to,
00:45:43.520 to play nice this time.
00:45:45.040 Um,
00:45:45.740 it's going to be fascinating.
00:45:47.040 Chris,
00:45:47.300 thanks so much for the chat.
00:45:48.580 And I,
00:45:49.400 I'm sure we'll have many more about the,
00:45:51.420 uh,
00:45:51.920 the vexing Canada,
00:45:52.880 us relation in the months and,
00:45:54.580 uh,
00:45:54.820 years to come.
00:45:55.540 Thanks so much.
00:45:56.440 Thanks,
00:45:56.900 Brian.
00:45:57.500 Full Comment is a post-media podcast.
00:46:00.200 My name's Brian Lilly,
00:46:01.060 your host.
00:46:01.580 This episode was produced by Andre Pru with theme music by Bryce Hall.
00:46:05.200 Kevin Libin is the executive producer.
00:46:07.720 Remember to hit the subscribe button on Amazon,
00:46:10.960 on,
00:46:11.520 uh,
00:46:12.220 Google,
00:46:12.800 on,
00:46:13.120 um,
00:46:13.640 Spotify,
00:46:14.420 wherever you're listening to us,
00:46:16.060 hit the subscribe button,
00:46:17.600 uh,
00:46:18.280 share us as well,
00:46:19.220 and leave a comment or review.
00:46:21.020 Thanks for listening.
00:46:21.800 Until next time,
00:46:22.620 I'm Brian Lilly.
00:46:23.160 Yeah.
00:46:25.340 Yeah.
00:46:34.580 Yeah.
00:46:35.360 Yeah.
00:46:35.460 Yeah.
00:46:35.940 Yeah.
00:46:41.340 Yeah.