Full Comment - The Trump train is bearing down on Trudeau

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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, 0.79

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 1.00

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, 0.62

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, 0.99

00:17:45.820 but it's an absolutely ridiculous scandal. 0.96

00:17:49.240 Uh, 0.70

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 0.88

00:18:03.040 prime minister, 0.88

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, 0.91

00:18:50.560 what the hell are you doing? 0.56

00:18:53.200 Well, 0.95

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, 1.00

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, 1.00

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, 1.00

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. 0.99

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. 0.93

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, 0.88

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, 1.00

00:37:39.080 you're a filthy racist. 1.00

00:37:40.820 And on Monday, 1.00

00:37:41.420 they can wake up and cut immigration, 0.53

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, 0.72

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. 0.75

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, 0.65

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. 1.00

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,

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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.

Full Comment - November 18, 2024

The Trump train is bearing down on Trudeau

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