Juno News - BC Conservative Leader Rustad Resigns

00:00:00.000 I don't know why Isaac's taking his hand.

00:00:01.960 You've been talking about hockey all year long.

00:00:03.440 Dude, I just don't care about soccer.

00:00:05.940 Hockey would be more justified, I'd say.

00:00:08.180 I'm happy to talk about baseball, hockey, anything but soccer.

00:00:11.900 We're hosting 15 games in Vancouver and Toronto Cross

00:00:15.040 and we're spending big money on it as well. 0.98

00:00:16.640 Yeah, from a taxpayer's perspective, it sucks. 0.98

00:00:19.280 Carney's in D.C. 0.93

00:00:20.120 I mean, he's looking to try to get Trump's favor in this time.

00:00:24.800 He had a very, very brief interaction with him,

00:00:27.060 shaking hands and whatnot,

00:00:27.920 but I think later today he'll have a chance

00:00:30.060 to have a proper full-on meeting.

00:00:32.040 Most likely not.

00:00:33.800 He doesn't have his trade team with him in D.C.

00:00:36.840 Oh, is Carney actually meeting with...

00:00:38.960 Sorry, I actually didn't know this.

00:00:40.080 Is Carney actually meeting with Trump?

00:00:41.680 Yes, Trump and Carney will have a meeting.

00:00:44.080 I believe also the Mexican president

00:00:45.480 will be involved in that same meeting.

00:00:47.360 But I don't think Trump will be discussing trade specifically.

00:00:50.740 But who knows?

00:00:51.260 Security, other issues are always on the table.

00:00:53.120 So don't be surprised if anything comes out of it.

00:00:55.980 So Carney does care?

00:00:58.340 That's who cares?

00:00:59.180 Carney cares?

00:00:59.840 Is that the answer?

00:01:00.880 Wow, that was crazy.

00:01:02.140 I will point out, okay,

00:01:03.780 A, tariffs are just trade taxes

00:01:05.740 and they hurt normal working people

00:01:07.480 on both sides of the border.

00:01:08.920 And B, it is his job to sign a deal.

00:01:14.060 It is Carney's job to sign a deal with Trump

00:01:16.540 to make sure that we don't have these crazy

00:01:18.540 tariff things hanging over our head all the time.

00:01:20.540 Because that's when you get terrible things

00:01:22.340 like what happened in Sault Ste. Marie

00:01:23.600 when a thousand people got laid off.

00:01:27.180 And I will also point out,

00:01:28.740 it isn't just Carney,

00:01:30.220 who, by the way,

00:01:30.920 ran on the election the entire time

00:01:32.780 of saying,

00:01:33.220 I'm the one to be able to make a deal here

00:01:34.760 and then said,

00:01:36.080 well, who cares?

00:01:37.920 It's also the permanent government,

00:01:40.600 bureaucrats, okay, 0.97

00:01:42.340 whose faces you don't know,

00:01:44.380 whose names you don't know.

00:01:45.440 They never run for election.

00:01:46.840 But a top, top level deputy minister

00:01:50.260 heading up a bureaucracy,

00:01:51.740 a department like international trade

00:01:54.240 is paid more than $400,000 a year.

00:02:00.560 Yeah, dude.

00:02:01.920 Okay.

00:02:02.200 Chris, I was meaning to ask something.

00:02:03.540 You've just sparked my memory, let's say,

00:02:07.020 because I think yesterday

00:02:07.900 or the day before I saw,

00:02:09.060 Trump may have been commenting on the fact

00:02:11.600 that in some reality,

00:02:14.060 Canada could be excluded from future Kuzma.

00:02:18.280 I mean, I just wanted to ask you,

00:02:20.060 if we were in any way, shape or form

00:02:21.920 excluded from Kuzma negotiations

00:02:24.600 and there was no Kuzma going forward,

00:02:26.420 how screwed would we be

00:02:28.220 like without this trade deal? 0.91

00:02:30.160 See, this is the thing,

00:02:31.240 is that trade deals are supposed to

00:02:33.120 protect you from things like this, okay?

00:02:36.100 I'm not like the best trade expert in the world,

00:02:38.600 but I have worked on the file

00:02:39.920 when I was in Ottawa,

00:02:41.040 as the kids say in the staffer world.

00:02:42.760 In this situation,

00:02:44.680 trade deals act like a big umbrella

00:02:46.940 in a rainstorm.

00:02:49.080 Imagine the rain that's hitting you

00:02:51.500 is the tariffs.

00:02:53.620 A trade deal is the umbrella, okay?

00:02:56.000 Doesn't keep you completely dry,

00:02:58.000 but it really helps you weather

00:02:59.820 the worst part of the storm. 0.86

00:03:01.860 And frankly, it's their bloody job 0.88

00:03:04.440 to get this thing done.

00:03:06.040 So anyway, I was going to talk about

00:03:07.720 like Christmas decorations and stuff

00:03:09.320 and then I got all ticked off.

00:03:10.740 But Waleed, if he's actually meeting with Trump

00:03:13.200 and out loud with his face

00:03:14.900 trying to get rid of these tariffs,

00:03:16.560 that's a good thing.

00:03:17.760 All right, we're already rolling,

00:03:19.300 so let's get this show started.

00:03:26.080 Welcome to Off the Record.

00:03:28.660 We were already basically on the record there.

00:03:31.480 My name is Chris Sims.

00:03:32.620 I'm the Alberta Director

00:03:33.640 for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:03:35.620 I'm here with two of my friends and colleagues.

00:03:38.660 Isaac, you're up in Edmonton.

00:03:40.580 Waleed, are you in Ottawa right now?

00:03:43.360 No, I'm not.

00:03:44.340 I'm currently in Brazil.

00:03:45.840 In Brazil?

00:03:46.820 I'm fresh off the trip from COP30,

00:03:48.680 if you remember, in Belém.

00:03:50.660 I was there.

00:03:51.860 So are you okay?

00:03:54.260 One of my other friends

00:03:55.420 who is down there covering things

00:03:57.060 came down with kind of a bad stomach bug,

00:03:59.280 but you're doing all right down there?

00:04:01.320 Absolutely.

00:04:01.900 I know there's a lot of mosquito-based viruses

00:04:04.200 that come across from mosquito bites all the time,

00:04:06.760 and especially up north in the country

00:04:08.100 where the conference is hosted.

00:04:09.900 So I'm sad to hear that about your friend,

00:04:11.580 but I'm doing pretty fine for now.

00:04:12.740 Oh, good.

00:04:13.340 Well, thank you for covering it.

00:04:14.660 Folks, it's very important

00:04:15.880 to support independent media,

00:04:17.960 including journalists like Waleed,

00:04:19.880 because they're going to go down to these conferences

00:04:21.340 and actually give you the real story.

00:04:22.980 It usually ends with regular people 0.98

00:04:25.440 having to pay more for dumb agreements 0.96

00:04:27.180 that our elite government likes to sign. 0.95

00:04:29.260 All right, we've got so much to go through today.

00:04:31.980 I'm going to start with the one

00:04:33.120 that was upsetting me the most,

00:04:34.720 and that was the grocery bill.

00:04:37.580 My goodness, look at that.

00:04:40.800 Okay, this is a graphic

00:04:42.220 that was put out by the Conservatives,

00:04:45.080 and they're, of course,

00:04:46.000 the official opposition in Ottawa.

00:04:47.740 Look at that.

00:04:49.120 So this is 10-year span,

00:04:50.720 or an 11-year span.

00:04:52.900 Annual family grocery bill.

00:04:55.020 Back in 2015,

00:04:56.860 showing a total for the year

00:04:58.820 of around $8,286.

00:05:03.220 Now, it's around $17,572.

00:05:10.260 That is an astonishing increase in cost.

00:05:14.240 And if you're kind of looking at that big bill

00:05:16.260 of the $17,000,

00:05:17.720 and go, oh, come on, man.

00:05:19.180 No, think about it.

00:05:20.500 If you spend around $300 every week,

00:05:25.220 picture your big grocery shop

00:05:27.020 if you're able to do so,

00:05:28.360 and I'm sorry for those who aren't.

00:05:30.500 Picture your big grocery shop

00:05:31.960 that you do on the weekends, okay?

00:05:34.460 It's probably around $300,

00:05:37.180 especially if you have a family.

00:05:39.240 So for an average family of four,

00:05:41.660 that's exactly the cost,

00:05:43.100 what they're showing there.

00:05:44.040 And this isn't the Conservative Party

00:05:46.140 doing these estimates.

00:05:47.280 I will stress this, okay?

00:05:48.840 These are business groups.

00:05:50.520 These are food bank organizations.

00:05:52.620 These are retail organizations

00:05:54.340 that do all the proper analysis every year.

00:05:57.760 That's the cost.

00:05:59.100 Pull that back up.

00:06:00.220 That is just crazy.

00:06:01.560 Look at that cost jump.

00:06:04.820 Goodness gracious.

00:06:05.840 And the reason why we're talking about this

00:06:07.940 is because, of course,

00:06:09.000 the report came out showing that,

00:06:11.340 did I read that right, you guys?

00:06:13.140 Year over year from last year,

00:06:15.660 this coming year,

00:06:17.300 families can expect to spend

00:06:19.400 more than $900 more

00:06:21.880 on their grocery bills?

00:06:24.180 Yeah, Chris, it's almost $1,000.

00:06:26.380 It was $994.63 more

00:06:29.960 for food in 2026.

00:06:31.480 That was based on an average family of four

00:06:33.560 who will, based on the report,

00:06:35.640 be paying $17,571.79.

00:06:40.220 So just doing the quick math there,

00:06:41.600 what is that, 18% or 8%, sorry,

00:06:46.340 inflation?

00:06:47.380 So, I mean,

00:06:48.300 when you look at it year over year

00:06:50.380 as inflation is,

00:06:51.260 people go, oh, inflation is 5% or whatever,

00:06:52.900 but it's like the picture

00:06:55.200 the conservatives showed

00:06:56.340 is the cumulative cost increase

00:06:58.560 when you have that inflation year over year

00:07:00.840 because, obviously,

00:07:02.340 in a perfect world,

00:07:03.200 inflation would be negative.

00:07:04.640 Your costs would go down, not up.

00:07:06.560 But when it increases

00:07:07.280 5% to 10% a year,

00:07:09.820 it's crazy.

00:07:10.680 And the report actually noted that.

00:07:12.380 They said,

00:07:13.080 the report did that food prices

00:07:14.460 are 27% higher

00:07:15.980 than just five years ago.

00:07:17.980 So that's more than 5% a year.

00:07:20.080 And that,

00:07:22.280 I mean, look,

00:07:23.200 they keep going up.

00:07:24.500 So it's only going to get worse and worse.

00:07:26.300 Yeah, you mentioned there, Chris.

00:07:27.580 I mean, every time I go to the grocery store,

00:07:28.960 I'm like, oh, I'll just get a few things.

00:07:30.180 And then it's like 500 bucks,

00:07:31.560 500 bucks.

00:07:32.000 It's like, man,

00:07:33.020 like you literally can't leave the grocery store

00:07:34.900 without spending $500.

00:07:36.600 It's insane.

00:07:37.820 Yeah, it's gross.

00:07:38.660 I'll just do the quick math here.

00:07:40.560 And so, yeah,

00:07:41.180 for 52 weeks a year,

00:07:42.840 if you spent about 340 bucks a week,

00:07:46.000 which is about the average

00:07:47.080 for a family of four,

00:07:48.340 yeah,

00:07:48.760 you're at 17,680 bucks, folks.

00:07:51.660 And this is unsustainable.

00:07:53.560 Like this,

00:07:54.100 it's no wonder.

00:07:55.320 It's no wonder that we see record demand at food banks.

00:07:58.420 I know there is some abuse of food banks

00:08:00.420 before other people start saying,

00:08:02.040 oh, well,

00:08:02.340 it's about because we're letting too many people in too fast.

00:08:04.640 Yes, I know.

00:08:05.420 But if you actually phone the food banks,

00:08:07.900 which I do,

00:08:08.700 I try to call them reasonably regularly each year.

00:08:11.960 They do say that the demand from working Canadian families

00:08:16.420 is through the roof,

00:08:18.900 through the roof.

00:08:20.120 Well, Leed,

00:08:20.460 you must be seeing the same thing

00:08:21.580 when you go to the grocery store,

00:08:22.780 higher prices than they were years ago.

00:08:25.680 Absolutely.

00:08:26.280 I mean,

00:08:26.520 and this is actually the thing I see

00:08:28.060 when I'm traveling,

00:08:28.820 actually,

00:08:29.420 is when I leave Canada,

00:08:30.380 I notice the fact that,

00:08:31.300 you know,

00:08:31.740 food prices are much more reasonable elsewhere.

00:08:34.840 I mean,

00:08:35.040 both even in the U.S.

00:08:36.140 across the border.

00:08:37.120 So I,

00:08:37.820 I mean,

00:08:38.220 you did the math.

00:08:39.000 You said $340 per week

00:08:40.720 is what we have to be paying per week next year

00:08:42.560 on a grocery bill.

00:08:43.620 10 years ago,

00:08:44.120 that was $160.

00:08:46.060 I mean,

00:08:46.520 that's a very,

00:08:47.180 that's an amazing difference,

00:08:48.960 frankly.

00:08:49.480 And I don't even think it's in line

00:08:50.820 with our typical inflation.

00:08:51.900 It's much more in line

00:08:52.660 with the fact

00:08:53.180 that we've had uniquely

00:08:54.420 inflationary policies on food.

00:08:56.400 I mean,

00:08:56.540 you mentioned the carbon tax briefly there.

00:08:58.940 I'm more curious

00:08:59.900 about this whole

00:09:00.500 industrial carbon tax model,

00:09:01.720 especially as it relates

00:09:02.400 to the MoEU in the Alberta.

00:09:04.460 I mean,

00:09:04.840 a lot of people are celebrating

00:09:05.700 the potential of a pipeline,

00:09:07.900 or at least they're more optimistic

00:09:08.860 than they were a few weeks ago.

00:09:10.300 And of course,

00:09:11.000 there's a few angry climate activists

00:09:12.440 and we know who they are.

00:09:13.900 But we also see the fact

00:09:15.180 that we're seeing this increase

00:09:16.460 of this industrial carbon tax element

00:09:18.100 to,

00:09:18.720 I think,

00:09:18.860 $140.

00:09:20.900 I think the target

00:09:22.160 for federal is $170.

00:09:24.420 Anyhow,

00:09:25.140 I wonder what the impact

00:09:26.560 on the cost of living

00:09:28.000 specifically on food would be.

00:09:29.580 I'm sure there's something there,

00:09:30.640 but I'm not sure exactly

00:09:31.440 how much.

00:09:31.940 It's a little bit harder

00:09:32.680 to determine

00:09:33.480 compared perhaps

00:09:34.300 to the consumer carbon tax that is.

00:09:36.620 So I'm interested

00:09:37.340 to hear your take

00:09:38.060 on that specifically.

00:09:40.300 Great point.

00:09:40.800 So two things.

00:09:42.140 Yeah,

00:09:42.580 this is the fault

00:09:43.320 of the government.

00:09:44.400 Like,

00:09:44.740 period.

00:09:45.240 End of story.

00:09:45.780 In fact,

00:09:46.100 three things.

00:09:46.960 So when you hear

00:09:48.520 mucky mucks

00:09:49.720 say something like,

00:09:50.980 oh,

00:09:51.460 inflation is going down.

00:09:53.740 No,

00:09:54.020 it's not.

00:09:54.800 It's just inflating

00:09:56.220 at a less rapid pace.

00:09:58.080 Okay.

00:09:58.480 I'll give you an example.

00:10:00.800 Say,

00:10:01.600 for some reason,

00:10:02.580 you go off the rails

00:10:03.480 and you wind up

00:10:04.620 not eating well

00:10:05.440 and not exercising

00:10:06.280 and you gain a ton of weight.

00:10:07.800 Say you gained

00:10:08.980 25 pounds a year

00:10:10.820 for three years.

00:10:12.440 Oh my goodness,

00:10:14.180 you are now

00:10:14.580 75 pounds overweight.

00:10:16.500 You're going to have

00:10:17.200 serious health problems

00:10:18.240 because you gained

00:10:19.440 25 pounds a year

00:10:21.220 every year

00:10:21.820 for three years.

00:10:23.000 75 pounds overweight.

00:10:24.920 The next year,

00:10:26.640 good for you.

00:10:27.640 You only gained

00:10:28.800 10 pounds.

00:10:30.820 You are still

00:10:32.220 85 pounds overweight.

00:10:35.280 This is what happened

00:10:36.680 with inflation.

00:10:38.020 Okay.

00:10:38.620 So when you hear

00:10:39.480 some pundits say,

00:10:40.520 oh,

00:10:40.620 inflation is going down.

00:10:41.520 No,

00:10:41.680 no.

00:10:41.820 It is not going down.

00:10:43.460 It is just going up

00:10:44.580 less rapidly.

00:10:45.840 And it is the fault

00:10:47.100 of the government.

00:10:48.660 In the middle

00:10:49.760 of the lockdown,

00:10:51.480 the federal government 1.00

00:10:52.400 did two stupid things. 1.00

00:10:54.320 Okay. 1.00

00:10:54.720 It fired up

00:10:55.640 the money printer

00:10:56.300 and printed around

00:10:57.620 300 billion dollars

00:10:59.340 out of thin air.

00:11:00.920 So there's way

00:11:01.940 too much money supply.

00:11:03.360 And

00:11:03.960 it locked down

00:11:05.640 huge chunks

00:11:07.020 of our manufacturing

00:11:08.260 and our industry.

00:11:09.180 So not only

00:11:10.640 did we have

00:11:11.160 too many dollars

00:11:12.120 chasing too few things,

00:11:13.640 we had too few things

00:11:15.640 being made

00:11:16.520 to absorb

00:11:17.800 those dollars.

00:11:18.500 So they caused

00:11:19.960 this huge inflation crisis.

00:11:21.940 And to your point

00:11:22.500 exactly,

00:11:23.160 Waleed,

00:11:23.960 the carbon taxes

00:11:25.380 do affect

00:11:26.680 the outcome

00:11:27.640 of prices.

00:11:28.680 It's hard

00:11:29.300 to calculate

00:11:29.880 how much.

00:11:31.140 But I'll give you

00:11:31.660 an example.

00:11:32.900 Back when we had

00:11:33.780 the consumer

00:11:34.320 carbon tax,

00:11:35.800 the carbon tax

00:11:36.820 just on diesel,

00:11:38.540 just the one

00:11:39.300 carbon tax,

00:11:40.100 the consumer one

00:11:40.800 on diesel,

00:11:41.560 was costing

00:11:42.320 truckers

00:11:43.040 200 dollars

00:11:44.980 extra

00:11:45.520 every time

00:11:46.840 they were filling

00:11:47.320 up their tanks.

00:11:48.440 Then you think

00:11:49.240 about the carbon tax

00:11:50.160 on things like

00:11:50.860 fertilizer plants,

00:11:52.700 okay,

00:11:53.200 that produce

00:11:53.900 fertilizer

00:11:54.540 for farmers

00:11:55.160 to grow food.

00:11:56.360 There is an

00:11:56.840 increased cost.

00:11:57.880 And this was

00:11:58.580 insane.

00:11:59.800 They were charging

00:12:00.660 the consumer

00:12:01.480 carbon tax

00:12:02.480 on heating

00:12:03.620 barns.

00:12:05.180 So anyone

00:12:06.660 who's lived

00:12:07.120 in Canada

00:12:07.620 knows it's

00:12:08.320 pretty hard

00:12:08.740 to keep chickens

00:12:09.400 and pigs

00:12:09.820 and cows alive

00:12:10.660 in the middle

00:12:11.380 of January

00:12:12.080 unless you're 0.97

00:12:12.840 heating the darn 0.99

00:12:13.420 barn. 1.00

00:12:14.360 Farmers were 0.95

00:12:14.960 being charged

00:12:15.760 carbon tax.

00:12:16.400 I saw their bills.

00:12:17.240 They were thousands

00:12:17.940 of dollars

00:12:18.560 just in carbon

00:12:19.600 taxes.

00:12:20.400 So that one's

00:12:21.480 gone.

00:12:22.820 But now exactly

00:12:23.660 to your point,

00:12:24.360 Waleed,

00:12:24.840 Carney is making

00:12:25.960 good on this

00:12:26.700 big promise he

00:12:27.460 made in this

00:12:28.020 book he wrote,

00:12:28.840 which I strongly

00:12:30.040 recommend everybody

00:12:30.860 read.

00:12:31.940 And he's come

00:12:33.260 for Alberta

00:12:33.820 first.

00:12:35.300 And he's gotten

00:12:36.280 Alberta to

00:12:37.020 sign an MOU

00:12:37.900 which would

00:12:39.100 increase our

00:12:39.740 carbon tax

00:12:40.440 in his language

00:12:41.340 six times the

00:12:42.900 amount.

00:12:44.720 And it looks

00:12:45.600 like it's going

00:12:46.000 to be 130 bucks

00:12:47.460 per ton off the

00:12:48.600 hop right on

00:12:49.560 April 1st

00:12:50.320 according to the

00:12:51.120 language in this

00:12:51.960 document.

00:12:52.940 Now, what it

00:12:54.280 works out to,

00:12:55.240 there's a lot of

00:12:55.800 room between now

00:12:56.600 and April 1st.

00:12:57.400 And I'm hoping

00:12:58.880 that the

00:13:00.020 provincial government

00:13:00.740 is able to get

00:13:02.040 that industrial

00:13:02.860 carbon tax cost

00:13:03.980 down, down, down,

00:13:05.060 down to be like

00:13:06.960 carbon sequestration

00:13:08.420 magic monopoly

00:13:09.280 credits that they're

00:13:10.020 passing back and

00:13:10.700 forth.

00:13:11.160 But I don't know,

00:13:11.980 man, because I

00:13:12.880 talked to Jack

00:13:13.480 Mintz, who's no 0.90

00:13:14.900 slouch on this

00:13:15.500 stuff.

00:13:15.860 He's an economics

00:13:16.780 professor, PhD at

00:13:18.280 University of Calgary.

00:13:19.900 He's really worried

00:13:20.980 about the costs of

00:13:22.060 both the industrial

00:13:22.800 carbon tax and the

00:13:23.780 carbon capture.

00:13:24.600 So go ahead,

00:13:25.400 Isaac, you were

00:13:25.840 nodding a lot.

00:13:26.540 Yeah, no, lots,

00:13:27.380 lots.

00:13:27.820 I mean, so much

00:13:28.360 to cover.

00:13:29.540 Speaking of your

00:13:30.220 conversation with

00:13:31.120 Mintz, obviously, I

00:13:31.920 listened to and

00:13:32.740 wrote about that.

00:13:33.660 But just on the

00:13:35.020 industrial carbon tax,

00:13:36.400 obviously, Carney said

00:13:37.700 it's a six times

00:13:38.940 increase.

00:13:39.500 We've seen Alberta

00:13:40.520 government officials,

00:13:41.840 particularly the

00:13:42.480 premier, disagree with

00:13:43.340 that framing.

00:13:44.840 Of course, we know

00:13:45.680 that Alberta paused 0.96

00:13:47.580 their industrial carbon

00:13:48.660 tax at $95 because

00:13:50.020 they issue that

00:13:50.620 through their tier

00:13:51.160 system.

00:13:51.580 It was slated to

00:13:54.260 increase to $170.

00:13:56.240 Based on the MOU, I

00:13:57.360 think it's going to be

00:13:58.000 like $115 or

00:13:59.380 something.

00:14:00.220 So, I mean, we're

00:14:01.040 kind of in the middle

00:14:01.640 there.

00:14:01.960 Obviously, in a

00:14:02.860 perfect world, we

00:14:04.520 would want the

00:14:04.960 industrial carbon tax

00:14:05.940 to be gone.

00:14:07.220 But again, the

00:14:08.340 Alberta government

00:14:08.980 says they've done

00:14:10.320 consultations with

00:14:11.160 businesses and in

00:14:13.000 some weird alternate

00:14:14.760 universe, these

00:14:15.800 businesses apparently

00:14:16.720 want this to exist.

00:14:17.740 I don't see how

00:14:18.460 that can be possible.

00:14:19.440 But like you

00:14:21.240 said, Chris, with

00:14:22.300 the incentives and

00:14:23.560 whatnot, again,

00:14:24.600 though, who wants

00:14:25.380 a tax?

00:14:25.980 It's insane to me.

00:14:27.880 Just quickly before

00:14:28.420 we move on to

00:14:29.060 Carney's crazy

00:14:29.780 cabinet spending, a

00:14:31.260 couple of notes of

00:14:32.060 caution.

00:14:32.740 A, just, I

00:14:35.080 believe Alberta

00:14:35.820 premier Daniel

00:14:36.480 Smith is working

00:14:37.480 really hard to try

00:14:38.780 to fight back

00:14:39.320 against Ottawa.

00:14:40.240 I don't believe

00:14:41.160 she's in favor of

00:14:41.940 carbon taxes.

00:14:42.760 I believe she wants

00:14:43.520 pipelines.

00:14:44.120 I believe she wants

00:14:44.860 to get rid of the

00:14:45.700 production cap, all of

00:14:46.700 those things.

00:14:47.240 However, the devil

00:14:49.400 is in these details

00:14:50.740 and there is a big

00:14:51.940 devil in this

00:14:53.680 agreement, okay?

00:14:55.060 And I will remind

00:14:57.180 people that just

00:14:59.240 because an oil

00:15:00.280 company executive

00:15:01.260 thinks something is a

00:15:02.440 good idea does not

00:15:03.920 necessarily mean it's

00:15:05.040 a good idea.

00:15:06.260 Former NDP

00:15:07.440 premier Rachel

00:15:08.520 Motley, when she

00:15:09.700 announced her

00:15:10.540 provincial Alberta

00:15:11.580 carbon tax, remember

00:15:13.220 the whole idea of a

00:15:14.220 social license and we

00:15:15.260 have to do our part and

00:15:16.220 have a provincial

00:15:16.880 retail carbon tax in

00:15:18.500 Alberta that she

00:15:19.480 thrust upon Albertans

00:15:20.560 cost us about a

00:15:21.700 billion dollars, by

00:15:22.460 the way.

00:15:23.180 When she made that

00:15:24.440 announcement, guess

00:15:25.760 who was on stage with

00:15:26.760 her?

00:15:27.580 Oil company

00:15:28.520 executives.

00:15:29.960 So, just because they

00:15:31.640 sound like they're fans

00:15:32.640 of something doesn't

00:15:33.800 mean that it's good for

00:15:34.640 the average everyday

00:15:35.380 taxpayer.

00:15:36.420 I wanted to move on

00:15:37.600 here to something that

00:15:38.480 actually surprised me.

00:15:40.220 And this is that Mark

00:15:41.600 Carney was actually

00:15:42.920 outspending Trudeau when

00:15:45.560 it came to their fancy

00:15:47.040 cabinet retreat.

00:15:48.240 It actually cost them

00:15:49.260 more than $530,000.

00:15:52.480 And that was more than

00:15:54.600 Trudeau blew on his

00:15:56.520 Charlottetown retreat in

00:15:57.940 2023.

00:15:59.600 Isaac, were you taking a

00:16:00.800 look at this or,

00:16:01.520 Waleed, did you want to 1.00

00:16:02.100 Yeah, just what you just

00:16:05.140 said just now, that

00:16:05.920 that surprised you is

00:16:06.820 shocking to me because

00:16:08.120 for me, personally, it's

00:16:10.400 no surprise.

00:16:11.560 We've seen Carney be,

00:16:13.600 despite, of course, the

00:16:14.420 legacy media trying to

00:16:15.680 present him, let's say,

00:16:16.840 as some financial wizard.

00:16:18.060 And when you actually

00:16:18.740 look at the numbers, the

00:16:19.520 data, any data, he is

00:16:21.120 clearly more fiscally

00:16:22.600 irresponsible than

00:16:23.480 Trudeau.

00:16:24.020 I mean, we've seen his

00:16:24.980 budget.

00:16:25.540 Again, the former

00:16:26.680 finance minister,

00:16:27.460 Christopher Freeland,

00:16:28.040 resigned over a much

00:16:29.020 less damning budget.

00:16:30.620 So it certainly didn't

00:16:32.760 surprise me that he's

00:16:33.560 spending more than

00:16:34.140 Trudeau.

00:16:34.480 He clearly doesn't value

00:16:36.060 taxpayers' money, which I

00:16:37.340 would say is an argument

00:16:39.060 I could make about almost

00:16:40.600 every left-wing MP, if not

00:16:42.400 all MPs altogether.

00:16:43.400 It's just like there's no

00:16:44.180 respect left for taxpayers'

00:16:45.640 money.

00:16:46.040 They don't have respect for

00:16:47.740 the dollars.

00:16:48.460 There's no – they're

00:16:50.480 certainly not spending the

00:16:51.620 money as if it were their

00:16:52.560 own because, I mean, this

00:16:53.920 is insane.

00:16:54.860 I was looking at your

00:16:55.760 records, Chris, because

00:16:56.980 obviously the Canadian

00:16:58.120 Taxpayers Federation were

00:16:59.640 the first to –

00:17:00.620 uncover these, that Carney

00:17:02.900 spent $532,000 on luxury

00:17:07.100 hotels and a few other

00:17:08.520 things in Toronto there.

00:17:10.440 And, I mean, this was

00:17:11.600 crazy because – what was

00:17:13.500 it?

00:17:13.620 They spent over $250,000 on

00:17:16.100 the venue, almost $80,000

00:17:18.620 on audio-visual services,

00:17:20.800 $40,000 for security,

00:17:22.440 almost $10,000 on shipping,

00:17:24.600 another $40,000 on

00:17:25.940 accommodation, meals, and

00:17:27.320 transportation.

00:17:27.700 I mean, these are, of

00:17:28.740 course, as I'm saying,

00:17:29.700 Chris, not things you would

00:17:30.940 do with your own money.

00:17:31.760 I mean, maybe if you're a

00:17:33.100 billionaire, and Carney

00:17:34.340 certainly isn't poor. 0.97

00:17:35.840 But this is ridiculous. 0.93

00:17:38.360 We're talking here about how 0.97

00:17:40.800 Canadians are lining up at

00:17:42.180 food banks because they can't

00:17:43.180 afford groceries, and this is

00:17:44.520 how the Prime Minister is

00:17:45.400 treating the taxpayer dollars.

00:17:46.880 It's no surprise that those two

00:17:48.520 things are happening

00:17:49.260 simultaneously, in my mind.

00:17:52.100 But also, just quickly, because

00:17:54.000 Trudeau had spent $485,000

00:17:56.660 in PEI, and you guys at the

00:17:59.780 CTF did the inflation

00:18:02.160 calculation to show that it

00:18:04.460 still costed less than

00:18:05.800 Carney's even when inflation

00:18:07.200 is included.

00:18:07.780 I think that's a very

00:18:08.440 important note to make.

00:18:09.880 Yeah, it is, because we know

00:18:11.160 inflation is a problem, but he's

00:18:12.500 still outspending Trudeau.

00:18:14.780 I've got a lot of things to say

00:18:16.140 about this, Willie, but I

00:18:16.940 wanted you to jump in there.

00:18:17.940 Yeah, I mean, look, this

00:18:19.380 rings a bell.

00:18:20.580 Just from last week, I

00:18:21.680 covered the story, and this

00:18:23.520 was reported by the Black

00:18:24.900 Locks Reporter Group.

00:18:26.700 The housing minister, Greg

00:18:28.160 Robertson's department, spent

00:18:29.660 more than $97,000 to send

00:18:32.660 managers to a two-day national

00:18:35.080 homelessness conference in

00:18:36.560 Montreal to be inspired, I

00:18:38.880 guess, for, you know, it was

00:18:40.840 a national conference on ending

00:18:41.980 homelessness.

00:18:42.980 It was between October 28th and

00:18:44.360 30th, two days, and expenses

00:18:46.380 included 30 days.

00:18:47.940 $33,600 for hotels, over $8,800

00:18:52.460 for restaurant meals, and then

00:18:54.720 $70,900 in travel costs.

00:18:58.280 And, yeah, and it was actually

00:18:59.740 nine senior executives that

00:19:01.040 booked return flights from

00:19:02.180 Ottawa, while others traveled on

00:19:04.700 via rail.

00:19:05.580 So, again, two days on

00:19:07.780 homelessness can rack up nearly

00:19:09.740 $100,000 with the government's

00:19:11.500 housing department.

00:19:12.900 But back onto the card and Trudeau

00:19:14.460 comparisons, I really want to see

00:19:15.840 us move beyond the surprise

00:19:18.140 factor behind comparing Trudeau

00:19:20.420 and Carney, because when we look

00:19:22.120 at, you know, the two being

00:19:23.860 elites, I would argue Carney is

00:19:26.340 much more of an elite than

00:19:27.620 Justin Trudeau, because to his

00:19:29.420 credit, you know, he went to an

00:19:30.960 elite academic institution, more

00:19:32.560 than Harvard and Oxford.

00:19:33.660 He went through that pipeline.

00:19:37.440 He also went, you know, he was

00:19:40.180 governor of the Bank of England.

00:19:41.600 So he's gotten into that circle

00:19:43.740 early, and he's remained part of

00:19:46.600 it.

00:19:46.780 He's been a cog in the machine of,

00:19:49.240 you know, the net zero space as

00:19:52.160 well, and he has a lot of

00:19:53.260 connections as a result.

00:19:54.940 Whereas with Trudeau, it's the

00:19:56.340 heritage of the family and, of

00:19:57.880 course, early childhood

00:19:58.940 integration into that social sphere.

00:20:00.900 But at the end of the day,

00:20:02.440 Trudeau's former career, I mean,

00:20:03.800 remember, he was a drama teacher,

00:20:05.380 a blackface boy drama teacher.

00:20:07.060 But I still think that experience

00:20:08.680 for whatever period of time he

00:20:10.440 was there in Vancouver at the

00:20:11.840 private school, that may have

00:20:13.560 been much more, had a higher

00:20:16.780 potential for him to connect with

00:20:17.980 regular everyday Canadians.

00:20:19.480 Being in that career, being around

00:20:21.900 those kinds of people, perhaps,

00:20:23.180 even if it was a private school,

00:20:24.700 much more than what Carney's

00:20:26.180 experienced in his, you know,

00:20:28.100 older, longer life has been

00:20:29.620 thus far.

00:20:30.140 So I would not be surprised if

00:20:32.340 we see Carney racking up higher

00:20:33.880 bills, commentary or decision

00:20:36.360 making that is far more

00:20:37.960 disconnected from the middle

00:20:39.220 class than even Trudeau in many

00:20:41.300 cases.

00:20:41.940 And of course, he's only had, I

00:20:44.020 mean, pretty much less than a

00:20:45.520 year now.

00:20:46.060 So I would not be surprised to

00:20:47.960 keep seeing this discrepancy where

00:20:49.700 Carney comes out looking more 0.99

00:20:51.380 foolish or elite. 0.99

00:20:54.800 Because again, that's who Carney is. 1.00

00:20:56.960 I'm going to polish what you

00:20:58.160 said there.

00:20:58.940 I would say that Trudeau was born

00:21:01.520 this way.

00:21:02.520 He was born into it.

00:21:04.180 He was born, in fact, on Christmas

00:21:05.500 Day and his parents were living at

00:21:07.700 24 Sussex.

00:21:09.720 So, yeah, he was born very wealthy

00:21:11.860 and just kind of lived in that

00:21:13.360 ecosystem.

00:21:14.580 So it just kind of came naturally to

00:21:16.660 him.

00:21:17.100 And that is why he famously said,

00:21:20.000 if anything important happens,

00:21:21.680 someone will tell me.

00:21:23.920 So he was completely checked out.

00:21:26.000 I talked to him tons of times when

00:21:28.240 he was just a regular member of

00:21:29.400 parliament that had just been

00:21:30.260 elected.

00:21:31.220 Did not have the faint of what was

00:21:33.340 going on around him.

00:21:34.800 But he was just kind of one of those

00:21:36.760 born aristocrats if we still had an

00:21:39.300 aristocracy.

00:21:40.580 Whereas to your point, Waleed, that's 1.00

00:21:43.560 a great point.

00:21:44.720 Carney has worked at it.

00:21:46.660 He's worked at it.

00:21:47.660 So I would say in your way that

00:21:50.760 you're putting it, Trudeau was born

00:21:53.780 that way and that's why he wasted

00:21:56.000 money.

00:21:57.620 Carney is a professional elitist.

00:22:01.100 Professional government elitist.

00:22:03.780 So that is why.

00:22:04.900 Yeah, good point.

00:22:05.640 I'm going to stop being surprised.

00:22:08.020 Thank you both for the correction.

00:22:09.960 I'm going to stop being surprised.

00:22:11.740 But to sum up this one element,

00:22:15.720 bureaucrats and politicians,

00:22:17.660 don't care about your money,

00:22:19.840 especially in Ottawa.

00:22:21.700 Folks who are listening to this who

00:22:23.320 are angry, you should be furious.

00:22:26.920 Furious about this.

00:22:28.480 I am old enough to remember when a

00:22:30.580 cabinet minister resigned when she

00:22:32.740 spent 16 bucks on a glass of orange

00:22:34.920 juice.

00:22:35.820 Under Harper.

00:22:37.160 That's right.

00:22:37.860 That was under Harper.

00:22:38.740 I was there.

00:22:39.680 I was working in Ottawa when that

00:22:41.060 happened.

00:22:41.400 I will also point out, speaking of

00:22:44.100 working in Ottawa, Ottawa is full of

00:22:48.980 buildings that have meeting rooms in

00:22:52.120 them.

00:22:52.880 They're air conditioned.

00:22:54.500 They're heated.

00:22:55.440 They're all interconnected by the

00:22:56.800 interwebs.

00:22:57.560 They already have staff there.

00:22:59.320 They already have security there.

00:23:01.180 They already have translation services.

00:23:03.440 They have cafeteria workers. 0.96

00:23:05.280 They have the ability to call in food if

00:23:08.160 they feel like it.

00:23:09.160 All of the things, including the people

00:23:12.520 are already living there.

00:23:14.060 The bureaucrats are already living 0.95

00:23:15.560 there.

00:23:16.020 And the MPs are already paid in order to

00:23:19.380 have an apartment to live there.

00:23:21.200 Meaning all of the cost to taxpayers when

00:23:24.260 these people are getting together, having a

00:23:26.260 meeting or a cabinet retreat or trying to

00:23:29.440 find inspiration is already there.

00:23:32.260 They don't need to go anywhere to go find

00:23:35.780 inspiration.

00:23:36.520 In fact, I will point out as somebody who

00:23:38.480 was raised in the Lower Mainland, if they

00:23:40.800 really wanted inspiration, we'll eat on

00:23:42.880 homelessness.

00:23:44.080 Why don't they go drive around in

00:23:45.620 Vancouver and talk to the people who are

00:23:47.940 living in motorhomes?

00:23:50.480 Seriously, go under the overpasses.

00:23:53.540 Go talk to the people who need three extra

00:23:56.380 renters in their house to try to be able to

00:23:59.200 afford it.

00:24:00.020 Go there for your inspiration.

00:24:01.300 Sorry, I'm getting too angry.

00:24:03.000 Okay, let's move on to Stellantis here.

00:24:05.580 I didn't follow this super closely, but my

00:24:09.480 understanding is the federal government gave

00:24:12.120 them corporate welfare and then Stellantis

00:24:14.980 turned around and then invested almost to the

00:24:17.920 nickel that amount of corporate welfare as they

00:24:20.740 moved on to the states.

00:24:22.140 Is that what went down here?

00:24:24.000 Yeah, Chris, sort of.

00:24:26.680 It wasn't just the federal government, both Ottawa

00:24:31.020 and the Ontario government and Ottawa, that being

00:24:33.620 former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, gave

00:24:36.660 Stellantis about $15 billion in taxpayer subsidies.

00:24:41.240 Then they left Canada and now they're investing $13

00:24:44.760 billion in the U.S.

00:24:45.600 So they're clearly using, well, let's say that we gave

00:24:48.180 them $15 billion a year ago.

00:24:49.420 I don't know the exact date, but let's say they spent

00:24:51.700 whatever they spent.

00:24:52.460 And then it's like, oh, here's what we got left that

00:24:54.000 Canada gave us. Let's go spend it in the U.S.

00:24:56.360 And just terrible because they're spending, of

00:24:59.120 course, $13 billion there.

00:25:01.000 And it was funny.

00:25:01.880 I was listening or funny, I guess is an interesting

00:25:04.740 word, but their CEO, he was, he was, no, he was

00:25:07.680 treating Trump similar to Carney, how Carney would,

00:25:10.760 just absolutely in love with the guy.

00:25:12.760 Super, super happy to be investing in the U.S.

00:25:14.780 and, of course, fleeing Canada.

00:25:17.100 This is the biggest company, or sorry, this is the

00:25:19.300 biggest investment the company's made in its

00:25:21.040 hundred year history.

00:25:21.900 So this is a big deal.

00:25:24.380 And then there's the dispute process that we've

00:25:26.900 seen.

00:25:27.700 Well, of course, Industry Minister Melanie Jolie has

00:25:31.760 been on that file.

00:25:32.600 So that's always entertaining, let's say, in the

00:25:35.400 House of Commons, because speaking of Harper, she

00:25:37.720 blamed Harper.

00:25:38.580 It's like, oh, all the problems are Harper's fault

00:25:40.260 because they're saying the documents they got were

00:25:43.500 fully redacted.

00:25:44.660 And then she, of course, she blamed Harper for, quote,

00:25:48.060 bailing out on GM and Chrysler in 2009.

00:25:50.060 Look, the Liberals, they're always finding a way to pin it

00:25:52.940 on Harper.

00:25:53.780 Obviously, that's not what happened.

00:25:55.220 We tried to give taxpayer subsidies to this company.

00:26:00.200 They left and the resulting was 3,000 Canadian jobs were

00:26:04.540 lost.

00:26:05.320 Now there's going to be 5,000 additional jobs in the U.S.

00:26:08.480 And they're clearly using what they got from Ontario and

00:26:11.780 Canada to invest in the U.S., which is in any way, shape,

00:26:16.860 or form a more inviting investment environment when you

00:26:20.520 look at the federal policies we have in place that these

00:26:23.140 companies all – this is a car company, but energy companies,

00:26:26.700 all these companies, they're trying to go to the U.S.

00:26:28.640 because it's a much more welcoming environment for their

00:26:31.180 investment.

00:26:32.000 They're not worried about these hidden taxes, Chris, these

00:26:34.780 hidden regulations that they're going to lose all this

00:26:36.580 money, right?

00:26:37.280 So, yeah, kind of a terrible situation for us, obviously,

00:26:40.860 for taxpayers, but it is funny when you look at the silver

00:26:44.500 lining, I guess. 0.86

00:26:45.800 Gross.

00:26:46.440 Walid, I'll let you jump in there.

00:26:47.940 Just to add in, I think Melanie's point, and I try not to

00:26:51.300 listen to her too, too much, but she's not in my area focused

00:26:54.620 on most cases.

00:26:56.000 But in this case, Melanie and Julie is arguing.

00:26:59.220 So the main issue here is when you're offering this corporate

00:27:02.760 subsidy – again, I'm not in favor of these government subsidies,

00:27:05.420 but when you're offering them, conditions should, in theory,

00:27:08.580 be applied in order to guarantee certain results.

00:27:11.760 So, for example, if you're looking to get, you know,

00:27:13.580 procure jobs, then, you know, if you're providing this amount

00:27:16.700 of money, you're providing us this amount of jobs, this much

00:27:18.820 economic activity, and ensuring that this money is being

00:27:21.940 invested in our own economy.

00:27:24.460 And, of course, those require specific guardrails in the

00:27:27.880 contract signed between the government and Stellantis or any

00:27:30.720 other party involved in such deal.

00:27:32.920 So what Melanie and Julie is referring to is referring to the fact

00:27:36.080 that what the conservatives today are accusing the government of

00:27:39.480 not having these guardrails because now we have Stellantis, you

00:27:42.460 know, heading out the door with some of that money very likely

00:27:45.440 heading to the U.S. and investing in the U.S.

00:27:47.900 So that's the funny thing is when you're talking about what's

00:27:50.340 happening in the White House, you're hearing companies from the

00:27:52.760 project are bringing in private dollars investing in the U.S.

00:27:56.860 Of course, that's not to take away that there's absolutely tax credits

00:27:59.660 and other, you know, taxpayer subsidies incentives that the U.S.

00:28:03.320 government has as well.

00:28:04.240 We can't negate that.

00:28:05.640 But in theory, you know, when we're hearing about big announcements

00:28:09.120 in Ottawa from the other side, it's almost always our money being

00:28:13.040 dipped into companies with very little being given in return in terms

00:28:16.360 of authentic, sustainable investment from the private sector.

00:28:19.600 So Melanie and Julie, her government, the liberals currently today are

00:28:23.300 being accused for not having guardrails because of what's happening

00:28:25.500 with Stellantis.

00:28:26.420 She then goes back, turns the clock back a decade to almost when

00:28:30.020 Harper was, you know, first elected in the financial economic crisis

00:28:33.840 and kind of accusing the Harper government of not providing those

00:28:37.020 guardrails, which essentially set off this, you know, unbalanced

00:28:40.360 relationship between Ottawa and the corporation.

00:28:42.240 So, and again, this was a very different context as well.

00:28:45.360 I mean, again, not to defend corporate subsidy, but, you know, given the

00:28:48.700 economic conditions of the time, I'm sure that, you know, bailing out,

00:28:51.920 whether it be, you know, the banks, the companies, insurance companies,

00:28:55.400 all kinds of big business interests was somehow very popular at the time

00:28:59.560 in the Western world.

00:29:00.760 So Harper was not alone in that.

00:29:02.740 But, you know, I think whenever you're going back to Harper government

00:29:05.460 and talking discussions of today, you're really losing the plot,

00:29:08.840 unfortunately, and it's been a while, you know, actually, I said a decade.

00:29:11.840 Sorry.

00:29:12.300 It's been over a decade.

00:29:13.220 I think it's 16 years.

00:29:14.960 Yeah.

00:29:15.220 So they're talking about two decades now.

00:29:17.080 You know, my orientation in time is very poor because I always thought

00:29:21.120 about Harper as the prime minister of Canada between 2011 and 2015.

00:29:24.840 I kind of forgot about the years before, of course, he started in 2006,

00:29:28.160 as we know.

00:29:28.880 But the emphasis was, you know, Trudeau made that a clever case to, you

00:29:32.940 know, in those first couple of years.

00:29:34.780 Oh, well, Harper and his austerity and Harper and this and Harper and that.

00:29:37.600 But, I mean, we're even past Trudeau now.

00:29:39.880 I mean, there is actually no succession between Harper and the current

00:29:43.100 government.

00:29:43.620 This is a whole different government.

00:29:44.760 If they want to talk about changes of the past, they should think about

00:29:47.380 themselves.

00:29:47.980 They're the ones governing the country the last decade.

00:29:50.260 And if they're changing course to make things better or worse, they're

00:29:53.380 changing course from their previous own liberal government.

00:29:56.240 It's currently going more towards the whole sector and less environmentalism,

00:29:59.560 the eyes of the left and the eyes of the right.

00:30:01.800 It's, you know, just moderate tweaks and refurbished messaging without too much

00:30:07.180 concrete change for the appetite that our economy absolutely has because we're

00:30:10.700 starving.

00:30:11.100 I don't mean that, you know, just in the food sector, but I think in economic

00:30:15.480 opportunities, I think there was a recent, I don't know if it was NVIDIA or another

00:30:19.880 tech company, someone that works in the AI sector, I can't remember which company

00:30:22.640 it was, that also received big subsidies from the federal government as well to

00:30:26.420 create a very, very small amount of jobs.

00:30:28.180 I think a couple hundred for, again, a big cash sum.

00:30:31.980 I mean, at this point, like, you know, we can just deposit e-transfers to these

00:30:35.900 people's accounts instead of creating these fake jobs because these jobs, if they're coming

00:30:40.060 off the top of billions of dollars for, you know, 100, 200, 300 jobs, I don't really

00:30:46.000 see that as a good trade value anyhow.

00:30:49.040 Who would be giving NVIDIA subsidies?

00:30:51.020 They have the largest market cap in the world by a country mile.

00:30:55.600 I'm thinking about the AI sector.

00:30:56.840 Don't quote me on that.

00:30:58.000 But if it's NVIDIA, that would be, again, another level of insane.

00:31:01.500 You know, while we're speaking of Harper era, I might as well just, you know, unpack the

00:31:10.380 lunchbox here.

00:31:11.480 When Stephen Harper was prime minister, the NDP leader was a man by the name of Jack Layton,

00:31:18.520 who has now passed away.

00:31:20.620 I know that the Ontario NDP is kind of looking for a little bit of guidance on what they're

00:31:26.820 going to fight next provincially when they're looking at Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

00:31:31.600 If I can yell this through cupped hands, fighting the industrial carbon tax, okay, and defending

00:31:39.220 trade workers who are in things like the steel industry is a really good place for the NDP

00:31:45.780 to go.

00:31:46.880 Why?

00:31:47.680 Because that's where y'all started, okay?

00:31:50.360 Jack Layton was on the record repeatedly opposing carbon taxes, okay?

00:31:55.740 Over and over again with his face, out loud, okay?

00:31:59.540 During the last election, I couldn't believe my eyes.

00:32:02.800 A trade union, the pipe workers, endorsed the blue team federally.

00:32:08.100 Why?

00:32:08.640 Because they said industrial carbon taxes coming from Kearney were going to, quote, decimate

00:32:14.260 their industry.

00:32:16.080 So provincially, pro tip, folks in Queen's Park, maybe y'all should start fighting things

00:32:21.960 like industrial carbon taxes.

00:32:24.980 And while you're at it, you can fight corporate welfare too.

00:32:29.700 You should definitely say that corporate welfare is a bad thing because it costs taxpayers big

00:32:35.700 money and it picks winners and losers in government.

00:32:38.740 It allows some government to decide who's going to be in a big investment banker with your money.

00:32:44.380 By the way, I'm bringing up the term corporate welfare on purpose.

00:32:48.540 Know who coined that term?

00:32:50.800 Stephen Lewis.

00:32:52.880 Big lefty.

00:32:54.140 He's the dad of Abby Lewis.

00:32:57.360 Yeah.

00:32:58.120 See how we're getting right back down to brass tacks?

00:33:00.680 Abby Lewis is running for the federal leadership within the NDP.

00:33:04.820 My point here of yelling at the NDP is for them to pull their socks up. 0.91

00:33:09.160 Like everybody needs to be in the arena right now and actually fighting about normal things

00:33:14.180 that matter.

00:33:15.000 Things like crazy high regulations and things like industrial carbon taxes to both of your

00:33:19.700 point, gentlemen, and things like corporate welfare, which is costing us money, costing us

00:33:25.700 industries and costing us jobs.

00:33:27.680 OK, we only have a few minutes left here.

00:33:30.740 Who wants to jump in on what is going on in British Columbia with the BC conservatives?

00:33:36.460 Last I saw, Rostad is actually out now, correct?

00:33:42.860 Yes.

00:33:43.760 So, again, this was a very...

00:33:46.240 ...moment for Ottawa's tech sector today as Nokia broke ground on a massive new research...

00:33:51.560 Sorry.

00:33:52.860 That's OK.

00:33:53.760 You were just talking about corporate welfare.

00:33:55.460 There you go.

00:33:56.000 Go ahead.

00:33:57.820 Sorry.

00:33:58.940 Correction on the previous point.

00:34:00.260 It was Nokia, not NVIDIA, that received the big government subsidy.

00:34:02.780 It was $40 million on an additional $72 million package.

00:34:07.020 And I believe the amount of jobs possibly committed was around 100 to 200 jobs, if not less.

00:34:11.540 So it brought a lot of criticism.

00:34:14.120 On the point of John Rostad, he resigned officially after his caucus turned against him.

00:34:18.540 I think a majority, or if not at least half of caucus, signed a letter calling him to resign,

00:34:23.680 which, I mean, at that point clearly shows that he was unpopular among the majority of his membership.

00:34:29.920 And, of course, I think the new leader is actually a member of the previous party, the BC Liberal Party.

00:34:36.160 I guess British Columbia's provincial politics works a lot like Quebec,

00:34:39.940 in where the Liberal-branded party at the provincial level serves for both liberals of the more conservative side

00:34:46.100 and the conservative voters on the federal level.

00:34:49.000 This is why, you know, current conservative MP Aaron Gunn actually ran for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party

00:34:55.860 before being tossed out during the leadership race and eventually turned his direction to Ottawa

00:35:01.400 and won his seat in the last April election.

00:35:04.540 He's being rumored as a possible candidate for renewed leadership in the future.

00:35:08.940 Also, like in Ontario and elsewhere, where conservatives feel unfulfilled by the mainstream conservative party,

00:35:16.180 there was a breakaway with the One United BC Party, and that was led by Dallas Brody.

00:35:21.680 And, of course, there's even talks about how they could be possibly reintegrated under a United banner,

00:35:27.300 because, of course, when you're dealing with politics on the right in Canada,

00:35:30.380 you typically can't afford to have the same NDP Liberals,

00:35:34.040 but as you do on the left, given our demographic, political nature of being a more liberal, progressive country.

00:35:39.600 So that happened where Rasta got a letter.

00:35:42.760 He denied resigning or any legitimacy behind that push.

00:35:47.200 The next day later, which was yesterday, of course, he officially resigned.

00:35:51.080 So he didn't make much good on his resistance at that point in time.

00:35:55.180 It was a little bit too late for him.

00:35:57.660 But, of course, as of now, there are no announced leadership candidates,

00:36:00.840 and nor is there an announced date for when the next leadership contest will happen,

00:36:05.040 which I find to be very interesting.

00:36:06.660 So we'll see how that story evolves in the coming days and weeks.

00:36:10.040 But for now, there hasn't been any announced next steps beyond just the appointment of the interim leader,

00:36:15.580 which was given through caucus.

00:36:17.540 And, of course, now there's just speculation around possible return of Erangun to BC provincial politics.

00:36:24.800 Wow, that would be quite something.

00:36:26.740 So just on background, so I was born and raised in BC. 0.62

00:36:29.540 The BC Liberals were a weird beast.

00:36:33.600 So basically what happened was the Social Credit Party,

00:36:36.520 which was a mix of what I would call kind of smallish government right-wing capitalist types,

00:36:42.040 along with a lot of kind of prairie socialism, right, mixed in with it.

00:36:46.720 We're talking back in, you know, the 1940s and 50s, right?

00:36:49.900 So this is where the origin of the party started.

00:36:52.320 And then they had some pretty popular premiers under social credit, including Bill van der Zem.

00:36:56.700 And then all of a sudden the brand of social credit soured and nobody wanted part of it.

00:37:02.740 And they walked over and there was already this bright red car that was sitting there unlocked with the engine running and the keys were in it.

00:37:09.740 And it was called the BC Liberal Party.

00:37:11.300 Like there was nobody in it, but the party existed.

00:37:15.120 And they just clown-carred their way into that car, the social credit members.

00:37:20.200 And they picked up some Reform BC folks, some more I would describe as naturally like blue conservatives, Waleed.

00:37:27.420 They all kind of climbed into that car and they ran the government successfully.

00:37:31.940 The issue there is that they were also aligned kind of federally with the federal liberals.

00:37:37.980 So it was always this weird chimera, okay, of that party.

00:37:42.140 And now we have this BC Conservative Party, which came this close to winning the last election.

00:37:48.580 And predictably, they're kind of fracturing back under the strain.

00:37:52.300 Going forward from the Taxpayers' Federation perspective, we want to make sure that they keep running on things like they did in the last election.

00:38:00.380 On things like, you know, no carbon taxes and fighting the debt.

00:38:04.680 Isaac, is it too soon to start hoping what kind of policies we're going to see from whatever happens at the BC Conservative Party?

00:38:11.700 I don't know, Chris.

00:38:13.300 It feels like the party's been in turmoil for months.

00:38:16.660 And then it was so awkward, might be a word, just the way Rustad's resignation went.

00:38:23.320 Obviously, I was editing the articles throughout the day and I had to do like an update every hour.

00:38:28.300 Because they said, we're kicking you out.

00:38:30.880 He's like, you can't kick me out.

00:38:32.620 You don't have the legal authority to do so.

00:38:34.320 I'm not leaving.

00:38:35.500 And they're like, yes, you are.

00:38:36.860 And he's like, no, I'm not.

00:38:37.580 But then eventually he did resign.

00:38:38.840 So it's like, what actually happened?

00:38:40.300 No one even knows.

00:38:41.700 It was just so weird and obviously a bad look for the party.

00:38:46.440 So I'm definitely interested not only from the BC Conservative perspective, but kind of what one BC will do.

00:38:52.660 Because I would say they might be viewed as a more traditionally right-wing party than the BC Conservatives.

00:38:59.680 So definitely interested to see if they are somehow able to capitalize on this.

00:39:03.440 Or like Walid said, maybe there'll be a merger depending on who decides to lead the BC Conservative Party.

00:39:08.960 Because at least from my perspective, if they can kind of unite the right-wing banner in the province, that would be huge for them.

00:39:16.280 And certainly going into the next election, I would say if they can kind of get their party turmoil under wraps and have a very strong leader who actually stands on the morals that one would expect from a right-wing party.

00:39:28.220 I do think they have certainly a good chance to win.

00:39:31.540 I have little respect for David Eby as a Premier.

00:39:35.020 And I think taking him down under the right leadership and the right party is definitely an accomplishable task.

00:39:40.840 Despite the voter distribution in BC, that's definitely not easy to deal with because a lot of them are obviously super on the left side.

00:39:50.860 But a lot of people voted for change last time.

00:39:53.160 They were very close to changing.

00:39:56.000 The debt out there is just astronomical.

00:39:58.840 Last time I checked, I can't remember how high it was, but it's just gross.

00:40:02.320 It's absolutely disgusting.

00:40:03.200 And a place like BC that's literally sitting on gold mines has no business running deficits every year and cranking up that debt.

00:40:11.440 Isaac, I wanted to wrap things up here.

00:40:13.860 But, of course, you landed a great interview with Alberta Premier Daniel Smith.

00:40:19.460 Was this after the MOU?

00:40:22.180 Yeah, it was like, well, again, just with how things were progressing, this was like the day of or the day after.

00:40:28.340 Wow.

00:40:28.520 Kind of still progressing, so I had to change my questions last second.

00:40:34.440 And, of course, it was scheduled to be a 15-minute interview.

00:40:38.100 I kind of pushed it to like 18.

00:40:39.700 I was pushing the boundaries there.

00:40:41.320 But, you know, Chris, I went with like 20 questions, which is ridiculous because you get like three.

00:40:46.420 And people are like, oh, you should have asked more.

00:40:48.220 It's like I had 15 minutes.

00:40:49.820 I had to – I'm not even in the – when I'm in the seat, I'm not really an interviewer, but more so a director, a producer.

00:40:56.240 It's like, okay, like let's time this and get the best questions we can with the time we're permitted.

00:41:00.780 But, obviously, Smith and I discussed so many salient points.

00:41:05.900 Obviously, separation was on the table.

00:41:08.160 In fact, she said that Trudeau created the separation movement.

00:41:12.040 So definitely – and she's hopeful.

00:41:15.600 Not many people are, I would argue, but she is hopeful that Carney will do something better than Trudeau,

00:41:23.160 which obviously is not that hard of a goal to accomplish.

00:41:26.140 But when it comes to energy production in Alberta with the MOU, we'll see what happens.

00:41:31.040 And the backlash, though, that might occur if Carney just does nothing that he's promised.

00:41:39.020 Because, obviously, the MOU doesn't require you to do anything.

00:41:41.620 It's just words on the paper.

00:41:43.520 But if – yeah, so if Carney drops the ball there, I'm certainly interested to see what happens on separation.

00:41:49.320 And then, of course, Smith and I discussed the recall wave that's growing every day against their MLAs.

00:41:54.380 But in short, in my opinion at least, it's just a left-wing advocacy group trying to waste taxpayer dollars,

00:42:02.020 which is disgusting against recalling these MLAs.

00:42:05.660 And, unfortunately, when Amory introduced the legislation yesterday, Bill 14, changing some things,

00:42:12.980 the Recall Act was not altered.

00:42:14.900 So I guess we're just going to continue to waste taxpayer dollars while these advocacy groups recall these MLAs

00:42:20.540 that have done nothing wrong, certainly not in the original intention of a recall legislation.

00:42:26.080 They just don't like them because they sent the teachers back to work to protect children's educations.

00:42:31.660 God forbid, right?

00:42:32.540 Like, that's going to get you recalled.

00:42:34.760 I mean, it's insane.

00:42:36.040 But, yeah, no, Smith and I discussed so many things.

00:42:38.420 I mean, I could sit here for an hour probably and talk about what we chatted about.

00:42:41.900 But instead, I would just urge people to watch it.

00:42:44.620 Obviously, on Juno News' YouTube channel there, it's, like I said, 18 minutes.

00:42:48.980 So, yeah, we're very happy to have done it with the Premier.

00:42:53.060 It's very much an honour to interview her.

00:42:56.180 I'm glad she made the time.

00:42:57.640 I know that she's crazy busy. 0.86

00:42:59.620 And, again, I'm trying to be positive.

00:43:01.860 I think a lot of us are in the same sort of situation.

00:43:04.120 We're in, like, a we don't want to have the rug pulled out from under us type, as she put it in her speech at the AGM.

00:43:11.340 Premier Smith is an optimistic person.

00:43:13.760 She is.

00:43:14.760 She's just that way.

00:43:15.900 That's her alignment.

00:43:16.760 She's not as, you know, skeptical or cynical as I am, I don't think.

00:43:19.960 But I hope she's right.

00:43:21.380 I really do.

00:43:21.960 I hope there's a way for them to make it so that the industrial carbon tax magically in Alberta really is contained into this little circle.

00:43:30.200 And it isn't costing extra money.

00:43:32.560 But I do believe that they need to take things like what Dr. Jack Mintz is saying seriously.

00:43:37.960 They need to work that out.

00:43:39.340 They can't just go along with what some of the oil companies are saying because it might wind up costing people money.

00:43:45.620 But, again, if they can get it so that we actually do get pipelines out to the West Coast, and, hey, why not get Trump to sign back onto Keystone?

00:43:54.660 It's already built right down to the border.

00:43:56.780 That would take a meeting in Mar-a-Lago, shouldn't it?

00:43:59.520 If we can get stuff like that done and get the production cap gone, like, it truly would be a really good new year for all of Canada.

00:44:07.440 So, good on you for getting that interview.

00:44:09.220 Everybody make sure to head on over to the YouTube channel and check out Isaac's interview with Alberta Premier Daniel Smith.

00:44:16.140 Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us.

00:44:18.440 I think we covered a lot of ground today.

00:44:21.020 Waleed, Isaac, thank you so much.

00:44:22.920 Folks, thank you for watching the show.

00:44:25.560 Be sure to head on over to Juno News.

00:44:27.780 Take out a subscription because we're not funded by the government, and independent journalism not paid for by the government is real journalism.

00:44:36.880 Be sure to like this video and, most importantly, share this show with your friends.

00:44:42.560 But for now, everything's off the record.

Juno News - December 07, 2025

BC Conservative Leader Rustad Resigns

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