00:02:57.080Our department made changes to the screening process for permanent residents,
00:03:01.000significantly increasing recruitment in this population.
00:03:04.460This was reflected in the report, which showed that over a six-month period,
00:03:08.940763 permanent residents were recruited compared to a 30-month period previously
00:03:14.680in which only 177 recruitments were achieved.
00:03:18.900Some fear the new rules could be a national security risk,
00:03:22.380Because recruits can now gain access to military training, bases, equipment, and potentially sensitive, even classified information before full background checks are complete.
00:03:34.300Our guest today is Vest Sobot, Executive Director of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada.
00:03:59.680I think it was just at the tail end of COVID.
00:04:01.820and um um the these councils tend to uh deal with uh with uh topics that really aren't related to
00:04:13.280trade aren't related to canada the united states trade and i do recall there was quite kerfuffle
00:04:17.900in in the council when someone wanted to make a covid statement uh uh and uh there's quite a
00:04:27.120disagreement among the people in the council. They didn't feel a COVID statement in a Canada-US
00:04:33.760trade committee was appropriate. And I agreed. I didn't think it was. I didn't think it was
00:04:39.100necessary. I thought what we needed to do is focus on identifying opportunities where
00:04:45.280we can do more business with our neighbors. And that COVID really didn't fit in that
00:04:54.160conversation. Now, and now we have Prime Minister Carney adding a few new names to the list of
00:05:01.640people that will sit on the committee, on the council rather, with 24 people altogether. So
00:05:07.240that includes Aaron O'Toole, former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, along with
00:05:11.180Conservative Lisa Raitt and Ralph Goodale. What do you make of the additions?
00:05:16.880Well, when I look at it, and I remember back in 2009, 2010, when Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and cut out Canadian manufacturers from shipping into the United States on federally funded projects, what Harper immediately did is he made sure that the people who were dealing with the Americans were ideologically congruent.
00:05:40.500So what I would have done had this been my decision, I would have made sure Stockwell Day was on that list. Stockwell Day, very accomplished minister in the Harper government. He was the last real politician to do a good deal with the Americans.
00:05:56.440the deal in 2015 i don't think was a good deal and and the results show it at that time canada
00:06:03.000was the number two supplier or number one supplier to america and after that deal was signed mexico
00:06:10.680overtook us so uh really we did not improve our trading position uh uh when the uh when the last
00:06:21.400kuzma deal was signed but um stock all day was very successful back in 2010 and uh getting a
00:06:29.320canadian exemption to buy america uh and he did so quite elegantly so i'm i'm surprised that he's not
00:06:37.160on that list i'm surprised that we haven't oriented ourselves and uh with people who understand the
00:06:44.920americans better uh and uh i'm afraid that this committee might be just a cya committee as opposed
00:06:53.960to a really get things done committee what do you mean just cover your butt kind of deal i think so
00:06:59.960a distraction uh uh somebody to point to well you know the committee didn't agree with that the
00:07:05.240committee has decided on this the committee has decided on more trade with china rather than
00:07:09.720America, that sort of thing. Right. I mean, what would you think if I were to suggest that this
00:07:16.720also allows, from a political vantage point, Carney to potentially blunt some of the attacks
00:07:23.920on the liberal government for its inevitable failure of talks? I know I sound like a cynic
00:07:32.000here, because who knows, there might be a deal yet. But if they fail, then the fact that you've
00:07:38.720got conservatives on that council, you know, Raid and O'Toole, even though I doubt that they're
00:07:43.600going to get their hands deep in the weeds of a trade agreement. But, you know, does this give him
00:07:50.000sort of a way to transfer some of the blame over to conservatives themselves? You know,
00:07:56.660if he said, well, look, we've got conservatives as well as liberals, you know, serving on the
00:08:00.780council and they failed. So everybody failed. It wasn't just a case of the liberal government
00:08:06.840being unable to get a deal, which they, by the way, promised that they would do by last July.
00:08:14.500You make a very good point. This is a deflection. And let's face it, he's already failed. He was
00:08:24.440supposed to have an agreement, like you say, last July. April 1st, I'm sure you recall,
00:08:30.640the tariffs on steel and aluminum increased to 50 percent from 25 percent that has essentially
00:08:36.800destroyed the aluminum and steel business in canada right now for any company that is making
00:08:42.320their product out of aluminum or steel they now essentially are cut out of the u.s market
00:08:48.080uh devastating we cannot have a strong canadian economy without a strong steel industry without a
00:08:56.800strong aluminum sector. So I think he's failed already. The other reason I say he's failed is
00:09:05.280that Mexico has essentially almost agreed to a deal with the United States. That's become quite
00:09:12.880bilateral. Canada's being cut out of those discussions, and they've been cut out on purpose.
00:09:17.280Why? Because we have not afforded the respect to our biggest trading partner that they deserve.
00:09:25.660And in any interaction, human to human, person to person, you have to, as a seller, respect the buyer and give him the respect that he deserves.
00:09:40.600We have not done that in many, many situations and circumstances.
00:09:46.040And I think we're paying the price for it right now.
00:09:48.440In his video, you heard Carney say that our trade relationship with the United States is a weakness.
00:09:55.660Is he, by doing that, basically telegraphing the strong possibility of a failure in these negotiations, even as Mexico gets a deal, to your point?
00:10:09.400But is he basically saying, almost saying, telegraphing the fact that there's going to be a failure in these talks?
00:13:24.800Of course, they need and want natural gas.
00:13:26.440Of course, there's a lot of things that we can provide them, uranium, potash.
00:13:32.640There is a real synergy with Canada and the United States.
00:13:38.760Let's build on that rather than try and pull it apart.
00:13:43.120I think it's a mistake to wait till the midterms because you never know how politics goes.
00:13:51.460And if we've waited all that time and the president does well during the midterms, well, then we're in a much, much worse situation and we may not have a re-ratified USMCA.
00:14:06.140Yeah, I mean, Mexico looks so much smarter here.
00:14:09.980I mean, Mexico is dealing with Trump as well as us, as well as the Canadian side.