Juno News - January 13, 2026


Carney under pressure as China pushes Canada to drop EV tariffs


Episode Stats


Length

19 minutes

Words per minute

149.53108

Word count

2,870

Sentence count

206

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The Prime Minister is in China for trade talks, hoping to improve strained relations between Canada and China. Canadian negotiators are in active discussion about lowering or dropping tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles in exchange for easing Chinese counter-tariffs on canola and seafood.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Our Kearney under pressure this week to ease tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
00:00:12.840 The Prime Minister is in China for trade talks,
00:00:14.940 hoping to improve the strained relations between Canada and China.
00:00:20.200 This headline in the Toronto Star.
00:00:22.820 Kearney government in talks with China about EV tariffs.
00:00:26.180 Canadian negotiators are in active discussion, says the article,
00:00:31.120 about lowering or dropping tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles
00:00:35.100 in exchange for easing Chinese counter-tariffs on canola and seafood.
00:00:40.780 While that could spell bad news for Ontario's beleaguered auto sector,
00:00:45.240 Premier Doug Ford has urged Kearney to hold the line on tariffs
00:00:48.980 to protect manufacturing jobs in the province.
00:00:51.660 The Chinese think Kearney might be trying to play them off against the Americans.
00:00:57.600 State-controlled media posted this online.
00:01:01.220 The Mark Kearney government needs to demonstrate that its willingness to strengthen cooperation with China
00:01:06.500 is not just a makeshift move to reduce the bill being charged by the United States.
00:01:13.120 China is urging Kearney to distance itself from Washington if it wants better relations with Beijing.
00:01:19.360 More Canadians are opting to leave that country, leave this country rather,
00:01:24.880 for medical care that they can't get at home.
00:01:28.160 More than 105,000 Canadians are estimated to have left Canada for medical treatment last year.
00:01:37.140 That from a new report by the Fraser Institute,
00:01:40.460 the problem is wait times.
00:01:42.840 It can often take more than six months after a doctor's referral to get treatment.
00:01:47.760 That's three times longer than what it was back in 1993.
00:01:52.860 Well, Conservative leader Pierre Polyev is poking fun at the Prime Minister
00:01:56.340 over a gift that Mark Kearney received from the Ambassador of Denmark, a Lego set.
00:02:03.100 Polyev posted this online.
00:02:04.640 And it's not quite a pipeline or affordable homes, but congratulations on building something.
00:02:10.960 Anything.
00:02:13.940 Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his pop star girlfriend Katy Perry
00:02:17.760 are expected to be attending this year's World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
00:02:23.980 Four-day conference will begin on the 19th of this month.
00:02:27.380 Prime Minister Kearney and President Trump are also expected to attend.
00:02:31.220 And we are joined by Ves Sobot, who's an engineer.
00:02:35.580 He's been an executive in the plastics industry for 40 years.
00:02:39.880 Good to have you on the show once again, Ves.
00:02:42.600 Thanks for having me on.
00:02:44.320 Let's talk a little bit about Mark Kearney in China.
00:02:47.240 As you know, he's under pressure by the Chinese to, well, move on the EV tariff issue.
00:02:53.240 The Chinese want to sell their EVs in Canada.
00:02:56.460 Apparently, these are amazing vehicles,
00:02:58.860 but obviously he's getting a lot of pushback from Premier Ford,
00:03:02.660 who wants to protect the EV industry in Ontario.
00:03:06.140 He says there are manufacturing jobs at stake.
00:03:09.740 How do you think Kearney is going to navigate through this?
00:03:13.680 Well, it's a very hard thing to navigate, let's face it.
00:03:17.340 He's going into China.
00:03:18.440 This is the first visit, I believe, in 10 years of a prime minister into China.
00:03:23.120 I think it's eight years, but yeah.
00:03:24.580 Eight years, okay.
00:03:27.160 A long time, a long time.
00:03:29.540 And, you know, remember the two Michaels,
00:03:32.480 and remember how they've treated our people physically.
00:03:37.680 This is going to be very, very tough meetings for them.
00:03:40.840 Now, I do understand that the Chinese are looking for oil.
00:03:45.400 Their oil from Iran might be drying up.
00:03:47.500 The oil from Venezuela might be drying up.
00:03:50.440 But we don't really have a way of getting our oil to them, is the problem.
00:03:54.820 So I don't know that we're going to be a part of that solution anytime soon.
00:03:58.900 What I think Kearney is doing is he is bolstering the initiative
00:04:04.940 that Power Corporation and Jean Chrétien have initiated in China.
00:04:11.080 They've been there since, I believe, Monday.
00:04:14.820 And, of course, Power Corporation, very, very powerful corporation in Canada.
00:04:20.580 I'll never forget back in 2009, 2010,
00:04:24.720 when we were trying to get a Canadian exemption to buy America.
00:04:28.460 It was only when Power Corporation raised their voice and said,
00:04:32.300 hey, look, we need to deal with America, that everything changed on a dime.
00:04:36.480 It didn't matter whether you're a conservative, a liberal, an NDP.
00:04:40.460 The mechanisms of power in Canada switched over to let's find a solution.
00:04:46.500 And that's because of the heft and weight and strength of the Demaree family and Power Corporation.
00:04:52.080 I think they're just going out there now to make sure that their investments,
00:04:56.880 and they have many in China, are still solid, are still strong.
00:05:01.620 And they're reinforcing that business relationship that they've had quite literally for 30 years.
00:05:09.900 But something's got to give here.
00:05:12.000 I mean, if he moves on EV mandates,
00:05:15.480 then obviously that's going to be something that hurts the manufacturing sector in Ontario.
00:05:21.660 But on the other hand, he also wants Chinese interests to ease up on the counter tariffs on canola and seafood.
00:05:29.760 And he wants to walk away with a win here.
00:05:34.120 I mean, he could get a win on energy, I think, because to your point earlier about energy,
00:05:39.600 China just lost Venezuela or control of that country anyway.
00:05:45.000 They were getting basically contraband oil from that country.
00:05:50.620 So that's going to stop right now.
00:05:52.720 I mean, we're kind of in a position, we could be in the catbird seat here saying,
00:05:56.200 look, you just lost Venezuela, but we can be a supplier for you.
00:05:59.780 We'd have to move more quickly on pipelines, of course.
00:06:03.260 We'd have to get the application in by June from Daniel Smith and approval by fall.
00:06:10.220 And, you know, shovels in the ground as quickly as possible in order to get that.
00:06:15.420 And I take your point, too, that it's going to take a long time to build that thing.
00:06:18.660 But still, you know, we could be moving forward on all of this stuff.
00:06:21.960 But I just don't know if Mark Carney is the type of guy to move that quickly on these types of projects.
00:06:28.040 So far, from what we've seen, I don't think he is.
00:06:31.640 Very interesting.
00:06:32.080 He's gone over with a very substantive delegation, right?
00:06:35.380 His parliamentary secretary is with him.
00:06:38.260 Melanie Jolie is with him, minister of industry.
00:06:40.940 Anita Annan, minister of foreign affairs.
00:06:43.040 There's Heath MacDonald, minister of agriculture, minister of international trade.
00:06:49.560 And, of course, Ma, absolutely.
00:06:51.720 And that's the interesting addition to that list.
00:06:59.120 Let's face it, the interference of China in our election has been a very hot topic and a very big topic.
00:07:09.740 How Carney negotiates that is going to be very interesting.
00:07:12.480 There's just been a report that's come out on Chinese election interference, especially in the Toronto area and British Columbia as well.
00:07:20.580 How does he navigate that while trying to do additional business with China?
00:07:27.060 This reminds me of something.
00:07:29.260 Back in 1939, in June, Prime Minister Mackenzie King went to Berlin to meet with Adolf Hitler.
00:07:37.940 And he was treated very, very well there by the Fuhrer. 0.66
00:07:44.200 He got his locket.
00:07:46.300 And, of course, Mackenzie King passed on a book to him on Berlin, which now is called Kitchener, where Mackenzie King was, I believe, born or he lived for a while.
00:07:55.780 And the meeting was extraordinary, but he wasn't sent on his own.
00:08:02.320 He was sent by the English and by J.D. Rockefeller.
00:08:07.280 And on his way back from Germany, he reported to Neville Chamberlain and told him, I think we can do business with this guy.
00:08:17.500 And he went back to the Rockefellers and he told him, I think we can do business with this guy.
00:08:21.520 And this smells to me like that kind of trip.
00:08:28.180 He's going there to report to someone else.
00:08:32.620 This really isn't a Canadian junket to increase Canadian business.
00:08:38.320 Maybe it is to secure Power Corporation Demaree business.
00:08:42.040 But Canada writ large, I don't think it is.
00:08:44.720 I think it's a report on the sentiment of the Chinese right now just before Davos.
00:08:50.600 And remember, he's going to Davos next.
00:08:53.320 He was just in Denmark holding a box of Lego.
00:08:57.020 I thought the liberals were against plastic.
00:09:00.020 I thought they were against plastic.
00:09:01.420 And here he is holding Lego with the Prime Minister of Denmark.
00:09:04.620 And now he's gone to China and he'll be going to Davos next where they'll be doing their thing there.
00:09:13.280 Now, shockingly, who else will be there?
00:09:17.000 Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry.
00:09:19.000 What are they doing in Davos?
00:09:21.060 It strikes me that Davos is a big trade show and Canada is participating with a booth.
00:09:29.120 And there is some sort of an agenda at Davos.
00:09:32.600 We just don't know what it is.
00:09:35.120 And I sure hope it's for Canada.
00:09:36.440 But I suspect it might not be for Canadians in particular.
00:09:40.000 Well, it has occurred to me that Trudeau and Katy Perry might upstage Prime Minister Carney.
00:09:48.180 I mean, they've got their own separate event that they're going to be holding.
00:09:51.720 Of course, they have the star power that Mark Carney doesn't have.
00:09:56.180 I mean, could this be an issue?
00:09:59.260 I mean, you know, that our Prime Minister now is getting upstaged by a former Prime Minister and his rock star or pop star girlfriend.
00:10:06.880 It's interesting, Mark, I think you'll remember just before Christmas, I was in Ottawa and in the booth beside me was Justin Trudeau.
00:10:17.340 And somebody went up to him and asked, hey, can I get a selfie with you?
00:10:20.620 And he said, no, I'm not in public life anymore.
00:10:22.540 I don't do selfies.
00:10:24.520 Well, Davos, it's interesting that he's going there.
00:10:28.860 Why?
00:10:29.380 Who's paying the ticket?
00:10:30.920 What's the takeaway from Davos?
00:10:33.260 What does he expect to achieve there?
00:10:35.060 Is he working for the Canadian government?
00:10:36.980 I'd love to know.
00:10:38.700 And if he is, what is the outcome that the Canadian government expects there?
00:10:43.860 Now, I've heard in Davos, the Chinese delegation is the biggest delegation they've ever sent.
00:10:50.260 And of course, it's the 250th anniversary of America.
00:10:54.300 And America has a big, big house there called USA House.
00:10:58.040 And they'll be celebrating.
00:10:59.020 And of course, everybody's waiting at the edge of their seats to hear what President Trump says at Davos.
00:11:07.340 So to me, I'd love to know who Justin Trudeau is lobbying for.
00:11:14.860 Yeah, that's a great question.
00:11:16.940 I think maybe the government of Canada is going to have to come out and issue some kind of statement.
00:11:22.360 Like, you know, Justin Trudeau is not there on our behalf.
00:11:27.300 He's representing somebody else.
00:11:29.580 Because given his history as Prime Minister of Canada, you know, how do you disassociate yourself from what you did before to the person you are now?
00:11:40.760 And it brings up the question.
00:11:43.920 Remember, Christy Freeland resigned.
00:11:47.020 Was it last Friday or two Fridays ago?
00:11:49.040 Well, her last day was Friday.
00:11:51.100 So there is in the lobby, in the rules, a rule that you cannot lobby on behalf of anybody for two years if you've held a public position like that.
00:12:04.140 I presume that would apply to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well, wouldn't it?
00:12:10.740 You know, he's always been kind of ethically challenged, though.
00:12:14.980 He doesn't seem to follow rules that he doesn't like.
00:12:18.080 So it wouldn't shock me if he just didn't even bother following any of those rules or he was even aware of them.
00:12:27.340 And, of course, he's got Katy Perry in tow.
00:12:29.300 So it's just kind of fascinating.
00:12:32.660 There's that lurid paparazzi kind of aspect to him.
00:12:38.400 And, you know, it's funny for a guy who no longer does selfies because he's no longer in public life.
00:12:45.080 And yet he's still hungry for it, right?
00:12:47.860 Going to Davos, I mean, what did he think was going to happen?
00:12:50.660 You know, having a presentation, holding a parallel event to the WEF, World Economic Forum, events, the conference.
00:13:00.440 You've got the conference itself.
00:13:01.580 And then he's holding sort of a parallel event that's kind of tied to it but sort of separate.
00:13:07.020 It's an unofficial event.
00:13:09.780 And so I think, again, Carney's going to have to say something like, you know, what do you make of Trudeau being here?
00:13:16.980 You know, and is he representing Canada?
00:13:19.480 Is he representing somebody else?
00:13:21.220 Is he following the rules on lobbying?
00:13:25.240 I don't know.
00:13:26.260 Good questions that I think need to be asked.
00:13:28.760 And we have to be so careful as well.
00:13:32.460 How will this be interpreted by our American friends?
00:13:35.320 Let's face it, 75% of our trade still is with America.
00:13:40.020 That's not going to change in the next 10 years, 20 years, or 30 years.
00:13:44.620 They are our closest neighbor.
00:13:46.860 They are our best ally.
00:13:49.620 How does Trump interpret our visiting China before him?
00:13:55.060 Because Trump is slated to visit China next month, I believe.
00:14:00.600 And is he working in conjunction with Canada?
00:14:04.220 Which would be wonderful.
00:14:05.480 That would sort of be the old Mackenzie King trip to Germany back in 1939, where he comes back and reports.
00:14:15.680 That I'd be comfortable with.
00:14:17.440 But if he's not working with the Americans, then I think we're in a very precarious, precarious situation.
00:14:26.100 How do we recover from that?
00:14:28.940 They're already looking at us with a jaundiced eye.
00:14:31.720 They're already saying we should be out of five eyes because we can't be trusted.
00:14:36.200 They're already, they already want, if they get Greenland, the next ally that they're uncomfortable with is who?
00:14:45.920 Canada, right?
00:14:47.160 It will be interesting to see how he navigates this and how the WEF meetings will be helpful.
00:14:57.760 I think it has nothing to do with Canadian interests.
00:15:01.220 It has everything to do with his personal interests, with the Brookfield interests, with the Demaree interests, with the Power Corporation interests.
00:15:06.860 And that is very unfortunate for Canadians.
00:15:11.260 We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here to sell our oil, especially with the seismic shifts in geopolitics.
00:15:19.580 And if we don't execute on that, well, then it will be the shame of the century.
00:15:25.860 Yeah, China wants us to disassociate, decouple more from the United States and U.S. policy in order to cozy up with them. 0.98
00:15:34.460 I mean, they're not stupid here. 0.87
00:15:35.760 They know what Carney's up to. 0.93
00:15:37.760 They posted this through their state-run, state-controlled media over there.
00:15:43.020 The Mark Carney government needs to demonstrate that its willingness to strengthen cooperation with China is not just a makeshift move to reduce the bill being charged by the United States.
00:15:53.780 So, to me, what they're saying there is, you know, don't think you can play us off against the Americans going into your negotiations for the USMCA slash Kuzma.
00:16:03.520 You know, if you want to deal with China, you've got to show strong signals here that you are decoupling from Washington and taking a more independent position in terms of, you know, your policies, your foreign policies.
00:16:19.280 I hope he doesn't go down that road, but, you know, he wants a win.
00:16:24.640 I think he really is really hoping to get a win from his trip to China, but I just don't know how far he's prepared to go.
00:16:32.460 So, it'll be interesting to see what comes out of this thing, if anything.
00:16:36.060 And also, you're right.
00:16:37.880 I think the United States is keeping an eye on this.
00:16:40.300 They've seen the two, well, multiple MPs, not just liberal, but also conservative MPs who were going to Taiwan, were in Taiwan for a visit, cutting their trip short, you know, in order not to embarrass the Chinese while Carney is there.
00:16:58.640 To me, that's a sign of cowardice.
00:17:01.940 What do you think?
00:17:02.820 Very good point.
00:17:03.700 However, a little addendum to that observation, the conservative MPs stayed.
00:17:09.260 It's the liberal MPs that bolted.
00:17:12.620 And that's an interesting nuance to that equation.
00:17:19.300 Listen, I hope, the truth is, America is our best friend, our biggest customer.
00:17:27.620 We need to be hand in glove with them.
00:17:29.760 I hope Carney was sent by Trump to China.
00:17:33.060 If he wasn't, I think we're in grave, grave danger.
00:17:37.380 I think we will become Venezuela in the next 10 years if he wasn't sent by Trump.
00:17:44.920 And our standard of living is going to fall.
00:17:49.060 I just saw earlier this morning an indebtedness chart.
00:17:53.620 Canada's on top, the number one in the indebtedness chart.
00:17:57.700 104%, it said, Canada's individual debt is.
00:18:02.160 And that's not something to be proud of.
00:18:07.100 It's just going to get worse if we don't focus on the economy and start creating a stronger economy and start building jobs.
00:18:17.720 But right now, it's all indicators point in the wrong direction.
00:18:21.200 Yeah, in the meantime, you're seeing delusion on the part of some of the premiers, like your premier, Kanu, over in Manitoba, who came out and said, wow, the United States is a third world country now.
00:18:32.080 Really?
00:18:32.380 Last I checked, you know, the equivalent GDP between Canada and the United States, you know, is about on par with Alabama or something like that.
00:18:43.260 It's just a bizarre thing for him to say, given the state of their economy, which is booming and ours, which is pretty much flatlined.
00:18:50.360 Anyway, Vess, thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:18:55.000 I really do appreciate it.
00:18:56.980 My pleasure.
00:18:58.320 Vess Sobat.
00:19:00.160 And that is it for this edition of Straight Up.
00:19:02.680 Appreciate you tuning in.
00:19:04.060 Let's do it again soon, shall we?
00:19:05.700 Bye-bye for now.
00:19:06.280 Thank you.
00:19:07.200 Bye-bye.