Juno News - Jamil Jivani blasts Doug Ford for sabotaging federal Conservatives

00:00:00.000 Conservative MP-elect Jameel Giovanni blasted Ontario Premier Doug Ford,

00:00:09.760 accusing him of sabotaging the Conservatives' campaign.

00:00:13.180 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called for a reset to the relationship between Ottawa and

00:00:17.600 her province following news that the federal Liberals won a minority government.

00:00:21.540 The National Post reports that Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet

00:00:25.460 said that he's willing to cooperate with the Liberals for at least one year.

00:00:29.260 Hello Canada, it's Wednesday, April 30th and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:34.180 I'm Isaac Lamoureux.

00:00:35.780 And I'm Noah Jarvis.

00:00:37.140 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:40.040 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:48.340 After being re-elected in the new Bowmanville-Oshawa North riding, Conservative Jameel Giovanni

00:00:53.360 took aim at Ontario Premier Doug Ford for being a quote,

00:00:56.460 hype man for the Liberals in the middle of the federal election.

00:01:00.180 Giovanni won the riding with 49.8% of the vote, while the Liberal candidate,

00:01:04.560 Bridgette Girard, garnered 45.4%.

00:01:07.680 During an interview with the CBC's David Common at an election night party in Giovanni's riding,

00:01:12.920 the Conservative MP-elect laid into the progressive Conservative Premier for his negative comments

00:01:17.360 about the Conservative campaign in the heat of the election.

00:01:19.960 Giovanni said, despite his dislike for how Ford, quote,

00:01:23.680 managed healthcare or education, the federal Tories avoided commenting or interfering in Ford's

00:01:28.860 jurisdiction and the Ontario election, out of respect.

00:01:32.020 Giovanni said, quote,

00:01:33.060 We didn't get in his way when it was his turn to run an election.

00:01:36.640 He couldn't stay out of our business, always getting his criticisms and all his opinions out,

00:01:41.240 distracting our campaign, trying to make it about him,

00:01:44.340 trying to position himself as some kind of political genius that we need to be taking cues from.

00:01:49.540 Giovanni referred to comments made initially by Ford's campaign manager,

00:01:53.520 Corey Tanaik, who claimed Conservative leader Pierre Polyèvre's campaign was mismanaged

00:01:58.020 and had blown a 20-point advantage over the Liberals.

00:02:01.200 Conservatives still won over 40% of the popular vote.

00:02:05.040 Before the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney as leader of the Liberal Party,

00:02:08.940 many polls showed similar levels of support for the Liberals,

00:02:12.280 the difference being that the Liberals saw a surge in support, particularly from NDP voters.

00:02:17.180 Ford commented, saying if his campaign had run the federal election,

00:02:21.080 the Conservatives would not have lost their lead in the polls.

00:02:24.220 Ford later defended his comments, saying he was standing up for his campaign manager.

00:02:29.480 Notably, Ford met with Carney right before the election was called,

00:02:33.020 as no meetings between him and Polyèvre have been publicly reported.

00:02:37.500 So Noah, were there any other ways that Ford had alienated Conservatives who supported the federal party?

00:02:43.080 Yeah, I mean, I think this starts off as an ideological split between the federal Conservatives and the provincial Conservatives.

00:02:50.500 Doug Ford has been criticized by Conservatives for not being Conservative enough,

00:02:56.280 not bringing down provincial spending,

00:02:59.240 not doing enough to get rid of woke ideology from the education system,

00:03:04.540 and not doing enough to reform the health care system.

00:03:07.220 So Doug Ford has faced flack from Conservatives on these policy issues,

00:03:13.040 and the federal Conservative leader, Pierre Polyèvre,

00:03:16.800 is a lot more solidly Conservative in his values,

00:03:20.140 if you compare him to, say, someone like Aaron O'Toole.

00:03:23.380 So I think that starts there.

00:03:25.920 So Pierre Polyèvre, whose campaign manager was Jenny Byrne,

00:03:30.540 probably had no interest in going to meet with Premier Doug Ford

00:03:34.780 after he was elected as the leader of the Conservative Party.

00:03:39.100 And it took, apparently, a few weeks for Pierre Polyèvre to congratulate Doug Ford on his 2025 election win.

00:03:46.960 So it doesn't seem as if Doug Ford nor Pierre Polyèvre were interested in reaching out to one another.

00:03:54.200 It seemed like the feeling was mutual.

00:03:56.660 And once the election started, officially, you had Doug Ford staffers, as you mentioned,

00:04:02.680 like Corey Tanaik, who called the Pierre Polyèvre campaign as just operating campaign malpractice.

00:04:12.260 You know, these are some very strong and bold claims,

00:04:15.260 especially since Pierre Polyèvre's Conservatives looks like they've captured about 41.5% of the popular vote,

00:04:22.520 up from the roughly 33% that they captured under Aaron O'Toole.

00:04:27.020 And it looks like they've actually garnered a greater share of the popular vote in Ontario

00:04:32.160 than even Premier Doug Ford did in his election victory.

00:04:36.040 It's just that the Liberals had shot up so high

00:04:39.040 because the NDP, the Green Party,

00:04:42.560 and some of the Bloc Québécois' support had collapsed and gone to the Liberals.

00:04:47.060 So this infighting, or not necessarily infighting,

00:04:51.040 but this fighting between the provincial and federal Conservatives

00:04:54.140 really had bled out after Giovanni had made those comments on the CBC.

00:04:59.940 And I think he was speaking the mind of a lot of Conservative voters.

00:05:05.160 If you look at the CBC's coverage,

00:05:07.560 just a few minutes after Giovanni made that interview,

00:05:10.540 Kate McKenna from the CBC, who was at the Conservative Party headquarters,

00:05:14.100 said that there was cheering for Giovanni's comments at the Conservative Convention.

00:05:20.080 And that is likely because a lot of Conservatives are upset

00:05:23.220 with Premier Doug Ford's leadership.

00:05:25.580 So I think that you're going to start to see

00:05:28.240 some federal Conservatives more vocalize these concerns.

00:05:31.580 And perhaps you'll even see some provincial Conservatives

00:05:34.320 or former provincial Conservatives like Roman Baber

00:05:37.200 or some other new faces ditch the PCEs

00:05:40.820 and try to run in federal politics under the federal Conservative banner.

00:05:48.600 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's call for a, quote,

00:05:51.300 reset with Ottawa after Prime Minister Mark Carney's minority government victory

00:05:55.140 prompted some Albertans to flood her replies 0.97

00:05:57.720 with demands to the province to separate from Canada.

00:06:00.800 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith's call for a, quote,

00:06:02.960 reset with Ottawa after Prime Minister Mark Carney's minority government victory

00:06:06.860 prompted some Albertans to flood her comments

00:06:09.280 with demands for the province to separate from Canada.

00:06:11.920 In a post to X on Monday,

00:06:13.500 Smith congratulated Carney

00:06:14.760 but warned that Alberta would not tolerate

00:06:16.840 continued federal hostility.

00:06:19.080 While extending her congratulations,

00:06:21.320 Smith said that the last decade of liberal rule

00:06:23.600 made the country weaker, more divided,

00:06:26.260 and overly dependent on the United States.

00:06:28.620 Conversely, she added that Conservative leader

00:06:30.780 Pierre Poulyab's vision inspired millions

00:06:33.020 to see the unique potential of Canada.

00:06:35.580 Smith wrote, quote,

00:06:36.440 While Liberals and New Democrats demeaned and demonized Albertans,

00:06:40.540 our values and our industries for political gain,

00:06:43.320 Mr. Poulyab made empowering Albertans

00:06:45.540 and our energy sector a cornerstone of his campaign.

00:06:48.820 His respect and admiration for Albertans

00:06:50.940 could not have been clearer.

00:06:52.760 He is and continues to be a true friend of Alberta.

00:06:56.340 She noted that the vast majority of Albertans

00:06:58.520 are frustrated that the federal government,

00:07:00.380 which has attacked her province's economy,

00:07:02.720 has returned to power.

00:07:03.700 Smith has previously cited various policies

00:07:06.340 that hurt her provinces and her country's economy, 0.98

00:07:09.480 such as Bill C-69,

00:07:11.220 the oil and gas emissions cap,

00:07:13.060 the net-zero car mandate,

00:07:14.760 and the clean electricity regulations.

00:07:17.140 The vast majority of replies to Smith's posts on X,

00:07:20.360 Facebook, and Instagram

00:07:21.420 saw Albertans calling for separation.

00:07:23.740 The most liked comments on each post shared the same sentiment.

00:07:27.600 Each post saw thousands of replies.

00:07:30.300 The most liked reply to the post read, quote,

00:07:33.040 It's time to stop with the Stockholm Syndrome

00:07:35.180 congratulating our abusers

00:07:36.800 and celebrating our captivity in a rigged system.

00:07:40.020 It's time to fire Ottawa.

00:07:41.760 It's time to free Alberta.

00:07:43.400 It's time for a full firewall.

00:07:45.980 It's time to establish a rapid pathway

00:07:48.020 to independent Alberta.

00:07:49.440 With almost every reply called on Smith

00:07:51.640 to explore separation,

00:07:52.980 a very small portion of the comments

00:07:54.500 were critical of Polyev.

00:07:56.280 Smith and Albertans would no longer tolerate

00:07:58.380 having their resources stymied by Ottawa.

00:08:01.020 So Isaac, we've seen the rise

00:08:03.120 of an Alberta separatist movement,

00:08:06.240 or at least sentiment,

00:08:07.360 in recent months.

00:08:09.320 Has Premier Smith responded

00:08:11.340 to the separatist movement in the past,

00:08:13.340 and how has she replied to it?

00:08:15.000 Yeah, Noah, we've seen the separatist movement

00:08:17.600 in Alberta pick up steam

00:08:19.240 even before the election,

00:08:20.420 especially as the polls suggested

00:08:22.140 that Mark Carney would end up winning.

00:08:24.680 And Albertans were warning Smith

00:08:25.980 that they've had enough of Ottawa

00:08:27.720 taking advantage of them,

00:08:29.520 noting their willingness to separate

00:08:30.980 if the disrespect from the East continues.

00:08:33.420 Albertans have celebrated Smith

00:08:34.760 for standing up to the feds

00:08:36.180 in other instances,

00:08:37.340 such as when she recently invited Quebec

00:08:39.180 to fight federal overreach together.

00:08:41.860 However, Smith seemed like

00:08:43.540 she didn't want to get ahead of herself

00:08:44.960 as the separatist movement

00:08:46.060 might have calmed down

00:08:47.400 if Pierre won the election.

00:08:49.460 Still, she previously committed

00:08:51.380 to convening a panel

00:08:52.540 to gauge Albertans' appetite

00:08:54.300 for a referendum

00:08:55.320 after the federal election.

00:08:57.440 I'll remind listeners

00:08:58.180 that the province could include

00:08:59.980 a referendum at its next series

00:09:01.940 of municipal elections

00:09:03.100 in October this year.

00:09:04.540 Former Premier Jason Kenney

00:09:06.100 similarly conducted a referendum

00:09:08.140 on equalization

00:09:09.160 by including a constitutional referendum

00:09:11.520 question on the municipal election ballot.

00:09:14.980 But I have to be honest with you, Noah,

00:09:17.360 this movement is much stronger

00:09:19.040 than I anticipated.

00:09:20.980 For example,

00:09:22.020 when I was writing the article

00:09:23.080 you just read through,

00:09:24.100 I looked through all of the replies

00:09:26.080 on Smith's ex-post

00:09:27.500 searching for somebody

00:09:29.220 opposing operation.

00:09:30.900 And I scanned through

00:09:31.740 the first 100 comments,

00:09:33.060 the first 200,

00:09:34.260 I couldn't find a single comment

00:09:36.140 in opposition.

00:09:37.220 I couldn't find a single reply

00:09:39.000 opposing separation.

00:09:40.700 Almost every single comment

00:09:42.740 was in complete support

00:09:44.060 of this movement.

00:09:44.820 In fact,

00:09:45.420 the only negative comment

00:09:46.860 I found was one

00:09:48.000 critical of Pierre Polievre.

00:09:50.420 True North will definitely

00:09:51.260 stay on top of this

00:09:52.320 referendum movement

00:09:53.220 and I'm excited to see

00:09:54.320 how it develops going forward,

00:09:55.660 especially concerning

00:09:57.260 Smith's involvement.

00:09:59.100 This train is starting to look like

00:10:00.680 it may be too big

00:10:02.240 to jump in front of.

00:10:06.160 The last thing Quebecers 1.00

00:10:07.780 and Canadians want 0.64

00:10:08.940 is instability

00:10:09.840 in the federal parliament,

00:10:11.300 according to the Bloc Québécois leader

00:10:13.020 Yves-François Blanchet,

00:10:14.660 calling on his federal counterparts

00:10:16.260 to drop partisanship

00:10:17.800 and work hand-in-hand

00:10:19.380 to fight U.S. President

00:10:20.600 Donald Trump's threats.

00:10:22.160 Blanchet said,

00:10:23.060 quote,

00:10:23.340 I do not see any other scenario

00:10:25.600 than collaboration

00:10:26.500 for at least a year.

00:10:28.020 He said this

00:10:28.640 during a somber press conference

00:10:30.080 the morning after

00:10:31.000 an atypical election.

00:10:33.180 When Blanchet spoke,

00:10:34.180 the Liberal Party

00:10:34.780 could still have won

00:10:36.160 a majority of seats

00:10:37.080 or collaborate

00:10:37.740 with the left-leaning

00:10:38.880 New Democrat Party

00:10:39.880 to govern

00:10:40.400 without fear of being overthrown.

00:10:42.160 However,

00:10:42.500 now it's looking

00:10:43.180 like the minority 0.99

00:10:44.480 is confirmed,

00:10:45.780 but the latter statement

00:10:46.780 of a coalition

00:10:47.800 between the Liberals

00:10:48.540 and the NDP

00:10:49.020 remains true.

00:10:50.020 The separatist leader

00:10:51.140 said he had already

00:10:52.000 contacted other

00:10:53.120 federal leaders

00:10:53.820 to discuss the next steps

00:10:55.180 in a possible

00:10:55.920 minority parliament.

00:10:57.720 Blanchet said,

00:10:58.740 quote,

00:10:59.260 In these results,

00:11:00.080 there is uncertainty

00:11:00.860 and the instability prevails.

00:11:03.140 Quebec wants stability.

00:11:04.640 Federalist parties

00:11:05.380 and our party,

00:11:06.100 which is an independentist party,

00:11:08.240 should be working together

00:11:09.440 in this crisis.

00:11:10.700 We should not threaten

00:11:11.520 to overthrow the government

00:11:12.540 anytime soon.

00:11:13.960 Canada is in the midst

00:11:15.020 of a trade war

00:11:15.720 with its closest ally,

00:11:16.860 the United States.

00:11:18.160 Trump has imposed tariffs

00:11:19.160 on Canadian imports

00:11:20.160 and has repeatedly

00:11:21.140 threatened to annex Canada.

00:11:23.740 Blanchet's comments

00:11:24.580 come after he said

00:11:26.080 last week

00:11:26.580 that he felt like

00:11:27.260 he was sitting

00:11:27.740 in a, quote,

00:11:28.400 foreign parliament

00:11:29.440 and that Quebec

00:11:30.580 was part of a, quote,

00:11:31.720 artificial country

00:11:32.600 with very little meaning

00:11:33.960 called Canada.

00:11:35.200 His comments

00:11:35.820 were widely criticized

00:11:37.420 outside of Quebec.

00:11:39.180 So, Noah,

00:11:39.940 what sorts of demands

00:11:41.100 should Canadians expect

00:11:42.820 if the Bloc Québécois

00:11:44.500 decide to prop up

00:11:45.780 the Liberals

00:11:46.260 or is it looking

00:11:47.000 like the NDP

00:11:48.180 could do that as well?

00:11:49.660 Well, the way the votes

00:11:50.600 are being tallied up now

00:11:51.740 looks like the NDP

00:11:52.800 could prop up

00:11:53.900 the Liberals,

00:11:54.680 but an MP resigning here,

00:11:57.640 a by-election

00:11:58.280 flipping a seat there,

00:12:00.160 and the NDP

00:12:01.000 do lose the balance

00:12:02.340 of power.

00:12:03.220 But when it comes

00:12:04.060 to the Bloc Québécois,

00:12:05.220 they've been pretty clear

00:12:06.360 about what sorts

00:12:07.680 of demands

00:12:08.480 that they are going

00:12:09.880 to be asking

00:12:10.740 of the Liberals.

00:12:12.140 And they're all

00:12:13.180 going to be centered

00:12:13.780 around issues

00:12:15.580 and items

00:12:16.200 that, A,

00:12:16.860 benefit Quebec,

00:12:17.440 and, B,

00:12:18.760 benefit the Bloc Québécois'

00:12:20.720 constituents.

00:12:21.960 For example,

00:12:22.920 he's probably going

00:12:23.760 to be pushing

00:12:24.360 for increased benefits

00:12:25.460 to old people

00:12:26.300 because a large amount

00:12:28.940 of Bloc Québécois voters

00:12:30.740 are old Quebecers,

00:12:32.300 Quebecers who may have

00:12:33.840 lived through

00:12:34.700 the referendum days

00:12:36.520 and still hold on

00:12:37.940 to faint hope

00:12:38.660 that Quebec could either

00:12:39.700 separate or gain

00:12:40.940 further autonomy.

00:12:41.920 But speaking of autonomy,

00:12:43.320 he's probably going

00:12:44.100 to also ask

00:12:45.000 for immigration reform,

00:12:47.060 specifically devolving

00:12:48.460 certain federal powers

00:12:50.580 over immigration 0.78

00:12:51.520 to the Quebec National Assembly.

00:12:55.320 And they would like

00:12:56.440 complete control

00:12:57.560 over their ability

00:12:58.540 to bring in immigrants,

00:13:00.780 how many immigrants 0.56

00:13:01.540 they'll be bringing in.

00:13:04.300 They'll probably have

00:13:05.700 a requirement

00:13:07.380 that they speak French.

00:13:08.620 Now, it is not clear

00:13:09.680 that Carney's liberals

00:13:11.220 would give

00:13:12.000 the Quebec National Assembly

00:13:13.640 these powers,

00:13:14.980 but you may feel

00:13:16.720 like it is necessary

00:13:17.820 if the NDP

00:13:19.500 is not holding

00:13:20.800 the balance of power anymore

00:13:21.860 or if they just

00:13:22.680 withdraw their support

00:13:23.840 because they might

00:13:24.840 have wise enough

00:13:25.580 from their confidence

00:13:26.440 in supply agreement days.

00:13:28.560 And also Quebec

00:13:30.220 or the Bloc Québécois

00:13:32.100 would probably prop up

00:13:33.600 certain interprovincial

00:13:34.520 trade barriers

00:13:35.360 that are beneficial

00:13:36.400 to Quebec.

00:13:37.500 A key initiative

00:13:38.760 that Marc Carney said

00:13:39.800 he would be putting forward

00:13:41.400 as Prime Minister

00:13:42.600 is trying to bring

00:13:44.200 the provinces together

00:13:45.000 to eliminate

00:13:45.540 all interprovincial

00:13:46.520 trade barriers,

00:13:47.780 but there are certain

00:13:48.560 trade barriers

00:13:49.600 that provinces put up

00:13:50.800 because they believe

00:13:51.440 it benefits their economy

00:13:52.580 and Quebec is no different.

00:13:54.980 And because they are

00:13:56.140 far more nationalists,

00:13:57.200 they might view

00:13:57.920 the effort to break down

00:13:59.760 interprovincial trade barriers

00:14:01.080 as an affront

00:14:02.300 to their sovereignty

00:14:03.300 and thus fight

00:14:04.680 the federal government

00:14:05.620 over that.

00:14:06.280 And you can expect

00:14:07.000 the Bloc Québécois

00:14:08.080 to represent

00:14:09.140 that voice in Parliament.

00:14:11.300 So it remains to be seen

00:14:12.620 if the Bloc Québécois

00:14:14.060 will actually follow through

00:14:15.460 with their pledge

00:14:16.840 to support the Liberals

00:14:17.840 for one year.

00:14:19.120 If the Parti Québécois

00:14:21.400 in Quebec

00:14:23.700 wins their provincial election

00:14:26.280 in 2026,

00:14:27.400 there might be

00:14:29.180 some tensions

00:14:29.840 over the Bloc Québécois

00:14:31.780 and the Liberals

00:14:32.520 over a referendum

00:14:33.440 that the Parti Québécois

00:14:34.940 wants to put forward

00:14:35.900 to separate from Canada.

00:14:37.160 So there's a lot

00:14:38.920 to cover

00:14:39.560 for True North

00:14:41.360 over the next few years,

00:14:43.560 but it'll certainly

00:14:45.120 not be boring.

00:14:45.880 That's it for today, folks.

00:14:51.500 Thanks for tuning in.

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Juno News - April 30, 2025

Jamil Jivani blasts Doug Ford for sabotaging federal Conservatives

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