Juno News - November 27, 2024THESE Canadian politicians get it RIGHT on Trump and border security
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Summary
Rachel and Rachael chat with True North Columnist Sue Ann Levy about the Trump administration, Kamala Harris, and much, much more. Plus, a little bit of politics and a whole lot of general election talk.
Transcript
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Just as we've had concern with the U.S. of the flow of people coming from the south to the north.
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So we have shared interests in here in making it something that is manageable and controlled.
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And those that are not authorized to cross the border are promptly returned pursuant to the safe third country agreements.
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Canadian leaders are panicking over President-elect Donald Trump's threat of 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into the states.
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Unless our government gets control of the flow of people and drugs crossing illegally into the United States of America.
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And that response you just watched from Mark Miller perfectly encapsulates the response.
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Raw shock. Gasping for air. Fear in the headlights.
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Friends, it's time to batten down the hatches because I have a feeling that we're in for a very bumpy ride.
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I'm Rachel Parker and this is Rachel in the Republic.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to Rachel in the Republic.
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We are going to be joined by fan favorite and True North columnist Sue Ann Levy today.
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I feel like we should honestly just make you a co-host at this point.
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We were texting over the week and you were driving down from Ontario,
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stating the cold weather as so many Ontarians do.
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My grandparents, I know, will be joining you down in Florida in a few weeks here.
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You should go after Christmas before New Year's type thing.
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I, you know, my wife and I went out for Chinese food the other night and we could hear people
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Everybody's, there's a, there's a real buzz about it.
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But, you know, the people that we, well, we know that have come to our home to help out
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with various and sundry things are all Trump supporters and they're ecstatic.
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Now, uh, we're also friends with people from the East, shall we say, New York and, uh, Illinois,
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and they're, uh, they're still holding their pity parties because of course, you know, the
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But as I drove down and I talked to a lot of people who would not go on camera, unfortunately,
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but, um, as I drove down, the world didn't explode.
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We crossed the border from Georgia into Florida, the free state of Florida.
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Nobody turned us back because we were gay or, uh, because we were women were here and we're
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queer and we're, you know, carrying on with our lives.
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So you mentioned that some of your friends in the East seem to be holding a bit of a
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Speaking of people who seem to be holding pity parties, Kamala Harris decided to release a
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video, I guess, maybe encouraging or rallying supporters.
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I just have to remind you, don't you ever let anybody take your power from you.
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You have the same power that you did before November 5th and you have the same purpose
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that you did and you have the same ability to engage and inspire.
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So don't ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.
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So, and everyone who saw this clip online was saying basically the same thing.
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Looks like she's aged 10 years in like a week.
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I have a feeling she's been on a bit of a pity party bender.
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The stress of this seems to really have, have, have gotten to her.
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She appears intoxicated in the video and it looks like she hasn't slept in about a week.
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I actually saw the video on Fox news and they kept playing it, replaying it.
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And oh God, she should have never, ever gone on air in that kind of condition.
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But then of course she ran half of the campaign in that condition.
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Um, she claims to have been on the phone with a lot of supporters and that, uh, her life
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will go on and that she's coming back and she's either going to be, uh, running for governor
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of California, which would suit her just fine or going for another presidential bid, which
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I just nearly choked on my dinner when I heard that last night.
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Yeah, definitely don't think another presidential bid is in the books for her.
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I feel fairly confident that she wouldn't win a democratic primary.
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And, you know, the chances of her getting slipped in as a last candidate, like happened
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when Joe Biden suddenly and suspiciously resigned, uh, is nearly impossible.
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It was really kind of a once in a lifetime thing we witnessed in this election cycle.
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Uh, I heard reports that essentially she had wanted to do this off the cuff video.
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Her staff said, you know, they didn't think it was a good idea, but she insisted.
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And, you know, that's how this video came to be.
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And I saw people, even, you know, Kamala supporters basically saying like, you guys really need
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Someone in her office should have had the courage to say no to her, but I suspect the
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people around her haven't had courage to be honest with her or give her the truth for
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a long, long time, given a number of the mistakes that she made in the campaign.
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And even just given the fact that she, you know, was really not well suited to the role
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of a Republic or of a democratic presidential candidate.
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Uh, I don't think she was really up to the chops for that job.
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So don't think we'll be seeing her again, governor of California.
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I mean, even that it feels like, how does it, how does it feel to go from, you know,
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And then once they're president, like, then you, then you take a step back, then you're
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At least in the short time that I've been covering politics, that seems pretty standard.
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I'm even thinking here in Canada, you know, Stephen Harper, after he was prime minister,
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he wasn't like, oh, I'm going to go and run for an MP.
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Rona Ambrose, after she was the interim conservative leader, she stepped away shortly afterwards.
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So it seems like a little bit of a backwards thing here, but she's still quite young when
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we consider how old American politicians typically are and, you know, she has a lot of time left
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So yeah, she's going to have to look to do something and you're hearing, you know, that
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she's going to, she's going to run to be the governor of California.
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You know, one thing I, I think her staff is in denial too.
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They were doing a podcast yesterday, which was replayed on social media and on, well, at
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least Fox news and they're in total denial and they blame the media.
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Uh, they were pressy, pressy, pressy, according to the staff.
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I don't know what that means, but, you know, asking her small minute questions, I think
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But the other thing she came on retail and she said, we did a great job.
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Now, if I had been her, I would not have reminded viewers that she, you know, ran through, um,
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1 billion, four, including 2.5 million to Oprah and various other stars in the millions
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of dollars and still is 20 million in the whole.
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I can't help but wonder if that's why she looks so stressed because they have all this debt
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and because the news has been leaked that they wasted millions and millions of dollars on
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these celebrity endorsements, which just shows how vapid and, and honestly fake those endorsements
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You know, if someone was going to pay me a couple, $20 million for an endorsement, like even who,
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no matter who they are, I'm going to think about that long and hard.
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I don't, none, and for someone, you know, who's, who's morally bankrupt, um, it's a no-brainer.
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I'll show up for you and give this endorsement.
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So, um, I suspect that has a significant to do with the level of stress that we're seeing.
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Now, the big news out of the States this week was of course, Donald Trump's threat to put 25%
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tariffs on both Canada and Mexico for all of their products coming into the States, unless
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both of these countries, Canada and Mexico stopped the flow of illegal drugs and people
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And the response to more politicians down here in Canada has, has varied significantly.
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So, you know, I did an extensive show on this yesterday on the Rachel Parker show.
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We covered this topic extensively at Brian Lillian.
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He kind of gave his analysis on what the actual numbers are of people crossing and of drugs crossing.
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I should recommend that my viewers go look at that, but today I specifically want to focus
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on the response from our politicians here in Canada, starting off with Pierre Polyev, who,
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who came out really strongly and I'll let you hear for yourself what he had to say.
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President Trump yesterday made an unjustified threat of a 25% tariff on our already weak and
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Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland were surprised, amazingly, everyone else knew something like
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this could be coming because President Trump had been talking about it for years on the campaign
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trail. Yet 20 days ago, Chrystia Freeland said, don't worry, Canada will be fine.
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Apparently, neither she nor Justin Trudeau were following what the incoming president was saying.
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And now we must take account and we must be honest with our unprecedented weakness.
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After nine years of Prime Minister Trudeau, our GDP is smaller than it was when he took, per capita,
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is smaller than it was when it took, he took office.
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In fact, our per capita GDP has dropped more than any other G7 country since the year before
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Food prices have risen 37% faster in Canada than in the United States of America.
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Our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse.
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A plan to put Canada first on the economy and on security.
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I think this was, you know, I think he's garnered a lot of positive attention for his response
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And he essentially says we need a plan to deal with the economy and with security, with
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Now, just a contrast to what Prime Minister Justice Trudeau is saying yesterday when Brian
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Lilly is on the show, he says, you know, I have concerns about Trudeau's response because
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Trudeau is saying we need to remind the Americans about their trading relationship with Canada
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and how important it is, how there's never been anything like it in the world before,
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and how we really are good allies who rely on each other.
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But the Americans are not taking issues with their trading relationship with Canada.
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They're taking issues with all these other things, the security of their border, which
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has been a pinnacle campaign promise of Donald Trump.
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And if he wants to use tariffs to get the response that he needs and wants from Canada and Mexico,
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So Canada needs to address the border and security.
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And it sounds like Justin Trudeau doesn't understand that, whereas Pierre Polyev does and is saying
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I mean, he sounded prime ministerial and, you know, I was reading on various threads
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that should send Pierre Polyev to Washington to negotiate with Trump or Trump's colleagues
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I went to see, I went to an event just before I left to come to Florida and Stephen Harper was
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talking and he said something about, you know, a high school student running in the country
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that he knew he wasn't ready for prime time and nine years later, you know, it's an embarrassment
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to think that this prime minister of ours, who's, you know, swinging to the vibes at Taylor
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I mean, he allowed this to happen, you know, and here we find ourselves in a royal mess.
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He allowed the loose lack of consequences, lack of laws led us to this point.
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And, uh, I'm not sure that Justin Trudeau's up to the task of dealing with it and certainly
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And as we know, Donald Trump and his team, they don't like Christia Freeland.
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She's the worst possible pick to be leading any negotiations with Team Trump.
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You can't wonder that the Canadians, it seems like Justin Trudeau kind of wants to rub salt
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in the wounds by sending his most disliked little lackey out there to deal with these problems
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that have major implications for the Canadian economy.
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And to your point, I think that our boss, Candace Malcolm of True North actually put it
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best when she said, this is Justin Trudeau's fault.
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Justin Trudeau has been laxing the rules on immigration and the border since he was first
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elected back in 2015, and we've seen a record number of illegals flowing into Canada, including
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So it's a no-brainer that the United States has concerns because they're seeing some of
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the most, just in November, one of India's most wanted terrorists was arrested and charged
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What is one of India's most wanted terrorists doing here in Canada?
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The Americans are watching this and they are noticing this and they're saying,
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whoa, whoa, Canada has some major security problems.
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We know that there's people crossing the border, about 120,000 people crossed last year from
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They're saying this is not something that we want here.
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And that's why, that's why we're seeing this response.
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The flow of illegal immigration to the States, 9% of it, it's coming from Canada.
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But as Brian Lilly said yesterday, 9% of a big problem is still a problem.
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That's why we're seeing this response from Trump.
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And if you go, you know, I just came back from overseas a couple of months ago.
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And if you go through the airport, you see nothing but in the airport, immigrants coming into
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Canada and the flow, you know, and the Trudeau government has been very exuberant about promoting
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the fact that they're bringing people in from Gaza, 5,000, 10,000, I've lost count, but these
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And then we see them on the streets of Toronto, non-terrorists, streets of Toronto and Montreal
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So yeah, I think the Americans have very, every reason to be concerned.
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I'm concerned about what's populating our cities.
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To your point, and I should have taken a picture of it when I was there, but I could not believe
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when I was in Pearson Airport last, that they now have a Service Canada to deal with all
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the newcomers who are coming so that they can get their sin right there at Pearson Airport.
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If I need to go to Service Canada, I got to plan a whole day around waiting in line.
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Like the level of access that these people are given, that Canadians are not even given
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And that they signal that openness to newcomers everywhere, everywhere they can, even when
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it's something that Canadians are so tired with, just speaks to, you know, a government
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that is deeply out of touch with the Canadian people.
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I want to move next on to Ontario Premier Doug Ford's response to Trump's tariff.
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What I found unfair about the comments is to compare us to Mexico.
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We do, approximately, just Ontario alone, $500 billion of two-way trade.
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It's like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.
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And I have yet to talk to one American that has any issue with Canadians.
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Okay, so Doug Ford went on like that for a very, very long time, talking about how hurt
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It's like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.
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I, you know, I don't think he's doing a very good job in Ontario.
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I think a lot of Conservatives in Ontario would be inclined to agree with me.
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But, you know, his rhetoric there, I just don't think it really addresses the actual root
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And even to his point, you know, I spend a lot of time in the States and hear from Americans
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I don't know if Doug Ford doesn't understand that or if he simply just doesn't want to
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But your rhetoric complaining about Trump's policy is not going to get us out of this mess.
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And, you know, I'll go back to what I just said in the last segment before Doug Ford's comment
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came on, just walk on the streets of Toronto on any average week and see the people lying
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down on carpets, praying in the downtown streets and blocking traffic, come to the Jewish area
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of Toronto and see all these people screaming and yelling and some of them bound to be illegals.
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You know, Doug Ford is not, I have a bone to pick with him.
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He hasn't handled any of this anti-Semitism and this is, this is what we're talking about.
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Illegal, dangerous, illegal migrants coming into Canada and populating the streets of Toronto.
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And I'm sorry, those words are very rich for a guy who, you know, has totally ignored the
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violence and the, like the harassment and the threats that we see right in the middle of our cities.
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And personally for me, you know, Toronto is home for you.
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The number of asylum seekers that are being housed in hotels in Niagara Falls right now.
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When I was visiting my family for an extensive period this summer, I spent a little bit of time
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There's very few, you know, Canadian, bored Canadians there.
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And just everything about the city feels totally changed.
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And, you know, you're walking around and you just see migrants walking around as they're
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It's just a baffling policy that we've allowed.
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So he continued there in his statement after all his complaining about how unfair and how
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He eventually said that Canada and Ontario would have no choice but to follow with retaliatory
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Yesterday when Brian Lilly was on, he said, ah, my colleagues in the media, they don't
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They keep asking, are we going to retaliate with our own tariffs?
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The point is that we need to stop these tariffs.
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And there's a lot of real tangible ways we can do that by showing the Americans that we're
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taking security at the border seriously with things like, you know, being more aware and
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more conscious and limiting the flow of people coming into Canada.
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And also I pointed out, you know, why don't we just add some more security at the border?
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Why don't we use some of all the amazing technology that's been developed in the last 10 years to
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have a stronger and more secure border, be very public about these changes, hire more CBSA
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agents and make this all very public so the Americans are aware that we are taking this issue
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very seriously and we are going to crack down on people who are crossing illegally into the
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I just suspect there's not a lot of political will from it on Justin Trudeau, who has basically
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made free immigration into Canada a pinnacle part of who he is and what this government
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Yeah, and you know, I remember when Trump got in the last time and I remember Justin Trudeau
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standing at the airport and welcoming all these immigrants into Canada, giving them free
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You know, Krista Freeland was right there handing out these goose down coats and declaring our
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former mayor John Tory stood there with a bunch of councillors saying, we are open.
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And boy, all you have to do, Rachel, is to go downtown, downtown Toronto, to the referral
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Um, it's for basically for homeless people, but it's become one for refugees and there's
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a whole bunch of people just sitting out there with their suitcases with nowhere to go thinking
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they're being sent from the airport, thinking they will get a nice hotel room or a nice whatever.
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And then he's welcoming on all these people from, from Gaza, unvetted.
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Instead of whining and acting hurt and saying all these ridiculous things, which was showed
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very poor judgment, say, I am going to, you know, I know what's happening in major cities
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And I'm going to say no more refugees filling our shelters.
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That would have been the better response from Ford.
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I want to move to Quebec Premier Francois Legault because his response might surprise you all.
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I actually enjoyed this quite a bit and I was happy that we were able to get this exchange
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So you're mad, Mr. Trudeau, for the lack of security at the borders.
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I'm saying it's since 2017 that we have to do something.
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So basically you're saying to Donald Trump he's right.
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But I'm saying that Mr. Trump said it very often during the campaign that he would fight
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There are two things I really like about his response.
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Donald Trump has signaled for years that he was going to get serious about the border crisis.
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It was very obvious to anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention that the Americans
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led by Trump are going to be getting serious about the border and that Canada should start
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And second of all, he says, yeah, we need to secure the border.
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So, you know, maybe he has found a bit of an ally in Donald Trump because we know that
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he's basically said, you know, Quebec doesn't have any more room for asylum seekers.
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And that's why so many of them started going over to Niagara Falls and Ontario because Quebec's
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And so maybe, you know, he's finally looking at this and saying, if the liberals get serious
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about this, then I could finally see something that I want done.
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Yeah, well, he mentioned Roxham Road, which I didn't mention in the last segment, but
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that was and has been a huge problem where immigrants are being bussed to within meters
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of the border and then they cross with their little suitcases, often designer ones, because
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There are pictures of immigrants being led by border security across the border to cross
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And Trudeau, our dear prime minister, left this unchecked.
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The only time it dwindled was when COVID restrictions were in place that one year.
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But it, you know, he clamped down on it because of COVID restrictions.
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But it was a real huge issue before and it's become a real huge issue again.
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And I was just gobsmacked when I would see these security people helping them with their
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Why don't we get some valets for them, too?
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It's funny that you say that the only time Trudeau clamped down on it was when it was COVID
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The only time he was willing to clamp down on illegal immigration into Canada was when his
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lips were, you know, salivating at the thought that Canada was on the brink of communism.
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That was the only time he was willing to stop the flow of illegal people into our country.
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Honestly, Sue Ann, the images that you're talking about, like we've all seen them.
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Like it makes sort of my stomach turn when I think about the fact that the Canadian taxpayer
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is footing the bill for these hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, many of them who
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have bogus claims to put them up in hotels and to feed them off of the hardworking Canadian
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taxpayer, each of whom is struggling in their own right right now.
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So it is really one of the most stomach churning things.
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I think perhaps if we were to look at a positive of this all, bringing this issue out into the
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forefront, it has forced Conservative leader Pierre Polyam to take a very strong stance on it
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and to make it very clear that we need to put Canada first and, you know, to really speak
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And I think that's something that not even just Conservatives, but even any moderates,
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any people who are paying attention, anyone who cares about safety, anyone who has a young
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family, these are all things that are front and foremost in the mind.
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Because as you mentioned, you know, people living not just in Toronto, but in city centres
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all over the world, even in places like Red Deer, they know that their cities are no longer
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It's because they are being bussed out of Toronto, I might add, to other parts of Ontario.
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They're being bussed out here to Alberta as well.
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And, you know, the images of Krista Freeland and Justin Trudeau giving out those coats
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And I'm thinking, oh, God, I can't afford a nice, expensive goose down coat like that.
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But, you know, they only have themselves to blame, as we've said.
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So, the other response I want to take a look at is, of course, from my own Premier, Danielle
00:27:32.120
She was asked on CVC News, again, she was asked if Canada should retaliate.
00:27:36.380
And I think she did a pretty good job at undressing that comment and saying, you know, this is
00:27:54.280
I mean, I think that the U.S. has legitimate issues that they have raised with us.
00:27:59.960
And we've got to address those legitimate issues.
00:28:02.040
I don't think that we can say, yeah, but, because, quite frankly, the American economy
00:28:08.600
They can produce a lot of what they need to consume.
00:28:13.880
And they are in the position of being able to dictate terms.
00:28:18.680
And so, I suppose we could punish ourselves with tariffs.
00:28:22.320
But I would say, why don't we take the approach of trying to figure out how to solve the things
00:28:32.080
Solve the trade irritants that the Americans have with us.
00:28:37.400
You know, I saw a lot of whining and, you know, screaming basically from the liberal left on social
00:28:46.180
media and elsewhere, but all you have to do, Rachel, is take a look at the stock market
00:29:03.620
Instead of whining, do something to improve it.
00:29:07.760
You know, because the American dollar is just going to continue to get stronger if we don't
00:29:18.880
And I'm not whining because it's a first world problem.
00:29:21.180
But you do feel the difference when you have to exchange a dollar for $1.42.
00:29:26.200
So I didn't get to his response, but, oh, and for your comment on the dollar, I mean,
00:29:32.420
I love traveling in the States, but it's like so unaffordable right now.
00:29:36.200
When I was growing up, when I was in high school, because we lived so close, we would
00:29:39.640
frequently cross over to get gas and to get groceries because it was, it was cheaper.
00:29:46.880
And then we would drive home, even driving that distance, coming home, it was cheaper
00:29:50.080
to get our gas and groceries in the States than it was in Canada.
00:29:53.620
We have an outlet mall, an outlet mall in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
00:29:56.120
Now all the Americans are coming over to shop at our outlet mall because our dollar is so
00:30:01.000
worthless and their money just takes them so far here.
00:30:04.280
And I definitely feel that pinch when I'm traveling in the States, there's nothing worse
00:30:07.240
than, you know, you go to buy a coffee and you're like, huh, by the time I add in the
00:30:11.420
credit card transaction fee, I think I might've just spent about six bucks on this thing.
00:30:15.740
Kind of wondering if it was really worth it after all.
00:30:18.440
So we didn't get to David Eby's response, but his was similar, you know, lots of whining and
00:30:22.820
complaining and not talking about the actual solutions.
00:30:25.060
So let's just quickly kind of grade the responses here.
00:30:28.120
I think, you know, I think, I think, I think Danielle Smith was probably the strongest.
00:30:32.340
I think she really hit the nail on the head on all the things that Canada needs to do.
00:30:36.980
I just, I appreciated Francois Legault, you know, just sort of the, the measured, he seemed
00:30:44.100
He was like, it's so obvious that this was coming.
00:30:49.560
One of the positives about this whole thing is it's brought the issue to the forefront and
00:30:52.680
we could kind of get a sense as to where the conservative leader and the likely prime,
00:30:56.300
next prime minister of Canada stands on these issues.
00:30:59.300
And then Justin Trudeau, like the issue just seems to have gone right over his head.
00:31:07.400
Which response do you think was the strongest to Anne?
00:31:10.280
I would say Daniel Smith followed by, well, I mean, Pierre Polyev was articulate as usual,
00:31:18.700
but Daniel Smith actually talked about the implications on the economy and how this can
00:31:23.500
affect the economy and people are missing all of that and about the fact that all you
00:31:28.280
have to do is respect their wishes and, you know, our economy hopefully will improve.
00:31:35.360
Francis Legault, sorry, also touched on Roxham Road, which has been a real sore point in Canada.
00:31:44.860
That's where they've entered and people seem to forget that.
00:31:48.620
So I found both of them very, very pointed in their responses and good for them for addressing the issues.
00:32:00.120
Yeah, and I would just add, you know, Pierre Polyev did touch on the fact that this would just
00:32:03.420
shutter the Canadian economy because of recession.
00:32:08.180
So for the viewers, you know, definitely recommend go take a full look at Pierre Polyev's press conference
00:32:15.440
And then, Sue Ann, just the last thing I'm wondering here is where do you think this is going to go?
00:32:18.960
Is there a chance that Canada is going to be able to appease the Americans and get out from under these tariffs?
00:32:24.760
Or are we going to just expect our economy to be absolutely crushed starting on January 20th?
00:32:35.280
I think that, you know, Trump is the seasoned negotiator and, you know, the art of the deal.
00:32:44.720
But I don't hold much faith in Krista Freeland or we didn't mention Melanie Jolie because she's been talking about it as well.
00:32:52.780
She never says honestly anything of much value.
00:32:56.540
She like I just I can't I watch her videos and I'm like there's no context.
00:33:01.260
No, but the thought of her going to Washington makes my, you know, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
00:33:07.660
I just don't think we have people on the bench, seasoned people on the bench to negotiate.
00:33:16.240
You know, and people better get with the program, the politicians, Doug Ford, or our economy is going.
00:33:26.640
Well, that's why I started off by saying, you know, everyone batten down the hatches.
00:33:32.260
I have a feeling things might be pretty rough over the next coming weeks.
00:33:34.820
I don't know if Justin Trudeau is really up for the job.
00:33:38.620
Nothing he's indicated has signaled to me that he understands really even what the complaints are or that he is willing to do what is necessary to address those complaints.
00:33:51.660
It's possible that those tariffs will end up being lower.
00:33:54.100
Maybe there will be a carve out for Alberta Energy.
00:33:59.500
So for you, the audience, let me know what you think in the comment section below.
00:34:02.340
I'm wondering, A, whose response did you think was the strongest?
00:34:07.720
Do you think we're actually going to see these 25% tariffs beginning on January 20th?
00:34:12.820
Or do you think that somehow, something, an act of God like save Donald Trump's life in the campaign will save Canada?
00:34:23.340
We'll be back next week with another episode of Rachel and the Republic.
00:34:26.880
I hope that you guys have a great rest of your week.
00:34:31.440
I hope that you guys have a great rest of the year.