Juno News - November 20, 2024


Trudeau “jeopardizing” Canada’s relationship with the U.S.


Episode Stats


Length

16 minutes

Words per minute

186.10912

Word count

3,019

Sentence count

157

Harmful content

Misogyny

6

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jeopardizing Canada's relationship with the United States? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith certainly seems to think so. She has signaled that she's going to forge ahead with her own relationship with America, leaving Ottawa aside.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 Is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jeopardizing Canada's relationship with the United States?
00:00:06.100 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith certainly seems to think so.
00:00:10.040 That's because, as Donald Trump has signaled the need for energy security in the U.S.
00:00:14.820 and plans to do that with his incoming administration,
00:00:19.180 Justin Trudeau is focused on emissions cap.
00:00:22.680 Emissions cap that, according to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith,
00:00:25.480 would make it harder for Alberta to get their product to markets like the U.S.
00:00:31.240 Now, the Alberta Premier has signaled that she's going to forge ahead with her own relationship with the United States,
00:00:38.220 leaving Ottawa aside.
00:00:40.340 And so, I didn't think it was possible, but with that,
00:00:43.480 Justin Trudeau's image on the world stage has diminished even further.
00:00:48.060 I'm Rachel Parker, and you're watching Rachel in the Republic.
00:00:55.480 Hey everyone, welcome back to Rachel in the Republic.
00:01:05.800 I'm your host, Rachel Parker.
00:01:07.440 As you guys know, I have covered Alberta politics for a very long time,
00:01:11.660 and when I left my old show, The Alberta Roundup,
00:01:15.440 I promised you guys that you would not be missing me,
00:01:18.760 but that you would actually be benefiting from even more Alberta coverage,
00:01:22.300 because the new host, Isaac Lamoureux, is obviously continuing that show and doing an excellent job of that.
00:01:28.220 But I told you that I would still occasionally dive into an Alberta story on my other shows from time to time.
00:01:35.940 And so, we are going to be talking about the Canadian-U.S. trade relationship today,
00:01:40.340 but taking a specific look at Alberta's role in this,
00:01:43.240 because Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has been making some very interesting comments in the days
00:01:48.220 since Donald Trump was elected to be the next President of the United States.
00:01:52.960 As you all know, the trading relationship between Canada and the United States is very important.
00:01:57.700 Those involved would often say it's one of the greatest examples of a trading relationship in the world.
00:02:03.320 And now, people in Canada, politicians in Canada,
00:02:06.140 are wondering how they're going to respond to Donald Trump's threats
00:02:09.540 of imposing a 10% tariff on products coming into the United States.
00:02:14.360 It's Alberta has quite the advantage here. 1.00
00:02:17.320 I don't think this is technically what is meant by the Alberta advantage,
00:02:20.040 but we have the advantage that the rest of the world wants our oil exports.
00:02:25.060 And the United States receives a host of Alberta exports,
00:02:28.260 and so Daniel Smith is hoping to use America's need for our oil
00:02:32.700 to essentially negotiate an agreement in which Alberta is not subject,
00:02:36.660 and our energy exports are not subject to that 10% tariff.
00:02:40.620 She's been asked about this repeatedly.
00:02:42.180 And while she's asked about this,
00:02:44.520 she's also asked if she plans on using Alberta's exports
00:02:48.200 to kind of give all of Canada a greater negotiating position.
00:02:53.580 If, for example, if America still wants the valuable Alberta energy exports,
00:02:59.020 maybe Donald Trump has to soften his position on tariffs across the board
00:03:02.720 for other industries in other parts of the country.
00:03:05.540 And the Alberta Premier has made it very clear that Ottawa,
00:03:10.980 and certainly Justin Trudeau, is not interested in a Team Canada approach
00:03:16.400 because Justin Trudeau continues to forge ahead with his emissions cap.
00:03:21.520 This is something you've probably heard the Premier talk about before.
00:03:24.780 We'll just touch a little bit about what that emissions cap would do.
00:03:28.200 We're still waiting for the exact specifics of the numbers for the cap,
00:03:31.180 but essentially the Trudeau Liberals have proposed beginning it in 2030
00:03:35.260 with the goal of reducing emissions by 40% to 45% from 2005 levels by 2030.
00:03:43.980 Now, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is not exactly opposed to reducing carbon footprints,
00:03:49.620 unlike some Conservative politicians or even some Conservatives of the province,
00:03:53.180 you know, don't want her to talk about carbon neutrality.
00:03:55.440 She thinks that it is possible,
00:03:56.960 but she has long expressed that we need a larger timeline.
00:04:00.580 She's often talked about 2050 as being a place where companies would then have the technology
00:04:05.320 that they would be able to reduce their carbon footprint.
00:04:07.660 And she says that 2030, 2035, that's too soon,
00:04:10.900 and that the industry simply cannot meet that target.
00:04:14.700 And she says that so long as Justin Trudeau is continuing to move ahead with his plans for emissions cap,
00:04:20.680 it is not possible for Alberta to have a Team Canada approach
00:04:23.700 in which she would use Alberta energy to advocate for the rest of Canada
00:04:27.800 and for advocating to help Ottawa as they negotiate with Donald Trump and with his administration.
00:04:33.800 Here's Alberta Premier Danielle Smith explaining her position to Vashi Capello of CTV News.
00:04:39.100 Take a listen.
00:04:40.320 I'm not bending on some of the direction they've taken.
00:04:43.440 It will jeopardize our relationship with the United States,
00:04:46.240 which is the largest trading relationship that we have,
00:04:49.360 not only Alberta, but all of our provincial counterparts.
00:04:51.480 We know one of the things that the new White House wants is energy security.
00:04:56.020 We have the ability to offer that.
00:04:58.020 And if you put on the table an emissions cap,
00:05:00.020 which we know will cause a cap in production,
00:05:03.080 you're not going to be able to negotiate in a way that's going to be best for Canada.
00:05:07.260 So if they want to have a Team Canada approach,
00:05:10.080 it means the emissions cap has to be off the table.
00:05:12.740 So Daniel Smith has certainly corrected her assessment
00:05:15.220 that the Donald Trump administration is interested in energy security in the U.S.
00:05:19.640 They want to be drilling more.
00:05:21.580 They want to be supplying more of their own energy,
00:05:23.520 as opposed to sourcing it from other countries,
00:05:25.740 including unethical oils that they receive from places like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
00:05:31.500 And so the Trump administration has signaled that they are interested,
00:05:35.540 that that's the direction they're going to be taking.
00:05:37.460 And Donald Trump made this stance very clear when he announced that he would be appointing
00:05:41.920 an oil executive, Chris Wright, to lead the energy department in the U.S.
00:05:47.120 Now, if you're wondering a little bit about who Chris Wright is,
00:05:49.220 it really signals how seriously Trump is taking this need for energy security in the U.S.
00:05:54.340 and how the climate crisis is definitely not a top priority for the Trump administration.
00:05:59.040 Chris Wright is actually somebody who said that there is no climate crisis.
00:06:02.700 He's been a very vocal critic of the efforts to fight climate change.
00:06:06.820 And he's a long-standing critic of these efforts.
00:06:10.740 So with that decision, as with so many of the other decisions that the Trump administration has made,
00:06:16.940 he's signaling the direction that the U.S. is planning to go in.
00:06:21.260 Now, in terms of Canada and its relationship with the United States,
00:06:25.420 Danielle Smith is going to be, you know, working her best to secure her own deal with the United States 1.00
00:06:30.780 to ensure that Alberta and its energy exports, as I said, are not subject to these tariffs.
00:06:35.300 Danielle Smith has even said she'll be going down to the inauguration in the U.S.,
00:06:40.140 to President Trump's inauguration.
00:06:42.260 She announced that this week.
00:06:44.020 And that she's working on building her own relationships.
00:06:47.260 She expressed this further in an interview with CBC.
00:06:49.960 Take a listen.
00:06:51.440 Coach first on this to ensure that your energy products aren't tariffed,
00:06:54.140 or does the access to your energy become part of the Team Canada conversation
00:06:58.120 about ensuring all sectors of the economy are not subject to any kind of new tariffs?
00:07:02.680 I would love a Team Canada approach, but look, we're not going to allow for an emissions cap
00:07:09.460 to have any role in reducing our production.
00:07:12.560 And so if the federal government is insistent upon going down that pathway,
00:07:16.160 then we'll take care of our own interests.
00:07:18.020 I would like our interests to align with the federal government.
00:07:20.080 I've told them so.
00:07:21.120 I've told them that dropping the emissions cap is part and parcel of being able to do that.
00:07:26.100 They have been unresponsive so far, but I think they need to recalibrate the relationship with the United States.
00:07:30.660 We know what the United States wants.
00:07:32.280 They want the federal government to mean its 2% NATO commitment,
00:07:35.380 and they want to be able to participate with us in energy security.
00:07:38.340 If those are the two things that we have to bring to the table,
00:07:40.600 then you don't come to the table with an emissions cap.
00:07:42.720 So that's part of the reason why we are going to be as collaborative as we can
00:07:47.880 with the federal government's approach.
00:07:49.940 But we absolutely will defend our own interests and make our own relationships if we have to.
00:07:54.280 So what you can hear there is you can hear the premier.
00:07:58.480 She's being, you know, very democratic about what she's saying.
00:08:01.200 She's saying, yeah, I would like to have a Team Canada approach with Ottawa.
00:08:04.260 But if you really cut through what she's saying, she's getting to the point and she's saying,
00:08:08.160 Alberta is going to be defending its own interests,
00:08:10.800 and we're going to be forging ahead and building our own relationships with the United States.
00:08:14.200 I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but Alberta already has a trade ambassador based in D.C.,
00:08:19.680 someone who lives in D.C. full-time,
00:08:21.960 ensuring that we have good trade relationships with the United States,
00:08:25.560 someone who's based there full-time to represent the Alberta government.
00:08:28.640 And, you know, I've posted some videos on X of James Bazan,
00:08:33.080 the current trade relationship ambassador there in the U.S.,
00:08:35.960 who's now, you know, especially in the limelight
00:08:37.880 and has to build relationships with the new Trump administration.
00:08:40.800 And as I said, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith will be attending Trump's inauguration.
00:08:43.860 So this is something that we can see Danielle Smith taking very seriously,
00:08:46.960 and she signals exactly what it is that Ottawa is looking for.
00:08:50.800 They want Canada to meet our NATO targets,
00:08:53.380 and they are interested in energy security,
00:08:55.700 which are two things that Ottawa could easily provide for the United States
00:08:59.100 if they were taking this issue seriously,
00:09:01.420 and if they wanted to have a good relationship with the Trump administration.
00:09:07.040 Which seems unlikely, given that they have announced that
00:09:10.580 Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is going to be the one heading up negotiations 0.62
00:09:16.000 with the Trump administration.
00:09:18.680 I covered this a little bit last week.
00:09:20.200 It seems like that was an ironic pick at best,
00:09:24.620 given that Donald Trump has already said he doesn't like Chrystia Freeland.
00:09:29.520 He said that he doesn't like Canada's negotiator
00:09:31.660 when they were negotiating the new NAFTA.
00:09:34.400 And of course, at the time, that was Chrystia Freeland.
00:09:37.000 So it does seem like an interesting pick from Team Trudeau
00:09:42.100 to signal that Chrystia Freeland was going to be the one heading up these negotiations,
00:09:45.820 when she already has a rocky relationship with Donald Trump,
00:09:50.320 so much so that he just says that he doesn't even like her,
00:09:52.860 which I know most of you in the audience will be signaling your agreement with.
00:09:57.340 She is a rather difficult personality and comes across kind of just annoying. 0.91
00:10:01.380 She was asked about how she's going to respond to the Trump administration
00:10:05.880 and why she was the best person to head up these negotiations,
00:10:10.240 given the President-elect's past comments about her.
00:10:14.000 Take a listen to what she had to say.
00:10:16.220 Donald Trump has said that he doesn't like you very much.
00:10:19.720 Donald Trump has said that he doesn't like you very much in the past.
00:10:22.480 What makes you the best person to lead the Canadian government's efforts here?
00:10:25.360 I think that President Trump will obviously speak for himself,
00:10:30.780 and I would never put words in his mouth.
00:10:33.240 But in my experience, President Trump respects strength,
00:10:38.720 and he respects people and countries who are strong and clear in defending their countries,
00:10:48.000 in defending their national interest.
00:10:50.780 That's what I've always done, and that's what I will continue to do.
00:10:55.360 I know I played that clip for you guys last week.
00:10:57.880 I'm sure some of you will have complaints about having to hear from Chrystia Freeland
00:11:01.620 two weeks in a row, and I did definitely cut it short for this week.
00:11:06.640 But just to hear the irony of what she's saying,
00:11:08.720 I think it's important to point it out once again,
00:11:10.900 when she's saying Donald Trump respects people who stand up for their own national interests
00:11:17.760 and who project strength.
00:11:19.920 Two things that Chrystia Freeland, and to a latter extent, 1.00
00:11:23.280 the true-to-liberals seem incapable of doing.
00:11:25.660 They do not project strength.
00:11:27.260 They seem incapable of standing up for their own national interests.
00:11:31.440 If you were interested in defending your country,
00:11:33.500 I think you would, at the very minimum, meet your NATO commitments.
00:11:37.080 And we haven't seen that under this administration.
00:11:39.000 We haven't seen a willingness to do that.
00:11:40.660 Even now, with President-elect, as Alberta Premier Daniel Smith rightly pointed out,
00:11:45.220 Canada could offer the United States things that the United States wants and needs from Canada.
00:11:50.140 And they are reluctant to do so because they are so busy spending government dollars on other things
00:11:57.020 that do not benefit Canadians or our national interest.
00:12:01.100 And so we'll leave that with you.
00:12:02.920 Chrystia Freeland is going to be heading up these negotiations. 0.80
00:12:05.560 I suspect that it won't go very well for her.
00:12:08.420 I'm certainly looking forward to the change in government
00:12:11.080 and hopefully the renewed efforts that Canada's negotiator will bring along with them
00:12:16.420 when we see change in those positions.
00:12:19.140 Just to close it off for this week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was asked about how she would,
00:12:26.060 you know, if she was willing to have this Team Canada approach.
00:12:28.260 And she said that's something that we would like to have.
00:12:30.540 But it's just not possible because we've told the federal government time and time again
00:12:35.120 that we will not accept this emissions cap.
00:12:37.600 We are not going to reduce production in Alberta's oil and energy industry.
00:12:42.800 And she was pressed a little bit further about this in her interview on CTV.
00:12:48.280 And essentially she got to the point where she said this is something that Jefferson Trudeau
00:12:51.780 is not willing to budge on.
00:12:54.480 And I think that that's so indicative of this current government.
00:12:57.960 They seem very unwilling to acknowledge when mistakes have been made
00:13:01.280 and very slow to course correct.
00:13:04.480 It seems to be sort of a new and modern phenomenon
00:13:06.820 that no matter how unhappy a nation is, government, they have their ideological drive
00:13:13.960 and they will continue to pursue that agenda no matter how unpopular it is
00:13:19.700 and no matter if it's really what the people want or not.
00:13:22.460 I suspect the part of the reason for that is because they feel some moral superiority
00:13:27.000 with that agenda.
00:13:28.480 And so even if people are suffering, they are hell-bent on continuing to push through that agenda
00:13:35.080 even if it means that Canadians are struggling as we talk about extensively on the show
00:13:39.820 with the high cost of inflation.
00:13:41.480 Justin Trudeau knows that he's not liked.
00:13:43.380 He knows that he's down in the polls.
00:13:45.100 I mean, part of it is that he's, I would assume, very narcissistic
00:13:48.260 and that he's unwilling to step aside even when his own caucus has asked him to step aside.
00:13:53.420 Part of it is, I would say, that they feel that they have a moral superiority
00:13:57.480 to continue pushing through these policies that Canadians don't want and didn't vote for
00:14:02.200 as evidenced in the low poll numbers that the Trudeau Liberals have
00:14:05.780 and in the fact that they are trying to continuously secure these agreements
00:14:09.380 with the NDP and with the Bloc to keep them in power
00:14:11.900 in return for giving the parties what they want
00:14:14.920 rather than giving Canadians what they want and they need.
00:14:18.500 I think the best example of this in recent history
00:14:20.820 is when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau essentially said
00:14:24.160 that climate change is more important than feeding your kids.
00:14:27.640 I'm sure you guys caught this one, but if not, take a listen.
00:14:30.500 I saw the caption for it.
00:14:31.800 I assumed his words were being taken out of context
00:14:34.100 and then I heard it for myself.
00:14:36.140 Take a look.
00:14:37.140 It's really, really easy when you're in a short-term survive.
00:14:41.640 I've got to be able to pay the rent this month.
00:14:43.500 I've got to be able to buy groceries for my kids
00:14:45.560 to say, okay, let's put climate change as a slightly lower priority.
00:14:53.460 And that's something that's instinctive.
00:14:55.300 When the storm comes, you want to hunker down
00:14:57.420 and just sort of huddle up and wait for it to blow over.
00:14:59.900 We can't do that around climate change.
00:15:03.740 Truly shocking stuff, and I have to note that the irony of that
00:15:06.620 is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was recently in Brazil
00:15:09.700 and he brought his daughter.
00:15:11.680 I mean, nothing necessarily wrong with that.
00:15:13.360 There was some criticism that he appeared to be skipping
00:15:15.520 some of the events while he was out walking on the beach
00:15:18.700 with his daughter, but the irony of telling Canadians
00:15:21.600 that climate change should be just as important
00:15:24.180 to them as feeding your kids while your daughter is able
00:15:26.440 to travel around on a private jet,
00:15:28.740 paid for them by the Canadian taxpayer,
00:15:31.180 and you have the audacity to tell Canadians
00:15:34.520 that climate change really should be as important
00:15:37.720 as putting food on the table for your kids.
00:15:40.340 Totally out of touch.
00:15:41.680 All right, everyone, let me know what you think
00:15:44.240 in the comment section below.
00:15:45.660 Do you think that this is good news for Alberta,
00:15:48.640 that the Premier has signaled that it will be forging
00:15:51.040 its own relationship with the United States?
00:15:53.240 What could that mean for Alberta's future?
00:15:55.520 And do you think that the rest of Canada
00:15:56.820 is going to get on board, or do you think
00:15:58.740 that they are going to be left behind
00:16:00.840 as Alberta uses its oil advantage
00:16:02.880 to secure a strong relationship with the United States?
00:16:05.420 Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
00:16:08.180 I'll be sure to take a look at some of those.
00:16:09.620 I hope that you guys have a great weekend.
00:16:11.980 I'll see you next week.
00:16:12.860 God bless.