00:00:00.000It's the Kinsella Cast, starring Warren Kinsella.
00:00:18.400Hey, it's Warren. Welcome to the Kinsella Cast. Got a good one for you this week.
00:00:22.480We've got Brian Lilley's on a cruise, like he's popping around beautiful locales in the Caribbean, so we're going to give him a break today.
00:00:35.300We've got John Mraz, got my boss at Postmedia, Adrian Batra, and Alex Pearson.
00:00:42.820We've got Tasha Carradine, Carl Belanger. Got some rock stars for you.
00:00:47.480And I've got some rock and roll, kind of lo-fi stuff. I dig that.
00:00:52.260As you guys probably know, when I've been in bands, I always say to the other guys,
00:00:57.540Hey, let's do that guitar, Lubby Dubby, which is a very precise technical term,
00:01:02.640which basically means kind of putting the bottom of your palm along the strings.
00:03:45.800You would have needed a magnifying glass to find a mention of the Melbourne synagogue fire in Canadian media the next day.
00:03:52.960And as such, we have reached the point where actual news is no longer news.
00:03:59.500That is, something that is disturbing has become less disturbing because it happens so often.
00:04:05.880That's what we have observed with the attacks on Jews and Jewish places of worship in the 428 days since Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Jews in Israel on October 7.
00:51:59.380He said he's going to, if he was prime minister, he would retaliate if need be.
00:52:03.860So I think he's walked the line in the right way.
00:52:07.080The problem for Trudeau is, you know, he really has no leverage with the Trump guys, and we desperately need that now because those 25 percent tariffs, if they come to pass, they could sink the Canadian economy.
00:52:21.100Yeah, and Batchelor, it's interesting because Trump has been a wedge issue for the Trudeau government, so that can't be a thing this time around.
00:52:28.320You know, Trudeau's gotten into a lot of trouble, you know, using Trump as his punchline and certainly using him as jokes with other world leaders.
00:52:35.760He was called two-faced by Trump, so, you know, they've got a past.
00:52:40.080But, you know, how do you see this moving forward, right?
00:52:43.640How does the campaign look when we're in the middle of trying to, you know, renegotiate and stave off these tariffs?
00:52:50.780Well, no one could argue that Donald Trump didn't telegraph exactly what he wanted to do, and it didn't matter what country you're in, neighbour, ally, whatever the case may be.
00:53:03.040What was surprising was the number, the 25 percent.
00:53:15.360But the challenge Canada faces, and I agree with Warren's assessment on how Pierre Polyev has been sort of navigating this thus far.
00:53:25.140He is like, yes, Team Canada, we need to come out strong and do what's in the best interest of Canadians, because we are not the 51st state.
00:53:36.340But this is the challenge that we have as a country in a circumstance like this, is we don't have a prime minister who speaks with much moral authority, who speaks from a position of strength, and who speaks from a position where we have someone across the table who's willing to listen.
00:53:55.220That's the challenge Canada faces, and yes, I suspect that Trump is acutely aware of the fact that Justin Trudeau likely will not be the prime minister after the next federal election.
00:54:08.580So that's Canada's conundrum, where I think it's a bit ridiculous for them to suggest that Pierre Polyev shouldn't point out some of the weaknesses that we have had with the border, with the flow of drugs.
00:54:20.340We have not done a good job in that regard, but we don't have someone right now who is in a position of strength and can speak with moral clarity and authority on what Canada has done or is doing with respect to this.
00:54:35.820And that's where the Trudeau government is on very shaky ground when it comes to whatever negotiations are coming through against the tariffs and upcoming negotiations on USMCA.
00:54:48.980The other thing is, Warren, it's really difficult because the things that Trudeau would have to appease Trump with means he has to reverse a lot of his policies, right?
00:54:56.740Like he's already reversing the immigration policy, going back on that.
00:55:00.080But there are a lot of stances, even their latest two stances on Israel have been absolutely, I mean, outrageous, you know, voting with the ICC.
00:55:07.600And now this other on, you know, the two state solution and all these things that they're doing make us outliers.
00:55:14.680But even on energy policy, like we do have leverage, you know, Keystone's going to come around again.
00:55:19.600Natural gas is going to be needed for things like AI, but it would require Trudeau to backtrack on everything.
00:55:29.940You know, he's doubled down on his anti-Israel stance in the past few days, as is his minister of global affairs, Melanie Jolie, who's just a disaster.
00:55:39.820But, you know, he looks like he's sucking and blown at the same time with Trump.
00:55:44.640You know, he has made fun of Trump, you know, in international meetings.
00:55:48.720He's a hot mic caught him, you know, dismissing Trump and mocking him to other world leaders.
00:56:14.660And I can't figure out still what the Trudeau government's plan is.
00:56:20.820You know, is it a Team Canada approach?
00:56:23.140Is it, you know, being critical of the premiers in Pollywood?
00:56:27.320Like, I can't figure out what he's doing.
00:56:29.600And all of us should be alarmed because one quarter of the employment, one quarter of the jobs in Canada depend on having a sane trading relationship with the United States of America.
00:56:40.640I'm not here to tell the prime minister how to do his job, but I promise you, I will tell him when I think he's wrong.
00:57:57.020But, again, I feel like she's struggling to find her ground when maybe what she should learn is stop being apologetic.
00:58:02.580Like, you've got to be someone and stand for it, right?
00:58:05.500You kind of got that sense pretty much since she became leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario,
00:58:09.700that there has been really no niche that she's been able to grab onto.
00:58:15.060But I will say this position that she's taken on the carbon tax was out of necessity.
00:58:21.340Justin Trudeau, one of the reasons why Canadians are so fed up, so frustrated, is not just because nine years of a lethargic government that's out of touch,
00:58:30.600but Pierre Pallievre has made such a good, has done such a good job of positioning the carbon tax as one of the biggest ills to why our economy is such as it is
00:58:40.080and what it's done to the bottom line for each and every individual Canadian's pocketbook.
00:58:45.780And so, Bonnie Crombie, you know, fairly or unfairly, you know, you do get tied with your federal cousins and your provincial cousins as a Liberal.
00:58:55.260She knew that this was something that Doug Ford has vociferously been opposed to.
00:59:00.880She needed something to say to the electorate come year or year's time, you know, six months' time when we have a provincial election.
00:59:08.020And this was a political move she had to make.
00:59:13.440I don't know, however, Alex, if it's going to be enough to carve out enough of a niche for her with the electorate of Ontario,
00:59:21.080who is likely going to support a Ford majority in the next election.
00:59:26.220I don't think it's, I don't know if it's enough.
00:59:28.580And you kind of heard in that clip, you played very tepid applause from the room.
00:59:34.460Maybe there weren't a lot of people in there.