Off the Record - This is all Trudeau’s fault

00:00:00.000 So are you all ready for Christmas, Rachel?

00:00:01.600 Have you completed your shopping?

00:00:04.320 Is that a thing that people get done this early in the year?

00:00:07.580 You might be.

00:00:08.340 William, I've been so busy working that, you know,

00:00:12.060 I haven't even started thinking about my Christmas shopping yet.

00:00:15.140 I've just been really focused on, you know, the American election

00:00:18.800 and then immediately afterwards now this tariff fret moving over us.

00:00:21.920 So I don't really have time left in my schedule to think about anything else.

00:00:25.400 I'm absolutely focused on work 100% of the time.

00:00:28.160 And you should definitely remember that this weekend,

00:00:29.880 when you're working on our performance reviews.

00:00:32.620 Well, I was thinking, you know, those tariffs,

00:00:35.200 if they come to pass and it creates a spike in the price of goods on both sides,

00:00:40.180 we're definitely going to want to get our Christmas shopping done

00:00:42.120 and maybe even buy next year's Christmas gifts

00:00:44.480 before we see them go up in price.

00:00:47.780 But hopefully, as we're going to talk about,

00:00:49.600 hopefully cooler heads prevail and we don't see those tariffs come in.

00:00:54.580 Yeah, it's just a bit of a vibe session that our political leaders are having.

00:00:58.360 Nothing negative is actually going to come from it.

00:01:00.500 All right.

00:01:00.700 Now I've given away too much about today's show.

00:01:02.860 Let's get it started.

00:01:10.260 Hey, everyone.

00:01:11.220 Welcome to Off The Record, our Friday fun show.

00:01:15.240 I am your host today, Rachel Parker,

00:01:17.260 and I am joined by my colleagues, William McBeat and Isaac Lamoureux.

00:01:22.600 William and Isaac, thank you so much for being here today

00:01:25.120 to discuss the crazy and fun stories that happen this week in Canadian politics.

00:01:30.980 I want to start it off with something that I have been covering very closely this week,

00:01:35.680 and that is the looming threat from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

00:01:39.340 of 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into the U.S.

00:01:44.960 unless Canada cleans up its act and stops the flow of illegals into the United States 0.95

00:01:50.580 as well as the flow of drugs.

00:01:53.280 Now, William, you've been around a little longer than me.

00:01:56.340 What's your take?

00:01:57.720 Yeah, I mean, this was a problem that didn't just crop up overnight.

00:02:01.880 It's a problem that's been nine years in the making ever since Prime Minister Trudeau

00:02:07.040 and his merry band of incompetent cabinet ministers took office.

00:02:11.760 We've seen what was once an immigration system that was praised by President-elect Donald Trump.

00:02:19.120 He pointed to Canada as a model for how to do an immigration system

00:02:23.440 to one that has now put Canada on a knife's edge economically.

00:02:28.520 And, you know, what are the factors?

00:02:30.300 Well, the first thing is Trudeau completely lost control of the Canadian border.

00:02:35.120 He basically invited the entire world to come to Canada.

00:02:39.140 We didn't do adequate background checks into these people.

00:02:42.580 We've allowed millions of non-permanent resident immigrants 1.00

00:02:46.640 to come into the country in the last year alone.

00:02:49.540 And now we have no real idea of how to control this,

00:02:53.340 of how to get this problem under control.

00:02:55.940 And you're right, it requires political will.

00:02:58.260 But that's not something this government is particularly known for.

00:03:02.680 If it isn't climate change or other pet woke issues like how many genders there are 1.00

00:03:08.920 and what people kind is, this government just doesn't care.

00:03:13.000 And, you know, True North's Candace Malcolm wrote a great article on this,

00:03:17.440 talking a little bit about how we lost our way.

00:03:19.820 One stat she cited, which I think is really important,

00:03:24.580 is that when it comes to terrorists, potential or actual terrorists entering the United States

00:03:31.440 apprehended by U.S. border and customs,

00:03:35.380 Canada has had more than five times the number of terrorists entering the United States across its border

00:03:42.120 than Mexico has with it.

00:03:43.820 So you're right, when it comes to drugs, when it comes to sheer numbers of immigrants, 1.00

00:03:48.940 Mexico is by far a problem.

00:03:50.240 But when it comes to terrorism, that's Canada's problem.

00:03:53.120 And we are by far a bigger threat than Mexico in that regard. 0.99

00:03:56.160 So I think the president is right to express concern

00:03:58.400 about allowing terrorists into the United States across the northern border.

00:04:02.680 Well, just last, earlier this month, one of India's most wanted terrorists was arrested

00:04:09.640 in relation to a shooting in Toronto.

00:04:12.300 What is one of India's most wanted terrorists doing in Canada in the first place?

00:04:18.120 That's a question that we should all be asking ourselves.

00:04:20.640 And to your point, William, it's something that the Americans are noticing.

00:04:24.160 They are seeing the security breaches that we are having here in Canada.

00:04:27.740 They are seeing the types of people that we are allowing into our country. 1.00

00:04:31.180 They recognize that these people are crossing the border into the states.

00:04:34.940 And they are finally saying enough of this.

00:04:37.960 Isaac, we have talked about the absence of leadership from Trudeau's file.

00:04:42.720 I know that you cover the Alberta government very closely.

00:04:45.680 What is Danielle Smith doing differently? 1.00

00:04:48.940 Yeah, so I wrote two articles that touched on this.

00:04:53.200 Firstly, I wrote about the premier's meeting that they convened yesterday

00:04:57.840 with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when they, of course, discussed the looming tariff

00:05:03.640 and the border issues.

00:05:05.060 And interestingly, although perhaps unsurprisingly,

00:05:09.100 Smith was the premier to come out the most outspoken after the meeting.

00:05:13.600 Some of the premiers merely just referenced it.

00:05:16.100 Some didn't talk about it at all.

00:05:17.480 But Smith came out with a huge statement on all of her concerns that she covered in the meeting

00:05:23.160 that weren't only about the border, but of course, as you could imagine,

00:05:26.540 about energy security, the production cap, etc.

00:05:29.960 Other premiers who were outspoken was, of course, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

00:05:35.220 And he said what you alluded to there, Rachel, which was he said,

00:05:38.340 look, we need the CBSA, the Border Service Agency,

00:05:41.100 and the Coast Guard to help us on the border.

00:05:43.720 It's simple.

00:05:44.180 We need to just, you know, use the organizations we have at our disposal

00:05:48.980 to help deal with border security.

00:05:51.960 And the other article I wrote, which William referenced, Candace had also discussed,

00:05:56.640 was, of course, the terrorists going across the Canada-US border

00:06:00.260 compared to the Mexico-US border.

00:06:03.100 Between 2022 and 2024, yes, it was six times more individuals

00:06:07.660 on the terrorist watch list that were apprehended at the northern border

00:06:11.180 compared to the southern, despite, as you mentioned, Rachel,

00:06:15.220 that we only have 9% of the number of people crossing that border.

00:06:19.980 So, I mean, the fact that we have six-fold amount of people

00:06:22.840 on the terrorist watch list, despite being 9%, I mean, it's a shocking number.

00:06:27.020 And it's little surprise that Trump has come out as strongly as he did.

00:06:31.200 I mean, who would have thought a few months ago that Trump, of all people,

00:06:35.100 would be the person to save Canada from its immigration crisis?

00:06:39.660 It's interesting that Danielle Smith, as you said, she's come out so strongly

00:06:44.400 and said Canada can address the Americans' concerns, and we should do that.

00:06:49.400 We should recognize that they are targeting our economy

00:06:53.520 because they are angry about our lax way of handling the border.

00:06:58.020 And now Danielle Smith even came out after that first minister's meeting

00:07:00.760 and said that she is going to be working with the RCMP and here in Alberta

00:07:05.780 to make sure that that border that Alberta shares with Montana is being patrolled.

00:07:10.940 She's going to ramp up security efforts there. 1.00

00:07:13.280 Now, when you think about legals crossing in Canada and the states,

00:07:17.840 you don't really think about Alberta and Montana as a huge problem.

00:07:21.940 That's not really the first area to jump to mind.

00:07:24.020 That being said, I suspect what Danielle Smith is doing is she's signaling to the Americans,

00:07:28.280 we know that she said from the beginning that she is going to be building her own relationship

00:07:32.920 with the Americans because she doesn't trust Justin Trudeau to do it

00:07:35.920 and because Justin Trudeau continuously targets Alberta as seen through its emissions cap.

00:07:41.260 And so, you know, I think she wants the Americans to recognize that even if the rest of Canada

00:07:45.600 and even if Justin Trudeau isn't going to take Trump's concerns seriously, she is.

00:07:51.440 And so even if you don't think about Alberta and Montana as necessarily being a problematic issue,

00:07:55.740 Danielle Smith is signaling to them that it is something she is going to take seriously.

00:07:59.960 She is going to do everything in her power to make sure that Donald Trump's concerns are assaged.

00:08:05.440 And furthermore, I think that she's trying to get an exemption on Alberta energy. 1.00

00:08:11.040 I think she's recognizing that we don't have the people in place.

00:08:13.820 Chrystia Freeland, Justin Trudeau, these are not serious people.

00:08:17.480 These are not people that Donald Trump and his team like.

00:08:20.620 They have been very clear about the fact that they do not like Chrystia Freeland.

00:08:23.940 They do not like Justin Trudeau.

00:08:25.380 So I think she is going to do everything in her power to make sure that Alberta energy

00:08:29.360 is exempt from those tariffs.

00:08:31.580 What do you think, William?

00:08:32.260 Do you think that Danielle Smith is trying to get that exemption on Alberta energy? 0.95

00:08:36.280 No, I mean, I think she absolutely is.

00:08:38.360 This is someone who has well understood and looked with very clear eyes about the source

00:08:44.800 of Canada and Alberta's wealth and prosperity.

00:08:48.440 And she knows the energy sector plays a vital role in that.

00:08:50.960 And I think she also knows, because she said so, that the perception of Mr. Trudeau and

00:08:56.780 Ms. Freeland by the Trump administration, the incoming Trump administration, is not good. 1.00

00:09:01.040 That they have gone out of their way at times to antagonize Mr. Trump, to play the moral

00:09:07.280 superiority card, to try and paint him as someone that they're so much better than.

00:09:13.900 But you also have to understand that Mr. Trump is a very sensitive person when it comes to

00:09:20.760 what people say about him.

00:09:22.180 He does not like criticism.

00:09:23.980 He does not like mockery.

00:09:25.860 You can only ask anybody who's ever done those things when he lashes out at them how much he

00:09:30.740 likes them.

00:09:31.260 And the fact is, is that Mr. Trudeau's own statements, because he cannot help but talk

00:09:36.440 about how much better he is, how much better the liberal government is, how much purer the

00:09:41.660 government is on so many issues, has really painted themselves into a corner.

00:09:45.600 I mean, thankfully, we are hopefully going to see a change in government in Canada at some

00:09:50.700 point in the coming year.

00:09:51.940 And maybe Mr. Pagliavra will have a better chance negotiating with Mr. Trump.

00:09:56.800 At least there won't be that personal animosity.

00:09:58.800 Um, and frankly, you have to wonder just how up, uh, the, the tired Trudeau government is

00:10:06.020 to a hard negotiation with a freshly elected U.S. administration chomping at the bit to

00:10:12.100 try and make some changes.

00:10:13.300 So, uh, yeah, I think we could be in for some pain.

00:10:16.780 Hopefully, clearer heads prevail, and hopefully we can get a cast of characters on our side

00:10:22.000 who's able to deal more effectively with the people we know we'll be dealing with for

00:10:25.700 the next four years.

00:10:26.500 Part of the reason that we're seeing this tension between Alberta and Ottawa, which admittedly

00:10:33.160 is nothing new, but part of the reason we're seeing this renewed tension right now, Danielle

00:10:38.060 Smith is saying that she wants a Team Canada approach to the threat of tariffs, but it's

00:10:43.360 very difficult for her to have a Team Canada approach because of the way that Justin Trudeau

00:10:47.240 is treating Alberta.

00:10:48.980 And she points to the emissions cap that the Trudeau government wants to push through as

00:10:52.760 an example. 1.00

00:10:53.620 And she's saying that it's so short-sighted and that it's making Canada look stupid because 0.99

00:10:58.440 the Americans want energy security. 0.98

00:11:01.040 So Alberta should be willing to meet that need for energy security that America desires to

00:11:05.720 help Alberta and to help give Canada a, you know, a higher position in negotiating with

00:11:10.480 the Americans.

00:11:11.000 And I know that there has been quite an interesting development to this story.

00:11:15.940 Isaac, why don't you take the lead on this one?

00:11:17.520 Yeah, so we'll remember that Danielle Smith previously called the Liberals' proposed emissions 0.61

00:11:25.440 cap a, quote, deranged vendetta, specifically targeting Alberta.

00:11:29.440 And in fact, in her most recent press conference, her and Minister Schultz essentially said, look,

00:11:33.460 we've been trying to work with these guys since before we got an office.

00:11:37.040 We've been telling them, do not do this.

00:11:38.860 You will cripple Canada's economy.

00:11:40.960 But despite their numerous calls, emails, letters, you name it, they have remained unanswered.

00:11:49.800 And long story short, Alberta is taking the very, very strong stance of invoking the Alberta

00:11:56.940 sovereignty within a United Canada Act to counter the emissions cap.

00:12:01.440 This announcement was made this week by Smith, and she was alongside Environment Minister Rebecca

00:12:06.920 Schultz and Minister of Energy Brian Jean.

00:12:09.240 And look, they said, look, you're violating our constitution.

00:12:13.140 We're going to put up this Sovereignty Act to protect our exclusive jurisdiction, which 0.64

00:12:18.320 is non-renewable energy sources.

00:12:20.200 We've all seen the reports.

00:12:21.680 I mean, we've discussed these reports at length, the various reports that have showed

00:12:26.280 that this cap will cut up to 2 million barrels of oil per day.

00:12:32.020 It'll slash over 150,000 Canadian jobs.

00:12:35.760 We saw the one report saying that this would cut a trillion dollars between 2030 and 2040

00:12:42.600 from Canada's GDP.

00:12:43.680 I mean, the number trillion is even hard to comprehend.

00:12:47.260 And then there was a report from the Conference Board of Canada as well, showing that each family,

00:12:51.780 every single family in the country will have $419 less a month, which is staggering because

00:12:58.520 we've also seen the CTF's previous reports that the vast majority of Canadians are less

00:13:04.840 than that away from insolvency.

00:13:07.120 So the difference there is really the difference between being bankrupt or not.

00:13:11.120 I mean, how crazy can we get?

00:13:13.740 Yeah, I'm curious.

00:13:14.580 What do you guys think about the Sovereignty Act?

00:13:16.800 Do you think it will actually protect Alberta and completely stop the feds?

00:13:20.760 I mean, we saw in Alberta's press release all the things they plan to do with this cap.

00:13:25.960 It's even a long list to go through.

00:13:27.780 But I think even the interesting thing here, because your question is, is it going to protect

00:13:33.120 Alberta, is really what's atop everyone's mind.

00:13:35.300 OK, let's see how this plays out.

00:13:37.160 The Alberta government is using this to defend Albertans' interests, honestly to defend Canada's

00:13:41.640 interests, and also to protect their own jurisdiction, which is their own resources.

00:13:46.240 Alberta has the right to develop its resources.

00:13:48.700 That is very clearly laid out and enshrined.

00:13:52.480 The one thing that I would say about this is that I feel like because legal proceedings

00:13:58.320 are so lengthy, I can't help but suspect even while the legal proceedings is ongoing and

00:14:04.260 the challenge is ongoing, I would suspect that we would see a change in government.

00:14:08.160 But William, I know you're about to jump in there.

00:14:09.620 What were you going to say?

00:14:10.900 Well, I have to shake my head.

00:14:12.360 What is it with prime ministers whose last name is Trudeau and their absolute obsession with

00:14:18.400 the wrecking the Alberta economy and energy industry?

00:14:21.860 You know what they say?

00:14:22.480 Like father, like son.

00:14:23.860 Well, you've seen it before.

00:14:24.800 You'll see it again.

00:14:25.620 We have the NEP, which absolutely was, you know, a wound to Alberta economically and even

00:14:33.040 socially as people lost their jobs and their homes.

00:14:35.180 And now we've got, you know, Stephen Gilboa, who is really a jumped up eco-radical activist.

00:14:41.020 That's what he is.

00:14:41.820 He wears a suit, but he's more at home hanging off of a structure, protesting whatever nonsense

00:14:47.860 climate thing he's got going on that week.

00:14:50.240 These are the people in charge of federal departments who make serious decisions about

00:14:55.340 our economy.

00:14:56.440 And, you know, as Isaac mentioned, a cost per family of $419 a month, that's $5,000 a year

00:15:04.840 taken right out of the pockets of your typical Canadian family.

00:15:08.340 So that's $5,000 less to pay for your mortgage, to pay for a vacation, to buy groceries, to

00:15:13.880 invest in college funds for your kids.

00:15:16.240 And instead, you're paying it for, you know, Mr. Gilboa and Mr. Trudeau's latest eco-insanity

00:15:22.560 that they're foisting onto Canadians. 0.50

00:15:24.900 I think, Rachel, you're absolutely right.

00:15:26.420 The goal here, maybe not, isn't necessarily to overturn this legislation.

00:15:30.360 It is to run out the clock on a government that knows it has a limited amount of time to

00:15:35.480 try and get things done.

00:15:36.560 So, again, hopefully before too much damage happens, we can see a change in government

00:15:41.680 and a change in policy.

00:15:43.060 Well, to your point about us all needing to buy, like, our Christmas presents for next

00:15:47.900 year, this year, which you said, I don't know if that was on the show or just us chatting

00:15:51.020 before.

00:15:51.980 But, you know, hopefully before we get to next Christmas, we all, you know, have, we've

00:15:57.380 seen that change in government that you've mentioned.

00:15:58.940 And I think that we're all sort of waiting for.

00:16:00.260 What I said to my audience this week when I was reporting on this, and I myself, I know I

00:16:04.520 feel very unsure that Justin Trudeau and his administration has what it takes to get a

00:16:09.080 negotiation that will not see tariffs on Canada.

00:16:11.860 Maybe they won't be quite so high, but no tariffs at all.

00:16:14.300 It seems quite unlikely.

00:16:15.220 But I said, basically, you know, batten down the hatches, everyone.

00:16:18.100 It's going to be a bumpy ride for a little while.

00:16:20.640 And, you know, it seems to be the case that everyone's thinking it across the board, because

00:16:24.040 to your point, William, you know, Stephen Guibault, he's more at home hanging off someone's

00:16:28.360 house.

00:16:28.820 He's more at home in an orange jumpsuit.

00:16:31.380 These are not serious people.

00:16:33.540 These are not people who are in positions that they are suited for.

00:16:37.880 They do not have the skill set.

00:16:39.440 They do not have the intelligence.

00:16:41.240 It is just putting people, you know, it's like they're just not well suited to it at any

00:16:44.780 time.

00:16:45.060 Like, Melanesia Lee, for example, is, I think, the best example of this.

00:16:49.360 Every time she goes out and speaks, it's like she has nothing of substance to say.

00:16:54.520 You know, I remember even recently she was asked about her plan to how to deal with the

00:16:58.200 Trump administration, how to deal with the threat of tariffs.

00:17:00.240 I have a plan.

00:17:01.300 I'm not going to tell you what it is right now, but I have a plan.

00:17:03.600 Like, that was legitimately her answer.

00:17:05.980 It was just a stunning thing to behold.

00:17:08.520 And, you know, Christopher Eland is another great example of this.

00:17:11.320 Someone who is totally ill-equipped for the job that she is now.

00:17:14.380 And also, someone who can't help herself, but to continuously insult Canadians. 1.00

00:17:20.580 There was that instance a little while ago where she told everyone, yeah, you're struggling,

00:17:24.380 you know, with the inflationary crisis that my government has created.

00:17:28.240 Cancel your Disney Plus account.

00:17:29.740 You know, that extra $8 to $12 a month, I don't actually know what it costs.

00:17:33.960 That'll really solve all your problems.

00:17:36.260 Now, the same thing with the local government offering this pennies of tax break, which I think

00:17:40.900 got voted down, but, you know, things are not actually going to do anything for, you

00:17:46.840 know, for Canadians.

00:17:47.680 It's not a matter of nickels and dimes here.

00:17:49.800 That's the issue.

00:17:50.720 And then Chrystia Freeland, most recently, now insulting Canadians once again. 1.00

00:17:55.520 I'm sure you guys have seen this clip.

00:17:57.140 We're going to play it for you now.

00:17:57.980 Take a look at Chrystia Freeland and listen very carefully to what she says.

00:18:02.620 People have been talking about a vibe session.

00:18:05.260 And how that is a challenge for the Canadian economy.

00:18:12.000 Okay.

00:18:13.100 So you guys at home, you're struggling to make ends meet.

00:18:16.220 You're struggling to pay rent, get groceries on the table, keep the lights on.

00:18:19.240 That new part for your car that you've been needing, you can't afford it.

00:18:22.580 Can't get that root canal for your son that he needs.

00:18:25.820 No worries.

00:18:26.620 It's just a vibe session.

00:18:27.880 You're just feeling now.

00:18:29.060 There's not actually anything wrong with the economy.

00:18:30.720 The economy, the liberal government's economy, best economy there's ever been.

00:18:34.220 Just you.

00:18:34.720 You're just feeling.

00:18:35.560 It's just a bad vibe.

00:18:36.940 That's all it is.

00:18:38.040 That's what she's telling Canadians.

00:18:42.080 It is actually laughable if it didn't make you want to cry.

00:18:46.880 This is, of course, a government that famously said they would build the economy from the heart out

00:18:51.640 and that the budget would balance itself.

00:18:53.940 And now, as long as we all have good vibes, then why should we be worried about the fact

00:18:59.620 that we can't pay our rents and our mortgages or buy groceries or afford to save for retirement?

00:19:04.900 So we'll all have to work until we literally drop dead in the middle of a workday.

00:19:10.380 You know, just get on with a better vibe.

00:19:12.420 I mean, I'll tell you, if you can find someone more out of touch with the needs and experience

00:19:18.100 of an everyday Canadian than Chrystia Freeland, I would be amazed at who that is. 1.00

00:19:22.740 Maybe one of the Kardashians because it's been so long since they've lived a real life.

00:19:27.480 But, you know, again, you have to wonder, who are these people?

00:19:31.940 Who are these people who are in charge of government departments and charged with making massive

00:19:36.960 and important decisions day in and day out that affect the lives of ordinary Canadian families?

00:19:42.560 We have a vibe problem?

00:19:44.340 No, we have a cost of living crisis.

00:19:46.920 We have a housing crisis.

00:19:48.980 We have an immigration crisis. 0.97

00:19:51.780 We have a healthcare crisis.

00:19:53.980 None of which can be solved by simply listening to Pharrell's Happy on playlist, on repeat, over and over again.

00:20:01.760 And, you know, I know it's not polite to speak ill of them, but you have to wonder sometimes. 1.00

00:20:07.220 These people really are dumbasses. 0.99

00:20:08.940 You may need to bleep that, editors, in the post. 1.00

00:20:12.860 I think they will.

00:20:13.820 And that was my mistake.

00:20:14.600 I think the HST tax is expected to pass, but the GST, sorry, is expected to pass.

00:20:21.240 But the conservatives will be voting against it.

00:20:23.820 And, you know, the liberals are really trying to raise the alarm on this saying,

00:20:28.180 oh, you know, the conservatives are voting against this tax.

00:20:30.480 They don't want you to have a tax break.

00:20:32.280 I actually, I don't think that line of attack is working anymore.

00:20:35.700 I think that it worked against the conservatives for a really, really long time.

00:20:39.620 But Trudeau is so far down in the polls right now, and people are really seeing through him.

00:20:44.700 He's so unpopular.

00:20:46.440 And I think that even, because, yes, it's such an easy thing to say,

00:20:49.960 oh, the conservatives voted against a tax break.

00:20:52.600 I think Canadians recognize that this was a useless tax break

00:20:55.860 that wasn't going to do anything meaningful for their pocket.

00:20:59.240 And, you know, we can live without saving that extra $3 when we go out for dinner.

00:21:04.420 If you're really struggling, you're probably not going out for dinner in the first place.

00:21:09.220 What's your take, Isaac?

00:21:10.960 Yeah, just wanted to speak quickly about the vibe session thing, which was,

00:21:16.420 because I wrote the article on that.

00:21:18.020 I just wanted to say, I listened to the, I think it was 42-minute press conference

00:21:22.860 held by Freeland and two other ministers.

00:21:25.400 And my editors can attest to this.

00:21:28.500 The article took me longer than normal to write,

00:21:31.080 because I was frankly shocked.

00:21:32.880 In this 42-minute conference,

00:21:35.120 almost not one sentence that was said was true.

00:21:39.420 Literally everything they said was just verifiably untrue.

00:21:43.320 They would say things like, oh, Canada has the lowest unemployment in the G7,

00:21:47.380 the best GDP growth in the G7.

00:21:48.960 I mean, the list goes on.

00:21:50.200 But you could check these things in five seconds

00:21:52.500 and tell that they're just frankly not true.

00:21:55.520 So, I mean, it's frustrating that these parliamentarians

00:21:59.220 can just have a conference and lie for the whole thing,

00:22:02.620 and it's all good.

00:22:03.960 But I don't know.

00:22:05.020 As for the GST tax break, what's that going to cost Canadians?

00:22:08.840 Six billion dollars or something?

00:22:11.280 Yeah, not that, I mean, hey, like William said,

00:22:13.660 the budget will balance itself.

00:22:15.040 So, I mean, Justin Trudeau has accumulated over one trillion dollars in debt already

00:22:18.900 during his tenure, which, of course, as we all know,

00:22:21.780 is more than every other prime minister before him combined,

00:22:25.160 which, I mean, just saying that is almost unbelievable.

00:22:28.120 It's truly a shocking statistic.

00:22:30.180 And, hey, it's only going to continue to climb.

00:22:33.160 We've seen everyone's questioning the Liberals

00:22:35.720 because they initially said they were going to have a, what,

00:22:37.360 $40 billion deficit.

00:22:38.860 But now the PBO is saying, are you sure about that?

00:22:41.220 Because I'm looking at the numbers here,

00:22:42.460 and it doesn't look like you're going to be able

00:22:44.320 to have the deficit you promised.

00:22:46.220 It's going to be higher.

00:22:47.440 Surprise, surprise.

00:22:49.780 How much did you say that it was?

00:22:53.000 Canada's dead?

00:22:54.220 Yeah, the deficit that was promised.

00:22:56.160 Oh, I think it was $40.2 billion, right?

00:22:58.720 With billion with a B.

00:23:00.240 With a B.

00:23:01.020 Yes.

00:23:01.220 Sorry, guys.

00:23:03.740 You're not going to have that $40 billion deficit that you promised.

00:23:07.080 It's actually going to be a lot higher.

00:23:08.540 Yeah.

00:23:09.580 All right.

00:23:09.860 We have spent enough time only depressing and anxiety-inducing stories.

00:23:14.200 We've got to end it off with something a bit more humorous.

00:23:17.140 William, I think that you picked that green shirt intentionally today.

00:23:21.680 I am.

00:23:23.520 I better watch out, though, because, you know,

00:23:26.320 if you've been paying any amount of attention on social media for the past week,

00:23:29.780 you probably know that the film version of the musical Wicked appeared on big screens.

00:23:36.220 It's a fun musical, lots of songs, lots of high-energy dancing,

00:23:40.560 and tries to tell a little bit of a backstory, I think,

00:23:43.500 on some of the characters from the original Wizard of Oz movie.

00:23:46.460 But over at the, I want to get their name right, the British Board of Film Classification,

00:23:51.600 a group of people who have never met a fun time that they couldn't find something to wreck it with,

00:23:57.160 they decided that the movie is discriminatory and now has a trigger warning specifically for green-skinned people

00:24:06.380 and persecuted talking animals.

00:24:09.740 And when I saw this story, I actually had to click it to make sure I wasn't reading an Onion or other satirical article.

00:24:17.480 I thought, surely to goodness, we aren't actually concerned about discriminating against green-skinned people and talking animals. 0.99

00:24:26.860 But no, lo and behold, that's what this censorious body in England has decided.

00:24:32.140 They want people to know before watching Wicked that if you're green of skin or if you're an animal that can talk,

00:24:39.980 you may be deeply offended by Wicked, the musical on screen.

00:24:44.400 So I just thought that was worth mentioning in the fact that, has the world lost its mind and gone completely crazy?

00:24:53.000 Definitely certain parts of it, the answer is an unqualified yes.

00:24:55.940 We are living in insane times.

00:24:57.840 Well, it certainly has, and the way that we know that is that when you're saying,

00:25:02.880 I initially thought this was like a headline from the Onion or another satirical site,

00:25:06.800 that seems to be happening on the regular now.

00:25:09.680 Basically, you know, at least once a week, if not more often, you're running into a headline,

00:25:15.160 you're like, I gotta double-check this, you're reading, you know, you're clicking on the news site,

00:25:18.840 you're like, something's glitching here, this can't be real.

00:25:21.560 And sure enough, it turns out that it was a real headline.

00:25:24.300 The thing that is just killing me about this whole Wicked thing is,

00:25:27.680 so I had actually never heard of this musical.

00:25:30.940 Apparently, it's like, you know, really popular and all these things.

00:25:34.120 I hadn't heard of it before.

00:25:36.160 Ariana Grande was cast in it.

00:25:37.780 I didn't really realize like how big of a deal it was that they were doing Wicked.

00:25:41.460 And they have pumped out like millions and millions of dollars on the advertising for this

00:25:46.720 to the point where if anyone in the audience has not seen an advertisement for this musical,

00:25:53.880 please let me know in the comment section below because you are like the luckiest person in the entire world.

00:25:59.360 My timeline, no matter which social media platform I'm using,

00:26:02.620 if I'm on X, if I'm on Facebook, if I'm searching the web, if I'm on YouTube,

00:26:07.500 it is filled with all sorts of promotional content for this musical Wicked.

00:26:13.060 You absolutely cannot escape it.

00:26:15.100 Personally, I'm not a very big Ariana Grande fan who was sort of the pop celebrity

00:26:20.280 that was cast as one of the main roles in this movie.

00:26:24.120 See, I know way too much about it because like I've watched some of this advertising content

00:26:28.200 that I actually don't want to watch, but I just, I can't help it.

00:26:30.700 And her and the other lead who plays the green character, you know,

00:26:35.440 they have been doing this sort of insufferable press tour

00:26:38.300 where they cry in every single interview that they do.

00:26:42.840 They'll break down in tears and talk about how important and how meaningful it was.

00:26:46.240 And it's just the most sickening, grotesque thing I've ever witnessed.

00:26:49.200 So you're an, you're actresses. 1.00

00:26:51.120 You have the easiest, best life.

00:26:53.520 Put on a smile, do your press interview, talk about how great it was,

00:26:58.160 talk about how everyone should go see the musical and call it a date.

00:27:01.040 Stop with the bloody tears already.

00:27:02.740 It's so annoying to watch.

00:27:04.240 And so they are just getting absolutely raked over the cold to the point that I suspect

00:27:08.420 people like myself, someone, I consider myself a normal person, a normie.

00:27:13.580 I get that nowadays, everyone wants to be weird

00:27:15.420 and they'll use whatever labels they can to show that they're weird

00:27:18.400 because they just want attention.

00:27:19.520 I'm a very normal person.

00:27:21.500 I am not interested in watching this musical

00:27:23.500 because of how insufferable the press tour has been for it. 0.99

00:27:26.640 But now that this stupid trigger warning has come out for the movie, 0.97

00:27:30.000 I've been put in this difficult position where I like, 0.98

00:27:31.960 I almost have to defend the artistic integrity of the movie

00:27:35.200 because the trigger warning is just so annoying.

00:27:37.480 And I suspect that there's other people on the right.

00:27:39.200 We've also been put in sort of this, you know, uncomfortable conundrum

00:27:43.020 where it's like, I hate this musical and everything that the people

00:27:45.700 who are writing it stand for.

00:27:46.880 But also the trigger warning is really over the top.

00:27:49.640 And I want to call it the people who gave the trigger warning.

00:27:52.220 Isaac, do you have any thoughts?

00:27:53.620 I mean, like, have you been seeing all the,

00:27:55.900 my timeline is just filled with stuff about Wicked.

00:27:58.520 And can you even see it in Canada or do you have to go to London?

00:28:01.760 Because I don't even think we can see it here,

00:28:03.280 but I could be totally wrong on that.

00:28:05.400 Yeah, I have a few thoughts.

00:28:07.000 Firstly, I don't know that I've noticed it as much on social media

00:28:10.960 as you may have, Rachel,

00:28:11.940 but I will say every single hockey game I've watched this season

00:28:14.880 has had an advertisement for Wicked,

00:28:17.480 the very ones you described of essentially actresses crying

00:28:20.040 in press conferences.

00:28:21.720 And it's definitely insufferable.

00:28:24.660 Love that stuff.

00:28:25.240 Insufferable.

00:28:26.180 But to be fair to Sportsnet,

00:28:27.620 they also have been showing Alberta's Scrap the Tax,

00:28:30.560 or, sorry, Scrap the Cap ad campaign.

00:28:33.240 Well, hold on.

00:28:34.180 They do got both sides there.

00:28:35.480 It's not that we can say to be fair to them.

00:28:37.480 They get paid a lot of money to run those ads. 0.79

00:28:40.120 And I just wanted to tell a quick story

00:28:42.560 to defend green-skinned individuals.

00:28:45.400 I was in Dollarama like a few weeks before Halloween,

00:28:50.980 and I seen this guy walk in, not in a costume.

00:28:53.140 He looked completely normal,

00:28:54.120 aside from the fact that his skin was completely yellowish slash green.

00:29:00.040 And, of course, it's Halloween time,

00:29:01.200 so he could have been in a costume,

00:29:02.640 or maybe he had jaundice.

00:29:04.620 I don't know that I've ever actually seen someone in person with it,

00:29:07.340 but it looked so realistic that it wasn't makeup.

00:29:09.400 So I thought, hmm, maybe that's jaundice,

00:29:12.780 and he's the very person they're trying to defend in this rule, I guess.

00:29:19.540 Okay, so they're trying to defend jaundice individuals. 0.96

00:29:22.440 Please then explain the bit about the talking animals.

00:29:25.360 Well, I just had to laugh,

00:29:26.540 because I don't know if maybe I'm older,

00:29:28.580 so this was only for my generation,

00:29:30.420 but there used to be an expression where when people were saying,

00:29:33.100 you know, well, I'm not racist,

00:29:34.740 it doesn't matter if someone's black, white, or purple.

00:29:37.700 And now I think, well, actually,

00:29:40.500 now it turns out that purple, like green,

00:29:43.220 could be a protected category of people.

00:29:45.420 So we may have to now update that example again

00:29:48.220 to say something more relevant.

00:29:50.680 I just have to wonder,

00:29:51.660 don't people have anything better to spend their time,

00:29:54.600 energy, and money on

00:29:55.680 than, you know, trying to say,

00:29:58.000 oh, the poor green-skinned, 1.00

00:29:59.500 the nauseous people on a cruise

00:30:02.600 who are green from feeling seasick.

00:30:05.380 You know, that's a protected class of people, too.

00:30:08.580 No, that's the problem with society today,

00:30:11.420 is our lives have become too easy.

00:30:13.820 We are too modernized.

00:30:15.100 A lot of people are not having kids.

00:30:16.600 They have nothing but time.

00:30:17.940 They're so bored with themselves

00:30:19.140 and with their, you know,

00:30:20.380 their meaningless, frivolous lives

00:30:22.360 that they create problems that don't exist

00:30:23.960 to talk about how they can solve them.

00:30:25.760 That is the problem of our society,

00:30:27.440 is people do not have enough work.

00:30:29.160 I definitely believe that to be true.

00:30:30.740 And I actually looked at this stuff

00:30:32.420 while we were talking

00:30:32.980 as I knew it was something shocking.

00:30:34.940 Their advertising budget was $145 million.

00:30:39.500 So they spent $145 million

00:30:42.380 on that miserable, miserable press tour.

00:30:46.580 Yeah, and all it's going to result

00:30:48.220 is people like me

00:30:49.040 are not going to go watch the musical.

00:30:50.840 And does anyone know,

00:30:51.580 do you have to go to London to see it?

00:30:53.660 I feel like that's a William question.

00:30:56.280 I don't think so.

00:30:57.520 I think if it isn't already out everywhere,

00:31:00.080 it will be.

00:31:01.340 Oh, so it's like going to be

00:31:02.360 in the movie theaters here?

00:31:04.060 I believe so.

00:31:05.340 To be honest,

00:31:05.920 I haven't paid that much attention to it either.

00:31:09.340 I was more shocked that Greenskin 1.00

00:31:11.500 is apparently now a protected

00:31:13.000 human rights criteria.

00:31:15.400 $145 million would be quite

00:31:16.960 the advertising campaign

00:31:18.180 to just cover a film

00:31:19.700 that is able to be seen in London.

00:31:23.600 Yeah, I feel like if it's a musical,

00:31:26.520 I don't know,

00:31:26.760 I thought maybe that they were actually

00:31:28.000 like doing it in a theater

00:31:29.000 somewhere in London,

00:31:29.900 but I guess it's just like a

00:31:31.340 high school musical movie title.

00:31:33.280 That was a movie.

00:31:35.020 It was a musical.

00:31:36.260 It was on stage.

00:31:37.480 Now it's a movie

00:31:38.260 for everybody to see.

00:31:39.820 But be warned,

00:31:41.160 there are green people

00:31:42.060 and talking animals in it.

00:31:43.540 So cover yourselves accordingly.

00:31:45.440 Don't be too offended.

00:31:47.260 All right, guys,

00:31:47.880 we're going to leave it there for today.

00:31:49.320 Don't forget that everything

00:31:50.220 you heard today

00:31:50.940 was off the record.

00:31:56.760 Do you guys remember

00:32:00.120 like a year ago

00:32:00.940 they redid

00:32:01.940 the Mean Girls movie?

00:32:04.320 So...

00:32:04.520 I do, yeah.

00:32:05.580 ...to see it.

00:32:07.440 And it was like

00:32:08.520 the day that I was going to see it,

00:32:10.120 I realized that

00:32:10.800 I like looked something up

00:32:12.040 and I learned,

00:32:12.540 I was reading an article about it

00:32:13.660 and I was like,

00:32:14.080 oh, it's a musical.

00:32:14.960 I had no idea.

00:32:15.500 Yeah, I mean,

00:32:16.840 the original Mean Girls

00:32:18.180 is kind of a classic,

00:32:19.720 you know,

00:32:19.940 written by Tina Fey,

00:32:21.140 starring the famous

00:32:23.180 and then infamous

00:32:24.060 Lindsay Lohan.

00:32:25.720 And then, you know,

00:32:26.880 to try and remake it,

00:32:28.140 I always think,

00:32:28.940 why wreck a good thing

00:32:30.380 by remaking it?

00:32:31.420 Why don't you just let

00:32:32.260 the original be a thing

00:32:33.860 that people like?

00:32:34.860 And, you know,

00:32:35.680 here's an idea, Hollywood.

00:32:36.920 Come up with a new idea

00:32:38.200 for a movie once in a while.

00:32:45.500 ...

00:33:12.920 ...

Off the Record - November 30, 2024

This is all Trudeau’s fault

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