Melania Jolie is a better diplomat to the United States than all of the rest of the federal government combined. I ll show you why on this episode of the Ezra LeVant Show. She's also a good friend of mine, and I think you'll agree she's a great person to have on the show.
00:04:21.620I guess I would just ask, though, if you are coming forward, because it's not just the conservatives, it's all the opposition parties.
00:04:29.140And the issue is they're becoming even more critical because they would argue, I think, the Prime Minister has put the country in this spot.
00:04:37.700By making the decisions he did when he did it, I'm not saying it's not your decision to make, obviously, but he is the leader of your party.
00:04:44.120By waiting until when he did, we're in a more vulnerable place where, you know, no one is really sure of exactly what's going to happen or what your government is going to pursue.
00:04:54.240Can you impart a sense of confidence on Canadians that your government can navigate this despite the weakened position we find ourselves in?
00:05:01.540Let's not fall into the narrative that Canadians were looking for this.
00:05:05.920That Canadians did anything wrong to attract any form of tariff threats.
00:06:07.920But at the same time, 25% on the entire Canadian economy is extremely important.
00:06:14.260So that's why we have to put everything on the table.
00:06:17.100Now, I don't know if that's even legally allowed.
00:06:19.200I don't think that Canada, under the terms of the U.S. MCA trade agreement, formerly called NAFTA, I don't think that Canada can unilaterally cut off sales to the United States, except for in a condition where Canada itself is running out of oil.
00:06:36.300It's been a while since I've read the treaty.
00:06:37.620So I think that literally Melanie Jolie has no idea what she's talking about.
00:06:43.520But the fact that she would say, oh, we're going to just shut down the number one export our country has to the United States, and to heck with the Alberta oil industry, shows where she's coming from.
00:06:54.060She didn't say we're going to stop sending automobiles from Windsor to the United States.
00:06:58.800She didn't say we're going to stop any other export.
00:07:01.440It's just Alberta would be the sacrifice zone.
00:07:04.220And here's what Alberta's premier, Danielle Smith, has to say about that.
00:07:08.840First of all, it's oil and gas that's owned by the provinces, principally Alberta, and we won't stand for that.
00:07:16.900And you should never, ever threaten something you cannot do.
00:07:21.900And I would encourage the minister to look at a map of where Line 5 goes.
00:07:28.900Line 5 comes down through Michigan to get to Sarnia.
00:07:34.220And then that feeds the bulk of the supply needed for Ontario and connects with Line 9, which feeds the bulk of the product needed for Quebec.
00:07:45.840And so if you cut off that line, you are cutting off Ontario and Quebec.
00:07:51.340So I would encourage the ministers to either understand how our integrated pipeline system works and start looking at ways that we would be able to practically respond, because there's no point in making empty threats that cannot be executed on.
00:08:12.200So there are other things, I'm sure, that we'll all talk about collectively, but let's just remember how integrated our markets are with the Enbridge system, the TC Energy system, that we have a product going back and forth across the border every single day.
00:08:32.440And we cannot do anything that harms Canadians in such a substantial way.
00:08:38.700So I just don't take that as a credible threat.
00:08:41.260I'm sure that the U.S. administration won't either.
00:08:43.880So we should talk about things that we actually can do as opposed to empty threats.
00:08:48.520If they were to proceed down that path for some reason, what would be Alberta's response?
00:08:57.180Well, they will have a national unity crisis on their hands at the same time as having a crisis with our U.S. trade partners.
00:10:01.980I mean, of course, it's extremely expensive and they're just wringing out everything they can.
00:10:05.940But that tells me that none of those MPs are going to be down in Washington during that key time of the inaugural because they would only screw it up.
00:10:50.600And I think he realizes that the Liberal Party has a chance in the upcoming election if it can frame its enemy as Donald Trump as opposed to Pierre Pauli.
00:10:59.460So you've heard some of my thoughts on this before, but let me introduce to you a friend of ours who covers Danielle Smith and the province of Alberta quite closely and is intimately familiar with oil and gas.
00:11:09.740I'm talking, of course, about our friend Lauren Gunter, senior commentator at the Edmonton Sun, who joins us now.
00:11:37.720But you're right in that under the Canada-Mexico-United States trade agreement that was worked out back in 2017, I don't think they have the power to do that.
00:11:51.560I also don't think that Donald Trump has the power to impose a 25% tariff under that same agreement.
00:12:01.540But yeah, it's lunacy to say, we'll just cut off energy sales to the United States.
00:12:10.060First of all, 96% or 97% of our oil exports go to the United States.
00:12:17.060Now, since the Trans Mountain Pipeline started up in May of 2024, we've increased the amount that's being sent to Asia.
00:12:24.140We'll continue to increase that amount.
00:12:27.260But it doesn't come anywhere close yet to the amount that gets sent to the United States.
00:12:33.280We would be cutting off our own noses to spite Melanie Jolie's face because about one-third of all Canadian exports are Alberta oil and gas.
00:12:47.340So it would affect the entire economy.
00:12:50.820It would affect the entire American economy, too, because we are now responsible for about 24% or 25% of all the oil that they process in the United States.
00:13:02.360Since 1993, when we were a small percentage of America's import oil, we have, as they have decreased their exports, we've also increased ours so that we are now two-thirds of America's imported oil.
00:13:17.520We far exceed Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, the other exporting countries.
00:13:25.320You'll remember under the Bush administration that Dick Cheney, who was the vice president, who had been an oil executive, saw Canada as an integral part of America's domestic energy security.
00:13:38.620And so he wanted us treated as though we were a 51st state, like we were part of the United States.
00:13:45.860So we could be counted on, we could be relied upon to provide them with energy, quickly, cleanly, et cetera, et cetera.
00:13:52.800I mean, you've written a book about all of that.
00:13:55.720So it doesn't behoove either side to be playing this stupid game.
00:14:01.400But the federal liberals are double stupid.
00:14:09.340Look at what he's made the federal government here do.
00:14:13.720I mean, they're spinning around like tops because of his threat of a 25% tariff.
00:14:18.980They should be looking for ways to increase our border security so that there are fewer illegal immigrants going from here to the United States and fewer illegal drugs.
00:14:31.380They're not doing that, but they are spinning, like, as I said, like tops in fear of this 25% tariff.
00:14:42.400But they have no understanding of economics.
00:14:45.560They don't really understand what that would do.
00:14:47.420They don't really know how they could stop that.
00:16:35.480By the way, Lauren, a lot of the oil companies operating in Alberta are American companies.
00:16:40.740We call it imperial oil in the States.
00:16:43.220If I'm not mistaken, that's known as Exxon.
00:16:45.700I think that's the Canadian subsidiary.
00:16:48.020And I think half of the ownership of Canada's different oil sands companies are American pension funds.
00:16:57.400I mean, yeah, there's Canadian companies.
00:17:00.520Of course there are, and they're Canadian workers.
00:17:02.140But there's a lot of American ownership of those companies in the stock market.
00:17:06.960They're all listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for heaven's sakes.
00:17:09.860So it makes no sense to go down the road of this war.
00:17:13.420And I think that's what Danielle Smith is politely saying.
00:17:15.980And by the way, that's what Stephen Harper said.
00:17:17.540Here, let me play a quick clip of Harper saying, look, you're actually getting our oil at a discount because we really can't sell it to other people.
00:17:26.620Because all those pipelines have been blocked, Energy East has been blocked, the Northern Gateway.
00:17:30.900Here's a quick clip of Harper saying, yeah, we actually subsidized America with below world market price oil.
00:18:00.240Canada, it is true that Canada presently has a modest trade surplus with the United States.
00:18:05.840The reason, Gabe, we do is because you buy so much of our oil and gas.
00:18:11.440In fact, you buy it at a discount to world markets.
00:18:14.500It's actually Canada that subsidizes the United States in this regard.
00:18:19.720And, you know, so maybe my response is maybe Canadians, if Mr. Trump feels this way, should be looking at selling their oil and gas to other people.
00:18:30.160We certainly have always wanted to do some of that.
00:24:06.120Over the last week, Trudeau has given three media interviews and only three.
00:24:12.700All three were to U.S. outlets that he could count on to be friendly to him.
00:24:18.860Mark Carney, the person we all expect will jump in, the former Bank of Canada governor who we all expect will jump into the liberal leadership race, has given one sit-down interview.
00:24:28.900And that was with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
00:24:31.740I mean, they may all squawk about Canada, about the United States claiming us as the 51st state.
00:24:38.400But where do they run when they want to get a favorable interview without too much hassle?
00:24:44.240And it's right down to the United States.
00:24:46.120They're acting as though it's we're already the 51st state.
00:24:49.860I mean, Chrystia Freeland herself used to be a regular on Bill Maher's show.
00:24:55.320The head of the CBC would commute in from Brooklyn.
00:24:59.020It was Trudeau who derided our country as a post-national country with no core values.
00:25:03.800He's the one who stripped John A. McDonald off the $10 bill.
00:25:06.960He's the one who said we're genociders.
00:25:10.000He's the one who tried to denude us of our history.
00:25:12.500And suddenly he's the great patriot, is he?
00:25:15.440Well, I mean, Donald Trump knows the weakness, as you say.
00:25:18.440He is like a bully in that he can find that one thing that you're sensitive about.
00:25:22.140That's why he's so good with giving people nicknames.
00:28:04.160But at some point, we're going to say, you know, the Americans aren't that bad either.
00:28:10.000They're at least not trying to take our oil and keep us from selling it.
00:28:17.020And so I can see exactly what you're talking about, is that at some point, this not much of a separatist movement now, there's a possibility there could be one.
00:28:28.960You know, Canadians love following American politics.
00:28:35.420The whole world was riveted by the presidential election.
00:28:38.820So when my American friends chide me and joke about annexing Canada, I said, oh, really, you want another California in the electoral college?
00:28:47.040You want another 30 or 40 electoral seats going Democrat every time?
00:29:43.820And I'm told that Mark Carney will be in Alberta on Thursday to announce his leadership because he wants to emphasize the fact that, you know, he was raised in Edmonton.
00:30:44.140And when he was Stephen Harper's governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Canada weathered it very much better than any other G7 country.
00:30:56.120And that was because he put strict limits on money printing, unlike Tiff Macklem, who was Trudeau's governor during the pandemic, who thought, well, just turn the presses on.
00:31:15.000And, of course, it just drove inflation through the roof.
00:31:17.760So Carney is probably a better governor of the Bank of Canada than Tiff Macklem.
00:31:25.060But, again, that's not a very high bar over which to jump.
00:31:28.840And he was not a particularly good governor of the Bank of England.
00:31:33.400And I took great satisfaction the other day reading that the largest American banks are pulling out of the coalition that Carney formed of banks to support net zero investment.
00:31:52.780And they've all decided it's not in the interest of their shareholders to be involved in these.
00:31:59.620And so this whole woke environmentalist investment idea is falling apart at the very time that he's going to start pushing that stuff in the liberal leadership campaign.
00:32:09.940Yeah, it shows that it was never really about the environment.
00:32:13.080It was just about politics and being in good with the ruling elite.
00:32:17.340And it's like Mark Zuckerberg suddenly seeing the light on freedom of speech.
00:32:43.380I don't think I'd want to be the central banker if I was named after an elaborate jewelry store.
00:32:49.420You know, you can't blame him for the name his mama gave him, I guess.
00:32:51.920You know, there is, I just keep thinking of the process here, that the liberal party on March 9th, through their own process, which allows kids as young as 14 to vote, which allows permanent residents who are not citizens to vote, which does not require any money.
00:33:10.620So you don't even have the credit card, which is a kind of ID, right?
00:33:14.100A credit card, if a credit card has to match your name, that is actually a form of ID.
00:33:20.540So this process that can be absolutely gamed, and don't tell me they're not having a coding contest in Beijing right now to see who can get an AI system to game it.
00:34:27.500I don't like the fact that they've prorogued parliament because it's really just to save the liberal party's butt.
00:34:34.900But I wouldn't want the governor general getting involved in that either.
00:34:39.960I mean, it would have to be a real constitutional crisis before I thought the governor general, who's unelected and unaccountable, should get involved in all that.
00:34:48.400But let's talk for just a second about how incestuous this whole process is.
00:34:54.640Mark Carney is the godfather of Chrystia Freeland's son.
00:34:59.460And he was her mentor when she was at, I think it was the Wall Street Journal, or the Financial Times, one of the places that she worked as a reporter, as a journalist, before she went into politics.
00:35:13.020She considered Carney her mentor on economic policy.
00:35:18.820And on top of that, they've both been heavily involved in the World Economic Forum.
00:35:23.400And so, you know, that doesn't, like, I don't see that as a conspiracy to rule the world, but it is an indication of the mindset.
00:35:32.260They both have the same elitist Central Canadian mindset.
00:35:37.080And I just don't think that works anymore.
00:35:39.900Well, I don't know if it's a conspiracy, but Klaus Schwab, the owner of the World Economic Forum, and I say owner because he's not elected, it's not a public entity, he owns it.
00:35:49.880And I'm told he makes $300 million a year off their Davos gathering.
00:36:39.780And it also feeds their noblesse oblige idea that, well, you know, here we are, the elites, and we should really be doing more for the underprivileged in the world.
00:36:53.540So let's all get together and talk about how wonderful our social programs are.
00:37:00.460Here's that clip of Klaus Schwab boasting that way.
00:37:02.740What we are very proud of now is the young generation, like Prime Minister Trudeau, President of Argentina and so on, that we penetrate the cabinets.
00:37:16.800So yesterday I was at a reception for Prime Minister Trudeau, and I know that half of this cabinet,
00:37:28.520or even more half of this cabinet, are for our actually young global leaders of the World Economic Forum.
00:37:37.020Well, Lauren, as you know, every year Rebel News sends some people to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
00:45:24.380And I'm going to interview Danielle Smith.
00:45:27.040I think that's important journalism because Danielle Smith is really the only person down there working the Republicans to try and lay off the tariffs.
00:45:34.960We have a lot of other things cooking, too.
00:45:38.220I'm going to go directly from there to Davos, Switzerland.
00:45:40.600As you know, every single year, we cover the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
00:45:45.640Both of the leading candidates in the Liberal Party are World Economic Forum trustees.
00:45:50.860Of course, Chrystia Freeland is a current director.
00:45:54.060Mark Carney has been a director in the past.
00:46:18.300I mean, you'd think they would just want to hobnob with those VVIPs.
00:46:22.000But no, because they don't want to even acknowledge that Davos is important, whereas I think it is very important.
00:46:27.520In terms of policies for the whole world.
00:46:30.440I'm also going to make a less than 24-hour journey to the United Kingdom.
00:46:36.320And I'm not going to give away why I'm going.
00:46:38.620But I will have some news when I'm on the ground there that I think you might find interesting.
00:46:43.280And it relates to the recent kerfuffle led by Elon Musk to talk about a dark stain on the United Kingdom,
00:46:51.640which is these rape gangs that have been running rampant in that country.
00:46:56.140And have actually been covered up to a large extent by the regime media and the government and the police and social workers because it's too difficult to talk about.
00:47:06.300So I'll have a report to you from there.
00:47:08.320So I feel like I'm going to be a pinball ricocheting around.
00:47:11.580But I think all those stories are important to us here in Canada.