Rebel News Podcast - Ezra Levant Show June 11 2018

00:00:00.000 Tonight, we're on the brink of a full-blown trade war with the United States and Canada's

00:00:04.580 auto industries in jeopardy. It's June 11th and you're watching The Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:14.360 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:18.140 There's 8,500 customers here and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:21.860 You come here once a year with a sign and you feel morally superior.

00:00:24.840 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I publish it is because it's my

00:00:29.860 bloody right to do so.

00:00:35.500 We're in a trade war. It's as bad as it gets because for the first time in living memory,

00:00:40.620 the United States is a president who is absolutely dedicated to bringing factories back to the United 0.99

00:00:45.640 States after a generation of offshoring. I've heard what Trump's doing is called reshoring,

00:00:51.680 which is a word you rarely hear because it's really never happened before.

00:00:54.840 But it's happening under Trump. Whether it's Apple repatriating more than $250 billion,

00:01:02.300 this says nearly $245 billion. Let's just call it a quarter trillion dollars.

00:01:07.880 Back to America from other countries where they had put it for tax reasons.

00:01:12.460 Or the booming energy industry, just for another example, where Trump wants to turn America from

00:01:16.540 a net energy importer to an energy exporter. It's actually what Trump campaigned on.

00:01:21.320 Industry and jobs. That and building the wall with Mexico, which is related in some ways. 0.50

00:01:26.800 The media, which is comprised mainly of coastal elites in LA and New York, they cared about their

00:01:32.020 pet ideological issues. The fact that Hillary Clinton was a woman or Trump's personality. But

00:01:36.800 in the Rust Belt, all they heard was this.

00:01:40.540 This is our mantra, buy American and hire American. 0.98

00:01:45.940 Buy American and hire American. 0.98

00:01:49.580 Buy American and hire American. 0.98

00:01:53.160 Do you recall one of the very first meetings that Trump convened at the White House after his

00:01:58.920 inauguration in January? It was with blue-collar trade unions who almost always support the

00:02:04.560 Democrats. He met with them and he ripped up the proposed TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership

00:02:09.660 trade deal. He just ripped it up. And all those big labor bosses, the teamsters, the steelworkers,

00:02:14.360 they were stunned, I think. Maybe, maybe Donald Trump was for real.

00:02:20.440 When the president laid out his plans about how he's going to handle trade, how he's going

00:02:25.660 to invest in our infrastructure, and how he's going to level a playing field for construction

00:02:29.200 workers and all Americans across this country, and then took the time to take everyone into

00:02:34.680 the Oval Office and show them the seat of power in the world. The respect that the president

00:02:40.060 of the United States just showed us, and when he shows it to us, he shows it to three million

00:02:44.060 of our members in the United States. It was nothing short of incredible. And we will work

00:02:49.920 with him and his administration to help him implement his plans on infrastructure, trade,

00:02:55.800 and energy policy, so that we really do put America back to work in the middle-class jobs 0.71

00:03:01.920 that our members and all Americans are demanding. Thank you very much.

00:03:06.100 That was 500 days ago. I think he's proven he's pretty serious, don't you?

00:03:10.200 The media doesn't understand blue-collar things, since they live in elite bubbles. When was the last

00:03:14.600 time some pundit from McLean's magazine or the CBC actually stepped onto a factory floor or visited

00:03:19.900 a mine or a construction site? Never. They hate that kind of stuff. So they don't take Trump

00:03:24.640 seriously when he talks about that. Trudeau was surrounded by fancy people who were very good

00:03:28.800 at jet-setting to TED Talks and Davos, but they don't actually know how to do anything or build

00:03:34.960 anything, so they don't know how much Trump cares about bringing factories back to places like Michigan

00:03:39.800 and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Indiana and Wisconsin because they don't care. Those are uncool

00:03:44.300 places and uncool businesses, like making cars in Michigan boring. They only like Tesla cars because

00:03:51.040 they're virtue signals on wheels. These kind of lefty politicians, they like companies like Instagram

00:03:56.920 and Facebook that aren't really about anything. So the media doesn't get it. Everyone thinks Trump's

00:04:03.180 shtick is just that. It's an act. He's bluffing, maybe. But I think he means it. Can I ask you a question?

00:04:09.260 In any of Trump's dealings with foreign leaders over the past 500 days, has he ever bluffed? Whether

00:04:15.980 it's sending cruise missiles after Bashar Assad in Syria or actually putting massive tariffs on China

00:04:21.760 or canceling a nuke deal with Iran, can you please show me where he's been faking it or just bluffing

00:04:27.260 or just kidding around? I don't recall such an instance. But now Donald Trump is coming for our

00:04:33.140 Canadian car factories. And it's obvious why. We sell about a million more cars into the U.S. than

00:04:38.960 they sell up to us. If Trump brings those cars or their factories back to America, to Michigan, Ohio,

00:04:45.220 and the steel comes from Indiana, Pennsylvania, he's going to be president again in 2020. And more than

00:04:50.540 that, he really will have lived up to his motto, like it or not, make America great again, buy American,

00:04:56.220 hire American, at least for people who were forgotten or ignored in the past.

00:05:01.240 Now, I've shown you this steelworker's ad before. I won't show you the whole thing now, but it's a

00:05:06.160 middle-aged steelworker from Indiana who was actually campaigning against Trump in 2016,

00:05:11.620 basically saying Trump was lying. He didn't mean any of his promises about steel.

00:05:17.380 I actually found this guy. He's a real steelworker. He's not an actor. His name is Jack Tippold.

00:05:21.940 We're Facebook friends now. I've asked him on Facebook if he'll support Trump in 2020. Now,

00:05:27.000 he won't tell me, and I suspect he's a diehard Democrat in public, but I'm pretty sure every

00:05:32.500 single other person in his factory is going to be voting for Trump, and he probably will, too,

00:05:38.360 secretly. Wouldn't it be great if we had a prime minister who went to bat for industrial workers

00:05:43.220 in Canada? Imagine all the industry that goes into a pipeline. I mean, talking about steel.

00:05:49.480 So Donald Trump arrived at the G7 in Canada meeting a few days ago, and he sits down for a very short

00:05:54.380 sort of introductory photo op with Justin Trudeau, and he tells a joke. Trump's always making jokes,

00:06:00.180 even if he's dead serious, maybe especially if he's dead serious. Most of the time, the media

00:06:04.260 pretends not to know it's a joke, or they genuinely don't get the joke. But can I show you the joke?

00:06:10.100 Because there's never a truer word spoken than in jest. Listen to this.

00:06:13.700 We both got elected on a commitment to grow the middle class and help those working hard to join it,

00:06:19.540 and that's exactly the kinds of things that we're going to stay focused on, and it's a pleasure to have you

00:06:23.940 here, Donald. Well, Justin, it's been really great, and I appreciate, you know, Justin has agreed

00:06:29.740 to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers between Canada and the United States, so I'm very happy

00:06:37.740 about that. So I'd say NAFTA's in good shape. But we are actually working on it. We are actually working

00:06:41.600 on it. Now, that was a joke. There were some giggles there, so people knew it was a joke. Now,

00:06:47.020 they had not actually come to that agreement, but I think that's what Trump wants, doesn't he? That was

00:06:51.640 the point of the joke. I mean, I think he wants an end to trade barriers. He keeps saying he does. He

00:06:57.300 keeps acting like he does. The joke, the reason that was funny, ha-ha, is that he was pretending

00:07:02.900 that he had already come to that deal with Trudeau, which is a very complicated deal. He pretended

00:07:07.680 that they had a deal already. But would you agree with me in that joke? He sort of revealed

00:07:12.440 what he wanted? And don't we want that, too, in Canada? I mean, we're right next to America

00:07:18.260 geographically. We don't want, I mean, for God's sakes, we have the longest undefended border in

00:07:24.860 the world, right? We're right next to the world's most important market, right? 90% of Canadians

00:07:29.680 literally live within an hour or two of the U.S. border. Our economies are so linked. Why

00:07:34.180 wouldn't Trudeau actually just jump right in and say yes? It's a deal. Lawyers will work out

00:07:40.300 the details. Trump said some other things, too. It could be that NAFTA will be a different

00:07:47.420 form. It could be with Canada, with Mexico, one-on-one, much simpler agreement, much easier

00:07:54.580 to do. I think better for both countries, but we're talking about that, among other things.

00:07:59.020 But the relationship is probably better, as good or better than it's ever been. And I

00:08:05.360 think we'll get to something very beneficial to Canada and to the United States.

00:08:10.860 Isn't that where Trudeau says, yes, I do, me too? Why wouldn't we say, yeah, let's just

00:08:16.580 have a two-way deal, just can in the United States, best buddies. Yeah, Mexico, the picture,

00:08:20.580 they're so different. They irritate America in different ways, and Mexico does, including 1.00

00:08:24.220 with cheap labor and illegal immigration. Let's just get our own deal and wish the Mexicans 1.00

00:08:29.120 well. We have no hard feelings towards them, but let's just make sure we are not lumped in

00:08:32.980 with them when Trump brings down the hammer. Well, Trump was focused on North Korea, by

00:08:38.420 the way. I mean, Trump has been preparing for that historical meeting for weeks. The

00:08:43.220 meeting actually happened today in Singapore. Trump didn't even want to go to the G7 meeting.

00:08:48.720 I mean, those are all leaders he can just talk to any day, just picks up the phone when he

00:08:52.000 wants to. I mean, we know that Justin Trudeau loves field trips and foreign trips and vacations.

00:08:57.300 Trump has some real business to deal with. So you'll forgive Trump that he showed up a little

00:09:02.600 bit late to a G7 breakfast meeting on women's equality and intersectionality. This is a picture

00:09:09.140 of that. Boy, did the liberal media mock Trump for that. Justin Trudeau literally gave a speech

00:09:16.380 at the G7 that he wanted Trump to sit through about feminism and intersectionality. That is a

00:09:22.040 postmodern Marxist phrase that means you can't just be feminist. You have to be a feminist 1.00

00:09:26.460 of color or a trans feminist or something else. Can you imagine Trump sitting there listening

00:09:33.040 to Trudeau blather on like some college blogger or something instead of Trump preparing for

00:09:40.480 his North Korean summit? Or how about instead of looking at it from Trump's point of view,

00:09:46.640 instead of Trudeau focusing on feminism, how about focusing on NAFTA? But look, Trudeau's

00:09:54.760 gonna be Trudeau. He doesn't have any depth on any policy file other than marijuana. While he was

00:10:00.380 surely going to have fun at the G7 like the host of a big fun party, his only real goal with Trump was

00:10:05.220 to do no harm, right? Let Trump come and go without starting a fight, right? You saw that video. They

00:10:10.500 got off to look like a good start to me. The problem is Trudeau is surrounded by people who hate Trump and

00:10:16.580 say so privately all the time and publicly some of the time too. So Trudeau has to be careful. He has to be

00:10:23.240 on guard not to talk about Trump in person like he talks about Trump behind his back.

00:10:29.620 Like the example here. This is the father of Trudeau's communications director. His name is Bruce

00:10:33.780 Anderson. He's saying Canada should try to kick the United States out of the G7. He claims that Trump

00:10:39.220 actually likes North Korea more than he likes Canada. That's the implication here. As if Trump's not

00:10:45.640 going to bring that dictator to heel. But this is how they think inside the liberal brain trust. I mean,

00:10:51.280 that is crazy talk, but that's the father of Trudeau's right-hand woman. That's what he's saying

00:10:57.300 in public. Imagine what he says in private. This is the house husband of Catherine McKenna,

00:11:02.080 Trudeau's environment minister, same Scott Gilmore. He's actually calling for Canada to put

00:11:06.760 economic sanctions on Trump and his family. My point is Trudeau and his circle are so hateful 0.87

00:11:13.940 towards Trump. They're unprofessional and unguarded, and they had to keep on their best behavior

00:11:18.480 just 48 hours until Trump was gone, and they just couldn't do it. So things worked out pretty

00:11:24.260 well until the very end, and only after Trump had gone on his plane and flown away en route to North

00:11:29.560 Korea, only after Trump had flown off, Trudeau did a press conference where he said Canada wasn't going

00:11:35.520 to be pushed around anymore, as in he was talking tough, only now that Trump was gone. After all,

00:11:42.140 I guess they don't have phones on Air Force One or something. Oh, they do. Trump saw that pushback,

00:11:48.820 and so he tweeted from the plane. He said, PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our

00:11:54.900 G7 meetings, only to give a news conference after I left saying that U.S. tariffs were kind of insulting,

00:12:00.740 and it will not be pushed around. Very dishonest and weak. Our tariffs are in response to his of 0.83

00:12:06.320 270% on dairy. I believe that, actually. I believe that Trudeau was obsequious in person

00:12:12.600 and only pushed back bravely after Trump was gone. I believe that. He was only brave after the fact.

00:12:18.420 Absolutely, I believe it. I mean, this weird New York Times piece today shows how terrified Trudeau

00:12:23.600 is of Trump. Look at this. He literally practiced, practiced handshaking. He had like a handshake

00:12:32.680 trainer or something before meeting Trump. So Trump is busy studying tough policy files,

00:12:38.660 trade files, peace with North Korea files, and Trudeau is practicing how to shake hands.

00:12:44.280 And then bragging about that to the New York Times, I guess. If you think that's bad,

00:12:48.680 look at our foreign minister. Listen to Christia Freeland talk about how she likes to really negotiate 0.80

00:12:53.920 trade deals. The European Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, and I call each other sisters

00:12:59.860 in trade. We sign our emails, hugs. Really? You actually do that?

00:13:05.280 Yes, we do. Wow.

00:13:06.280 We sometimes send each other smiley faces in particularly difficult moments.

00:13:11.940 So yeah, hugs. I don't know if Trump is a hugger. Not sure if we've got the right people on the job

00:13:19.460 here, do you? But again, the goal was just do no harm. Let's get through the weekend. Trump's going to

00:13:26.400 forget about all of us when he goes to North Korea. But Justin Trudeau couldn't help it. So now,

00:13:31.140 like it or not, fair or not, overreaction or not, Donald Trump says he's coming for us. And he's

00:13:36.140 coming for the thing he actually cares about, our auto industry. And he's particularly focused

00:13:40.140 on our dairy industry as the excuse. He says it has a 270% protective tariff, including new tariffs

00:13:46.660 brought in by Justin Trudeau just two years ago. Bizarrely, just as Trump was coming to power,

00:13:52.780 Trudeau thought that would be a good time to bring in more tariffs on the state. So reckless.

00:13:55.600 But remember back to that first video I showed you, this one.

00:13:59.620 Justin has agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers between Canada and the United States.

00:14:08.500 Why not just say right there, yeah, yes, please. Thank you. How on earth is a total free trade

00:14:14.420 agreement? No barriers. Not the dream outcome for Canada. We're right next to the enormous US market.

00:14:20.640 We speak English like they do. They are just across the bridge or the highway. We are friends.

00:14:25.040 How on earth could we not make out like bandits here? In fact, those Quebec dairy farmers,

00:14:29.940 how could they not win with the massive US market for their fancy cheese? Well, Trudeau refused. He

00:14:36.900 refused for weird reasons. You heard Trump. He wanted a Canada-US deal. Get Mexico in their own deal.

00:14:43.600 No Mexico involved. Trudeau refused that? Why? Were you virtue signaling white knighting for the Mexicans?

00:14:49.580 Trump wanted a five-year deal to be renegotiated, reviewed after five years.

00:14:54.480 Trudeau refused. Why? The current deal has a six-month cancellation provision.

00:14:58.160 How is a five-year deal worse than one that can be canceled in six months notice? Which, by the way,

00:15:03.640 Trump has already formally given. Why are we nitpicking with this guy who just offered us free

00:15:08.380 access to the world's most important market? Why don't we say, you know, you're joking, but we're in

00:15:17.020 if you're in. Why didn't we do that? Trump's not just mad at Canada. He's mad at Europe. Look at this

00:15:23.940 great picture. He's adamant, isn't he? Look at them all staring down at him, Angela Merkel.

00:15:29.740 But look at him. He's defiant. He don't care. I suppose you could look at this picture and say,

00:15:33.720 Angela Merkel, she's my hero. She's speaking truth to power. But I think Jack Tippold looks

00:15:39.760 at this picture and says, good Lord. Oh my God, he's actually fighting for steel.

00:15:44.320 Here's what Trump tweeted. He said,

00:15:47.080 And add to that the fact that the U.S. pays close to the entire cost of NATO,

00:15:50.480 protecting many of these same countries that rip us off on trade. They pay only a fraction of the cost

00:15:55.160 and laugh. The European Union had a $151 billion surplus, should pay much more for military.

00:16:00.880 Is he wrong? We all know he's right. I mean, he's mad at Germany there, but he's mad at Canada too,

00:16:09.640 because isn't he right? Americans pay to protect us, and all he wants is to be able to sell some

00:16:15.600 dairy and some cars here and some steel, and he wants an end to our tariffs. Is he right or wrong

00:16:20.960 about who pays to protect us? I mean, I don't care if you're a new Democrat or a communist. You know how

00:16:25.540 much he pays to protect us compared to how much we pay to protect ourselves.

00:16:30.280 And it's Trump's offer, free trade on everything. Is that so odious to us? Don't we actually want

00:16:35.940 that? Well, not if you're a Quebec dairy farmer, because you're making out like a bandit because

00:16:41.000 of the dairy cartel. So what's more important to Canada? Quebec dairy farmers making super profits,

00:16:46.300 profits, or I don't know, the auto industry? Because I actually think that's the choice we have now.

00:16:53.660 Based on Justin, let me read this as a Trump tweet here. Based on Justin's false statements at his

00:16:58.840 news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive tariffs to our U.S. farmers,

00:17:03.860 workers, and companies, I have instructed our U.S. reps not to endorse the communique

00:17:08.240 as we look at tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. market. Yikes. And it's true. We sell them

00:17:16.340 about a million cars a year more than they sell to us. Trump wants those factories back in Michigan

00:17:22.000 and Ohio. But Trudeau won't budge on dairy? And he'll tell Trump that he's a bully? Now, to be fair

00:17:29.280 to Trudeau, Trudeau's language at the press conference that got Trump mad wasn't particularly extreme.

00:17:33.480 He just said Trump was trying to push Canada around, and we're insulted. But was Trump actually

00:17:40.820 trying to insult Canada, push Canada around, or was he actually just trying to reduce tariffs?

00:17:46.980 I don't think that what Trudeau did is a grievous, wounding insult. But don't you know one thing about

00:17:54.740 Trump? Don't we all know one thing about Trump? That Trump's rule of thumb when it comes to insults is

00:18:01.440 if anyone insults him, he punches back tenfold. Don't we know that about Trump? Friend or foe,

00:18:08.000 don't we know that about him? Why would you say that Donald Trump is insulting us and pushing us

00:18:13.300 around? Why would you say that in public, at least, when in private you are meek, which I absolute

00:18:17.700 believe he was? Why, when your only proper goal is to maximize Canada's relationship with America,

00:18:24.040 Trump or not? Well, like I say, because Justin Trudeau and his handlers all despise Trump.

00:18:29.120 Trump and saying, I'm insulted and stop pushing us around, that was the most polite they can be

00:18:36.860 towards Trump. And you know what? Trudeau and his people, they don't mind a trade war because look

00:18:42.120 at them denouncing Trump. I bet they move up in the polls a few points because our media,

00:18:47.020 our cultural establishment, they all hate Trump. So they love that Trudeau is now the world's hero

00:18:52.000 at fighting with Trump. Angela Merkel is smarter than that. France's Emmanuel Macron is smarter than

00:18:57.720 that. The UK's Theresa May is smarter than that because they want something from Trump. They want 1.00

00:19:02.720 trade, they want military protection, whatever. Trudeau is sacrificing our auto industry for the dairy

00:19:08.760 farmers, but really for an ideological poke. Poke a stick in his eye for a campaign issue, maybe.

00:19:16.140 I mean, I bet that in the last 48 hours, Justin Trudeau has been overwhelmed by love and support

00:19:22.900 from the globalist left. Here's Donald Tusk, the unelected president of the EU Council, which is,

00:19:29.560 by the way, one of five different unelected European Union presidents. Have you ever even heard of Donald

00:19:35.920 Tusk before? There's a special place in heaven for Justin Trudeau, he writes. Canada, thank you for the

00:19:42.500 perfect organization of G7. Perfect. He's not referring to concierges and waiters. He's referring

00:19:48.220 to Trudeau embarrassing Trump. So big win, you got Donald Tusk on side. Is he going to buy a million

00:19:54.980 cars here? Evan Solomon, who I increasingly regard as the only independent journalist in Ottawa,

00:20:01.000 here's what he wrote. He said, this is the biggest threat of all, tariffs on automobiles. A senior source

00:20:07.700 told me this would be close to an existential threat to our economy. This is very, very dangerous,

00:20:13.500 hard to overestimate. Here's a former liberal premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, saying the same

00:20:19.080 thing. If Trump follows through on the threat to put tariffs on autos, it will be a catastrophe for

00:20:25.840 Canada. I say again, why not just say to Trump, yeah, free trade, your joke there? That's no joke to

00:20:31.560 us. Let's do it. We totally want it. Let's just do it. No tariffs. Happy to get out of the Mexico deal.

00:20:37.460 They're big boys. They can handle themselves. Everyone in Canada knows the dairy cartel is

00:20:42.700 awful for Canadians. It makes milk and cheese and yogurt very expensive for consumers. It hits poor

00:20:47.700 people the hardest. Because if you're rich, you're not drinking 10 times more milk than a poor person.

00:20:52.300 You just have 10 times more money. The poorest people have to buy their milk. We all know the

00:20:56.040 dairy cartel is wrong. What a great excuse Trump's offering us to actually get rid of the dairy cartel.

00:21:01.340 And we could say, well, we had to do it. Dairy farmers, sorry, Trump made us.

00:21:05.020 That would have given us two wins. Give Trump a concession. It's actually something we secretly

00:21:10.700 want to do, get rid of the dairy cartels, and we get to save our steel and auto industry.

00:21:14.820 Instead, we'll have neither. All the liberal hangers-on were so gleeful this weekend. They

00:21:20.560 all value smearing Trump more than actual public policy that helps Canadians. Here's Andrew Scheer,

00:21:26.940 leader of the Conservatives, based in Saskatchewan. And what does he have to say about this?

00:21:30.660 It's what he said on Friday when Trump arrived. He said,

00:21:35.160 I spoke with the media in Saguenay, Quebec, today and reaffirmed the Conservative Party of Canada's

00:21:40.660 commitment to Canada's supply management system and support for dairy farmers.

00:21:46.680 And Trudeau needs to explain what he meant when he said he was open to flexibility on that file

00:21:51.940 when negotiating with the U.S. and what concessions he offered to them from Canada's dairy industry.

00:21:56.400 So Andrew Scheer was actually demanding that Justin Trudeau dig in harder on behalf of Quebec's dairy

00:22:05.300 cartel. I mean, we all know that's how Andrew Scheer beat Maxime Bernier by literally 1% of the Tory

00:22:11.500 leadership last year. Scheer gamed the system very cleverly. He realized that a party member's vote

00:22:18.900 in Quebec was worth many more times than it was in Ontario or Alberta because each riding got the

00:22:24.240 same number of points in the system. So if you sell 10 memberships, you could dominate a riding in

00:22:29.980 Quebec that you'd need to sell 100 to dominate somewhere else. So Andrew Scheer made a promise

00:22:34.660 to Quebec dairy farmers. If they support him, he'd support them. That's all this policy is based on.

00:22:42.220 A deal a year ago with some Quebec dairy farmers, that's not in Canada's interest and it's not

00:22:47.620 conservative. Jason Kenney and Doug Ford echoed Scheer's comments. Here's Kenney. He said,

00:22:52.520 you could see yourself, he downplayed our 270% dairy farmers. He said, we've had a 60-year-old

00:23:00.640 Canadian supply management system. And by the way, the U.S. has dairy subsidies. So lay off. Well,

00:23:07.580 I think that's the point, Jason. That's what we're trying to do here, get free trade. Or at least

00:23:13.680 that's what Trump's trying to do. I'm not sure if arguing that dairy subsidies have been going on

00:23:18.160 since the 1950s rebuts Trump's point about years and years and years of unfair trade, does it?

00:23:24.640 I think it sort of makes Trump's point. I know that Jason Kenney doesn't like Trump. A number of

00:23:30.780 conservatives don't. But I'm not sure if siding with Justin Trudeau, who clearly wants to scuttle

00:23:36.060 the deal and campaign against Trump, I'm not sure if that helps Canada or Albertans in Jason's case.

00:23:41.080 I'm pretty sure if things keep going downhill, Alberta will be punished by Trump too, whether it's 0.52

00:23:45.600 agriculture or energy. Remember the beef ban 10 years ago. Look, I like Trump, but I know he's

00:23:51.800 not everyone's cup of tea. I don't like that he's going to war with Trudeau because we're all going

00:23:56.760 to be hurt by it. I'm not trying to side with Trump. I'm trying to understand what Trump is saying and

00:24:04.420 doing. I'm siding with Canadians against the Quebec dairy cartel that is the problem here,

00:24:11.120 against Trudeau's sociopathic anti-Americanism, against picking a fight with our closest ally,

00:24:18.280 just out of reasons of ideological hate and personal disagreements. And as a 2019 re-election

00:24:23.700 tactic, I'd be against this if it were Barack Obama on the other side. Look, this is going off the rails.

00:24:30.140 And you know what? The laziest prime minister in a generation just took another personal day off.

00:24:36.600 He set NAFTA on fire on the weekend. And look at this. This is his official itinerary.

00:24:42.300 He just wants to kick back and watch the world burn. He needs a day off.

00:24:48.320 Trump doesn't care. Look, Trump's already off to Singapore. I think he's on his way back already.

00:24:52.600 Canada is small potatoes to him. But Justin Trudeau? Actually, I don't think he cares either

00:24:57.860 because he's the world's anti-Trump hero now. And that's all that he and his staff care about.

00:25:04.500 That and Quebec dairy cartels. Stay with us. We're doing the whole show on this.

00:25:11.740 My friend Manny Montanagrino is next.

00:25:13.620 Welcome back. Well, I've been trying to follow this in real time, as so many aspects of the news are.

00:25:37.100 Twitter is not just a way for us to learn the news. It's a way for Donald Trump to spread the news.

00:25:42.240 And Justin Trudeau and others, too. And so all this happened so quickly over the weekend.

00:25:47.680 And one of the people I was following most closely because he had such a keen eye is my friend Manny

00:25:53.140 Montanagrino, a former national partner at a significant law firm based in Ottawa.

00:25:59.160 He worked in as amongst his clients for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.

00:26:03.420 So he comes from a conservative perspective, but he also has the keen eye of a senior lawyer.

00:26:10.060 And what he sees here deeply troubles him as well. Joining us now via Skype is Manny Montanagrino,

00:26:15.820 the president and CEO of Think Sharp. Manny, good to see you. I don't know if I don't think I did you

00:26:20.680 proper justice in your introduction, but I'll let your words speak for themselves.

00:26:24.880 What is the number one thing that worries you about this fight between Trump and Trudeau?

00:26:29.100 That we are going to be decimated. Canada is going on the wrong path. And I understand what

00:26:37.760 is happening. And I'm surprised that we have not heard the other story or the strategy coming out

00:26:44.900 of Trump. We tend to dismiss him. We tend to ridicule him. We tend to make light of him and joke.

00:26:52.580 But the man is very serious and the man is purposeful and the man has been successful

00:26:58.160 and we should take him seriously. And I have. And I've reviewed what he's done. I've reviewed what

00:27:03.960 Mr. Trudeau has done. And I'm deeply alarmed for Canada.

00:27:07.640 Well, that's the thing is people can object to Donald Trump's style or even his language.

00:27:13.420 And I mean, you can be nitpicky about it. But I see some senior world leaders have said,

00:27:20.580 all right, so Donald Trump is a phenomenon, a force of nature we have to deal with. But let's deal with

00:27:25.080 it in our interest. It looks like Japan has really tried hard to say, all right, we don't quite

00:27:31.100 understand what's going on here. But we know it's so important to Japan to be on the right side of

00:27:35.480 this because Japan is still reliant on America for its defense, especially in the age of China

00:27:40.480 and North Korea. So I think Shinzo Abe has visited the White House and talked to Trump so often.

00:27:47.680 And he's not getting involved in stupid Twitter fights or he's just saying, how can I protect 0.98

00:27:52.700 Japan? And I think even some European leaders are biting their tongue, even if they have a beef 0.99

00:27:57.940 with him, Manny. That's my point is they don't care about personal, you know, drives. They're just

00:28:02.900 thinking, how do I save Japan? How do I save Taiwan? How do I save South Korea? How do I protect

00:28:09.560 Italy? You know, go ahead. Exactly. Well, let's go through that. We're talking about the trade

00:28:14.420 dispute that's escalating. What we haven't heard is the other side. We dismiss everything coming from

00:28:22.200 the USA. And there's a lot of rhetoric going around. And it sounds great to be a nationalist

00:28:27.840 Canadian. I mean, on my Twitter, I post the fact that I was called by a prime minister as an

00:28:34.980 unwavering patriot. I will fight for Canada, anything that comes in Canada's way. And I feel

00:28:41.040 myself in this biggest battle that I've been involved in my 30 years in this fight. The trade

00:28:50.100 is completely, people are not getting the proper view. Trump has made it very clear at the outset,

00:28:57.100 Canada is not a problem. It's Mexico. And the numbers prove that. There's a huge deficit with

00:29:02.140 Mexico. But yet, for some way, Trudeau throws himself into the mix. It would have been very easy

00:29:09.160 to sign up a trade deal and move on with the USA because its focus is on the injustices around

00:29:17.080 every trade deal that they have. Now, China has agreed with Trump and has offered and has agreed to

00:29:26.020 buy $200 billion more in goods. South Korea has agreed. So Trump has already succeeded in his trade

00:29:34.260 discussion, his trade advancement around the world. United States, and he says it, and we don't listen.

00:29:42.840 He said, United States has already lost the trade war. Those are profound words. It's a big statement.

00:29:50.140 United States has lost $800 billion a year every year. Trump is not afraid of the war because they

00:29:57.720 are already being decimated in the war. He doesn't see losing the trade war. He sees winning by engaging

00:30:04.320 in the discussion of a trade war. We don't listen to that. He's already picked up $200 or $300 billion

00:30:10.840 in his quest around the world. Mexico and Canada are being obstinate. Why? And this is what troubles me.

00:30:19.320 Now, another thing is, what has Trump said in the trade deal that's offensive to Canada?

00:30:26.600 I have not found, and I put hours of research into this, I have not found one proposal that's

00:30:33.400 offensive to Canada. I know of six or seven proposals that Canada has given to the U.S.

00:30:39.140 that was roundly rejected by China, by Japan, by Australia, and now by the U.S.

00:30:44.720 I know where the injustices lie, and it is protecting the marketing boards that we have in Canada. It's

00:30:51.600 looking for those virtue signal causes, and Trump has figured that out. So I don't know where

00:30:58.360 USA is on the offensive clause request in this trade deal.

00:31:05.260 Right. I mean, the other day I showed headlines, August, September, October, November, again and

00:31:11.320 again, Justin Trudeau leading with gender analysis and global warming. And I disagree with Trudeau on

00:31:18.140 those things. But fine, put those in a different track. Don't call that NAFTA. It's not the North 0.76

00:31:22.840 American gender agreement. It's the North America free trade agreement. I can imagine how frustrating it

00:31:28.460 was for Trump, who has a real beef. And you can think, you can say he's wrong, but as you point

00:31:32.920 out, he has this, I mean, for decades he's been on about these trade imbalances. And if our guy's

00:31:40.480 talking about feminism and intersectionality, which was a G7 meeting this weekend, it's going to,

00:31:48.300 it's going to, I don't know, it's almost like we're, go ahead.

00:31:52.820 But Ezra, I put that aside. I know that Trump has put that aside as noise. He is a

00:31:58.440 dealmaker. He's looking at the fundamental aspect of the deal. And that is to remove

00:32:03.220 Canada from NAFTA and have a bilateral deal. That was an honest and proper.

00:32:08.100 Which is a good idea. If he's about to pummel Mexico, we don't want to be anywhere nearby. 0.99

00:32:12.640 Exactly. And the Canadian prime minister should put Canadians first. He doesn't. He sits there in

00:32:17.620 protection. He also offered a five-year review clause. I've drafted hundreds of clauses. That's a

00:32:24.940 very good clause. The prime minister resoundingly rejected. No one asked him why. Presently in NAFTA,

00:32:33.000 I think it's Article 34 or 45, forget which, I've gone through it, which provides for an immediate

00:32:39.680 termination of NAFTA on six months notice. What is better for security? A six-month termination clause

00:32:46.600 or a five-year deal? Yeah. And I offer this as well. In a new economy that we're going through,

00:32:53.520 documents and agreements should be reviewed every five years because things change so quickly.

00:32:58.560 I mean, in five years, Amazon has grown a full Walmart, which took 60 years to do. The economy is

00:33:08.140 moving quickly. The economy is shifting. A five-year review is good for Canada and good for the United

00:33:14.320 States. And it's just such a weird procedural reason, like a technical reason, to oppose the

00:33:20.220 deal. Like you say right now, Trump's already given six months notice under the current provisions.

00:33:26.240 So how on earth, why would you even care about a technicality like that as opposed to the substance?

00:33:32.840 Here's what, I got a question for you. And you are a long-serving soldier in the conservative

00:33:38.680 battles for this country. And Andrew Scheer, who's the conservative leader, literally on Friday,

00:33:46.060 put out a series of tweets where he confirmed his party's commitment to the dairy cartel in Quebec.

00:33:53.080 He said, I just got off the phone with the Saguenay dairy, he didn't use the word cartel.

00:33:59.960 And even Jason Kenney in Alberta was saying, oh, these dairy cartels have been around for 60 years.

00:34:06.480 So we're admitting the problems there. I think real conservative public policies get rid of the

00:34:12.000 dairy cartels. And if we can say Donald Trump forced us to do that, how's that not a double

00:34:17.140 win? We get rid of the dairy cartels, which we've never had the political capital to do on our own.

00:34:21.120 So we're actually using Donald Trump as the bulldozer to get that deal done, to win for us.

00:34:26.860 And maybe we can get a concession in return from Trump, like our auto sector. That's the big deal

00:34:31.980 here, our auto factories. Right. Well, you've put a good point. I look at it differently.

00:34:37.460 I look at from when I used to go into these big boardrooms and negotiations, I looked at it from

00:34:42.000 the perspective of the person that I was dealing with. And what does Donald Trump think? Donald

00:34:47.060 Trump doesn't care about our milk marketing boards and our dairy, our tariffs that we have and all these

00:34:53.400 little tariffs. He walks into the negotiations honestly and saying, let's start free tariff everywhere.

00:34:59.220 He doesn't care about the six year history. He's talking about free trade. We should understand

00:35:04.560 that and respect that. He's also looking at I mean, you're looking at he has got into power and I don't

00:35:11.280 know why Canadians are not focused on this, but he got into power because of Michigan and Ohio.

00:35:15.980 Right. He looks he looked at Detroit. Detroit has is a shell of its former self. Canada now produces 0.93

00:35:23.780 four million cars or manufactures four million cars. One. We consume three and we sell one million.

00:35:29.320 That is Trump's big prize. He tried it a year ago and everyone backed him off. And here's what's

00:35:35.800 happening, Ezra, if you pay attention. Here's what's happening. He wants the auto sector. He tried it a

00:35:42.260 year ago and he didn't have what I'll call the political back in America. Right. Now this now this

00:35:48.600 trade war is happening. Justin Trudeau is elevating it. And I know why he's elevating it,

00:35:54.260 because as you can say, as you said, everyone's rallying behind the prime minister because we don't

00:35:59.980 like Trump. We want to fight. That gives Trump the opening to go after the auto sector. We are giving

00:36:06.960 him the justification to say, hey, why is Detroit empty? Why is Michigan empty? Why are we not building

00:36:13.080 the cars in America? And you know what? Justin Trudeau is giving him the license. If we lose

00:36:17.720 the one million cars, that is equivalent to a hundred billion dollars in GDP to Canada. We can't

00:36:24.020 sustain that. Trump wants it. And we're making it happen because of crass politics by the prime

00:36:30.120 minister and the liberals to shore up boats at the expense of our economy. Go ahead, Ezra.

00:36:37.720 No, I'm terrified by it. I mean, it's such a contrast. Donald Trump loves industrial jobs. He

00:36:43.840 loves hard hats. He loves guys who drill and dig and build. And I think of how Justin Trudeau

00:36:50.820 frittered away a hundred billion dollars worth of pipelines and oil sands. And that was Canadian

00:36:56.480 stuff that we were building here. I just don't think Justin Trudeau values that. He would rather be

00:37:04.040 the champion of the UN in the third world, the global leader of the opposition to Donald Trump.

00:37:11.720 He'd rather get the kudos from the EU than have an auto industry. And I know that sounds insane,

00:37:17.300 but we watched him destroy a hundred billion of oil industry. I think there's a real risk

00:37:23.160 that Trump is going to say, hey, GM, Ford, Fiat, Chrysler, come back to Michigan. I'll lower your taxes.

00:37:30.440 I'll lower your fuel economy standards. And by the way, I'm putting a 25 percent tariff on American

00:37:36.220 stuff. So you should come anyways. Well, that's a simple that's all he's going to do. He understands

00:37:41.260 it. You put a tariff on Canadian cars, they'll build them in America. You're not going to buy a

00:37:45.880 car that's twenty thousand dollars more because it comes from Canada. Trump knows what he's doing.

00:37:50.640 What is happening? I kind of disagree. I think what Trudeau is doing and he's and it's political,

00:37:59.020 crass political movement. Trudeau has lost credibility because it is India trip. He is

00:38:05.440 not seen of a man of substance. And you see certain polls, even I'm surprised that two and a half years

00:38:11.260 in his mismanagement of mostly every file has got him in very low in polls. The only way that he can

00:38:18.820 bump himself up in the polls is by this nationalistic movement. And that is to say me against Trump and

00:38:25.300 we're all rallying. You see conservatives rally because it's the right thing to do. It's the wrong

00:38:30.400 thing to do. And I'll give you the numbers, Ezra. And people are just are not there is equal trade

00:38:36.220 between Canada and U.S. It's about three hundred fifty billion dollars each. That only represents

00:38:41.180 two percent of America's GDP. It represents 20 percent of Canada's GDP. We forget that Canada is 0.98

00:38:47.880 one tenth the size, although we have equal equal trade. If Trump, if Trump risks the two percent,

00:38:54.740 let's say he cuts it in half, that one one percent with trade wars and so on. America is growing at

00:39:01.740 three point five percent this year. America, Trump has got two hundred billion from China,

00:39:07.360 a hundred billion from North Korea. He's already while while Justin Trudeau takes his days off,

00:39:12.440 he's already shored up the ability to withstand a one a one percent cut in GDP with a war to get

00:39:21.240 auto. Canada can't withstand it. We've already got our oil industry in trouble. Our GDP this year is

00:39:28.120 going to go at one point three percent. We've lost fifty three thousand jobs. Canada is weak. We cannot

00:39:34.160 take a hit of ten percent of our GDP. We will be in a deep recession. And if we lose our auto industry,

00:39:40.580 it is on. We will lost it forever. So stop with the politics. People understand this is a very

00:39:48.420 sincere and real risk. And and Trump wants it. Trump wants it badly. He tried last year. Now he has

00:39:55.660 the ability to do it. He has he has America on his side to do it. And we're going to lose the auto

00:40:01.100 industry and we'll never get it back. And we have to take this very seriously. And I'm disappointed

00:40:05.660 with conservatives. I'm disappointed with liberals. I'm certainly disappointed with the prime

00:40:10.060 minister. But I do know that Trump will succeed in this. And we can't win this war. The numbers

00:40:15.400 don't don't make it for us. Yeah. Yeah. There's a few people speaking clearly on this. I saw Jean

00:40:21.060 Charest was deeply concerned. Yeah. Yeah. And he would know. I think he would know he's

00:40:25.900 he's enough removed from the fray that he's not all about positioning and ego. He can call it like

00:40:32.200 he sees it. Manny, it's great to talk to you. Now, one more point, if I can add, if you have

00:40:37.100 a few seconds. Sure. We've seen we've seen it already in British Columbia. A year ago,

00:40:43.440 the B.C. election happened and they were very clear they want to stop Kinder Morgan.

00:40:48.580 Trudeau did nothing for a whole year. Yeah. The Democratic will of the people. And you know

00:40:52.960 what? The premier is doing what he vowed to do, much like Trump said what he vowed to do.

00:40:57.340 He ignored it. The prime minister ignored it till the last minute. And what has happened? We have

00:41:02.860 a trade war between Alberta and B.C. and we bought a pipeline and we destroyed investment. Now,

00:41:09.300 Trudeau is doing this, ignoring the phase of what's happening in America. And it's going to be a hundred

00:41:13.680 times worse than what we experienced at West. You're so right. Thank you. In slow motion,

00:41:18.360 we watched that crisis unfold between Alberta and B.C. And he just, Trudeau was like a deer in the

00:41:23.900 headlights or a spider caught in amber, whatever your analogy is. Right. And he just was in slow

00:41:29.960 motion while the rest of the world was going by. Trump moves at the speed of Trump. Right. And the

00:41:36.500 real risk is Canada, Alberta and B.C. will fix their problems because we are Canadians. But once we lose

00:41:44.400 the auto sector, there'll never be a president. They'll say, we'll give it back to Canada. Yeah.

00:41:49.000 You can't move the oil sands to the United States because they're stuck in Canada. You can pipe it

00:41:53.940 down there and they'll take the oil. But the auto factories, you can move those. Absolutely.

00:41:59.700 Absolutely. And that's what Trump's after. Manny, it's great to catch up with you. Let's

00:42:02.740 keep in touch on this story as it goes forward. No problem. All right. Take care. Thank you,

00:42:06.220 Ezra. Thank you, too. That's our friend Manny Montanagrino. He's the president and CEO of

00:42:10.900 ThinkSharp. Stay with us. More ahead on The Rebel.

00:42:14.600 Hey, welcome back on my monologue Friday. About Doug Ford being elected the new premier of Ontario,

00:42:31.040 Robert writes, Doug Ford is far more cautious than his brother. He was very gracious in his

00:42:35.860 first media conference as a premier designate. If the left stream media try the same shenanigans

00:42:41.380 they pulled on Rob Ford, I think it will be highly counterproductive. The public has far less trust

00:42:45.820 for the media now than in the days of Rob Ford. People lose whatever trust they have left as they

00:42:50.420 engage in endless, unsubstantiated attacks on Doug Ford. Oh, but they can't help themselves.

00:42:57.240 They cannot help themselves. Their arguments aren't really working. I mean, most Canadians don't 1.00

00:43:03.220 support a carbon tax, for one example. Most parents don't support the very, very young child sex 1.00

00:43:10.300 curriculum. Like, no parent wants their five and six-year-old kid to be talking about graphic sex

00:43:18.040 in grade one. Like, what are you doing? So instead of making the argument on the merits, what can they

00:43:24.120 do? They just lost the argument on the merits. Their hero, Kathleen Wynne, got less than 20% of the vote.

00:43:28.320 So of course they're going to go personal. Of course they are. Ted writes, one down and three

00:43:34.500 to go. Trudeau, Notley, and Horgan. Yeah, I think Rachel Notley is going to lose. I think that's

00:43:39.840 pretty sure. I think Justin Trudeau has a hard fight ahead. It'll be interesting. It's really weird

00:43:45.420 to watch all the Canadian establishment line up around Justin Trudeau in the war against the evil

00:43:51.440 Trump. I'm a little bit surprised to see the conservatives do that, both provincially and

00:43:55.800 federally. But if the economy is tanked by this, I don't know. Will people say, well,

00:44:02.400 Trudeau was just sticking up for us. It was the evil Trump who did it. Or will Trudeau get the 0.92

00:44:06.260 blame? I don't know. I think we're in for a tough time. I don't know if the media will allow anyone

00:44:13.500 other than Justin Trudeau to win, but they like Kathleen Wynne too, and she's gone. 0.91

00:44:18.560 Jerry writes, Ontario voters have restored my faith in their province. I had a recurring nightmare

00:44:23.580 that Ontario voters would keep the Liberals in power no matter how badly they were abused,

00:44:28.160 but I was wrong. Welcome to the real world, Ontario. You are a bright light for the rest

00:44:31.620 of Canada today. Yeah, I was worried too, because some of the scandals happened before the last

00:44:38.600 election, and it didn't seem to register, but I think it just took time. I think it just took time.

00:44:43.960 And I think people wanted to see that the opposition leader was a real difference. Doug Ford is

00:44:50.100 undoubtedly different than Kathleen Wynne. And frankly, a way that Patrick Brown wasn't. Well,

00:44:56.060 that's the show for today. Look, Donald Trump is, you know, he's new, he's unusual. He's the

00:45:06.500 center of all the action in the world's politics. But I think in some ways, he's very easy to

00:45:12.020 understand. Listen to what he's saying. Don't provoke him with personal jibes. And he's a deal

00:45:20.280 maker. He wants a deal. I think instead of doing those simple, simple things, Justin Trudeau

00:45:25.460 ignored what Trump wanted to talk about and talked about feminism and gender intersectionality.

00:45:32.000 I think Trudeau doesn't know about making a deal. Why on earth are we insisting that we be in a deal

00:45:37.660 with Mexico? Why on earth are we opposed to a five-year review? So we're fighting over stupid 0.90

00:45:42.080 stuff for majoring the minors. And finally, why, why do you poke at Trump? I mean, other than it 1.00

00:45:48.980 gets a reaction, but don't poke a bear. It's just going to growl. Yeah, that growl might suit your

00:45:54.980 purposes electorally, but it's not helping our country. I think Justin Trudeau is not as good as

00:45:59.580 his supporters think he is. We should have known that out of India. I think we know it for sure now. 1.00

00:46:04.200 That's the show for today. Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World

00:46:08.820 Headquarters, good night and keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - June 12, 2018

Ezra Levant Show June 11 2018

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