The economy is roaring, record employment, wages are climbing, and unemployment is at or near record lows, especially for blacks and Hispanics. So how did Donald Trump get there? Is it because he cut taxes, cut red tape, and increased infrastructure spending? Or because he threatened a trade war with China?
00:12:22.940You hear, thanks for the handout, or thanks for the bailout, or thanks for the subsidy.
00:12:29.160You hear Bombardier say, thanks for the money.
00:12:32.220You even have weirdness like Trudeau overpaying by $1 billion for a 70-year-old Kinder Morgan existing Trans Mountain pipeline.
00:12:41.460Weird because we're overpaying by a billion dollars for the pipeline that's already there, but that doesn't get the expansion done.
00:12:48.040But no one ever says, thanks for creating jobs, because he's not creating jobs, is he?
00:12:55.320Instead, he's got this bizarre obsession with carbon taxes that most Canadians are against, according to polls, that the premiers are against, that the world, other countries are against.
00:13:07.440But you have economic illiterates, like Global Warming Minister Catherine McKenna, actually saying that paying a carbon tax will create jobs or something.
00:13:52.440They're going to start that 90-day process.
00:13:54.520They've already rolled back environmental rules from the Obama administration.
00:13:59.180Again, it just sounds like no matter what they do, you're just saying, we'll make our case, our train has left the station, we're not budging for Trump.
00:14:06.860So let's not say it's our train, it's the global train.
00:14:10.000I'm sorry, that was from last year, excuse me.
00:14:12.280That train, I don't know where she's train-spotting this global train for global warming, but the European Union, as I mentioned, they just got on the Trump train.
00:14:20.260And Mexico is about to get on the Trump train, too.
00:14:24.180And pretty much anyone who wants to do business.
00:14:27.120You have to be a builder, a tax cutter, a regulation cutter, but he's actually reshaping the entire world, blasting down barriers.
00:14:34.620I mean, he's all those things that conservatives are traditionally, but he's doing something more.
00:14:39.340He's actually more effective at getting Milton Friedman-style, Fraser Institute-style free trade between nations than true libertarians ever have been,
00:14:48.560because he's not afraid to threaten tariffs to get the free trade.
00:15:14.900And most of all, you have confidence in America that for the first time in memory, someone loves the idea of economic growth and industrial growth.
00:15:24.480GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product.
00:15:26.940It's another way of saying how much everyone in the whole country made economically, goods and services.
00:15:31.340So it's an important number because it shows if factories are busy, if stores are busy, if construction is happening.
00:15:36.260It's another way of saying, is your country working?
00:15:38.640In recent years, in recent decades, really, GDP growth, sometimes just called economic growth, it's been just a couple of percent a year.
00:15:48.800And conventional wisdom has been, well, you know, we're really as rich as you can get.
00:15:53.120The only countries that see high growth, you know, five, six, seven percent, occasionally you see countries around the 10 percent mark.
00:16:00.560Well, those are rapidly modernizing, industrializing countries that are starting so low, like, for example, China, because when you're really poor and you're industrializing as fast as possible, you know, building coal-fired power plants and building highways and building airports and building more modern housing for the first time, those things are happening in a crash kind of way.
00:16:19.720What we, what we in the West industrialized over decades or even centuries, China and India are trying to do in a fraction of the time.
00:26:33.780My theory, and it's becoming fact, is that there is a reason why the deal is not done.
00:26:39.960It is to promote this liberal government strategy to create a war with Trump and unify under the flag and have people support Justin Trudeau and Canada.
00:26:56.880And I have, if you go through my Twitter account, I've pinned, and there are now 14 factual examples under that pin.
00:27:06.020So there's a thread that shows evidentiary fact of why it was done.
00:27:10.800This trade is done to delay intentionally for political purposes.
00:27:15.780Well, we'll put underneath this video a link to help people find your Twitter account.
00:27:20.580And by the way, I know exactly what you mean about the liberals wanting to fight with Trump for their political benefit.
00:27:29.100Both Gerald Butts, the principal secretary to Justin Trudeau, and more recently, Minister Haidu, I believe she's the labor minister, have made public statements to that effect.
00:27:41.080We'll put their tweets on the screen right now.
00:28:42.500We wouldn't fold like a cheap camp like the Conservatives.
00:28:46.120And then he says, remember this in 2019.
00:28:50.420I mean, if I had Butts on the stand, that would be a clear admission that the purpose of delaying NAFTA and trade and putting Canada in possible recession is for political advantage.
00:29:03.120Now, I'm not the prime minister, and the prime minister, sorry, Prime Minister Harper, who may have said it sotto voce or may have said it subtly.
00:29:11.980I would say clearly, it is my clear opinion that it's done intentionally.
00:29:41.700According to media reports, he's not quite Hugo Chavez left wing, but he's very rambunctious left wing.
00:29:47.280And Trump, for decades, has been railing against Mexico and trade.
00:29:52.640So you would think that between a hard left wing Mexican president and Trump and his history of poking back at Mexico, that those two guys would be a disaster together.
00:30:02.980But if press reports are to be believed, and actually, I think Trump tweeted this himself, he's actually closer to a deal with this new Mexican president than he is with Canada.
00:30:12.660And he's never had a quarrel with Canada before.
00:30:17.640Wouldn't it be shocking, wouldn't it be terrifying, Manny, if NAFTA evaporated, but Trump actually did an art of the deal move with this Mexican leftist?
00:30:28.620Trump does deals with anyone and everyone.
00:30:30.420He's trying to do a deal with Kim Jong-un in Korea.
00:30:32.620He's trying to do deals with countries around the world.
00:30:35.740Wouldn't it be something if he got a deal with Mexico on his own, and Trudeau and Canada were left hanging outside the tent?
00:30:46.640And again, I tweeted it in part of my 14 tweet thread.
00:30:52.000But I think Leitzkner, the trade negotiator for USA, he actually said he was dumbfounded.
00:31:00.740He was shocked because he thought he would have Canada at his side to demand that Mexico, in the three-way trade deal, have a minimum wage.
00:31:11.500Because they wanted to raise the minimum wage in Mexico in order to make a trade deal more equitable.
00:31:22.140He couldn't understand why is Canada not asking that Mexico have a minimum wage, yet they're demanding the United States to have unionized workers.
00:32:31.240I saw a report that Canada is trying to get back into the negotiations, so they say, because they're concerned about Trump's public threat of tariffs on our auto sector.
00:32:44.840Apparently, we sell, I think, a million cars more into the states than they sell to us.
00:32:48.500You slap a 20% tariff on a Canadian car, no American's going to buy it.
00:32:53.480That's just going to kill the auto industry right there.
00:32:55.680Do you think that the liberal members of parliament that represent those ridings in Ontario, and I think there's a couple in Quebec, that rely on the auto industry,
00:33:07.180do you think those panicking local MPs who've got to be hearing from their auto worker constituencies, do you think that's enough to push Gerald Butts away from the cliff to make Thelma and Louise Carr veer off course?
00:33:23.260Or are they going to take us right off the cliff?
00:36:36.420And because it's working for them, they will not do what's in the best interest of Canada.
00:36:40.700So, Ezra, sadly, although I wish and pray and hope that they would wake up and smell the coffee and save Canada, they've now got enough enabling messages to continue to go on this path of economic destruction.
00:37:00.040Well, Manny, it's a pleasure to talk with you.
00:37:01.840Underneath this video, we're going to have links not only to your Twitter account where people can follow your arguments about trade, but also to your two previous videos, which have been so well received.
00:37:11.660And I think it's because you provide arguments and even mentioning telecom and banking today.
00:37:18.100That's a very thoughtful thing to say.
00:37:31.660Well, good news seems to be spreading like dominoes pushing over the next one.
00:37:51.200I'm talking about the grassroots revolt against the carbon tax.
00:37:56.340Well, first, it was just Saskatchewan by itself, Brad Wall, and then his successor, Scott Moe.
00:38:01.160And Jason Kenney promised that it would be the first thing he cuts if he becomes premier next year in Alberta, which is pretty much a sure thing.
00:38:09.640But the real breakthrough was the premier of the largest province of Canada, Ontario, Doug Ford, who made opposition to the carbon tax a centerpiece of his campaign and was rewarded with a strong majority.
00:38:22.040Well, now the rebellion has spread even to liberal jurisdictions, including perhaps the most liberal province of them all, Prince Edward Island, a little province of just 150,000 people, so small that it's, you know, it's like a liberal fiefdom.
00:38:38.040But now that liberal government is saying we don't want a carbon tax.
00:39:07.920Well, you're back in your home region of the Atlantic, and it's a delight to see the rebellion against the carbon tax take root out there.
00:39:16.560I have to tell you, I'm a little bit surprised, Paige, because to go against their federal liberal cousins, that takes a little bit of political courage.
00:39:53.740I have to tell you, I don't know what the carbon tax is going to do.
00:39:55.440So it really begs the question, I think, for anybody with common sense, regardless of which party they vote for, why have a carbon tax?
00:40:05.200If it's not about reducing emissions, which we're already doing, if it's not about reducing gas consumptions that we're already doing, then what is it really about?
00:40:13.160And I think the obvious answer is that it's just about yet another tax.
00:40:18.540You raise the good point that it's tough.
00:40:21.360I mean, I guess the politicians, the government of Prince Edward Islanders is between a rock and a hard place because Justin Trudeau, Gerald Butts, Catherine McKenna, they are adamant about the carbon tax.
00:40:31.580It really is the most important thing to them, other than perhaps marijuana legalization and feminism.
00:40:38.180It really is the thing they harp on the most.
00:40:52.140I guess, Paige, my point is because province after province is standing up, maybe there's a courage now.
00:41:00.420When it seemed inevitable, when every single province other than Saskatchewan seemed to be going along, when even so-called conservatives like Patrick Brown were for it, it looked tough to speak out.
00:41:11.880But now I think politicians are finding their courage in numbers.
00:41:22.480It might have been the case that perhaps some politicians were waiting out at the federal government to see if they were really serious about this.
00:41:28.240But either way, I mean, it's one of these things where initially carbon tax advocates were saying there's absolutely no way that you can get elected in most of the country without being in favor of a carbon tax.
00:41:40.120This is happening and there's nothing that you can do about it.
00:41:42.680And ordinary common sense people started standing up and saying, well, wait a second.
00:41:48.160It doesn't even matter in even the provinces that do emit the most carbon dioxide.
00:41:54.340If we have a carbon tax, you know, you could wipe Canada off the face of the earth.
00:41:58.240We're still not going to have a large impact on global warming, which we know is a global problem if you're concerned about that as an issue.
00:42:07.180So even if Canada implements these policies across the board, it's not going to have an impact.
00:42:11.440But especially for provinces that are the size of Prince Edward Island, a carbon tax on Prince Edward Islanders is definitely not going to have an impact on global climate change.
00:42:21.620And so I think that they're standing up and saying that.
00:42:24.320But on top of that, they're already reducing their emissions.
00:42:27.020It's not necessary for them to have that carbon tax to even have that in place.
00:42:31.500So I think that it's a really excellent thing that you're seeing provinces out in Atlanta, Canada stand up against this in Ontario.
00:42:39.220I mean, for a long time, people were saying this wasn't this was a no go in eastern Canada.
00:42:43.620They're going to accept the carbon tax.
00:42:51.660And I think it's it's good to know for every province fighting this tax that they're certainly not alone in this fight.
00:42:57.940Yeah. Now, I want to ask you what you think the reason is that any given Canadian is against this tax, because there's there's so many links in the chain, the chain, the logical syllogism that you have to support to believe in a carbon tax.
00:43:14.180You've got to think that global warming is a problem, that it's created in a meaningful way by manmade activities, that this tax will somehow change the emissions of manmade carbon dioxide and that the tax is the best.
00:43:33.100Like there's there's a lot of links in that chain and any one of them can be broken for someone to oppose it.
00:43:38.780Someone might say, I believe in the theory of manmade global warming, but I think this is just a tax.
00:43:44.440Or someone might say, I believe in the theory of manmade global warming, but I know that Prince Edward Island is such a drop in the bucket compared to China.
00:43:52.080Or someone might say, I don't even care or no, I'm just sick of taxes.
00:43:56.140Like there's about 10 reasons to be against a carbon tax.
00:43:58.860But to before you've got to be for every link in the chain, you get you get my meaning there, Paige.
00:44:04.400What do you think that the broken link of the chain is for any given Prince Edward Islander?
00:44:10.300Well, I think that people know, especially in a place like Prince Edward Island, that, you know, driving your car to work or heating your home in the winter is not a luxury.
00:44:19.480It's a necessity, especially in a rural area of Canada.
00:44:22.660We don't have fancy transit systems that are going to pick up the slack.
00:44:27.240You're not going to be riding your bike, you know, in the dead of winter across PEI to get to where you need to go.
00:44:32.540So these are these are the tax on the necessities of life.
00:44:35.700So I think that there's there's that side of it.
00:44:38.080People know that we live in a country that experiences winter and it's just not fair when people are already scraping by to ask them to pay more, cough up more for the necessities of life.
00:44:49.940But I think that they also know that a carbon tax is is really mostly about the tax.
00:44:55.580It's not going to have an impact on global climate change, even if you accept everything about global climate change and you say, OK, you know, yes, this needs to change.
00:45:04.440And the countries that are the big emitters need to do their part.
00:45:07.100You probably know that Canada is not one of those countries.
00:45:09.800People know that Canadians are we're not the biggest contributors to global warming.
00:45:14.640If if that's your you know, your logical acceptance that this is an issue.
00:45:18.500So I think that, you know, when you put those pieces together, people say, look, we don't really trust the government when they say that, OK, this is actually going to save the world.
00:45:29.020We we are more skeptical that perhaps like other temporary taxes that have come up to solve problems.
00:45:34.940This is really just a tax. The government's looking for more revenue and it's going to make our life more expensive.
00:45:39.780I mean, the PEI and PEI provincial gas taxes alone are 24 cents a liter.
00:45:44.900When you combine that with federal gas taxes, it comes to twenty five dollars every time you fill up a midsize family car.
00:45:52.540That's before the carbon tax even comes into effect if it's going to.
00:45:56.580So that's already a lot of dough that they're they're having to cough up on a necessity of life.
00:46:00.780Like I said, there's not fancy transit systems in place.
00:46:02.980So when when you talk about a carbon tax, I think they they're skeptical that it's going to work.
00:46:08.800But also they say, look, I'm already taxed enough.
00:46:11.660Yeah. Well, you know, it's become such a symbol for this government.
00:46:14.900I mean, I when I say marijuana, global warming and feminism, I'm not joking.
00:46:22.220I'm just trying to think of what are the issues that they seem so adamant about?
00:46:25.880I can't think of other policies that they're so branded with the core value.
00:46:31.620I mean, if there's one I'm missing, just chime in.
00:46:34.060But so I'm not making fun when I say feminism.
00:46:36.720And I think that's why the groping allegations have hurt him so much, because that blunts one of his key issues.
00:46:42.120Marijuana has put that aside and the carbon tax.
00:46:45.000I think those are the three legs of the stool policy wise for Justin Trudeau, which makes me think, Paige, he's not going to want to give that one up easily.
00:46:52.900Do you think and I know I'm asking you to look into your pundits crystal ball and that's not really your job.
00:46:58.140You guys are nonpartisan taxpayers advocates.
00:47:01.320But are you do you think he's going to blink?
00:47:04.940Do you think more provinces are going to come out against it?
00:47:10.600Well, I hope that more provinces come out against it.
00:47:12.720There are other provinces like Nova Scotia, where I am right now, that have said, look, we're already meeting our emissions reductions targets without a carbon tax.
00:47:21.240We're already accomplishing the policy goals that, Prime Minister, you're saying we need to accomplish without, you know, implementing this policy that you say that we need to implement, which is just another tax on people who feel that they're taxed enough.
00:47:33.000So I do think that we're going to see more provinces start standing up.
00:47:36.680I think that as you mentioned, this sort of the domino effect, I think that it's falling out of favor with with most Canadians and most Canadian governments who are going to have to stand next to other provinces that are standing up to the carbon tax and not imposing a carbon tax on their citizens and and have voters in their province say, well, why aren't you doing that as well?
00:47:56.900I think we're going to see that. And I think that if it happens to go to court like the Saskatchewan government, you know, as you've covered, has said that they're they would take the federal government to court if it came down to it.
00:48:08.620Ontario, I think, has insinuated that they would join that if it came down to that and it needed to.
00:48:14.360So in Manitoba, which is actually a pro-carbon tax province, they are in terms of their government, government different than the voters, of course.
00:48:23.340But they've said that if you push the carbon tax too high, prime minister, then, you know, we will take you to court as well.
00:48:29.340And legal analysis out of Manitoba has said that if a province can demonstrate that they are reducing emissions or achieving that policy goal without the carbon tax, that they would have a very valid case in court.
00:48:39.880So I think the federal government's got to be looking at that, looking at now the numbers and numbers are growing in terms of the people standing up against the carbon tax.
00:48:47.900And I think they've got to be feeling a little bit worried. Remember, you know, the government works for us.
00:48:53.260We don't work for them. So they need to be responsive to what I think what people are saying.
00:48:57.440Yeah. Well, I don't like the idea of putting tax policy in the hands of a few unelected judges.
00:49:03.640That does not make me optimistic at all. But I think that the people will speak.
00:49:06.600You know, I'm old enough, Paige, you're just a young pup, but I'm old enough to remember the 1993 federal election where the GST was a big issue, was brought in a couple of years early, extremely unpopular.
00:49:22.860It was a big moment for your organization, the Taxpayers Federation.
00:49:25.680I think that if Trudeau barrels ahead out of ideological stubbornness, he could face an electorate that is saying over our dead bodies and that, you know, it certainly penalized the, I guess that was Kim Campbell in 1993 who was running on behalf of Mulroney's Tax.
00:49:46.060Very interesting times. I'm so glad that you're fighting hard and you're back in Atlantic Canada where you're from originally.
00:49:52.120The taxpayers need all the help they can get out there, Paige, and I'm glad you're doing it.
00:49:58.320Our friend Paige McPherson, we love the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
00:50:01.740They're one of the few truly nonpartisan independent groups fighting for taxpayers because like us here at The Rebel, they don't take a dime from the government.
00:50:12.100And it shows, I think it shows that their loyalty remains with citizens.
00:50:17.100And Paige, of course, is just a wonderful person, as you know.
00:50:20.000All right. That's it for that segment. Stay with us. More ahead on The Rebel.
00:50:31.740Welcome back. On my monologue yesterday about Trump and the European Union getting a trade deal done while Trudeau is using the issue as a re-election tactic,
00:50:43.440John writes, we could have a great deal with Trump and the U.S., but Justin is willing to sink our economy just to spite him and get the I hate Trump vote.
00:50:53.180Unfortunately, it's Justin first and not Canada first.
00:50:57.020You're so right now. I don't know if you saw yesterday's show. I think you did, sir. What am I saying? You're responding to it.
00:51:00.920That Jean-Claude Juncker, he is the most European of the Europeans.
00:51:06.780He's a bureaucrat. He's a meddler. He's a globalist.
00:51:11.740But he was afraid of Trump more than he hated Trump.