Why is Justin Trudeau so upset about Pat King not getting a 10-year sentence for obstructing justice in the SNC-Lavalin scandal? And why is he so upset that the Prime Minister s office won t re-open the investigation into the scandal?
00:01:21.420Trudeau could be crying because an accessed information request revealed that Jody Wilson-Raybould, when she was justice minister and attorney general, wanted the IRCMP to investigate deeper and further into the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
00:01:34.960Or is Justin Trudeau really sad that Pat King did not get sent to jail for 10 years?
00:01:41.260Lots of reasons for Justin Trudeau to be crying.
00:01:43.760It's not because he loves the height of people so much.
00:02:26.480A lot of people find they have to do that.
00:02:28.220But I want to clear up a few things here.
00:02:32.500And this is all very, very fascinating.
00:02:36.840But do you think Justin Trudeau, and this is a post I put out on Access Crime, because he knew the access to information was about to come out, that former MP and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould, who is Haida, had reportedly advised the MP to widen the scope of the SNC-Lavalin probe.
00:02:56.620But the RCMP refused to investigate further.
00:03:02.180So, if you're seeing YouTubers out there saying, Trudeau busted, it's not true.
00:03:12.900In fact, it's the kind of disinformation the liberal government likes to target, and so they can start saying everything on YouTube is disinformation.
00:03:58.260The RCMP conducted a very superficial investigation into the cabinet's interference.
00:04:05.060Duff Conacher, who I'd like to have on the show as well, he's the co-founder of Democracy Watch.
00:04:10.380They are asking for an investigation into this.
00:04:13.620They didn't interview many key witnesses or obtain critical cabinet records, then decided not to prosecute anyone behind closed doors.
00:04:20.400We believe a judge must see this evidence in court.
00:04:26.400Newly released RCMP transcripts indicate that senior officials, including Trudeau's then Principal Secretary Gerald Butts, repeatedly pressed Wilson-Raybould to override prosecutors and grant SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement.
00:04:50.800Democracy Watches will say, the document alleges that the RCMP applied an improper legal standard for obstruction of justice and never considered breach of trust.
00:05:01.620This is what I have been saying for the past two years.
00:05:06.440The RCMP is in the pocket of Justin Trudeau.
00:05:09.400You can't trust them to do a proper investigation.
00:05:15.220They don't do it anymore if it involves Justin Trudeau or the Liberal government.
00:05:20.500I question their credibility as a national police organization.
00:05:25.600I do that because the evidence suggests that.
00:05:29.600This is an access to information request that Democracy Watches received, saying SNC-Lavalin scandal was never properly investigated.
00:05:42.440The group contends that the RCMP relied on self-interested public statements, omitted key witness interviews, including those of then Health Minister Jane Philpott, and accepted the Cabinet's refusal to disclose pivotal communications.
00:05:55.440The RCMP covered up its investigation.
00:07:22.840Why should we be doubling the CBC's funding?
00:07:25.980Well, because it should have more responsibilities.
00:07:29.340It should be responsible for monitoring disinformation, although the CBC is probably one of the greatest purveyors of disinformation in the country, because it represents the government.
00:10:22.960If you're paying $33 per capita, which is overspending as it is, she wants you to spend double that, $66 per person.
00:10:34.560We're closer to the United States than to any other country of the G7 country.
00:10:38.780And I don't think that we want the United States to be our reference.
00:10:43.640I think we need to aim closer to the middle ground, which is $62 per year per person.
00:10:50.920Canadians need to have access to reliable, factual sources of information that are available across the country
00:10:57.580and not be misled by false information during those emergency situations.
00:11:02.140CBC Radio-Canada, by virtue of its size and geographic reach, must have a clear mandate to disseminate this information using its infrastructure,
00:15:05.560What kind of relationship can you say you have with the president right now?
00:15:08.820And is he somebody that Canada can work with, especially if we get a new government, preferably with Pierre Paulieff as prime minister?
00:15:16.780Well, I had a couple of opportunities to meet him.
00:15:20.180I went to Mar-a-Lago at the invitation of Kevin O'Leary and then the next day to his golf club and then was at the inauguration as well.
00:15:27.680And it does seem to me that President Trump is the ultimate decision maker.
00:15:32.660That's one of the things that I've learned by talking to those who are around him.
00:15:37.480And our job as subnational government leaders is to reach out to as many contacts as we can to talk to those who have influence on him so that we can change the pathway and the trajectory that we now find ourselves on.
00:15:51.760I think that there is a pathway with diplomacy.
00:15:54.620I think we have an incredible argument to make about the way in which our integrated economies help to support not only our interests, but also create great American jobs, produce great American products that Canadians buy back in larger volumes than anyone else on the planet.
00:16:11.960And this is a relationship that we should maintain.
00:16:18.120But I would say that as long as we are identifying the things that are in our mutual interest to solve, I think that we're going to be able to avoid tariffs.
00:16:27.260When the President said he was worried about fentanyl, we needed to get serious about fentanyl.
00:16:32.140And it took a little while to get there.
00:16:35.180We've identified cartels that are terrorist groups to give us more tools to be able to dismantle them.
00:16:39.820We're all hands on deck when it comes to finding the 10,000 personnel that we need to make sure that we're addressing the issue from a law enforcement and border security point of view.
00:16:49.420And we've really stepped up efforts, as you can see, with the amount of seizures that have taken place at the border, the stopping of illegal migrants, and the law enforcement that's taking place.
00:16:58.620So I think all of that is being acknowledged, and there will always be irritants in this relationship that we have with the United States.
00:17:06.760So let's just make sure that we're dealing with the security issues, the legitimate security issues that are being raised.
00:17:13.080And then we can get on to talking about some of those other irritants and hopefully keep this 99% tariff-free relationship going.
00:17:45.520We don't have CBSA agents in sufficient numbers to do it.
00:17:49.060So I don't know what Trudeau meant by frontline personnel, except it's a very nebulous term.
00:17:53.940The second thing that bothers me about his plan is $1.3 billion over six years.
00:18:01.300Most of that money is projected to be spent in years five and six.
00:18:05.280In fact, Trudeau is spending more money this year on the gun grab than he is on border security.
00:18:11.540Does it bother you that he's not entirely serious about border security?
00:18:15.880Well, I think that's why he had to come up with a more robust plan.
00:18:19.000The initial plan was announced, and as you point out, didn't pass in the legislature or in the parliament because they prorogued.
00:18:25.180And there was only a very small amount that was to be spent this year, I think $81 million.
00:18:28.280They since came back to the table with the announcement of a fentanyl czar who's now in place, the announcement that $200 million would be spent this year.
00:18:38.140And they've started rolling out Black Hawk helicopters, which is very key to managing such a large border that we have.
00:18:44.500I look at it a slightly different way.
00:18:47.020There are 8,500 border security and RCMP, and that is a good base to build on.
00:18:53.800And then I believe that the rest of the security issues do have to be made up with local law enforcement and provincial law enforcement.
00:19:01.720One of the issues around the border when it comes to the operations of cartels and when it comes to the flow of drugs and the precursors to make them, some of that is stopping it before it gets to the border.
00:19:17.260We shut down three super labs for fentanyl in our province.
00:19:21.220And so that, to me, if we can seize the drugs in the place that they're being created and then shut those labs down, that helps with border security.
00:19:30.620That helps make sure it doesn't get into the United States.
00:19:38.780So I would say that the issue in Canada is slightly different than in Mexico.
00:19:43.500Mexico, they have people who are streaming across the border, I think, in numbers like 2,000 to 3,000 per day was what was happening prior to the most recent crackdown.
00:19:54.600That's not the same nature of the problem that we have here.
00:19:57.060So it means that we have to use slightly different tools.
00:19:59.520We've got to look at money laundering.
00:20:01.060We've got to look at our financial institutions.
00:20:03.520We've got to look at what's happening.
00:20:04.400If there's money laundering through casinos, this has been alleged in different provinces, if we can take an all-hands-on-deck approach using all of our different law enforcement mechanisms, I think the end result will be fewer drugs on the streets in Canadian cities, but also fewer drugs going across the border.
00:20:20.700I found it interesting, too, that the Trudeau administration has actually admitted there's a problem at the Vancouver ports with the precursors for fentanyl getting in.
00:20:33.360And, of course, they love to say it's only 1% across the border, but only 1% is actually being examined at the border.
00:20:39.480So I think the fentanyl crisis is a lot larger than we have ever been told.
00:20:43.680And there's a lot of journalists working on that story right now.
00:20:48.320Right, because part of the issue is that these precursors, there is legitimate industrial uses for them.
00:20:54.940And so that's part of why we have to identify them and make sure that we're tracking them appropriately.
00:21:00.360But I think that the fact that they've also identified that we need to do a better job of tracking those precursors, that's also a recognition.
00:21:06.480That whether it's coming in through the ports or whether it's coming in through trucks across the border, there has to be a lot more vehicle inspection.
00:21:13.540There has to be sniffer dogs, which are some of the ones that we're deploying with our sheriff's team.
00:21:19.340And you have to have people trained in looking for secret compartments.
00:21:23.900The ports is also going to have to require the same kind of scrutiny.
00:21:26.580The idea that we would only check 1% of containers coming in or 1% of trucks and cars coming across the border, I think we now recognize that that is not giving the kind of confidence to even our own people that the flow of drugs and guns and other illegal activity is not going two ways.
00:21:47.380And so I'm glad to see that the federal government is making those investments, that all the provinces are putting their resources to bear on it.
00:21:54.300And I think it'll lead to safer communities for all of us.
00:21:59.100During the period when we were actively looking at this tariff as being a real thing, you were fighting tooth and nail to enforce Alberta's authority to manage its natural resources.
00:22:12.540A lot of people said, hey, you're putting Alberta first when you do that.
00:22:16.840I said many times on this program and in my columns, I said, no, Daniel Smith is not putting Alberta first.
00:22:23.380She's putting Canada first because the Canadian Constitution gives natural resources to the provinces.
00:22:30.620And you pointed that out time after time.
00:22:33.520Are you concerned if we go back to stage one again and we're looking at tariffs that the federal government is going to try to steal Alberta's natural resources by putting tariffs or duties on exports to the United States?
00:22:46.900I think that's the thing we have to be aware of, that when you do end up in a situation of tit for tat tariffs, normally it's import tariffs.
00:22:54.920So, look, if we all end up having to pay a little bit more for orange juice as a way of demonstrating to the Americans that we're just not going to put up with unfair tariffs, that's one thing.
00:23:04.860But to single out Alberta energy for an export tariff that could, if it was applied at 25%, generate $40 billion for Ottawa, because tariffs go to Ottawa, so that they can distribute it to places that are more friendly to voting liberal.
00:23:46.380The other part is, we have spent the last number of years invoking the 1977 Pipeline Treaty to prevent Line 5 from getting shut down.
00:23:57.440That's important on two fronts, because I did ask the federal government to take a look at a map so that they could see that the way in which the Line 5 that terminates in Sarnia is fed is it comes down through Michigan.
00:24:10.600And if you start talking about using energy as a war by cutting off supply, that puts the Ontario and Quebec citizenry in greater peril, because 100% of the product they get comes by way of the United States or comes by way of shipments from overseas.
00:24:31.680Because they wouldn't let us build a pipeline, Energy East, to be able to feed the consumer market there.
00:24:37.900So you should not ever be playing with something as dangerous as that.
00:24:42.240And why do we have a 1977 Pipeline Treaty?
00:24:44.740It says that we will not impede the flow of energy as a vital resource to or from the United States and to or from Canada.
00:24:53.480So I would say that there was maybe a little, I don't know if it was chest beating, maybe a little posturing, but we have to be practical.
00:25:03.360We should only ever put forward any kind of measures that we know we can act on.
00:25:08.980That is one we cannot act on because the treaty prevents it, number one, but because it'd be devastating to Ontario and Quebec, number two.
00:25:15.960And people need to understand a little bit more about where their energy comes from.
00:25:19.440You pointed out in the past that Justin Trudeau often likes to poke a stick at Donald Trump.
00:25:27.160For instance, he made the comment about, isn't it a shame that Kamala Harris didn't win the presidential election?
00:25:33.980And that was a repudiation of women's rights.
00:25:39.080Of course, Donald Trump resented that remark.
00:25:41.580The people decided who would be president in the United States.
00:25:45.140I wonder sometimes, though, do you think Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party, especially Mark Carney or anyone else who might be anointed as the next leader and then prime minister, do you think they actually want a trade war with the United States?
00:25:59.960Because it helps them to find an enemy that they can run against.
00:26:04.940They're not going to be successful against Fyrapaliev and the conservatives.
00:26:08.560I think the conservatives still have a healthy lead.
00:26:10.880But it's easier to run against Donald Trump, against the American enemy.
00:26:17.320And I don't know why we continue to talk about a trade war right now, why it's all buy Canadian, don't buy American goods, because we're supposed to be getting back to normalcy.
00:26:28.520But do you think Trudeau is encouraging this?
00:26:30.820Trudeau, you know, I thought you were going to go and you said, do you think the liberals even want, I think you're going to say, do you think the liberals even want a female leader?
00:26:38.460Because they've got three female leadership candidates to choose from.
00:26:41.360And everyone keeps talking about the male candidate who's only been back in Canada for five minutes.
00:26:46.180So I find that interesting that the liberals love to talk about what feminists they are.
00:26:51.200And yet I think they're the only major political party at the federal level and even among many provincial parties that have yet to choose a female leader.
00:26:58.420I just put that out there for consideration.
00:27:00.920But on your other point, I would hope that's not true.
00:27:04.620I would hope that you don't have a group of leadership candidates that are gunning for a fight.
00:28:59.520Are you prepared to go down, not just to fight for Alberta, but as you did previously, are you prepared to go back to fight for Canada?
00:29:07.100Well, look, I don't want to overstate it.
00:29:08.960But I recognize that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. is prime minister to president.
00:29:14.820And it's very important that we have a prime minister in that chair who has a four-year mandate, because they're the ones who are going to be negotiating our international trade deals.
00:29:24.200What I can do is put the issues on the table that I think we've been able to do successfully so far.
00:29:31.700The fact that the feds are now talking about our NATO commitment and NORAD bases and Arctic security and fentanyl czars, that's because it's the premiers who've been saying you've got to address these issues in a serious way.
00:29:43.660I think the reason why, when they were talking about 25% tariffs, that they were prepared to give a 10% tariff on energy resources is because of the arguments that we're making about how the U.S. is reliant on oil and gas and critical minerals and electricity.
00:29:59.300And all of that allows the Americans to make products more cost-effectively and create American jobs.
00:30:06.680I think that those are arguments that will resonate, whether we're talking about energy, whether we're talking about food, it's the same argument on food, it's the same argument on timber, and it's even the same argument on intermediate goods like auto parts.
00:30:19.880It's part of our job to make sure that we're filling in the information gaps and making sure that we've got advocates that we're connecting with in the United States who can make the case for us.
00:30:28.960We've been particularly successful, I think, at making that case on energy, but I'm prepared to make it on every product we and our Canadian allies produce because I think that this tariff-free relationship is an important one to maintain.
00:30:42.520And so the short answer, which I haven't been very short on it, is yes, I will go to the United States as often as I need to.
00:30:50.380I'll be going down to CIRA Week, which is their big energy conference in Houston in March.
00:30:55.500And I'm hoping that we'll be able to have a really constructive conversation about how we might be able to get more oil and gas pipelines built so that we can help with the U.S. aspiration of energy dominance.
00:31:07.940I think that's important for global energy security.
00:31:10.440Premier Daniel Smith, thank you so much for the time.
00:31:14.000I tell you, when I do a story with Daniel Smith, the comment section is incredible.
00:31:21.000It goes wild because people on this show really like the work you're doing.
00:31:25.200Of all the political leaders in this country and around the world, they love Donald Trump.
00:31:30.100They love Pierre Pauly, but they really, really like Daniel Smith because I think you are doing the job that needs to be done.
00:31:37.220And I encourage you, for whatever it's worth, keep fighting, not just for Alberta, because Alberta is the home of people who have never taken anything from the federal government or a Trudeau.
00:31:48.980Whether it was Pierre Trudeau when Peter Lougheed was fighting back or whether it's Justin Trudeau and you have fought back.
00:31:55.000But also, Alberta has always led the way for Canada, a strong Canada.
00:32:02.560And all I can say is keep fighting, not just for your province that you're leading so ably and capably, but for Canada, because Canadians love you too, Danielle.
00:32:39.940Hopefully, we'll be talking to Pierre Pauly over the next couple of weeks.
00:32:43.360Again, this is somebody I've known for a long time, but Pierre as well is reaching out to a lot of shows in the new media and the independent media, because that's where the audience is, people like you and I.