The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Canada must defend its economic sovereignty.

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm

00:00:14.020 your host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Corps of the Lakes, with new

00:00:17.500 content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. Don't forget to like, comment,

00:00:22.080 subscribe and share this program. On today's show, trade talks dominate the agenda. Pierre

00:00:27.540 Polyev, the Conservative leader, outlines his strategy and, of course, affordability gets worse

00:00:32.660 here in Canada. To talk about this and so much more, we bring on Jacob Mantle, the Member of

00:00:37.420 Parliament for York Durham, also a member of the Trade Committee and my geographical neighbour.

00:00:41.680 Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me, Jamie. Pleasure to be here. I apologise. You're

00:00:45.300 right next door to me geographically and your first time here. Yes, yes. Well, I was waiting

00:00:49.540 for the invitation, but it never came. So, you know, finally glad to be here. Finally got you

00:00:54.840 locked in. So that's fantastic. On a subject you are very familiar with, not just in politics,

00:01:00.600 but outside your life in politics, the trade portfolio. Yes, yes. So it's something close

00:01:05.900 to my heart. I practiced international trade investment law for about eight years in the

00:01:11.180 private sector. Most recently, before the election, I was a lawyer at Osler in Toronto. So I've been

00:01:17.480 following the trade dynamics since Trump 1.0. And as I like to say, you know, he's pretty bad for

00:01:24.480 everyone, but he's really good for trade lawyers. So we had a very busy, we've always been very busy

00:01:29.760 while he's been president. So, but now I'm, you know, now I'm here in Parliament working alongside

00:01:33.980 you and our colleagues in caucus, and I get to apply the things and the things I've learned and

00:01:38.420 the skills that I have to, you know, helping Canada navigate this difficult time. All right.

00:01:43.020 So it is a difficult topic. It's a complex topic. The Prime Minister has been out and about trying

00:01:48.140 to get deals. We've seen conversations with China, despite, no, no one's saying we shouldn't have

00:01:54.040 trade with China. I think it's good to be aware that China, during the campaign, was our biggest

00:01:59.100 national security threat according to the Prime Minister. According to his words. And they're

00:02:03.820 talking about deal after deal, which, okay, you still got to keep in mind. Then also, the Prime

00:02:09.240 Minister just a week ago, I guess, was out in India talking trade again. And there was not too

00:02:16.660 long ago that Prime Minister Trudeau stood up in Parliament and said that India was doing all these

00:02:22.120 horrific things within Canada's borders. And we seem to be aligning or changing alignment with

00:02:28.560 countries that don't necessarily have the best relationship with us just a few seconds ago.

00:02:34.820 Yeah, absolutely. I think to take a step back on the trade side, I mean,

00:02:39.280 Mark Carney can fly around all he wants, but this is really nothing new.

00:02:43.120 You know, Canada has always traded with these countries. You can't ignore China or India

00:02:48.400 as a trading nation like Canada is.

00:02:50.920 And we've been trading with them for decades.

00:02:53.620 But what is different is that

00:02:55.940 there's been a political element added into this negotiation.

00:02:59.640 I mean, it's one thing to trade with China.

00:03:01.820 It's another thing to speak positively

00:03:05.000 about their new world order while in China.

00:03:08.400 And it's a political decision to make a show

00:03:10.760 of realigning ourselves with a geopolitical adversary,

00:03:14.520 in my opinion.

00:03:15.760 And I think that's where I would take issue

00:03:18.160 with the Prime Minister's approach.

00:03:20.360 I think on trade, we're aligned.

00:03:21.600 I mean, we're a trading nation as Canada.

00:03:23.120 We always have been.

00:03:23.840 I mean, the majority of our trade negotiations and deals

00:03:26.220 were conducted by previous Conservative governments,

00:03:29.020 whether it was the initial NAFTA with the United States

00:03:31.140 or the many trade deals,

00:03:32.880 most significantly with the European Union

00:03:34.620 under Prime Minister Harper.

00:03:36.260 So that's always been in our blood

00:03:38.060 as free traders, as Conservatives.

00:03:40.740 So that's nothing new.

00:03:41.940 But the difference in my mind is this political aspect

00:03:44.520 that the Prime Minister has consciously decided

00:03:47.440 to reorient our politics toward, one, a geopolitical adversary in China, and two, a country that

00:03:54.580 has demonstrably been involved in foreign interference in Canada.

00:03:58.320 And it seems like those issues have simply been swept under the rug by the Prime Minister.

00:04:02.860 And I think that's concerning for me and Canadians.

00:04:06.320 I think so, too.

00:04:06.980 Let's give up cut one here.

00:04:08.720 We have the Prime Minister taking a question from a reporter, I believe from the CBC,

00:04:13.520 outlining, you know, just some of the concerns that have happened between India and Canada.

00:04:18.920 And his response, like usual, is who cares, right? Clay cut too.

00:04:24.160 You have outlined what steps Canada is doing to protect citizens from foreign interference

00:04:28.100 and transnational repression.

00:04:30.060 But a lot of confusion exists, including within your own cabinet,

00:04:33.180 about what Canada thinks India is doing.

00:04:35.720 So I'm hoping that you can clarify in a yes or no way.

00:04:40.360 Do you agree with your own government official, yes or no,

00:04:43.200 who suggested India is no longer actively interfering in Canada's democratic process

00:04:48.100 and that Indian agents are no longer involved in murders and extortions within Canada?

00:04:53.020 Yes or no?

00:04:53.900 Well, I'm not sure that's an exact quote.

00:04:57.320 That is what he suggested.

00:04:59.460 That's not a quote.

00:05:01.540 I can read the quote.

00:05:03.780 I think, well, we can debate whether you had a discussion that was not for quotation,

00:05:09.140 but if you want to read a quote from something that's not for quotation.

00:05:12.360 We cut the clip because it just went on and on in some word salad.

00:05:15.800 But at the same time, the question was legitimate.

00:05:18.140 Yeah.

00:05:18.480 Are you satisfied?

00:05:19.820 Yeah.

00:05:20.360 Yeah, it's a serious question.

00:05:21.680 You can see the prime minister is completely uncomfortable in trying to answer that.

00:05:24.920 And I would be too, because there's a disconnect here between what actions he's taking and what India has been up to in Canada.

00:05:32.940 I mean, I think the public inquiry on foreign interference would disagree with the prime minister.

00:05:37.380 I think the RCMP would disagree with the prime minister.

00:05:39.540 I mean, I was reading through some of that in preparation for our discussion, and I'll just read for you two quotes, I think, that are relevant here.

00:05:46.580 So from the public inquiry on foreign interference, they identified India as, quote, the second most active country engaged in electoral interference in Canada.

00:05:55.480 And that's behind only China, who was the first.

00:05:57.900 So that's a fact that no one disputes.

00:05:59.460 The prime minister hasn't disputed that fact in his new overtures to India.

00:06:02.900 And then the second quote is from the RCMP in 2024, when they stated that criminal activity was, quote, being orchestrated by agents of the government of India.

00:06:13.900 And that included extortion and homicide.

00:06:17.700 So, I mean, those are some of the most serious crimes that foreign agents can be involved in.

00:06:22.600 And there's been no clarification from the prime minister on where those issues are.

00:06:27.400 Are they still going on?

00:06:28.660 Have they been raised with Indian officials at the highest level?

00:06:31.520 We don't know because he hasn't said.

00:06:32.900 And while all this is going on, it's important to understand, at least as it's been outlined by you just now, when Stephen Harper came into power back in the mid-2000s, 2006, there were only about a dozen trade deals that were existing.

00:06:49.480 And by the time Stephen Harper left, there were well over 40, closer to 50 that were either in the works or completed.

00:06:55.340 That shows that, yes, we have to diversify trade, but at the same time, we have 75% of our trade going to the United States.

00:07:01.440 So you can't discount the United States or write them off entirely.

00:07:05.500 Yeah, absolutely.

00:07:06.520 I mean, on the first point about, you know, we have open trade relations with the majority of the world's economies.

00:07:12.780 I mean, the exception being China and India that we've talked about.

00:07:16.200 But otherwise, sort of in the, you know, the pluralistic democracies around the world.

00:07:20.000 We have open access.

00:07:22.180 So there's a diminishing return on some of the activities that the Prime Minister has undertaken.

00:07:27.840 I mean, we already have access to the Japanese market.

00:07:30.200 We already have access to the US market.

00:07:31.900 We already have access to the UK market.

00:07:33.620 We have access to the European market.

00:07:35.500 Some of the biggest, most developed economies, we have access to.

00:07:38.380 Could we improve that, deepen it, seek regulatory alignment?

00:07:42.720 Of course, all those things.

00:07:45.220 But as the prime minister has gone around the world, signing deals with countries like

00:07:49.920 Indonesia, which, great.

00:07:52.120 I'm on the trade committee.

00:07:53.300 We reviewed that deal.

00:07:54.620 We're largely in agreement with it.

00:07:56.240 But it's a rounding error.

00:07:57.820 It's a rounding error.

00:07:58.800 It was less than 1%.

00:07:59.600 It was less than one half of 1% improvement to Canada's GDP.

00:08:04.000 So it doesn't matter how many trade deals you sign with Indonesia, it will never replace the relationship and the importance of the relationship they have in the United States.

00:08:12.740 And that to me is a problem because we see a lot of effort being spent around the world, not so much effort being spent to settle our disputes and get resolution with the United States.

00:08:23.560 All right, let's queue up cut two. This is a video you put out, and if you're not following Jacob on his social media, I highly recommend you do so. Play cut two.

00:08:31.580 So the Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.

00:08:39.020 We have the best deal with the Americans, and the third thing that's true is we will get an even better deal because we can't win.

00:08:45.840 It's also baffling to me that the Prime Minister would jet to Davos and give a speech that

00:08:50.920 pokes the President squarely and firmly in the eye.

00:08:55.020 That was a choice, and I think the Prime Minister knew exactly what he was doing.

00:08:59.740 So we have to ask ourselves, does his rhetoric match our reality?

00:09:04.120 Despite the fact the Prime Minister in the campaign promised a deal with the Americans

00:09:07.780 by summertime and that the deadline kept going, but you're right, it's like he pokes

00:09:14.040 the president, which he makes himself a big enough target, sure. He pokes the president for,

00:09:20.380 I think, and you said it earlier, and I agree with that, for political gain here at home.

00:09:24.580 Yeah, I'm concerned about that. I mean, I think we are all proud Canadians, first and foremost.

00:09:30.540 You know, and any threats of annexation are, you know, unacceptable, never going to happen,

00:09:35.340 period, end of story. But I am concerned that the Liberals are using this issue for political,

00:09:41.280 domestic political gain in Canada. And I start from the proposition that when the Prime Minister

00:09:46.420 or somebody who wants to be the Prime Minister makes a promise during the election, we should

00:09:50.400 expect that they're going to keep it. And the Prime Minister won this last election in no small part

00:09:55.880 because of his promises with respect to the United States. And we saw some of them there. He said he

00:10:00.260 was going to handle Donald Trump. He said he was going to get a deal. And he said in the House of

00:10:05.720 Commons, not only are we going to get a deal, we're going to get a better deal. Those are his words,

00:10:09.520 not mine, not the media's. Those are the bars that he has set for himself. So I think it's

00:10:15.300 reasonable for us as the opposition and for Canadians to hold him to that promise. And my

00:10:21.900 point in making that video is to say, well, we're approaching one year. I think March 14th is the

00:10:26.560 date. This week will be one year of him being prime minister. And if you assess where we are

00:10:31.920 in our issues with the United States, we're no further ahead than where we were. And in some

00:10:37.480 respects were actually worse. Yeah, there's quite a few industries hurting. Yeah. Even worse. Very

00:10:42.260 industry, very, very much hurting. And he set the bar for a win and an even better deal. And so in

00:10:47.160 my mind, that means no tariffs. That means continued free access. And anything less than

00:10:51.360 that, I think, is a failure when measured against his own promises. So let's queue up cut three. We

00:10:57.100 have our leader, Pierre Polyev, speaking in Toronto, outlining the Conservative vision here.

00:11:01.740 play cut three. Deeper than any temporary dispute, Canada's prosperity and security

00:11:09.640 are inseparable from a stable relationship with the United States. And that is why

00:11:16.900 we should not declare a permanent rupture with our biggest customer and closest neighbor in

00:11:27.580 favour of a strategic partnership for a new world order with Beijing, a regime the Prime

00:11:36.020 Minister himself said was the biggest threat to Canada just a year ago. And businesses can't just

00:11:42.880 retool, right? As much as the Prime Minister says they can, to figure out new shipping routes, to

00:11:47.420 a new customer base, to meeting the bureaucratic hurdles that exist in Europe compared to the

00:11:52.980 United States and Canada. This can't be done overnight, right? You have to kind of dance with

00:11:58.920 who's brought you, and yes, there are some unfortunate and very traumatic pieces to that

00:12:03.600 relationship, but we need to figure a way around this. We need to get a deal, and the Prime Minister

00:12:08.080 promised one, and hasn't delivered. Yeah, absolutely, and I had the pleasure of attending

00:12:12.360 Pierre's speech at the Economic Club last week, which you just showed the clip of,

00:12:17.840 And we have now squarely set out how we are differentiating ourselves from the liberals on this issue.

00:12:23.960 On the one hand, you've got the prime minister says there's a global rupture, you know, with the world, including the United States.

00:12:30.040 And we have to think about new world orders versus, you know, Pierre Polyev and the conservatives saying, no, we understand the world has changed, but we shouldn't jettison history and generations of friendship and success with the United States.

00:12:44.700 And I think that's very, very important.

00:12:46.960 I mean, it's just common sense.

00:12:48.400 You know, we share a border, we share a language, we share a culture, we share a history, we

00:12:54.480 share a legal system, all of these things with the United States.

00:12:57.460 So common sense would tell you, you know, that's going to gravitate trade in that direction.

00:13:01.940 And that's not just common sense.

00:13:03.240 There's actually a trade economic theory called the gravity model of trade that says

00:13:07.540 these types of things will dictate how nations trade with each other.

00:13:11.440 And that's true with Canada.

00:13:12.920 And so it will always be easier for a Canadian to do business with somebody in Michigan than it will be to do business with somebody in Germany.

00:13:20.860 Not to say that we don't want to do business with people in Germany. We do.

00:13:24.000 But just it will be easier, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

00:13:28.680 So I think that's the theory. And Pierre's bang on with the economic theory. He's bang on with our history.

00:13:35.600 And I've put it in terms of economics and theory, but a U.S. president put it more eloquently than myself.

00:13:42.580 I think it was President Kennedy who said, and I brought that quote,

00:13:46.240 geography has made us neighbors, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners,

00:13:50.960 and necessity has made us allies.

00:13:52.920 Those from whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.

00:13:56.620 And I think that sort of encapsulates our relationship with the United States.

00:14:01.920 The liberals seem to want to, in President Kennedy's words, put it asunder.

00:14:06.480 And I think conservatives want to ensure that we remain successful in our relationships with the United States.

00:14:11.880 While making Canada as strong as possible.

00:14:13.740 Of course.

00:14:13.980 Wouldn't it be great to have additional pipelines already functioning, already operational?

00:14:19.120 Of course.

00:14:19.700 With going on in the Middle East right now.

00:14:22.620 Had the Liberals not shut down, Energy East, you know, the Northern Gateway, Keystone XL,

00:14:29.640 they really didn't fight that hard when Biden ripped it up.

00:14:32.620 But all these pieces to this puzzle would have been stronger if this was operational.

00:14:39.560 if the Liberals let the market do what it does best.

00:14:42.620 Absolutely.

00:14:43.040 I mean, we can talk about Trump's tariffs on Canadian industry,

00:14:46.460 but the thing that's hamstringing us the most is our own inability to get things built or get things to market.

00:14:53.820 I mean, the world, we have what the world wants.

00:14:56.340 I mean, even the Liberals say that.

00:14:58.380 But they've done nothing about it, right?

00:15:00.420 Not one project has been approved since they've come into office.

00:15:04.900 Not one pipeline has a shovel in the ground.

00:15:06.560 Not one port has more infrastructure being built on it.

00:15:09.920 So lots of rhetoric coming from them on this trade file, not a lot of results.

00:15:14.220 Even industry has pulled out again, and we lost another one last week saying there's no certainty within the current climate here in Canada.

00:15:21.400 So they're going to pull out another blow to our economy, just one after the other.

00:15:27.940 Despite all the pieces of legislation, the Liberals said they needed to get things done, not happening.

00:15:31.980 but the Prime Minister also promised that we could judge his performance by the grocery prices.

00:15:39.940 Yes, absolutely.

00:15:41.460 Well, there seems to be another disconnect going on.

00:15:44.280 I mean, the Prime Minister is going around the world, and there's a lot of show and tell going on,

00:15:48.980 but we have to remember there's a reality for Canadians here at home.

00:15:52.980 And so, you know, he can go to China and put pen to paper on a deal that may have no effect in the future,

00:15:58.840 but people still have to buy their groceries this week

00:16:02.240 and they still have to eat their homes in the winter

00:16:04.080 and they still have to put their kids in hockey

00:16:05.920 and all those things are more expensive

00:16:07.800 every single day, every single week.

00:16:09.940 And I know there was new data out this week

00:16:11.360 showing that as well.

00:16:13.160 Yeah, we're going to show that.

00:16:13.900 Q-Up Cut 4?

00:16:14.880 With rising grocery prices,

00:16:16.420 some Canadians are consciously making hard choices

00:16:18.940 to save money.

00:16:20.080 If it's not on sale, we're not buying it.

00:16:22.160 Like Fresco and like Walmart are like the places to go,

00:16:24.580 I find, and like if you go to Farm Boy

00:16:26.340 or like anywhere else, it's just like insane.

00:16:28.240 A new survey from debt relief firm Spurgle finds in the past six months, just over 60% of respondents say they skip meals or reduce their portions.

00:16:37.620 More than half say they use credit cards, loans, or lines of credit to pay for groceries.

00:16:42.640 And about 40% say they delayed paying a bill to buy groceries.

00:16:46.640 The survey also finds many are purchasing less meats or proteins and cutting back on fruits and vegetables.

00:16:52.180 Like in normal times, a story like this would be catastrophic.

00:16:56.840 the public would be losing their minds. And these numbers just keep getting worse.

00:17:03.560 So it actually proves our point about the strategy Canada should be taking.

00:17:08.120 Absolutely. I mean, the costs have, I mean, it's not just you and I saying it. I mean,

00:17:13.560 you can look at any report from the last year, you know, costs for essentials have just continued

00:17:18.280 to rise. And unfortunately, that issue is getting short shrift by the Liberals.

00:17:25.320 because they are focused on these trade deals,

00:17:29.500 which are going to have minimal impact in the long run.

00:17:32.780 And they're not even focused on the main one,

00:17:34.520 which is as we talked about with the United States.

00:17:36.620 But it suits their purposes, in my opinion.

00:17:39.960 Donald Trump is a great foil for everything wrong with Canada.

00:17:44.260 And the prime minister can blame Donald Trump all he wants,

00:17:46.940 but Donald Trump is not causing our food inflation.

00:17:49.600 He's not causing us to not get our goods to market.

00:17:52.020 That is squarely and firmly on the shoulders of the prime minister.

00:17:54.760 And we're seeing the results of that every week.

00:17:57.160 So we have issues in the Middle East causing, well, will cause inflation as it purkles through the whole chain.

00:18:04.160 We also have a, what are we, a $78 billion deficit now?

00:18:07.600 So that's going to cause some problems.

00:18:09.440 So you're exactly right.

00:18:10.960 This is why we keep seeing these inflation numbers get worse.

00:18:14.480 It's bad governance.

00:18:15.600 Yeah, and you mentioned the war in the Middle East.

00:18:18.420 I mean, that is a perfect case in point of what's wrong with Canada's inability to get its goods to market.

00:18:24.220 You know, we've got oil over $100 today, I saw, because of the war in the Middle East.

00:18:28.840 I mean, I don't know what it would cost you to fill up to get to Ottawa, but I think regular was $1.99.

00:18:34.140 Diesel, I think, was $1.59 a litre.

00:18:37.080 That's up 40, 50 cents in a week or two weeks.

00:18:41.280 But we're sitting on some of the largest reserves of oil and gas in the world.

00:18:45.040 Our energy should be the cheapest in the world.

00:18:47.820 It shouldn't be affected by what's happening in the Middle East.

00:18:50.440 But we are importing oil and gas from the Middle East into Canada.

00:18:54.480 I mean, how crazy is that?

00:18:56.600 Canadians should be outraged that not only we're importing from overseas,

00:19:00.280 but we're not even developing our own resources

00:19:02.280 and could be capitalizing on higher commodity prices,

00:19:06.640 you know, and supporting our allies in the process.

00:19:09.660 Do you think Germany wants to import natural gas from Qatar?

00:19:12.820 No, they came to us first.

00:19:13.700 They came to us, right?

00:19:14.860 And so did Japan.

00:19:15.980 And we turned them away.

00:19:16.960 And we're reaping the consequences of that now.

00:19:20.440 I mean, you see it at the pump.

00:19:21.540 Shouldn't be that way, but it is.

00:19:23.080 And there should be some responsibility and acknowledgement from the Liberals on this.

00:19:26.960 But I haven't seen it.

00:19:27.980 No, it's Donald Trump's fault.

00:19:29.220 Well, it always is, right?

00:19:30.660 Like you said, an easy target.

00:19:32.120 Of course, he makes himself kind of out there.

00:19:34.620 But at the same time, Canada should be a lot stronger.

00:19:37.280 Jacob, we're pretty much out of time.

00:19:38.780 I always give the guests the last word.

00:19:40.500 The floor is yours.

00:19:41.340 You can talk about this topic or anything else.

00:19:43.640 Well, thanks for having me, Jamie.

00:19:44.740 I mean, trade is something that I'm watching and I'm trying to support Canadians and the Conservative cause on.

00:19:50.440 And I would just leave the viewers with, you know, we all want to see Canada succeed.

00:19:55.320 And Conservatives are doing everything they can to make Canada succeed in our negotiations with the United States.

00:20:02.000 Pierre has offered his support.

00:20:03.520 Members of caucus have offered our support.

00:20:05.340 We have tried to work as cooperatively as we want on Team Canada.

00:20:08.860 And I hope the Liberals take us up on that because we do need a unified approach on this.

00:20:13.320 So far, they haven't, in my opinion.

00:20:14.940 So far, they haven't.

00:20:15.680 And I'm increasingly concerned that lack of progress is a strategy.

00:20:22.980 And I hope that's not the case because I hope they put country first

00:20:26.640 because I know Conservatives will always put country first.

00:20:29.540 Yeah, unfortunately, people are suffering because of this delay.

00:20:32.120 So, Jacob, thank you very much for your time.

00:20:34.240 Jacob, Mental Member of Parliament for York Durham.

00:20:36.960 Of course, we appreciate your time as well.

00:20:39.120 Don't forget, we have new content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time.

00:20:43.280 Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share it.

00:20:45.680 Also, tell your friends they can download it on platforms like Cashbox, iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify.

00:20:50.380 You name it, it is out there.

00:20:51.800 Guaranteed, this is a topic you're not hearing this kind of depth from in the mainstream media.

00:20:56.120 So please help us get that message out.

00:20:58.140 And until next week, remember, low taxes, less government, more freedom.

00:21:01.880 That's the blueprint.

00:21:15.680 Thank you.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - March 11, 2026

Canada must defend its economic sovereignty.

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