The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - September 08, 2026


Canada must stand up for our workers and industries.


Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

187.68

Word count

3,342

Sentence count

213

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your
00:00:08.720 host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton, Cawortha Lakes, with new content
00:00:12.240 for you every single Tuesday, 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe,
00:00:16.920 and share this program. On today's show, we are talking tariffs, trade, and the economy here in
00:00:22.940 Canada. To do that and so much more, we bring on Kyle Seback, the Member of Parliament for Dufferin
00:00:27.640 Caledon, also the critic for Labour. Thanks for coming on. Great to be here. Quite a situation we
00:00:32.800 have with the administration down south. Canadians are wondering what's coming next, and I think
00:00:37.520 that's a big problem, right? Nobody knows what's coming next. Businesses are having trouble
00:00:42.660 navigating whatever is being thrown at them, but I think the bottom line is nobody wins a trade war.
00:00:49.600 Absolutely true, and certainty for business is really so important. I remember, this is a long
00:00:55.200 time ago when I was a member of parliament in the Harper government talking to Jim Flaherty and they
00:01:00.300 were extending this accelerated capital cost allowance every year in the budget for like one
00:01:05.260 year and the businesses got together and said you know Jim this isn't helpful right why don't you do
00:01:10.800 it for five years then we can plan we have certainty when there's certainty you can plan
00:01:15.180 and that is of course what we did but this environment there's just no certainty for
00:01:20.260 any businesses in Canada that have dealings with the United States. I think which is frustrating
00:01:24.560 for anybody that gets into politics, right? You get into politics to help people, and right now
00:01:30.080 there doesn't seem to be any concern from the administration down south of the pure hell that
00:01:36.960 they're putting a lot of workers, families through here in Canada. And this is a relationship
00:01:43.920 we've had for forever and ever, and it just seems to be a bull in the china shop, so to speak.
00:01:51.280 Look, I don't think Donald Trump cares if he puts Canadian workers out of work.
00:01:55.120 That's just very clear from the kinds of things he's saying.
00:01:58.320 What I think concerns me the most is the lack of a coherent response from the Canadian government
00:02:04.240 to help the affected businesses. We should have programs in place that would take taxes off
00:02:10.880 businesses in tariff-affected areas or follow the Conservative economic plan, which is to get rid of
00:02:17.040 of the industrial carbon tax, which is to lower taxes for all Canadians and find ways to help the
00:02:22.940 businesses that are being affected by tariffs. That, to me, is a real response. What we have
00:02:27.700 instead is a complicated suite of programs that are very hard to navigate. I've had to try and
00:02:33.040 help some businesses in my riding navigate them, and they're not easy or simple to apply for.
00:02:38.620 And that's not helpful for businesses that are really hurting.
00:02:41.660 Especially the small businesses, right? A lot of these big ones have people that can do that,
00:02:45.700 or a team or a head office that takes care of it.
00:02:48.360 The small businesses who are struggling to compete against these big ones,
00:02:52.920 but also to keep their lights on and their people employed,
00:02:55.380 those are the people that are going to be hurt by this
00:02:57.440 because they don't have the time and the resources
00:02:59.520 to figure out that complicated government process.
00:03:02.660 That's exactly right.
00:03:03.600 And there's lots of simple ways to do it, like in our Conservative plan,
00:03:07.420 some of the things I just mentioned now.
00:03:09.440 And I don't know why the government's not trying to figure out how they can do that.
00:03:12.780 One thing we've seen going through the last few weeks is the lack of transparency
00:03:20.520 that the government seems to be showing to Canadians, but also the opposition as well.
00:03:26.060 You served in the Stephen Harper government.
00:03:28.540 You know that in many cases, the opposition were brought in to discuss sensitive issues.
00:03:34.240 And I think Thomas Mulcair, leader of the opposition, leader of the NDP,
00:03:37.420 He was even brought into the Privy Council to ensure that some sensitive information was shared with him
00:03:44.840 so that they can all be on the same page and understand.
00:03:48.480 I forget what the situation was at the time,
00:03:50.220 but it required the fact that the opposition know what the government's thinking and what they're dealing with.
00:03:57.120 There's never been secrecy like this around an issue as important to Canadians.
00:04:02.060 The secrecy is so much that when Ambassador Wiseman was at committee,
00:04:05.880 I had the chance to ask him questions, and I wanted to know when was the last time they had met with the Americans and exchanged a formal offer.
00:04:14.220 This was six months ago, and he wouldn't answer the question.
00:04:18.780 And I said, Ambassador, the Americans know the last time you met and exchanged an offer.
00:04:23.740 You know the last time you met and exchanged an offer.
00:04:26.400 There's no state secrets here, but Canadians should know when the last time their government was aggressively negotiating a relief on tariffs.
00:04:34.520 and he wouldn't answer and that's how they're doing this whole thing, keeping
00:04:38.660 everyone in the dark and quite frankly I don't think it's the way to do it. It
00:04:43.340 doesn't but it seems to be her helping their poll numbers for some reason it's
00:04:46.820 it's absolutely incredible. Yeah I don't know why Canadians aren't asking for
00:04:50.840 more transparency. I know we are and we're trying to get it. I mean recalling
00:04:55.340 Parliament would be a great thing to do so there could be some transparency or
00:04:58.460 at least someone could ask some questions. You never get a great answer
00:05:02.180 from them in question period, but at least you get to ask the question.
00:05:04.860 Yeah.
00:05:05.240 All right. 0.66
00:05:05.560 Let's queue up cut one.
00:05:06.480 This is Kate Harrison on, I think, Power and Politics here, asking kind of the same thing. 0.68
00:05:13.840 Play cut one.
00:05:14.440 I do think that the premiers have been, like many Canadians, shut out from status updates
00:05:20.800 on the conversations.
00:05:21.920 You saw a lot of that frustration at the Council of the Federation, premiers kind of speaking
00:05:26.840 out and saying openly that they didn't really have information from our government about the
00:05:32.240 conversation. So if you're going to approach this as Team Canada, you kind of have to bring the team
00:05:38.140 along with you. So I do think that they have been largely left out of the conversation, as has
00:05:43.960 a lot of the opposition. And in the previous round of negotiations, there was more of an effort from
00:05:50.640 the Trudeau government to include members of Conservative Caucus in border ridings and
00:05:56.340 involve them in the outreach, and that has been absent as well. So heavy is the head that wears
00:06:01.060 the crown for this prime minister. So as you mentioned, what we have proposed in an opposition,
00:06:06.980 we're trying to help the average person, right? Lowering tax on gasoline, looking for other
00:06:12.300 methods on how to move forward. What we're seeing now with the government is kind of the lack of
00:06:20.200 ability to move forward with some major projects. There's an estimated, what, 500 projects in the
00:06:25.420 queue requiring a federal approval that could help the economy in some way, building some
00:06:31.060 infrastructure, opening a mine, getting a pipeline built. All projects that the Prime Minister said
00:06:36.420 we would move at speeds not seen in generations. Well, nothing's been built yet. Wouldn't it be a
00:06:42.420 good idea to make Canada strong domestically? That to me seems like a priority if we're having
00:06:48.860 this much trouble with the United States.
00:06:50.480 Look, he said I think move at speeds never seen before, but instead it's like moving
00:06:55.540 at the same speed we've seen for the last 10 years, which is a glacial pace.
00:06:59.520 I don't think the major project office has actually approved a single new project.
00:07:04.200 Like a few old projects that were almost at the approval stage have been approved, but
00:07:08.100 nothing new.
00:07:09.100 No, nothing right off.
00:07:11.060 That's not moving fast or moving quickly.
00:07:14.240 And not keeping anybody in the loop is a major problem.
00:07:17.620 this is kind of the game that the Liberals are playing. They'll say, we need you to be on Team
00:07:22.920 Canada, but not tell you anything about what Team Canada is doing. And then if you criticize what's
00:07:29.160 happening, they say you're not on Team Canada. But our criticism is, we need to know what's going on
00:07:34.560 to see if you're doing, you know, things that are for the benefit of the country, which is what an
00:07:38.940 opposition is supposed to do. All right, let's queue up cut two. We're talking energy here. Premier
00:07:43.440 Danielle Smith of Alberta Play Cut 2.
00:07:46.080 Can you explain the main concern you've got
00:07:48.060 about the idea of even using energy as a weapon here?
00:07:51.380 Line 5 goes through Wisconsin and Michigan
00:07:53.760 before it makes its way to Sarnia.
00:07:55.460 50% of the oil at Sarnia goes into Ontario refineries
00:08:00.580 and then about two-thirds of the oil that Quebec needs
00:08:04.140 also comes by way of that route through Line 9.
00:08:06.600 Ontario, Quebec used to get most of their natural gas
00:08:09.140 from Alberta, but 10 years ago,
00:08:11.380 they switched to be getting it from the United States. Now two-thirds of the natural gas going
00:08:15.660 into Ontario and Quebec comes from the United States. And so those would be the reasons is
00:08:20.980 that we've got to think of what the counterpunch might look like. And if we could live with that,
00:08:25.020 we can't. We can't shut down the Toronto Pearson Airport because they can't get aviation fuel.
00:08:30.400 We can't shut down the Ontario and Quebec economies because they can't get gasoline and diesel.
00:08:34.920 That doesn't make sense. So we should be talking about the things that we can do to support each
00:08:39.200 other and that's not one of them. This is why we put up such an uproar when Energy East was
00:08:44.860 cancelled and the Northern Gateway was cancelled and when Joe Biden stopped Keystone XL. Like
00:08:50.820 barely a whimper from the Trudeau government on the Keystone XL but also they cancelled two
00:08:56.420 important ones. Energy to Europe, Energy to Asia. How much better of a position would we be in right
00:09:02.540 now if we had that ability to find new markets? The amount of revenue that would be coming into
00:09:08.360 the country. Number one, to help the federal government weather a storm like this by having
00:09:13.100 our gas go to international markets as opposed to just the United States would have been incredible.
00:09:18.440 Help us weather the storm. The jobs created to build those things also would have been massive.
00:09:23.080 But this is the problem when you had a government for 10 years that didn't realize where the real
00:09:29.340 drivers of the Canadian economy are, which are in things like oil and gas and natural resources.
00:09:35.420 And they did everything they could for 10 years to try and make all of that almost impossible.
00:09:41.020 Whether it was with Bill C-69, that makes it almost impossible to get permits.
00:09:45.560 This has been their legacy.
00:09:47.460 And what we've seen from that is, you know, Canadian standard of living has barely moved in the last 10 years.
00:09:53.760 This is a major problem in Canada, mostly because of the damage done by the Liberal government over the last 10 years.
00:10:00.420 Let's clear up cut three.
00:10:01.760 So we mentioned this off air.
00:10:04.660 Neither of us saw any joy or pleasure from an American newscaster or banker bad-mouthing Canada.
00:10:12.900 But the stat that was pointed out speaks to the point you just made.
00:10:17.660 Play cut three.
00:10:18.680 I think this is the last thing America needs.
00:10:20.900 It's the last thing the world needs.
00:10:22.360 And I think it's a real shame.
00:10:24.100 Well, it's really the last thing Canada needs more than anything.
00:10:27.720 Here's the, just look at this.
00:10:29.400 And this is shocking to me.
00:10:30.820 GDP growth in Canada over the last 10 years, you're dead last, basically, with OECD countries.
00:10:38.040 You're at 0.5 percent.
00:10:40.700 The United States was 20.7 percent.
00:10:43.200 I think we can look at this.
00:10:45.700 I mean, dead last.
00:10:46.380 And it's not just the last 10 years.
00:10:49.100 The OECD is not going to get any better.
00:10:52.500 It's going to get much worse.
00:10:53.700 Between 2020 and 2030, you're dead last projected to be out of the OECD's 38 members tied with Italy at 46 percent below the OECD average.
00:11:05.640 And then the next 30 years after that, dead last again.
00:11:11.560 Again, we get no pleasure.
00:11:14.380 No, but the last 10 years, RBC, I believe it was, said that a trillion dollars of investment has left Canada because of policies brought in by this government.
00:11:25.980 Yeah, and I remember being as part of the Harper government when the New York Times put out their article, I think it was 2014, said Canada has the wealthiest middle class in the world.
00:11:35.200 In fact, our middle class was wealthier than the United States.
00:11:38.220 The gap between Canada and the United States now by that metric is huge
00:11:42.800 and it's in favor of the United States.
00:11:45.380 Our economy has really lagged over the last 10 years
00:11:49.120 because of the kinds of policies that the Liberals adopted
00:11:53.060 and that this current government hasn't reversed any of it.
00:11:56.860 Well, we were told during the election that the master negotiator
00:11:59.460 would deal with Trump and have a deal.
00:12:01.380 That was a year ago now, right?
00:12:02.920 Come and gone, we're still dealing with this.
00:12:05.760 I'm sure they're doing it somewhat to,
00:12:08.400 it feels like to me that they're trying to deal with it
00:12:10.940 for political points as well,
00:12:12.400 because, you know, there's got to be a path.
00:12:17.980 Q-Up cut four, because while the United States,
00:12:22.300 what we're dealing with is something we can't control,
00:12:25.680 this is something we can.
00:12:27.000 It's interprovincial trade barriers.
00:12:29.420 Many companies, I'm sure you have them, I do,
00:12:31.940 say it's easier to do business with another country than it is a province in Canada.
00:12:37.700 Yeah.
00:12:38.220 And this clip will show you, and I want to get your comments on that.
00:12:41.320 Play cut four.
00:12:42.560 Let's talk to Ron Kuback.
00:12:44.240 He is the owner of Lightning Rock Winery, and he's in Summerland, British Columbia.
00:12:51.040 Ron, let's start with this new wave of tariffs being threatened by Trump
00:12:54.600 in retaliation to Canada taking American booze off the shelves.
00:12:58.900 As a business owner, what do you make of this move?
00:13:01.940 Well, first we were very dismayed and I had to work with my U.S. rep who is now putting together another order so we can get it down there before the new tariffs.
00:13:11.000 But the ironic thing is, Chris, is that the 50 percent tariff that Mr. Trump is wanting to put on is still less than what every other province puts on us in Canada.
00:13:19.680 And so, you know, the illusion or the free trade illusion that's coming out of Charlottetown is really just that.
00:13:25.440 I mean, this is just taking what they had said they were going to do last year, and they're just regurgitating it and repackaging it, but it's still nothing.
00:13:34.200 I don't think the CBC liked that answer, and I don't think he'll ever be on again, but the point is still true.
00:13:42.720 What is it, 70% tax to bring BC wine over to Ontario?
00:13:47.040 Like, let's unlock billions by just knocking down the barriers domestically.
00:13:52.360 Well, Mark Carney said interprovincial trade barriers would be gone by July 1st of 2025.
00:13:57.720 It's now the end of August 2026, and they're still having the same conversation. This government is
00:14:03.160 a great government at making announcements that sound like they're doing things. You remember
00:14:08.120 being in the House of Commons, they're said over and over again, the fastest growing economy in the
00:14:13.000 G7. It's absolutely false, but they keep sort of repeating it, hoping people will believe it.
00:14:21.560 I mean, I'm going to start going around saying, you know, Kyle Seaback, the most handsome man in Canada.
00:14:26.200 And maybe if I say it enough times, people will start to believe it.
00:14:30.280 Somebody will believe it.
00:14:31.260 But this is how they operate.
00:14:33.560 They say things which are easy, but actually the doing things which are hard and complicated, they're not able to do.
00:14:40.320 And we see that with a struggling economy.
00:14:43.300 You know, when was the last time we started really building things here in Canada?
00:14:47.260 It's been a long time.
00:14:48.460 And we saw the exodus during the Trudeau administration.
00:14:51.560 It was put on steroids.
00:14:55.100 And then we have lineups at food banks that just keep getting bigger and bigger.
00:14:59.760 More people are struggling.
00:15:01.180 We saw the number of defaults on mortgages just go up to levels we haven't seen in ages.
00:15:06.880 Like, there's some serious problems here at home, and there are some solutions.
00:15:10.880 One of them, getting rid of interprovincial trade barriers.
00:15:14.020 Absolutely.
00:15:15.080 Look, I'm sure you get the same emails that I get from people who are telling me just
00:15:19.480 how hard they are finding it to survive day to day.
00:15:22.780 They're heartbreaking.
00:15:23.920 And we try and find ways to help them.
00:15:26.600 But the best way to help people
00:15:27.960 is to have a really strong economy,
00:15:30.040 which we could actually build
00:15:31.860 if they did the tough things that they need to do,
00:15:35.200 like repealing their anti-development legislation,
00:15:38.460 actually fast-tracking projects,
00:15:40.720 removing inter-provincial trade barriers,
00:15:42.780 but also they could remove labor mobility barriers, right?
00:15:46.020 For people in the skilled trades,
00:15:47.400 there's so many barriers to move from, you know, a pipe fitter from BC wants to go to Ontario where
00:15:54.480 there's a job. There's all kinds of red tape for that as well. Why isn't that gone? Yeah, let's get
00:16:00.480 rid of the rules that's kind of strangling our own economy. Let's unleash what we have as a starting
00:16:05.840 point, start building stuff, approve some of the 500 projects, maybe give Canadians a bit of a break
00:16:11.780 at the pump until we figure this out? There are so many things that can be done. And one thing
00:16:17.380 would be nice is, as we started off, addressing Parliament, letting us know what's going on.
00:16:22.340 Yeah, 100%. The secrecy on all this stuff is completely unacceptable and doesn't happen in
00:16:27.520 other countries either. Yeah, that's right. More and more countries. Well, he did go to Europe to
00:16:32.480 address the European Parliament, the Prime Minister did. So maybe he could find his way back to Canada
00:16:37.220 address our Parliament? But I thought he said we're at war. He did and he leaves
00:16:41.660 immediately after. If you're at war you don't leave the country you come and
00:16:45.320 recall Parliament. Yes and let us know what's going on. That would be a heck of
00:16:48.920 a thing to do. Would be a start. Yeah that'd be alright. Alright Kyle we're
00:16:52.380 pretty much out of time. As you know the guests always get the last word. The floor
00:16:55.580 is yours. Look I think we have such an opportunity in this country to unleash
00:17:00.460 the Canadian economy with all the things that we've talked about and it would
00:17:03.900 take the sting out of whatever tariffs Donald Trump wants to put on our economy. And that should
00:17:08.800 actually be the focus. Unleash the Canadian economy, eliminate interprovincial trade barriers,
00:17:14.120 but actually do it. Don't just talk about it. The problem is we've got a bunch of liberals that love
00:17:19.680 to talk, but actually don't like to do. And that's going to be the hard thing for the country over the
00:17:24.200 next little while. Cal Seeback, thank you very much for coming on the show. Member of Parliament
00:17:28.260 for Dufferin Kaladin, also the critic or shadow minister for Labour. Always a pleasure. Thank you
00:17:32.780 for your time. Thank you for yours. Don't forget, we will have new content every single Tuesday,
00:17:37.340 1.30 p.m. Eastern Time. So don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share this program. I
00:17:41.900 guarantee you it's a message you're not getting in the mainstream media. So until next week,
00:17:45.500 remember, low taxes, less government, more freedom. That's the blueprint.