00:01:16.340So it seems in his efforts to achieve his objectives
00:01:21.280of investment and trade diversification,
00:01:24.660He is now looking to the European Union. So with the European Union, he is very much enamored with this idea of associate membership. And we as conservatives, of course, are very worried about the different aspects of it because we're not sure that he has thought this through entirely for what it means for Canadians, because it could have very significant impacts in terms of taxation.
00:01:52.340I don't think Canadians, in this difficult time of cost of living, want to pay more taxes to Brussels, of all places.
00:02:00.580Secondly, we have concerns about migration, the migratory impacts.
00:02:06.240Already, of course, we're having an important conversation in Canada on our immigration levels,
00:02:11.100the impacts that these immigration levels are having on important social programs, such as health, education, and housing.
00:02:19.560And then finally, the regulatory measures, what it would mean for importing, exporting business across Canada. So we're not really sure that he has thought this through despite his passionate feelings about it.
00:02:34.420But it's something that he has seemed very much hell bent on and seems to be a reality after the summit in Montreal last week.
00:02:42.540So he's been very keen on it, although I question his motivation being to sort of steer away from the U.S. deal he promised Canadians during the election.
00:02:52.460But he seems as though he's going to follow through on this this EU associate membership now with the actual implications of it unknown to it would seem him or Canadians.
00:03:04.940You're right. And we have a few clips here that we'll get to in just a moment.
00:03:08.780But the thing you started off with, the comment, Mark Carney was elected because he was the man with the plan.
00:03:15.320He could handle Donald Trump. He could get a deal with the United States.
00:03:18.660He said something like in 21 days. It was it was it was quite remarkable to hear him say that.
00:03:24.060But that's what most Canadians thought he would do.
00:03:27.580We're a year and a half into this term, and still we have no deal, but we have lots of tariffs striking havoc to our businesses.
00:04:19.720But worse than that, it seems as though he's almost enjoying political favoritism as a result of not getting these deals done when he should be thinking about the well-being of Canadians and achieving this deal, first of all, and secondly, trying to use the idea of diversification in going to the European Union.
00:04:42.860And I'll add that this is a deal that several European nations don't even want this associate membership for Canada.
00:04:51.680France has been very vocal about this.
00:04:54.940I actually met with the Minister of State for the European Union from Germany who was concerned because he stated himself regulatory impacts of Europe are significant.
00:05:06.620And he worries about Canada having to adopt these.
00:05:10.760And the second point he made, which I thought was very valid, is that associate membership means you are on the path to full membership in the European Union.
00:05:24.120So the concerns are many, both from conservatives and from European nations as well.
00:05:30.820And as I said, the objectives to me are not clear of the prime minister when he should be focusing on getting this deal done with our U.S. counterparts before he goes and has these conversations in the EU, at the EU.
00:05:46.380And as we pointed out many times on the show and we've done in the House of Commons, businesses in Europe just aren't going to cede the way for Canadian companies to make their way in.
00:05:58.120They have their setup, their distribution network, their products that people buy.
00:06:03.120They're just not going to say, wow, Canada, come on in and scoop up some of our market share.
00:09:46.700Based on what you've heard, because we got an interview coming up with the prime minister, what you've heard, are you, I know you mentioned it, are you being open-minded as a trade critic here based on what's being said?
00:09:59.460Or where do you see this file going on those two clips?
00:10:03.460I'm not being, it's hard for me to be open-minded when you consider the distraction that the Prime Minister is trying to create in pursuing this associate membership.
00:10:16.400If we look at the hard deals that the Liberal government has signed since Prime Minister Carney arrived, it is about 1% of Canada-U.S. trade in 2025, in a single year.
00:10:33.200So to have to make up 99 percent of trade with the U.S., that is an impossible goal.
00:10:41.420So I think the prime minister is trying to distract Canadians from the cost of living crisis that his liberal government, this is not two governments, a Justin Trudeau government and then a Mark Carney government.
00:10:54.500This is 12 years of consecutive liberal government that has led to the cost of living crisis that we have here.
00:13:53.600Can Europe replace the U.S. as Canada's closest ally?
00:13:59.280We're over-dependent on the United States.
00:14:01.720Too closely connected to the United States.
00:14:04.720And we need to build our strength here at home and diversify and deepen our partnerships with like-minded countries internationally.
00:14:13.200Now, when we look around the world, we see our values most aligned with those of the European Union.
00:14:21.280And in fact, we're very complementary in what our strengths are.
00:14:24.920And that's why the partnership is moving.
00:14:26.900Now, it's very hard to, quote, replace, certainly in the short term, the scale of the relationship with the United States.
00:14:36.240But again, what this partnership does, this association between Canada and the European Union does for both of us, is it makes us both more independent, more resilient, more prosperous.
00:14:49.880Okay, I'm not sure about any of that last part.
00:14:52.420Don't forget, Mark Carney has all his investments in the vast majority of the U.S. in U.S. dollars.
00:14:57.520having said that we've built a system over 150 years with the relationship with the United
00:15:05.380States setting up trade routes setting up agreements all of this is interconnected
00:15:09.640to be able to say we can just snap our fingers and we'll be more prosperous in the EU I don't
00:15:16.460see it plus he's not giving any details to give us that confidence that there is a future going
00:15:22.500this way. Yeah. And again, I'm not sure. He does not have the details. He expressed that himself
00:15:28.740in the previous video clip. What bothered me the most about that clip was how he talked about the
00:15:33.720common values between Canada and the EU. Yet here he is cozying up to China, which should be very0.96
00:15:42.080concerning for Canadians. And then his most recent negotiations and deals have been with Turkey and
00:15:49.520the UAE, nations that don't necessarily have the best human rights record. So I think you have to
00:15:57.120be consistent in your trade diversification objectives and call things for what they are.0.65
00:16:04.300And the fact that he can't be shows me, one, that essentially he's just trying to have Canadians
00:16:13.140take the focus off of the cost of living crisis that they are living, first of all.
00:16:18.800And secondly, his inability to deliver on his primary election promise, which was to get a deal with the US. But I don't buy that values proposition for a minute, given his track record to date.
00:16:33.700So he is failing by his own standards of the values alignment with trade partners, and then also in terms of the trade diversity that he wants to achieve, the sheer numbers that he has to make up in not getting a deal with the U.S.
00:16:54.000So I see him having a lot of challenges ahead of him.
00:16:57.540He's going to have to get the deal with the U.S.
00:16:59.340He's going to have to keep making a lot more deals to get the dollar amount that's necessary to replace the U.S.
00:17:07.820or even meet his own trade diversification deals.
00:17:10.660And if he wants to talk about Canadian values, he's going to have to do a better job of looking for partners that actually share them.
00:17:18.040we also have a an agreement and a partnership with with nato countries right so that includes
00:17:26.980the european nation so we have the trade we have the military we have the protection let's just
00:17:32.100implement some of these things get them going while at the same time let's let's but you know
00:17:38.460let's so we got we have a few graphics here the biggest pollutant to an organic environment is
00:17:43.300government itself when you're talking about business and free markets, right? As we mentioned
00:17:48.040a few minutes ago, the European Union has massive amounts of bureaucracy and it keeps growing and
00:17:53.620growing. So let's throw up a few of these graphics here. We're talking about the, now we're talking
00:17:58.100about a carbon threat that the EU is threatening to hit Canada with. What does that mean? Where do
00:18:03.540the dollars go? Throw the other one here quickly. All right, now we're talking about more bureaucracy0.83
00:18:09.220when it comes to labeling, et cetera, et cetera. And the list goes on. How, again, how do Canadian
00:18:15.740businesses all of a sudden snap their fingers, retool, and be able to access this market while
00:18:23.200having a ocean between us to navigate? Well, in talking to businesses, they don't want to,
00:18:30.940as you know, we had our caucus retreat in Penticton, and I was very fortunate to attend a
00:18:38.120stakeholders meeting of BC businesses. And one of them was a major forestry player. And he literally
00:18:46.520said in his briefing to us, we don't want to sell our products to Luxembourg, I think was
00:18:53.240just an example of a nation that he gave, that it is not a realistic alternative for businesses to
00:19:00.860change their entire marketing plan to compensate for getting items across an ocean for sure,
00:19:08.460maybe across an entire nation, Canada, and an ocean as well. So I think that this is something
00:19:14.920that even businesses don't want to do. When you get into business, I'm very lucky to come from
00:19:20.580a family business background, you have an idea as to who your market is and to have a significant
00:19:27.160share of your market, the U.S., be taken away and being told to adjust your production,
00:19:34.860your logistics, your shipping for another entity that is literally thousands and thousands of
00:19:42.500miles away is not productive or conducive to any business model. So again, it's just unrealistic.
00:19:51.240While we still have inter-provincial trade barriers,
00:19:55.060meaning it's very difficult to get some goods and products
00:19:58.000across provincial borders to actually make Canada work.