Kevin O’Leary： Carney is Trudeau 2.0
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Summary
Candice Malcolm sits down with Canadian businessman and TV personality Kevin O'Leary to discuss the upcoming federal election, the challenges facing Canada in the short amount of time we have to elect a new Prime Minister, and what to expect from the campaign.
Transcript
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Hi, I'm Candice Malcolm, and this is The Candice Malcolm Show. We have a great episode for you
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today. I'm going to jump right into an interview. I'm so pleased today to be joined by Kevin O'Leary,
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Canadian businessman, investor, and television personality. Kevin, great to have you. Thank you
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so much for joining us. Thank you. Okay, so we have an election. Mark Carney has officially
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dissolved Parliament, and we are into a five-week election, the shortest one, I believe, in Canadian
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history, the shortest one that is allowed. So what is your impression of this short election
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campaign in front of us? It's very unique, this situation. First of all, it's very important
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because we're in a bad place right now with our largest trading partner, the United States,
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and there's no federal mandate yet. There's no one to go and negotiate. The provincial leadership
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has been going back and forth to Washington now for about six weeks, province at a time. So the
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premiers are not having much success because the administration there knows that they can't do a
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pan-American deal. And so it's very chaotic. In addition, we're seeing a lot of flexibility or
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movement in the tariffs out of the United States, a better schedule supposedly being drawn down on April
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2nd, including 15 countries that the major focus will be on Wave 1 and Canada's in that group. So it's
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important that we have this election and we choose a leader. Now, which leader to choose is going to be a
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very interesting contest. Well, it's interesting because if you would ask Canadians two months ago,
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everyone was dying for an election, and the top issues were all to do with cost of living, cost of
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housing, immigration, everything related to just how unaffordable Canada has become. In the last two
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months, Kevin, it's switched. And the number one campaign issue, according to Canadians, by polling
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is Donald Trump and the tariffs. So he's totally thrown a wrench into the entire Canadian political
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system. Do you think that's having the intended impact that he wanted?
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I don't think he necessarily cares how it affects other countries' situations. You know, it's not
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just Canada that's going through this twisting and turning. We know that Britain, France, Switzerland,
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Mexico, as well as, you know, almost 11 other countries are going to have the same issues. But
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we're in a unique situation because we're in an election, yes. So it's very fortuitous for the liberals
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to have this because they were trailing so much in the polls. And now we have polls that are neck and
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neck. And so this is an important campaign period to hear the messages from both leaders about how
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they're going to deal with Trump. But it's, I think what's going to happen, and it'll happen pretty
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quickly, it's not just about Trump. Canada's in trouble. It's declining economy, as measured by numbers
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over the last 10 years, are frightening in terms of foreign capital invested, GDP growth stalled out,
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debt per capita. No matter what you measure, it has dropped from second quartile to the very bottom
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of the G7 and bottom quartile to G20. So something's wrong in our policies. And I anticipate these policies
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will be revisited during the campaign. Obviously, Trudeau is gone, but the policies that he put in place
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from the original mandate, majority mandate he had, those policymakers, Gerald Butts,
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Telfer, Chief of Staff, Freeland, they're all still there. So, which surprises me. I'm really
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surprised. I would have thought if Carney would have got rid of the deadwoods so he didn't have
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that baggage on him, because I am sure that Pierre Polivier will make sure everybody realizes it's the
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same old Liberals 2.0 as part of his campaign pitch. And he has a point there. I mean, when you bring
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Gerald Butts back into the story, the guy that wrote the laws that wiped out foreign investment in the
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energy infrastructure and mining in Canada and all kinds of other projects, as he took back the rights
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from provinces to issue permits, particularly around power, this was catastrophic for Canada.
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And I don't know if you recall, but October 2023, and I know this because I'm an investor,
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most foreign capital avoided Canada for the last seven years, including Canada's own pension plans.
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We don't invest in Canada anymore because we can't. The permitting process is seven to 19 years.
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Nothing goes forward. That's all the liberal policies from Butts and Telfer, Freeland. And so
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I can't, they'll be back on the hot seat. They'll be looking at those policies and saying,
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we're just getting more of the same. We've got to sweep house.
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Well, I hope so, because I think that the media in Canada and the Liberal Party would be more than
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happy to run a five-week campaign talking about nothing but Donald Trump and the threat from
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American tariffs. I think it's incumbent upon independent media and the Conservatives as well to talk
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more about Carney and his ties to the Liberals, as you mentioned. One thing that I find interesting,
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Kevin, I'll get you to comment on it, is that Mark Carney's own company, Brookfield Asset Management,
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moved its headquarters to New York just after Donald Trump was elected. Of course,
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Carney was part of that decision. But if you look at the balance sheet of that company,
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and you look at the profits that they've made, they've had incredible growth in the United States
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in investing. And in Canada, their investments have shrunk. So even before the move happened to try to
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change the stock index or whatever it was about, they were still, you know, voting with their money,
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essentially, to invest in American products and American infrastructure and companies and to leave
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Canada. What does that say about Mark Carney? Some say the bubbles in an arrow truffle piece can take
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34 seconds to melt in your mouth. Sometimes the very amount you're stuck at the same red light.
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Rich, creamy, chocolatey arrow truffle. Feel the arrow bubbles melt. It's mind bubbling.
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It says the policies of his party, the Liberal Party, were not good for the country. It's not
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just Brookfield. Every sovereign wealth fund from the Norway right through to the UAE, the Saudi funds,
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all of them, the large schools of capital on earth, used to put in about two and a half,
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three percent. We're about two and a half percent, three percent of the world's GDP. We got indexed that
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way. But pretty early on in the Trudeau liberal policy campaign, that got brought down to zero.
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And so nobody invests in Canada anymore, including Brookfield. And so they, as you say,
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moved their headquarters. It's catastrophic in terms of what happened. Now, it really be,
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as you've pointed out, important in the debate between leadership, because if Carney comes in with
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the same policies and every indication from what I can see, keeping the same staffers around that wrote
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these policies, I can't believe that would be good for him unless he thinks he can ride the Trump wave
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right into the prime ministership. And maybe he can. We'll wait and see how this goes. But I think
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this is going to be a wild ride. You know, if you look at the sweep in other nations away from
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the same kind of, for lack of a better word, elitist Davos climate change type narrative that
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Carney has championed for years, is that really what Canada wants? I don't think so. And I think he
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has to be able to try and change his spots or his colors pretty quickly because he is a Davos elitist
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and people know that about him. And that's how he wanted to be known. More passports than I have.
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I don't know how long he spent in Canada until recently and whether he's ever bought any eggs
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or bread in a Canadian grocery store. I have no idea. Those are good questions. And, you know,
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if only he would allow independent media into his press conferences, we would try to ask him those
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questions. But of course, he's more tied down, more strictly tied down than even Trudeau was with
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regards to a free press. You mentioned that Mark Carney will try to run the campaign against
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Donald Trump. I just want to play this quick clip, Kevin, and get you to react to it. So Mark Carney
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said that Daniel Smith's endorsement of Pierre Polyev, so Alberta Premier Daniel Smith has come
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out and endorsed Pierre Polyev. And Mark Carney says that that endorsement indicates that Pierre
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Polyev is aligned with Donald Trump. And so therefore, a vote for Pierre Polyev is a vote for
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Donald Trump. Let's play that clip and I'll get you to respond to it.
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With respect to the Premier's comments, I take note of her alignment of Monsieur Polyev with
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Mr. Trump. And would note that that's one of the decisions that Canadians will have to make,
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whether they want a government that is unifying, that's standing up for Canada,
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Canada, and is taking focused action to build a better economy, or they want division and
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Americanism. And that's what Mr. Polyev seems to be offering and just endorsed by the Premier of
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You know, I find that quite humorous because a strong economy in Canada would be based on energy
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and energy exports. And Alberta has almost four times the reserves of the entire United States
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in just oil alone. And where do they export it to? The United States. It's the number one trading
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partner. So to suggest there would be a good idea to cut that off or not to engage with the largest
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trading partner during these difficult times would be very foolish. And I think in saying that,
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he is actually dividing Canada in negotiations with the U.S. to purchase oil, you may recall,
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and I'll point this out, Daniel Smith actually was one of the first premiers to go to Washington
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before the inauguration, meet with Trump, and has been, I think, rewarded with a 10% tariff proposal,
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not a 25%. And yet Carney did something that put him back, I think, maybe months, if not years,
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or maybe in a very unenviable position for Canadians, by snubbing the American administration
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and getting on a plane and going to Europe, when the tradition for over 100 years has been to
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acknowledge the White House the minute an interim prime minister comes into power. That was not
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missed by the American administration. They are very unhappy with that. And I think trying to
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elevate that tension is a very foolish strategy on Carney's part, because as people have learned,
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whether you like Trump or not, they certainly have got to know him over 12 years, he takes it
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personally. Very foolish, if you don't understand that. So for all of Carney's, and I applaud his
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resume, he's impressive, but he doesn't get it. He is completely out of sync with what it's going to
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take to negotiate with Trump and understand how important it is to work out this deal with a
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country that buys 75% of our output. So the reason that we got in such a bad place in the first
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situation was, if you recall back in the first mandate Trump had, both Trudeau and Freeland could
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not stop bad mouthing him all around the world. That was stupid because they thought Trump would
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never return to power. He did. And he made it his first mandate to make sure that he called,
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and this all started by calling Trudeau the first governor of the 51st state. He was just sticking
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it back to Trudeau. And people don't understand that. That was how toxic that relationship got. It was
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completely dysfunctional and not good for American people or Canadians. And Carney's doing exactly the
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same thing. I'm sure that'll be pointed out in the campaign. Very, very foolish, stupid. And he
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hasn't learned anything from what happened to Trudeau. He's looking like Trudeau 2.0 all over again,
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except this time on steroids. Well, you say that it's a mistake and that he's doing it by accident. I
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think he's doing it intentionally. I think that the liberals, you know, they accuse the conservatives
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of dividing and trying to Americanize politics, whatever that means. I think that the liberals
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need a divided Canada. They need a weak Canada. And if you look at the polls again, Kevin, you see that
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Canada is just so incredibly divided. It's like East versus West, young versus old, men versus women,
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that the split is really quite shocking. And I'll just want to tie it back to Trump one more time,
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because last week we saw Donald Trump. He was on Laura Ingram's show on Fox News. And then he
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repeated it later that he would rather have Mark Carney be prime minister because he believes that the
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liberals are easier to deal with. I read that to mean that he believes the liberals are weaker and
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that therefore the Americans can dominate and get a better deal. The liberal party is going to win
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now in the next election, most likely. And they were on, they were down tonight. Isn't that going to
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be, make them more hostile to us and possibly. I'd rather deal with a liberal than a. For China,
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closer to Canada. And that would really put us in a bind. The conservative that's running
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is stupidly no friend of mine. I don't know him, but he said negative things. So when he says negative
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things, I couldn't care less. I think it's easier to deal actually with a liberal. You know,
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a conservative until I got involved, because I don't care who wins up there. I frankly probably
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would do better with a liberal than the conservative if you want to know the truth. But
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just a little while ago, before I got involved and totally changed the election, which I don't care
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about, probably it's our advantage actually. How did you interpret those comments?
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I'm sure that he actually doesn't care who wins in Canada. He's going to deal with whoever comes out
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on top. You know, you can, the people are actually doing the work in the negotiations. Howard Ludnick,
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one of them has already come out and said, look, whoever wins, we'll deal with them because we
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can't do a pan-Canadian deal. You know, Trump is just having fun throwing barbs at anybody that
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puts out negative social media at him. And that's been both candidates in Canada, frankly, because
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this divisive rally for Canada call is very political. You're right. And does it work?
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My take on it all, in all the rhetoric that's occurring, is the average Canadian is not that
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stupid. And they understand the importance of having economic ties with the U.S. and many countries
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around the world. But to say that we're not going to do business with a country that traditionally for
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over a hundred years bought 75 percent of our output, that's sheer stupidity. That has to be
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worked out. And to me, it's just a giant NAFTA III negotiation. And who do you want negotiating it
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for you? If you think Trump doesn't like Pierre, well, then you want Pierre because he would be the
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stronger negotiator. But he's also conservative. So is the American government. It's not about one
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individual or another at the end of the day. This is why Canadians, I think, are going to figure this
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out in this election. It's about the policy, the policies of the countries. Is it pro-business?
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Is it pro-growth? Is it pro-energy? All of these things matter because it's what made Canada wealthy
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and become a member of the G7 in the first place. And we stripped that all away over the last nine
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years. And we took our numbers down. And the thing about numbers is they're not emotional. They're not
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affiliated with any political party. They're just numbers. And we have fallen to the bottom of the
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heap through poor policy. Now, do you want more of that? Because that's what it sounds like you're
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getting. If you vote for Carney, you get more. It's just Trudeau 2.0 because he hasn't shown any
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interest. And maybe because he's never been a politician before, he doesn't want to take risk
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by sweeping the House. But you remember the parliamentary system, same in England, the
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prime minister's role is to put the key people in place for each mandate. Now, let's just pick
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bringing back free land, for example, into cabinet. Can you think of one mandate she had
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in a decade where she wasn't a total failure, including finance minister, deputy prime minister?
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She is loathed in every country she negotiated in. We lost our visa status in Egypt, in India,
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decimated our relationship with China, a huge partner. She is one of the worst executives I've
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ever seen. I mean, if she was in one of my companies, I would have fired her a long time ago.
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And here she is back in cabinet. Huge mistake. I am sure that'll be focused on during the election.
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Telfer, she did some of the policies that wiped Canada out. And I mean, Gerald Butz, he wrote the
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decline of foreign investment in Canada in the very first mandate. In October of 2023, the province
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of Alberta litigated him to the Supreme Court and won their sovereign rights back to have some
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control over their own resources. That's how bad it is. Now, why would any Canadian, regardless of your
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politics, why would any Canadian want that crew back in charge? Unless Carney takes a spatula from
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heaven and scrapes them away, I think a lot of people in Canada are going to say, wait a second,
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why would we want this again? Thank you, Mr. Carney. You're a nice guy. Might have been a great
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finance minister, but you have no idea what you're doing when it comes to putting key people in place
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in the cabinet to turn Canada around. Well, and you didn't even mention Stéphane
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Gilbeau or Bill Blair or some of the other disastrous cabinet ministers that are right back
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in with Mark Carney there. Well, Kevin, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time and you
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joining the program. Thank you for your time this morning. Take care. Okay. All right, everyone.
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Thanks so much for tuning in. I'm Candace Malcolm. This is the Candace Malcolm Show.