Western Standard - CORY MORGAN SHOW： Albertans want an independence referendum

00:00:00.000 You've heard the headlines, you've watched the narrative shift, and you can feel it when the truth is being rewritten in real time.

00:00:08.540 But not here. We don't make the powerful comfortable. We make them answer.

00:00:13.720 No scripts, no gatekeepers, no permission needed.

00:00:17.640 If you're done with polished spin and state-approved storylines, stand with the voice of Western Canada.

00:00:25.200 Join us today. Go to westernstandard.news.

00:00:30.000 Good day. Welcome to the Corey Morgan Show.

00:01:00.240 What's going on today? Boy, it's breaking all over.

00:01:03.240 I'm going to start on a personal rant on something that's broken, though.

00:01:05.720 The bloody dryer broke in my house.

00:01:07.220 I'm going to use that as an excuse for my unkempt appearance today.

00:01:10.100 It threw my morning into a loop.

00:01:11.600 You don't see it, but I'm wearing skinny jeans that I probably should have thrown out years ago.

00:01:15.640 And in my scrambling this morning, I didn't bother shaving.

00:01:18.500 Not that I do it that often.

00:01:19.600 But I had a real polite email from somebody a little while ago that was still horrified and couldn't handle it.

00:01:24.320 Said it was too distracting on when I do shows, when I'm unshaven and unkempt like that.

00:01:28.060 The stubble gets on their nerves.

00:01:29.880 Kind of bizarre.

00:01:31.020 Sorry if it bothers you.

00:01:32.260 But, you know, you can always just listen to.

00:01:33.580 We have the audio download as well, and you don't have to see that half-graying beard coming out of my face.

00:01:38.720 I got Franco.

00:01:39.640 So, yes, also, Jane's going out appliance shopping today.

00:01:42.240 So, speaking of budgets, pray for hours, and let's hope she remains responsible within it.

00:01:46.500 I'm sure she will be more so than our federal leaders out in Ottawa.

00:01:49.760 Franco Terrazano from the Taxpayers Federation is going to talk to us about that in a little while and break it down.

00:01:54.720 And, man, it's a bad one.

00:01:56.360 All right.

00:01:56.680 Let's talk about the part we can save in Canada, and that's Alberta.

00:02:00.440 And it's clear that the question of provincial independence, it has to come to a referendum in Alberta.

00:02:05.160 There's no getting around it anymore.

00:02:06.520 We've got pro-independence groups who have been working for years in preparation for a referendum,

00:02:10.560 and now anti-independence activists under disgraced former Redford government MLA Thomas Lukasik

00:02:16.140 have turned in an official petition with over 400,000 signatures demanding a referendum on independence.

00:02:22.640 Well, how can we say no?

00:02:23.540 With people on both sides of the issue calling for a referendum, it only makes sense to schedule one for 2026.

00:02:29.920 Now, Lukasik, also known as Fabio, is claiming now that he really didn't want to invoke a referendum with his petition.

00:02:36.140 So, either he's lying, or he didn't actually read the application that he himself submitted to begin the petitioning.

00:02:41.500 It expressly calls for a referendum on Alberta's status within Canada.

00:02:45.620 It almost seems as if his actions were actually a data mining exercise for a political move down the road.

00:02:51.640 Who knows? Whatever the motivation might be, though, the referendum ball is rolling.

00:02:56.620 While Lukasik's petition calls for a referendum, it comes from the perspective of asking people to vote for the status quo.

00:03:02.440 It's not a constitutional application, so no matter which way people vote in his referendum as he phrases it,

00:03:08.360 actually nothing will change.

00:03:10.240 If a referendum is held where nothing could possibly change, no matter how people vote, it isn't a referendum.

00:03:14.500 It's a tax-funded opinion poll.

00:03:16.700 The Alberta government, though, they can remain true to the demands of the referendum proponents by changing the wording of the referendum,

00:03:22.400 so it becomes a true one, a constitutional one that would lead to, potentially, the independence of Alberta under the Clarity Act.

00:03:29.580 It's not tossing out Lukasik's efforts.

00:03:31.300 It's giving him what he ostensibly wanted, but just in a different framing and where a positive vote would lead to independence.

00:03:37.780 Scheduling a referendum would serve the UCP government well, too.

00:03:41.560 The deadline's fast approaching for the demands Premier Smith made to the Kearney government,

00:03:45.740 and so far he's completely ignored them.

00:03:48.260 There's few indications he's going to make any significant policy changes before her deadline to the Grey Cup.

00:03:52.860 He said he'd kill the emissions cap, but then he added a bunch of caveats to the policy.

00:03:56.560 If Smith lets Kearney laugh in her face after these demands,

00:03:59.800 her government's going to be rendered impotent when it comes to federal incursions and the blockage of Alberta's industries.

00:04:05.580 If she scheduled an independence referendum the day after Grey Cup, though,

00:04:08.400 I think people across the country would sit up and take notice.

00:04:10.900 Support for independence in Alberta might not have hit majority level yet across the province,

00:04:16.500 but the independence faction within the UCP is significant.

00:04:20.100 Those independence advocates are getting impatient,

00:04:22.400 and they're going to turn their guns towards the UCP if they don't see some action

00:04:25.340 when it comes to dealing with a federation that treats Alberta poorly.

00:04:28.820 The UCP AGM is approaching in just a few more weeks,

00:04:31.560 and there are movements afoot to try and turn the UCP in an overtly Sovereignist party.

00:04:36.080 This would be disastrous for the UCP.

00:04:37.880 The best way Smith can take the pressure off from within her own party 1.00

00:04:41.220 is to set an independence referendum date for mid-2026.

00:04:44.760 Independence advocates can then turn their focus and energy into campaigning for the referendum,

00:04:49.100 and the Premier can just say she's letting democracy run its course, which it would be. 0.77

00:04:53.380 It'd be a tough path to win an independence referendum with a clear majority wanting Alberta to leave the federation.

00:04:58.100 The momentum of public opinion, it is on the side of independence advocates, but there's a ways to go.

00:05:02.620 Depending on the actions of the federal government and how effective the independence campaign is,

00:05:06.460 the tide could turn.

00:05:07.900 But even if only 40% of Albertans chose independence in a referendum next year,

00:05:12.260 it wouldn't be a wasted effort.

00:05:13.240 The country would be put on notice.

00:05:15.060 Alberta is moving towards the tipping point of a successful independence vote,

00:05:18.620 and if changes aren't made, a winning referendum is going to be held within a few years.

00:05:22.760 A referendum campaign will put the federation and Alberta's role within it into the news scroll for at least six months.

00:05:29.080 Discussions of provincial jurisdiction and federal policies that harm the province are going to dominate punditry,

00:05:34.640 and people could begin to understand that the status quo isn't an option.

00:05:38.880 There's little sense forcing groups to petition further to invoke a referendum on Alberta's independence.

00:05:43.840 Lukasik got the job done.

00:05:45.040 Thank you, Thomas.

00:05:46.300 Now let's put it in the hands of the electorate, but with better phrasing and a binding outcome.

00:05:50.780 Let 2026 be the year of the referendum.

00:05:54.100 That's what I got to start.

00:05:55.320 How's it going, Dave?

00:05:56.000 Not bad.

00:05:56.860 Your stubble is worse than my stubble.

00:05:58.660 Today.

00:05:59.560 Today.

00:06:00.040 I haven't always out-stumbled you.

00:06:02.660 No, I hate shaving.

00:06:03.940 Yeah, I know.

00:06:04.320 I do it once a week, Sunday, and then I'm good for the week.

00:06:07.920 It doesn't grow that quickly.

00:06:09.200 I don't have like a five o'clock shower.

00:06:10.740 Yeah, well, it's been a few days since I got around to this.

00:06:12.800 I'm just making an excuse, I guess.

00:06:14.440 I really wanted to get around to it.

00:06:15.720 Are dryers expensive?

00:06:17.600 Probably.

00:06:18.860 I'm kind of funny.

00:06:19.400 I mean, Jane's going for the top of the line. 1.00

00:06:22.440 Well, she talks like Carney with the budget.

00:06:24.740 It's not a cost.

00:06:26.060 It's an investment.

00:06:27.520 So you get clean clothes.

00:06:29.500 Dry clothes, anyway.

00:06:30.760 You and Derek are fighting, eh?

00:06:32.840 What are we fighting about this time?

00:06:34.180 Who's going to be the first to be arrested under the new residential school denialism law?

00:06:39.640 True enough.

00:06:40.220 I mean, you know, we could both be charged, but I think it would look better if it's just one of us.

00:06:44.720 There can only be one.

00:06:45.740 Yeah.

00:06:45.980 And you've already been charged by one Indian band.

00:06:50.440 Sick of stuff.

00:06:51.940 That's still crawling its way through the courts.

00:06:54.700 I think in a couple of weeks it goes back again, and then they're going to schedule a trial date into sometime next year.

00:06:59.220 Nice.

00:06:59.560 Yeah, I got lost to look forward to.

00:07:01.020 Way to waste the court's time.

00:07:03.300 So let's take a quick break from all the numbers and the budget stuff.

00:07:07.080 And our lead story right now is coming out of New York, where there was a Mississauga man who a couple of years ago wanted to blow up Times Square on behalf of ISIS.

00:07:17.240 He got sentenced to 40 years in the slammer, and he's back in the news today because he found an edged weapon and stabbed two prison guards, one in the eye, and he lost his eye.

00:07:28.640 So he pled guilty to that today, and a note was found in his sock that this was a ISIS-inspired attack.

00:07:35.460 So even from within jails now, they're able to launch these attacks.

00:07:40.760 So, okay, back to the budget.

00:07:42.860 Carney is out selling it this morning, how wonderful it is.

00:07:46.180 And everything is good in the world.

00:07:54.060 Tories are dealing with a traitor in their midst.

00:07:57.500 Chris D'Entremont.

00:07:59.860 I'm not sure how to pronounce it.

00:08:01.020 D'Entremont.

00:08:01.360 I don't know.

00:08:01.720 I was kind of happy if there's going to be floor crushes.

00:08:03.880 Let's get rid of the ones I can't pronounce well.

00:08:05.500 Exactly.

00:08:06.020 Exactly.

00:08:06.460 He represents Halifax.

00:08:07.980 And the conservatives have lost their mind. 0.81

00:08:10.120 They're being very nasty to him.

00:08:11.660 But as we were talking about earlier, when it's the other way, when the shoe's on the other foot, the conservatives are more than happy to welcome.

00:08:18.900 And it has gone both ways, and it pisses people off on both sides.

00:08:22.000 So you got to, yeah, when you're yelling at somebody today, remember the double standard, because you're going to do it the same thing.

00:08:29.900 Other budget news, the $2 billion tree planting plan from Ms. McKenna and Mr. Trudeau is being officially canceled.

00:08:40.920 They only spent a quarter billion dollars on it, so they saved about, I think, $5.5 billion from what the initial cost is going to be.

00:08:52.000 In the budget documents, they were also talking about reducing temporary student admissions by 43%.

00:09:01.020 A step in the right direction, I think.

00:09:03.920 So we'll give them kudos for that.

00:09:05.760 And the good news for you, they're dropping the luxury tax.

00:09:08.980 Oh.

00:09:09.200 So you can now, after Jane has bought the dryer, you can go out and buy a yacht.

00:09:15.760 Well, that's great.

00:09:17.520 I mean, yeah, with my gold-plated Western Sanders salary, I mean, I'll just quit between that and my Lamborghini.

00:09:22.660 Absolutely.

00:09:23.420 And your private jet to fly down to your fifth wheel in the Arizona desert.

00:09:27.920 That's right.

00:09:28.740 So that's what we've got now, just breaking as I walked in.

00:09:33.100 96% of, sorry, 98% of Alberta nurses in the Alberta Union of Public Employees.

00:09:40.140 These are mainly like LPNs and stuff like that, 16,000 of them, 98% in favor of going on strike.

00:09:46.900 So we just got the teachers all settled, and now it looks like the nurses are coming.

00:09:52.200 That's why we need that right-to-work legislation that I have something on, in my view, anyways.

00:09:56.400 So you sent our young, intrepid reporter, Leah, out onto the wild streets of Calgary.

00:10:01.640 Yes, the wild streets of Calgary.

00:10:03.140 The police chief, Katie McClellan, came out today and said, enough is enough.

00:10:10.020 She says downtown crime is rising.

00:10:13.400 It's not just a perception, it's a reality.

00:10:16.800 So they sent out dozens of cops and horsebacks and cops on horseback and all sorts of stuff to, you know,

00:10:25.540 just do a little sweep through the downtown core and see what's going on, pick up the ne'er-de-wells.

00:10:30.260 And our Leah was, Leah Mushit was along for the ride. 0.57

00:10:34.340 She's got video and photos, and we'll be getting that up this afternoon.

00:10:38.620 Right on.

00:10:39.160 Well, it's good to get them out for some fresh air.

00:10:41.260 I mean, we're not going to check it out.

00:10:41.580 It is.

00:10:42.280 It is.

00:10:42.760 Get them out on the streets where they belong.

00:10:44.600 Cool.

00:10:44.920 All right.

00:10:45.280 Well, thanks.

00:10:46.080 I'll let you back to your desk to cover all this mess going on today, and we'll talk after the show.

00:10:50.800 Thank you, sir.

00:10:51.460 Right on.

00:10:51.860 Thanks.

00:10:52.760 That is our news editor, Dave Naylor, for you guys who didn't already know.

00:10:56.480 And yes, he's out shaving me this week.

00:10:58.440 The reason Dave is managing so many reporters and so many stories is because you guys have subscribed to this.

00:11:03.420 I'd like to remind you, get on there, guys.

00:11:05.400 Westernstandard.news slash membership.

00:11:07.700 Ten bucks a month, a hundred dollars for a year.

00:11:10.520 It keeps us independent.

00:11:11.400 It keeps us accountable to you.

00:11:12.660 Speaking of accountable, I want to talk about floor crossings and things like that.

00:11:16.420 Well, you don't like what we're doing?

00:11:18.000 Just cancel your, and I'm not suggesting you do, cancel your subscription, though, if you really, really feel we're beyond the pale.

00:11:23.960 That's something I get, you know, feedback from people.

00:11:25.340 I don't like this columnist, or I don't like that reporter in Italy.

00:11:28.160 Okay, okay, that's fine.

00:11:29.360 You know, keep in mind, there's a bunch of us here.

00:11:31.340 You don't have to like all of us.

00:11:32.420 It's easy just to click on the ones you prefer over others.

00:11:36.120 I just, you know, we get some of those emails now.

00:11:37.760 And then when I've said something to annoy people, I know it's so rare when that happens.

00:11:40.880 But we get the emails, and that's it.

00:11:42.980 Get rid of Morgan, or I'm canceling my subscription.

00:11:45.200 Unfortunately, it led to a cancellation of a subscription.

00:11:48.360 But being serious, folks, I really appreciate those of you who have subscribed and who are tuning in.

00:11:52.900 It really is important to us to keep funding independent media so we can stay independent media and cover all these things.

00:12:00.160 So let's see, some of these things, talking about that independence vote.

00:12:04.180 Somebody's saying, you know, why not have it in January?

00:12:05.920 Well, you know, if it's going to happen, it's got to take a little more time.

00:12:10.620 Again, I think some people are a little too optimistic about the chances of an independence vote actually winning in Alberta at this point.

00:12:17.220 If it's going to happen, it's going to be a big deal.

00:12:19.900 It's got to be done right, and it's going to take some months.

00:12:22.900 So if it's going to be scheduled, it should be scheduled well into 2026.

00:12:27.640 That said, I can't think of a better time to call for scheduling it and opening that discussion than the day after Great Cup.

00:12:33.920 I mean, what is Premier Smith going to say?

00:12:35.920 She laid out some very solid demands with a big open-ended or else at the end of it. 0.93

00:12:41.060 And Kearney has ignored every one of those demands.

00:12:45.280 So, well, I think, you know, throw it to the people.

00:12:48.420 What an opportune time to do it.

00:12:50.280 We don't have a team in the Great Cup this year anyways.

00:12:53.940 I don't know, maybe Edmonton still can.

00:12:55.180 I don't follow CFL all that closely.

00:12:58.060 All right, but yeah, talking about, and I see somebody else saying Matt Jenneru might be crossing the floor from the Conservatives as well.

00:13:03.500 You know, some people are getting all wound up on me on X.

00:13:07.340 That's nothing new.

00:13:08.300 We're talking about floor crossings.

00:13:10.520 Look, guys, it's part of the system.

00:13:13.160 It's part of the system.

00:13:14.660 If you want to look at your political history enough, Churchill managed to pull it off both ways.

00:13:20.160 Most floor crossers flare out. 1.00

00:13:22.840 I mean, they have ticked off their supporters.

00:13:25.260 They have annoyed the people who elected them to be with a particular party.

00:13:29.100 And they get wiped out in the next election.

00:13:30.860 Or they don't even run because they know they're going to be wiped out in the next election.

00:13:34.720 When Premier Smith did her ill-fated floor crossing in 2014 in Alberta,

00:13:39.980 and I was on the provincial executive with the Wildrose, rest assured, I was as furious as anybody could be over that.

00:13:45.720 There were 11 Wildrose MLAs crossed.

00:13:48.680 There was Danielle and eight of them when she did it.

00:13:52.340 But there were actually two others that crossed prior to that to the PCs.

00:13:55.720 Not a single one of them had their seat within a year of that.

00:13:59.780 Think about that.

00:14:00.820 They all got annihilated.

00:14:02.560 It was either losing local nominations or losing in the general election or heading for the hills because they realized it.

00:14:09.420 But then on the other side of the coin, they got some conservatives.

00:14:12.420 People talk about BC.

00:14:13.560 How did the BC Conservative Party get its roots?

00:14:15.880 How did it get started?

00:14:16.620 Well, actually, it was because floor crossers came from the BC United Party who were tired of Kevin Falcon and crossed to the conservatives to give them a base to begin with and start. 0.96

00:14:25.540 Well, conservatives, a lot of them celebrated that.

00:14:28.200 And to say, we've got to drop a bit of the double standard.

00:14:30.360 The system's imperfect.

00:14:31.840 Absolutely.

00:14:32.500 And I can understand why people are furious.

00:14:34.780 They supported a conservative party member, and that party member, less than a year later, crossed.

00:14:39.780 But let's just stick to one standard, folks.

00:14:42.500 It's enough.

00:14:43.840 You want to change the entire system?

00:14:45.120 Well, we'll talk more about that independence thing I'm talking about.

00:14:47.580 Or at the very least, get some recall legislation federally if you really wanted to see that.

00:14:53.380 So if the floor crosser really did infuriate their base that much, give the electors a chance to initiate and trigger a by-election to change it.

00:15:01.520 But otherwise, remember, party leaders are already powerful enough.

00:15:05.320 This is one of the things that can kind of hold them in check.

00:15:08.020 You don't like whipped votes. 0.98

00:15:08.960 You don't like them all voting exactly the same way or never speaking for themselves.

00:15:12.100 Well, if you take away the ability to cross the floor, I tell you what, you might as well just get rid of local representation and just elect leaders because they will have no ability to deviate from the party line in any way ever again.

00:15:22.740 And that's not healthy for democracy, folks.

00:15:24.560 Even if you're furious with what that Chris Unpronounceable French guy did the other day. 0.92

00:15:29.980 All right, I'm not going to bother learning his name because I don't expect to speak too much more about him.

00:15:34.440 Franco Teresano, I remember he corrected me because I shorted him on Zeds in his name before.

00:15:38.820 He could be a little pedantic when it comes to that, but I understand.

00:15:42.240 He's with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:15:43.900 As I said to Dave, this is his Super Bowl.

00:15:45.900 This is budget time.

00:15:47.120 And boy, has he ever got a lot to talk about on that.

00:15:49.300 So let's bring him on and break some of that down.

00:15:51.280 How's it going, Franco?

00:15:52.520 Hey, Corey.

00:15:53.420 Great to be on the show with you, man.

00:15:55.120 Oh, always great to have you on.

00:15:56.680 And I mean, perfect timing, of course, after the budget.

00:16:00.240 Well, where do we begin?

00:16:01.320 Is it pretty much what you expected?

00:16:03.200 Oh, it's worse.

00:16:04.300 It's worse.

00:16:05.440 I mean, look, it's a debt disaster, right?

00:16:07.720 The debt is spiraling out of control because spending is spiraling out of control.

00:16:11.860 And I mean, Corey, like, welcome to Canada, man.

00:16:14.860 Every single dollar you're paying in federal sales tax is now going to pay interest charges on the debt.

00:16:20.160 And look, Ottawa, we have a problem.

00:16:22.560 Or more precisely, there's two problems.

00:16:24.920 Number one is the debt.

00:16:26.320 Massive debt crunch that we're in.

00:16:28.280 But you know what might be even a bigger problem is that it seems like nobody within the liberal governing party is taking the first problem serious.

00:16:38.020 It's almost like nobody is acting with any sense of urgency here.

00:16:41.600 Meanwhile, the fire is starting to spread.

00:16:44.560 And they got to put it out before it gets real, real bad.

00:16:47.020 Well, yeah, I mean, part of, you know, the liberals of the 90s are long gone when they balance the budget.

00:16:53.120 It's something that kind of allowing the current ones to skate as low interest rates.

00:16:56.440 In the 90s, people could kind of see how badly this is costing them.

00:17:00.240 What I like about you guys, though, is you break things down and you put it into terms we can understand.

00:17:04.320 Like, I believe the deficit alone adds up to almost $2,000 for each, for every man, woman, and child in the country.

00:17:11.840 If you had a household of four, I think it's about $7,600, you're taking on his debt just this year.

00:17:17.640 I mean, this is big.

00:17:19.320 Well, look at the debt interest charges.

00:17:20.620 I mentioned now that every dollar in federal sales tax is just going to pay interest on the debt.

00:17:25.240 Let's break it down one other way.

00:17:27.400 You know, interest charges are costing each Canadian more than $1,000 this year, right?

00:17:32.780 That's $1,000 that the government has taken from each Canadian not to build a hospital, not to improve education.

00:17:41.000 No, no, no, not even to pay down the debt, right?

00:17:43.380 The government has taken $1,000 from each Canadian just to pay interest on the debt.

00:17:50.260 Yeah, I mean, interest is just money flush.

00:17:52.620 So, you know, he's trying to play both sides of the fence.

00:17:55.740 He said, oh, this is investment.

00:17:57.540 It's not spending.

00:17:58.620 Oh, and we made some cuts.

00:17:59.640 So this is actually an austerity budget.

00:18:01.820 I don't know how you can expand spending that much and use the word austerity without throwing up a little or something.

00:18:06.020 But what should be cut?

00:18:07.960 Well, look, we need austerity for the government, right?

00:18:11.940 You heard Carney go on about sacrifice.

00:18:14.740 How about politicians and government bureaucrats sacrifice for a change?

00:18:19.180 And like austerity, huh?

00:18:20.300 Are you kidding me?

00:18:21.280 The Carney government is spending $581 billion this year.

00:18:26.240 Corey, does that sound like austerity to you?

00:18:28.600 $581 billion in spending?

00:18:30.340 You know, everyone knows that Trudeau was reckless, that he wasted money like crazy, that we had a decade of out-of-control spending.

00:18:38.880 Well, Carney this year is going to spend $38 billion more than the government did last year.

00:18:45.760 Like, does that sound like austerity to you, Corey?

00:18:47.880 And I'll get to, like, where we got to cut in a second, but let me just point out one more thing, because you're right.

00:18:53.400 Carney is trying to play it both ways here, right?

00:18:55.980 In his budget, he said, oh, don't worry, folks.

00:18:58.560 We're going to find a bunch of savings.

00:19:00.840 Well, you got to check the fine print.

00:19:02.760 Guess when all those savings magically are going to occur?

00:19:06.260 In future years, right?

00:19:08.120 It's like the government is always saying it's going to go on a diet Monday, and then Monday never comes.

00:19:13.140 The same thing happened during the Trudeau era.

00:19:15.740 Oh, we'll run some deficits, balance the budget in four years.

00:19:18.860 That never happened.

00:19:20.080 Oh, we'll find $15 billion in savings over a handful of years.

00:19:24.000 That never happened, right?

00:19:25.620 So there are no savings this year in the budget.

00:19:28.120 All you see is spending going up by billions of dollars every single year.

00:19:33.300 Yeah, they just keep kicking the can down the road.

00:19:35.280 I mean, a promise to cut spending is to cut to any spending.

00:19:39.640 Are there any of these initiatives?

00:19:41.280 I guess I'll try to start on the other side of the coin, though.

00:19:43.140 Anything you see that it's a positive?

00:19:44.520 Is there something good they've done?

00:19:45.740 I mean, there's got to be something in there.

00:19:47.820 Oh, I didn't know this was going to be a gotcha interview, Corey.

00:19:51.900 Toughest question of the day.

00:19:53.260 Well, there's hundreds of pages.

00:19:54.700 I mean, there's got to be something, you know, two-ply tissue in the parliamentary washroom or something.

00:19:59.340 Yeah, look, there is like a couple things here, right?

00:20:02.000 So, look, you remember the luxury tax that the Trudeau government brought in, which is really just a tax on blue-collar workers who build boats and airplanes.

00:20:11.120 So it looks like the government is going to be cutting that.

00:20:13.660 So that's some good news.

00:20:15.080 There's some changes on how businesses can calculate their expensing, right?

00:20:20.860 So that's some decent news there.

00:20:23.560 It looks like the government is also being a little squishy around the production cap on oil and gas, right?

00:20:29.820 It looks like the government might back off on that.

00:20:32.120 So I guess you can call that good news.

00:20:34.320 I mean, that should be scrapped immediately.

00:20:36.680 But, you know, there's almost an ultimatum on that one, right?

00:20:39.860 Because Carney is doubling down on the industrial carbon tax, on the hidden carbon tax on Canadian business, right?

00:20:46.000 And, look, that's going to be a huge blow to Canada's competitiveness.

00:20:50.140 And what it does is that it pushes Canadian entrepreneurs to cut production here and set up shops south of the border.

00:20:57.360 So, I mean, let's get on then to the low-hanging fruit, the reality.

00:21:01.220 Where are they blowing money that they really shouldn't be?

00:21:03.740 Where aren't they blowing money? 0.99

00:21:05.140 I mean, look, you've got the federal government spending $100,000 on a study about a grocery cart.

00:21:11.040 Corey, you remember Trailer Park Boys, hey, with Bubbles?

00:21:14.940 One of my favorite shows.

00:21:16.500 Like, just give Bubbles a couple packs of pepperoni sticks and there you go. 0.73

00:21:19.920 You've got your study about a grocery cart.

00:21:21.480 No need to spend six figures.

00:21:23.460 Or the government spending $20,000 on a study about gender politics of Peruvian rock music.

00:21:30.520 Like, huh?

00:21:31.340 Or the government spending $8,000 studying the gender identities in online Harry Potter fan communities.

00:21:38.120 I mean, what a waste of money, right?

00:21:40.020 We all know J.K. Rowling's stance on gender is pretty firm.

00:21:44.280 And we also know that grown-up Harry Potter nerds never get laid.

00:21:47.440 So, just a complete waste of money.

00:21:49.720 But look, the biggest thing that the government has to do is that the government should have been firing thousands of bureaucrats yesterday.

00:21:57.700 Absolutely.

00:21:58.400 I mean, I remember, again, just showing my gray hair and so on.

00:22:01.660 But, you know, the time of the austerity, the real austerity of the 1990s.

00:22:05.460 One of the first things that Premier Klein did was actually cut the salaries of MLAs.

00:22:11.140 At least as an example.

00:22:12.200 You know, 5% each year we go.

00:22:13.580 We're starting with ourselves.

00:22:15.260 We're taking a bit of a haircut.

00:22:17.320 And now we're going to apply it all the way down the civil service.

00:22:20.000 I mean, that's the only way, I think, morally you can pull that off.

00:22:23.220 They are really just high-paid civil servants.

00:22:25.600 But I imagine there's no mumbling of reducing compensation for any of our members of Parliament.

00:22:31.060 No, when they say we're all in this together, they mean it.

00:22:34.020 They're not talking about me and you, Corey.

00:22:35.580 They're talking about the gang of 300 of them up there on Parliament Hill.

00:22:39.220 And, hey, I'll just shamelessly plug my column that I wrote for you guys at the Western Standard.

00:22:43.520 It was published this week, right?

00:22:45.380 And it kind of goes through this historical point that, you know, all the politicians in the modern era,

00:22:52.560 all of them who were successful in reigning in the deficit, they all did one thing first.

00:22:57.140 Showed leadership by cutting their own pay, right?

00:22:59.620 You have Harper following the 08-09 crisis.

00:23:04.040 Well, he froze MP pay for a couple of years.

00:23:07.240 They reformed the pensions to make them a little bit more affordable for taxpayers.

00:23:11.180 What about the 90s, right?

00:23:12.440 You saw the 90s federally, where in the early 90s, there was pay cuts for ministers and the prime minister

00:23:18.420 until they balanced the budget.

00:23:20.920 Or, you know, you mentioned Klein, the 5% pay cut for politicians.

00:23:24.040 There's also a 5% pay cut for bureaucrats.

00:23:27.120 But this story goes on and on and on.

00:23:30.340 Like, if you want to make the necessary cuts to the bureaucracy,

00:23:33.740 politicians got to show leadership themselves and cut their own pay.

00:23:37.300 And, you know, Corey, we are always criticizing the government.

00:23:40.320 But I'll say, I haven't heard even a single member of parliament from an opposition party

00:23:46.400 forcefully push for members of parliament to take a pay cut.

00:23:49.940 I haven't heard it.

00:23:50.560 So you already took a shot at those poor adult Harry Potter fans and their lack of sexual gratification. 0.91

00:23:57.400 But there's other nerds out there.

00:23:58.700 And those are economists and people who look at that broader picture.

00:24:01.500 Maybe we should dig a little deeper into the nerdy end of this, though.

00:24:04.380 The bigger part, how does this affect our economy?

00:24:07.740 When we're looking at inflation, when we're looking at devaluation of currency,

00:24:11.080 massive government spending has longer term consequences than just what we see on our tax bill.

00:24:17.160 Oh, yeah, there's three ways.

00:24:18.760 Okay, Corey, hold me accountable to it.

00:24:20.220 Three ways.

00:24:21.100 So number one, you get worse and worse services,

00:24:24.200 even though the federal government takes more and more money, right?

00:24:27.460 Like you're looking at what interest charges making up about what?

00:24:30.500 $56 billion this year.

00:24:32.600 Well, by 2029, interest charges on the debt are going to blow a $76 billion hole in the budget, right?

00:24:40.700 So even though the government is taking more money from Canadians,

00:24:43.720 less and less dollars can then be allocated towards other services.

00:24:48.100 And like look no further of a prime example of this to Saskatchewan in the 1990s,

00:24:52.660 where you had an NDP government there close what?

00:24:55.520 Dozens of hospitals across that prairie province.

00:24:58.920 But number two, it's also a hit to our economy, right?

00:25:02.720 Like ask business investors, they see these massive deficits

00:25:05.920 and they worry about tax increases tomorrow, right?

00:25:09.160 So that discourages businesses from setting up shop here in Canada.

00:25:13.720 So the third one too is just inflation.

00:25:16.580 And we really saw that during the pandemic as the Bank of Canada

00:25:20.580 printed up hundreds of billions of dollars at a thin air financing Ottawa's deficits, right?

00:25:26.320 Leading to a 40-year high inflation.

00:25:28.440 So those are the three ways that this massive borrowing problem impacts us.

00:25:34.320 Worse services as debt interest charges eat up more of the budget.

00:25:37.860 A worse economy as investors don't want to invest in Canada because of potential future tax sites.

00:25:44.240 And third, the worst tax of them all, the inflation tax.

00:25:47.480 Well, I thought McCartney was supposed to be a genius when it came to, you know, macroeconomics and some of those things.

00:25:53.160 He wants to make Canada the destination for self-sustained, you know, industry and investment.

00:25:58.220 But I mean, anybody I think in their first year of economics should know, well, to do that, you've got to cut the regulation.

00:26:04.240 You've got to cut the taxes.

00:26:05.300 You've got to create the business environment to draw these industries in.

00:26:08.940 And he's doing the very opposite.

00:26:11.060 Well, there's only one thing I'll quibble with you there, Corey, is I think you're giving the taxpayer funded universities too much credit.

00:26:18.000 I think that's a little bit.

00:26:19.380 I think that's a little quibble.

00:26:20.580 But hey, look, you know, we're hearing the government talk about investment, investment, investment, investment.

00:26:25.960 I mean, it's just more spending.

00:26:27.040 It's more debt.

00:26:28.320 And look, like this is a continuation of the Trudeau era.

00:26:30.840 It is like, remember, it was under Trudeau where they called investments, which was really just corporate welfare, the billions and billions of dollars to multinational corporations so they can build battery plants.

00:26:43.740 Right.

00:26:43.880 Like, folks, we just saw this failed experiment play out in real time over the last 10 years where the government tried to borrow its way to prosperity.

00:26:53.720 And how did that work?

00:26:55.580 Massive inflation and a stagnating Canadian economy.

00:26:59.600 Right.

00:27:00.040 We just we just saw this social experiment fail over the last 10 years.

00:27:03.940 So what do you think is going to happen over the next 10 years if the government continues this Trudeau era debt field spending spree?

00:27:10.580 Well, it's unfortunate.

00:27:11.740 It's pretty bleak.

00:27:12.580 But what do you think the chances are that there will be any amendments or changes?

00:27:15.640 I mean, the budget hasn't passed yet.

00:27:17.620 Do you think there's a chance some of this could be fixed up a little bit?

00:27:21.560 Well, Corey, I don't know.

00:27:22.820 I don't know this year.

00:27:23.880 I really don't know.

00:27:25.040 But, you know, if there is a glimmer of hope, it takes me back to like 1994.

00:27:29.200 1994, because everyone remembers when Martin and Kretchen, they ended up balancing the budget in three years.

00:27:34.940 But that started in the 90, 95 budget.

00:27:37.580 Right.

00:27:37.760 The 1994 budget was kind of more of the same that you saw from the previous governments over the last couple of decades.

00:27:43.940 So there is hope.

00:27:46.260 But it's really going to take pressure both from Canadians to be like, yo, this is enough.

00:27:50.540 We can't just keep borrowing like this forever.

00:27:53.780 But it's also going to take backbone from the opposition parties.

00:27:57.360 Right.

00:27:57.580 And, you know, to give them some credit, the conservatives have been pretty good calling for some spending cuts, calling for a lower deficit.

00:28:03.600 But they're going to have to go harder.

00:28:05.740 They're going to have to make the case that the government is wrong and that what we need at this time are legitimate and serious spending cuts.

00:28:14.300 Yeah, well, and the government theoretically could fall on this budget, but it looks like they're kind of getting the pieces in place, getting a floor cross.

00:28:22.920 So we know Elizabeth May, you know, for a bottle of gin, she'll vote however she, you know, is told.

00:28:27.780 They'll probably get it over the line.

00:28:30.640 But do you think there's a chance maybe enough members of parliament would make a stand?

00:28:34.620 I mean, I don't see it.

00:28:35.720 I suspect some of the conservatives will get the flu that day if it looked that way because they're not ready for an election either.

00:28:40.620 But maybe there'd be something to put some pressure on.

00:28:43.700 Well, with the floor crossing last night, what would the government only needs, what, two votes now?

00:28:47.540 Is that right?

00:28:48.280 And there are some rumors swirling.

00:28:49.980 I mean, Ottawa's national pastime is rumors about the next possible election.

00:28:54.640 So I don't really I take it with a grain of salt.

00:28:56.980 Right.

00:28:57.160 But I mean, at this point in time, I think the way the math works out is that the government only needs either two votes, two extra floor crossers, 0.86

00:29:05.060 or two people to not vote.

00:29:07.300 Right.

00:29:07.720 So, I mean, I, you know, I don't want to place any bets, but it's sure looking like all they need is two things to happen and they'll get the budget passed.

00:29:18.060 Yeah.

00:29:18.680 Well, we still always hope for the best.

00:29:20.500 I mean, I appreciate what you guys do, though.

00:29:22.020 You break it down in lay terms.

00:29:23.620 So as I said, we need the pressure to come up from citizens to go to their politicians to change those things within there.

00:29:29.800 And you guys at the Taxpayers Federation do an excellent job of that with your column and other stuff.

00:29:34.300 But I've been pumping your tires enough.

00:29:35.940 But still, before I let you go, where can people find all that good stuff and how can they support you?

00:29:42.380 Well, hey, the best way to find our stuff and to support us is at taxpayer.com, taxpayer.com.

00:29:48.920 You can also just follow us on every social media.

00:29:51.220 Just type in Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:29:53.680 You can follow me directly on X.

00:29:55.240 I'm at Franco underscore nomics.

00:29:57.540 But the best place to follow us is at taxpayer.com.

00:30:00.900 Excellent.

00:30:01.300 Well, thanks again for coming on, Franco.

00:30:02.940 I know you've got a whole whack to do during Budget Week.

00:30:05.140 So I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work coming out there and talking to you again on the show soon.

00:30:10.220 Yeah, that'd be great, Corey.

00:30:11.200 Thanks so much for having me on, man.

00:30:12.780 Great.

00:30:13.160 Thank you, Franco.

00:30:14.920 All right, guys.

00:30:15.600 Yeah, just one more time.

00:30:16.560 That's Franco Teresano.

00:30:17.640 You can get all the good stuff at taxpayer.com.

00:30:20.440 Because, I mean, I know a lot of it can make the eyes glaze over.

00:30:23.260 I mean, that's what these guys got to do.

00:30:24.220 They put the budget documents out and they're huge, they're thick, they're boring.

00:30:27.840 These guys will distill it down so you can see and have that apply to you.

00:30:33.520 I'm going to paraphrase and break it terribly, you know, something along the lines.

00:30:37.020 But, like, people can understand.

00:30:38.800 That's why, you know, the $16 orange juice, you know, drove everybody crazy years ago.

00:30:42.920 Yet they kind of shrug off a billion.

00:30:44.640 Because billions don't register in the average citizen's mind.

00:30:47.520 It doesn't, it's not in there.

00:30:49.020 We don't deal in terms like that.

00:30:51.640 And we need to have it, you know, as I said, distilled, broken down, and in ways that just make more sense to us.

00:30:57.880 And that's what those guys do.

00:30:58.860 That's what I like to think I do to a little bit of a degree.

00:31:01.300 And what we need more of being done by our elected officials, though.

00:31:04.620 They're supposed to know better.

00:31:06.080 They're supposed to do better.

00:31:07.700 And, yeah, we're not seeing much of that.

00:31:09.800 That's why I sound a little defeatist sometimes when I go on about independence-minded things.

00:31:14.120 Let's see what some of the comments there are.

00:31:15.260 Kenzie cracking, saying, hey, you don't have your show on during the same time as question, period.

00:31:18.680 Thanks.

00:31:19.600 Well, I don't think they should have question, period, on at the same time as my show.

00:31:23.580 How about that?

00:31:24.680 But, you know, I'm on every Wednesday at this exact same time all year round. 0.98

00:31:29.320 Those clowns in Parliament only sit for so many days a year. 0.77

00:31:32.180 I know it's frustrating, so there's a little bit of overlap. 0.96

00:31:35.660 But keep in mind, question, period, is mostly just an exchange of insults.

00:31:39.460 They rarely ever actually answer anything.

00:31:41.980 And if any member knocks one truly out of the park, which I enjoy watching as much as the next person,

00:31:47.000 you know that the YouTube clips will be up there to be seen.

00:31:49.240 But here, here you get it.

00:31:50.620 Live, guys, you get the interaction.

00:31:52.360 You send me the question.

00:31:53.380 And often, though not always, I'll give an answer on it.

00:31:56.780 This is my perspective, saying, supposedly there'll be two more crossing over.

00:32:00.200 There should be by-elections, not cross over into that party status.

00:32:03.200 Yeah, so, you know, that's what Franco was saying as well, is endless speculation, political intrigue,

00:32:09.980 things that go on, floor crossings back and forth.

00:32:13.420 We won't be able to force by-elections without changing the entire system.

00:32:17.860 And as I said before, you've got to remember, you're really going to give a heck of a lot of power to those leaders,

00:32:22.440 and they already have way too much if you take away that ability to cross the floor.

00:32:26.480 I don't like what they're doing.

00:32:27.640 I'm not saying it.

00:32:28.380 I'm not defending the floor crossers. 1.00

00:32:30.440 I'm defending the ability for there to be floor crossers. 1.00

00:32:34.980 This, you know, we're not going to get an election.

00:32:38.960 I mean, I won't, I'll never say 100%, not in Canada, the system and the way things go.

00:32:43.980 But the odds of an election coming over this budget are very, very slim.

00:32:48.260 The NDP don't even have a leader yet.

00:32:50.200 They're broke.

00:32:51.140 In fact, they're grossly in debt.

00:32:53.060 This is a huge problem for them.

00:32:55.880 They don't want to go into an election right now.

00:32:58.380 Elizabeth May is clinging to the last vestiges of her best job she'll ever have her whole life.

00:33:03.180 She will go whatever way it is to keep that job hanging in there as long as possible. 0.99

00:33:07.280 And the conservatives are always looking at the numbers.

00:33:10.100 If you want to know one of the number one things political parties spend money on,

00:33:14.300 having worked within them, polling.

00:33:16.540 They're always polling.

00:33:17.940 They're constantly polling.

00:33:19.180 And if they don't see a good surge, something that's going to really pull them over the finish line,

00:33:26.020 they're not going to trigger an election.

00:33:27.920 And things aren't looking fantastic for the conservatives right now.

00:33:30.540 So as I said, even if they didn't get the floor crossers to come over to make this happen, 1.00

00:33:37.140 what, I forget what they call it, you know, often the parliamentary flu,

00:33:40.700 but a few conservative members will suddenly take sick on the day of the budget vote,

00:33:45.000 and the budget will pass.

00:33:46.100 So none of them will vote for the budget, but enough will be there that the budget will manage to pass.

00:33:52.220 But I stand to be proven wrong on that within a couple of weeks,

00:33:55.140 but I don't think we should be dusting off the old election signs federally quite yet.

00:34:01.540 Though who knows?

00:34:02.240 It's a crazy, crazy world.

00:34:04.640 Jordan saying,

00:34:06.020 I don't consider parliament to be an effective representation for me.

00:34:08.760 It's rigged in Alberta.

00:34:09.540 I'll never get a fair deal with the Confederation.

00:34:11.820 Well, I kind of agree with that.

00:34:12.800 That's where I talk about the independence referendums and things that would be the catalyst

00:34:16.460 to either tearing down and rebuilding the entire Canadian system,

00:34:19.580 or at least tearing down and rebuilding a good chunk of it over here,

00:34:22.600 because I don't know if we can save the entire thing.

00:34:26.520 CB fixes all says,

00:34:28.200 how much did he pay the trader to cross the floor to the dark side?

00:34:30.820 Well, I doubt there was any direct payment,

00:34:33.140 but MPs love being in government.

00:34:36.280 Because when you're in government, it's not direct payment,

00:34:38.700 but what you will get is parliamentary secretary positions,

00:34:41.860 if not a cabinet position, right?

00:34:43.520 You know, there will be things offered,

00:34:44.660 and that's a good chunk of extra change and extra allowances and extra staff.

00:34:49.220 You also get onto a whole track of committees.

00:34:51.600 Not nearly enough people talk about that,

00:34:53.000 but you get onto all those committees,

00:34:54.540 you get paid for all of those,

00:34:56.200 even if they don't sit to heck of a lot.

00:34:57.680 Nice extra money into the pocket.

00:35:01.260 And of course,

00:35:02.100 the people just seem to prefer on the ground

00:35:03.800 to have a government member in office,

00:35:05.140 depending on the government.

00:35:05.860 So we'll see what happens.

00:35:09.200 It's going to be interesting.

00:35:10.700 You know, getting onto the budget things,

00:35:12.380 getting onto the economics,

00:35:13.700 and people who just don't pay enough attention to it.

00:35:18.340 Hayek, one of my favorite economists, 0.83

00:35:21.140 that's talking about dorks. 0.98

00:35:22.540 I'm a dork, I won't deny it. 0.98

00:35:24.480 One of my favorite quotes from him was, 0.75

00:35:26.820 if socialists understood economics,

00:35:28.940 they wouldn't be socialists.

00:35:30.960 It really is. 0.87

00:35:31.440 You've got to have a mental disconnect

00:35:34.000 to embrace socialism.

00:35:36.840 And people just blank that out

00:35:39.500 and somehow keep supporting a system

00:35:41.240 that is a proven failure

00:35:42.620 over and over and over and over again.

00:35:45.380 And yes, socialism is just communism light, guys.

00:35:48.760 It's just a matter of degree.

00:35:51.260 And when we see what happened in New York,

00:35:53.700 New York, the financial hub of the Western world,

00:35:58.080 massive city, 0.99

00:35:58.900 has elected a socialist lunatic. 1.00

00:36:03.620 He is, I mean, 0.99

00:36:05.020 he wants to nationalize grocery stores.

00:36:07.540 He wants to nationalize rentals.

00:36:10.100 You know, it's going to make things

00:36:12.300 so brutally bad there.

00:36:15.060 And of course, he's going to do it

00:36:16.160 by taxing the rich.

00:36:17.140 No, the rich will leave.

00:36:19.480 They already are.

00:36:20.440 They're fleeing.

00:36:21.800 As I was saying,

00:36:22.620 there is no iron curtain.

00:36:23.780 You can't do it like East and West Berlin.

00:36:25.320 So the capital, the skilled, the ambitious,

00:36:28.660 and it's already been happening.

00:36:30.340 You look at the population balances

00:36:31.980 in the United States,

00:36:32.740 the interstate movements of people.

00:36:36.620 And Texas is growing.

00:36:38.560 Tennessee is growing.

00:36:40.120 Arizona is growing.

00:36:40.860 Nevada is growing.

00:36:41.820 You know what's shrinking?

00:36:43.660 New York and California.

00:36:45.460 Florida is growing.

00:36:46.240 Because the people with the money,

00:36:49.300 the brains,

00:36:49.680 the ambition,

00:36:50.440 and realizing the ugliness of socialism,

00:36:52.760 whether it's under Newsom 0.63

00:36:53.720 or this nutcase in New York

00:36:56.260 or saying, 0.91

00:36:56.600 I'm getting the hell out of there.

00:36:57.800 But you see,

00:36:58.260 this leads to a self-perpetuating problem

00:36:59.700 because what do you leave behind?

00:37:00.720 The welfare bums,

00:37:01.820 the entitled,

00:37:02.560 the unproductive.

00:37:04.140 Then your budget gets worse.

00:37:06.000 And the socialists in charge

00:37:07.340 try to drain more from the productive.

00:37:08.960 And they drive the productive out more.

00:37:10.500 Guess what?

00:37:10.800 We got into that cycle

00:37:11.600 that collapses socialism every time.

00:37:14.000 And New York,

00:37:15.040 of all cities,

00:37:16.040 such a massive city,

00:37:18.260 is going to run down that experiment.

00:37:21.940 I say,

00:37:22.620 well, fine.

00:37:23.360 Go for it.

00:37:24.180 I use the analogy in the newsroom

00:37:25.440 I was talking to Leah.

00:37:26.720 They were saying,

00:37:27.920 look at it like the old school way

00:37:29.680 of trying to get a kid

00:37:30.520 off of cigarettes

00:37:31.400 if you caught them smoking.

00:37:32.480 You know,

00:37:32.620 make them smoke a hundred of them

00:37:34.160 and get them real sick 0.87

00:37:35.020 and green and everything 0.60

00:37:35.980 and understand how bad it is for you.

00:37:38.100 And then,

00:37:39.760 perhaps they'll

00:37:40.840 wisen up

00:37:42.020 and not take it up.

00:37:42.700 Well,

00:37:42.900 let's let them have

00:37:44.580 their taste of socialism.

00:37:45.980 Go ahead.

00:37:46.620 Drink up.

00:37:47.780 Consume it.

00:37:48.540 Enjoy it.

00:37:49.680 Have the fruits of that.

00:37:51.120 Enjoy those bread lines.

00:37:52.780 Because you think

00:37:53.380 that government control

00:37:54.460 of stores

00:37:55.280 hasn't already been tried, 1.00

00:37:56.860 you morons. 1.00

00:37:58.340 Enjoy the block housing 1.00

00:38:00.100 in the ghettos.

00:38:01.440 Because you think

00:38:01.940 government control of housing

00:38:03.180 hasn't been tried,

00:38:04.420 you guys.

00:38:05.780 And think of all the waiting lists

00:38:07.320 to get onto everything

00:38:08.480 to get anything.

00:38:10.140 Because socialized commodities

00:38:12.260 are rationed commodities.

00:38:14.280 We're seeing that in Canada

00:38:15.160 when we've given

00:38:15.940 a socialized monopoly

00:38:17.020 to healthcare.

00:38:18.280 It's great.

00:38:19.080 Nobody ever has to pay

00:38:20.160 out of the pocket

00:38:20.900 for healthcare.

00:38:21.380 The problem is

00:38:22.320 you're prone to dying

00:38:23.240 before you can actually

00:38:24.140 get in to access it

00:38:25.440 because we are running

00:38:26.440 out of it.

00:38:28.580 But it's a good point

00:38:29.780 of principle,

00:38:30.260 isn't it?

00:38:31.040 Well,

00:38:31.320 this is what gets

00:38:32.160 applied everywhere.

00:38:32.860 Plus,

00:38:33.560 government can't do 0.58

00:38:35.060 anything well.

00:38:37.040 Ever.

00:38:38.400 Dave brought that up

00:38:39.220 in the news update.

00:38:40.400 What that was the big

00:38:41.820 two billion trees.

00:38:44.000 You know,

00:38:44.180 this should have been

00:38:45.080 a very simple program.

00:38:47.140 Not one that the government

00:38:47.820 should have needed

00:38:48.320 to get into

00:38:48.800 in the first place.

00:38:50.020 But if the government

00:38:51.060 was going to take something

00:38:52.040 on,

00:38:52.580 a nice green thing,

00:38:53.640 that's why for our

00:38:54.380 simplistic prime minister

00:38:55.440 of Trudeau,

00:38:55.960 he came up with this one.

00:38:57.500 They were going to plant

00:38:58.540 two billion trees,

00:39:00.580 him and Climate Barbie,

00:39:01.340 and they put that

00:39:04.020 out there six years

00:39:05.840 later and 50 full-time

00:39:08.860 employees blowing

00:39:10.520 $268 million.

00:39:13.880 How much do those 50

00:39:15.040 employees take each

00:39:16.080 anyway?

00:39:17.300 But they didn't even

00:39:18.100 come close to planting

00:39:19.780 two billion trees.

00:39:20.760 How hard is it?

00:39:22.580 There's an area that

00:39:23.420 has no trees.

00:39:24.680 Take a tree,

00:39:26.360 dig a little hole,

00:39:27.680 stuff the tree in the

00:39:28.740 hole.

00:39:29.300 Holy cow, 0.51

00:39:30.800 you did it.

00:39:31.900 And the government

00:39:32.420 couldn't do it.

00:39:33.420 This was too complicated

00:39:34.660 for them.

00:39:35.600 This was too difficult

00:39:37.120 a program for them

00:39:38.440 to manage efficiently

00:39:39.460 to even plant

00:39:40.680 bloody trees

00:39:41.660 across the country.

00:39:43.460 Now think of the

00:39:43.920 things people are

00:39:44.700 asking government to do.

00:39:45.800 Do you really want

00:39:46.800 government to take over

00:39:47.820 providing lunches

00:39:49.160 to kids in schools?

00:39:49.840 Because that's where

00:39:50.240 the federal government's

00:39:51.000 jumped into now.

00:39:52.460 I think one of the

00:39:53.000 best examples you see

00:39:53.880 of that is somebody

00:39:54.420 saying, you know,

00:39:54.880 if government took over

00:39:55.460 cooking or something like

00:39:56.220 that shows that if

00:39:56.960 government's made

00:39:57.460 breakfast, you know,

00:39:58.100 here's a frying pan

00:39:59.080 with an egg cracked

00:39:59.960 over on the side

00:40:00.720 on the stove

00:40:01.440 and some toast

00:40:02.560 burning on an element

00:40:03.560 somewhere else.

00:40:04.080 Guys, the government

00:40:05.300 can't do anything well.

00:40:06.460 And it won't,

00:40:06.960 but it'll do it in a

00:40:07.560 costly way,

00:40:08.180 in an intrusive way.

00:40:10.580 Likewise, you know,

00:40:12.240 government daycare.

00:40:13.240 Same thing.

00:40:13.860 What's happening now

00:40:14.840 with the daycare?

00:40:15.540 The government got

00:40:16.000 into daycare.

00:40:16.620 Oh, we all got free

00:40:17.160 daycare.

00:40:17.560 It's going to have

00:40:17.940 100% return on

00:40:18.980 everything because

00:40:19.340 all the women will 1.00

00:40:19.820 go out working and

00:40:20.500 everybody will pay

00:40:21.280 taxes.

00:40:21.660 We'll all be happy

00:40:22.140 little families.

00:40:23.440 Oh, there's no

00:40:24.140 spaces?

00:40:25.420 Yeah.

00:40:27.320 Socialized services

00:40:28.160 are rationed

00:40:29.600 services.

00:40:29.980 We don't have enough

00:40:30.760 of them.

00:40:31.820 People have to have

00:40:32.840 an expense.

00:40:33.460 They have to pay out

00:40:34.080 of pocket.

00:40:34.520 And I hate to point

00:40:35.100 this out, but abuse

00:40:36.480 of socialized systems

00:40:37.480 is rampant.

00:40:38.140 It always is.

00:40:39.340 And not every person

00:40:40.480 who would take

00:40:40.920 advantage of a

00:40:41.800 socialized daycare

00:40:42.840 system is a hard

00:40:44.260 working single parent

00:40:45.140 who just wants to get

00:40:45.960 out there and

00:40:46.340 contribute to a lot

00:40:47.780 of them.

00:40:48.480 I'm going to say it

00:40:49.180 is true.

00:40:49.840 I lived in forest

00:40:50.520 lawn for some years.

00:40:51.940 I saw this.

00:40:53.140 So there's some lazy

00:40:53.920 people out there.

00:40:55.000 There's some entitled

00:40:55.660 people out there.

00:40:56.720 And the more you give

00:40:57.660 them, the more they're

00:40:58.280 going to pull.

00:41:00.060 It's not to say we

00:41:00.960 shouldn't have any

00:41:01.460 social services, but

00:41:02.340 when you throw them

00:41:02.900 out blindly, people

00:41:03.620 will take advantage of

00:41:04.580 them and there will be

00:41:05.140 waste.

00:41:06.100 So when you try these

00:41:07.200 blanket programs, you

00:41:09.660 just overwhelm the

00:41:10.480 system.

00:41:10.920 And what does that do

00:41:11.680 for the people?

00:41:12.260 Well, then they have

00:41:12.680 to pay out of pocket

00:41:13.320 to try and get better

00:41:14.440 services outside of

00:41:15.680 that.

00:41:15.960 So then the people who

00:41:16.900 really are working,

00:41:17.940 paying for daycare,

00:41:18.740 going to a private

00:41:19.440 daycare outside of the

00:41:20.840 socialized daycare

00:41:21.660 system, end up paying a

00:41:22.600 fortune to get their

00:41:23.280 kids into that.

00:41:23.940 Or, or, or they'll

00:41:26.080 stop working.

00:41:27.420 They'll say, screw it.

00:41:28.140 I'm going to be a

00:41:28.500 stay-at-home parent.

00:41:29.520 Well, where's the,

00:41:30.540 you've just done the

00:41:31.420 opposite of what this

00:41:32.720 system is supposed to

00:41:33.600 do.

00:41:34.720 So this government is

00:41:36.400 going to spend us all

00:41:37.780 into prosperity.

00:41:38.680 They're going to take

00:41:39.460 care of everything.

00:41:40.540 They're going to put our

00:41:42.460 great, great

00:41:42.960 grandchildren into debt

00:41:44.440 because these are

00:41:45.180 investments.

00:41:46.620 The government doesn't

00:41:47.600 invest in anything.

00:41:48.640 It spends, not

00:41:50.680 investments.

00:41:51.660 And they're trying some

00:41:52.740 voodoo economics.

00:41:53.640 Oh, this is different.

00:41:54.360 This is a capital

00:41:54.920 investment over here.

00:41:55.820 And that, oh, come on,

00:41:57.020 spare me.

00:41:58.800 I can't stand that in

00:42:00.380 provincial projects,

00:42:01.520 budgets too.

00:42:04.040 Well, that was different.

00:42:04.960 That was operating

00:42:05.460 expenses and this is

00:42:06.260 capital.

00:42:06.560 Okay.

00:42:06.860 I kind of understand

00:42:07.700 how they're different

00:42:08.140 areas, but it's still

00:42:09.380 all spending.

00:42:10.860 Do you think we could

00:42:11.740 pick up that capital

00:42:12.960 project and spend it?

00:42:14.720 Who's it or sell it?

00:42:16.100 Who's going to buy an

00:42:16.740 overpass?

00:42:18.060 What are you going to do

00:42:18.980 with it?

00:42:19.880 You know, it's still

00:42:21.400 government spending and

00:42:22.640 we only have so many

00:42:23.960 dollars.

00:42:25.200 So where do we go with

00:42:27.180 this?

00:42:27.360 But we are on a bad

00:42:29.400 track.

00:42:31.160 CB Fixel says the

00:42:32.040 forestry companies do the

00:42:32.820 replanting every year and

00:42:33.780 they don't get a cushy 0.85

00:42:34.580 government paycheck.

00:42:35.340 That's right.

00:42:35.680 Private woodlots maintained

00:42:38.500 by people actually do

00:42:39.380 very, very well.

00:42:40.280 We should be logging the 0.99

00:42:41.340 crap out of the West. 0.97

00:42:43.140 You want to deal with 1.00

00:42:43.740 the pine beetles?

00:42:44.660 You want to deal with

00:42:45.480 drought?

00:42:45.900 You want to deal with

00:42:46.640 standing dead?

00:42:47.380 You want to deal with,

00:42:48.320 you know, the local

00:42:51.020 economy?

00:42:52.160 Log like hell.

00:42:52.960 Guess what?

00:42:53.380 They grow back.

00:42:54.800 Especially if we plant

00:42:55.800 them.

00:42:56.520 And you know what

00:42:56.900 happens if we don't?

00:42:58.520 They burn.

00:42:59.800 We've seen that.

00:43:01.100 We've seen that in

00:43:02.160 spades.

00:43:03.460 Let the private market do

00:43:05.340 what it will.

00:43:06.460 Export that wood.

00:43:07.280 There's developing

00:43:07.760 countries who want it

00:43:08.540 like crazy.

00:43:09.300 Export, of course, all of 0.90

00:43:10.200 our raw resources.

00:43:10.920 But we won't because

00:43:11.660 we're this green country,

00:43:12.800 right?

00:43:13.920 The emissions cap.

00:43:15.100 Let's get back to that

00:43:15.940 beauty.

00:43:19.600 So Carney said he's

00:43:21.100 going to get rid of it.

00:43:22.260 There's the bone he

00:43:23.100 tossed to Danielle.

00:43:24.140 So Rob Anderson, one of

00:43:25.100 our chief of staff,

00:43:26.000 talking on X about it.

00:43:26.860 No, not exactly.

00:43:28.380 So they're rejecting

00:43:29.160 that already.

00:43:30.440 It's a promise to get

00:43:31.640 rid of it.

00:43:32.060 If Alberta does this,

00:43:33.480 this, this, this, this,

00:43:34.100 this, then it's nothing.

00:43:35.020 It's nothing.

00:43:35.620 You aren't getting rid

00:43:36.440 of it.

00:43:36.660 You put conditions on

00:43:37.540 it.

00:43:37.900 If you wanted to get

00:43:38.520 rid of it, you'd just

00:43:39.460 get rid of it.

00:43:40.380 It's not that hard.

00:43:41.160 And that chills

00:43:42.240 investment because people

00:43:43.540 aren't going to put money

00:43:44.260 in when there's going to

00:43:45.440 be a government imposed

00:43:46.240 cap on them making money

00:43:47.860 later.

00:43:48.280 It's impossible.

00:43:49.160 No investor in their

00:43:49.820 right mind will invest in

00:43:50.740 Alberta's energy projects

00:43:51.940 as long as Carney's got a 0.98

00:43:53.500 gun to the head with the 0.98

00:43:54.380 emissions cap. 0.98

00:43:55.640 This should be enough to

00:43:56.820 go to a referendum alone

00:43:58.020 because we're paying the

00:43:59.700 bloody bills and they're

00:44:00.780 making it harder and

00:44:01.560 harder for us to do it.

00:44:02.560 We don't get a thank you.

00:44:03.500 We just get squeezed

00:44:04.140 harder and our own

00:44:05.400 industries get kicked in

00:44:06.260 the proverbial knackers

00:44:07.320 and stopped from

00:44:08.360 expanding.

00:44:10.040 It's brutal.

00:44:12.400 And here we go.

00:44:14.420 I'll just close off with

00:44:15.600 other stuff that gets me

00:44:16.680 wound up.

00:44:17.060 But let's look at, 0.90

00:44:17.800 speaking of the lunatic 0.97

00:44:18.580 in New York and boy, 1.00

00:44:20.000 the Jews are in for a 1.00

00:44:20.840 good ride over there, 0.84

00:44:21.700 aren't they?

00:44:22.640 But are we much better

00:44:23.560 off over here?

00:44:24.520 The Toronto police force, 0.99

00:44:26.160 the most cowardly force 0.92

00:44:27.100 in Canada, and they 0.70

00:44:27.760 really have been for a

00:44:28.460 couple of years.

00:44:28.780 These are the ones that

00:44:29.840 brought donuts and

00:44:30.840 coffee, literally, not

00:44:31.800 even figuratively.

00:44:32.660 I know lefties love to 1.00

00:44:33.540 abuse the word literally.

00:44:34.860 No, I mean literally in

00:44:35.640 that an officer came with

00:44:36.920 donuts and coffee and

00:44:38.180 gave them to Hamas 0.92

00:44:39.000 supporters in Toronto who

00:44:41.180 were terrorizing a Jewish

00:44:42.320 community.

00:44:43.460 But what do you expect?

00:44:44.620 This is a news release from

00:44:46.440 the Toronto police force

00:44:47.320 yesterday.

00:44:49.160 Suspected hate-motivated

00:44:50.500 mischief to religious

00:44:51.800 property investigation at

00:44:53.480 Bayview Avenue and

00:44:54.500 Fife Shire Road area.

00:44:56.500 Okay, so they're asking

00:44:58.960 for help with this

00:44:59.940 suspected hate-motivated

00:45:01.580 mischief.

00:45:02.000 What it was, was a

00:45:03.620 synagogue, had swastikas

00:45:04.920 painted on it, and it

00:45:06.200 was vandalized and

00:45:07.260 abused.

00:45:07.580 In Canada, they've been

00:45:08.300 putting bullets through

00:45:09.000 synagogues for a couple 0.66

00:45:09.780 of years already.

00:45:11.160 But they don't say

00:45:12.080 synagogue, they say

00:45:12.900 religious property

00:45:13.920 investigation. 0.92

00:45:14.360 Who the hell says

00:45:15.120 religious property? 0.79

00:45:17.120 Would you say that

00:45:17.960 about a church?

00:45:18.820 Would you say that

00:45:19.480 about a mosque?

00:45:20.420 Would you say that

00:45:21.040 about a Sikh temple?

00:45:22.160 No.

00:45:22.960 But when it's a

00:45:23.580 synagogue, those 0.90

00:45:24.720 cowardly creeps on 0.96

00:45:26.100 the Toronto Police

00:45:26.780 force say, a 0.81

00:45:27.940 religious property? 1.00

00:45:30.160 You scumbags. 1.00

00:45:31.740 Say it like it is 1.00

00:45:32.780 because a particular

00:45:33.660 group is getting

00:45:34.560 targeted.

00:45:35.260 And how do you

00:45:35.680 prevent that if you

00:45:36.320 won't even admit who

00:45:37.520 the group is that's

00:45:38.620 being targeted?

00:45:39.780 You say it's hate

00:45:40.460 motivated?

00:45:41.180 Well, fine.

00:45:41.860 Motivated by who

00:45:42.660 and why?

00:45:44.140 How do you know

00:45:44.920 what it's going to

00:45:45.380 be?

00:45:45.700 It's a religious 1.00

00:45:46.440 property.

00:45:47.540 That could be

00:45:47.960 anything.

00:45:49.240 And in particular,

00:45:50.460 that one thing you

00:45:51.140 just won't mention.

00:45:52.540 No Jews, no news. 0.94

00:45:54.260 Getting sick of that 1.00

00:45:55.040 crap, guys. 1.00

00:45:56.380 Free the West. 1.00

00:45:57.020 All right, guys.

00:45:57.520 Thank you very much

00:45:58.320 for tuning in today.

00:45:59.480 Be sure to watch

00:46:00.120 the pipeline tonight

00:46:01.100 to be coming on

00:46:01.700 another panel,

00:46:02.820 breaking down more

00:46:03.620 issues.

00:46:04.100 Subscribe to all of

00:46:04.920 our channels.

00:46:05.660 Get out there.

00:46:06.200 Share this stuff.

00:46:07.240 Keep the Western

00:46:07.780 standard flying out

00:46:08.980 there and independent

00:46:09.760 so we can report

00:46:10.500 this to you.

00:46:10.940 Thank you all very

00:46:11.740 much for tuning in

00:46:12.660 today, guys.

00:46:13.520 We will see you all

00:46:14.820 again next week.

00:46:16.280 Break down what's

00:46:16.900 happened by then.

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Western Standard - November 08, 2025

CORY MORGAN SHOW： Albertans want an independence referendum

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