Western Standard - CORY MORGAN SHOW： Canada needs a prime minister

00:00:00.000 Good day.

00:00:28.940 Hey, welcome to the Cory Morgan Show.

00:00:31.320 Here we go.

00:00:31.880 Another week.

00:00:32.520 The world's still turning, but my Lord, it's screwy, isn't it?

00:00:35.720 The news cycles are just changing faster than we can keep up with them.

00:00:39.660 A lot of the same stories, but just trying to interpret them as they change and twist

00:00:43.100 and maneuver.

00:00:44.720 So we'll try and work through some of those today.

00:00:47.400 Lots to cover.

00:00:48.840 I got a good show as always, I like to think, coming up.

00:00:51.480 I got Franco Teresano is going to come out from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and

00:00:55.000 he's always good to chat about, you know, current taxes, maybe what's going to be

00:00:58.920 going on with the carbon tax.

00:01:00.100 Is it going to go?

00:01:00.940 The Liberals are going to do it?

00:01:02.220 Plus, what other taxes are we going to look at as we have an election pending?

00:01:05.940 After that, actually, we're going to have our own Sean Polzer.

00:01:08.080 He's down in Houston at that Petroleum Show, and he's been rubbing shoulders with and writing

00:01:12.620 on.

00:01:12.880 Just check the stories out on the Western Standard.

00:01:14.660 He's been putting out great reports from down there.

00:01:17.400 Team Alberta is down there and making some great deals for the Alberta energy sector.

00:01:22.580 So, speaking of an Albertan resource, this episode is sponsored by New World Precious

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00:01:59.180 Good to see Jordan Paradoxi in the comments.

00:02:01.180 Scroll, yes, this show is live.

00:02:02.660 Use those comments.

00:02:03.560 Chat with me.

00:02:04.140 Send things to my guests.

00:02:06.060 Send ideas.

00:02:06.940 I see them all.

00:02:07.640 I don't necessarily react to them all, but I appreciate them all.

00:02:10.240 Just trying to keep things civil.

00:02:12.000 All right, let's get on to what I want to talk about.

00:02:13.760 This period of stagnation we're stuck in.

00:02:16.600 And Canada desperately needs a prime minister.

00:02:19.880 I mean, the House of Commons has been virtually useless since last fall when the Conservatives

00:02:23.560 began filibustering due to the Liberals' refusal to release documents related to their green

00:02:27.700 slush fund.

00:02:28.960 By the time things finally collapsed for Trudeau at Christmas, parliamentary business had

00:02:32.700 already been piling up.

00:02:33.720 Now, more than two months later, we still don't have a functional prime minister, and

00:02:37.460 the prorogation of Parliament has killed every bill on the order paper.

00:02:40.580 President Trump's taken full advantage of Canada's leaderless state as he shakes his northern

00:02:45.060 neighbour like a dog with her egg doll.

00:02:47.300 Yes, the Liberals, sure, they coronated Mark Carney in the farce of a leadership race.

00:02:52.920 And yes, Carney is going to be enthroned in the prime minister's seat. 0.94

00:02:56.000 But come on, until he faces us in a general election, he's just as much a lame duck as 0.94

00:03:00.800 Justin Trudeau was.

00:03:02.440 Carney has no seat, no mandate, no history in elected office to draw from.

00:03:06.320 He won't be able to craft or pass legislation, and he has a sad collection of Trudeau's leftover

00:03:10.520 MPs to try and cobble a cabinet out of.

00:03:12.920 And worst of all, of course, we're in the midst of an unprecedented trade war, and we're

00:03:17.040 being pundled not only with Trump's tariffs, but now China's jumped into the fray.

00:03:21.160 We've got premiers across the country trying to do what they can to mitigate damage, and

00:03:24.840 they've taken different approaches.

00:03:26.520 Donald Ford, or Donald Ford, Doug Ford has taken a bluster, threaten, and retreat strategy,

00:03:32.160 while Daniel Smith continues her American excursions to try and foster diplomatic relationships.

00:03:37.480 There's not been much evidence that either of them have had any impact upon Trump, but

00:03:41.480 time will tell.

00:03:42.640 But what Canada really needs is a prime minister with a strong mandate and a large caucus to

00:03:46.960 run things, while he, and I'm saying he because there's no woman running for the role, takes

00:03:51.540 on the trade war.

00:03:53.240 Only after an election, though, is this possible.

00:03:55.260 Thankfully, all signs are pointing to an election soon.

00:03:58.020 The liberals have been taking out ads, and they've been acting in campaign mode.

00:04:01.500 There were fears, and I was fearing it, that there was going to be a deal cut with Singh to

00:04:04.660 try and hold on to power until fall.

00:04:06.060 But even Singh sounds like he's jumping into campaign mode now, too.

00:04:09.860 Hopefully, the campaign period's as short as we can, though.

00:04:12.540 Not only must there be an election, though, Canadians have got to pay attention.

00:04:15.920 I know that's something we're not typically good at.

00:04:17.780 Legacy media is invested in this re-election of the Liberal Party, and it's going to be

00:04:23.580 tough to get unfiltered information during this campaign.

00:04:26.100 I mean, liberals are going to continue to hide Carney from independent media, and the legacy

00:04:29.780 outlets will ensure he never faces tough questions.

00:04:32.100 That's the problem when you get subsidized media, folks.

00:04:33.980 I wouldn't be shocked if the media group scheduled the French debate at 2 a.m., so people can't

00:04:38.020 witness Carney being eaten alive by both Polyev and Blanchet with his rudimentary French. 0.62

00:04:44.160 The liberals haven't changed.

00:04:45.480 They've cut off the vacuous head of Justin Trudeau and attached the bland but still ideological

00:04:50.120 head of Mark Carney.

00:04:51.380 The bulk of the party hasn't changed, and the rot remains within just as much now as

00:04:55.020 it did in December.

00:04:56.460 Now, polls are indicating the Canadians are falling for the new coat of paint slapped on

00:05:00.060 the old corrupted party.

00:05:01.080 I'd like to think that bounce was exaggerated and will be short-lived.

00:05:05.400 Who knows?

00:05:06.060 Carney's rebranding the carbon tax.

00:05:08.660 But the end payer remains the common citizens, as the price of consumer goods are going to

00:05:12.200 continue to rise.

00:05:13.480 Will the move manage to hoodwink voters who are ready to turf the Liberals, though?

00:05:17.060 I certainly took a plank out of Polyev's campaign.

00:05:21.020 Polyev's also going to be challenged with perceived associations with President Trump.

00:05:24.820 While Polyev's never been close to Trump, the Liberals are running ads to create the impression

00:05:28.140 that he was, and it looks like it might be effective.

00:05:30.600 Most Canadians want somebody who can stand strong against Trump in the trade war, and

00:05:33.740 if they feel Polyev is compromised, it could bode poorly for the Conservatives.

00:05:37.900 Every election's important, but some are more important than others.

00:05:41.340 The 2025 election is the most important election we've faced in a decade.

00:05:45.120 Nobody's exactly sure what Trump's motivations are.

00:05:47.520 I'm not even sure if Trump knows what his motivations are.

00:05:49.880 What we do know, though, is Trump gets off on pouncing upon weakness.

00:05:53.280 Trudeau is as weak as they come, and Canada has become even weaker during the transition

00:05:57.140 from Trudeau.

00:05:57.840 If the Liberals are put back in power, Trump's going to chew Canada apart piece by piece and

00:06:01.840 spit it out.

00:06:02.860 The economic damage would make the COVID years look prosperous.

00:06:05.740 Trudeau is gone, but the hangover remains.

00:06:07.940 It has to be flushed from the halls of power.

00:06:09.940 Canada must have a fresh face at the helm with a solid electoral mandate.

00:06:15.260 So we got that chance coming soon, guys.

00:06:17.260 Let's just hope we get it right.

00:06:19.340 Because, boy, we sure love stepping on rakes. 0.88

00:06:21.540 All right, well, that's what's got me going today to start things off.

00:06:25.220 Let's check in with our news editor, Dave Naylor.

00:06:27.460 Dave, what do you got today?

00:06:28.400 Good day, Mr. Morgan.

00:06:29.240 I've got bad news.

00:06:30.660 I'm slapping a 50% tariff on you for appearing to appear on your show from now on.

00:06:36.280 Okay, well, you can triple what I pay you.

00:06:39.060 I get 50% of nothing.

00:06:40.440 It's still nothing, isn't it?

00:06:42.760 Yeah, well, if I ever hear the word tariff again, it'll be too soon.

00:06:46.540 Oh, I know.

00:06:47.080 You're probably going to hear it a few times in the next...

00:06:49.700 In the next five minutes?

00:06:51.180 Yeah.

00:06:51.540 So, yeah, you mentioned we've got our Sean Polzer, our energy writer down in Houston at Syrah Week.

00:06:57.980 It's the biggest oil show in the world, and there's nothing but sultans and sheiks and Daniel Smith down there.

00:07:05.700 So he's got a good column on how well Daniel Smith seems to be doing down there.

00:07:12.340 He's also got a good exclusive from Brian Jean that Alberta is going to start using their royalty barrels to build pipelines.

00:07:23.020 You know, it's way above my head, but Sean explains it all in the story.

00:07:26.120 And he's just finished covering a Daniel Smith keynote address to the convention.

00:07:32.960 So hopefully that's up as I'm speaking.

00:07:35.260 If not, it'll be up very shortly.

00:07:38.340 Anyway, we've got some final figures now on how much Trudeau has spent on gender projects outside Canada.

00:07:47.120 $11 billion.

00:07:49.920 That's with a B.

00:07:51.120 Yeah.

00:07:51.540 $11 billion.

00:07:52.180 But, I mean, think of all those little skinny African children who now aren't so confused about whether their peepee means they're a boy or a girl.

00:08:00.140 Yes, I suppose.

00:08:01.060 This was important.

00:08:02.060 Money well spent.

00:08:02.900 Oh, yes.

00:08:03.240 We've got a good exclusive from our Jen Hodgson on a digital currency, as you know, which seems to be around the corner.

00:08:12.880 And it's JCCF did a big in-depth look at it and all the dangers and why it's a very bad thing.

00:08:20.080 So that's up on the side right now.

00:08:22.780 Oh, no, here it is.

00:08:23.980 Tariffs.

00:08:25.060 Yeah, we slapped some on the states.

00:08:27.520 $30 billion worth, I guess.

00:08:29.480 So that's up there now.

00:08:31.200 And the Liberals are saying they're going to eliminate the April 1st carbon tax increase, but they're not quite sure how they can do it because it's mandated by law, but there's no part of it sitting.

00:08:44.640 So they're scrambling to try and figure out how they're going to get to stop by April 1st. 0.97

00:08:48.840 But it just shows you the idiocy of what's going on down there in Ottawa. 0.94

00:08:53.080 Well, in a slight way, I mean, it's only going to cost us so much more. 0.94

00:08:56.640 I almost hope, almost hope that they can't find a way to do it because having that increase in the midst of an election campaign will just help remind people this is what the Liberals have to offer for you.

00:09:07.200 Exactly.

00:09:07.800 It would be just poetic, wouldn't it?

00:09:10.200 It would.

00:09:11.640 All right.

00:09:12.500 Well, that and what?

00:09:13.900 I saw a video of police laying a beating on something.

00:09:15.940 Oh, yes, they should have mentioned that.

00:09:17.620 There was an arrest in northeast Calgary yesterday.

00:09:20.600 Apparently, a police officer pulled a man over for a dirty license plate. 0.98

00:09:25.200 The man didn't want to talk to the officer and walked away from him into a convenience store.

00:09:30.980 Then when the gentleman came out of the convenience store, the officer tried to connect with him again, and that didn't go well.

00:09:38.760 The officer put the man under arrest, and the fight was on.

00:09:42.720 So a very dramatic video there on the site of, it looks like, four or five Calgary police officers jumping on this guy and trying to restrain him all over a dirty license plate.

00:09:53.880 Well, sometimes if you drive around these days, every license plate is dirty. 0.97

00:10:00.040 Yeah, it sounds like the pretense for pulling him over might have been shaky, but the bottom line is, even if they're being jerks, don't start struggling, it never ends well. 0.98

00:10:07.060 Do what the police tell you to do within reason, right? 0.98

00:10:10.140 If you ask for an ID, do it. 0.98

00:10:12.260 You see all these examples of people being shot and killed in the States just by not listening to basic police instructions.

00:10:19.620 Well, either way, that's where I think the cameras are kind of a good thing.

00:10:23.140 Both ways, hey, police overstep as well.

00:10:25.340 Oh, absolutely they do. 0.99

00:10:26.860 Record these things and let us judge and have a look and see who was being the moron in these cases. 1.00

00:10:31.180 It looks from what I saw that this gentleman perhaps might have taken a few more knocks than it was warranted, but he was also being stupid. 1.00

00:10:37.720 Yeah, he was being stupid. 1.00

00:10:38.740 And the problem with these 30-second videos is you don't get the context. 1.00

00:10:42.240 No.

00:10:42.420 You don't get a sense of what kind of an airhead this guy was in dealing with the officer and why he wouldn't just say yes sir, no sir.

00:10:53.540 So a lot of times they get what they deserve, but, you know, the police have put out a statement.

00:10:59.220 They seem to be standing by their men.

00:11:01.140 Well, and if ACERT investigates, we'll know in about 11 years whether there was a problem done or not.

00:11:05.060 There you go.

00:11:05.620 We'll hopefully still be on the air.

00:11:09.020 Well, we'll see.

00:11:09.500 My tariffs could be up to 75%.

00:11:11.420 Well, okay.

00:11:13.020 Well, I'll make that promise for 11 years from now.

00:11:15.160 There you go.

00:11:15.740 All right.

00:11:16.160 Keep it to it.

00:11:16.800 Thanks, Dave.

00:11:17.340 I'll let you back to the new zoo.

00:11:18.860 Thanks.

00:11:19.320 All right, guys.

00:11:19.900 Yes, and the reason we're covering all those stories and Sean's down in Houston, covering those things and the rest is because you guys have been subscribing.

00:11:27.560 We don't take taxpayer dollars.

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00:11:44.880 Keep covering these things.

00:11:45.820 Get past legacy media that won't ask those tougher questions.

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00:11:50.840 Take what out.

00:11:51.520 If you have already, thank you.

00:11:52.700 We really do appreciate it.

00:11:54.080 And if you haven't, come on.

00:11:55.800 Get on there.

00:11:56.340 Nag other people to do it, too. 0.99

00:11:57.900 Okay, I saw a good question there from a commenter, Kenzie Kraken.

00:12:01.400 It looks like asking if I think Smith is wasting taxpayer money going to the United States.

00:12:05.480 You know, that's a good and fair question.

00:12:08.440 I typically support a lot of what Premier Smith does, and I think in this case, going to this Houston show, if it's a trade delegation with a mandate in mind and a goal, yes.

00:12:17.820 I think in this case, it's a good use of taxpayer dollars as her as a representative of Alberta. 0.51

00:12:23.360 Now, we might see them doing stupid things that we'll find out about later, like if they're having themselves, you know, $50 shrimp cocktails and booking $5,000 a night hotel rooms. 0.95

00:12:32.540 People like Franco Tarazano will expose that, and we will beat on them for it. 0.98

00:12:36.240 But we'll see until after the fact.

00:12:37.720 But I think the trip in itself, in this case, is good.

00:12:41.380 Now, I think it's more questionable about whether taxpayers should fund her going to speak to Ben Shapiro.

00:12:46.620 So, that's a little different now.

00:12:49.060 That's getting a little more political.

00:12:50.360 That's getting a little more partisan.

00:12:52.060 Perhaps the UCP should foot the bill for that sort of trip because I think she's going to Florida to do that one. 0.98

00:12:57.480 So, I guess my answer is sometimes I think the travel is justified and sometimes it isn't.

00:13:03.660 And we'll see.

00:13:05.620 I mean, waste can happen.

00:13:07.840 It does happen with every government.

00:13:10.040 There's ones we like more or less than others.

00:13:12.500 It's a matter of trying to mitigate and get the best you can out of the bunch and try to keep them accountable.

00:13:18.560 That's why it's important for us to stay on the case of the politicians we like, just as much as getting on the case of the ones we don't like.

00:13:25.600 I have not been thrilled with the budget performance of the UCP.

00:13:29.900 I really expected better.

00:13:31.560 Daniel Smith, I mean, we've known her a long time.

00:13:33.740 She's a fiscal conservative.

00:13:34.820 She's always talked the talk.

00:13:36.440 And here we are with this giant deficit, with a projected extension of that deficit for some years to come.

00:13:42.500 We're supposed to be conservatives, aren't we?

00:13:44.140 That means you cut things.

00:13:45.440 They're afraid of cutting.

00:13:48.280 Afraid of cutting.

00:13:49.460 We've got to cut sometimes.

00:13:50.520 We're spending too bloody much.

00:13:52.020 If the UCP can't cut, just imagine, now you see, that's where we would want to race to the bottom.

00:13:57.360 But it would be much worse if you even get the left in.

00:13:59.280 So, let's correct the current government and get on their case.

00:14:03.640 Premier Smith's been dealing with other things.

00:14:04.980 There's a member left over the budget, an MLA.

00:14:08.840 There could be some unity issues in caucus.

00:14:10.620 That's a separate issue.

00:14:11.920 But the thing to keep in mind, that member left was because he complained he wasn't getting enough funding towards his constituency.

00:14:18.440 He wasn't complaining about the overspending that was going on in that budget.

00:14:21.680 So, he wasn't coming from a conservative direction.

00:14:24.060 But it turned into a problematic thing that blew up for them.

00:14:28.580 It's politics.

00:14:29.400 It's back and forth.

00:14:30.480 But that's where I do say some of the onus is on us.

00:14:33.580 It's on us to pay attention.

00:14:34.760 It's on us to ask the tougher questions.

00:14:36.320 It's on us and independent media to ask those questions, of course.

00:14:39.760 And to try to be fair about them, but not give a pass when it's somebody who we feel we like or is more ideologically inclined along where we are on things.

00:14:50.720 So, yes, in a vamp fashion, say, can you imagine our lefty friends screaming if Daniel Smith cut anything of actual substance?

00:14:57.240 Actual substance?

00:14:58.060 Yeah, I know.

00:14:58.840 And just on that final note, I mean, I saw a press conference a little while back where they had Ninchy, the leader of Albert NDP, was going on about Daniel Smith's cuts.

00:15:06.380 Not one person in that scrum said, what cuts?

00:15:10.100 That's all they had to ask him.

00:15:11.420 What cuts?

00:15:12.540 She hadn't cut anything, Ninchy. 0.83

00:15:14.260 But he can just blather away and they'll leave it uncorrected as if she's been cutting.

00:15:18.140 Ah, it's going to be hard to get a responsible government.

00:15:20.780 We've got somebody who does like asking those questions and getting on their case all the time.

00:15:24.140 And that's Franco Teresano, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:15:27.260 So, hey there, Franco.

00:15:28.260 How's it going?

00:15:29.280 Hey, Corey.

00:15:30.080 Great to be on the show with you today.

00:15:31.580 Yeah, it's been a while.

00:15:32.420 We're overdue, I think.

00:15:33.840 Yeah, man.

00:15:34.480 I love coming on the show.

00:15:36.280 Love what you guys are doing.

00:15:37.360 So, just happy to be here.

00:15:38.860 Right on.

00:15:39.680 So, well, you know, this is basically kind of like the Super Bowl or the Olympics for people like us,

00:15:45.840 political wonks and so on.

00:15:47.500 We've got a federal election coming.

00:15:49.640 A whole lot to cover.

00:15:50.840 I mean, I understand some of the generalities of where you're going to be coming from.

00:15:54.080 But what are they going to be the main priorities that Canadian Taxpayers Federation is going to be pushing on in these next couple of months?

00:16:00.500 Yeah, well, there's three.

00:16:01.840 Right?

00:16:02.020 We can go into details, but there's three.

00:16:04.160 Number one, scrap all carbon taxes.

00:16:08.080 Right?

00:16:08.360 Like, we've heard now the Liberal leader, Mark Carney, say he's going to end the consumer carbon tax.

00:16:13.500 Okay.

00:16:14.280 All right.

00:16:14.820 But guess what?

00:16:15.840 He still wants to hammer businesses with a carbon tax, and he hopes you won't notice when those businesses pass on those costs to you through higher prices.

00:16:26.120 So, number one, end all carbon taxes.

00:16:29.480 Number two, balance the budget.

00:16:31.740 And balance the budget by making spending go down.

00:16:35.020 Like, look, for the last decade or so, this government in Ottawa has been on the runaway spending train, wasting money like crazy, hiring 108,000 extra government bureaucrats.

00:16:46.100 So, what we need to see is a plan to balance the budget within two years by making spending go down.

00:16:54.060 And finally, we need to see not just ending all carbon taxes.

00:16:57.980 We need to see massive, massive tax cuts.

00:16:58.980 We need to see massive, massive tax cuts.

00:17:01.300 Okay?

00:17:01.800 I mean, everyone knows what's going on with the U.S., Canada tariffs and all that kind of stuff.

00:17:07.600 Like, that's going to hurt our economy.

00:17:09.040 But what we have to do is focus on making Canada the most competitive place on Earth to work, to invest, to grow business.

00:17:17.040 And all that starts with massively cutting taxes.

00:17:20.140 Yeah, so, one of the things Dave mentioned, it sounds like the Liberals are having a difficult time.

00:17:24.400 They want to extricate themselves from the consumer carbon tax.

00:17:27.860 And there's a rise in it coming on April 1st.

00:17:30.780 Yep.

00:17:30.980 But it sounds like they might have painted themselves in a corner because Parliament's not sitting.

00:17:34.220 And they might not be able to actually get that out of there before the election.

00:17:38.380 No, no, no, no, no.

00:17:39.980 Don't buy that spin.

00:17:41.220 Okay, well, good.

00:17:42.300 I want you to confirm what's going on there.

00:17:46.400 Oh.

00:17:46.760 Oh, we appear to have lost your sound there, Franco.

00:17:54.700 Okay, well, we'll keep working on things there, Franco.

00:17:57.460 I'm not sure.

00:17:57.960 Somehow we've lost your sound for the moment.

00:18:02.560 And you're still not coming, which really sucks because I really wanted to hear the answer for that.

00:18:07.080 I'm not sure what's happening.

00:18:08.680 Okay, we're just going to kind of pop you out there.

00:18:11.180 Maybe log in and out and see if we can't get that to crack back on because I really, really wanted to hear that answer.

00:18:16.340 There we are.

00:18:16.800 It sounds like we were under a misconception.

00:18:18.540 So the Liberals do have a way to avoid that raising of the carbon tax.

00:18:24.800 So that's interesting because you'd think, I mean, and Franco will clarify that in a moment.

00:18:28.820 You know, you'd think they're going to be eager to get themselves out of that.

00:18:31.600 That tax really beat the heck out of them in the polls.

00:18:34.940 It really was an anvil around their necks.

00:18:38.380 I mean, Trudeau was so stubborn.

00:18:39.660 He did not want to back off on that thing.

00:18:42.140 And it was just killing them.

00:18:44.440 And now, I mean, that's part of what Carney's hoping that helped him was getting out of that tax and seeing if maybe that's what's turning around a little electoral fortunes.

00:18:54.960 So we've got Franco in the lobby again.

00:18:55.940 Let's see if we got that rectified.

00:18:57.080 How's it going, Franco?

00:18:58.600 Can you hear me now?

00:18:59.540 I do, yes.

00:19:02.360 Yeah, I do.

00:19:02.940 I've got you finally.

00:19:03.760 So you were just explaining, thank you, how the Liberals can get out of raising that carbon tax April 1st.

00:19:10.700 Yeah, so you're right in the sense that the carbon tax is still scheduled to go up 19% on April 1.

00:19:18.000 But the Liberals, when you hear Minister Guibo saying, well, I don't know what to do, that is just factually incorrect, okay?

00:19:24.860 In the legislation that brought in the carbon tax, it gives cabinet the power to set the carbon tax rates, okay?

00:19:34.320 So with a stroke of a pen, today, the government could effectively kill the carbon tax by setting the carbon tax rate to zero, okay?

00:19:44.120 Don't believe me?

00:19:45.500 Well, how did the federal government remove the carbon tax from furnace oil for three years?

00:19:51.200 It didn't do it by passing legislation, but it did it with regulation, okay?

00:19:56.500 So the government has done it before by removing the carbon tax for furnace oil for Atlantic Canadians predominantly,

00:20:03.580 and the government can do it again by immediately ending the carbon tax today, okay?

00:20:09.200 So the government doesn't need to pass any legislation.

00:20:12.440 The act itself gives cabinet the power to put the carbon tax rate on all the different fuels to zero.

00:20:19.640 All right, good.

00:20:21.540 So they've got no excuse, and we'll remind them of that in the weeks to come here.

00:20:27.200 So getting on to other things, one of the, you know, we're in the midst of this bizarre trade war and the tariffs and counter tariffs and the rest going on.

00:20:35.280 Something you pointed out, I mean, a strategy, and we're not hearing that tactic much.

00:20:39.620 I mean, it sounds like among the many things, I mean, it depends on the hour, what President Trump, me or me, want from us.

00:20:45.420 But he does say he wants to draw Canadian businesses down to south of the border.

00:20:50.660 Taxing further up here wouldn't help us defend from that.

00:20:53.840 I mean, as you said, let's streamline, make this a great place to do business and cut business taxes.

00:20:57.880 It'll make it even harder for President Trump to snipe them.

00:21:00.020 Yeah, you know, I understand the sentiment, right?

00:21:04.100 Like when someone pushes you, you want to push back.

00:21:06.940 I understand that sentiment.

00:21:09.120 I understand that emotion.

00:21:10.860 But like folks, retaliatory tariffs are just a tax on Canadians, right?

00:21:16.480 So when President Trump imposes tariffs, well, that is a tax on American businesses and is passed on to American consumers, okay?

00:21:25.860 So just because President Trump wants to increase taxes on Americans, that doesn't mean that Ottawa should then go ahead and increase taxes on Canadians.

00:21:36.540 You know what I mean?

00:21:37.480 Like that's the problem.

00:21:38.840 Like Trump's tariffs will hurt Canada's economy.

00:21:41.560 But you want to know what's going to hurt us even more?

00:21:44.840 Knee-jerk, retaliatory tariffs.

00:21:47.420 It's just another tax on Canadian citizens that Canadians can't afford.

00:21:52.520 Now, that doesn't mean that Canada should just sit back and do nothing.

00:21:56.820 No, no, no.

00:21:57.640 We should take the U.S.'s lunch money by making Canada more competitive, okay?

00:22:02.660 So number one, immediately scrap all carbon taxes.

00:22:06.220 Carbon taxes make the necessities of your life more expensive and blew a $12 billion hole in our economy last year.

00:22:13.780 Number two, immediately cancel the capital gains tax hike scheduled for next year, right?

00:22:19.400 Nothing tells entrepreneurs to leave Canada louder than a looming capital gains tax hike.

00:22:26.660 But number three, as I mentioned, right, we have to go on a major tax cutting campaign, okay?

00:22:33.000 So Canada ranks about 31st out of 38 industrialized countries on individual tax competitiveness.

00:22:40.820 That is awful.

00:22:42.180 We rank 26th out of 38 industrial countries on business tax competitiveness.

00:22:48.800 That is also awful.

00:22:50.860 And on both measures, we rank behind the United States, okay?

00:22:54.420 So if you want to really do some damage to the U.S., you shouldn't be imposing new taxes on Canadians.

00:23:01.180 We should be doing the exact opposite, cutting taxes left, right, and center.

00:23:06.760 Yeah, well, Milton Friedman put it excellently with tariffs when he pointed out saying,

00:23:10.720 well, it's like you're all sitting in the same boat.

00:23:12.800 Somebody goes and shoots a hole in the boat.

00:23:14.420 And then you respond by taking out a gun and shooting a hole in right next to it.

00:23:17.600 So you're both sinking at the same time.

00:23:19.120 It doesn't help, and that's fair enough.

00:23:22.420 Like when you start taxing us further, but American tariffs on Canadian products do harm our outward sales.

00:23:28.120 Like it's going to lead to a reduction in sales.

00:23:29.800 So it is punitive to Canadians.

00:23:32.540 I know, I don't expect you will like using taxes as a tool for much of anything,

00:23:36.640 but what about countermeasures such as an export tariff when it's trying to put it on to the other end of the bill?

00:23:44.360 Yeah, I mean, Corey, look, I'm not suggesting that U.S. tariffs aren't going to hurt Canada and Canada's economy.

00:23:51.380 That's not what I'm suggesting.

00:23:53.060 I agree that U.S. tariffs will hurt Canada's economy.

00:23:57.640 But you know what will make that pain worse?

00:24:00.760 Knee-jerk retaliatory tariffs that make life in Canada more expensive.

00:24:05.040 That will make life more expensive, and that will make things worse.

00:24:08.000 And look, Corey, I am very skeptical that a trade war prolonged with Canadian tariffs will work.

00:24:15.120 I'm very skeptical.

00:24:16.480 Maybe they will work, but probably they won't.

00:24:19.320 You know what's more likely to push Trump to back down?

00:24:22.920 Pain felt by Americans, Congress people, governors who are watching prices soar,

00:24:30.360 their economy blow up, and the stock market crash, right?

00:24:34.800 So I understand the emotional feeling here.

00:24:37.480 When someone pushes you, you want to hit back.

00:24:40.540 But Canada's knee-jerk retaliatory tariffs will land like a punch across our own jaw.

00:24:46.920 If we really want to be serious, what we have to do is make Canada more competitive than the United States.

00:24:54.360 If they want to impose taxes on their own citizens, we should not be doing the same thing.

00:24:59.420 And let me just bring up some breaking news from, I believe, earlier this morning,

00:25:04.140 where Australia's Prime Minister essentially said the same thing that I'm saying,

00:25:08.540 where they're not going to impose retaliatory tariffs because that is a tax on their own citizens.

00:25:14.660 Right.

00:25:15.240 So on top of that, something else that kind of surfaced, I know this might be kind of a bit out of left field,

00:25:19.300 but Canada put that 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles last fall,

00:25:23.540 which has now led to China taking a run at Canadian goods with tariffs,

00:25:28.440 and it's causing harm to Canadian farmers in particular.

00:25:32.020 I mean, you know, a lot of our canola and other outward crops, China's a big customer.

00:25:36.040 You know, this swirling mess.

00:25:37.680 I mean, I suspect your answer is going to be the same.

00:25:39.560 Our best way out of it is to start just dropping our own bloody tariffs.

00:25:43.440 Yeah, that's exactly right.

00:25:44.700 So two things come to mind.

00:25:45.880 So, Corey, I'm not well-versed in that specific issue, but two things come to mind.

00:25:50.240 Number one, isn't it kind of crazy that the federal government and some of the provinces

00:25:55.080 are putting taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars for battery factories

00:26:00.580 in the hopes that Canadians buy more EVs, and then they slap tariffs on more affordable EVs, right?

00:26:07.720 Like, that doesn't make any sense.

00:26:09.540 And also, too, Corey, I just want to bring back my past point that what I think will really stop this tariff war

00:26:15.980 is actually pressure from the United States, whether it's Americans, American lobby groups, Congress, or governors.

00:26:23.020 Like, you mentioned farmers.

00:26:24.900 Well, what led Mr. Trump to reduce the tariff on potash?

00:26:29.940 It was pushback from American farmers who rely on Canadian potash for their inputs.

00:26:37.600 Well, likewise, I imagine with these tariffs on steel, aluminum, the rest,

00:26:41.280 any American companies that have to buy those products, their CEOs or representatives have got to be flooding to Washington right now,

00:26:48.260 at least behind closed doors begging Trump, lay off, man.

00:26:51.520 We can't make money if you keep doing this to us.

00:26:54.860 Yeah, and, Corey, you know, I'm really happy to be on this show with you and your audience talking about tariffs

00:27:00.180 because let me just plant the seed, right?

00:27:02.640 The answer to making our economy better or life in Canada better,

00:27:08.080 the answer is not giving Ottawa more power to tax us and intervene in our economy.

00:27:16.160 And that's exactly what a tariff is, regardless if it's the initial tariff or a retaliatory tariff, okay?

00:27:24.180 A tariff is a way for Ottawa or the central government to impose itself in the economy

00:27:31.780 and to impose itself with new taxes that make people's lives more expensive.

00:27:37.200 We should not be in support of giving Ottawa the tool to tax us more.

00:27:43.120 So an unfortunate thing, as we're just kind of running things out,

00:27:46.280 is that basically the two major parties running in this general election are both calling for counter tariffs right now.

00:27:52.720 Correct, yeah.

00:27:54.520 No, it's unfortunate.

00:27:55.840 I mean, I actually don't see much on the tariffs specifically.

00:28:00.380 I don't see any of the major parties saying no tariffs, no new taxes on Canadians.

00:28:06.540 The difference that I'm hearing, and again, we haven't actually seen any concrete plans from the Liberal government,

00:28:12.520 is how they're going to spend the tariff or tax revenue, right?

00:28:17.160 We've heard some of the media float this notion of how the Liberals might put in some pandemic-era level of spending, right?

00:28:26.000 Whereas the Conservatives, they say that most of the revenue from the tariff tax will go back towards tax cuts.

00:28:34.720 So that is really the only difference that I'm hearing on this specific issue from the major parties.

00:28:40.300 Well, it's going to be a long month in some, I mean, and everything changes day by day too.

00:28:45.880 I mean, part of the issue is the instability.

00:28:47.760 I mean, the tariffs are on, the tariffs are off.

00:28:49.680 They're going to be large.

00:28:50.320 They're going to be low.

00:28:52.080 I'm sure it's going to change a lot more before we get to talk again.

00:28:55.680 So before I let you go then, I mean, you guys keep track of that on our behalf,

00:28:59.500 which I really appreciate, and you're always putting stuff out on it.

00:29:01.980 Where can people find and or support the Taxpayers' Federation?

00:29:04.620 Yeah, and you know, given all this uncertainty, that's why it's more important than ever that we clean up our own backyard,

00:29:11.480 cut taxes, cut red tape here in Canada.

00:29:13.740 Folks, head over to Taxpayer.com.

00:29:15.780 You can see a lot of stuff.

00:29:17.020 You can follow us all over social media, Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, me on Twitter,

00:29:21.580 at Franco underscore Nomics.

00:29:23.120 And on this tariff issue, let me just say that the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation teamed up with an American taxpayer group

00:29:30.040 to write an op-ed in the United States, essentially calling on both our leaders to cut it out with the new taxes.

00:29:38.280 Excellent.

00:29:38.820 Well, I hope both of them are listening.

00:29:40.380 It'd be a refreshing change.

00:29:41.820 So thank you for joining us and for the work you guys do.

00:29:45.040 Franco, I'm sure we'll talk again soon.

00:29:47.160 Hey, thank you so much, Corey.

00:29:48.380 The pleasure was mine.

00:29:49.520 Right on.

00:29:50.620 So yeah, guys, and honest, they're not paying me.

00:29:52.660 I just want to say it is important to follow them.

00:29:54.560 They get the stuff out there.

00:29:55.860 They're coming from the right side of things.

00:29:57.640 As I said, media is not holding the politicians accountable enough, or at least not legacy media.

00:30:03.080 But the CTF does, and they put it out there.

00:30:06.120 So check them out, Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.

00:30:08.460 They're a good group out there to make sure we're trying to keep those politicians as honest as we can.

00:30:13.580 I mean, it's always an endless push and pull game.

00:30:16.280 And as I kind of said in my opening monologue, it's so important for us to be informed when we go into this election in particular.

00:30:22.100 Because we're having a hard time getting unfiltered information from any of the leaders, particularly the liberals.

00:30:28.980 So get some of those outward groups that are going to ask those questions, or at least put out the stats and the numbers and cut through the BS on your behalf so you don't have to try and translate it.

00:30:36.880 All right, let's pop down.

00:30:37.640 I see in the lobby we've got our energy and business reporter, Sean Polzer, down in Houston, who I envy terribly.

00:30:44.120 I love Texas, but it is a working trip, though.

00:30:48.480 He's down there at the Petroleum Gathering.

00:30:53.180 I don't seem to have any sound out of Sean right now, though.

00:30:55.900 Hopefully that pops on there pretty quickly.

00:30:58.540 And yes, his mic appears to be muted for the moment.

00:31:01.400 But he's down there, and you can see him, and it's nice and sunny wherever he's sitting.

00:31:05.660 And we've had a lot of stuff going on down there.

00:31:10.300 As Dave mentioned, stories have been coming up from down there with Sean.

00:31:14.920 The Smith government has been proposing basically a royalty and kind sort of thing to backstop pipelines as well.

00:31:23.300 I believe there was a deal, at least, to have an agreement with Japan on possibly getting liquid natural gas on the go down there with increasing our exports on that.

00:31:34.300 And these gatherings are important.

00:31:35.980 Somebody else mentioned me now.

00:31:37.380 Oh, there we go.

00:31:38.100 Okay, I've got Sean finally.

00:31:39.580 Okay, God, it makes it hard to do this.

00:31:41.680 Two of you guys in a row got me.

00:31:43.200 I've got to keep babbling away when I've got no sound.

00:31:45.480 I appreciate it.

00:31:46.540 It's this technology thing, you know.

00:31:49.860 The Internet's way oversubscribed here, as you can imagine.

00:31:54.360 10,000 people all hanging on Wi-Fi.

00:31:58.180 Oh, yes.

00:31:58.900 Yeah, I remember that from these videos.

00:31:59.900 And yes, I've managed to put on some Texas barbecue, a couple pounds at Derek Bilderbrand's expense.

00:32:07.860 Well, you know, that's the only thing where Texans, I don't dare utter it when I'm down there, but I still think their barbecue is overrated. 0.99

00:32:13.360 They use too much mystique.

00:32:14.520 But there's still a lot of good food to be had down there, that's for sure, though.

00:32:17.980 So you've been following the Alberta delegation around.

00:32:22.320 You know, what's the top highlight you got?

00:32:24.080 I've seen your stories coming up.

00:32:25.700 It's been interesting times.

00:32:27.340 Well, the top highlight was probably Premier Smith's address just moments ago, barely an hour ago.

00:32:35.780 We've got a breaking news update up on the site.

00:32:39.060 I think it's safe to say that she wowed the crowd, although there's definitely a lot of homegrown partisans. 0.92

00:32:47.200 But I think that the message on the terrace, I saw your segment briefly with Franco, is starting to register with the people that at least know anything about oil and gas around here.

00:32:59.840 And of course, being in Houston and being at Sierra Week and IHS, we've got, you know, some of the biggest luminaries of the oil world all gathered in one spot.

00:33:09.700 So what kind of reception has there been, actually, for Canadians down there?

00:33:16.120 I would imagine, I would hope that the business community is just looking at the dollars and cents and not taking it personally.

00:33:21.360 It's not like we're, you know, seeing the sporting community booing each other's anthems and other such foolishness.

00:33:25.580 I mean, they're just talking about dollars and cents down there, I imagine, not bitter.

00:33:30.080 Well, absolutely, dollars and cents.

00:33:32.160 And, you know, the message here is that the American Energy Advantage is predicated on the partnership with Canada.

00:33:37.600 Like, they really couldn't do it without us.

00:33:39.700 So just assuming that there is a 10% tariff, which is not as bad as a 25% or even a 50% tariff, you know, it seems to be going up by the minute here.

00:33:52.180 Just even a 10% tariff, if they were to back those barrels out, Canadian barrels out of the market and replace them with American barrels, they're exporting about an equivalent amount that they're importing from us.

00:34:03.440 And they're getting our oil cheaper.

00:34:05.260 It's a higher value product because you get more byproducts out of it, like diesel fuel and, you know, even wax and sulfur and these kinds of things out of that heavy barrel.

00:34:17.460 So it's actually worked more and they would have to replace them with their own higher cross barrels.

00:34:21.740 And it would actually reduce that 4 million barrels a day of exports that they have.

00:34:26.500 I mean, if you recall, you're an oil guy, you know, that, you know, the oil export ban has only been lifted in about the last less than 10 years.

00:34:36.820 And it's the same story with LNG.

00:34:38.780 You know, and basically less than 10 years, they've gone from zero to being the world's largest LNG exporter all overnight.

00:34:46.340 And, you know, shifting around those flows threatens that, what they call energy dominance, you know, they're creating a department of energy dominance.

00:34:58.300 No word if Elon Musk is going to head it up.

00:35:01.840 Well, LNG is the big thing these days.

00:35:04.460 I mean, it's finally a means to export that, you know, natural gas, which normally was just a domestic product.

00:35:09.480 I mean, this last couple of decades, it's really become a commodity.

00:35:12.480 I remember seeing the facility being built down in Louisiana.

00:35:16.100 I was down there some years back and they built a massive LNG terminal and quickly.

00:35:21.480 But up in Canada, what did it take us 15 years to get one that still isn't quite operational yet on the West Coast?

00:35:28.440 So, I mean, it's nice to have all these aspirational ideas about exporting more, but are we hearing anything concrete about how we might be able to actually get it done?

00:35:37.100 Well, that's actually the mantra here.

00:35:38.740 And I mentioned that in the article is it's not so much drill, baby drill, because, you know, the amount of resources that are available is well known.

00:35:48.000 Alberta government is putting out a resource assessment later on today, if it's not already out by the time I get there.

00:35:53.840 But Smith was talking about it briefly in my presentation is, you know, trillion barrels of oil, thousands of trillions of feet of natural gas.

00:36:01.680 So now the problem is, is how do we, you know, get those resources to market?

00:36:08.040 So the new slogan around here is build, baby build.

00:36:11.660 It's not so much drill, baby drill.

00:36:13.640 And the sense is that is the American advantage because they can get these projects to market really, really fast.

00:36:21.440 It's like you said, the whole LNG infrastructure down here on, on the Gulf Coast, I'm going to, I'm going to call it the Gulf Coast, not the Gulf of America, not the Gulf of McDavid, not the Gulf of Alberta, right?

00:36:31.640 The Gulf Coast, they've, it's, it's gone from zero to, you know, in just less than a decade.

00:36:40.380 It's, it's impressive.

00:36:42.280 I must say.

00:36:43.000 Yeah, hopefully we can learn from them.

00:36:45.560 I mean, we, you know, we got lots and lots.

00:36:47.600 It's a whole separate show to how we would deal with getting things done across Canada or whatnot.

00:36:51.740 But I guess it's, it's double-edged.

00:36:54.900 I mean, we know we could hopefully build that infrastructure to get stuff for exporting down to the Gulf Coast relatively quickly.

00:37:03.860 But it also leaves us very vulnerable to a single customer if and when we have further disputes.

00:37:11.780 Absolutely.

00:37:12.180 So I spoke to some folks from Tourmaline, Calgary-based, Mike Rose Company, biggest natural gas producer in Canada.

00:37:21.340 They're actually the first one to actually start stripping LNG through, through Gulf of Alberta.

00:37:27.520 But, you know, there was a comment made, like, just even with the number of projects that are on the West Coast that are already set in motion, you know, once those come online, we are going to be the world's fourth or fifth largest LNG producer.

00:37:41.100 You know, it's still not too late to get into that game.

00:37:45.300 And Daniel Smith's announcement yesterday with the government of Japan to, you know, sign this LNG.

00:37:52.460 It's, you know, there is no business case for LNG, Corey, you know that.

00:37:56.040 We know that.

00:37:56.740 Our prime minister has told us how many times there's no business case for LNG.

00:38:00.880 And yet the LNG demand around the globe is going to double within the next however many years.

00:38:06.460 And it's because of data centers, it's because of electric cars, it's because of pulling all these other countries out of energy quality, it's because of the wars in Ukraine and in Russia.

00:38:17.360 You know, so I don't think that the demand side of the equation is really the problem.

00:38:22.700 You know, the problem is, like I said, getting those trucks and shuffles into the ground.

00:38:26.520 So, yeah, absolutely.

00:38:29.720 And, I mean, it's a cleaner energy, too.

00:38:31.480 Maybe some countries are starting to realize it.

00:38:33.460 Yeah, absolutely, for sure.

00:38:34.940 And that's another theme of the conference here is realism, energy realism.

00:38:38.660 So, the idea is let's focus on the emissions.

00:38:42.180 Let's not focus on the type of fuel.

00:38:44.440 You know, there's this debate about the blue hydrogen and green hydrogen and all this stuff.

00:38:49.880 You know, the idea is, like, let's not worry about all that, right?

00:38:53.780 Let's just stick to what we know, what we know best, and what is actually going to reduce emissions, and that is natural gas.

00:39:01.160 Right on.

00:39:01.860 Well, how much time is left on that conference?

00:39:03.760 Are there some more kind of bigger events or meetings or conferences you're looking forward to yet?

00:39:09.000 Well, we're kind of hitting the high point here, I think, because today there's Premier Smith is probably on our way to the airport as we speak.

00:39:18.840 Brian Jean, I did an interview with him.

00:39:21.660 Hopefully, we're going to get that up on the site here pretty quick, assuming that I can get a decent internet connection.

00:39:27.380 And he's going to be around here until tomorrow, and then things start winding down on Friday.

00:39:33.180 Friday is kind of a clean-up thing.

00:39:35.280 Pack up.

00:39:36.560 It's like cleaning up your dorm.

00:39:39.260 Yeah.

00:39:39.560 All right on.

00:39:42.640 Anything else you want to let us know before I let you go back to dipping into that Texan barbecue, maybe some Tex-Mex?

00:39:48.440 And, yeah, the Texas Caviar.

00:39:49.800 You know what Texas Caviar is, don't you?

00:39:52.500 It's like black-eyed peas, Texas Caviar.

00:39:55.960 It's black-eyed peas and pico de gallo.

00:39:58.820 And, yeah, no, they've got fresh produce in here already.

00:40:01.560 Today is a nice spring day.

00:40:03.740 It's about 24 degrees.

00:40:05.120 The humidity's not too bad.

00:40:07.140 So it's actually nice patio weather, believe it or not.

00:40:11.160 So you know what I'm going to be doing tonight.

00:40:14.520 Yeah, yeah. 1.00

00:40:15.260 You can kiss my ass. 1.00

00:40:16.340 All right. 1.00

00:40:16.720 Well, enjoy it.

00:40:19.620 And I appreciate the great coverage, though, you've had so far and the stuff that's been coming, Sean.

00:40:23.740 So I'll let you get back to finding more of those energy scoops.

00:40:27.880 And I appreciate you coming on to talk to us about it today.

00:40:30.400 Okay.

00:40:30.620 Thanks a lot.

00:40:31.100 Nice to see you, Corey.

00:40:32.120 All right.

00:40:32.440 See you, Sean.

00:40:33.460 So that is our Sean Polzer.

00:40:34.900 Yes, down in Texas, in person, catching the stuff going on.

00:40:39.420 I mean, that's where deals get made, right?

00:40:42.120 You know, getting the professionals together in the same room.

00:40:45.800 As for the earlier question about, you know, whether or not the trip's worth it, it sounds like it could be.

00:40:50.420 I mean, again, as I said, you know, our politicians can waste money. 0.99

00:40:52.980 They can be foolish when they're down there. 0.98

00:40:54.920 But this has a lot of potential merit. 0.99

00:40:59.640 Jacqueline, a commenter, saying, what emissions is Sean talking about?

00:41:02.060 CO2 is not a pollutant.

00:41:03.120 Yeah, that's a separate discussion in a sense.

00:41:04.980 I'm sick of people calling CO2 a pollutant as well.

00:41:07.240 We exhale it.

00:41:08.220 It's not, you know, this evil poison.

00:41:10.820 I mean, if you have nothing but CO2 in a room, yes, you will drop and die.

00:41:14.300 But if you have nothing but oxygen in a room, you'll drop and die as well.

00:41:17.180 It's that incredible balance of different gases that allows us to breathe.

00:41:22.660 But the reality is it's a concern with emissions in general anyways.

00:41:28.840 And if we're going to have generation, for example, though, if we're just talking what's cleaner and what's not,

00:41:34.320 a lot of these countries are burning loads and loads of coal.

00:41:37.820 They're still burning loads and loads of coal.

00:41:39.620 It's what's most economic for them.

00:41:41.280 And that's the way it goes.

00:41:43.020 India, China, all around the world.

00:41:45.140 Europe still burns a lot of coal for their power generation.

00:41:48.280 Natural gas is cleaner than that, at least.

00:41:52.660 So we're going to look on that.

00:41:53.860 I'm finding it interesting, though, with the big electric shift.

00:41:57.760 It seems to be falling apart.

00:42:00.660 You know, that dingbat Trudeau sunk $50 billion of ours into these battery plants out in eastern Canada.

00:42:07.560 It sounds like most of the plants weren't even constructed yet at this point.

00:42:10.800 Partnered with European companies that have been going broke and scaling back.

00:42:14.340 So that was a catastrophe.

00:42:16.220 Part of trying to save his ridiculous electric vehicle mandate,

00:42:21.380 because he was banning the production of proper vehicles, I think, by 2035.

00:42:25.600 I'm pretty certain no matter who wins the next election, that's going to be walked back. 0.99

00:42:29.300 It's a stupid commitment that we can't make. 0.99

00:42:31.300 Like, that's falling apart, because nobody's making them, you know. 0.97

00:42:36.900 But to try and protect it, he threw a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

00:42:42.960 So if there was any chance, and I don't think there ever was,

00:42:46.300 but if there was any chance of a big wave of electric vehicle assumption within Canada,

00:42:54.080 it would have been with an influx of affordable Chinese-made EVs.

00:42:58.080 But Trudeau stopped that by forcing the prices of them to double through a tariff.

00:43:02.820 So that screwed his own plants, because now as well,

00:43:06.160 well, who was the main electric vehicle maker?

00:43:07.840 Oh my lord, it was the evil Elon Musk with Tesla.

00:43:11.280 That's still the main player in the electric vehicle market.

00:43:14.940 And now all the progressive Canadians said,

00:43:17.020 we can't buy Tesla, we can't support.

00:43:19.280 Well now, where is this EV wave?

00:43:21.460 Where is it going to come from?

00:43:23.400 It's not.

00:43:24.700 It's stalling.

00:43:25.640 It's dying in its tracks.

00:43:28.000 And I mean, the bigger discussion as well.

00:43:31.220 Just another point from Paradoxy.

00:43:32.760 Doug Ford needs to answer as much as Trudeau for the money burnt on EVs and battery plants.

00:43:36.920 Absolutely.

00:43:37.380 The Ontario government pumped in loads of subsidies too.

00:43:40.800 The bottom line is, it always comes down to the same role.

00:43:44.260 Governments have got to stay out of these businesses.

00:43:46.560 They've got to.

00:43:47.580 It's not their role.

00:43:48.900 It's not their place to pick winners and losers.

00:43:50.900 I don't care what their motivation was.

00:43:52.540 I don't care why they think it was a good idea.

00:43:55.240 It almost always backfires.

00:43:58.180 They can't do it.

00:43:59.400 Alberta was one of the worst in the past. 0.96

00:44:02.200 We had, if people remember, Novotel.

00:44:07.380 It was supposed to assemble cellular phones.

00:44:10.140 This was back in the 90s.

00:44:11.300 Good idea.

00:44:12.400 You know, look at what happened with cell phones since the 90s till today.

00:44:15.620 But the government ran it.

00:44:16.920 And they put hundreds of millions of dollars into it.

00:44:18.580 And guess what?

00:44:18.940 It went broke.

00:44:19.600 Only government can go broke getting in on the manufacturing of cellular phones just as they were about to explode onto the world market.

00:44:27.920 Likewise, the government back then had Swan Hills plant.

00:44:30.940 That went broke.

00:44:33.060 The magnesium plant down in High River.

00:44:35.780 Anybody who knows Alberta can drive by a big orange brick building sitting there empty.

00:44:39.540 It's been empty since the 90s.

00:44:40.900 That was half a billion tax dollars went into it.

00:44:43.620 Stay out of business.

00:44:45.540 And that includes electric vehicles.

00:44:47.500 If you want EVs to actually make a possible run, the best thing the government can do, which is contrary to so much of the nature, get the hell out of the way.

00:44:56.820 Anyway, get out of the way. 1.00

00:44:58.920 If Trudeau really wanted to see a bunch of EVs all over the roads, he would have gotten out of the way.

00:45:02.520 Perhaps the Chinese ones would be affordable. 0.81

00:45:04.520 Who knows?

00:45:05.060 I doubt it.

00:45:05.920 But all the same, that would be where the better chance was.

00:45:09.100 But now he's got nothing.

00:45:10.860 There's the great thing to see as I'll close off the show as we're finally seeing Trudeau exiting. 0.84

00:45:17.320 And as he did, like a clown, as usual, people saw that picture of him walking out of Parliament with his tongue out again. 0.95

00:45:22.460 Like he's just a dingbat. 0.98

00:45:23.600 But he's got no legacy to point out.

00:45:27.760 He really doesn't.

00:45:28.820 I mean, they're all trying to, you know, puff him up and everything and talking about how wonderful he was.

00:45:33.420 What's he leaving everybody?

00:45:35.560 A massive debt, massive deficit, a totally divided nation, electric vehicle mandates that went nowhere, a carbon tax that completely failed.

00:45:45.100 He has no legacy.

00:45:48.540 He can't see nothing.

00:45:49.260 He's going to be able to sit and point at and say, look what I got done while I was in Canada.

00:45:53.700 Closest he has was this giant investment.

00:46:00.220 He's talking about with a high speed rail line out in Quebec and Ontario that obviously isn't going to get built, but it will waste billions more dollars of ours as they try.

00:46:09.960 So that won't be a legacy.

00:46:10.880 It won't be the Justin Trudeau train line.

00:46:12.800 No, we're going to look at him.

00:46:14.820 Just thankful he's gone.

00:46:16.560 Nobody's going to have fond thoughts of his history.

00:46:19.080 It's not going to treat him well.

00:46:20.400 The only other part of his legacy I'll close, as Dave mentioned earlier, though, 10 years, the government has spent $11.2 billion on overseas gender initiatives.

00:46:28.040 You know, imagine being in a third world country, not able to get clean water, having difficulty finding employment, bad housing.

00:46:35.200 And what do you get from Trudeau, some dildo showing up at your place with drawings to show you that you might not be a boy. 0.88

00:46:40.980 You might be a girl because that's what's most important to you. 1.00

00:46:44.220 And all you want to do is frigging eat. 0.89

00:46:46.340 All right, guys. 0.94

00:46:47.200 Hey, tune into the pipeline tonight.

00:46:49.400 I'm going to have another show.

00:46:50.380 It's an election special.

00:46:51.280 It's going to be coming on on Friday, and it's going to be moving probably to a live format on Fridays after that.

00:46:56.320 And Nigel Hannaford's doing his thing.

00:46:58.280 Derek Fildebrandt.

00:46:59.300 We've got lots of content.

00:47:00.520 Subscribe to these channels.

00:47:01.800 Keep watching them.

00:47:02.680 Keep sharing them.

00:47:03.640 I appreciate you tuning in today, and we'll see you on the next one.

00:47:26.320 We'll see you on the next one.

00:47:32.700 We'll see you on the next one.

00:47:35.800 We'll see you on the next one.

Western Standard - March 12, 2025

CORY MORGAN SHOW： Canada needs a prime minister

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