Western Standard - January 31, 2026


CORY MORGAN SHOW： Damage done to our relationship with the USA by the Liberals is unforgivable


Episode Stats

Length

46 minutes

Words per Minute

166.54543

Word Count

7,708

Sentence Count

594

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Corey Morgan returns to the United States for his annual pilgrimage to see his friends and family in California and Arizona. He talks about his experience crossing the border and dealing with some of the hostile reactions he gets when he tries to do so.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Good day, welcome to the Corey Morgan Show.
00:00:29.700 As you might see, my backdrop's a little different than normal.
00:00:33.640 I hope it's cold enough for y'all up there in Canada.
00:00:37.080 Yeah, I'm going to rub it in.
00:00:38.280 Hey, I get to take a break every now and then too, you know, as you can see, I'm a political lunatic.
00:00:43.560 I won't take a full break from the politics.
00:00:45.800 I'll do my shows from down here in the Palm Desert.
00:00:49.420 But between shows, yeah, I'm going to be enjoying that weather.
00:00:53.600 And, well, sorry.
00:00:57.480 I either lost the cover today.
00:00:58.900 Boy, there's been a lot going on, you know.
00:01:00.260 I mean, you try to pick a vacation at a time when things are going to be happening, but it's just not the case.
00:01:05.020 There was a massive independence rally in Calgary, of course, the other day.
00:01:08.560 We'll talk about a little more.
00:01:10.780 Lots is happening on the international front, all sorts of things.
00:01:13.860 Dave will check in with the news, check in in a few moments to cover that.
00:01:17.260 And my host here, who's kind of providing this beautiful backdrop of set, is Jay Hill.
00:01:23.360 He's been a regular guest on our show, and we'll discuss all things politics for a little while after that.
00:01:28.940 So let's get started.
00:01:29.760 I want to talk about, I don't have my easier teleprompter to work with, so forgive me.
00:01:34.500 But, you know, let's talk about Canada and the United States.
00:01:36.760 They've had one of the strongest, most peaceful, and longest-lasting relationships between any two nations bordering each other in the world.
00:01:44.560 And now we've got opportunistic, partisan breakmanship that's threatening to that partnership.
00:01:49.600 And it's intolerable.
00:01:51.180 There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the border with this, you know, across the political spectrum as well.
00:01:55.640 The left and right are playing it up.
00:01:57.120 Trump's provocative, and we've got to admit, disrespectful 51st state references, referring to the prime minister as the governor of Canada to set things off.
00:02:04.380 And I understand Trudeau doesn't command respect, but some degree of diplomacy between top offices is typically expected.
00:02:10.020 And, of course, the tariffs aren't helping matters either.
00:02:12.760 Now, the Liberal Party, under Carney's leadership, though, they used the trade and diplomatic tension to whip up a jingoistic frenzy with a repugnant but very successful elbows-up campaign.
00:02:23.040 And in painting Americans as boogeymen, the Liberals managed to secure an election win from what appeared to be a certain defeat, you know, less than a year ago.
00:02:33.340 They exaggerated the threats and the attitudes from the people south of our border to cause Canadians to feel insecure with their neighbours.
00:02:39.800 The strategists in the Liberal campaign know that when people feel there might be an outside threat to their well-being,
00:02:44.420 they tend to rally around the familiar leadership, and they'll stop pursuing change electorally.
00:02:50.200 So the campaign was a success, but the price was high.
00:02:53.040 As our friendship with the United States has taken a blow, which is going to take years to recover from.
00:02:57.660 It's an unforgivable tactic used to win an election.
00:03:00.360 I'm currently in the United States, as I said.
00:03:01.980 This is my annual pilgrimage, chasing the sun down here in Arizona and now California.
00:03:06.560 And since crossing the border, I've been dealing with ugly, snide, vitriolic shots at me for daring to come to the United States.
00:03:13.660 Not from Americans, mind you.
00:03:14.900 I'm getting this from Canadians.
00:03:15.960 I share my activities in social media.
00:03:18.340 It's part of my nature and part of promoting my views to send people to read my columns.
00:03:22.280 And when I dared to point out on X that my border crossing in Montana took a scant three minutes with a very friendly customs agent,
00:03:30.660 my account was swarmed with responses, telling me not to come back and saying I was a traitor to Canada.
00:03:36.580 I'm used to the traitor accusations, though it usually refers to my support for Alberta's independence.
00:03:40.600 I didn't expect it to come at me merely for crossing the same border that tens of thousands Canadians do every day.
00:03:46.920 But this is the result of a year of, you know, vilifying the United States and its citizens by the federal government,
00:03:53.460 along with legacy media outlets pandering to it for subsidies.
00:03:57.100 Horror stories have been shared of people being detained at the border and encountering hostile, nasty Americans.
00:04:02.520 Those invested in that narrative get upset when hearing that the atmosphere down south actually is as friendly as ever,
00:04:07.940 if not maybe even a little more.
00:04:09.200 Some people have chosen not to vacation in the United States as a form of protest over the trade war.
00:04:14.260 Fair enough, they certainly have the right to do so.
00:04:16.580 And the number of Canadians I've seen in the Arizona is definitely visibly lower than I've seen in the last few years.
00:04:22.100 The low Canadian dollars impacted snowboard levels as well.
00:04:25.040 But to lambaste others for not taking part in their little rebellion is shallow and pointlessly divisive.
00:04:30.900 Setting aside the politics, let's step back and look at the bond between the United States and Canada.
00:04:35.460 I mean, there's some cultural differences between Americans and Canadians,
00:04:37.960 but they're no more at a stake than those differences between Canadians and different provinces.
00:04:41.620 We're going to pretend the British Columbians are culturally closer to Quebecers than they are to Americans.
00:04:46.660 Or Newfoundlanders, you know, how different are they from people in Saskatchewan?
00:04:51.220 Look, we speak the same language, we eat the same foods, we dress the same way and we watch the same movies.
00:04:55.820 Aside from some regional accents, most Americans are indistinguishable from Canadians.
00:05:00.480 They might even be walking among us.
00:05:01.860 For the most part, we hold the same values as well.
00:05:05.380 We aren't just neighbours, we're family.
00:05:07.460 The USA is by far Canada's largest trading partner and Canada is the US's largest partner as well.
00:05:12.200 We need and consume similar projects and the geography makes us natural partners.
00:05:17.420 Canada would be wise to diversify our customer markets overseas, certainly.
00:05:21.000 But it's delusional to think the USA will ever become anything other than an essential partner to us.
00:05:26.320 Administrations are going to come and go.
00:05:28.140 Legacy media is on the way out.
00:05:29.920 Let's ensure that none of these self-interested groups permanently fracture our relationship with the United States.
00:05:35.540 We can get upset with the government of the USA at times and they're giving us reason to.
00:05:39.260 But we can't take it personally and don't take it out on the American citizens themselves.
00:05:43.440 They're our cousins.
00:05:44.760 And they're much like us, whether some insecure cousins want to admit it or not.
00:05:48.580 Our relationship is too important to let politics get between us.
00:05:52.100 So tune out those liberals and their pet journalists.
00:05:56.220 And always remember our friendship with the Americans is worth protecting.
00:05:59.140 The bond between Canada and the United States is the envy of the world.
00:06:02.820 All right, that's what's got me going today, guys.
00:06:05.020 I've been enjoying it down here.
00:06:06.160 People have been very friendly.
00:06:07.660 A few folks I even ran across kind of apologizing for the tensions and so on.
00:06:11.460 And again, you know, Americans and American viewers don't apologize.
00:06:13.740 Again, it's the politics.
00:06:14.840 And I love politics.
00:06:16.220 But it really does tick me off.
00:06:18.440 You know, whether it's north or south of the border, whoever's doing it, when we're breaking up relationships and friends, families, things like that over.
00:06:26.780 And we've got to stop doing that.
00:06:28.320 The Americans are our best friends.
00:06:29.460 Let's keep it that way.
00:06:30.460 All right, let's see what else is going on out there and check in with our own Dave Naylor in the newsroom in Calgary.
00:06:36.160 Hey, Dave, how's it going?
00:06:37.620 Corey Morgan in the desert, my ass.
00:06:39.980 Well, I took a little break from the desert, too.
00:06:44.400 That's where my fifth wheel is.
00:06:46.860 The only thing you're missing is a drink with an umbrella in it.
00:06:50.920 Yeah, I know.
00:06:51.860 I've got some nice purified water, you know.
00:06:55.860 I'll get the umbrella later.
00:06:57.740 Yeah.
00:06:58.200 I don't really care, Corey.
00:06:59.580 You know why?
00:07:00.720 Because it's going up to almost plus 10 in Calgary.
00:07:04.480 It's a glorious, glorious week.
00:07:06.620 And the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl.
00:07:08.320 So why would I care?
00:07:09.100 Yeah.
00:07:10.980 Well, congratulations on that plus 10 anyways.
00:07:14.680 Yeah.
00:07:15.260 And you loser, Pittsburgh, whatever you are, you have to go hire the Dallas Cowboy coaches.
00:07:21.580 Never won a thing.
00:07:23.960 Well, it's time for a change.
00:07:26.480 And, yeah, I'm not exactly – we don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
00:07:29.500 I'm not so thrilled with that coach selection.
00:07:31.520 But maybe he'll pick a better quarterback than a good old Rodgers there.
00:07:35.480 And then we'll get something fresh.
00:07:36.840 Either way, I really am hoping for your Seahawks this time around because I really don't want to see those patriots in there again.
00:07:44.920 All right.
00:07:45.420 I appreciate that.
00:07:46.940 And, you know, you may be in the States, but the news continues.
00:07:49.700 We've got our First Ministers gathering in Ottawa today.
00:07:54.620 Lots to talk about right now.
00:07:57.860 Premier Eby and Premier Smith are in a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
00:08:03.440 So, to be a fly on the wall in that meeting would be interesting.
00:08:08.540 Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, came out earlier and said if the Parti Quebecois wins the election in Quebec later on this year,
00:08:18.300 it would be a, quote, disaster for the country.
00:08:21.460 So, we'll be keeping an eye on that.
00:08:25.800 The Montreal Polytechnique has decided that they're going to do their bit for the climate change,
00:08:34.240 and they are banning the sale of beef in their cafeterias on the campus.
00:08:40.680 So, no more burgers for Polytechnique students.
00:08:44.460 Another maid horror story, this time a woman in Ontario that was given maid because she was obese,
00:08:52.280 and that goes against all sort of Health Canada regulations.
00:08:58.100 You remember Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and her $2 billion tree planting program.
00:09:05.400 Well, it turns out they only planted, sorry, 11% of that $2 billion figure,
00:09:13.060 and it cost nearly half a billion dollars.
00:09:15.820 So, money not well spent there.
00:09:18.720 Jared Yager out in BC has got a story on the extortion crisis that's going on in Surrey
00:09:24.520 and calls from the town mayor, city mayor, I mean, excuse me,
00:09:29.300 for a state of emergency to be called by the federal government.
00:09:33.560 And Newfoundland has become the latest provincial government to opt out of the federal gun grab program.
00:09:40.740 So, I think that just leaves BC and Quebec in it.
00:09:43.980 So, they'll be lucky to get a few thousand guns, Corey.
00:09:48.600 Yeah, well, and I'm pretty sure, you know, many firearm-owning Quebecers and British Columbians,
00:09:53.820 despite their governments, probably aren't all that eager to rush out and participate.
00:09:57.760 And I just wonder how long and how badly they're going to have to let this thing fail
00:10:01.020 before they finally just pull the pin off.
00:10:02.800 Well, whenever they do, it'll be hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars later.
00:10:08.880 Yeah, well, if I owned any firearms, I wouldn't be turning them in.
00:10:13.100 You're going, is there a pool there you can go for a dip in?
00:10:17.140 There is, but I don't want to bring down my host's property values,
00:10:20.800 so I'll stay well-dressed and not partake in the pool.
00:10:25.160 No, you didn't bring your speedo, eh?
00:10:26.740 You know, honestly, I was thinking while we did this, I spoke to my guest, Jay,
00:10:34.640 and Jay, on the way out, saying I should finish the show off and stand up wearing nothing but a speedo.
00:10:39.500 But again, not only the property value thing, but ruining Western Standard ratings,
00:10:43.680 you know, I'll spare everybody the marble bag shot.
00:10:47.140 There you go.
00:10:47.820 Well, I hope you and Jay have a great time, and watch out for those snakes.
00:10:52.520 Yeah, will do.
00:10:53.580 Thanks, Dave.
00:10:54.240 And, well, you know, plus 10, it's not bad.
00:10:57.280 Yep, not bad at all for this time of year.
00:10:58.900 I'll take it.
00:11:00.300 Great, hon.
00:11:01.080 Thanks, Dave.
00:11:02.940 So that is our news director, Dave Naylor.
00:11:05.480 Always lots on the go, lots of reporters.
00:11:07.420 This is the time when I nag you and shake that can, asking for money, asking for you to pitch in.
00:11:12.800 The reason we can do that is because you guys have been subscribing.
00:11:16.880 We're subscription-based.
00:11:17.800 As I said, that legacy media is insufferable.
00:11:21.120 And the way we can beat that and keep independent coverage is through subscribers.
00:11:25.140 And thousands of you have subscribed to the Western Standard, and we really, really appreciate it.
00:11:29.260 If you haven't yet, get on there.
00:11:31.700 WesternStandard.news.
00:11:33.220 10 bucks a month, $100 for you to take advantage of that volume discount.
00:11:38.180 And get past that pesky paywall and keep our reporters going.
00:11:41.320 Honestly, if enough of you subscribe, maybe I could twist Derek's arm for enough of a raise that I could get my own little pull-side spot,
00:11:49.020 and I wouldn't have to mooch off of others for this sort of remote field operation.
00:11:52.480 But for the time being, I am here at Jay Hill's home in his winter quarters here in Palm Springs.
00:11:59.100 And, yeah, he's coming on in.
00:12:00.260 He's our guest today.
00:12:01.440 You guys remember Jay.
00:12:02.320 He's been on Lost Times, former government house leader, now political commentator from the south.
00:12:08.400 How's it going, Jay?
00:12:09.040 It's going very well, as you would expect from this location.
00:12:12.780 Yeah, well, it's hard to go wrong down here.
00:12:16.800 And, boy, you know, so where to begin with things?
00:12:21.380 Do you feel ashamed having come down to the United States when we're supposed to be all elbows up right now?
00:12:27.520 Not in the least.
00:12:28.880 You know, and I compared what's happening, unfortunately, between our two countries with what happened in many instances with families during the COVID.
00:12:40.040 You know, if people reflect back.
00:12:42.780 There was people that were the pro-vaxxers and then the anti-vaxxers.
00:12:48.280 And sometimes even within their own family, sometimes very close friends.
00:12:52.880 And they became so emotional about that issue and so demanding that it destroyed friendships.
00:13:00.380 It even destroyed relationships within families, brothers against brothers.
00:13:04.840 And I had somewhat of that experience in my own family.
00:13:08.900 We've since mended fences.
00:13:10.500 But you see what's happening, as you said in your opening remarks, Corey, between Canada or Canadians and Americans right now.
00:13:19.980 And it's very similar.
00:13:21.100 Like, people are so emotional about this.
00:13:23.220 And as you so accurately stated, governments come and go.
00:13:28.120 Administrations come and go.
00:13:29.280 I mean, I'm no more embarrassed to be here, you know, with the administration and the government that they have in the United States than I hope Americans aren't too embarrassed when they come to Canada and see our federal government.
00:13:44.760 Because oftentimes, there's lots to be annoyed with there as well.
00:13:48.500 Oh, yeah.
00:13:49.140 Politicians, as you would know, don't always get it right.
00:13:53.260 But it was just, this is so crass with what they did.
00:13:56.520 You know, tactically, brilliantly effective.
00:13:59.300 If you're Machiavellian, if you have no principles, if you don't worry about the damage you had to cause to win.
00:14:04.180 And the strategy on the part last year, you know, by Kearney's handlers, I guess, and campaign managers, this was brilliant.
00:14:14.300 But we're still feeling that hangover.
00:14:16.700 That's why I was so shocked I crossed the border.
00:14:18.240 I shouldn't have been that shocked.
00:14:19.180 I mean, I'd be nice to tear people up.
00:14:21.080 I get social media abuse.
00:14:23.420 But just for having to cross, like, holy cow, I didn't even prod at you guys.
00:14:27.720 Like, come on.
00:14:28.460 Yeah.
00:14:28.900 Exactly.
00:14:29.300 And it was much, your experience was the same as ours.
00:14:32.300 We had all these worrisome stories coming out primarily out of Ontario and eastern Canada, you know, about, oh, my goodness, like, you don't dare want to go down there.
00:14:44.560 I mean, you know, you end up in jail or something.
00:14:47.580 I mean, ice will be waiting for you at the border.
00:14:50.860 You know, snowbirds beware.
00:14:53.740 And, you know, our experience was like yours.
00:14:56.420 If anything, it was easier because there was less traffic.
00:15:00.080 That was it.
00:15:00.700 Because it has reduced traffic.
00:15:02.000 I admit, you know, we come down every year.
00:15:04.140 I've been in Arizona.
00:15:04.780 Often you'll see all sorts of BC plates, suborder plates.
00:15:08.040 You still see some, but it's visibly down.
00:15:10.300 And it's the same here in California.
00:15:12.760 Exactly the same, our experience.
00:15:14.300 But, you know, as well as the young lady that was at the window at the border crossing, who couldn't be have been more friendlier and welcoming for Leah and I, we answered her questions, provided our passports.
00:15:29.220 She reminded us that because we were staying a certain length of time, we had to go online and register once we got settled.
00:15:36.180 It was just a gentle reminder.
00:15:38.020 And other than that, we breezed through.
00:15:40.000 We weren't at that window for more than a minute.
00:15:42.800 I didn't time it down to the second.
00:15:45.280 But that was our experience.
00:15:47.860 First day down here, we pull up to a stoplight.
00:15:52.740 A car pulls up beside us.
00:15:54.340 It was more than a one-lane road, pulls up beside us, motions to Leah, who rolled out her window.
00:16:01.240 And we did.
00:16:02.740 And this American lady looks at us and says, you know, we are so thankful that you folks came down again this winter.
00:16:12.440 You know, so that's been our experience.
00:16:14.580 And it has changed.
00:16:15.560 We've been here almost a month now.
00:16:17.500 And that's been our experience.
00:16:19.220 And as you said so accurately in European comments, we're good friends.
00:16:24.520 And we have a lot of good friends down here.
00:16:26.660 And we know they feel the same way.
00:16:29.620 Yeah.
00:16:29.820 And we want to maintain it, you know.
00:16:31.460 So, I mean, getting back to the political level, and I don't like to give a lot of credit to liberals.
00:16:36.660 But still, Carney has a tough job ahead.
00:16:39.080 But President Trump has definitely been taking, though, an American-first attitude.
00:16:44.040 He wants to bring all economic activity within the American borders.
00:16:48.520 The tariffs have most certainly harmed Canada.
00:16:51.380 Some of the attitudes have.
00:16:53.520 How, you know, you were in the federal government for a while.
00:16:56.640 You didn't have to deal with anything quite like this before.
00:16:58.620 But how do you diplomatically deal with, you know, Canada's interests, trade interests, with somebody as difficult as President Trump, without, you know, continuing to seem like you're bending over for him as well?
00:17:13.460 It is a position they're in, no matter who was the prime experience.
00:17:17.580 Well, exactly.
00:17:18.580 And I think people respect the fact that it's a fine art to negotiate with someone that's a master negotiator, like President Trump is.
00:17:27.480 He knows exactly what his plan is.
00:17:30.540 I certainly don't fault him.
00:17:31.760 I don't think anybody that recognizes leadership, I don't fault him on his need to represent the American people as he sees fit.
00:17:41.580 That's his job, after all.
00:17:44.940 A person certainly thinks questions some of the language and the use of phraseology that is used.
00:17:53.380 But also, as we said, I mean, this too will pass.
00:17:57.700 I think in the meantime, you have to identify certain issues.
00:18:02.880 And they've failed to do this.
00:18:04.520 I believe Carney has failed to do it.
00:18:06.500 They identify issues where we have commonality between the two nations, where there's a better chance that you can reach a compromise, if you will, and work from there.
00:18:17.580 And then deal with some others that are more contentious, like supply management, for example.
00:18:24.640 It's been an irritant to the Americans long before Trump came on the scene.
00:18:29.460 And it remains a big-time trade irritant because of the dairy cartel.
00:18:36.720 So it is difficult.
00:18:39.180 I don't deny that, Corey.
00:18:42.500 I think that it could be done a lot better.
00:18:44.520 I think that you certainly don't help your negotiations.
00:18:49.900 And we recognize that come summertime, we're going to be in the midst of trying to renegotiate Kuzma.
00:18:58.260 And we can imagine how difficult that's going to be for the Carney government.
00:19:04.240 And he is not helping himself with what he did in Beijing.
00:19:07.960 No, and I wanted to get to that.
00:19:09.700 So, I mean, again, there's some of the balancing.
00:19:11.860 I mean, it got pretty clear to Canada, well, we do have our eggs a lot in one basket, just due to geographic reality, due to such a friendly relationship.
00:19:20.200 But then when you get somebody who wants to be a little more hostile with trade negotiations, boy, we find, oh, we're really in trouble.
00:19:27.280 So you want to maybe diversify.
00:19:28.920 Absolutely.
00:19:29.640 Fair enough.
00:19:30.300 But jumping too hard into bed with China is only going to aggravate our southern neighbors as well further.
00:19:41.400 Again, it's tough.
00:19:42.460 I mean, China, we do do a lot of trade back and forth with them as well.
00:19:45.040 India, I mean, Trudeau soured that relationship pretty badly.
00:19:48.180 That's a huge developing market.
00:19:50.300 Yeah.
00:19:50.400 But we can't let the fears of offending the southern neighbors stop us from trying to diversify our export markets either.
00:19:57.720 Nor should we.
00:19:58.520 No, I think that there's general acceptance, even from the opposition parties in Parliament, Corey, to the fact that the correct way to proceed is to put as much effort as possible into diversifying those products.
00:20:14.160 But not to say directly or indirectly through your actions to the Americans, oh, we don't need you anymore.
00:20:21.060 Because it's not true.
00:20:22.100 It's never going to be true, as you pointed out.
00:20:25.580 You know, so there's, there again, you know, it's the way you do it.
00:20:29.520 It's not that anybody's in disagreement with the overall theme here that we have to diversify.
00:20:36.600 But you don't take that step further.
00:20:40.080 You're there, you make, you know, what appears to be some inroads, MOUs, whether they actually come true or not.
00:20:47.940 And this is the other question.
00:20:49.480 I mean, his, Prime Minister Carney's supporters are very quickly falling all over themselves, giving him the accolades.
00:20:57.220 But it's an MOU, right?
00:20:59.060 Yeah.
00:20:59.540 It's a, it's a memorandum of understanding.
00:21:02.100 It's not an agreement.
00:21:03.400 It's not a trade deal as per, you know, per se.
00:21:07.180 It's a first step, a good one, I grant you.
00:21:12.320 But then he took it that step further, didn't he?
00:21:15.260 And he said, you know, while he was there in Beijing with the Chinese, the communist Chinese, he says, oh, well, you know, this is a good step towards a future partnership, if you will, for a, you know, what was it?
00:21:30.660 A world order.
00:21:31.940 New world order.
00:21:32.900 You know, well, why was that necessary?
00:21:36.160 Because that's almost like taking a pointy stick and sticking it in Trump's eyes and saying, okay, you know, enough of the Americans.
00:21:43.460 We're going to make this new world order with the communist Chinese.
00:21:47.020 Well, I don't recall Carney being elected to do that.
00:21:51.440 No.
00:21:51.720 And those particular three words like that, the question is whether it was intentional or not, because that's a very loaded term.
00:21:57.520 You know, some people read that very much into the World Economic Forum or globalism.
00:22:02.340 I mean, it could be, if you just took it on surface, benignly said, it's just terms you use for, but, you know, politicians at that level usually are carefully planning their words.
00:22:12.820 I mean, Trudeau was a little more of just stepping on his tongue when he would speak out, but Carney is a little controlled.
00:22:18.320 So what do you think his intentions were on throwing that grenade into the discussion?
00:22:22.400 Well, I think it was to sort of exert himself as this world leader.
00:22:27.520 And he was intent upon, you know, furthering that image as of himself.
00:22:34.800 You know, I don't know how widely that's shared.
00:22:36.860 Obviously, in Eastern Canada, Central and Eastern Canada, it's shared sufficiently that he won an election, as Pete said earlier.
00:22:43.880 But, you know, we were talking about what steps he could take or should be taking or any prime minister should take to try and build the relationship that we need.
00:22:56.560 We need a strong, especially trade relationship, but a security relationship, you know, on many fronts.
00:23:03.980 Justice, you know, to stop smuggling across the border.
00:23:08.860 Certainly, you know, we've been accused of being a conduit for drugs going into the United States.
00:23:16.020 It's well known that certainly the conduit for guns coming into criminal hands in Canada from the United States is well known.
00:23:25.120 So all of those issues need to be addressed on both sides of the border, and they always will.
00:23:30.640 And, you know, from my point of view, and I think many Canadians, you're not going to help build the kind of relationship that we need.
00:23:38.860 And we will always need with the Americans by poking them with a stick.
00:23:42.960 And that's what happened to me anyway, when he went that step further than needed to be said in Beijing.
00:23:51.140 And maybe again, that prodding of the Americans rings well with his base of support.
00:23:55.460 So even if it causes more damage overall, that's what I get frustrated with.
00:23:58.940 He's not looking at the bigger picture.
00:24:00.460 So something that this exposed and really brought about, it kind of ties into what I want to talk a little more about, too, of course, is a subject where we blew up a lawyer with Western alienation.
00:24:09.680 I mean, it became clear then for Canadians, okay, we've got to diversify our markets.
00:24:14.380 Something we already knew in Alberta, we've been talking about for decades, guys, you know, 90-some percent of our energy products, if we export them, go to the United States, which is all fine and dandy, except we're losing money on a discount because they're sole customers.
00:24:26.820 And we really need to move product to the coast.
00:24:29.660 And suddenly, finally, Canadians realize, wow, we need to get product to the coast.
00:24:34.020 So we started talking about a pipeline that, you know, well, the rest of the country started talking about a pipeline.
00:24:40.680 But we're not going to get it.
00:24:42.820 I mean, Carney keeps falling back on the line that we have to get provincial and indigenous consent before getting a pipe to the coast.
00:24:51.740 Not consultation.
00:24:52.360 Yeah, which is contrary to the constitution on both fronts.
00:24:56.820 So what is this beat and switch?
00:24:59.760 Carney, obviously, all I can think is, no, stupid man really doesn't want the pipe to go.
00:25:04.980 Well, if you look at his history as, you know, protector of the environment, if you will, and that's the course he's charted for most of his life, he and his wife.
00:25:21.480 And there's nothing wrong with that.
00:25:23.240 That's a choice you make.
00:25:24.240 But when you become the leader of the country, I think you need to focus on, or I would hope you would focus on what's best for the country.
00:25:31.500 And, you know, I just mentioned the fact that what was signed in China was MOUs.
00:25:38.100 Well, of course, there was a lot of fanfare about an MOU that Carney signed with our premier, with Alberta.
00:25:46.380 And it's, you know, we have to remind people that that is an MOU too.
00:25:50.800 It's a memorandum of understanding.
00:25:53.240 It's not a deal.
00:25:54.080 It's certainly not a sure thing.
00:25:56.760 And as many, many people that are cynical as you and I about governments would say that it will never happen.
00:26:07.920 And it'll certainly never happen when he keeps turning around and promising the coastal First Nations and the government of British Columbia veto.
00:26:19.200 You know, so there we are.
00:26:21.240 Nothing's changed.
00:26:23.460 You know, he's made a few minor changes about putting some of the, I'll call it anti-Alberta legislation in for a period of time.
00:26:34.760 You know, taking a recess, if you will.
00:26:36.740 But some of Alberta's demands of the federal government after Trudeau departed were to repeal these bills.
00:26:47.620 The no new pipelines bill, for one example.
00:26:51.000 The ban on oil tankers, despite the Americans having oil tankers go by Prince Rupert and Kitimat every day virtually.
00:27:02.300 You know, so what can happen?
00:27:05.440 I think it's only natural that we're going to, we, Alberta, are going to have to look south of the border yet again to try to access even foreign markets.
00:27:15.640 As you say, most of our oil goes down there now.
00:27:19.140 You know, can we use it as a transit course or transit route to get it to places like India and China?
00:27:30.640 I think it remains to be seen.
00:27:32.380 I mean, the point of a federation is to have these independent somewhat provinces, but with agreements that bind them to be mutually beneficial across the country.
00:27:42.940 One of which is free trade between the provinces, which the government has been kind of loose on enforcing.
00:27:49.740 I mean, you know, the courts rule, like, with bringing beer from Quebec into New Brunswick, a person can be charged.
00:27:55.060 And the courts have said, well, it's a constitutional violation, but we're still going to allow Quebec and such to block the sales beer border to border.
00:28:02.500 And the authority for getting a pipeline through.
00:28:06.400 I mean, you say, yes, we have responsibility to consult.
00:28:08.500 And at some point, that's the responsibility of the prime minister to then say, well, we did all the consultation we could.
00:28:14.540 Guys, this thing has to go.
00:28:16.520 It's in the national interest.
00:28:18.440 I'm sorry you're not still on board, but it's moving ahead.
00:28:21.600 And Kearney has abdicated that, which has led to a lot of people saying, well, what's the point of the federation?
00:28:27.960 You know, we might as well be negotiating country to country.
00:28:31.320 So there's a good segue into, you've probably seen the news and things on it.
00:28:34.740 The independence movement in Alberta is just exploding, I think, more than we've seen before.
00:28:39.680 I mean, you know, not since the early 80s with the National Energy Program.
00:28:43.180 I think it's been more sustained, even.
00:28:45.440 A rally of thousands of people in Calgary just the other night and people signing petitions.
00:28:50.140 We're in for a year of a referendum.
00:28:52.420 We are.
00:28:52.820 And for, you know, this is quite a unique meeting, I might add.
00:28:58.400 I don't know if there's any other situation where you could have two former leaders of independence movements for Alberta and Western Canada sitting down together to discuss this topic.
00:29:14.720 And here we are.
00:29:15.760 Who would have thought?
00:29:16.440 And we're doing this down here.
00:29:17.300 We've been, perhaps we've been banished.
00:29:22.200 No, I mean, seriously, obviously, I am very supportive of what's happening.
00:29:30.860 Although Leah and I were discussing this the other night, as I think most Albertans are.
00:29:37.640 I would just caution people, Corey, before they get too far out in front of this thing, that we saw much the same support that we're seeing in those long lineups and sub-zero temperatures outside those venues.
00:29:58.320 People wanting to line up and subject cold and a cold north wind to wait their turn to sign this petition to demand a vote.
00:30:10.300 That's what they're doing.
00:30:11.740 They're demanding their democratic freedom to vote on independence for Alberta.
00:30:17.180 And while I support that, and I applaud each and every one of them for doing that, because I am very pro-independence for our province, I just caution that we saw much the same thing less than a year ago in the election campaign.
00:30:35.700 As a conservative, I was certainly excited to see on social media and on the news channels every day, these huge turnouts for Kyrpolyev and his rallies across the nation.
00:30:54.220 And we were excited. We thought that, you know, despite Trudeau's exit and this new, fresh face in Mark Carney, that Canadians were going to make a change.
00:31:06.380 And of course, as conservatives, a change that we felt very much needed.
00:31:11.260 And so I was pleased for Pierre. He put in an enormous amount of work and effort and he was getting the turnouts.
00:31:17.320 But it didn't materialize in that needed victory at the ballot box.
00:31:21.460 And that's my concern here as a first step to make sure that we get way past and we will be getting way past the numbers necessary for the petition to force a referendum and give Albertans that vote.
00:31:36.940 But we're a long way, as you and I have discussed off camera, to getting to those numbers where we would need to win the referendum and begin, just begin the initial step, start of course, towards independence.
00:31:51.820 It's certainly moving in the right direction.
00:31:53.260 It is.
00:31:53.620 It's snowballing just, well, I would say the cost and everything is meaning you can't leave it to others.
00:31:58.640 You've got to get up and take part because this is, you know, the six, seven, eight months, it might be till voting day.
00:32:04.320 They're going to go fast.
00:32:05.760 And a lot of people do.
00:32:07.820 Even those that, you know, are not 100% sold on how they're going to mark their ballot when the time comes.
00:32:15.660 Okay.
00:32:16.360 They're still lining up the sign because they want to have a say.
00:32:21.380 And that's, if you believe in democracy, that's a real positive development.
00:32:26.300 And, you know, they're at least saying, let's have the debate.
00:32:30.120 You know, we don't know all the ins and outs and the good and the bad and the ugly for potential Alberta independence.
00:32:36.820 But let's have the discussion.
00:32:38.060 Let's get more facts and information in front of the public so that each and every one of them will be encouraged to actually go to the ballot box when the time comes and to select their choice intelligently with the knowledge they need.
00:32:53.220 Yeah.
00:32:53.340 Well, and this will be a period of more discussion on independence than we've ever had and ever seen before.
00:33:00.240 And it's happened in Canada before, but it was with Quebec.
00:33:03.320 Something that's been striking this time is the attitude back towards the independent supporters.
00:33:08.980 So I remember the Quebec referendum well.
00:33:12.360 They were, again, you know, please, Quebec, stay.
00:33:14.780 Please don't go.
00:33:15.640 What can we do for you, Quebec?
00:33:17.340 We love you, Quebec.
00:33:19.220 What we're getting is redneck, hillbillies.
00:33:23.180 You're not allowed to have a referendum.
00:33:25.500 You don't have permission to have a referendum.
00:33:28.560 Like that attitude is night and day towards how Albertans are treated when they're considering independence versus Quebec, which I think only helps the independence movement because it shows there is a double standard in this country.
00:33:41.800 Yeah, it actually makes the point for those that are in favor of independence, doesn't it?
00:33:48.800 And very starkly makes the point, which is that we are treated differently, you know, negatively by Central and Eastern Canada.
00:33:58.340 We always have been ever since Confederation.
00:34:00.800 And I would argue as a former leader of the Maverick Party, you know, in favor of Western independence, we always will be.
00:34:11.760 You know, I took at that time back in 2021, I spent a lot of time with a constitutional law professor looking at our constitution and dissecting it and saying,
00:34:24.740 okay, like, as a once proud Canadian, a proud Canadian of what I would call the old Canada, what can we do to stay within Canada but be treated fairly in the future?
00:34:40.820 And of course, there isn't.
00:34:42.100 There's no avenue.
00:34:43.120 There's no force that we can chart to achieve that for you.
00:34:48.100 Because of the amending formula, it's impossible.
00:34:53.300 Certain aspects of a constitutional change aren't just under the seven of ten provinces amending formula.
00:35:04.000 They're actually requiring unanimity.
00:35:07.580 Well, you're never going to get that.
00:35:09.920 The ten provinces would agree to give Alberta its due.
00:35:15.120 And so it came to me that there was, and at that time, reluctantly.
00:35:20.760 I'm not reluctant anymore.
00:35:22.660 Because after this decade of darkness under Justin Trudeau, I mean, if there was ever evidence of why the West needs its independence.
00:35:33.980 And when I talk, I would say the West, not just Alberta, because polls consistently show, for example, there's greater support for independence in Saskatchewan than there is in Alberta.
00:35:46.280 And they're organized out there, too.
00:35:47.620 And they are getting organized, and good on them, because we know that we're never going to be treated fairly.
00:35:53.920 And I'm so sick and tired of Central Canadians saying, well, you're just a bunch of whiners.
00:35:59.640 And, you know, and as you say, this double standard where, you know, they get down on bended knee.
00:36:05.020 What can we give you to Quebec?
00:36:07.920 But to the West, it's, you know, you're a bunch of whiners and you're complainers and you can't go anyway.
00:36:13.800 And you'll never get the support.
00:36:16.840 Well, and, you know, to your point, too, in reading the Constitution and looking at things, and that's what really creates the true independence supporters.
00:36:23.980 When they realize and come to that conclusion, it's not the party in power that's the problem.
00:36:28.300 It's the system.
00:36:29.880 So you could change it.
00:36:31.320 I've said that in a lot of speeches.
00:36:32.700 That's why I often say with conservatives is they get in with Stephen Archer, great prime minister.
00:36:37.240 But still, he didn't change anything because he couldn't change anything systematically.
00:36:40.840 If Paulie ever gotten in, he would have been more benign than Trudeau or Carney.
00:36:46.100 But the way I put it is they'd be less bad than the liberals.
00:36:49.300 But because of the system, they have to cater to central Canada.
00:36:52.660 And when people reach that conclusion, that's when you get a true independence support.
00:36:57.420 Yeah, you get that moment, you know, where people's eyes light up when they come to that sad realization.
00:37:07.200 And you're quite right.
00:37:08.500 It does not matter.
00:37:09.480 We get better government and then the West is lulled into a certain sense of, okay, well, things aren't that bad.
00:37:18.400 Because had Paulie ever got in, and I certainly hoped he would have, and still hope he might, we would have seen the end of some of these irritants, like the No New Pipelines Act, like the ban on tankers, like getting rid of the industrial carbon tax, not just the consumer carbon tax.
00:37:40.140 There would have been certain steps that, you know, he promised to do it, and I'm sure Pierre, I know Pierre well enough that it would have been done.
00:37:48.760 And it would have made life a lot easier, not only for Albertans and Western Canadians, Corey, but it would have made, I would argue, life a lot easier for all Canadians.
00:37:58.840 And, but the core difference and why we go through this seesaw between what I would call reasonable government.
00:38:07.760 And I was part of that government, and I was part of that government, so I like to think we were being reasonable, a reasonable government under a conservative prime minister.
00:38:15.680 And then, of course, being negatively affected dramatically by successive liberal prime ministers and governments.
00:38:24.480 And we go through this, this seesaw arrangement, and it's been going on since Confederation, and it's never going to change.
00:38:33.060 Well, and it's not just here.
00:38:34.180 This is what's really interesting that we're seeing in our lifetimes, you know, as this goes, the Paris-Québec law is poised to win next fall.
00:38:41.720 We'll see a lot of change in politics over that much time.
00:38:43.860 We saw that with last year's federal campaign.
00:38:45.620 Exactly.
00:38:46.140 But they're pretty strongly up there.
00:38:47.980 The liberal government of Quebec, or not liberal, but you know, that CAQ, Phil Absinthe, are on corruption, as this is a tendency in Quebec as well.
00:38:58.580 But part of the campaign platform of the PQ is that they want to hold another referendum.
00:39:02.680 They're saying, we're running on holding another referendum.
00:39:06.380 Theoretically, if they get a majority government this fall, Quebec's going to be scheduling another one.
00:39:12.240 And this is not a sign of a functional country.
00:39:14.860 You know, if we're getting these referendums happening on each side, even if they aren't winning majority support, you've got large segments.
00:39:20.480 I mean, some people dismiss it too.
00:39:21.540 Oh, it's only 30% of Albertans who want out.
00:39:24.320 You've got one in three have said, I've had it.
00:39:26.900 Yeah.
00:39:27.500 You should be paying attention.
00:39:28.860 Yeah.
00:39:29.460 And that's just heading into the conversation.
00:39:31.580 Yeah.
00:39:31.760 But, you know, which gives people like yourself and myself, it gives us some renewed hope that we haven't had, I would argue, in our lifetime.
00:39:42.760 That perhaps we're on the cusp of some pretty dramatic change.
00:39:47.120 Because at least we can make the arguments now and not have people discount them out of hand, the arguments in support of independence and why it's necessary.
00:39:59.540 And there are some individuals I would argue are really helping that along by being realistic and putting forward a strong argument for a much better off Albertans.
00:40:14.120 And let's face it, many of us are not doing it for ourselves.
00:40:19.420 And that's what, too, is so annoying about the support that Carney got in Lexington County.
00:40:25.560 He got it from people my age, you know.
00:40:29.380 And you wonder, okay, don't those people have grandchildren that they're concerned about that they would, you know, for their own pocketbook?
00:40:39.780 And they do.
00:40:40.520 You know, and I've met a lot of those at the meeting, and that's been something that's been striking.
00:40:44.000 You know, I've been a guest speaker at a number of functions.
00:40:46.240 Yeah.
00:40:46.860 And some of the polls are showing it, though, that, yes, there's people who are fearful.
00:40:50.320 They get, I think, in a later age, and they just have fear change.
00:40:52.480 So they kind of, but still, there's a great deal of folks, you know, our age or older who are, again, they're thinking of the next generations.
00:40:59.040 I mean, we understand that there's still only so much time on the clock for ourselves, hopefully a lot.
00:41:05.360 But the younger folk, this is the first time in the independence we're really seeing they grow a lot.
00:41:10.880 Yeah, because they're seeing a hopelessness, unfortunately.
00:41:13.380 They're saying, I can't, I wish I can't afford to pay off my student loans.
00:41:16.220 I'm not seeing career opportunities.
00:41:19.400 And they weren't there before.
00:41:20.900 And that's a different dynamic this time that I don't know how that's going to turn up that.
00:41:23.980 Well, and even peaceful revolution down through history and through all the different nations of the world that have succumbed to that, Corey, it's been the youth that has been the driving force for that exact reasons.
00:41:39.360 It's that sense of hopelessness that it doesn't matter how hard they work in the modern world, certainly in modern Canada.
00:41:47.180 That families have to have, virtually, if they're to be able to pay the bills and put food on the table for the kids at all, they have to have a two-income family.
00:41:59.580 You know, both parents need to be out there working.
00:42:03.040 And even then, they can't gain.
00:42:05.200 And I do believe that you're right, that it's that sense of hopelessness.
00:42:09.620 And we saw it in spades in the folks that were turning out for the year, probably, of rallies.
00:42:18.900 You know, you had people that were in their 30s that were on the verge of fears, if not trying, because of that hopelessness and helplessness that they're facing in Canada.
00:42:32.820 And there's no need for it.
00:42:34.120 That's what angers me, as a former member of Parliament for 17 years, some of those spent as a Cabinet Minister, with Prime Minister Harper.
00:42:44.960 There's no need for that.
00:42:47.480 You know, if I look at where my good friend Jim Flaherty left us financially before he died,
00:42:56.440 the nation was on track after the 2008 financial crisis.
00:43:02.180 It was on track to turn a corner and to be able to offer Canadians greater tax relief than we already had as a Conservative government.
00:43:13.280 Pay our bills.
00:43:15.660 Back to a balanced budget.
00:43:18.620 You know, put money into things that really made a difference to the everyday Canadians' life.
00:43:24.660 And yet, in the last decade, the country has taken this dramatic turn away from all of that.
00:43:33.340 And Carney, despite his assurances a year ago, is continuing it.
00:43:37.720 We might as well have Trudeau still in place for what we're seeing.
00:43:42.800 And that's why the young people especially have this sense of helplessness.
00:43:48.560 It doesn't matter what they do, that they're not going to be able to get ahead and offer their children, my grandchildren,
00:43:56.660 the life that they should have in a country as wealthy as Canada.
00:44:01.760 An option for change is being presented.
00:44:03.680 We'll see if it takes off or not.
00:44:05.580 So thank you very much for ending on the positive note.
00:44:08.960 We're going to move towards something positive, I do believe, out of this.
00:44:11.820 Thank you for hosting us here today in your summer abode, or winter abode, I should say.
00:44:18.640 And I'm glad you're enjoying the backyard.
00:44:20.440 Yes.
00:44:21.380 It's quite comfortable.
00:44:23.340 If nothing else, we're in for a pivotal year.
00:44:25.860 Hopefully, it's for the positive, and we'll see what happens.
00:44:29.360 Well, especially as we were just discussing, for the future generations that are much younger than us, our children, our grandchildren, I certainly hope so.
00:44:40.860 They deserve it as a bet.
00:44:42.900 And certainly, I will continue to do whatever I can to push for independence for that reason.
00:44:50.720 Right on.
00:44:51.080 Well, thanks, Jay, and thank all of you guys for tuning in to this summer episode.
00:44:55.940 There's going to be another one coming from out in the desert in some undisclosed location next week as well.
00:45:02.080 And, you know, I just want to leave on that note, too.
00:45:03.960 I love the United States.
00:45:04.900 I love our American cousins and everything.
00:45:07.520 But I'm not one of the U.S. 51 type people.
00:45:10.860 I mean, you know what?
00:45:11.540 In fact, with families, it's best not to fully jump into bed with each other.
00:45:15.360 That leads to a lot of problems.
00:45:17.060 But you can still have close relationships.
00:45:19.620 So independence with a close relationship to the South is what we must have.
00:45:25.500 So, again, thank you all for tuning in.
00:45:26.820 Watch for the Pipeline tonight.
00:45:27.920 I'll be on that panel chat.
00:45:29.520 Nigel's doing some great interviews.
00:45:31.540 Like, subscribe, do all that great stuff, and keep supporting Western Standard.
00:45:36.520 And we will talk to you on the next one.
00:45:49.620 Yeah.
00:45:50.380 Bye-bye.
00:45:55.020 Bye-bye.
00:45:55.720 Bye-bye.
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