Western Standard - CORY MORGAN SHOW： Poilievre shouldn’t take Alberta’s support for granted

00:00:00.000 Good day, welcome to the Corey Morgan Show.

00:00:29.520 as we make our way into September.

00:00:32.100 Good to see a few folks already making comments

00:00:34.580 in the comment scroll.

00:00:35.500 I like this.

00:00:35.920 Being live means we can be a bit interactive.

00:00:38.080 Angela, North Run grader, Louis and David

00:00:41.320 all checking in there and offering some comments on,

00:00:45.540 yeah, for the most part on Pierre Paulyev,

00:00:47.820 who I'm going to speak of in a bit here

00:00:49.380 and of the federal party in a little while as well.

00:00:53.740 As a guest, I'm going to have Jeff Knight on.

00:00:55.260 It'll be his first time on.

00:00:56.240 He's been our reporter in Ontario in Queen's Park.

00:00:58.980 yes the poor man has to watch doug ford on a regular basis and try and make sense or whatever

00:01:04.100 the hell he's doing should be a great conversation he's been putting a lot of great stuff out from

00:01:08.340 that eastern perspective so be sure to use that comment scroll discuss things with each other i

00:01:13.300 don't necessarily read all the comments out but i do read them all and just keeps things flowing

00:01:17.860 along so getting to what i entitled this about i mean this is one of the problems actually a

00:01:23.700 shortcoming of albert i don't like talking about those often but alberta's political achilles heel

00:01:27.620 federally is our electoral predictability while provincially the situation has been volatile

00:01:34.340 leading from progressive conservatives to ndp to ucp in the span of a decade the province has always

00:01:39.620 given a strong majority of its seats to whatever the conservative party of the day is federally

00:01:45.380 and that tendency has led to alberta being taken for granted by federal parties the liberals don't

00:01:50.100 pay much attention to alberta because the likelihood of gaining seats here is pretty slim

00:01:54.180 the conservative parties don't pay much attention to alberta because the likelihood of losing seats

00:01:58.500 here is pretty slim but albertans tend to punch above their weight within the conservative party

00:02:03.620 of canada because the province has always served as a fundraising hub for the federal party and an

00:02:08.100 incubator for conservative politicos from candidates to strategists when the federal

00:02:13.220 campaign comes though albert is quickly forgotten as the federal entity starts to try to win the

00:02:18.420 electoral love in laurentian canada you know what it isn't even personal it's just math no federal

00:02:23.300 party can win government without strong showings in quebec and ontario to win those central

00:02:27.780 provinces though the wishes of western provinces have to be sidelined we aren't in the middle of a

00:02:32.580 federal campaign right now but we're seeing a great example of the federal dynamic in conservative

00:02:37.540 politics as the cpc has kicked off its conservatives for canada campaign this campaign ostensibly is to

00:02:44.020 reach out to albertans and tell them why the federation is just spiffy and they should set

00:02:48.420 aside notions of independence if online reactions to the campaign kick off for any indication the

00:02:53.380 response from conservative albertans to polyev's overtures is flat at best albertans are sick of

00:02:58.900 federal politicians telling them what they're supposed to think and that includes politicians

00:03:02.820 from the conservative side of the aisle the cpc knows their campaign won't make much difference

00:03:07.460 in the voting intentions in alberta in the referendum the campaign isn't targeting albertans

00:03:12.580 it's targeting eastern voters it's polyev's way of trying to distance his party from the

00:03:16.900 Sovereignists who, like it or not, are dominating the Conservative membership in Alberta federally

00:03:21.840 just as they dominate the United Conservative Party provincially. He's trying to assure Eastern 0.97

00:03:26.680 voters that if he were ever to become Prime Minister, he wouldn't act to change the federal

00:03:30.880 status quo on behalf of his Western support base. Poliev said earlier this summer that all

00:03:36.060 Conservatives will be campaigning for Canadian unity in Alberta. Many members of Poliev's

00:03:41.000 caucus have kept their campaigning rather silent actually through the summer if they did so at all

00:03:45.860 while orders from above may be pressuring them to wrap themselves in the Canadian flag,

00:03:50.760 orders from the membership of telling them Albertans have had enough.

00:03:54.080 The CPC Unity campaign began with some CPC MPs posting canned statements

00:03:58.680 about their indivisible federalism on X and other social media spots,

00:04:02.740 but it wasn't terribly well received.

00:04:05.340 Beyond that, a website for Conservatives for Canada was launched,

00:04:08.260 and MP Dane Lloyd was named the point person for the Unity campaign.

00:04:12.060 At present, the site offers little more than a copy of a press release from Lloyd and a strong

00:04:16.520 plea for donations, of course. While it's politically understandable why the CPC must

00:04:20.780 campaign to win Eastern Canadian voters, it should also be understood that alienating the

00:04:24.400 Western voter base doesn't come without potential consequences. The federal progressive

00:04:28.500 conservatives under Diefenbaker won every single seat in Alberta in 1958, and the progressive

00:04:33.140 conservatives had a solid lock on Alberta's support for decades. It seemed as if the PCs

00:04:37.260 would maintain their hold upon Albertan voters forever. Until they didn't. Mulroney dislodged

00:04:42.640 the Liberal government in 1984 and his government was strongly supported in Alberta. When it quickly

00:04:47.060 became clear, though, that Albertans had just switched from a Liberal government focused on

00:04:50.920 Eastern Canadian needs to a Conservative government focused on Eastern Canadian needs, the Reform

00:04:55.020 Party was born. It took two election cycles, but the Reform Party wiped the Progressive Conservative

00:04:59.820 Party off the Western Canadian map federally forever. There were many other factors that led

00:05:05.040 to the collapse of the federal progressive conservatives after Mulroney's time, but taking

00:05:09.360 the support of Western Canadian conservative-minded voters for granted was one of them. When the

00:05:13.480 Reform Party was ascendant, the usual lines about vote splitting were to be heard, and it was said

00:05:17.460 that a liberal victory would be assured if the West went reform, and indeed, it turned out to be true.

00:05:22.260 Chrétien's liberals won three straight majorities. What's got to be understood, though, is that

00:05:26.440 when the federal liberals and conservatives become indistinguishable from each other,

00:05:30.500 western voters will shun them both. Albertans would rather have opposition MPs who could speak

00:05:34.920 for their province than alleged conservative ones in a government that's gagged and beholden to

00:05:38.660 eastern leadership. Nobody expects the conservative MPs to come out in support of option two on

00:05:43.000 question 10 on October 19th. The CPC is a federal party and its members have no mandate to dip into

00:05:48.040 such a divisive local issue. They shouldn't have waded in with a full-throated campaign in favor

00:05:53.200 of option one on the question either though. It's a provincial referendum and having a federal party

00:05:57.720 meddling in the affair won't impress the Alberta voter base.

00:06:00.960 Polyev feels the risk of pissing off Alberta Conservatives is worth it

00:06:04.020 if he could signal his party's commitment to federalism to eastern Canada effectively.

00:06:08.800 He would be well served to remember how quickly the Reform Party rose

00:06:11.680 and what it did to the federal progressive Conservatives in Alberta.

00:06:14.000 On October 20th, there's going to be a lot of engaged activists and voters

00:06:17.500 looking for another project to protect Alberta's interests,

00:06:20.380 and it could come in the form of a new federal party.

00:06:23.420 Careful, Pierre.

00:06:24.700 All right, well, that's what's got me going today.

00:06:26.060 That came out better.

00:06:26.680 that is much better than last that's i got to go back to writing them over two days not blasting

00:06:31.240 it out six in the morning lesson learned way uh way better so you were just telling me you've had

00:06:36.680 a uh bee exodus i did tragedy what happened they call it absconding one of my hives well i'd said

00:06:42.920 before i'd done a harvest a few weeks ago and that hive went really hot they went crabby and and they

00:06:47.640 were attacking me whenever i come close for days and and uh suddenly activity just started getting

00:06:53.160 lower and lower with it and finally i checked on it fully yesterday i left the lid gone all the

00:06:57.400 bees were gone the only activity was other bees coming in stealing the remaining honey and

00:07:00.520 everything out of them so how many bees would be in there it probably would have been 40 or 50 000

00:07:06.760 zero now so where do they go i don't know they all go their separate ways or never had that

00:07:11.800 traveling issue no they don't travel as a swoon they'll go in a swarm and i guess typically when

00:07:16.760 this happens this late in the season in fall i mean their chance of survival isn't very good

00:07:19.960 they're not going to find a new spot to shack up and make it through the winter so that's a shame

00:07:24.280 it is can we blame donald trump and the trade war first i'll try i don't want to blame myself

00:07:28.840 for my poor no of course nothing's your fault but uh yeah it's just another lesson in the beekeeping

00:07:35.320 so on with the news um the weekend uh saw a seismic turn of events in germany with the uh

00:07:43.720 alternative for Germany party getting their their highest vote ever Trump

00:07:48.620 replied today a good for you guys finally Germans have had enough of the 0.54

00:07:54.340 immigration and they're going to make Germany great again so not MAGA but

00:07:59.320 mugabah something like that close sorry I was supposed to maybe Derek will

00:08:04.500 translate that yeah yeah on the pipeline closer to home we've got an Indian

00:08:09.880 temple that's being shut down up in Edmonton for disgusting conditions in

00:08:14.800 the kitchen and bathrooms and stuff like that so it's not a very pleasant story

00:08:19.420 to read got a fun one out of BC a taxi is zooming down the highway on ski to

00:08:28.380 sky highway and got pulled over doing 131 in an 80 zone and it turns out the

00:08:34.420 passenger in the taxi had just had his car impounded for speeding in the same

00:08:39.580 uh, traffic zones. So I guess they're both sitting on the highway with their, with their

00:08:46.580 thumbs out. Uh, city of Calgary has released their preferred green line option. It's the,

00:08:52.100 uh, above ground one, which is the cheapest. Got a BC realtor, uh, whose name escapes me at the

00:08:58.640 moment. He's in Langley. Uh, he was posting about, uh, indigenous affairs and how it's ludicrous

00:09:05.040 that national parks are being shut down and areas being shut down just for indigenous use

00:09:10.320 well the bc realtors association uh clamped down on him and gave him a nasty letter calling his

00:09:16.800 actions polarizing and inflammatory so now the canadian constitution foundation has got involved

00:09:22.720 and their lawyers have given the bc guys uh uh 30 days to get rid of that nasty letter they're gonna

00:09:30.000 sue uh carney is talking we talked yesterday about the uh the sanctions and he urged everybody to

00:09:38.560 vacation in canada see the glorious sites that canada has to offer i'm making no mention about

00:09:44.480 the fact that he summered in tuscany yeah in italy so i guess what's what's good for the

00:09:49.600 goose is where to have the station they get taking those local wonders there exactly uh

00:09:55.440 Uh, speaking of Trump, but like last night he, uh, banned Canadian booze from entering

00:10:01.940 the United States and also dairies and motorcycles and didn't realize we manufactured motorcycles.

00:10:08.380 I think I looked it up, but it was some of an e-trike or some odd thing.

00:10:12.400 It's an unusual niche item, but still.

00:10:14.960 But, uh, booze is a, is a big one.

00:10:16.760 The, uh, the boss of, uh, Crown Royal says they sell, they sell more Crown Royal in Texas

00:10:23.120 than all of Canada combined.

00:10:24.360 Yeah, so it's going to hurt, it's going to hurt that sector.

00:10:27.740 And there's a lot of small craft breweries and distillers in Alberta that will also be hurt.

00:10:33.640 Well, I mean, you know, brand loyalty is big with those sorts of things like liquor.

00:10:37.640 People get used to their things they drink and so on.

00:10:39.660 I mean, as my former drinking days, when I started working in the States, I got to admit,

00:10:43.840 when I started moving on to bourbon from Canadian rye, I kind of like the bourbon better.

00:10:48.580 I don't know if they want to switch all those Canadians off the Crown Royal. 0.51

00:10:51.020 You're not going to get them back that easily.

00:10:52.280 No, exactly.

00:10:53.880 And two studies out today showing that as of January 1st,

00:10:59.220 Albertans are going to save 15% on their car insurance.

00:11:04.440 Believe it when I see it.

00:11:05.700 Yeah, pretty much it will.

00:11:07.160 I mean, if it explained to me why I'm paying $2,300 a year

00:11:10.940 for a 10-year-old Honda Civic, I'll believe it when I see it.

00:11:15.240 Yeah, well, banks and insurance companies.

00:11:18.340 You know, there are two areas where they're mandatory.

00:11:20.580 You know, you can't get away from them in life.

00:11:21.840 But in both cases, you feel more like you've

00:11:24.000 got to ask them to do things for you rather

00:11:26.340 than being the customer.

00:11:27.380 And it's a.

00:11:28.500 Exactly.

00:11:29.100 Yeah, the insurance probably won't.

00:11:30.080 So you got Jeff on later?

00:11:31.720 I do.

00:11:32.160 He's coming.

00:11:32.560 You'll have to ask him about a story he did

00:11:34.080 yesterday has been doing very well about a

00:11:36.720 mother of a convicted ISIS terrorist running

00:11:40.100 for school board and her reaction to Jeff

00:11:45.140 when he asked for a comment.

00:11:47.080 Oh, I'll have to see what that was.

00:11:49.160 That was an interesting story.

00:11:50.080 I saw that.

00:11:50.700 But yeah, I mean, gee, that's the one I want, managing the raising of our children. 0.99

00:11:54.420 She did such a fine job with her own. 0.99

00:11:55.840 With her own side.

00:11:56.540 Yeah, great.

00:11:57.200 She blames mental illness, Corey.

00:11:58.780 Oh, of course. 0.67

00:11:59.620 Well, I mean, hey, I'm nuts too, but I haven't gone and tried to blow anybody up yet.

00:12:03.260 Well, the day's young.

00:12:04.420 True.

00:12:05.400 All right.

00:12:06.060 Well, thanks, Dave.

00:12:06.900 I'll let you get back to the newsroom, and we'll talk to you at the pipeline.

00:12:10.700 You will.

00:12:11.660 So yeah, as you can see, as always, loads and loads of stories coming out there on all

00:12:16.120 sorts of things, national, international, and across the country. 0.91

00:12:20.280 the reason we can do it that's where i got a nag guys get on there westernstandard.news 0.78

00:12:24.360 subscription it's only 10 bucks a month come on it's next to nothing uh use one of those cheesy 0.95

00:12:29.000 things there's less than a cup of coffee a day and it keeps us independent keeps those reporters

00:12:33.640 across the country so we can get unique content and it gets you past that pesky paywall so check

00:12:38.760 it out grab a subscription if you have already i really do appreciate uh you're having taken one

00:12:44.120 up i'll just look at a couple of comments here before we roll around uh joe mills pointing out

00:12:49.240 you know mr harper was a great pm uh and he elected we've elected a great prime minister

00:12:53.480 from the west before we can do it again yeah it's not impossible i'm not trying so much to shoot

00:12:58.600 at polyev i'm just pointing out the political reality of things and when you look at prime

00:13:03.320 minister harper i mean he was good but he didn't change anything he can't he wouldn't have stayed

00:13:09.160 in even as long as he did if he changed anything substantially he wrote the alberta agenda the

00:13:13.880 firewall him and some others and then once he became prime minister all of that stuff went out

00:13:18.360 out the window, it disappeared. All I can say is conservative prime ministers tend to be less bad

00:13:23.100 for the West than liberal ones, but they don't make any substantial changes. Kathy said basically

00:13:29.700 the same thing, did some things that were not good for Canada, but not able to get consensus

00:13:34.020 to make changes to the constitution or equalization. Yeah, well, that's the problem.

00:13:38.580 It's the system, guys. It's not just the party in power, and it's problematic. And the gamble,

00:13:44.880 as i'm saying with with what's going on with with polyev i wouldn't expect or want i think well i

00:13:51.200 mean i'd want it as a as the regionalist i am but i never would expect the conservatives to come out

00:13:56.960 and support the independent side in the upcoming referendum it's not their role and as a federal

00:14:01.760 party they shouldn't but i don't think they're being terribly wise by jumping in feet first and

00:14:08.240 taking a side on the federal side actively campaigning on the ground starting a an advertising

00:14:13.200 group for it guys 60 you know we've seen some of those pollings when you're talking membership

00:14:18.320 bases and so on 60 to 70 percent support within your membership base are independence friendly

00:14:24.960 and you're pissing them off and i don't know i you know i'm a student of history to a degree

00:14:30.560 i started you don't want to have my long hair and no grays but as a young reformer in the reform 0.68

00:14:35.120 party albertans will change and uh turn their attention elsewhere i don't know mr polyev has

00:14:42.240 been enough time in alberta to see the activists the activism and the galvanizing of conservatives

00:14:49.200 that's been happening in this last couple of years here you don't want that activated crowd

00:14:55.040 to turn their guns on you after this referendum's over um you haven't a hard enough time winning

00:15:00.240 things as it is all right let's bring in our guest jeff knight from ontario he's been writing on the

00:15:06.000 situation in queen's park and all the great stuff happening out there it's about time we got you on

00:15:11.440 thanks for joining us today jeff yeah cory thanks for having me

00:15:15.920 so uh maybe i'll get to it i don't know if you heard it uh dave was mentioning we should get

00:15:21.360 into that story you posted uh the other day on uh the mother of an isis terrorist running for

00:15:26.960 school trustee what would uh inspire somebody uh so controversial to make a more public run

00:15:34.640 uh yeah dr diga metwale yes oh i mean it was uh pretty interesting to see her kind of popping up

00:15:40.960 like that i expect you know she's trying to get uh you know more sympathy for her son in a lot of

00:15:47.280 ways and roundabout way uh in her correspondence with me she you know she referenced the the bring

00:15:52.800 abdul home website that she set up for him and stuff like that but i mean you know the guy uh

00:15:57.440 even while he was incarcerated like he stabbed an officer in the eye and the officer lost its eyes

00:16:01.600 like i i don't think there's a very good chance of him gaining too much sympathy uh regardless of

00:16:06.880 how successful she is in her campaign uh now you know this is this is canada so like she might

00:16:14.240 actually have a decent chance of of winning but uh uh yeah it was interesting interesting

00:16:20.400 correspondence i had with her uh on email i was trying to get her to answer a few questions like

00:16:24.400 for example uh when this first all happened she said that uh it was all canada's fault that it

00:16:30.000 had happened and that he had been manipulated by the rcmp so i was trying to get her to see if

00:16:35.120 she still stood by that and she responded with uh you know basically oh i can't say anything until

00:16:40.880 i've spoken with a lawyer and you know i'm very concerned that the framing is going to create a

00:16:46.880 misleading and damaging impression about my personal character and stuff like that so you

00:16:50.240 know she seemed to kind of be leaning towards getting a little litigious uh there so you know

00:16:56.000 i didn't pursue it too much further um but yeah she seems pretty defensive about the whole thing

00:17:00.720 i guess understandably so well did she at least explain like what does she think she can offer

00:17:07.520 them as a school trustee i mean her her kids are presumably uh grown beyond the school point he's

00:17:12.880 he's in the you know he's been well educated in stabbing prison guards uh what what motivation

00:17:19.760 would there be because it's not like it's a you know a big paying job or something like that it

00:17:23.920 It just seems a strange path to go.

00:17:27.100 I expect that, you know, her motivation is going to be around kind of controlling those types of narratives

00:17:33.240 and being on the forefront of, you know, being able to have a say as to who's coming and going from the school system.

00:17:42.520 But she really, you know, the responses that she gave me were pretty much just like, you know,

00:17:47.060 I need to talk to a lawyer and you need to give me very specific.

00:17:53.160 You need to get back to me in a very specific way.

00:17:55.220 Otherwise, I'm not answering any questions.

00:17:56.600 So she really, you know, I pressed her a couple of times, but she didn't really go beyond that.

00:18:00.620 She seems very concerned with the legality of what she's going to be saying.

00:18:05.020 Well, it'll be an interesting race to watch, I guess, if nothing else. 0.59

00:18:09.260 Maybe I'll pivot back to something, you know, more recently you wrote.

00:18:11.680 And of course, it's the dominant story has been for it already seems like forever.

00:18:15.940 with this ongoing trade war uh president trump has banned outright a number of items coming from

00:18:22.800 canada into the united states now that's quite a development i mean that's not just a tariff

00:18:26.180 that's a blockade yeah the the outright ban on what is it it's uh dairy booze and motorcycles

00:18:33.380 now you know i think uh the u.s take uh took something like 700 million dollars uh in alcohol

00:18:39.420 sales from canada last year so you know it's it's a it's a substantial part of the market for us but

00:18:45.120 i'm pretty sure we actually hurt them even more when we blocked american alcohol so it's it's a

00:18:51.340 bit of a it's kind of a bit of a tug of war with with trump and and ford here on kind of you know 0.99

00:18:57.020 and they've gotten really down into the mudslinging with uh ford telling him to kiss his ass and 0.96

00:19:02.340 trump changing lake ontario to lake america and stuff like that and it seems to you know i've 0.97

00:19:07.460 been saying it's it's one of the best gifts ford's gotten a while because um you know i he's kind of

00:19:13.460 like a bit of like a sailor you're right he'll you'll kind of point himself whichever way the

00:19:17.200 wind's blowing and it seems like Canadians are really uh are really on board with sticking it

00:19:21.620 to Trump any way that they can so uh for Ford to now be leading the liberals in the polls where he

00:19:28.760 was kind of behind them a little bit it seems like this is this is a great gift for him to

00:19:33.300 politically to kind of move his career forward in what I expect is the direction is aiming for

00:19:38.540 pier polietta's position uh yeah there's like a lot of discussion on that uh yeah so you obviously

00:19:45.740 got hurt the worst because of the the motorcycles and and you know we have all the the auto factories

00:19:51.020 and stuff here so that's the biggest concern for us so since you kind of went there and i you know

00:19:56.940 i wasn't really thinking of that but i mean there has been sort of that sub campaign at least

00:20:01.980 positioning himself uh you know cory's out there uh working on things bc's conservative leadership

00:20:08.940 race sort of turned into a proxy race between uh eastern staffers going on uh if if it looks like

00:20:16.700 ford is kind of eyeing the federal direction what's happening within the provincial conservatives

00:20:22.700 though are the people up and coming under ford i mean it causes more than just uh you know

00:20:27.180 know uh it causes quite a ripple effect if a leader moves on uh yeah absolutely and and i

00:20:34.060 don't know if he's even thought that far ahead uh i know that they've got the uh the annual policy

00:20:40.260 priorities setting session uh coming up tomorrow actually i'm planning to attend that uh and i

00:20:45.780 think that's part of the reason he's been pretty quiet this week um despite all of the the u.s

00:20:52.020 banning of canadian products and stuff like that is he's probably saving a little bit of his response

00:20:56.040 for then uh and also he's probably like you know he's probably spending a lot of time online and

00:21:00.700 seeing what people have to say so that he can like i said plan his response according to uh what's

00:21:06.060 what's popular right now um so i'm not exactly uh sure who'd kind of follow him up if he did

00:21:13.580 jump ship but uh i think it's it's not a secret that he's he's got big aspirations on his mind

00:21:20.540 yeah well he's got a ambition there's no doubt about that it's kind of ironic that that him and

00:21:26.360 and trump are locking horns the way they are i mean if there was a comparable type of political

00:21:31.020 style coming from canada comparing to trump i would put forward actually kind of at the top

00:21:35.560 of the list for that shoot from the hip uh maybe speak first and think later sort of approach to

00:21:40.460 things i guess you can't have two people in the same room without that attitude yeah it's kind of 1.00

00:21:45.300 Our big, blonde, loudmouth versus theirs. 1.00

00:21:50.540 Well, it keeps you with lots to watch and report on. 0.87

00:21:54.000 I mean, politics has certainly never been dull in Canada lately,

00:21:57.160 though I think Alex Oaten, B.C., still has a crazier thing to watch

00:22:00.340 than you do at this time, but there hasn't been a mass exodus.

00:22:04.900 Another story that came up, Jean Cretchen surfaced.

00:22:07.700 They pulled him out of the crypt and had him speaking on using Alberta's

00:22:13.700 Alberta's resources and Saskatchewan resources for leverage.

00:22:18.080 What's the attitude in Ontario about that?

00:22:20.040 I mean, that's a very hot button out here.

00:22:22.280 Is it even coming up out there, though?

00:22:24.700 Well, I mean, obviously, Ontario wants to leverage, you know,

00:22:29.220 the energy out in Alberta and stuff like that.

00:22:31.520 But Daniel Smith has already essentially just rejected it outright.

00:22:36.880 Pulling Kretchen out, he looks better than I thought he would.

00:22:38.840 But he said, you know, that that what Trump's doing doesn't hurt Lake Ontario because it's just a lake and all that kind of stuff.

00:22:47.720 And he's saying that they really do need our oil, electricity and potash and gas and everything really bad.

00:22:56.700 And to kind of attack them that way, I think, you know, the sheer size of the U.S. means that really getting down and dirty with them ultimately is going to hurt us, I think, more than it hurts them.

00:23:07.160 So, you know, the nastier we get pushing these types of things forward, it's only, you know, it's going to help the politicians who are championing it because, you know, Canadians love to fight with the Americans.

00:23:19.640 But ultimately, it's going to be terrible for us, I believe.

00:23:23.420 So, you know, no matter who says it, Chrétien, Ford or Carney, I tend to align with Daniel Smith on this, that it's a terrible idea.

00:23:32.740 yeah well and and when we do have you know venezuela lining up and things such as that

00:23:39.600 encouraging our biggest customer to start sourcing from other areas i mean there are other suitors

00:23:45.500 out there could cause a lot of long-term difficulties for us you know versus the

00:23:49.840 immediate problem but uh you know it's understood i mean it you know they they want something

00:23:55.940 stronger than just liquor to go back and forth with even if it has a good symbolic victory

00:24:00.380 it's uh just interesting how it's tied together i mean the timing of this referendum probably i i

00:24:05.040 got a feeling if there wasn't a referendum coming in alberta they might have already made a move for

00:24:08.740 alberta uh an export tariff or something of the sort yeah no absolutely uh and the scary thing

00:24:16.920 too is once we you know start to lose our auto relationship with the u.s then that just kind of 0.98

00:24:21.840 opens us up directly to chinese markets and uh you know they don't have the best reputation for

00:24:27.840 their automobile industry.

00:24:30.320 No, or their corporate practices or pretty much much of anything.

00:24:34.720 And that is an area that has been devastated, you know, is the auto sector and the parts

00:24:38.920 manufacturing.

00:24:39.720 I mean, this trade war has hurt central Canada far, far more than the West.

00:24:44.180 I guess it could lead to a bit of, you know, regional envy or things like Ford said at one

00:24:49.760 point, kind of implying that, well, Alberta and Saskatchewan should be feeling some pain

00:24:53.680 as well.

00:24:54.260 well the equal sharing of pain doesn't necessarily mean we're moving towards a productive end though

00:24:58.740 yeah the whole like we're all in this together uh mantra that he's been promoting but you know

00:25:04.920 it's it's really we're all we're all going to lose together in the end and so um i think you

00:25:10.460 know trump trump's a tough guy to work with i think you kind of just have to you know butter

00:25:14.560 his bread a little bit and not get down in the mud with him and he gets satisfied so i i feel like

00:25:20.000 uh you know maybe the whole approach needs to be reworked here so so i guess i'll pivot a little

00:25:27.460 more to something that's big that's going on out there i mean it's the the mayoral uh race is sort

00:25:32.780 of heating up in toronto uh olivia chow is out um well out and hitting the hustings but

00:25:40.000 the story you put up i guess she she skipped out on an anti-semitism debate

00:25:44.580 uh not that surprising i guess in light of things though is it no i mean she's been pretty consistent

00:25:51.880 with uh you know not being a huge fan of of uh i think israel in general and um you know she's been

00:25:59.600 a pretty big supporter of the palestinian protests and stuff like that happening in the city so i can

00:26:03.900 see why she's like strategically avoiding these types of events um but you know toronto has a

00:26:10.140 pretty giant uh jewish population and uh it's it's important for her to be a mayor for all 0.99

00:26:16.080 her constituents right and so to kind of be rejecting these these types of things is uh 0.99

00:26:20.200 sounds a pretty loud message so how secure does she look going into you know the next uh

00:26:26.040 municipal election i mean she's been difficult to dislodge uh some people said it's because of

00:26:30.320 course we tend to have a lot of people split in that vote but is she sitting comfortably going

00:26:34.680 ahead or or torontonians finally kind of tiring of her well i don't think they're tiring of her

00:26:39.260 That's the thing is I think that her strategy is working.

00:26:43.360 Like Toronto is a pretty left-leaning place.

00:26:46.660 And, you know, I don't understand it as someone who lived in Toronto

00:26:50.300 for a long time and has seen it, you know, in my opinion,

00:26:53.760 decline over the years.

00:26:55.560 But it seems like the strategy is working for her.

00:26:59.340 I'm not sure what her exact numbers are that she's pulling by,

00:27:02.640 but I think she's beating Bradford by, you know,

00:27:04.300 a pretty solid amount right now.

00:27:06.600 Yeah, well, that's changing there.

00:27:08.920 who knows if campaigns can be pretty wild uh when's your voting day coming uh it's october 26th i

00:27:15.080 believe okay so just ramping up uh maybe i'll pull a little provincial now this is something alberta

00:27:21.400 just dealt with a year ago uh there's i see an article of yours in the uh labor agreements have

00:27:27.240 expired uh as students are going back to school is is there much of a risk of a teacher or support to

00:27:33.240 strike hitting and and messing with the school year or do you think they're going to hash something

00:27:37.240 out? Well, I mean, there are teachers love to strike here in Ontario, so I expect it's something

00:27:43.200 that probably is on the table. I think the University of Toronto just voted against having

00:27:48.380 a strike. So, you know, there's obviously some conversations happening in back rooms that are

00:27:53.500 really trying to make this not happen. I got some correspondence back from Emma Testani,

00:28:04.440 who is the uh sorry i'm just reading in here yeah well yeah anyway i got a little bit of

00:28:14.040 correspondence back to said at this early stage of bargaining the first step is to determine what

00:28:17.820 issues will be negotiated at central or local tables those decisions are still underway with

00:28:22.340 some unions choosing to bring this matter to the ontario labor relations board we respect their

00:28:26.700 decision to do so and at all times are ready to continue discussions on the scope of central

00:28:30.820 versus local issues before proceeding to the next stage of negotiations.

00:28:35.400 You know, so they're obviously trying to smooth things out to avoid a strike.

00:28:39.680 But, you know, if you'd ask me, I expect that there probably will be one on the horizon.

00:28:44.460 It always makes parents nervous when, you know, the kids might be missing on the part

00:28:48.780 of a school year.

00:28:49.460 So I guess we'll be watching this pretty closely.

00:28:53.280 So before I let you go, you've been very prolific.

00:28:55.940 You got a lot on the go and it's fantastic with those stories coming from Ontario for

00:28:59.300 us.

00:28:59.480 So what are you working on and what sort of things should we be watching for in the next weeks to come here?

00:29:05.860 Well, I mean, I'm going to be keeping a close eye, obviously, on what Ford's got to say on this week's revelation.

00:29:12.820 So when I check out the priority setting session tomorrow, I hope to have a whole video put out on that.

00:29:19.760 So, you know, we can look forward to that on Friday if all things go well.

00:29:24.840 And then other than that, you know, there's been a lot of crime happening in, especially Brampton lately, over the long weekend.

00:29:31.160 There is a, you know, several break-ins, there was some knife attacks and stuff like that.

00:29:36.380 So, you know, I've always got my eye on those types of things and stories that'll be interesting for an Ontario perspective.

00:29:43.980 Yeah, well, there's that balance you got to take on with things as they break and then the longer stories and the bigger things.

00:29:50.180 brampton is uh certainly garnering a reputation within canada this last uh decade or so uh which

00:29:57.060 leaves larger discussions it's it's a bit of a it's a hot thing whenever st brampton uh show up

00:30:03.700 i'm just like oh you know this will be this will be getting some views for sure yeah here we go

00:30:08.100 again all right well i i really appreciate uh you know the amount of excellent coverage you've been

00:30:14.100 offering us from out in ontario we we can be too western focused here at the standard and and the

00:30:19.460 the news out there is important to us too. So thank you very much for coming on to speak to

00:30:25.200 us today. And I look forward to reading your stories going forward. Thank you for having me,

00:30:29.340 Corey. All right. Thanks. So you guys out in Queens Park in Ontario, keep an eye on it. That's

00:30:35.060 Jeff Knight. And as I said, I pulled up the page before we brought him on and wow, he's got a lot

00:30:41.700 of content going on out there. I mean, that's the standard we are, you know, do have people across

00:30:46.720 this country and uh he's he's been doing a great job out there and it all ties together you know

00:30:52.020 we can't i i'm a regionalist i'm frustrated with eastern canada and so on but i also understand

00:30:56.460 that the politics out there still end up impacting us out here that's part of what i was talking

00:31:01.000 about uh i guess i'll get back to some of the comments you know pedro firestyle saying i don't

00:31:05.220 think he's taking us for granted uh i think the conservatives are but they always have and like

00:31:11.580 said i don't say say it personally i i just mean it it's the nature of things it's hard to lose

00:31:18.140 seats in alberta if you're conservative you know you can ignore alberta a lot of those alberta

00:31:23.500 writings are going to vote conservative if you ran a tree stump they're going to vote for it and

00:31:28.060 that leads to us being taken for granted not in a hostile way but just in we don't have to worry

00:31:32.460 about that we'll focus on things over here that's just sort of what happens but as i said we look

00:31:38.700 historically we got to be careful because or they've got to be careful albertans are very grumpy

00:31:45.180 right now and we make new parties and i know that the maverick party didn't go anywhere and the ppc

00:31:51.340 isn't going anywhere but our atmosphere has been changing a lot and this referendum comes to a

00:31:57.020 close people are going to be looking at different things to make change and if it looks like the

00:32:01.980 federal party isn't speaking for albertans they could be at risk of things you know with a grumpy

00:32:07.820 electorate doing things uh we just got to watch it or at least mr polyev has to watch it uh

00:32:16.700 let's see what else we've got uh joe mills pointing out of the liberals rescinded any

00:32:20.860 anti-oil and gas policies no but stephen harper didn't get that much for pipelines built either

00:32:26.700 uh the mess that came with trans mountain for example that was already bunged up in red tape

00:32:32.780 and a bunch of battles before justin trudeau got in there and really screwed it up and made it worse

00:32:37.820 because Harper didn't want to get up and say, look, this is federal jurisdiction. That pipe

00:32:42.640 is going whether you like it or not. The consultation is done. We're going full bore

00:32:46.100 ahead. He didn't want to stir up the East. So he didn't do that. Again, it's not personal. It's

00:32:51.480 just the way it goes. As I said, conservative parties tend to be less bad than liberal ones,

00:32:57.780 but they don't change anything. So we've got to accept the same system.

00:33:01.000 Joe Mills, I keep asking if you were PM, what's the first thing you would do? Fine. Yes, I would

00:33:08.120 exercise my authority on this trade war. If you really want to use oil for leverage, it's not by

00:33:14.020 adding counter tariffs, which by the way, Polly have supports and it's self-defeating. I'm not

00:33:21.040 going to try and out-liberal the liberals on bad policy or outdo Trump on bad policy. Find other

00:33:26.480 customers that's the leverage sell more oil but sell it to somebody else that's when they realize

00:33:32.420 there's somebody else who will buy it off you you would say this is in the national interest you

00:33:37.900 could practically declare it an emergency and say that's enough northern gateway every study was

00:33:43.600 already done on every part of that right of way to get oil to the coast over there you say that's it

00:33:49.240 we're guaranteeing it as a federal government proponents come in we will clear the way so you

00:33:53.960 can get that bloody pipe in there and we can get a port going and ship to India and Japan and

00:34:00.140 Singapore and all of those other places, the Philippines, that could use our oil and natural

00:34:05.600 gas through LNG plants. Get it done. But they won't. Federal ones won't do it and it's not

00:34:12.680 conservative or liberal. Why? They don't have the balls because they're worried about what Quebec

00:34:16.300 will think. They're worried about what Ontario will think. And that pattern doesn't change, 0.99

00:34:21.580 whether it's conservative or liberal. I'm not saying go out and vote against the conservatives

00:34:26.060 in Alberta. No, you still want to vote for the person who's going to be as good for you as

00:34:30.020 possible. And there's a lot of really good conservative members of parliament. Most of

00:34:33.520 them in Alberta are really good people, but they're handcuffed. So don't expect too much of

00:34:38.440 them. I mean, the biggest point with me federally, if you remember a few years ago, Quebec's population

00:34:46.080 growth has been slower relative to the rest of the country. So when they were rebalancing the seats,

00:34:53.820 it turned out that Quebec was supposed to lose a federal seat. Well, of course, Quebec, and I tell

00:34:59.280 you what, Albertans are going to learn from them. Quebec said, screw that. We're not putting up with

00:35:02.220 that. Absolutely not. And they started raising a stink. So what happened? The House of Commons got

00:35:07.180 together and had a vote and basically exempted Quebec from representation by population and

00:35:11.900 guaranteed they would always have a seat. They could go down to have an only 75 Frenchman in 0.65

00:35:15.640 that whole province they would still have the same amount of parliamentary seats thanks to that bill

00:35:19.140 being passed the conservatives didn't oppose it a bunch of them stayed home and avoided the vote

00:35:25.000 a bunch of them actually voted for that bill and a handful voted against why because they take the

00:35:31.800 west for granted and they want to win quebec it's as simple as that and that's the way it's going

00:35:35.380 but it's not working it's not working uh what's this forever canadian saying two court rulings

00:35:41.740 to maintain the consent of first nations is required that's absolutely wrong and untrue

00:35:45.380 absolutely wrong. Consent and consult are right next to each other in the dictionary. Have a look

00:35:52.360 at them. There's a big difference between the two. And the Supreme Court has ruled many, many times

00:35:56.540 that First Nations do not have veto authority in Canada on projects. There's an obligation to

00:36:03.500 consent, or to consult, but no, consent is not required. And again, having a courageous Prime

00:36:12.680 minister putting things in the national interest could fix that. Instead, they maintain the status

00:36:16.460 quo and reserves become even more horrific in the conditions. First Nations become even more 0.97

00:36:21.720 poor and dysfunctional. In Alberta, First Nations men die 19 years younger than the average Canadian 1.00

00:36:26.900 man here in Alberta, but we're afraid to change anything. We're afraid to take on the status quo

00:36:32.400 that is hurting them. Why? Well, because we've got political cowardice. That's the bottom line.

00:36:37.800 uh let's see here

00:36:41.400 do do asia cbc cb fixes all saying asia will take as much oil as we can ship out

00:36:49.580 uh but the feds are in the way yeah absolutely the customers are there the customers are there

00:36:55.000 and uh we could put them in okay a good question a two-lar super by the way thank you uh you know

00:37:02.200 from scotty saying so we run federal candidates and split the vote okay

00:37:05.800 polio's trailing by what 17 18 points already what are you splitting they don't have a hope

00:37:14.540 in hell of winning right now he's sinking the i'm talking anyways the risk and i'm not saying

00:37:21.160 it's going or anything the risk like it's still a fair question but in alberta if i'm talking a

00:37:27.720 reform style party that party was only built for the west it was like the bloc quebecois

00:37:32.520 It didn't go splitting votes in areas where that's a concern.

00:37:36.960 And in Alberta, a lot of the ridings, you can split the vote three ways.

00:37:41.340 You're still not going to get a liberal in there.

00:37:43.900 So, though, fair enough, if another reform-type party came in, as I said earlier,

00:37:49.740 yeah, you're pretty much going to guarantee a liberal party is going to be in there.

00:37:53.120 But that's exactly what happened before.

00:37:56.700 Mulroney got in.

00:37:57.480 Guess what he did? 0.99

00:37:58.160 He dragged his ass in getting rid of the national energy program. 0.99

00:38:00.860 He gave contracts to Quebec over Albertan contracts. 0.99

00:38:05.680 He just turned into liberal light.

00:38:09.360 And we see the pattern coming from the federal party too.

00:38:12.140 That's the only way you can win.

00:38:15.080 So we'll see.

00:38:17.580 I mean, there's risks.

00:38:18.520 Fair enough.

00:38:19.640 I don't think running federal candidates across the country would be a good idea.

00:38:22.720 I'd just like to see Albertan MPs to be able to stand up and speak just for Alberta.

00:38:27.440 There's the things I admire for the Bloc Québécois.

00:38:31.520 They know they'll never form government.

00:38:33.660 That's their, you know, it's mathematically impossible the way they're set up to form government.

00:38:39.660 But they will vote either way on issues.

00:38:42.260 They're not beholden to the liberals or the conservatives.

00:38:44.420 They tend to lean left, but they'll vote either way.

00:38:47.160 Because their lens is always, what's in it for Quebec?

00:38:50.700 That's all.

00:38:51.480 That's the number one question with any policy before it goes to the House of Commons or anything goes into committee.

00:38:56.240 their question, what's in it for Quebec? And with a representation as we're supposed to have

00:39:04.720 regionally and so on, that's what our members of parliament are supposed to do. They're supposed

00:39:08.380 to speak for their local constituents, not for the interests of the party in Eastern Canada,

00:39:13.300 but that's the way it's supposed to be versus how it is. If you had a party that is only based in

00:39:18.720 the West, like reform used to be, that'll be the lens they're going to look at things with.

00:39:23.680 and they can vote either way on things, but, uh, we'll see. I mean, that's getting ahead of

00:39:30.820 myself. We'll see what happens. I just don't think it was very wise for Polyev to stir up his base

00:39:36.140 by getting so active in the campaign with the referendum here in Alberta. This is one of those

00:39:41.660 things where it's a domestic battle. You don't want to start getting in the middle of it. You're,

00:39:46.380 you're very potentially going to make it a heck of a lot worse. And, uh, one more time for this

00:39:53.120 forever canadian who's i think just trolling the thread but he's saying read the rulings and the

00:39:57.620 actual constitutional efforts yes you're wrong man you're dead wrong you're 100 wrong search it's

00:40:03.880 very easy actually with ai or google whether or not indigenous bands have veto authority over

00:40:09.460 projects in canada supreme court has ruled multiple multiple times they do not not have a veto

00:40:14.960 consultant consent i'm sorry it's too confusing for you but you are a forever canadian person so

00:40:20.120 i can understand it takes some slow explanations for you sometimes uh william robe uh saying uh

00:40:27.360 ask yourself why paulia was trailing so badly canadian voters seem as the same as carney in

00:40:30.660 voters minds they they um uh might as well you know keep it the same and there's some truth for

00:40:35.320 it like you've got to and i don't have the formula i would you know i would send the magic formula if

00:40:39.900 i could but if you can't distinguish yourself and the party in power people aren't going to switch

00:40:46.000 to you. They will go with the devil they know. The whole Trump factor has been devastating for

00:40:52.460 Polyev. And it's not Polyev's fault, really, necessarily. It's just bad circumstances and

00:40:57.580 bad timing. But Trump has presented himself as a volatile force outside of Canada. It's made an

00:41:05.560 outside threat. And his insulting tone, his 51st state stuff, his governor's stuff, has really

00:41:13.280 rankled a whole hell of a lot of people you know whether people like trump or not i'm not a fan of

00:41:17.440 them but either way that has made everybody rally around the party in power that made people

00:41:24.800 uh stick with the liberals because again when you have an outside threat

00:41:29.360 people stick with the known and they don't budge and polyev just keeps parroting i mean

00:41:36.080 he offers the same things carney says we should have counter tariffs polyev says we should have

00:41:41.600 counter tariffs well then if there's no difference why would i bother switching they know what they

00:41:45.680 got with carney i know we got with carney nothing there's a lot of talk but it's a tough spot for

00:41:50.880 poly have to be in he's got to find a way to distinguish himself and his party from the

00:41:55.680 liberals while still appearing that he's gonna somehow resolve this uh trade mess that we've

00:42:04.880 got going on and uh you know it's a very difficult spot to be in uh let's see let's uh further with

00:42:16.640 williams saying in voters minds they might as well keep the same leaders in yeah don't change the

00:42:19.760 horses midstream yeah it's exactly and uh and you say you're american great you know and and that's

00:42:24.560 part of it right when you've got a crisis people aren't and it is a crisis guys again particularly

00:42:30.240 in quebec and ontario it's really hitting their manufacturing district it's really hitting them

00:42:36.640 hard and people don't want to start changing leaders at this point they want something

00:42:41.040 of some sort of resolution some sort of fix i don't know what it is but it's difficult uh

00:42:46.560 just a quick turn of a page because this is an odd one cheryl van saying whatever happened to

00:42:50.400 the gondek legal issues why radio silence uh for those not familiar with it gondex the former mayor

00:42:56.240 of calgary her and a few other counselors actually had their cell phones seized by a warrant it looks

00:43:01.200 like there might have been some inside dealing potentially or corruption gondek won't cooperate

00:43:06.000 and they haven't been able to unlock her phone to find out what's in it but there might be

00:43:09.680 communications perhaps of some inside dealing the last word was they got an extension in court

00:43:14.880 because they think there's some new tech to be able to get into that secured phone because the

00:43:18.320 police haven't been able to get into it uh and find out what's going on in there but nothing's

00:43:24.640 changed at this point that's it's not my so much radio silence i think in the sense of a conspiracy

00:43:29.200 but there's just been nothing new to report yet so we'll see what happens it's very interesting

00:43:34.080 though uh gondek was not a well-liked mayor in calgary she was one of the rare one-term mayors

00:43:38.960 and then kicked out on her butt but if there was corruption going on as well she could be in a bad

00:43:43.440 place it doesn't say a lot because they seized the phone of phones of a few uh former councillors and 0.99

00:43:50.880 the other ones cooperated so they looked in the phone said okay there's no problem they give their

00:43:55.120 phone back but the mayor's refused to cooperate former mayor has refused to cooperate so we'll

00:44:00.400 see what happens rest assured if anything comes up we will report on it because uh i have little

00:44:05.040 love for madam gondek and uh having it gone would be a plus uh let's see joe millsing if

00:44:13.280 elections called i want to hear what both sides would run on might be eye-opening yeah it would

00:44:17.200 you know we but we're not at a point of that right now i guess so we got to talk more in um

00:44:22.720 broader terms on things and where the parties are going and they're more reactive to more

00:44:25.840 immediate issues the house of commons is sitting again what in two weeks see what actually starts

00:44:30.880 coming along and coming through the the folks speaking in there uh i guess just one more thing

00:44:36.640 to note on it you know everybody's been lighting their hair on fire over the the election of that

00:44:40.400 uh and you know a new party in germany you're not new so much but you know quite conservative 0.87

00:44:46.960 and i guess it's run by a a lesbian woman who uh you know has a a non-white uh wife or something

00:44:54.480 like that i mean so conventional ideas of what uh far right might be aren't the same as what they 0.98

00:44:59.840 are but what this what you're seeing in germany and the people losing their crap over it and 0.79

00:45:03.600 everything else whether this group's extreme or not this is what happens when you kick the can 0.81

00:45:08.320 down the road way too long in immigration you will get a pendulum swing the other way

00:45:13.840 and it could be a bad swing it's better to adjust things now rather than wait until it becomes a

00:45:20.400 crisis and then people push back in what might be a destructive way later so we'll see what happens

00:45:24.640 over there but expect that in more and more european countries as they can't get a handle

00:45:29.600 on their immigration expect more of it out here just to close in alberta the first nine questions

00:45:34.400 a number of them are on how to take care of things, at least with temporary workers and

00:45:38.440 things like that, to take some of that pressure off. And that could reduce that pendulum swing

00:45:43.760 that could go back the wrong way later on. All right. I'm kind of out of time. Look,

00:45:48.260 the pipeline is going to be on tonight. We'll be having a panel. We'll break down a bunch more of

00:45:52.260 those issues as well. Nigel Hannaford has his show and all sorts of news updates are coming up on

00:45:57.700 here. So be sure to subscribe, like, share, do all that important stuff and keep in touch with

00:46:04.200 things because it really helps us stay independent and reach out to you folks. So thanks for tuning

00:46:08.800 in this week, guys. We'll see you all again next week at this time.

00:46:34.200 We'll be right back.

Western Standard - September 12, 2026

CORY MORGAN SHOW： Poilievre shouldn’t take Alberta’s support for granted

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Transcript