In this episode of The Cory Morgan Show, host Cory Morgan takes a break from politics to take in the sun in Arizona. He talks about his annual pilgrimage to the U.S. and what it's like crossing the border.
00:03:19.900I share my activities in social media.
00:03:21.660It's part of my nature and part of promoting my views to send people to read my columns.
00:03:26.400And 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,
00:03:33.920my account was swarmed with responses telling me not to come back and saying I was a traitor to Canada.
00:03:39.900I'm used to the traitor accusations, though it usually refers to my support for Alberta's independence.
00:03:43.920I didn't expect it to come at me merely for crossing the same border that tens of thousands Canadians do every day.
00:03:50.260But this is the result of a year of, you know, vilifying the United States and its citizens by the federal government, along with legacy media outlets pandering to it for subsidies.
00:04:00.440Horror stories have been shared of people being detained at the border and encountering hostile, nasty Americans.
00:04:05.840Those invested in that narrative get upset when hearing that the atmosphere down south actually is as friendly as ever, if not maybe even a little more.
00:04:13.240Some people have chosen not to vacation in the United States as a form of protest over the trade war.
00:04:17.620Fair enough, they certainly have the right to do so.
00:04:19.900And the number of Canadians I've seen in Arizona is definitely visibly lower than I've seen in the last few years.
00:04:25.420The low Canadian dollars impacted snowboard levels as well.
00:04:28.260But to lambaste others for not taking part in their little rebellion is shallow and pointlessly divisive.
00:04:34.180Setting aside the politics, let's step back and look at the bond between the United States and Canada.
00:04:38.320I mean, there's some cultural differences between Americans and Canadians, but they're no more distinct than those differences between Canadians and different provinces.
00:04:44.960We're going to pretend that British Columbians are culturally closer to Quebecers than they are to Americans, or Newfoundlanders, you know, how different are they from people in Saskatchewan?
00:04:54.540Look, we speak the same language, we eat the same foods, we dress the same way, and we watch the same movies.
00:04:59.120Aside from some regional accents, most Americans are indistinguishable from Canadians.
00:10:32.100And, you know, honestly, I was thinking while we did this, I spoke to, I guess, Jay and Jane on the way out saying I should finish the show off and stand up wearing nothing but a Speedo.
00:10:42.740But again, not only the property value thing, but ruining Western Standard ratings.
00:10:47.040You know, I'll spare everybody the marble bag shot.
00:12:32.320You know, and I compared what's happening, unfortunately, between our two countries with what happened in many instances with families during the COVID.
00:12:44.000You know, if people reflect back, there was people that were the pro-vaxxers and then the anti-vaxxers.
00:12:51.020and sometimes even within their own family, sometimes very close friends, and they became
00:12:57.620so emotional about that issue and so demanding that it destroyed friendships. It even destroyed
00:13:04.920relationships within families, brothers against brothers, and I had somewhat of that experience
00:13:11.100in my own family. We've since mended fences, but you see what's happening, as you said in your
00:13:17.040opening remarks, Corey, between Canada or Canadians and Americans right now. And it's very
00:13:23.860similar. Like, people are so emotional about this. And as you so accurately stated, governments come
00:13:30.680and go. Administrations come and go. I mean, I'm no more embarrassed to be here, you know, with the
00:13:38.160administration and the government that they have in the United States than I hope Americans aren't
00:13:43.720too embarrassed when they come to Canada and see our federal government because oftentimes there's
00:13:50.080lots to be annoyed with there as well oh yeah politicians as you would know don't always get
00:13:55.980it right but it was just this is so crass with what they did you know tactically brilliantly
00:14:02.080effective if you're Machiavellian if you have no principles if you don't worry about the damage
00:14:06.140you had to cause to win the strategy on the part last year you know by by Kearney's
00:14:13.720I guess and campaign managers was brilliant but we're still feeling that hangover that's why I was so shocked I crossed the border I shouldn't have been that shocked I mean I'd be nice to stir people up I get social media abuse but just for having frost like holy cow I didn't even prod at you guys like come on yeah exactly and it was much your experience was the same as ours we had all these worrisome stories coming out primarily out of Ontario and Eastern Canada
00:14:43.720you know about oh my goodness like you don't dare want to go down there I mean you know you end up
00:14:49.720in jail or something I mean ice will be waiting for you at the border uh you know uh snowbirds
00:14:55.680beware and uh you know our experience was like yours if anything it was easier because there
00:15:02.260was less traffic that was it because it has reduced traffic I admit you know we come down
00:15:06.960every year I've been in Arizona often you'll see all sorts of BC plates upward of plates you still
00:15:11.600see some but it's visibly down and it's the same here in california exactly same our experience
00:15:18.640but you know as well as the young lady that was at the window at the border crossing who couldn't
00:15:25.360be have been more friendlier and welcoming for uh leah and i we answered her questions provided our
00:15:31.840passports she reminded us that because we were staying a certain length of time we had to go
00:15:36.800online and register once we got settled uh it was just a gentle reminder and other than that
00:15:42.240we breezed through we weren't at that window for more than a minute i didn't time it down to the
00:15:47.600second uh but that was our experience first day down here uh we pull up to a a stoplight
00:15:55.920a car pulls up beside us it was more than a one lane uh road pulls up beside us motions to leah
00:16:02.720who rolled out her window and we did and this american lady looks at us and says you know we
00:16:10.160are so thankful uh that you folks came down again this winter you know so that's been our experience
00:16:17.760and it has changed we've been here almost a month now and that's been our our experience you know
00:16:23.040and as you said so accurately in your open comments we're good friends and we have a
00:16:28.240lot of good friends down here and and uh and we know they feel the same way yeah and we want to
00:16:33.440maintain it you know okay so i mean getting back to the political level and and i don't like to
00:16:38.160give a lot of credit to liberals but still carney has a tough job ahead uh president trump has
00:16:44.320definitely been taken though an american first attitude he wants to bring all economic activity
00:16:50.080within the american borders the the tariffs have most certainly harmed canada some of the attitudes
00:16:55.520have how you know you were in the federal government for a while you didn't have to deal
00:17:00.560with anything quite like this before but how do you diplomatically deal with you know canada's
00:17:06.000interests trade interests uh with somebody as as difficult as president trump without you know
00:17:13.120continuing to seem like you're bending over for him as well it is a position they're in no matter
00:17:18.960who was the prime minister well exactly and i think people respect the fact that it's uh it's
00:17:24.320a fine art to negotiate with someone that's a master negotiator, like President Trump is.
00:17:31.440He knows exactly what his plan is. I certainly don't fault him. I don't think anybody that
00:17:36.320recognizes leadership, I don't fault him on his need to represent the American people as he sees
00:17:44.480fit. That's his job, after all. A person certainly can question some of the language and the use of
00:17:53.680phraseology that is used. But also, as we said, I mean, this too will pass. I think in the meantime,
00:18:03.040you have to identify certain issues, and they've failed to do this. I believe Kearney has failed
00:18:09.200to do it. They identify issues where we have commonality between the two nations, where there's
00:18:16.000a better chance that you can reach a compromise, if you will, and work from there, and then deal
00:18:21.920with some uh some others that are more contentious uh you know like supply management for example
00:18:27.760yeah it's been an irritant to the americans long before trump came on the scene and uh and it
00:18:33.520remains a big time trade irritant uh uh you know because of uh the dairy cartel so um it is
00:18:41.760difficult i don't uh i don't deny that uh corey i think that it could be done a lot better i think
00:18:48.240that you certainly don't uh help your negotiations and we recognize that come uh summertime we're
00:18:56.720going to be in the uh in the midst of trying to renegotiate kuzma and uh we can imagine how
00:19:03.600difficult that's going to be for the carny government and they're not he is not helping
00:19:09.120himself with what he did in beijing no and i wanted to get to that so i mean again there's
00:19:14.400some of the balancing though i mean it got pretty clear to canada well we do have our eggs a lot in
00:19:19.040one basket just due to geographic reality uh due to such a friendly relationship but then when you
00:19:24.000get somebody who wants to be a little more hostile with trade negotiations boy we find out we're
00:19:28.560we're uh really in trouble so you want to maybe diversify your tests like it fair enough but
00:19:34.800jumping too hard into bed with china is only going to aggravate our our southern
00:19:40.800and the neighbors as well further you know again it's tough though i mean china we do do a lot of
00:19:46.800trade back and forth with them as well india i mean trudeau soured that relationship pretty badly
00:19:51.280and that's a huge developing market yeah but we can't let the fears of offending the southern
00:19:58.240neighbors stop us from trying to diversify our export markets either nor should we no i think
00:20:02.400that there's general acceptance even from the opposition parties in in parliament uh cory to
00:20:08.720the fact that uh the correct way to proceed is to put as much effort as possible into diversifying
00:20:16.240those those products but not to say directly or indirectly through your actions to the americans
00:20:22.960oh we don't need you anymore because it's not true it's never going to be true as you pointed out
00:20:27.920um you know so there's there again you know it's the way you do it it's not that anybody's in
00:20:34.240disagreement that with the overall uh theme here that we have to diversify uh but you don't
00:20:41.760take that that step further you're there uh you make you know what appears to be some inroads uh
00:20:48.480mous whether they actually come true or not and this is the other question i mean his uh prime
00:20:54.480minister carney supporters are very quickly falling all over themselves giving him the accolades
00:21:00.400but it's an MOU, right? It's a memorandum of understanding. It's not an agreement. It's not
00:21:07.120a trade deal, as per se. It's a first step, a good one, I grant you. But then he took it that
00:21:17.040step further, didn't he? And he said, you know, while he was there in Beijing with the Chinese,
00:21:22.560the communist Chinese, he says, oh, well, you know, this is a good step towards a future
00:21:28.880partnership if you will uh for a you know uh what was it a world world order new world order
00:21:36.560you know well why was that necessary because that's almost like taking a pointy stick and
00:21:42.080sticking it in trump's eyes and saying okay you know enough of the americans we're going to make
00:21:47.440this new world order with the communist chinese well i don't recall uh carney being elected to do
00:21:54.000that no and those particular three words like that the question is whether it was intentional
00:21:59.040or not because that's a very loaded term you know some people read that very much into the
00:22:02.800world economic forum or globalism i mean it could be if you just took it on surface benignly said
00:22:09.040it's just terms you used for uh but you know politicians that level usually are carefully
00:22:14.880planning their words i mean trudeau was a little more of just stepping on his tongue when he would
00:22:18.640speak but carney is a little controlled so what do you think his intentions were on throwing that
00:22:23.760grenade into the discussion? Well, I think it was to sort of exert himself as this world leader
00:22:31.200and he was intent upon, you know, furthering that image he has of himself. You know, I don't know
00:22:38.720how widely that's shared. Obviously, in eastern Canada, central and eastern Canada, shared
00:22:43.520sufficiently that he won an election, as you said earlier. But, you know, we were talking about
00:22:51.760what steps he could take or should be taking or any prime minister should take to try and build
00:22:58.320the relationship that we need we need a strong especially trade relationship but a security
00:23:03.920relationship uh you know on many fronts justice uh you know to stop smuggling across the border
00:23:12.560uh certainly uh you know we've been accused of being a conduit for drugs going into the united
00:23:18.480States. It's well known that certainly the conduit for guns coming into criminal hands in Canada
00:23:26.640from the United States is well known. So all of those issues need to be addressed
00:23:31.200on both sides of the border and they always will. From my point of view and I think many Canadians,
00:23:37.600you're not going to help build the kind of relationship that we need and we will always
00:23:43.040need with the americans by poking them with a stick and that's what happened to me anyway when
00:23:49.200when he went that step further than needed to be said uh invasion maybe again that that prodding
00:23:56.160of the americans rings well with his base of support so even if it causes more damage overall
00:24:00.720that's what i get frustrated with he's not looking at the bigger picture so something
00:24:04.560that's exposed and really brought about it kind of ties into what i want to talk a little more
00:24:08.080about too of course is a subject we're well familiar with western alienation uh
00:24:13.040I mean, it became clear then for Canadians, okay, we've got to diversify our markets, something we already knew in Alberta, we've been talking about for decades, guys, 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 a sole customer, and we really need to move product to the coast.
00:24:32.860and suddenly finally Canadians realized wow we need to get product to the coast so we started
00:24:37.820talking about a pipeline that you know well the rest of the country started talking about the
00:24:42.220pipeline but we're not going to get it I mean Kearney keeps falling back on the line that we
00:24:48.380have to get provincial and indigenous consent before getting a pipe to the coast not consultation
00:24:55.980yeah which is contrary to the constitution on both fronts uh so what does this beat
00:25:02.700switch barney obviously uh all i could think is no stupid man really doesn't want the pipe to go
00:25:08.540well if you look at his history as uh you know uh protector of the uh of the environment if you will
00:25:16.460uh and he's that's the uh the course he's charted uh for most of his life uh he and his and his wife
00:25:25.180And there's nothing wrong with that. That's a choice to make. 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. And, you know, I just mentioned the fact that what was signed in China was MOUs.
00:25:41.340Well, of course, there was a lot of fanfare about an MOU that Kearney signed with our Premier, with Alberta.
00:25:50.480And, you know, we have to remind people that that is an MOU too.
00:25:59.500And as many, many people that are cynical as you and I about governments would say that it will never happen.
00:26:11.340And it'll certainly never happen when he keeps turning around and promising the coastal First Nations and the government of British Columbia veto.
00:26:26.840You 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, you know, taking a recess, if you will.
00:26:40.080But some of Alberta's demands of the federal government after Trudeau departed were to repeal these bills, the no new pipelines bill, for one example, the ban on oil tankers, despite the Americans having oil tankers go by Prince Rupert and Kitimat every day virtually.
00:27:38.120I 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.
00:27:46.120One of which is free trade between the provinces, which the government has been kind of loose on enforcing.
00:27:53.120I mean, you know, the courts are like bringing beer from Quebec into New Brunswick.
00:27:56.120brunswick a person can be charged and the courts have said well it's a constitutional violation but
00:28:01.000we're still going to allow quebec and such to block the sale of beer border to border
00:28:06.680it it start and the authority for getting a pipeline through i mean you say yes we have
00:28:10.520responsibility to consult but at some point that's the responsibility of the prime minister then say
00:28:15.000well we did all the consultation we could guys this thing has to go it's in the national interest
00:28:21.640i'm sorry you're not still on board but it's moving ahead and carney has abdicated that which
00:28:28.040has led to a lot of people saying well what's the point of the federation you know we might as well
00:28:32.680be negotiating country to country so there's kind of segwaying into uh you've probably seen the news
00:28:36.840and things on it uh the independence movement in alberta is just exploding i think more than we've
00:28:41.880seen before i mean you know not since the early 80s with the national energy program i think it's
00:28:46.760been more sustained even a rally of thousands of people in calgary just the other night and
00:28:52.360people signing petitions we're in for a year of a referendum we are and uh for you know this
00:28:59.240is a quite a unique meeting i might add i don't know if there's uh any other uh situation where
00:29:06.840you could have two former leaders of independence movements uh for alberta and western canada
00:29:15.480sitting down together to discuss this topic and here we are who would have thought we've been
00:29:22.920perhaps we've been banished uh no i mean seriously um obviously i am very supportive of what's
00:29:32.200happening uh although uh leah and i were discussing this uh the other night as i think
00:29:39.720most albertans are um i would just caution people uh corey uh before they get too far out in front
00:29:48.200of this thing that we saw much the same uh support that we're seeing in those long lineups and
00:29:56.280sub-zero uh sub-zero temperatures uh outside those venues people wanting to line up and
00:30:04.120and subject cold in a cold north wind to wait their turn to sign this petition to demand a vote.
00:30:13.880That's what they're doing. They're demanding their democratic freedom to vote on independence
00:30:19.800for Alberta. And while I support that and I applaud each and every one of them for doing that
00:30:27.320because I am very pro-independence for our province. I just caution that we saw much the same
00:30:36.600thing less than a year ago in the election campaign. As a Conservative, I was certainly
00:30:42.840excited to see on social media and on the news channels every day these huge turnouts for
00:30:53.640Pierre Polyev and his rallies across the nation and we were excited. We thought that you know
00:31:00.600despite Trudeau's exit and this new fresh face in in Mark Carney that Canadians were going to make
00:31:08.920a change and of course as Conservatives it's a change that we felt very much needed and so I
00:31:15.240was pleased for Pierre. He put in an enormous amount of work and effort and he was getting
00:31:19.800the turnouts but it didn't materialize in that needed victory at the ballot box and that's my
00:31:26.840concern here as a first step to make sure that we get way past and we will be getting way past
00:31:33.880the numbers necessary for the petition to force a referendum and give Albertans that vote
00:31:41.240but we're a long way as you and I've discussed off camera to getting to those numbers where
00:31:47.000we would need to win the referendum and begin just begin the initial step charter force towards
00:31:54.120independence it's certainly moving in the right direction it is snowballing just well i would say
00:31:59.400the cost and everything is meaning you can't leave it to others you've got to get up and take part
00:32:03.880because this is you know the six seven eight months it might be till voting day they're going
00:32:07.800to go fast and a lot of people to reach even those that um you know are not 100 sold on how they're
00:32:16.200going to mark their ballot when the time comes okay they're still lining up the sign because they
00:32:23.160want to have a say and that's if you believe in democracy that's a real positive development
00:32:29.400and you know there's they're at least saying let's have the debate you know we don't know
00:32:34.680all the ins and outs and the good and the bad and the ugly uh for a potential alberta independence
00:32:40.200but let's have the discussion let's get more facts and information in front of the public
00:32:45.000so that each and every one of them will be encouraged to actually go to the ballot box when
00:32:49.720the time comes and to select their choice intelligently with the knowledge they need
00:32:56.280yeah well and this will be a period of more discussion on independence than we've
00:33:01.240ever had and ever seen before and it's happened in canada before but it was with quebec something
00:33:07.560that's been striking this time is the attitude back towards the independent supporters so i
00:33:12.520remember the Quebec referendum well they were again you know please Quebec stay please don't
00:33:18.600go what can we do for you Quebec we love you Quebec what we're getting is redneck hillbillies
00:33:26.600you're not allowed to have a referendum you don't have permission to have a referendum
00:33:32.280like that the attitude is night and day towards how Albertans are treated when they're considering
00:33:37.960independence versus quebec which i i think only helps the independence movement because it shows
00:33:43.240there is a double standard in this country yeah it actually makes the point for the uh those that
00:33:50.120are in favor of independence doesn't it and very starkly makes the point which is that we are
00:33:55.960treated differently uh you know negatively uh by central and eastern canada we always have been
00:34:02.760ever since confederation uh and and i would argue as a former uh leader of the maverick party you
00:34:09.720know in favor of of western independence uh we always will be you know i took at that time back
00:34:17.800in 2021 i spent a lot of time with a constitutional law professor uh looking at our constitution
00:34:26.360and dissecting it and saying okay like uh as if as a once proud canadian uh a proud canadian of
00:34:35.000what i would call the old canada um what can we do to stay within canada but to treat be treated
00:34:42.840fairly in the future and of course there isn't there's no avenue there's no course that we can
00:34:48.360chart to achieve that, Cory. Because of the amending formula, it's impossible.
00:34:56.920Certain aspects of a constitutional change aren't just under the seven of 10 provinces
00:35:05.960amending formula. They're actually requiring unanimity. Well, you're never going to get that.
00:35:12.680that the 10 provinces would agree to give Alberta its due. And so it came to me that there was,
00:35:22.640and at that time, reluctantly, I'm not reluctant anymore, because after this decade of darkness
00:35:28.620under Justin Trudeau, I mean, if there was ever evidence of why the West needs its independence,
00:35:37.340And 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.
00:35:49.600And they're organizing out there, too.
00:35:50.980And they are getting organized and good on them, because we know that we're never going to be treated fairly.
00:35:57.260And I'm so sick and tired of Central Canadians saying, oh, you're just a bunch of whiners and, you know, and as you say, this double standard where, you know, they get down on bended knee.
00:36:11.260But to the West, it's, you know, you're a bunch of whiners and you're complainers and you can't go anyway and you'll never get the support.
00:36:19.180and well and you know to your point too and in reading the Constitution and
00:36:24.280looking at things and that's what really creates the true independence
00:36:26.860supporters when they realize and come to that conclusion it's not the party in
00:36:30.580power that's the problem it's the system and so you could change it I've said
00:36:35.140that in a lot of speeches that's why I would say with conservatives as they get
00:36:37.720in even Harper great Prime Minister but still he didn't change anything because
00:36:42.280he couldn't change anything systematically if Polly ever gotten in
00:36:45.680he would have been more benign than Trudeau or Carney but the way I put it is they'd be less
00:36:51.040bad than the liberals but because of the system they have to cater to central Canada when people
00:36:56.360reach that conclusion that's when you get a true independence support yeah you get that uh-huh
00:37:02.160moment uh you know where people's eyes light up uh when they when they come to that that sad
00:37:08.940realizations and and you're quite right it does not matter um we get better government and then
00:37:15.900the west is lulled into a certain sense of okay well things aren't that bad uh because had pauliava
00:37:24.540got in and i certainly hoped he would have and still hope he might uh we would have seen the
00:37:30.300end of some of these irritants uh like the no new pipelines act like uh the the ban on tankers like
00:37:37.900and getting rid of the industrial carbon tax not just the consumer carbon tax there would have been
00:37:44.780certain steps that you know he promised to do it and i'm sure pierre i know pierre well enough
00:37:50.220uh that it would have been done and it would have made life a lot easier not only
00:37:55.020uh for albertans and western canadians uh corey but it would have made i would argue life a lot
00:38:00.940easier for all Canadians and but the core difference and why we go through this seesaw between
00:38:09.500what I would call reasonable government and I was part of that government so I like to think we were
00:38:14.220being reasonable a reasonable government under a conservative prime minister and then of course
00:38:20.300being negatively affected dramatically by successive liberal prime ministers and governments
00:38:27.980and we go through this this uh seesaw uh arrangement and it's been going on since
00:38:33.980confederation and it's never going to change well and it's not just here this is what's really
00:38:38.220interesting that we're seeing in our lifetimes you know as this goes the party quebecois is poised
00:38:43.180to win next fall we'll see a lot of change in politics over that much time we saw that with
00:38:47.660last year's federal campaign exactly but they're pretty strongly up there uh the liberal government
00:38:51.980of Quebec, or not Liberal, but you know, that CAQ,
00:38:55.980collapsed under their own corruption, as is a tendency in Quebec as well.
00:39:01.880But part of the campaign platform of the PQ is that they want to hold another referendum.
00:39:06.020They're saying, we're running on holding another referendum.
00:39:09.680Theoretically, if they get a majority government this fall, Quebec's going to be scheduling
00:39:14.280another one. This is not a sign of a functional country. If we're getting these referendums
00:39:19.500happening on each side even if they aren't winning majority support you've got large segments i mean
00:39:23.820some people dismiss it too oh it's only 30 percent of albertans who wanna you got one in three have
00:39:28.860said i've had it yeah you should be paying attention yeah and that's just heading into
00:39:33.900the conversation yeah you know uh which gives people like yourself and myself it gives us
00:39:41.580some renewed hope that we haven't had i would argue about in our lifetime that perhaps we're
00:39:47.500we're on the cusp of some pretty dramatic change,
00:39:51.220because at least we can make the arguments now
00:39:53.960and not have people discount them out of hand,
00:39:57.960the arguments in support of independence