In this episode of the CoinMortgage, I talk about the 51st state concept, trade with the USA, and why Canada is in serious trouble with President Trump and his proposed trade tariffs on Canada. I also talk about why Canada has become so dependent on the USA for its oil and gas exports.
00:05:25.880The Constitution makes it clear no province has the right to stop infrastructure from carrying products from other provinces or from being constructed or operating.
00:05:34.740That includes roads, airspace, railways.
00:05:36.640and yes, pipelines. Could you imagine what happened if Alberta blocked rail access from
00:05:40.920BC or Manitoba blocked truckers from Toronto? It's unimaginable. So why the hell are we still
00:05:46.800putting up with this crap from Quebec? It's time to either lay down the law as a federation or
00:05:51.380dissolve the nation. We can't tolerate the spoiled brat of confederation to continue to dictate to
00:05:56.560the rest of the nation how we may or may not earn money, especially when it's considered the spoiled
00:06:02.060brat in question is a chronic interprovincial welfare bum. Quebec's going to be sucking1.00
00:06:06.38013.6 billion dollars in equalization payments out of the country in 2026. Well, energy producing
00:06:13.060provinces in the west receive nothing. The hypocrisy is galling. While Quebec refuses to
00:06:18.300develop its own deposits and they're rather large of natural gas and they hinder pipelines, they
00:06:22.280shamelessly will take the money from energy producing provinces. It has to stop. Equalization
00:06:27.860is a constitutionally entrenched formula, sure, but the formula is created by the government. It
00:06:32.360can be cut down to a fraction of what it is and maybe it's time for that to happen. Quebec must0.97
00:06:36.280be facing a stark choice. Either accept equalization in a pipeline or be cut off. They'll suddenly
00:06:41.920discover a love for pipelines, I suspect. They know where their poutine's buttered or they'll
00:06:46.400separate. Either situation's better for Canada than the status quo. The world's hungry for Canadian0.96
00:06:51.040energy. LNG terminals are being created everywhere, aside from Canada. And there's refineries all over
00:06:55.840the world capable of processing Canada's heavy crude. All that's required is increased coastal
00:07:01.160access for these products. We can get these things done fast when the will is there. The
00:07:05.820first Trans Mountain Pipeline took 18 months to construct, and that was in 1953. Post-war energy
00:07:11.220security was considered in the national interest, and the job got done. Now, energy security remains
00:07:16.420in the national interest. If the government acts fast, makes it clear they'll clear the regulations
00:07:20.320and enforce the constitution with pipeline construction, private industry will step up.
00:07:24.940They need strong assurances, though, and tight timelines, but it can be done. The current
00:07:29.280government certainly won't do it, but the next one could. So the ball is going to be in Polyev's
00:07:33.780court, and the time frame's limited. There's never going to be a better time to do this than now.
00:07:39.000Canada has two choices in front of it. It can act like a proper confederation and get the
00:07:43.160projects done in the national interest, or it can give up, break up, and let the provinces make
00:07:47.980their own arrangements as an independent nations. You know what? I'm good with either option. I'm
00:07:52.460just not going to put up with the status quo any longer. All right, that's what's got me wound up
00:07:56.780today, guys. Let's see what else is going on out in the news. That'll calm me down. Hey, Dave, how are you doing?
00:13:07.980I see the guests in the lobby, and I've been looking forward to this discussion, again, in this crazy year of things and things that have been happening.
00:13:14.680A lot of President Trump has certainly been shaking things up in Canada with talking about Canada as the 51st state and, you know, memes with the American flag going over Canada.
00:13:25.760Being part of the independence movement in Alberta, of course, for a long time, admittedly as gray as I am, the 51st state concept has been one around for a long time, whether for Alberta or for the country as a whole.
00:13:37.760So my guest, Brian Loving, of course, he's been pushing this concept for quite some time.
00:13:42.940And it's a ripe time to talk about it a little more at length.
00:13:46.820So thank you very much for joining me, Brian.
00:13:49.580Hi, Corey. My pleasure. Nice to see you.
00:13:52.740Yeah, so, you know, we've seen this discussion really kind of ramp up a little bit on the way in.
00:13:59.160I kind of wonder, though, we saw more people starting to chew on the concept now that, you know,
00:14:04.540President Trump threw it out there and made them start to think about it.
00:14:07.160People say, you know, there's a lot of advantages we can see with it.
00:14:10.280But part of my view is what happened lately with just kind of the tariffs and other stuff is it might have set it back a little bit.
00:14:15.740I mean, people might be open to the concept, but people don't like a forced marriage.
00:14:18.620They kind of want to join in willingly.
00:14:22.620Where do you think things are sitting right now, now that there's been kind of some tensions opened up?
00:14:26.740It's hard to say in terms of percentages.
00:14:28.560I mean, many Canadians, certainly that I've spoken to, are not in favor of it.
00:14:33.060many Americans that I've spoken to are in favor of it and I'm a dual citizen so I'm kind of between
00:14:37.840both places and it's kind of interesting to hear all the comments from the people and you know my
00:14:43.120view is is that there's advantages and there's disadvantages to everything and one big advantage
00:14:49.460is if Canada belonged to the U.S. immediately you're covered by their constitution and you
00:14:56.820have freedom of speech you have the right to defend your life and you have all kinds of things
00:18:39.580That's a trade deficit, not a subsidy.
00:18:41.360And President Trump keeps calling it a subsidy.
00:18:43.280I mean, as one of our other reporters we worked with
00:18:48.100mention on a show I did recently is, you know, if I go to Safeway and I spend more than Safeway
00:18:53.180buys off me, it doesn't mean I'm subsidizing Safeway. I'm just a bigger customer than they
00:18:58.200are from me. It's confusing the way it's delivered. And so it's hard to understand. I mean, but
00:19:03.400another thing from the American perspective, I mean, you have to look at, do you want Canada?
00:19:08.400I mean, 70% or close to 70% of all Canadians have never voted conservative ever. And so
00:19:15.000So you really want them to join your country? I mean, if you did an allocation kind of based on the California and other state formulas, you'd have like 50 some odd seats in Canada.
00:19:27.020And I don't think the Republicans would ever get elected again. So you've got to kind of be careful who you're leaving your wife for.
00:19:33.260I mean, you might end up with somebody that you don't like. And in this case, what I'm saying is it would be the opposite of that.
00:19:40.580Well, yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up, because from a Republican point of view, this would not be good for the Electoral College.
00:19:46.640I mean, and we talk about the 51st state.
00:19:49.480Realistically, with the size of Canada and even the population, it would be, if in this theoretical world we merged, it would be more like there'd be five or six states, perhaps.
00:19:59.420And at best, only one of them would be a red one.
00:20:09.500I've always thought Alberta should be its own country and I think Alberta should be the 51st
00:20:15.180state or its own country, one or the other. I mean I think you start expanding into all of Canada,
00:20:20.380I think that's problematic for both countries and certainly for the U.S. I mean the last state to
00:20:25.100be admitted into the Union was Hawaii. I'm not sure when. I think it was in the late 50s,
00:20:30.700maybe 1959 or something and even Arizona didn't come in as a state until 1910 or something and
00:20:36.620And of course, there was Alaska. And I'm so old, Corey, I remember Alaska and I remember Hawaii coming in as states.
00:20:43.940And, you know, is it time for another one? I mean, there's a lot of moving pieces here.
00:20:48.500And why Trump is so aggressive on this is interesting. And like he says, you know, he has said several times, I love Canadians, but I don't like their leadership.
00:20:56.400Well, you know, I got news for you. We don't like it either.
00:20:58.620well yeah but and again though i think that it almost has had a at least from our perspective
00:21:05.340a detrimental effect it's more like yeah i can't stand them either but it's not your place to tell
00:21:09.960me that you got a problem with it's up to us to get off our butts and kick that that clown out of0.99
00:21:14.040i agree with you i agree but a lot of our people aren't getting off their butts to do it and so
00:21:20.280that's an issue too yeah and i mean i i love the u.s you know as i said i'm still sporting a little
00:21:25.280bit of a 10 for my Arizona time. I wish I could have spent a bit more down there. We do some
00:21:29.680business down there. I worked down there a lot on an L1 visa in years gone by in the oil field.
00:21:34.740And what I want to see, though, is a tightening of our relationship. I want to see, you know,
00:21:39.540at least from my perspective, freer trade. Let's let's develop that relationship. Let's get,
00:21:43.680you know, tighter together. And then actually, I think we would get closer to that potential
00:21:48.000Alberta 51st state. But unfortunately, what we see right now is some bigger walls going up.
00:21:53.080There are some walls going up, and people are working hard at adding more bricks to it. I mean, look at the NDP leader. He says, you know, the federal leader, he has made a statement about how dare you, you know, we'd never give up our health care. Well, for heaven's sakes, your health care? You mean that broken thing where you're 80 years old, your best before date is up, you get to be put on a two-year waiting list for a new part? I mean, what health care is that?
00:22:42.700And, you know, one of the things I don't like seeing on both sides is people, you know, using national anthems at sporting events to boo each other's anthems.
00:22:51.180It just brings it to a personal one-on-one level.
00:22:55.980Nobody in the USA likes to hear their anthem booed.
00:22:58.460Nobody in Canada likes to hear that either, even if you're uncomfortable with the leadership and you're ticked off.
00:23:02.340And it drives that personal wedge between people, which I just hate seeing because again, the Americans are still our closest ally and friends. I mean, culturally, we're still very tight with each other. You don't see a huge difference when you travel south of the border. There's differences, but they're not huge. It's not like when you travel to Europe or Asia or even South America. And to start getting personal with each other, I just don't like seeing our relationship disrupted like that.
00:23:28.840agree with you 100 it's not very nice and and you know the relationship should be better and
00:23:33.000stronger but again it's all political a lot of it is political and the people i think are okay
00:23:39.320they kind of like each other and and the canadians add a lot to the economy of uh
00:23:43.720there i live in the uh coachella valley in california and i don't know the percentage
00:23:48.120but i'd venture a 30 percent guess of all the people that are canadians in the you know in the
00:23:54.200off season in canada and and uh it's nicer there right now than it is in calgary
00:24:01.800so so i i don't know i i mean um canadians are a little brainwashed because we all watch uh
00:24:08.360american television and we think we have rights and we think we have freedom and we think if
00:24:12.280somebody breaks into our house that we can hit them on the head with a bat and and and protect
00:24:16.440our home and it's not the same so so there's a lot of that that kind of mixes into the argument and
00:24:21.160And then you get the tariffs that go into it as well, which is a separate issue.
00:24:25.220But that comes into it. And so everyone now is fighting and not fighting, fighting, but they're arguing.
00:24:32.540And as you've already pointed out, I mean, there's a nicer way to do this.
00:24:36.400Yeah, well, President Trump has come in kind of stirring the anthill and then he's going to see what he can put together afterwards.
00:24:41.460He's doing that all over the world right now. He seems to have turned his eyes away from us for probably a few weeks anyways.
00:24:47.860and maybe we'll get some stuff in order.
00:24:50.560Something people asked me when I came back from Arizona,
00:24:53.960you know, was what were you hearing from Americans
00:27:50.640And, you know, one friend of mine is a Republican senator, and he said that Trudeau, he said if he had a rope in his hand, he wouldn't know if he found a rope or lost a horse.
00:31:21.520I mean, talk about a weird head to try and get into.
00:31:23.820President Trump's head is about as weird and unpredictable as any.
00:31:26.980As with Canada, I think he just like shaking the whole heck out of it,0.79
00:31:30.620taking it to the 11th hour, and then he can really set the terms
00:31:34.260on getting something done once they're worked up.
00:31:36.860So now that the people of Gaza are standing in a pile of rubble due to their own bloody idiotic actions, let's not pretend, by the way.0.99
00:31:46.360I'm just going to go on a side thing because I'm tired of people saying we should feel sorry for them.
00:31:51.260How have they managed to hold those young ladies that they were molesting and raping for over this last year and some without them ever being found?
00:34:16.360You have an opportunity to build a good little nation for yourselves.
00:34:20.380If you could just get over your hatred and obsession with wiping out every Jew in Israel, because it's not going to happen.
00:34:25.600So, again, I don't see how any other approach with these Palestinians is going to work.1.00
00:34:32.800Everybody else has tried negotiating. They don't seem reasonable. They're all wrapped up in their sick idea of putting a caliphate together, and it's not going to happen. So maybe President Trump's going to get that done. But he's also doing a pretty ham-handed approach with it as well. He's not messing around. But can you? Can you beat around the bush with him anymore?
00:34:55.800So let's get back to what Trump, you know,
00:35:52.480And again, Trump took the hammer to get us on with it, and maybe we're going to get some realistic solutions.
00:35:58.440But let's talk about the fentanyl problem, because it runs a lot deeper than just trying interdiction and the war on drugs.
00:36:06.800You know, you get to almost two points of view, the hard, hard libertarian or socialist view.
00:36:12.320All we need to do is just legalize it hard enough and provide enough free drugs, and somehow it'll go away.
00:36:16.460Well, we saw that in Vancouver, Portland, everywhere else.
00:36:18.200No, what you do then is cause slaughter.
00:36:20.340What he caused is massive overdoses and deaths. It's terrible. Didn't work. Failed catastrophically. Even Canada backed off. Even Trudeau, meathead, was smart enough to realize this legalization idea with hard drugs and fentanyl was not a good idea.
00:36:36.660and it's funny watching the discussions because it in alberta looked like a 55 drop in overdoses
00:36:44.780in 2024 versus 2023 that's pretty significant that's pretty good bc in the meanwhile it's
00:36:51.020still going up why because bc went with the legalization handing out drugs alberta since
00:36:55.460and credit give it to him jason kenny started that ball rolling years ago saying we got to
00:37:00.280focus on treatment treatment centers treatment beds mental health supports is that's where we've
00:37:05.020got to get the demand side. We've got to help the people who are consuming it. We've, you know,
00:37:08.920if people aren't consuming it, it doesn't matter who wants to smuggle it. I mean, this battle needs
00:37:13.100to be taken out on all fronts, not just the people supplying it, but you've got to get to
00:37:18.740the demand side. And that means treatment. That means mental health options. And it's working in
00:37:23.500Alberta. I mean, that 55% drop. And the funny thing is, what do I read when I look that up
00:37:27.680today on it? CBC saying, well, yeah, it's down 55% in Alberta, but Smith shouldn't call it a victory
00:37:33.720yet. Why the hell not? What's the matter with you guys, you state broadcaster chodes? You guys need1.00
00:37:39.340to be defunded so bad. If nothing else, out of Polyev, my God, got that rotten dinosaur of an0.51
00:37:46.420organization. When you can't look at 55% reduction in overdoses as a victory because you just don't
00:37:52.220want to admit for a second that Daniel Smith might have been right about something. All I want to see
00:37:57.320is a win. All I want to see is fewer people dead. You know what? If, if in BC it had been working
00:38:03.540with legalizing and handing drugs to these addicts, if it actually was working and reducing the
00:38:08.140overdoses and then eventually leading them to treatment and fixing them up, I would support it
00:38:12.060because I just want to see a positive outcome. I don't care how they do it, but it didn't work.
00:38:16.440But the bloody knobs at CBC just won't want to admit that. So they would rather see people die