Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Hello there. I'm Jim, he's Paul. It's been quite a week in Canadian politics with a return to the House of Commons from Mark Carney and the Liberals and the return of Pierre Poliev. And days after the return there was a number of announcements of prominent Liberal, basically household names in this country. Cabinet ministers announcing their departure to take on some pretty plum jobs, Paul. Around the world.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: Oh yeah, for sure. And you know, coming and going, you know, Krista Freeland we thought was gone, then she came back and now she's gone again.
But she's not gone.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Right.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: So apparently she's gone but she's going to keep her seat.
I don't know how that works, Jim, but I think, you know, hopefully someone will question that.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: I mean her job she's leaving for is the special envoy to Ukraine.
[00:00:59] Speaker C: Right.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: It's in the hopes that when the war ends and they rebuild that Canada has a help and in, you know, the trades and companies and investment rebuilding Ukraine, I'm not sure a job of that magnitude how you can continue to be an active member of Parliament and serve your constituents. Why trying to rebuild Ukraine, it seems.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: Like a big job.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Right.
[00:01:22] Speaker C: Considering what are we into Ukraine for.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Money wise?
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: We're well over 25 billion, are we not now?
[00:01:29] Speaker C: Yeah. So we're, you know, it seems like a lot of money to, to manage, quite frankly, make sure it's going to the right place and currently and then to your point down the road as everything gets hopefully resolved and you know, we come to conclusion on this war that she get involved in rebuilding the country, helping the country and also hopefully we reach some partnerships, right? Absolutely. Significant contributor for the size of Canada. The amount of money we put into this conflict or war has been significant. I hope, you know, we are there at the table participating in contracts, construction, importing, exporting, all those good things that come with a relationship based on the, the goodwill that we gain during this, this terrible time.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: And I could totally agree that we have to be at the table, Paul. But that was followed shortly by a series of dominoes in Mark Carney's cabinet. Bill Blair. Yeah, the Minister of National Defense is going to lead to become the new High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, but we're not done there. Jonathan Wilkinson, the former Energy Minister has been offered a job in Brussels as an ambassador to the European Union. He, he's considering it. Stephen Gilbo is going to leave at a yet determined post, but he's going to stay on until October 19th so he can get his full pension what's happening, Jim?
[00:02:55] Speaker C: Where are they all going?
[00:02:56] Speaker A: What?
[00:02:56] Speaker C: So they just. So let's get it. They wanted to go through the election, they wanted to get the party, get the seats they need, elected, get the seats they need, which they did. You know, got him really healthy minority and then pulled a parachute.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Sounds like a golden parachute, Paul. So to me, it seems like the Carney cabinet is going to have a new look. I hear this from so many people. Well, you know, Mark Carney's like a conservative and there's going to be an old school Mulroney conservative slant to the new look Liberal Carney Cabinet.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Where a lot of these former cabinet ministers were the Justin Trudeau type Liberals. And I'm not sure Carney has a lot of patience and time for that. And that's not the vision he has for the country over the next few years.
[00:03:42] Speaker C: So, so pre planned, you think this, you know, a little suspicious.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: So we go through an election, we get here, and all of a sudden, so are these positions already been promised? Is this something that, you know, was in the works months ago? And we are just kind of hearing like, it's like, oh my goodness, this is just popped up.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: It's difficult to believe. This just came out of the woodwork during lunch on Tuesday that they're going to make a decision Wednesday to offer you and I these plum posts across Europe. And it continues. David Lametti, Carney's current principal secretary, which is a pretty prominent job in the Prime Minister's office, will be given a top diplomatic post, possibly replacing the very, very capable Bob Ray as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations.
[00:04:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I saw that. Who's done it? Bob's done a pretty good job.
Very good job. And I think you got to take your hat off to him. I know he was a Trudeau guy. Right. So, and so that might have came to hurt him in the end. But, but, you know, I thought he represented us, us very well at, you know, the UN And I don't know if he can fill his shoes right now.
[00:04:48] Speaker B: So my question is, as a Canadian, with all these people leaving their post in the Liberal cabinet to take on these international positions, that would obviously. Would it not mean a series of. By elections in different ridings across the country?
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess so. It couldn't have been, you know, and this is an interesting. So if I'm a voter in the writings.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:08] Speaker C: So I have to ask myself, you know, did I get a fair shake with my vote? You know, did we, you know, elections aren't Cheap, Right. So you know, this is something we take seriously because of just number one, the cost. I'm always harping on cost, but you know, we went through that. It took time, energy, money to do it. All these people went out, took the time, voted for the, the party they want at the time and the person they voted for is gone. So now new person in the riding, new by elections. And if it's not a by election, why isn't it by election? So here my question, you know, this was one, you know, with Freeland, right.
We just hit it on at the beginning of, of the podcast. So if you're not going, you're going to stay and you're going to stay. So she said, I'm going to stay and not run again.
So she's going to be vacant, she's going to be gone, she's not going to show up, she's going to be well, like what was. Okay, great. So you're not going to represent your riding, you're not going to have the time.
We're going to have a design in her spot. Don't you think it. Okay, so you know, and this is, you know, pure Polyev, you know, the conservative leader comment, where are you?
So that's fine. These people step down. Where are you at the table saying foul. Timeout.
What's going on? Like again, you know, we have lots of time for witty dialogue.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: But sarcastic jokes and put downs.
[00:06:35] Speaker C: Exactly right. So we have lots of time for it. But, but where are we when it comes to these issues? So you know, whether it be Blair Wilkinson, Gilbo, you know, Freeland, the PMO Lamenti, David Lamenti. Yeah, yeah. You know, so as all these people sort of disappear, where is he saying, okay, timeout, you know, let's run the by elections, let's go to me. And then setting up a structure to actually get into the byelections to try to go win those seats. So would be the natural reaction that I'd be having as the opposition leader.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: But Paul Pierre, Paulie have mentioned it right off the top when he's returned to the House of Commons thanking Mark Carney for the expediency of having the by election so he could get back. So he should reciprocate and return the favor and say I am open to immediate by elections.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: So the people in these respective ridings have a chance. He cannot stand in the way. He can't pull off any kind of crazy political stunts. He has to do the right thing for the good of the country to make sure. They have quick, speedy by elections in each of these writings.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:47] Speaker C: You think given you're a minority party.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: And you can't have it both ways, you can't get a quick by election for yourself and then stand of the way because it's the Liberals that's, that can't fly. I mean he's on shaky ground to begin with right now. The beginning of this new cabinet and this new session, Paul. And whether or not he survives the leadership review in the new year remains to be seen. Yeah, but this is going to be a real litmus test for Pierre Polya way more than Mark Carney for these by elections. How do the Conservatives fare? The, the, a lot of the perception in the country is I kind of like the Conservatives. I'm not sure I like Pierre Polyev. So that's going to hurt them. And if they lose all these by elections and the Liberals and a mixture of other parties end up retaining seats, then what does that say about Pollyv in his long term future in the Conservatives as the party leader?
[00:08:37] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I agree. You know, I was a little disappointed and you know, Nick, we have a clip sort of of the beginning of the, you know, when they, when they went back to the, you know, maybe play it for a minute, you know, take a look. But you know, just the dialogue between the two leaders.
[00:08:54] Speaker D: My mother taught me never to be late. So please forgive me for my late arrival to the session. I had some meetings with extremely important people in east central Alberta, Mr. Speaker, after which I was honored to be elected by the great people of Battle River Crowfoot.
I thank the great Damon Kirk who made it possible. And I thank the Prime Minister for calling a prompt by election. I wonder if one day he might regret that decision.
In a spirit of good faith, I wonder if he agrees that our goal should be a Canada where hard work is rewarded, where food and homes are.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: Affordable, where streets are safe.
[00:09:33] Speaker C: Do we really have solid.
[00:09:34] Speaker D: We're all united under a proud flag.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Right Honorable Prime Minister.
[00:09:43] Speaker E: Mr. Speaker, I'm sure I speak for all parliamentarians in welcoming the member for Battle River Crowfoot back to the House of Commons.
You may notice a few things have changed since he was here last.
The largest women's caucus in Canadian history.
And a spirit of collaboration that was shown in the opening session, including in the passage of the Build Canada act and the Pourje Loire du Bloc Quebecois.
[00:10:30] Speaker C: Qui concern and the Bloc's bill in terms of protecting supply.
No. So you know, then this went on and on and on and honestly it really Replicated a little bit of WWE for the first.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:10:43] Speaker C: You know, session.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: And not even a good match.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: No, not even a good match. Right. You know, no one got hit with it. No.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: This wasn't WrestleMania. This was like a sidebar.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: Sidebar. But, you know, we, again, the critical issues at hand, we. You think we would be more serious in our discussions and not spend the first day making glib comments, you know, asking them if they understood, you know, quiz, or I'm going to give you a quiz, you're going to answer a question.
You know, you know, we've been through this and then going back and forth about campaign slogans. We're not in campaign mode. So I, I think that's going to be a challenge.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Right.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: I've said that in a couple other podcasts. I think the challenge right now is if you want to be a leader one day or you want to be the prime minister one day, you have to act prime ministerial.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: So you have to start presenting yourself with and people with options.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: You can say what you want about Mark Carney. He comes across as prime ministerial in the House of Commons. And when he speaks, and right now in this country, the economy, building homes, the home, the unhoused, trying to kickstart the housing industry, health care, I mean, the laundry list of issues and food insecurity and on and on and goes. Instead of going for the cheap soundbite, present solutions, present ideas that benefit all Canadians, not just votes for your back pocket.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: Exactly. And, you know, we're doing, you know, and I'm not going to, you know, toot our own horn, but we're actually looking at the pillars, right? The nine pillars. And, and whether it be housing, whether it be immigration, whether it be defense, we're looking into the stats behind those. So, like, he, he's got ample information to pull those stats and to go to those sessions and put them on the table and say, how are we going to fix it? Here's what I recommended when I ran for your position.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:47] Speaker C: If you don't want to do that, how do we do it? How do we measure it? And how do we figure out the success?
And now, quite frankly, you know, and I'm going to go back to the prime minister for a minute, we might be feeling a little bit of, on his team, people who are now ready to jump ship because they're from the Trudeau philosophy of government. And this is different. This is different. And quite frankly, he's got his own challenge internally, keeping a group of people that got him to the Got him to the party, got him elected and now they're saying, hey, I don't want to be part of this. And now he's got a backfill with a group, people who want to be part of it.
So again, attacking him right now, not a good idea for the country because quite frankly, you're not going to get an election. There's no way you're going to get. The minority governments usually go from 18 to 24 months.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: And they're strong. And they're a strong minority government.
[00:13:43] Speaker C: And they're a strong minority government. Let's be serious right now. The block, right. It's kind of funny. I was, I was reading it the other day and I've seen it in a couple of different sources.
The, the block and the provincial block.
The federal and provincial parties share the same people.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: So for costing reasons.
[00:14:01] Speaker C: For costing reasons. Right. So the parties use the same, you know, kind of admin. Use the same people. So quite frankly, given there's going to be a provincial election and it's happening relatively soon, there is no way, even for this crazy budget that we're going to see November 4th. There's no way they're going to actually look, to look for non confidence or to vote it down or do anything crazy. So they're just going to let it go through. So you know, quite frankly, it's going to happen.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Not in 2026. Would it be a federal election?
[00:14:30] Speaker C: No. No. So, so quite frankly, if I'm, you know, again criticizing having these discussions all, you know, you can say it once or twice. Listen, we need a budget.
Yeah, we all get it. Hey, we get, we get it. You need to get some by elections done because you just lost a group of people. And quite frankly the democratic process of our government is that you hold the by election and we fill the seat.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: As soon as possible.
[00:14:56] Speaker C: As soon as possible. So whether, and, and you know he's going to say I want my party to win because quite frankly I want to gain seats.
You know, you did it. Maybe, maybe it was, you know, you did do this before the election and these people were promised this after the election.
They stepped down to awful quick. So it does look kind of, it.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Wouldn'T be the first time, wouldn't be.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: The first time or the last. So quite frankly that's happening. So let's get to it, right? Like and you know, get out of campaign mode, get into hold your by elections, move through those, have the outcome and then get some solutions on the table. And I think that's, we're at the.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Point now, Paul, as a country, we have to do what's best for the nation to get through this, to get through Trump, to get through the certain economic malaise that we're into and come out stronger. And sometimes politicians have to do what's best for the good of the country, not best for what's going to be the sound bite in social media or the network news at night.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: Yeah, but we didn't start off that way and that was a disappointing thing. You know, I think, you know, here's the thing we went through, we went through the summer and there was a lot of, well, we were told that there was a lot of self reflection on what had happened during the election and a lot of people were consulted on, you know, why it didn't happen the way the Conservatives wanted to and what went right for the Liberals. And, you know, we, we heard a lot about that. So then, you know, we start the, everyone sits and we. Off we go.
We start right where we started off at the end of when, you know, session was closed because quite frankly, we needed a new government, we needed an election.
We ended up right where we started. And, and that's disappointing given where we're at.
So let's hope, you know, over the next few weeks, you know, we get the early session jitters out of, you know, everyone's, you know, holster and we get moving forward on putting together some solutions that work. And, you know, he's talked about the sovereignty bill and he's talked about a bunch of stuff, you know, Polyev, let's get to it.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: You know, it'd be nice right off the hop. You didn't need to say much more. You say, listen, I'm going to be coming, I'm not going to say much today. I'm going to be coming with a bill with a bunch of solutions to the following 10 things. Because all I can achieve right now is a minority government in the next 18 to 24 months is to assist the country to move forward.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: And don't you think the average Canadian would have a great deal more respect for Poly F if he had done that?
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Well, and I think his likability factor would be because it can't, it can't get much lower.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: Well, let's see, how do we alter what, what did we lose? We lost seniors and we lost women. I think, you know, that we were told that the vote, you know, the votes in those categories went heavy to the, went heavy to the Liberals.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:43] Speaker C: So we were told that. So how is Starting off with the same approach, changing any of that dynamic, do you really think now it does cater to your base. I get it. You know, it does cater to the people that went to the rallies and all that good stuff.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: It's not going to help them win an election.
[00:17:58] Speaker C: No, it's not going to help. And so, so quite frank, this, you know, through the budget. And you know, I started. It's interesting, Jim, you know, because I, I look at the economic side. I, of course I like that, I like the numbers, given my background. And you know, the last few days I was looking at everything and I'm listening. I thought, oh, I'm going to do, I'm going to do a podcast on the economics of the budget on November 4th. Well, I already did one which dealt with, you know, 2024 annual report of the federal government.
And it just, you know, broke down basically the basics of where revenue comes from. And we, we took a look at how things had changed since 2019 to 2024. So basically where our spending increased, where our revenue flattened, all those good things and where it increased. So we took a look at those when we outlined them to get ready for this budget. And I thought, you know, am I, you know, am I super happy that it's November 4th? No. But, you know, what they called a date. So now I think it's up to us to let them put a budget together, present it, go through it and then, you know, really try to critique where it's good or bad.
Do I think there's going to be any outcome to that? I don't think there really will. I think quite frankly it, you know, whatever the budget gets presented will be approved. I don't think there's any appetite to do anything going forward.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: And it's a belt tightening budget. They, they've made no bones about that, Paul. The way that the state of the country that it's going to be, they keep using this term austerity, while we, they're not saying that for no reason. They're saying that to prepare us for what's coming. And I think that's one of the reasons they extended the budget to November 4, to mentally and emotionally prepare Canadians for what's about to drop when they announce that budget that afternoon on November 4th.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:52] Speaker C: Which I think we needed it.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: Right.
[00:19:53] Speaker C: You know, if you look at the 2019-2024 numbers, you know, it becomes very apparent we didn't adjust after covet. We kept climbing. And so quite frankly, we did need to kind of do some belt tightening. In a lot of different areas.
But, you know, let's see in November 4th again, let's hope. And I'm, this is Michael. After all this silliness happens and everyone steps down, we figure out, you know, what the process is to get these people sort of out of the way. Now they've taken their appointments and to get new people in their seats. Let's hope we actually have a logical approach to how we deal with all these issues. So again, recommendations, suggestions, ideas, ideas, thoughtful ideas, ideas. You know, we came and you know, criticism I think we had in the last podcast, the first set of major projects that were put on the table were underwhelming.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Right?
[00:20:48] Speaker C: We, we all, I think everyone's kind of agreed and I think some of.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Them are already in the process anyways.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: Yeah, most of them are kind of in the process. I don't think there was a couple that weren't. But you know, they were kind of long term ones that we had seen before, like rail. But now we have the opportunity to sit back and say, okay, you know, what are the things we can do, what are the things we both support and what are the things we can move forward? And you know, I thought it was very interesting and I won't spend a lot of time on it, but you know, the US went into their 45 day review of the customer agreement, right.
So now they've kind of put us on notice, they're going to look at it. So they're actually getting November, I believe, correct? Yeah, they're getting consultation on it. So now, you know, that puts even more focus on the fact that we need some solutions because, you know, I think we all know that's being done for a reason. They're actually moving that forward as fast as they can.
You know, probably one of the reasons Freeland is moving on right now is quite frankly, she probably wasn't super supportive of the approach because she did it last time.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: So I think she's kind of made the decision to move on for a number of reasons and that's probably one of them. And but that is a big, you know, if you had to look in the deer in the headlights, that's the one that you have to look at now. And I think it would have been best when they actually sat to actually, rather than to make jokes and glib comments, do campaign slogans and sort of all that good stuff would been nice to actually say, hey, you know, if you think tariffs are bad now, you know, wait till 2026 when we have to redo this agreement again. And now things are going to really get challenging. So we really need to focus and here's a format of how we want to do it, or here's, you know.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Something tangible that Canadians can really sink their teeth in.
[00:22:38] Speaker C: Exactly. No more, you know, I don't think we. No more jokes, funny comments, glib conversation, criticism of where we're at.
Let's get going forward.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: Right?
[00:22:51] Speaker C: Let's.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: We have to, as a nation.
[00:22:52] Speaker C: Yeah. So I agree. And then, and I hope, and I, you know, I wish these people well. You know, they. They've served. You know, some of them, as you mentioned, waited to get their pension, so. So they served long enough to get a pension, you know, and, and, you know, good on them. So they did their civic duty. And I think as Canadians, we all appreciate what they did, but, you know, they're moving on to some pretty good, you know, let's call it retirement portfolios.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: They're not cashiers at Giant Tiger.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: No, they're not.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: They're doing pretty good.
[00:23:24] Speaker C: They're. They're doing pretty well. Yeah. And so they've positioned themselves really great, and I hope they are very successful in what they do for the country.
But let's get some good people in their seats and get moving on.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Here, here. He's Paul. I'm J.
