The Ben Mulroney Show - Are polls factoring in the Enthusiasm Gap between Pierre Poilievre & Mark Carney

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Are polls factoring in the Enthusiasm Gap between Pierre Poilievre & Mark Carney with Guest: Regan Watts, Founder Fratton Park Inc., former Senior aide to minister of finance Jim Flaherty If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The wait is over. The NBA season is here, and FanDuel is the place to bet on all the action. I'm talking everything from point spreads to money lines to player props. You can even pick who's going to win it all. Whether you're betting on a breakout performance or an underdog victory, tip off the season right with North America's number one sportsbook. Just download the app and bet on the NBA all season long. Please play responsibly. 19-plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please go to connectsontario.ca. Let's jump right in to this conversation about the election. It's, it's omnipresent. It's, it's, it's not going away. I am a political beast. I love politics. And so this is my this is my 36 day Super Bowl.

Liberals, in my opinion, when they are running behind like to fear monger. They like to tell you things that are not true about the Tories. Do you remember when Paul Martin suggested didn't suggest he said in an ad that if you elect Stephen Harper, he's going to put Canadian military, Canadian troops on the streets of our cities. That was complete fabrication. Complete fabrication. And so he's also said recently that if you elect Pierre Poliev, he's going to take away your dental care. He's going to take away your pharma care. Well, Pierre Poliev came back yesterday, and this is what he had to say.

Yeah, let's go through them one at a time. We will make sure that nobody loses their dental care. We will also, you know, on on childcare, we all believe that there should be more affordable childcare in this country. The Liberals, though, have imposed a massive top down bureaucratic system that has actually meant 120,000 fewer kids have daycare spaces than when they first created the program. A third more families are struggling to get child care spaces than when the liberals first created this program. Yeah, look, I heard somebody on this radio station talk about government programs that

they create these programs and then things get worse and they said, you know, things could get worse for free. You don't have to pay to make things worse. And so he's gone on record saying, pharma care will not be touched, dental care will not be touched. The only thing they're going to do is out, the liberals in the NDP will try to scare you and tell you that what you heard from Pierre Poliev is a lie. That he will absolutely get rid of liberal pharma care, he'll absolutely get rid of dental care. And here's another prediction, if the polls tighten and if in fact it looks like the Pierre Poliev has turned things around and it looks like he's gonna to form a majority.

I guarantee you they will tell women, they will tell women as sure as I am breathing, that Pierre Poliev is coming for your reproductive rights, which of course he's not. I guarantee it. Hand of God, if I'm wrong, may he strike me down. So let's move on to Ajagmeet Singh, because he was asked how is it that so many traditionally left-leaning voters and blocks of voters like unions are standing shoulder to shoulder with Pierre Poliev and the conservatives. For a lot of people, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Sometimes there is such a thing as vote switching between the orange and the blue. It happens. But this is a very

big deal. There are a number of unions that have never voted or endorsed Pierre Poliev before and they are absolutely standing behind him saying that he's what's best for them and their membership. And so Jagmeet was asked, what's happening to your your traditional base of support? Here's what he had to say. Sometimes it's it's, you know, a long time ago, people may, you know, there's been some gap between when Harper was in power, people might have forgotten what Harper did. But Harper, as a Conservative Prime Minister, and Pierre Paulièvres as a cabinet minister in that government, attacked workers, attacked unions, attacked their ability to organize. And sometimes there's a bit of

a gap and people forget what happened before. And so it's our job in this campaign to remind people, this is his track record. This is what Pierre Poliev did, voted against minimum wage. Who does that benefit? It hurts workers and it benefits big corporations that want to exploit your labor. Why would you vote against establishing a wage for workers? It shows you you're not in it for workers. So we're going to let that be known. We have fought every single day as a party, both

me as leader and historically for working people, we fought for anti anti scab laws to ban scabs in our country, we've got that done. We have shown you through our actions that we will always prioritize working people. Okay, a very interesting clip from Jagmeet Singh, and if he ever accepts my invitation to come into the studio or to call in for a conversation, I would love to explore that with him. It seems to me the answer that makes the most sense as to why these unions and their union members are lining up behind Pierre Poliev is because he is not only supporting the workers, but he's supporting the work that they are trained to do.

So he is the only candidate who is giving his full-throated commitment and has been for years to building pipelines and infrastructure projects of national importance. We need to dig, we need to drill, we need to liquefy, we need to transport. All of those things require hundreds of thousands, if not millions of laborers and tradespeople in this country.

And so he is the only one who's looking at both sides of the equation. I'm standing up for pipelines, I'm standing up for drilling, I'm standing up for liquefied natural gas, I'm standing up for shipbuilding, I'm standing up for a bigger military. Every single one of those things requires the most robust support of laborers and tradespeople

that we can possibly have. So he's fostering growth on both sides of the equation. And the unions are recognizing that that is the key to success. You can't have one without the other. And nobody else is talking the way he is. And so they're looking at it and saying, yeah, you know what? He might have voted against X, Y, or Z in the past.

But the fact is, we are all going to be better off. All of us are going to be better off. The union will be stronger. We'll have more members in our union, which means more dues for our union. And we're going to have more work because he is he's going to authorize and green light all of that work. That to me is the answer that well, Jagmeet Singh won't give that answer. But to me, that's the one that makes most sense.

Okay, this is this is a tricky one. I don't think, if you don't live in a country, then you're not gonna know its history. Of course you're not, because you're not gonna be in proximity to the news stories that eventually become the history. Right, at one point, the massacre at the Ecole Polytechnique was it 17 years ago, 2017, years ago.

At one point it was a news story, and now it's part of our history. And you don't have to have ever been to Montreal. You might not know a Quebecer. You might live on the other side of the country, but if you hear École Polytechnique, you know exactly what it's about. Where a gunman shot down, brought a, I believe a rifle into the Ecole Polytechnique killing so many women, snuffing out their lives. It's one of the great tragedies that we as a country have to bear

as a burden. It's an automatic reflexive thing when you hear what are some of the worst gun tragedies in Canada? Ecole Polytechnique. You know that if you lived here. You know that if you're Canadian. And so when Mark Carney gets up on stage and refers to the massacre at Concordia University, that tells me a lot of what I need to know as to who he is and where he's been. I do not believe that if Canada was in his bones the way he and Mike Myers were trying to tell us it was, that he would have made that mistake. He also, in doing so, talking about this, referenced this candidate that is running for the Liberals by the wrong name.

Let's listen to what he's had to say. — Natalie Protovo, who, out of the tragedy of the shootings in Concordia, became a social justice activist, and she's put her hand up and she's running with us. You want all of that diversity, the diversity of our country, because we are all in it together. We're all going to bring ourselves, we're going to bring balance and we're going to win. Yeah, her name is not Natalie Pronovost. Her name is Natalie Provo. And were you the prototypical liberal candidate, you would have said the name with the French accent, Natalie

Provo. And the school is the Ecole Polytechnique, not Concordia. And the fact that you, the first one, fine, a lot of names you gotta remember. The second one, that's a problem. That's insulting. And it tells me a lot about how much about this country you actually know about.

This is the Ben Mulroney Show. On the Chorus Talk Network. Okay, so Mr. Kar Carney suddenly finds out that what he didn't know he thought, but what he did think was that he was not there because his close friends from the Green Party were not there. So I thought, oh, that's over. They will be invited and then we will have the debate and somebody will have to pay for someone.

I don't know who will pay for who. I believe Mr. Poilier intends to pay for the liberals and then somebody might have to pay for the greens. And the idea is that if everybody wants this debate to happen and it is very useful, then let make things happen. That was Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchette slamming Mark Carney's excuses and that's what they are for skipping the second French language debate. To discuss that and many more of the issues that have been popping up on the election campaign trail we're joined now by friend of the

Ben Mulroney show as well as friend of Ben Mulroney Regan Watts founder of Fratton Park Inc and a former senior aide to Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty. Regan, a lot of stories, not a lot of time. So just talk to me about this French language issue for Mark Carney. This feels like it's gonna be an albatross around his neck that you won't be able to get rid of. Morning, Ben.

There's a couple of things in Mr. Carney's campaign with respect to Quebec and French language that frankly, I'm astounded by. First, let's talk about the debate. He he said in a press conference that he was going to attend the TV ad debate. And then later his campaign came out and said he wasn't going to now we should be clear with our listeners, Ben, there will be a French language debate hosted by Radio Canada, who are the CBC equivalent in Quebec. However will be a French language debate hosted by Radio Canada, who are the CBC equivalent in Quebec. However, a second French language debate hosted by TVA is tradition.

It has happened in the last three elections, and I suspect the elections before that. So for Mr. Carney to skip out and then first blame the fact that there was a fee to debate and then to say that Elizabeth May or the Green Party were not going to be represented doesn't hold muster. And it strikes me that his campaign are trying to do damage control because he's weaker in French, whether that's an albatross. I'll leave that for Quebecers to decide. But it strikes me as very odd that a his story keeps changing

and B, they're breaking with election tradition in this country. Yeah. Secondly, the only thing I'll add on Quebec and Frenchmen is horrific comments yesterday is for horrific mistake where he has a candidate whose name the candidate he does not know and incorrectly referred to the institution where we had a violent attack many years ago involving firearms and his candidate is a survivor of that attack. If you can't remember the institution where this took place, you're probably not fit to be running for prime minister of Canada and certainly not in the province of Quebec. Well, I think it's an indicator of how much time he's actually spent in Canada.

You know, he can talk with Mike Myers as much as he wants about timbits and the rules of hockey and how much that makes him a Canadian. But this is something that is ingrained in the souls of so many Canadians, whether or not they have any affinity or connection to Quebec at all. You could be from the BC Interior and you know the École Polytechnique. And if you call it Concordia, that tells me a lot about who you are as a Canadian. Oh, I agree with that. But are you when you refer to Mike Myers, are you referring to US citizen Mike Myers or or you know, I mean, look, Mr. Myers is a talented artist and I have enjoyed his art over the years.

What I don't enjoy is American residents coming to Canada and endorsing politicians on either side of the spectrum. We've had that with US President Obama. We had that when President Trump endorsed his preference for Mark Carney a couple of weeks ago in his interview with Fox News I just don't think this type of endorsement is useful for Canadian public life, and I don't think Canadians respond to it Let's let's take a look at someone not necessarily new to the political fray. He was a minister under Justin Trudeau He said he was gonna take some time

He's gonna leave to to be with his family and then he decided maybe I don't like my family so much take some time. He's going to leave to be with his family and then he decided, maybe I don't like my family so much. Sean Fraser is back as a Liberal candidate. And he, I want you to listen to something he just said about Pierre Poliev's commitment to preserving pharmacare and dental care. Here's what he had to say. So I'm learning this in real time. And it's unbelievable to me that someone who has railed against these programs as wasteful Now that he realizes his position is unpopular. He shifts his principles altogether You don't like my principles look at my other principles is his essential approach here

I mean if you didn't know any better you would think that that was a conservative railing against Mark Carney It is so tone-deaf and I I struggle to believe that an actual person said that. Well, Mr. Frazer has been in cabinet for a while. And it is not hyperbole to say that he was the worst immigration minister in the history of Canada. The Canadian consensus around immigration was destroyed by the actions of he and his department when he led that department And that is something we were gonna pay for for many years. That's the first thing second thing is, you know, he's not alone Anita

And on who is running in Oakville Yeah Is are you know, there's this cadre of liberals who had when the polls were down where the chips were down When they were out decided you know what they wanted to spend more time with family, or in both of those cases, Miss Anand or Mr. Fraser, they wanted, there was rumors they were going to run provincially for the provincial leadership. And now, as liberals always do, when it is in their interest, they decided, you know what, maybe we'll run again. If I was the liberal candidate in Central Nova, where Mr. Fraser is running, and they did have a candidate nominated there was somebody who's nominated that morning yeah I would be

very upset and I suspect they are and look then I know Nova Scotia well and there's Nova Scotia to listen to central Nova my dad elected in central Nova he did in 1983 and and you know these types of tactics from heavy-handed central campaign insiders do not go down well in the writing. But the important thing to remember here is liberals are going to liberal and they're going to keep doing the things that are in their interest. Look, these are people who love Canada and obviously want to serve the country and I respect that, but they're doing so in their self-interest. I remember Mr. Fraser talking about how we wanted to spend more time with his family. Now I've not met his family,

but I can't imagine they're that bad that he's wanting to run back to Ottawa so quickly after retiring. Yeah, again, one last point on this very quickly, but you know, I noticed out of the mouth of Mark Carney was, I don't know if he's going to come back. If he does, that's great. And then later on, Sean Fraser says, I came back because I was convinced to do so by Mark Carney. It feels to me the liberal campaign is not getting the pushback for these misspeaks and missteps and sometimes misdirections and massaging of the truth that I think they should be getting. And in turn, it's almost a normalization of this behavior that I do not think is worthy of an election campaign. Well, I make some good points there, Ben.

I'll say a couple of things for your listeners to consider. First is it is implausible that Mr. Carney, in his press conference early in the morning, didn't know that Mr. Fraser was coming back that afternoon. Why not just deliver a better line? For me, it shows a habit of being a little bit loose with the truth. And there's some stuff today that's trending on Twitter and other places about his Brookfield assets and how his companies were structured. That's the first thing. The second thing is, you know, the media in this country have a tough job and you're part of that media crowd as well, Ben. I think over the course of the election, Mr. Carney is going to be held more to account for what he says and what he doesn't say. I also think we should hold the media

to account. You know, I've been reading stories about how the liberals are ahead in the polls and whatnot. And I have to tell you, I only know what I see with my two eyes. And I was there on Sunday night in Toronto when 2500 really proud, passionate, joyful Canadians showed up for Mr. Poliev. And last night, 4500. Well, exactly. Look, you and I were both there on Sunday and I was willing to play devil's advocate. I was willing to say, look, it's the GTA, lots of people around here, it's a Sunday, maybe that 2500 is an aberration, maybe it's an outlier, but then for him to attract over 4000 people on a Tuesday in Hamilton speaks,

I'm witnessing and to be fair, I haven't been to a liberal event, but what I've seen online or what I've seen on TV, there is an enthusiasm gap between the two. And so I don't been to a liberal event, but what I've seen online, what I've seen on TV, there is an enthusiasm gap between between the two. And I and so I don't know what to make of the polls when what I've seen belies the polls. Well, 4500 people in Hamilton, and I know you have listeners in the Hamilton region, and the Niagara region, ain't nothing. Those are massive rallies, relatively speaking, for for Canadian politicians, liberal or conservative. You know, for me, I think there is an enthusiasm gap. I think obviously, and I've said this on your show before, Ben, the polls were going to tighten

when the long national nightmare known as Justin Trudeau had finally ended, and we've seen that. But I just don't see, you know, I just don't see the country after 10 very long years stampeding back to the liberal party. Do I think that voter turnout is going to be important? Absolutely. I'm willing to go on a lark here right now and say, Ben, I think voter turnout will broach 65, 70% in the upcoming election, which would be huge compared to the last election. And I think that'll be on the back of

enthusiasm for Mr. Poliev. And you see that at the rallies and the pictures that come out of there. I completely agree. What I'm witnessing is people who are willing to mobilize and leave wherever they are to show their support. It's one thing to answer a phone call and say, yes, I support Mark Carney.

It's another thing to get off your couch and go vote for him. And I think those things are not taken into account in the polls. I got to leave it there today, my friend. But I'll talk to you real soon. Merci mon chum, have a great day. There can only be one winner. Tune in to Renovation Resort every Sunday and look for the code word during the show. Then enter at homenetwork.ca slash watch and win for your chance to win big. Amazing!

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