The Ben Mulroney Show - Ben asks why is Mark Carney getting Cabinet level information when he is not elected

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Pierre Poilievre says the Liberals suddenly love all his ideas -Why is Mark Carney getting Cabinet level information when he is not elected 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

Get groceries delivered across the GTA from real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Playoff football is here with BetMGM and as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football venom on every game day with a variety of exciting features. BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways your football fandom on every game day with a variety of exciting features. BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to

embrace peak sports action. Visit betmgm.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older, Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario Healthline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. Thank you so much for joining us from coast to coast to coast on the Chorus Radio Network.

It's a real pleasure to be with you on this Thursday gearing up for a good weekend and Super Bowl weekend as a matter of fact. You know, if the world made any sense, we would have had a federal election by now. That's not even in the offing. We still have to wait for the liberals to get their house in order because that makes sense. But if were we in an election campaign right now, then the weight of Pierre Poliev's comments recently would be hitting a lot harder, even though I think they're very important and we should be paying attention and that's what we're gonna do

right now. You know, a few years ago I think they're very important and we should be paying attention and that's what we're going to do right now. You know, a few, a few days ago, he stated his desire, were he prime minister, he would be, he would support locking up drug kingpins, fentanyl kingpins for life. And the question was put to him, will he be butting up against the notwithstanding clause? Well, let's listen to, first of all, his vision for criminal justice reform. What I'm proposing is necessary to uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And you do not have the right to go out and kill 20 or 30 people by spreading poison in the community. That is not have the right to go out and kill 20 or 30 people by spreading poison in the community.

That is not a charter right. So the liberals believe that mass fentanyl murderers who have taken 50,000 lives have the right to go free on the streets. That is how they interpret the charter. Here's how I interpret the charter. That law abiding people have the right to expect that their children will not die in back alleys. That's the charter right I will uphold. Next question. Yeah, listen, for those

people who keep beating the drum that Pierre Poliev speaks in slogans and doesn't put anything in the window as far as policy initiatives are not listening, they're either not listening or they are deliberately misleading you. He is not talking... the people who speak in slogans are people like our eventual soon to be former prime minister who keeps saying he's standing up for Canadians and delivering for Canadians. That's nonsense. That doesn't mean anything. This is a man who's putting forth concrete plans and a concrete vision for a new direction for Canada. You may not like

it, but it's different. And what he's saying there without saying it is he knows he's going to get pushed back from this. He knows that there will be advocates and activists who will push back against this sort of criminal justice reform. And he is willing to test it in court. justice reform and he is willing to test it in court. There's no way that he said this without having serious conversations with jurists and legal experts who said, no, there's a case here, you can make this case. And if you put forth legislation that gets challenged in court, we believe that we can put a strong argument together that will have that challenge beaten down,

and we believe that we can make it law. In that same press conference, Pierre Poliev was asked about the possibility that we could find ourselves in an election campaign in the middle of these tariff threats by Donald Trump? Here was his answer. It would be not only responsible, it is the only responsible course of action. We have a Liberal government that has totally lost control of everything.

The Trudeau-Carney government has lost control of spending, having doubled the debt, lost control of crime, having seen gun crime rise by 116 percent, they've lost control of the borders with thousands of illegal migrants, drugs, guns pouring in over our borders and threatening our people, they've lost control of the cost of living with rising taxes and a doubling of housing costs. And they have lost control of our national sovereignty. By blocking pipelines, mines, LNG plants, the Carney-Trudeau Liberals have made us hopelessly dependent on the Americans. They've handed over our economic sovereignty to President Trump, who spots weakness. And now, what is it what is a real estate mogul from the fiercest economic jungle in the world, New York City, what does he

do when he spots weakness? He pounce. He pounces on the weakness that Carney, Trudeau, liberals have caused in this country. Yeah, I'm getting a little tired of people saying, oh no, no, we've got to wait because there's uncertainty. And it would be, it's foolish of Pierre Poliev to be demanding this. Pierre Poliev has been demanding an election for months. And it is certain other politicians who have been playing keep away with your vote and your democratic right to vote that have prevented this election is much needed election to happen. People saw this coming a mile away and they didn't care.

So there are other people that you should be holding responsible for putting us in an awkward position. But the rule that I live by in this time is an election at the earliest possible situation is better than the next day or the day after that. Get a government with a mandate to negotiate with Donald Trump over the next four years. The longer we wait, the harder it's gonna be. And so I don't care if it's today or tomorrow, I prefer it's today rather than tomorrow,

but at the earliest possible convenience. And that's the rule that I believe that we need to be living by. And again, I'm not saying you have to vote for Pierre Poliev. If that election somehow miraculously brings Mark Karnian with a massive mandate, that's better than what we have today. Maybe Jagmeet Singh with a massive mandate. Maybe that's not better.

But I hope you take my point. And a lot of people are wondering whether the wind is out of Pierre's sails because a lot of the issues that Pierre was going to run on may not be issues in the next election because of a 11th hour come to Jesus conversion that so many of these liberal candidates are having. Let's listen to how liberals suddenly agree with him on everything. The liberals would like you to believe that they now agree with Pierre Poliev and the common sense conservatives on everything. Why is it that right before the election

they suddenly change their mind? Well, because they're trying to, these lying liberals are trying to trick Canadians into giving them a fourth term. They're not going to change. The only way you'll get a change is by electing a common sense Conservative government that will put Canada first. I have been against the carbon tax all along. I've been against the capital gains tax increase all along. all along. I've been against the capital gains tax increase all along. I've been against fentanyl and in favor of tough penalties and strong supporters all along. Liberals will try to trick you into thinking that they now agree with Pierre Poliev on everything. He's not wrong. These same people who are saying, oh, I got to, I got to pivot here because it's a, it's

bad for Canada. The Tories have been telling him it's been bad for Canada. They've been showing them data points is bad for Canada. They've been showing them data points that Canadians are not better off. They've been showing them that despite the onerous burden that this country has been carrying due to this carbon tax. We have not in a meaningful way, move the needle on emissions. They've been showing them this time and time again.

And every time at every opportunity, these same people denigrated the opposition saying you are trying to divide Canadians, you are lying to Canadians. So for them to have this 11th hour conversion means they actually don't stand for anything. I would have a heck of a lot more respect for them if they went down swinging with the carbon tax draped over their shoulders. But instead they're casting away the thing

that identifies them as the progressive beacon of hope in the world. They're casting it away because it's politically expedient. Now Mark Carney would take issue with that. He would say it's not politically expedient. He's just he's a pragmatist. Canadians want change with a new positive leadership that ends division and builds together.

Now I'm not a politician. I am a pragmatist. And so if I see something that's not working, I will change it. And that's why last week I proposed a new climate policy, eliminating the consumer carbon tax, having large polluters pay Canadians to make climate smart choices and helping our countries leapfrog their American competitors in global markets. All right, so that's his tactic. He's decided that's how he's going to sell himself. Only time will tell if people are buying it. Look, you can't help those who won't help themselves, right? That's an old adage and it's absolutely true. And so the CBC, which is facing, let's be honest, an existential threat in the form

of Pierre Poliev, who has been saying for years that it is a wing of the Liberal Party of Canada. It promotes their vision of the country at the expense of all others. And they are not worthy of the funding that the taxpayers give them and also nobody watches them. Okay, so you would think that in that face they would have the cleanest of clean hands showing the country in anticipation that this man is going to become Prime Minister that they are valued, that they are fair, that they are unbiased, and that they are there for all Canadians. But they're

digging their own grave. Just yesterday, they aired 36 and a half uninterrupted minutes of a speech at a press conference given by Mark Carney, who is unelected, unaccountable. He says himself, he's not a politician. He's not running for office. He is running to be liberal leader of Canada. Meanwhile, at the same time, there was a 20 minute speech

by Pierre Poliev that he gave. Now he will be the next Prime Minister of Canada. He is elected. He is talking about policy, and he's talking about things that matter to Canadians. Not only did they not break away from a panel discussion that they were having, but only after that it aired, did they give any analysis to it.

And it was all pretty much smarmy, condescending, and one sided. So to talk about this and many more issues is good friend of the Ben Mulroney show and good friend of Ben Mulroney. Regan Watts, founder of Fratton Park Inc and former senior aide to Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty. Regan, welcome to the show. Good morning, Ben. Okay, so the whole CBC thing, I mean, it's a clown

show at this point. And I don't know what they're doing. I think they they, at this point, it feels like they see the iceberg, and they've just decided to, there's nothing they can do. So they're just gonna have a party. Yeah, I mean, that's so I noticed the clip as well, Ben, and observed the same things that you did, which is they covered Mr. Carney live and did not cover Mr. Poliev live.

I'll say a couple of things that may or may not surprise you because I believe them to be true. One is I agree with you that Mr. Kharney will be the Prime Minister of Canada, but Mr. Carney is going to be the Prime Minister of Canada in six weeks. He is going to win the Liberal Party leadership. There is no doubt about that.

Liberals are doing what they always do, which is coalesce around a candidate and not put that candidate through their paces. So because he's gonna be Prime Minister in the next six weeks, CBC should cover his speech because that's the only public remarks that Mark Carney has made. His peekaboo campaign has been reluctant to engage with media. And so I think it's more than necessary and more than defensible for the CBC to cover a speech from Mr. Carney, given it's either

the first or the second speech of any consequence that he's delivered. However, and I think the point you made is correct on Mr. Poliev's announcement, which I thought, by the way, was exceptional for your listeners. He spent a lot of time yesterday talking about fentanyl and what we need to do about getting the scourge of fentanyl off our streets as well as those who produce it. CBC regularly does not cover Mr. Poliev in his remarks, not only the ones he made in BC yesterday, but also every Sunday morning, Mr. Poliev is live from Ottawa and he does a press conference. And I would say that the CBC is covering those press conferences on an irregular basis. Do I think there's bias at the CBC? I think there's probably some. But if you look at trust barometers

with that various PR firms put out, and Edelman is the one that I follow, traditional media are not meeting the basic standards of trust with Canadians. And in this day and age, that's their problem. And I think they don't help themselves, they being the CBC, by maybe over indexing to cover Mr. Polyev. Well, let's talk about some of the meat that Mark Carney put on the bone that was so

very well covered by the CBC. He, I mean, I, let's just listen to it and then we'll, we'll talk about it on the other side. We are in a crisis. We can do little to change the external forces that are causing it, but we can act as Canadians. There's a fever gripping America, and while it rages, Canadians will remain resolute and true to our values. While America engages in a war on woke, Canadians will continue to value inclusiveness. Reagan, come on. This is we've seen Justin Trudeau reap what he sows on this front by denigrating and demeaning the American voter for electing Donald Trump. And now Mark Carney

is going down the exact same path demeaning and denigrating the American voter by claiming that the reason that they they elected Donald Trump is that they're they it's they're dealing with some sort of induced fever. Yeah, I look, Ben, I think that's a good point. It should be reminded and I know Mr. Carney has spent some time out of the country, but there is nothing inclusive about the Liberal Party of Canada. And the public opinion polls show this. They trail with every demographic group in every part of the country.

Doesn't matter what age, what race, what gender, male or female, the Liberals are behind. And so there is nothing inclusive about their approach to governing. And so when Mr. Carney talks about this, Canadians see right through it. This is a party, and you talked about this, who demonized President Trump and his supporters. And they did so not just for the year up heading into the US presidential election last year, they did it for four years. And so is it any wonder why Republican politicians and their supporters are not in love with the Liberal Party of Canada and Mark Carney? I think on the issue of woke, Ben,

I think Canadians are like many, like almost every time Canadians are well ahead of politicians on these types of issues. They have had enough of woke. And you know, Mr. Poliak mentioned this and I referred to his press conference in BC around actions he's proposing to take on fentanyl and those who produce it. You know, he talked about charter rights. He was asked a question about charter rights and Mr. Poliev something and I'm paraphrasing here, said, you know, the charter right for life, liberty and health is far more important than the charter rights of fentanyl kingpins for the right to be free. And you know, the issue around wokeism, and I'm going to talk

about drugs here in class A narcotics, the safe supply crowd and the harm reduction crowd, whether they're in Toronto or British Columbia and other places have had 20 years to make their case on on woke ideology, particularly when it comes to the issue of drugs. And all you have to do is look at and it was David Eby or Premier Eby, pardon me, in British Columbia, who flip flop like a Pacific salmon in the most recent BC election and changed his party's policies on the with respect to crime and drugs. Yeah, the Toronto Star doesn't get this, the global mail doesn't get this. But if you live in Kelowna or St. John or Saanich, and I know you have listeners out there, they have had enough. I mean, do you remember the issue? There was a tweet going around a video where you could get cocaine legally from a vending machine in British

Columbia. And so when Mark Carney talks about woke and values, he is just offside and the drug issue is just one. Regan, I don't want to cut you off, but I do want to get to this and we only have a short period of time left. But Mark Carney essentially said that he is getting regular updates from cabinet ministers on information that is the cabinet minister are privy to as part of sort of his campaign. Now you've worked with cabinet ministers in the past. I don't have enough information, but it feels to me like that there's something offside there. Well, it says two things. One, liberals are setting up a coronation and running to a leader who's not been battle tested

because they think it will help their electoral fortunes. And secondly, I believe Mr. Carney's top secret security clearance would have expired from his time in the government of Canada because he's been away for a long time. And I'm not sure that sharing confidential intergovernmental discussions with Mr. Carney is even legal. And it might even be a violation of the Official Secrets Act.

But look, this is a party that is flipping and flopping. The liberals are and Mr. Carney is emblematic of this and they're flopping on all kinds of issues. And voters value authenticity. And Mr. Carney is doing his darndest to come across as authentic. But his cabinet colleagues who are sharing secrets, that is the most authentic way for liberals to demonstrate who as authentic, but his cabinet colleagues who are sharing secrets, that is the most authentic way for liberals to demonstrate who they are, which is people who are in their

self-interest trying to protect their party and their political interests and doing what they can to maintain government. Regan Watts, we're going to leave it there, but I always love chatting with you, my friend. Daniel Blanchard is no ordinary thief. His heists are ingenious. His escapes defy belief. And when he sees the dazzling diamond CC Star, he'll risk everything to steal it. His exploits set off an intercontinental manhunt. But how long can CC Star stay lucky for Daniel?

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