The Ben Mulroney Show - Even Immigrants say that we've bungled the Immigration file in Canada

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

Guests and Topics on Today's Show -What newcomers think about Canada's immigration challenge with Guest: Guidy Mamman, Immigration Lawyer for Mammon Sandulek and policy analyst -Doug Ford pitches energy alliance with the U.S. to avert trade war with Donald Trump with Guest: Stephen Lecce, Ontario Energy Minister -More credit card debt likely for 1 in 5 as Canadians focus on ‘surviving’ with Guest: Rubina Ahmed-Haq, Global News Personal finance expert -Viral discussion on the state of the housing market in Canada and the need for Real Estate agents with Guest: Davelle Morrison, Real estate Broker -Dad says U.S. treatment Canadian doctors dubbed as ‘witchcraft’ will help son with Guest: Nicolas Tétrault father of Arthur Tetrault 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

With TD Direct Investing, new and existing clients could get 1% cash back. Great! That's 1% closer to being part of the 1%. Maybe, but definitely 100% closer to getting 1% cash back with TD Direct Investing. Conditions apply. Offer ends January 31, 2025. Visit td.com slash di offer to learn more. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. I'm going to say something right now that most of you know, it's not going to surprise you. We've talked about this many, many times and I'm certainly not the first person or only person or smartest person to say this, but the consensus on immigration in Canada has been broken. The generations old belief that Canada by way of immigration makes this country better and stronger and healthier is broken. It is broken by a series

of policy decisions made at the federal level that have taken the entire equation and thrown it out the window. And where there's a there's a new survey that says that I'm not the only one who says this 82% of newcomers of immigrants believe that Canada has accepted too many immigrants and international students with no planning for adequate housing infrastructure having sufficient job opportunities newcomers share with other people in the country about serious anxieties about the economy, housing and healthcare. To talk more about it, we've got Giddy Mammon

on the line immigration lawyer for Mammon Sandelec and a policy analyst. Giddy, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Ben. Yeah, I mean, I like so many people, just believe that we had one of the greatest, if not the greatest motivation and plan and execution of any immigration policy in the world. We knew what the needs of our country were.

We went out and found people to fill those needs. They would then come here and be successful and make the country a better place. And it worked for years and years and years. And we are in a completely different space now. I would agree with that. I think the problem is that the government has not been consulting with the public.

It's not consulting with the professionals the lawyers who prepare these applications and who understand the clientele. It used to be 20-25 years ago. We would meet with the ministers of immigration and their senior people in our office. They would come and we would talk to them and tell them what we think. But that's not the case anymore. And even now you see what CBC is doing is it's pulling the immigrants themselves.

Really, the consumers of immigrant services really are Canadian citizens. Do we need caregivers? Do we need doctors? Do we need people in the construction trades? Do we need people in the construction trades? We're seeing that all of this policy making is being done behind the scenes by bureaucrats and for possibly political reasons because Justin Trudeau wanted to come out politically looking very favorable to immigrants and to immigrant communities and he almost doubled the number of immigrants coming to Canada. And now he has to dial that right back. We didn't need that many immigrants and the types

of immigrants, we should have had some more input. It shouldn't have been done in the back doors. Yeah, you know, I can't speak to the political motivation, but I do know, anecdotally that when I meet somebody who came to Canada under my father's government, during my father's time in government, the love that I hear in their voice for my father personally is palpable. And I've heard the same thing. People talk about their love for Trudeau Senior

when they came over then. And so I have to wonder whether he just he liked the idea of being loved by newcomers so much that he just opened the door to more of them than then than we could handle. That's right. But we're not talking about a 10 or 15% increase or decrease for 37 years. I've been practicing the first 30 or so we brought in about 250, 260, maybe 240 per year, about a quarter million. It's always been like that for 30 years. Now we went in the last seven years, we've almost doubled that. And now of course we've got to dial it back. Where are these people going to live? Where are

they going to find jobs? There are serious questions. And not only that, we're picking people that are not necessarily needed. That's why some of them are underemployed or not so happy here because they thought. Yeah, Gideon, on the employment front, 72% of newcomers are working. But when I hear that, I read that 28% aren't. So they come here for the promise of a better life and they have, they don't have adequate housing, they don't have adequate work. If I were there, I swapped one tough spot for another. And the difference is I probably don't speak the language as well here as I do back home.

It's not just that 72% are employed. 25% of those that are employed are not even employed in the field that they want to be employed in. They're either doctors, engineers, lawyers, whatever it is, and they can't get jobs. Because, as you know, the federal government selects immigrants, but it's the provinces that license them. Yeah. And if you come to Canada, I think you're gonna have a great new life, but you can't get licensed here. And you've got to do you know, another year or two or whatever of studies. It's a real hardship. So that's why that number that the bigger number for me is a 25% who are not

even working in their fields. All right. So put it up, put your policy analyst hat on for me and tell me how do we, how do we fix this system? How do we, how do we get it back on track so that it's the envy of the world again? I think what we have to do is do exactly like we did 20, 30 years ago, which is you have parliamentary hearings from, and you invite people who are practitioners, people who are experts in the fields, people who represent community, various immigrant communities, et cetera,

and you have a discussion out in the open, and then the government can go back and do whatever they want after they've heard those comments. But we haven't participated, really, very, very few of us practitioners have participated in the policy making area. And I think to the detriment of Canadian policy and to the Canadian economy, we know what our clients are looking for. We have so many parents in Canada who

are looking for caregivers, so many of them. And unfortunately, the caregiver program right now is becoming increasingly difficult. So the very kind of immigrants that they need so that they can go to work, they can't get. And the government simply is not sensitive enough. It hasn't gone down to ground level enough to understand the needs of Canadians. We have companies and factories here who need stone masons,

who need bricklayers, who need all kinds of things, but it's very difficult to get them the proper authorizations. And so we have to go to the, you know, to the, to the illegal market where, you know, people are underground and they're working for cash and it's not a good system. Gidey, what do you make of, of, I believe Pierre-Paul, you have put forth in, in the, in the window, as far as policy options go, this idea of, I believe Pierre Poliev put forth in the window as far as policy options go, this idea of, I believe he called it a blue check program, which was a sort of a fast track, fast tracking of professionals from other countries to have their certification

acknowledged in Canada so that they could in fact, in short order work as nurses or as doctors or as architects in one way, shape or form, what do you make of that? It's great in theory, but we're going to be clashing with the provinces, okay, the provinces, for example, the Law Society of Ontario, and, and all these other organizations that regulate professionals, they may not necessarily want to adjust their standards. I mean, that's their bailiwick, that's the area that they are, you know, totally in

control of, they may not want to compromise in their eyes, or reduce their standards to accommodate people who may be trained outside of Canada. So yeah, if he can get it done, that'd be terrific. Am I optimistic that he can get it done? Not really. Okay. And then of course, you've got you know, you talked about right sizing the number of immigrants that Canada brings in so that we can, we have the bandwidth for it, but that doesn't take

into account the lack of housing and the stresses on our healthcare system or the public school systems that are already overcrowded in a lot of places. How do we, it seems to me, this is the flash point, but it's an intersection of a lot of crises that just so happens to be popping up as too many newcomers. But we've got so many other issues to deal with

so that the ones that are already here and the ones that are yet to come have the lives that they've been promised. That's right. Somebody who builds homes, how do they know how many people are gonna be coming? And even if they did know how many people are gonna be coming,

how do they react quickly to that? So that's why industry and the public have to be working with the government to figure out what our plan is. You can't just land an additional 250,000 people in Canada say, okay fine everybody now You leave the airport you're here Where am I gonna live? You're going to need to have not only housing but the right housing in the right places

Is that a condo is that a rental apartment is it in Toronto? Is it outside of Toronto and these are big questions and those have to be analyzed Very carefully if you're making big changes if you're only only making changes of five or 10%, we can always adjust. We can always accommodate, but not when you increase the numbers so dramatically. You're going to have a problem. Even schools, where are you going to put your kids in school? It doesn't take like two weeks to get a new school up and running to accommodate kids. It takes a long time. And you have to plan ahead for that. Well, Giddy, I want to thank you so much for joining us

and highlighting the work that needs to get done on this file. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. This NFL season, get in on all the hard hitting action with FanDuel, North America's number one sports book. You can bet on anything from money lines to spreads and player props, or combine your bets in a same game parlay for a shot at an even bigger payout.

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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. So if you're anything like me you believe that there has been a complete absence of leadership at the top of our country on the issue of how to deal with the Donald Trump tariffs, if and when they come in. With a list came out of potential surgical tariffs, surgical strikes on specific items that are designed to make certain Americans in certain parts of the country feel that pain. But I prefer the more optimistic tone and vision of Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, who's pitching an

energy alliance with the United States in order to avert a trade war. He's looking at saying it's not tit for tat, It's not us versus you. It's us versus the pro, you and me versus the problem. And as part of this vision of building what he's been calling Fortress Amcan, Ontario is recommending all sorts of energy measures that could usher in a whole new era for Canadian and American relations. And so joining us to discuss this

is the Ontario Energy Minister himself, Stephen Lecce. Minister, welcome to the Ontario Energy Minister. whole new era for Canadian and American relations. And so joining us to discuss this is the Ontario Energy Minister himself, Stephen Lecce. Minister, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Good morning. Yeah, so this is talk to me about fortress amcan talk to me about this new energy alliance. Well, with respect to the energy alliance, I mean, this is really predicated on a belief that we need to double down on strong, integrated relationships, shared democratic values.

And the fact that nine million Americans woke up this morning depending exclusively on our materials economy and our manufacturing base. So the idea is to leverage our natural resources, to leverage our critical minerals, to leverage our rare earths, and our electricity in our negotiations with the aim to build a continental-approached energy independence. And I think that is a message, a pitch, which is compelling to the U.S. who's looking for Canadian minerals and looking for Canadian energy products for their own national energy security interests. So we're appealing to them, knowing what they need, appreciating we have complementary interests, and also

the recognition that the premier's vision is to frankly export more energy into the U.S. market. So let's assume for a moment that the vision that the premier has is completely acted upon. How will that be different than the reality of today? Well, essentially what this does is this creates a shared integrated Canada, US energy infrastructure where we're actually building out a plan. We're building out our inner ties, our connections, our transmission lines, all with a greater sense of integration around energy as well as resource trading. So there's a big difference.

What we're doing now is largely driven by commercial interests. This is governments and governments putting our national and economic interests first and ensuring that we give preferential access as well as an element of prioritization because China has essentially denied, just a few weeks ago made an announcement that all their critical minerals will not be bound for the US. They're denying exports into the US because of a broader geopolitical play between China and Western democracies. So we know that the real threat to Western interests and democratic values is China.

We recognize what they're using. Mexico as a dumping ground for cheap goods. And so why we're making this point to them is look, you can't get those materials there, you can't get them in your own domestic backyard in the U S but we have them, we have some of the rare finest quality nickel and some of the most important lithium and other critical products that they need for EV, they need for the military, they need them for their defense, for uranium, for their nuclear weaponry. I mean, all of this is foundational and existential to the US. We are the ones with the plan, with the resources and with the willingness to send itself for

their own growth and frankly, for their own security. It's a very optimistic plan, very bullish on the future of not just Ontario, but Canada and the United States. Where are we making this pitch? Who are we making this pitch to? Largely to US decision makers within Congress. I mean, we've been setting the groundwork with having met with 40 congressional leaders, Republicans and Democrats, governors, as well as a state representative.

So we've been doing this for the past several months, laying the groundwork for the end, can energy announcement and strategic energy partnership between the two, where we really leverage our nuclear fleet principally to power North American, uh, growth. We're also going to be leaning in on things like isotope production. We want to emphasize the cancer treatments that come from nuclear and how can do reactors are leading the way in this respect. For us, it's about making the pitch directly to

a bipartisan audience in the US. We've been laying that groundwork now. 40 meetings completed just the last three or four months. All with an economic and national security lens. MINISTER ADRI Lecce from my position here chirping from the cheap seats it feels like there's an absence of leadership and communication coming from Ottawa. I'm hearing this from you

I'm hearing this from various premiers. I'm not getting what I think Canada needs from our leadership at the federal level. Are you feeling like the premiers have been left to fend for themselves? I think that theatrics in Ottawa have distracted the government from their solemn responsibility to defend our jobs and our interests. And that is really disturbing, but then unacceptable frankly, but I think in the meantime, the provincial premiers have stepped up and they're speaking with a unified voice.

And I think they're demonstrating that they can punch above their weight. Premier was on Fox, on CNN, just the past few days, speaking directly to Americans on some of the greatest, you know, prime time audiences in America. So we can, and we will take a team candidate approach unified in our aim. But look, we've got another 10 odd days until inauguration. The Prime Minister, the current Prime Minister has the ability to sit down or to advance

some of the two priority projects of the US, two principal concerns. That's with respect to the border safety and security and the elimination of the illegal movement of drugs and people over the border in addition to hitting the 2% target. Those are things that the federal government can enact today. They've announced a budget, but famously for this federal government, they'll always they'll announce a big paycheck, but the dollars have to flow. There has to be an actual action plan that implements the vision. And that's what the Americans are asking for. That's

frankly what the premiers are asking for. And so there is a way to avert these tariffs and at least we want them to make the effort to avert the tariffs. But should they come, we will be ready with the plan to retaliate. But it's the Premier's vision that we really need to avert a tariff that could be catastrophic for Ontario's economy for Canadian economy. And that's why we're trying to take a more, as you

say, positive or maybe collaborative approach to Canadian American trade and diplomatic relations. Yeah, the last time we spoke with Premier Doug Ford on this show, he was calling on on on Justin Trudeau, our Prime Minister to have a first of another First Ministers Conference. And I do you know if that has been set up yet? The Premier's there was a discussion yesterday that the Premier's met yesterday. And I think there was a commitment

from the feds to meet. but I can't speak to any material outcome that's come out of that meeting and that's the problem. We are well beyond Twitter and talking points. The people of Canada are 10 days away from what will be, should these tariffs come, a significant threat to the prosperity of Canada and frankly, hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on their effectiveness. So we needed to step up and now is the time. There's no more time for delay or distraction or

politics. And so I'm hoping that the feds hear the message of the premiers, of the people of Canada and and our industry, and our families who depend on their leadership. But I think for Ontarians particularly, they could depend on the premier, premier Doug Ford, and I think many premiers across Canada, all of them, have been

demonstrating leadership. I think that is a moment of pride. But look, the threat is real. That's why we need to take a more strategic approach to the negotiation and try to really build a cross-border relationship. And. And that's why we need to take a more strategic approach to the negotiation and try to really build a cross border vision for energy integration. Minister, I think you and your fellow provincial leaders are acquitting yourselves as well as you

possibly can. I wish you the very best. I think Canada is depending on all of our premiers and provincial governments moving forward. So thank you so much. Thank you. There's some startling, alarming, but possibly not surprising news about credit card debt in this country that more credit card debt is likely for one in five Canadians as we focus not so much

on enjoying life, but on surviving. It's quite alarming and to drill down into the numbers and what they mean. We're joined now by Rubina Amidhok, Global News personal finance expert. Rubina, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. So this is, so it seems to me, as I read these numbers, 44% of households say their finances are worse than they were that they planned for in 2024. It seems to me that people are are no full well that they're going to be going into debt. They're going into it with their eyes wide open. They just don't necessarily have any other choices at this point.

Yeah, and that's scary to think that people are expecting to be in more debt. Usually it's the opposite that we go into, especially a new year thinking that you know I'm gonna do better with my money, I'm gonna save more, I'm gonna pay down that credit card debt, but it feels like some people are just throwing up their hands saying I have no other choice. How else am I going to pay for groceries? How else am I going to pay bills? Because there are bills that you can pay with your credit card. Some bills have to be paid through a bank account, but others can be paid through a credit card. And then if you're carrying that balance, as you well know, Ben, that is a really

expensive way to manage your finances. If you miss your credit card payment, even by a couple of days, you're looking at huge interest costs. And then if you carry it more than that, you're looking at penalties and other issues that will get you behind on your on your financial goals. Yeah. So, so it feels to me, like I said, you know, back in the day, when, when, when we highlight one of these stories, I would say, oh, it's because we didn't have financial literacy classes when we were older. We don't have the instincts for it, but in this case, it's, it's sort of people who are, I guess, what do you think people were expecting the economic tide to turn and that this year would be better than last. And that turns out that's not the case.

And so they just got to double down on, on, on building up, you know, surviving by, by, by taking on more debt. Yeah. And the, the more alarming part of this is that 22% of those also said in this same survey that they plan on applying for more debt. So whether that be increasing their credit card limits so they can put more charges on there, refinancing their mortgage, so taking money equity

out of their home to pay for day-to-day items. So the plan for many is that I'm just going to survive. I'm just going to use what I can. And if I have to turn to the credit card, if I have to turn to my home equity credit, so be it. That's the only way that I'm going to be able to afford life. So I get it. And then you understand the motivation.

But what do you tell those people on how they can, I don't know, if they're going to take on another credit card, what should they be looking out for? How can they, how can they protect themselves as best they can when we know and they acknowledge that this is, this is risky behavior? So a credit card is the last resource when it comes to paying your day-to-day bills. I often say that a credit card is a tool, not a resource. So you're using that so you don't have to carry

wads of cash around. You're also using it so that you don't have to always be using your debit card. You know, security analysts and experts will say that using your debit card is less secure than using your credit card because if that is compromised, they have access to everything that's in your bank account, whereas with a credit card, you have some protection where you can call the credit card company and say that these charges are illegitimate and they can be reversed. So, you know, most would recommend that if you are shopping using plastic that you use that

credit card. I don't think that you should be signing up for credit cards because you get a 10% discount or a $25 gift card. I often see that happening at big department stores where they'll course people to buy to apply for a credit card. It's one of my biggest pet peeves also because I'm impatient and I don't like waiting in line for someone applying for a credit card. It's one of my biggest pet peeves also because I'm impatient and I don't like waiting in line where someone's applying for a credit card. But I'm thinking, you know, that $25 is costing you a lot more because yeah, you save it off this bill, but then you've got another credit card that can create temptation. It's also chipping away at your own ability to get more, to get a mortgage or to get a mortgage or to get other debt that you may apply for in the future.

So I highly recommend that unless you are planning on applying for a credit card, do not impromptu sign up for one just because you're getting a one-time deal on that sale. Is there an argument to be made if you're gonna get a credit card, make sure it has a very hard limit on it so that you can't exceed it.

Yeah, and that's especially true for those who know that they don't have any self-control, right? So if you've got a $5,000 limit, you're likely to run up your card to $5,000. It's very difficult when the bank is saying to you, you know, you actually qualify for more. I often get emails saying, hey, would you like to increase your limit? I often say no, because I don't need that increase.

It also, again, works against me when I go to apply for a mortgage or any other kind of loan, because the lender is going to look at all your liabilities. So everywhere that you have access to any kind of debt, they're going to look at that as part of the whole entire equation. So, if you have the self-control to say, you know, I'm okay with that lower limit because I wanna make sure that my credit card is safe and that I can still do other things with my debt limits.

And also because maybe you don't trust yourself. Maybe you feel like if I had that limit, I would spend it. The problem is most people who have that personality will say, yeah, sure, I'll take that increase because that gives them more room to spend. Yeah, well, I love what you said that a credit card is a tool, not a resource. I think that's advice that we should all heed.

Rubina, thank you so much for all that advice today. It's even for myself, I don't intend to get another credit card. Listening to you talk about it this way is gives me food for thought. Thanks so much for having me. Real estate is something that we talk about a lot how hard it is for people of a certain generation to even afford the idea of one day being able to afford a home. And so with that

as a backdrop, a lot of there's a conversation going on on Reddit, about real estate agents, their value in the And so with that as a backdrop, there's a conversation going on on Reddit about real estate agents, their value in the entire, let's call it the real estate supply chain. Should they get a flat fee for selling a home? Do we even need them? Well, one person who I'm sure can make a very good case

for the need and importance of real estate agents is Devel Morrison. Devel, welcome to the show. Hi Ben, how are you? I'm very good, thank you so much for being here. You're a real estate agents is Devel Morrison. Devel, welcome to the show. Hi, Ben, how are you? I'm very, I'm very good. Thank you so much for being here. You're a real estate broker. And you've been doing that for how many years? For actually almost almost 13 years now.

Almost 13 years. So when you hear those sort of those complaints or those musings that I just brought up, what are your thoughts? Well, I feel like they don't even know the half of the work that we do. I've had it at various times, various friends live with me and they see how much work I do and they're like, oh my God, I had no idea. Because it's sort of like asking someone to chop down a tree. And because the final acts in there, the tree falls down and you're like, okay, so I should only

pay you for like that final acts because the tree just fell down. As opposed to wanting to pay that person for all the work they've done leading up to that tree falling down. I think that's the best analogy that I could put into it, but people sort of dismiss all the little personal touches that agents have. So for example, you know, I'll meet with a new buyer. Let's say they're looking to buy a condo, and I'll be like, okay, great, but you can't buy in this building, this building, this

building or that building. I'll explain to them why, and it's not stuff that they could Google to find out that those aren't the best places for them to invest their money, or certain neighborhoods aren't the best place to invest their money, or certain streets aren't good streets for them to own a house. And so, you can't find that information on house sigma and you can't Google it, because you don't even know what you're looking for.

And so I think- You don't know what you don't know. Exactly. And so that's the value that experienced agents bring to the table. Well, my experience with my real estate agent, a wonderful woman by the name of Eleanor Segal, uh, she, she helped us sell our condo before we got our first home and our first house.

And we were in a, we were in a court, we were in a courtyard building and my, my, uh, unit was facing the courtyard. There were two other similar units in the building that were for sale at the same time, but they were facing outward towards the street. And so she pointed out to people that over the next couple of years, there was a new building going up across the street. And if they wanted real privacy and quiet, that they should look at our unit. And that was, I think, what really spurred a lot of the attention. I didn't know that there was a building

going up across the street. And but she did. So she had the wherewithal to sort of make our place even more appealing simply by letting people know about what was going on in the neighborhood. Absolutely. And so you know, it's funny when you talk about townhouses, there's various kinds of townhouses in Toronto. Sometimes you get the stock townhouses or you get the more expensive ones that aren't so stacked, but the stock townhouse, essentially what happens is you open up the

front door and all you see is stairs. And I consider those townhouses to be like living in a lighthouse because you've got stairs, you've got some smaller rooms, you've got more stairs, you've got a room. The challenge with that is that if you are let's say a couple and you're thinking that you want to have a child soon, those stairs and strollers just simply don't make. And so that's one of the things that I'll say to a client, I'm like, hey, I'm not sure what you're planning to do in your lifestyle, but I gotta let you know,

every time I walk in to show one of those stacked townhouses, there's always a stroller in the way. And clearly I know why they're moving out, because you just can't do it in one of these things. Yeah. Well, so let me say like the one thing that sticks in my mind, I'd love for you to explain away my concerns because you know, if I've got a house and I'm looking for a buyer and you are helping me find that buyer and you come to the table with a buyer and I say that's

great but I think we can I think we can do better I think there's a better offer out there explain to me or justify to me the hard work that would have to go into you going out finding a whole new buyer that could take three six eight more weeks and I'm willing to wait that amount of time but the effort required for you to go out and find that buyer that could yield me, you know, it could yield me like an extra hundred thousand dollars on my house is a such a small amount of money for you, but like I'm

trying to understand the the motivation for a broker to go out there and do all that extra work for me that will only yield them a tiny extra amount of money? Well, you know, I always say your first offer is your best offer. And so the reality of you getting a higher price in a few weeks is probably very, very, very slim to none chance. So that's the one thing I always say to clients, because it's something I've seen time and time again, whether it's me representing the buyer for them or another agent representing the buyer, it doesn't matter to me. I'm not the kind of agent who needs to double end something because it puts you in a very precarious position

with both parties. So I would prefer that that buyer is represented by another agent, quite frankly. It's just cleaner and it makes a lot more sense to me. On the same note, when I'm working an open house for my listing client and I get someone walking into the open house to say, oh, I'd like to work with the listing agent, I'm like, listen, can you imagine walking into a court of law and asking the prosecuting attorney

to defend you? You wouldn't do it. Yeah. Hey, Devel, we're going to have to leave it there, but I really hope that 2025 is a banner year for you and I hope the real estate market goes to new heights because we need to spur some activity. It's happening already out there. Thanks so much for having me. All right, take care. Our next guest you might remember as an emotional interview that we had that we brought you, Nicolas Tetreault is the father of Arthur Tetreault and you'll remember he was having medical procedures in Canada. And the doctors and the staff said, we can't do anything to save your son. He didn't believe that and he took his son down to the United States where

he is recovering quite, quite miraculously on a lot of fronts. And so for an update on how his son is doing, we're joined again by Nicolas Tetreault. Nicolas, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you very much. So from what I understand, Arthur has begun a hyperbaric oxygen treatment this week. How's he doing? He's starting next week. I'm so sorry. The hospital basically, we had a great, great

week, but he's going to start next week. Why? Because the hospital felt then that he was overly drugged still. So the good news for the people listening to us is they cut down the methadone and they cut down the adavan, two very powerful drugs, and yesterday, gift of God, they reduced 25% of Valium, and they started a new drug for the brain to reactivate the brain called Amantadine. And the baby's doing really well, Ben, and he's starting to move his hands, his arms, his tracking with his eyes really well. I spoke to him, he was able to turn his neck

and look at me and his heart and his breathing is perfect. He's breathing on his own, so only good news. That's great. But listen, it's the United States, it comes at a very real cost. How high have these medical bills been for you so far? I'm at so far 200,000 US of medical, of hospital fees, $32,000 of air ambulance, private jet ambulance

with doctors in the ambulance, air ambulance. A lot of the- My son is alive. He was supposed to be dead November 29th. A lot of the, and I'm so glad to hear he's doing well, and a lot of the comments that I received after our interview was, well, that's great if you can afford it,

but we can't do that. Now you told me, it's not for you. You recognize that you're able to shoulder this burden, but you were gonna, and I guess in a way, pay it forward by advocating for those who can't advocate for themselves. Yes. And what I can say, dear Ben, is that there's a problem because the services I'm getting

in Montreal, that I'm getting here, we could have easily, easily do the same in Montreal. And that's what that's a shocker to me because it's old technology and all of what we're getting here, Ben, we could do it anywhere in Canada. I mean, oxygen costs nothing. And that's a shocker to me that they, you know, that's not offered to the population. Yeah. Lastly, and we only have about 30 seconds left, but the last time we spoke, you know, you said you were taking notes, you were going to name and blame and shame those you felt were responsible.

How far are you into your investigation? I'm pretty far, but I just need to hire a few retired Secret Service just to do the links, if there's any financial links to some of the decisions that were taken. And then once that is cleared, then I'm okay to go to court. I mean, I have all the data, but the goal is really to help the population in the end. It's really to implement change for all Canadians, not just people living in Quebec, because we were paying, you know, so much taxes.

Yeah. Well, Nicolas, again, In management, we can help people's lives. Well, we're thinking of you and your family and of Arthur and wish you the very best and we hope to hear from you again soon. Thank you, amen to that. Thank you so much.