The Ben Mulroney Show - Kevin O'Leary says Mark Carney is Justin Trudeau on Steroids

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Guests and Topics: Guest: Kevin O’Leary, Chairman of O’Leary Ventures, Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful 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

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a moment. So let's welcome to the show Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank fame. Welcome back to the show my friend. Thank you so much for joining us. Great to be here. Thank you. I always love having you on the show because you represent in a lot of ways to a lot of people the the nexus point between Canada and the United States haven't had success on both sides of the border and recently Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, suggested that President Trump wants liberals to stay in power in Canada because they've weakened

the nation and he wants to capitalize on it. What do you think of that? And how do you think if in fact that is an argument worthy of pursuit, how best should Pierre Poliev leverage it? Well, we're in a bit of a chaotic situation. This is pure politics at play. Let's assume we're going to announce an election Sunday night that's anticipated by the market right now,

and let the games begin because it's an awkward time for the negotiations going on in the United States, not just for Canada, but think about April 2nd, the tariff schedules coming out all around the world. Most countries are actually negotiating now, tariff by tariff, item by item, because they know what those schedules look like.

And probably 30% of those commodities from other countries are gonna get negotiated down to zero tariffs, because otherwise they face reciprocal tariffs. We don't have that going on in Canada right now because right now We're using Trump as a leverage Point of pain in trying to decide on leadership. Well, yeah Because Kevin I mean we've got Mark Carney saying this is the crisis du jour and yet He hasn't had a phone call with Donald Trump yet

He wants this to be an election issue, which I find deeply troubling, deeply cynical, and choosing politics and strategy over what is best for the country. Yeah, the Carney move to get on a plane to go to England was not unnoticed by the administration in the United States. For lack of better words, they're really pissed. And that's because historically, remember he's an interim PM, but historically because the United States is the country's largest trading partner with an economic union, so to speak, in terms of how we do business, it's always been a situation, regardless of politics, that the incoming leadership would call

or go to the White House first. Just pure economics. Now what Carney did, maybe helps him, maybe doesn't, in terms of getting the base riled up, because right now the leadership in the liberal parties in a little bit of chaos, in terms of what to do with this. And the polls are neck and neck, so it's a very interesting situation. parties in a little bit of chaos in terms of what to do with this. And you know, the polls are neck and neck, so it's a very interesting situation.

What it has done, and I would argue, it set us back 20 feet in terms of negotiating a settlement with the US. Carney has no status with Trump right now. People have started to realize every leader, every leader has gone to the White House, gone to Mar-a-Lago, gone down and dealt with Trump. Even Zulinski, when he was absolutely chaotic meeting sausage being made, so you're watching, has a deal on the table with Trump, or at least is negotiating one. We're not.

And so I don't agree with what Carney did. It's obviously his decision, but I think it was a mistake could cost them dearly. And I have been watching like other Canadians. Wow. He's bringing the old retreads back. He's got I can't believe he would do this. He had a chance to reset his cabinet. I see free left. Yeah. Kevin, I want to I want to stick on the mono Emono Carney-Trump dynamic, because look, if the polls are to be believed, and if they hold throughout the election campaign, and that is by no means a certainty, but if they do,

and Mark Carney officially becomes our next prime minister and forms the next government, he would be the guy sitting opposite Donald Trump. Now, all things being equal, Mark Carney is oftentimes the smartest guy in the room. And he knows more about the ins and outs of the economy than I could ever dream to know.

But what is also true is Donald Trump can steamroll almost anybody. So in a battle between the two of them as they fight out for their national interest, who wins? Well, you know, at the end of the day, you have to understand I've said this countless times, you and I have talked about this multiple times. You got to distinguish the signal from the noise with Trump. Trump wants a good economy and he wants security. And I don't know if you noticed a couple of hours ago, our phone conversation is very timely, he just reached out

to King Charles to talk about joining the Commonwealth. Now why is he doing that? He's doing that if you want to read the signal, in my opinion, to get a closer union with Canada, who's already got that membership status. Because the long goal, the long goal is uniting these economies against China. So you know everybody, so you ask me well how's Carney gonna do? Canadians should ask themselves who do I want leading ourselves, not just with Trump issues, globally. Because my concern with Carney, and look I respect him, that guy's got a really good resume, but he's back on the carbon tax stuff again. He's got the same elitist global view

of climate that comes out of Davos. And he's just, in my view, and I'm a believe me, I'm going to be voting in this election like many other Canadians, we're very polarized here. He's just Trudeau 2.0 on steroids. And I don't think the country can take that anymore. We've got to pivot and broaden ourselves globally, but also make sure that we get our resources managed because what's been held back by Trudeau and the policies that Carney wants to maintain. Doubling down on carbon tax. It's got to be crazy. Yeah. We saw those charts this week that were disappointing and not, but also unsurprising about how we've experienced a real loss decade, both in terms of our competition in the OECD and the G7. But I do want to finish, because I've got one other topic

I want to get to with you, Kevin, and it's all about Tesla. And there's two angles I want to take with you. And the first is the stock being down 50% since December. You have all these people who are vandalizing and blowing up Teslas, all while Elon Musk is responsible for saving two astronauts in space. What do you make of this? I don't know.

It's such a unique position. This tarnishing of the brand and people willing to go to criminal lengths to express themselves, even though Elon Musk has done things that nobody else has ever done. And will continue to do so. No one executes like him. First of all, anybody that fire bombs a car, regardless of their politics or which brand they set on fire, is a felon. And they will be found because all the cameras on these lots and the cars themselves have

cameras. They're going to jail for anywhere from five to 20 years. They're thinking of, and I doubt they'll get that far, but they're thinking of bringing terrorist charges against these people, which means no reduction in sentence and you go in the hole in a federal prison. It's hell on earth. But I think that's where they're going either for five or 20 years. And that's what should happen. Now, the politics of this are really interesting because you've got a more divisive constituency out there. And obviously the Democratic Party is trying to find its soul because they were never the party of violence.

No. And here they are kind of reacting against doge. Yeah. And so, you know, by the way, I hope we doge it up in Canada. So much fat in the federal government. We've got to find a dogerologist. I got one other question for you about this whole thing because look, I think what's happening to Tesla and people who own Teslas is unfair.

However, there is something that rubs me the wrong way. When Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, gets on TV and urges Americans to buy Tesla stock, Elon Musk works for the federal government. To me, there's just something that feels wrong about that. That's, I don't know, your thoughts? Yeah, listen, you're not the only one to bring that up with me. I know Howard.

Everybody on Wall Street knows Howard and Bay Street too for that matter. He's a legendary banker. He's controversial. He just kept himself in the controversial column with this one. I mean, this is really, he's trying to fight back, you know, obviously what's happening to a legendary, you know, U.S. company. By the way, most of the state pension plans, including Canadian pension plans, own a piece

of Tesla. So this stock has gotten slaughtered, you know, and maybe Howard's trying to do a buy signal, but what he did there caused a lot of controversy. And I just want to add one other thing then I'm in my studio right now. So I think our interview, if it's getting into the end, I want to play a song. I got a nice little tune I've been working on. Okay. Ready? Yep. Kevin O'Leary, I mean, listen, I did not expect that you had that level of funk inside your soul.

I'm talking wah-wah, Kevin. I'm putting the wah-wah back. Kevin, I appreciate you, man. I hope you have a great weekend. I hope to hear from you again soon. Survivor has been calling me for a long time. These 18 strangers have answered the call for the adventure of a lifetime.

My parents would always say, you're going to be the first one sent home. I can do this. I'm physically fit. I'm mentally fit. They must learn to adapt or they'll be voted out. Being a physicist, playing men's hockey, this does not scare me at all. When my kids watch this, I want them to look at me and say, I'm proud of him. Survivor, new season, Wednesdays on Global.

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