The Ben Mulroney Show - Our Government has sacrificed our Farmers to protect the EV industry

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Our Government has sacrificed our Farmers to protect the EV industry with Guest: Sylvain Charlebois, Canadian Researcher and Professor specializing in the Food Industry 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

Now streaming. What do you know about the Happy Face killer? He's my father. It's so good to see you, Missy. Experience the thrilling new series. He said he killed another woman. Inspired by a true life story. If I don't deal with him, he will never leave us alone.

You don't see how the birds sing to you. Anna Lee Ashford and Dennis Quaid star. I am not responsible for what my dad did. The score and how you hoped. Happy Face new series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus. I see trees of green red roses too. I see them bloom for me and for you and I think to myself what a wonderful world this is the Ben Mulrooney show welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney show I want to share a little bit of my dad's singing because he loved he loved singing and he

loved that type of music he loved this American song great American songbook and American standards he loved Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, you name it. And today's his birthday. And we are celebrating his 86th birthday in Montreal by commemorating him as Canada Post unveils a stamp of Canada's 18th Prime Minister. And he taught me to love that music too. Like my favorite music is exactly that if I listen to if I had to be stuck on a on an island forever. I'd listen to Frank Sinatra,

his entire catalog. I celebrate the man's entire catalog name the movie. Office space. And they're talking about Michael Bolton. Okay. All right. Listen, we got a lot of news stories that I really want to talk about with one of the smartest guys in the game, Sylvain Charlebois, Canadian researcher and professor specializing in the food industry. I mean, he's the food professor. So let's welcome the food professor to the show.

Sylvain, thanks so much for joining us. Well, thank you for having me then. So I was really surprised when I read an article that Quebec is going to allow restaurants to charge people for no shows. And I was surprised because I didn't know that restaurants weren't allowed to, to charge for no shows. In Ontario, I found out same thing. How is this allowed? Why, why can't restaurants have the latitude and the ability to determine what value proposition they want to put before

potential patrons? Oh, it's a good question. I mean, people don't realize that sometimes with a busy evening, you're one no show away from losing money as an operator. And so by disciplining the customers, I guess, financially, you kind of get them to commit. Sometimes, I don't know how you pick your restaurant, Ben, but some people actually will make a reservation at two, three different spots for the same evening. Of course. And then they don't, they don't have the respect to call and cancel.

Exactly. And look, it happens, right? It happens every now and then, where you either forget or something happens in emergency. But I don't think there's anything wrong. If I have decided as the customer, I'm gonna call up that restaurant. I decide to engage in the contract with them, not them.

The restaurant didn't come to me. I came to them and I said, I'm creating a social contract with you or I'm giving you my word that I'm going to show up at your restaurant and you are going to honor it by keeping a table for me and feeding me. And if you don't live up to your side of the social contract, there should be a penalty associated with it. Exactly.

I've always been comfortable. And frankly, in the last, I'd say two years, a couple of times I was asked to actually put a deposit to guarantee that I will actually show up. I didn't have any problems with that. No, me neither. No, but I do think that a lot of people, because I've spoken to a lot of restaurant operators and many of them are just frustrated. And so Quebec is moving forward, protecting restaurant operators with with that practice.

Yeah, but it's barely a protection. See, man's barely a protection $10 a head, but only if it's a table of five or more. Now, I don't know everything about the restaurant business. But something tells me the vast majority of reservations are two tops and four tops. It's it's symbolic. Yeah, Yes. Yeah, it's essentially symbolic. And frankly, I think a lot of people are uncomfortable seeing the state the government getting involved here. Yeah. And I can

appreciate that. So I think the $10 the figure as much as I grew with you, Ben, I think it looks more like a compromise. Yeah from a policy perspective Yeah, all right. I want to go to an article that you wrote in the Toronto Sun and the headline It opened my eyes and I really want you to drill down for me farmers pay the price for Ottawa's electric vehicle obsession How the heck did farmers get entangled with the EV industry? Because China is smart at geopolitics. Tell me what you mean. We started this war back in October.

So then Prime Minister Trudeau decided to create this EV slash battery fortress called North America along with the United States with then President Joe Biden. Both countries decided to apply a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs to protect an industry that still doesn't exist. We have seen Ottawa commit almost $50 billion to build this sector of EVs and batteries. And so to protect that sector, to offer a Canadian option to Canadians when it comes to EVs, they decided to protect the market. But everyone in the ag sector were, I guess, holding their breath, waiting for China to

respond. And they pick the weekend Mark Carney was appointed Prime Minister to do it and they're aiming at what? Not cars. They're aiming at symbolic things, canola, Canada oil, canola, lobster and so on and so forth. Okay, that makes more sense. That's how farmers are paying. Now I was talking with my producer who knows a heck of a lot more about the automotive industry than me. And he suggested that the 100% tariff on on Chinese EVs is doesn't make any sense given the fact that nobody would buy one here, because there there is no infrastructure to support them. If it breaks down, you can't take a Chinese EV anywhere.

That's right. Yes, you would need to build the infrastructure for that. So that's why I've always questioned 100% against I think it was just basically to get along with our then friends, America. So this is why it's a little bizarre because we made this deal, we made the decision when America was our friend. Now, I don't know

where the United States stand in terms of our own geopolitics, but it's not great right now. And again, farmers are harvesters right here in Nova Scotia are going to be paying for that decision. Yeah. Hey, Sid van Reed, the tea for me, because I really does feel like things are moving on the in the world of inter provincial trade barriers. If we can't trade with the Americans, at least we can trade with ourselves. And yet and you've got you've got President Trump banging the drum of how unfair our dairy industry and our eggs are to to the Americans. And at central to this is is supply management. And I'm wondering, I

know that the liberals have said they're going to break down and bust down every interprovincial trade barrier where they deform government, but supply management absolutely off the table. I don't know what Pierre Poliev and the conservatives think about that. How do you think this is going to play out? I'm not sure. So of course Ottawa's decision to support the elimination of inter-provincial trade barriers excludes food right now. And the reason why they're excluding food is that they don't want to touch supply management because quotas

are managed by provinces, not the federal government, but by provinces. And Quebec owns 40% of all the quotas that we have in Canada, despite the fact that they only have 20% of the population. So they're not touching that. Now, I do think that Donald Trump will continue to bang on that drum. He doesn't care about supply management. In fact, I don't think he understands how supply management works.

Because he talks about it as if there's $200 billion. But isn't it only if they achieve certain levels of trade once that happens, then the tariffs come in, but we've never achieved the level of trade that would ever turn those tariffs on? Exactly. I think he cares more about market access. But he knows it's a wedge issue for Canadians. As soon as he starts

talking about dairy and market access, he knows that he's going to ruffle some feathers right here in Canada. And he also knows that it could actually really scare some politicians as well. So that's why he's talking about it. And I don't know enough about the supply management and its importance in Quebec. I know it's very important. But something tells me that if if the if the federal government under the liberals protect that, then you're going to have all the other province saying, well, if you're going to protect that for them, you got to protect this industry for us in this

industry. And next thing you know, you're gonna be back in pretty much the same situation we're in. Exactly. To be honest, situation we're in. Exactly. To be honest, though, we're likely to gonna see an election coming up now in Canada. It doesn't matter who becomes the ruling party, to be honest, then all politicians don't wanna touch supply management.

So you need an external force like Donald Trump to make some changes in Canada. That's really our best hope. All right, Sylvain, thank you so much for joining us. Hope to talk to you again soon. All right, take care. Bye-bye. Jesse Waters on Fox News. If you take him seriously, you want to punch him in the face. So the best way to enjoy him is to view him as a character. And, and he plays a character that is offensive and not, you know, doesn't care that he's wrong. He's, he's, he's

all about what's it called? Truthiness. That's what I remember Stephen Colbert referred to it as truthiness. It sounds like the truth. Well, he has some hard and fast rules for men when discussing the toughness of former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Real men don't talk about how they can beat other guys up. They don't talk about how masculine they are. Maybe if you're a professional fighter, you can do that. But I don't know people that do that.

And I know a lot of tough guys like this guy. Yeah, I have rules for men. They're just funny. They're not that serious. Like you don't need soup in public. You don't cross your legs. And you don't drink from a straw and one of the reasons you don't drink from a straw is because the way your lips purse it's very effeminate and you all his excuse was well I was drinking a milkshake again you shouldn't

be drinking a milkshake milkshakes are for kids yeah look that's just funny anybody who looks at that and decides to go down the rabbit hole of toxic masculinity I mean you got to get a get a sense of humor he did he did forget one of the rules so he went on I have a new rule and Greg brought it up men don't wave simultaneously with both hands. Now we wave with one hand. Now not both hands. Don't wave at all. Jesse, we salute. Okay, I gotta write those down. Okay, this one is the funniest thing I've heard all day. The funniest thing all day a man was

in his car talking to his camera for something he was going to post. And he got stuck on a word and when I say he got stuck on one this happens to all of us right you get stuck and you got to take a step back and try the word again sometimes it takes a couple of times to get over the hill but eventually you get there well this goes on for so long I actually started wondering if he was never going to get there One thing about them strip clubs you got to remember stripper arms are not like regular women's arms they do not know how to touch you delicately delicately delicately delicately they don Is that right? Delicately. They don't know how to touch you delic- Delicately. Delic- Delic-

Come on man, you'll get there. I'm almost there. Delicately. Come on buddy. Delic- Delicately. Delicately. Delicately. That's the word I'm looking for. Delicately, delicately, delicately. That's the word I'm looking for. Delicately, delicately, delicately. Got it. See, like, come on. These are the things that we should love.

We should love stories like that. The fact that he chose to post it. He didn't redo it. He just shared it with us to our delight. I thank this man, and as Greg Gutfeld said, I salute him every now and then. Every now and then, though, you see a video that makes you think, oh, this couple's in trouble. Alec Baldwin, who's known for all sorts of stuff, good and bad, and his wife, Ilaria, who is known for faking a Spanish accent and I think cranking out, what, 15 kids,

as they were in public, they were on a red carpet, and she snapped at him and tells him to be quiet while she's in the middle of an interview. You got to hear this. The Ilaria Show. No, no, I think we're going to see, you know? We're going to see how it feels to have it be out there. It's going to be great. You're a winner. Oh, my God, when I'm see, you know, it's, we're gonna see how it feels to have it be out there.

It's gonna be great. You're a winner. Oh my God, when I'm talking, you're not talking. No, when I'm talking, you're not talking. This is why, yes, we'll have to like just cut him out of the show. No, I mean, I think this is a really raw show and it's very real and we took a lot of chances. Yeah, so I think that that pausing that she did at the end, I think she realized that she f'd up. I think she did. I think she realized how she saw how other

people were going to see it in that moment. And that made her slow down. You. I think every couple agrees, we fight behind closed doors, you do not do it in public. You just don't do it. And you don't dress down your husband, who if I had to guess, is the reason, like, Alaria Baldwin, before she was Alaria Baldwin, was a yoga instructor, and no knock on yoga instructors. But not every yoga instructor walks red carpets or gets deals on the Today Show,

or gets a reality show, which I think she was talking about there. Ilaria Baldwin gets all those things. And not to say that she shouldn't have the right to be an equal in that relationship, but you don't dress down the engine. You just don't do it. It's a hub and spoke situation.

He's the hub, you're the spoke, at least in that way. And that, n-n-n-n-n-n-n-pa, n-pa, is my mother would say. All right, there is, how do you say this? There's a big difference between Canadian lawyers and American lawyers. And only recently in the past few years have Canadian lawyers been allowed to advertise.

Before they, they weren't allowed to do it. But in the United States, oh boy do they advertise. I mean, you remember Saul Goodman on Just Call Saul? He had some great ads, right? The Americans are known for some really inventive ads as far as lawyer services. And there's one guy on Instagram who takes the cake. Good morning, everybody. I'm in my last quarter of the day. I got my client Mason here. And Mason has got a dismissal. His case is dismissed. this missile man with JG for any type of dismissals come correct though come with that money with that money on

come with that that paper. All right. You're happy? Yes. Yes. You're happy right happy with JG. So who's the best JG. Have a good day everybody. Okay, that's not the only video of his that's out there. There's one of him where he is talking to a client who is in jail behind the plexiglass. You know, when you talk to them and they got the phone, he literally turns around and does like a selfie video

with his client who's behind bars, which I find a really odd way to promote yourself as a good lawyer. Unless I'm missing something, he's only a good lawyer if you're talking to him and he's not behind bars. But anyway, American legal justice system at its very best. A lot of us remember over the past few days there's been video online of that cross country or the the relay race runner the United States who, when she was getting passed and near the end of the race, had the baton in her hand

and whacked the woman passing her over the head, whacked her with the baton, Jeff Galulied that woman. And then she did a big press conference saying, I didn't do it, that's how I run. And so a gentleman who is a world class relay racer who knows about the mechanics of running explained how he sees it. But what happened was, as that girl was getting hopped down and passed by the girl that got hit because she was running faster than her and as she rounded her,

hucked her down in front of all of her friends and family, the only thing she could do, right? Smack the sh-t out that girl. You hear me? She said she didn't mean to do it and she lied. She meant to do it. She got caught in 4K, but now what option does she have?

You got to die with the lie. Okay? You got to die with the lie. Yeah, die with the lie. Exactly. Got caught in 4K. Finally, the things that amuse Donald Trump amuse me. Let's listen to Trump talking about Elon Musk and how he described one of Donald Trump's early accomplishments. Very proud of this Gulf of America. And in fact, Elon said to me, you know, we're landing in the Gulf of America. So he would say and he said it naturally, he said it so routinely, he said, yeah, the capsule, you know, is landing in the Gulf of America.

So I called Elon, where is it dropping down? He said, Gulf of America. How cool is that? Right. What do you think all these presidents would think right now? I think that the state of the country. So I called Elon, where is it dropping down? He said, Gulf of America. How cool is that, right? What do you think all these presidents would think right now about the state of the country? There we go. He makes them happy.

Gulf of America makes them happy. Aw, thanks again for joining us today on the Ben Mulroney Show. 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 set 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. Stream on STAC TV.