The Ben Mulroney Show - The disconnect between the Polls and the size of Pierre Poilievre's rallies

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Guests and Topics: -The disconnect between the Polls and the size of Pierre Poilievre's rallies 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

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Ben Mulroney Show. Thanks for listening in London and Toronto and at all points in between actually not just in between but beyond because we're also available on the iHeart radio app as well as we post content to the podcast platforms all day long. Just search up Ben Mulroney or the Ben Mulroney Show. So a little bit later today I'm going to be this evening I'm going to be traveling the roads to Ajax, Ontario. And that is where my former colleague, Greg Brady, who used to sit in this chair right before I would sit down. He is he is running for the conservatives in Ajax. And we're gonna sit down for a little

fireside chat, and hopefully allow the voters to get to know him a little better. He's a great guy, loves his community, loves this province, loves this country. And I'm going to do what I can to help him get elected to the House of Commons. Why anybody would want to move to Ottawa is beyond me, but that's where the job is.

And I gotta say, look, I've been at this station for a very long time. I can speak to his character. I can speak to his, the fact that he thinks deeply about issues that matter to the listeners of this radio station, by extension, the voters in his community. I think he is, whether you agree with what he stands for or not, he is the type of person that you want presenting themselves for public office. And so I will stand proudly next to my friend and answer his questions as he answers mine. So that's tonight in Ajax. I will report back tomorrow with all the details. Mark Carney is on the campaign trail. And said something that well kind of made a

little sense but but there's there's a lot to unpack in what he said so let's let's listen to who Mark Carney believes Canada has failed on with respect immigration last point they are we have we have not lived up to our promise to those we brought to this country. We don't have the capacity in terms of housing, social services, and those who came as students, they're not all getting the education they deserve in Canada. We need to build that capacity. We need to manage immigration at lower levels for a period of time, for a period of time until we have those results and that capacity. We need to manage immigration at lower levels for a period of time for a period of time until we have those results in a capacity. And of course, that

means working very, very closely between the federal and provincial governments. So a couple of things. First of all, why does it take him so long to ramp up to get to his point? It's almost as if he hasn't been thinking about these things for very long. It's almost as if he decided he wanted to be leader became leader and then all of a sudden realized there were questions he would have to address and was briefed right before he got to the podium. I'm not even kidding. That's what it sounds like. Also, I think everybody would agree that we have failed the people that we've brought to Canada through various streams of immigration.

Whose fault is that, sir? Who do we call? Who do we, where does the buck stop? And because there has been a party in power for 10 years that has had exclusive domain over pulling the levers and making the choices as to who we let in, how many of them we let in, as well as the levers of how we build houses,

where we build houses, how much they cost, as well as funding for education, money that goes to the provinces that eventually goes into the education system. So just tell me, Mr. Carney, who do we blame for this disaster that you are very accurately describing? I don't think I'm the only one who would like to know who we like. Can we talk to the manager, please? I think it's a fair question. And finally, what I'll say is,

if you agree with what he said, and I agree with what he said, now do the rest of Canada. Now do the rest of us. Because yes, there have been failings towards new immigrants and new Canadians, but there are plenty of people who've been here for a while who have also been failed, who also can't get a house,

who also can't get the education they deserve, who also can't get a house, who also can't get the education they deserve, who also can't use the social services that they have been paying for for years. So if you're going to do new Canadians, do all Canadians. And again, I'll ask the question, who do we complain to? Who is to blame? And obviously we know what the answer is. So that then begs the next question. Why do we trust you? You've got the same team around you. You got the same team of people who voted for all of these policies that have caused the disaster that you so eloquently just laid out. Explain to me, like I'm a six-year-old,

why it's gonna be different. You've had the option to do other things. Your team has had an option to do other things. And I'm supposed to believe that just because there's a new guy who's been parachuted in, they now all believe something completely different. I said, talk to me like I'm a six year old, not talk to me like I'm an idiot. So in that very short clip, I've got

a lot of questions. Unfortunately, guy doesn't sit for very many interviews doesn't take very many questions. He simply says, thank you for your question, next question, or he turns around and walks away. And at some point, I at some point, I believe the rubber is going to meet the road. At some point, this stuff is going to stick to him. At some point, there will be pushback from these broad statements. Oh, here's another point that I just realized. He doesn't tell us what he's gonna do. He never does.

He either, when he does, it's because he's lifted a conservative policy initiative. And when he doesn't, he just speaks in these broad terms. Did anyone catch a solid policy initiative that was that that's going to address the problems that he laid out in that clip? Absolutely not. This is this is a campaign devoid of accountability, devoid of policies, devoid of of fact checking, devoid of pushback. And we're gonna get into a whole bunch of other things today as well.

I mean, there's a storm brewing on the China front. And we will be told that to suggest that there is a there there, to suggest that there are questions that need to be answered, we're gonna get pushback as peddling and disinformation and conspiracy theory. Well, we're gonna lay it out in such a way

where I think you're gonna see that there are questions that need to be answered and the implications for our democracy are serious. If there's nothing there, I wanna know it for sure. And if there is something there, we need to figure out what to do about it. So that's gonna be coming up a little bit later. We've got coming up after the break, we're going to discuss, well, we're going to ask you, what do you believe more?

Polls or rally sizes? I've talked to pollsters and I've talked to journalists who've been at the rallies. Something's not adding up, at least in terms of how it feels. And I want to hear from you next, right here on the Ben Mulroney Show. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. All right. I put the question to you before the break and the number is 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. What do you make of the disparity that at least I'm feeling between the polls that I'm told are accurate with the liberals leading across the board. The polls are apparently tightening a little bit. And the crowd sizes, the enthusiasm that I'm seeing across the country for the conservative campaign led by Pierre Poliev.

Yesterday in Edmonton, we saw largest rally yet for Pierre Poliev, 15,000 people showed up. Now it is Alberta, so I was expecting a big number. I was not expecting 15,000. I mean, these are mic drop moments, every single one of them. He had, what is it, 1,500 people in Malpec, PEI,

that's everyone in PEI. So he's getting them in Fredericton, he's getting them in BC, he's getting them across Ontario. And so I'm just trying to make sense of it and hopefully you can help me do that. Let's start this conversation with Rachel. Rachel, polls or people? Hi Ben, thanks for having me on, I love your show.

Thank you. For me, it's polls and crowds are irrelevant. It's the party policies that I'm looking at that's gonna drive my vote. And if I had to say, like I know your previous host was, it sounded like he was a little bit surprised at the crowds that, you know, perhaps that, you know, with Pierre Poliev, but I mean, people are tired. People are tired of what we've had in this country for the last 10 years. And that's what's driving this change. It has nothing to do with what we're had in this country for the last 10 years. And that's what's driving this change. Yeah, it has nothing to do with

what we're seeing in polls. Like, give me a break. Like, who's who's looking at polls to make their decision? I don't know anybody amongst my group of friends or family was looking at polls to make decisions that people are tired of what we've had, and they want to change. And that's what's going to happen. Yeah, well, but but listen, I mean I mean, if the liberal strategy is right, they're gonna pull a bait and switch here.

They're going to, just as we saw in that previous segment, let's concede that the last 10 years were tough, that bad decisions were made, but we're not gonna tell you we were responsible for it. Instead, we are gonna convince you that we're the ones who can fix it. And I struggle to understand how rational good faith people are going to fall for that. But maybe they are maybe the polls are right.

William, are the polls right? What are you looking at? What's your sense? Good morning, Ben, how are you? I'm well, thank you. Well, my sense is that the polls can be manipulated. And we already know that that's more than likely happening. If you look at the echoes, for example, the president there, Frank Graves, he's put out a couple tweets that are pretty nasty towards Paul, the I think quote, he said something along the lines of, I'll do whatever I can in my power to prevent poly up from becoming the leader of my country.

I have no idea how somebody who can make a public statement like that can be the head of a polling company that has any credibility. I honestly don't know. It's he's entitled to the opinion and he's entitled to be a pollster. But those two things don't mix in my mind. Not at all. And on the other hand, the crowd sizes can't be manipulated. They're real. I think we've seen some potential tricks going on at the Kearney rallies. But as far as the Poliev wave goes, it's definitely

growing in momentum. And I think people are getting excited to come out and see him. Like your last caller said, we're all excited for change. And I think Poliev represents the hope that this country so desperately needs right now. And we're seeing the younger voters are coming out in hope that he's going to turn around this lost liberal decade, right? We have the lowest GDP per capita in the G7 and the second lowest in the OECD and that could only be blamed on the liberals incompetent.

Yeah, well listen, I want to thank you for your call. I appreciate it. And let's keep this conversation going with Colin. Colin, do you feel as I do, because I'm genuinely confused. I want to believe that the data scientists who are working on these polls are operating in good faith that they want to get to the truth. They want to share the truth as it exists in this moment. But I can't reconcile that with what I'm seeing on the campaign trail. Good morning, Ben. Morning. So firstly, what I wanted to say to you, I always thought you were a bit of a lightweight.

And so when I started listening, I started listening to your show, and I think you're absolutely brilliant. You are must listen radio and I tell all my friends to listen to you. Well, thank you. And, and, and in, in regards to the polls, like Steve Paikin and the lady, is it Connie Kathy this morning? Who would have to Chloe Chloe. Chloe. So Steve Bacon and Chloe are a classic example of the Laurentian downtown Toronto elitists. He turned around and said, well, he

said that we've got to take into consideration what's going to happen in Ontario. Well, was he flipping blind? Did he not see what happened in Kingston? Did he not see what happened in Ottawa? Not Oshawa? Yeah. I mean, it's this is a phenomenon. I've been following politics since I first came to Canada in 1984. And I couldn't vote for your dad. You know, I wasn't I was out west, so I wasn't overly keen on your dad. It was, well, it was, it was a reform party.

Sure. It is what it is. And, uh, western, you know, western alienation, which is still actually in place, but your dad was a pretty damn good, uh, prime minister and I miss him. I'm, you know, I'm very, very sorry for your loss. Thank you. And, uh, I think the polls are complete nonsense and the people like Steve Paikin and Chloe have got a real big shock coming to them.

Well, Colin, thank you very much for your call. Thank you for your support. Now, I will say one thing. I hear that sometimes, oh, I thought you were a lightweight. Look, never confuse the job someone does with the person doing the job. And just because I worked in entertainment doesn't mean,

I mean, listen, maybe I was so good at my job that you thought I embodied Hollywood. But I promise you, don't ever make that mistake. Don't assume that just because somebody does a job that they are that job. But I thank you very much for the candid conversation. Let's keep this going. A lot of people have a lot to say.

Tom, are you as confused or as conflicted as I am? Well, I'll tell you, polls can be manipulated, rally sizes can. Something as simple as the time of day you call people can change the results of a poll. If you want to reach conservatives, you call after supper because both conservatives are home having supper after a hard day's work. results of a poll. If you want to reach conservatives, you would you call after supper because both conservatives are home having supper after a hard day's work. If you want to reach liberals, then you phone during the afternoon sometimes because the majority of them are sitting in their mom's basement, you

know, in their underwear waiting for the next government check. I don't know if that's entirely accurate, but I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you very much. Hey, Dan, welcome to the show. Good morning. My powerhouse juggernaut of talk radio. but I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you very much. Hey, Dan, welcome to the show. Good morning. Good morning. My powerhouse juggernaut of talk radio. Definitely not a lightweight as the last call there, but you are tremendous. You definitely must listen to radio in the morning.

Thank you very much. And by the way, I love Chloe. I think she brings great balance. And I don't agree with her politics all the time, but she knows a lot of the inside workings, especially of the local government. She's smart. I like that a lot. You bring up a very good point.

What I like to do on this show, Dan, is I love having people on who don't share my opinion. It'd be really boring if this entire show were a bunch of people agreeing with each other. Like that's not, and frankly, I find my ideas become better by being challenged or by learning something from the other side of the political spectrum. And sometimes not often, but sometimes somebody challenges me and I realize I don't know what the heck I'm

talking about. I'm going to change my perspective. Also, I you know, listening to a bunch of political ex consultants gets a little tiring and they're all they're all delicate with their words and so forth. And Chloe's younger and she gives a different perspective and she punches out the words that she wants to say. But back to the point, the polls are the polls. Listen, Carney, if he didn't have this fortunate jump with Trump, Trump became the issue and he took up all the oxygen in the room, he'd be a nothing and the poly- of would be still at his 20% lead. And I do think like you said, it's regional for sure out West, he's going to be the dude.

And out here, maybe it's north, you know, the outskirts of the GTA definitely is his territory, but I'm in the center of Toronto and it's a lot. I can't believe the delusion here. It's a lot of orange signs and red signs. And I think the PC people are a little too smart. They're not putting up their signs. They don't want to have their Teslas burned, burned down by the fanatical.

Well, I'll save that word to myself. Yeah, I get it. Dan, thank you for your call. And keep the calls coming, 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. The question is, are you being swayed by the polling when it comes to making your decision? Or do you look at the rallies and say there's no chance the polling is accurate? It when you hear that your candidate is I mean, if you're a supporter of Pierre Poliev,

and you hear that he's behind in the polls, what does that make you feel? Does it mobilize you to say I got to get out there and vote? I've got to change this. I've got to move the needle. Or does it defeat you? I'd love to hear from you. And before we go back to the calls, let's let's take a listen because there's there's there's one person who actually had Pierre Poliev and Mark Carney work for him. And that is the person, the guest star last night to 150000 people strong in Edmonton. and that is former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We will only get there with leadership from a person who has an actual policy plan from a person who has been right on all the big issues for a decade. And a person who has the energy and yes, the youth to take us forward into a better, stronger, and more

united future. That person, that person has been my colleague, he is my friend, he is our leader, and he is the next Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Pauliev and Anna. Yeah, I think I co-sign everything he said there, as well as being right on every major policy initiative over the past 10 years. There have been, you cannot deny that had we adopted the ideas that Pierre Poliev has been putting in the window for 10 years, we would not be where we are today. We would not be under the heel, under the boot of Donald Trump.

Hi, I'm Donna Friesen from Global National. the heel under the boot of Donald Trump. award winning global news journalists. New episodes drop every day. So take this as your personal invitation to join us on the global national podcast. You can find it on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. We appreciate any time you listen. We appreciate any time you call in and the numbers is 4168706400 or 1-888-225-TALK. We know that there is a generation gap occurring in this election campaign. We know that older voters are gravitating towards the liberals.

We know that the youth vote is more or less locked up by Pierre Poliev. But we also know that traditionally, older voters mobilize and youth voters less so we did see them come out in droves in 2015, which helped propel Justin Trudeau from third place to first place. And that might be what it's going to take to put Pierre Poliev over the top. Data from elections Canada shows that's the number that's been going down in the last few elections. And so I'd love to find out from you, are you in this age group? Are you planning on voting? If you have kids in this age group, give us a call. Tell us if you believe your kid is mobilized, is politically active, is participating in the election campaign, is he or she in this age group? Are you in this age group? Are you planning on voting? If you

have kids in this age group, give us a call. Tell us if you believe your kid is mobilized, is politically active, is participating in the democratic process. And if not, are you trying to push your kid to vote? Are you trying to push your kid to vote in one way or another? So give us a call, 416-870-6400, or 1-888-225-TALK. And let us know. I want to get inside the heads of the Utes. 670-6400 or 1-888-225. Talk and let us know.

I want to get inside the heads of the Utes. The Utes, as they said, what's that movie? My cousin Vinnie. Look, I have to believe if the crowds and the rallies are not a predictor but an indicator, then to me, they indicate that people, as I've said before, will crawl through broken glass to get to the ballot box. I think, you know, we have a short memory.

Remember that 80% of Canadians were begging for an election for months upon months upon months upon months. They wanted to have their democratic right to hold this government to account. And the government refused, they played keep away with your vote because they weren't ready because they were drowning in the polls.

And the only party that was actually wanted to be tested by the will of the people were the conservatives. We find ourselves in part in this situation today because the liberals refused to do what they should have done and allow an election. And let's also not forget that twice they went to the polls and asked for a majority and twice they were turned down. Twice they were told, we do not trust you with the majority. We will give you a minority mandate because that's what we want. And the first time Justin got that, he didn't like it. And so he called an election in the middle of a pandemic saying it was the most consequential election of our lifetime. And then

promptly did not bring the house back after he got his minority. And then what did he do? He found a way to work with the NDP to behave as if he had a majority. So the people told him, we don't trust you with a minority. We want to be able to pull the plug whenever we want. Minority governments in this country typically last between eight and nine and 18 months. And we were deprived of that ability by the liberals who worked in conjunction with the NDP.

And they were able to behave as if they had a majority staying in power for the duration until we find ourselves here today with our backs up against the wall and a boot on our neck. Kevin, welcome to the show. Yeah, hi there. Hey, I think it's high time that we had a system set up where you have kids who vote on representatives that would represent not like MPs that would represent them bring you problems and issues to the government. They would actually be elected by youth and it would definitely get young people into

the notion of voting and the whole political process that would make them feel that they're involved, that they're being heard. I think it's a great idea. Well, you know, listen, it's a novel idea. I'd never thought of it. Yeah, listen, and let's play it out a little bit. I mean, that's an added level of bureaucracy

and added level of cost. I mean, I don't see those things as a plus, but I do appreciate what you're saying, Kevin, that if we get them involved early, then there's the muscle memory and the feeling of satisfaction that they participated in, at least in this preliminary new arena that you're suggesting.

So I see the value there. I also see the value in getting them to recognize early on that it is a privilege to live in a country where you have the right to vote, right? We are so lucky in this country that every so often we are asked to determine who gets to represent us. Absolutely. And would also give them the idea that somebody is listening to them that they have some some say in their lives.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for your call, Kevin. I appreciate it. Who do we have next? We got Mike, Mike, welcome to Ben Mulroney show. Morning, Ben. Morning. So my children are in their mid one mid 21 early 20. I'm in my mid 50s. Definitely we're all conservative voters and my children are fortunate to have me in my opinion because we always spoke about politics at home. Yeah. We spoke about what the different parties represent. We spoke about what the actual mandate of the government should be. So they were educated from a young age to be open about what they believe is the right to wrap in the country should take based on their

own personal experiences and feelings and beliefs. Yeah. And in my when I was growing up, that was not the case. You know, I don't know how it was with your father being such an incredible leader. But we never talked politics in our house, Mike. No, I'm completely kidding. Hey, Mike, Mike, let me ask you a question. So your kids are politically active. They are knowledgeable. Are they motivated to vote? Yes, they are. And what about have you spoken to them about their friends? Like what's what's that general cohort thinking? You know, something, my younger one doesn't really have a lot of direct contact with people.

She has some internal issues that stops her from doing that, but the older one is very out there and very open with her friends politically. And they are, as you said a minute ago, they're very motivated to mobilize and get to the polls and can't wait to do so. Some liberal, some PC, but they all and very little NDP, unfortunately, but that's their shtick. And they have a high level of mobilization. My friends in the political courts, they're not so motivated traditionally to get out

and vote. This time they are, I'll tell you that. Well, Mike, I want to thank you for your call. And look, I've got to wonder, like, if a pollster calls somebody on their couch, they're sitting there in the comfort of their own home and they say, hey, who do you want to vote for? And they say, oh, I like the liberals, I like Mark Carney.

That's one thing. But I'm not seeing the passion and enthusiasm behind those answers that I think is going to light a fire under that person to get off the couch and go vote for Mark Carney. If it's a rainy day, are they really going to wait in line? I don't see the passion. I could be wrong, but I do see the passion on the other side of the equation. Let's see if I'm wrong with John. John, you've got two kids, 20 and 18s. Oh, so two voters. Yep. Yep. Yeah. So my daughters are home this weekend from

university ones at Laurier ones at Brock or last weekend. Sorry. They were out for a birthday party with their friends. They came back to our house after there was about 15 of them there. And we started talking about politics. And every single one of those kids is voting conservatives. And I also said, How many of you answer your phones when it rings? None of them. Nobody answers their phones. Those kids don't answer their phone.

Oh, that's it. You know, I hadn't thought about that. And you're right. A lot of there's this apprehension of like, why is this person calling me? I don't recognize this number unless it's mom or dad, they don't pick up the phone. That's really interesting. I hadn't thought because I asked the question to a pollster a couple of days ago, saying, Do you the day you only used to call landlines is that the case now they say no we do both. They also say they do an online survey, but that's really interesting I hadn't thought about that. year old son. He's all over the he's all over politics recently. Yeah. You know, since basically since COVID, because a lot was taken away from him from not be able to go to school and not be

able to play sports and stuff like that. Yeah. And he's pushing like, are you guys voting? Are you guys voting? You better be voting. Oh, he's he's trying to get the people who can vote to vote. That's really interesting. John, you've given me a lot to think about. I think you kind of blown my mind a little bit. Thank you very much for that. That was a piece of information

I could carry around with me for a while. And as a matter of fact, we should probably look into that to find out, I bet we could find out what the data is on how many kids actually pick up the phone when it rings, whether it's a landline or not. That's really interesting. I love taking calls on this show. I learn stuff every single day. Thank you to each and every one of you.

Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And I feel like a broken record. I wake up this morning to another industry in Canada on the cusp of crisis. We got a housing crisis, we got an affordability crisis, we've got a drug crisis. We've got a national debt exploding. We've got a crisis in our military, we've got a housing crisis, we've got an affordability crisis, we've got a drug crisis, we've got a national debt exploding, we've got a crisis in our military, we've got a crisis in our schools, we've got a mental health crisis, we've got a crisis in waitlists at hospitals, we've got crises everywhere. And now it looks like the housing construction crisis is looming. Apparently immigration brought in the wrong types of workers.

This is according to the industry. 22% of the workforce is set to retire in residential construction in the next eight years. So that's over a quarter million workers. And there are only, so that's 259,000 workers and only 228,000 workers are projected to enter the industry in the same time period. So if Mark Carney wants to build half a million homes a year, who's gonna do that?

And look, not to get overly political in this because I wanna have a broader conversation, but you've got a guy like Pierre Poliev beating the drum of supporting the trades early on and celebrating the fact that it is an avenue that many more people should be pursuing. He's also the guy who wants to put those trades to work with infrastructure programs,

which is why he's getting so many endorsements from people in the world of the trades. But are you in the trades industry? Are you finding it difficult to find people? Give us a call at 416-870-6400 or 1-888-225-TALK. I mean, it's just another industry on the cusp of crisis. For the love of God, I read stuff like this.

I think about everything I just listed for you. And I'm not mad at Pierre Poliev when he used to say everything's broken. Because it is. Oh, but that hurts our feelings. Canada's not broken. Well, the institutions that underpin the country are. So stop clutching your pearls and start offering some solutions. It's nuts. It's nuts that we're, the pearl clutching, the offense that people take. Oh, you're so mean, he says everything's broken. Well, if you break something, call it out so we can fix it.

I do prefer the language of, you know, the broken promise of the Canadian promise has been broken. If that helps the medicine go down better, I'll just, I'm fine with it. But like, come on. We are literally a country of crises. Crisis upon crisis. And so many of them intersecting. So there's no one solution you can bring to bear. You literally have to solve them all at the same time or you don't solve any of them. And the half measures and the half apologies and the gas lighting that I'm hearing are coming from the left suggesting oh all of these

problems will get solved by the same people who caused them give me a break I am NOT an idiot I am NOT an idiot if I put my hand on a stove and I burn it I'm not going back for a second try let let alone a fourth. Voltaire, welcome to the show. Yes, thank you so much to take me you guys did a great job. Thank you. Okay, I am in a trade for 30 years. My youngest son don't want to be in a trade because he doesn't have the mobility that the handy for and my oldest son is in a trade is being very different way. And this could get a lot of tough loss too. If you get a kid that hurt learn something on your house, they can put you in jail. So that's intermediate me to train my younger one. Oh, really? So the barriers to entry, you're saying that it's not as easy as hey, go into

the trades, develop a skill, open a business and you'll be successful. Very difficult if somebody get hurt. I train a lot of people to do my job. I am a general contractor. And I will always have to be careful. If someone get hurt, they'll be in big trouble. But let's move away from your kids for a second, Voltir. Are you finding it hard today as a general contractor to build teams required to do the work

that you're contracted to do? Very difficult. Yeah. My guys are all old guys. Like, 60 something. The young guys are very difficult to trade. They are afraid that they're not have ability to use their hands. They are difficult.

So, well, listen, I want to thank you for sort of giving us a hands-on view of the fact that these numbers are actually bearing out in the real world. Steve, welcome to the show. You work in the trades. Yeah, good morning. Yeah, we have an excavation company and we can't find machine operators, zero for the last six months advertising, nobody. Helpers come in, we had a guy actually last week come in finally. Yeah. And he ended up smoking a joint all day, sitting down.

Oh, God. So you've got around machines and smoking. Oh, it's legal. So Steve, so you've got reliable old timers and not no one coming up in the farm system to take over from them when they retire. Interesting. Yeah. The problem is I think when we were in high school, we had shop. Yeah. And they stopped all those programs in high school where you do mechanics, you did woodwork. So what do you think between the two major parties, who do you think is gonna get it right on this file?

Well, obviously the conservatives. Yeah. I mean, this is a joke in Canada right now. My kids can never afford a home. Yeah. And it's very disgusting because- And what you're saying with Steve, what you're saying is even if they could, there's no, no one to build it. Thanks. Yeah, I gotta run Steve. I got some more calls to take it. But thank you very much for the call. I really do appreciate it. Hey, Kyle, welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Hey, Ben, how you doing? I'm doing well today.

welcome to the Ben Mulroney show. Hey, Ben, how you doing? I'm doing well today. Good. My two cents on this is that I'm first of all, I'm a gasp there in the trade, I've been in trade for about 12 years now. Even when I was in high school, there was a stigma behind the trades that you were pushed to go towards it. If you were less intelligent. So it's really relieving to hear Paul, they have talked about changing that stigma, because I think that's a big problem as to why more kids aren't getting into the trades. Yeah. Well, listen, in a couple of days, or tomorrow on my dilemma panel, I'm going to have two guys who've made it big in the trades, I got Scott McGilvery coming on and Brian

Baumler, these are two guys that maybe we'll even have a chat with them about about the trades and about the sort of this resurgence in in people taking pride in that there there's there should be no stigma attached to it. God knows I depend on people in the trades every day of my life without them my house falls apart my life falls apart the greatest investment I've ever made in my house goes away were it not for the hard work of trades people across this country. Thank you very much for the call. Ian, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks, Ben. Um, yeah, we've been saying this at my

company for the longest time. Our biggest problem with getting and retaining young people is the ratio system for apprentices. Well, what's the ratio system? It's one to one. So you need one master plumber for each apprentice. Okay. So that means when I've got two apprentices Going through the system. There can be up to a five-year wait for someone to come in and We don't teach you go to school. Yeah eight-week blocks three times

They teach you we familiarize you sure. Yeah, you get the hands-on practical experience But you go to school for as well so you're saying that you'd like that ratio system to be changed so that so that the the The masters have can take on more apprentices at the same time Definitely, you know and then you can you can monitor them as they're going through Yeah, and make them prepared for when they have to go to school so that they're familiar with what they're gonna... Ian, I gotta run because I've got time for one more call. Orion, welcome to the show. I don't have a lot of time, so tell me what's on

your mind. I think though part of the big issue of the comparison that we're all both comparing each other to other people's lives through social media. I think a lot of young people see the speed at which young people can make money, whether it's through streaming or recent years it's been a lot of real estate speculation. I think that doing something like a tax break, once you have your license, once you've got your certification, you're going to get maybe $200,000. The first 200 grand you make is going to be tax free. I think that would be a huge incentive to get young people into trade. Well, thank you very much.

Hopefully someone from the Conservative campaign, maybe the Liberals, are listening and maybe they will lift that idea. I appreciate it. I appreciate everybody calling in. There's no limit to how far criminals will go to cover their tracks. But investigators will go even further to uncover the truth. I'm Nancy Hicks, a senior crime reporter for Global News. This season on Crime Beat, I'll take you from the crime scene to the courtroom and

inside some of Canada's most high-profile cases and some you've likely never heard of before. Search for and listen to Crime Beat on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.