The Paikin Podcast - Morning Brief: Carney’s Hot Mic

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Steve Paikin and Caryn Ceolin discuss Mark Carney’s candid hot mic moment on Alberta separatism, the political fallout for Danielle Smith, and the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff collapse against Carolina. This is your Morning Brief for Thursday, May 28th. Support us: patreon.com/thepaikinpodcast Follow The Paikin Podcast: YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/@ThePaikinPodcastSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OhwznCIUEA11lZGcNIM4h?si=b5d73bc7c3a041b7X: x.com/ThePaikinPodINSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thepaikinpodcastBLUESKY: bsky.app/profile/thepaikinpodcast.bsky.social Email us at: [e-mail] 

Good morning, Karen Ceyolan, Steve Paken with you. A happier Thursday for some and not the others. We're not doing this, though, Steve. We are definitely doing this. We are definitely doing this because I'm surprised breakfast television has not been reporting on the news all morning. I've been watching carefully. I've seen no mention of the fact that they're canceling game five

because Montreal just doesn't know how to shoot the puck on the Carolina net. I gather game five's off. They're just handing the series to Carolina. Steve. You didn't hear about this? Go away. I stayed up till 11 last night, watched the game. Of course.

I did not fall asleep until midnight. It's so wonderful when you're diehard Lee fan to see Montreal Canadiens fans booing their team and then cheering the Bronx cheer every time they get a shot on goal. Don't get hubris now because it's not over till it's over. And they got one more chance tonight. And I'll tell you what, they'll probably win the next game because they play so much better on the road.

So we'll see. This is like our sports segment every day now, isn't it? We'll have this conversation again tomorrow. Okay. Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared to have a hot mic. moment. Oh, did he ever? This week. I'll just read what was caught on Mike. He said, what are you doing? This is stupid.

You've got an off-ramp. Take it. So he was asked yesterday, if those comments were in reference to Alberta Premier Daniel Smith and the Alberta court decision to strike down the referendum question on separation. He didn't answer clearly, but instead talked about the Canada-Alberta relationship.

He fudged all over the place on it. Yeah, I want to get your take on what we heard from the Prime Minister. What did you make First of all, why do we love hot mic moments? We love them because it's one of the rare moments when you're watching politics, when politicians are actually being blunt and are being really honest and are not trying to fudge. It's an authentic moment, right? He didn't realize. I mean, we've seen this in the past. I think every time it happens, we take a little bit of glee that a politician has actually made a faux pa. And a foe pa in politics is you accidentally

say something true. I don't mean to sound overly cynical about it, but the reality is he got caught offering some advice to Premier Smith. It seems obvious that he was offering the advice to Premier Smith that, okay, Danielle, you've got this decision from the courts that would allow you to sort of change course on the whole thing, and you didn't avail yourself of it. Why not? We've seen this before, right? Doug Ford did it during the last Ontario election campaign,

where he actually got caught backstage before going out on a hot mic saying, Donald Trump used to love the guy. I was a big supporter. Ultimately, didn't hurt him at all. I remember another time when Barack Obama was sitting there with Vladimir Putin. And he said, you know, basically let me win the next election and then we'll do some negotiating on this. But I got to get past this next election first. Yeah.

I mean, this does happen from time to time. And, you know, the reality is we love it because it's one of those rare, authentic moments when they're actually saying what they really mean. Stakes are so high right now. And of course, national unity is on the line. And I just wonder if this is the kind of offhand remark, though, that gets the prime minister in trouble with Albertans who are teetering on the edge of this issue, because, yes, we're all human.

The prime minister had a human moment. But he doesn't want to be seemingly calling Albertans who are contemplating this stupid. It's a great point. And that is the problem with these moments, particularly during referendum campaigns or election campaigns. You never know what you say that could get you into trouble.

I remember back in 1993, Kim Campbell, who was then Prime Minister of Canada, said during the election campaign, you know, election campaigns are really no time to have a serious conversation about issues. Now, on the one hand, she was right, because election campaigns take on a life of their own, and it's often about sound bites,

and it's often difficult to get into substantive discussions. But she got pilloried for it, and she never really recovered. We will obviously see in the days ahead whether the prime minister can move past this, advice today in New York at the Economic Club, be careful when you're close to a microphone before you get up to speak about what you say.

And I imagine he'll kind of take the temperature when he's in the U.S. about what the Americans think of what's happening in Alberta. But yesterday he also announced that Canada is going ahead with a plan to purchase surveillance planes from Sweden. These planes were chosen over two American surveillance planes, including one from Boeing.

I think this does two things for the Prime Minister. the first being that I think it sends a signal, obviously, abroad, that Canada is serious when it says it wants to diversify. But I think it also demonstrates to Canadians that the Prime Minister is trying to follow through on a promise to not put our defense dollars towards the U.S. What do you think? Well, what did he say the other day?

The days of us spending 70 cents on every dollar. Exactly. 70 cents of every dollar on American stuff is over. I mean, those days are gone. I had a chat with Rick Hillier several months ago. the former chief of defense staff for the Canadian Armed Forces. And, you know, here's where the split becomes. There's a real split between what the military wants and what the political agenda of the day requires.

The military in Canada is very integrated with the American military. And the reality is there are relationships there. There are equipment, interconnectedness there. Rick Hillier thought, we can't let the anger over Donald Trump stop us from doing what in his judgment was the right thing, which was doubling down with the United States. Mark Carney has a different view, obviously, and he is not taking that advice. He is taking the advice that says, we are in the middle of very awful protracted negotiations with

the United States on trade. We need to plant our flag for our own domestic situation. And if the Americans want to continue to bully us, we're just simply not going to be giving them billions and billions of dollars in defense procurement. Not going to happen. That was precisely the question I had when I saw this headline yesterday was, are we purchasing these planes because they truly are the best for our military, or are we doing it because we don't want to spend with the U.S.? The answer is yes. The answer is, I mean, both things, they sound like contrasting things,

but both things can be true at the same time. And the fact is these decisions are always political, right? It's never specifically, strictly about the military. There is a political angle to it, and clearly the prime minister is following that. Okay, Steve, have a good day. One more day tomorrow. Tomorrow's our swan song, right? Yeah.

Well, we'll have more obviously to say tomorrow, but... Perfect. We'll see you then. Go Habs. Go Habs go. There, we might be turning him. No, not a chance. This is producer Sean Foreman.

That was your morning brief for Thursday, May 28th, 2026. For more Paken podcast content, check out our interview with former New Brunswick Premier and former Canadian ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna, on how he would deal with President Trump. Now, let's see what else the day has in store for us.