Weekly Wrap: Carney's bid to secure $$$

0:00Hi, this is Dave Roberts. Heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, that's a risk. Summer colds can linger and getting sick on vacation can derail everything. That's why everyone needs a medical emergency kit. It includes doctor prescribed medications to treat common and serious illnesses. So if you wake up sick, at home or on the road, you already have what you need. It's like having an urgent care and pharmacy at home. Say $45 with code blue at urgentcarekit.com slash blue urgent care kit.com slash blue. This is a CBC podcast. Well, it was a very busy week for Prime Minister Markarnian. That's not over, but it started in Toronto where he invited the who's who of global investors to an investment summit. It's part of the Prime Minister's bid to secure a trillion dollars of investment over the next five years. And at that summit, Markarnian received a special endorsement from a former conservative Prime Minister.

1:06I do congratulate our current federal government on the measures it has taken. The Fast Track Major Project approvals, especially for projects in the oil sands. These changes are welcome and they are very important. And as Canada seeks foreign capital, it's also reached out to foreign capitals to deepen ties. Greed and warmly by members of the European Parliament. For us choosing you, Canada and the Sikani is quite easy. You have green hydrogen to keep us warm. You have maple syrup to keep us happy and heated rivalry to keep us entertained. Well, here at home, the cost of Alberta's separation referendum is becoming clear with a surprising bi-election loss for the United Conservative government. Michael Solberg is a former staffer in the Stephen Harper government. Zane Velgi is a former strategist for the Alberta NDP.

2:12And here with me in the studio, Lord Angelo, who was an advisor to that former Prime Minister just in Truto? Okay, let's begin. Boy, it's a lot. It's good to see you all. Can I just say that? It's good to be back with you through. Let's begin with this first of its kind investment summit earlier this week. Hundreds of the deepest pockets all here in Canada. Some of them ready to invest. Those few days of high level meetings were wrapped up with some strong words about a former Prime Minister and a former Conservative Prime Minister at that. Listen to this. In 2015, Canada was poised to become that energy superpower. Today, we are not. Why? Because of deliberate policy choices that followed over the next decade. But there is no point bemoaning what is passed, especially because the opportunity of becoming that global energy superpower is fortuitously offering itself to us once again.

3:16I do congratulate our current federal government on the measures it has taken to fast track major project approvals, especially for projects in the oil sands. These changes are welcome and they are very important. Michael, Stephen Harper is a Conservative, right? Because he's seen a lot. He took some shots at Justin Trudeau there. He's got a lot of nice things to say about Mark Herney. Translate this for me. Would you as a Conservative in this conversation? Well, it's tradition to dunk on trust in Trudeau. Any chance you get to date it? Yes, of course, former Prime Minister Harper is a Conservative. He did take his shot at his successor. But then moved forward with an excellent vision for what's next. Now being led under the charge of the current Prime Minister, of course, being Mark Herney. So no, I don't think you look at this any other way other than a unifying moment for the country, especially amidst the backdrop of former Prime Minister Harper continuing to be kind of the guy amongst the Conservative movement in this country.

4:25He maintains status amongst Conservative members, I think amongst Canadians. And what a unifying moment, more than a task and endorsement. And on the nose endorsement of this government's approach to the trade war, to new trade relationships around the world, and grasping the opportunity that former Prime Minister Harper says are on our shores. And are left up for grabs and for the current Prime Minister of the day to harness and make into public policy and to great gains for the benefit of Canadians. Okay, even those in had this intriguing smirk on his face, Robo, so that answer, I'm going to go to Laura Fersel at Zane Clothes this one. But Laura, you know, Stephen Harper referred to this as Canada's new government, which is an interesting bit of branding. Supported the decision to walk away from the trade deal, didn't say show us the deal. There is a misalignment of party, but an alignment on language in different directions. What did you make of all of this? Well, and he also said he wished he'd come up with the Canadian investment summit, right? He also praised this current move.

5:26It's really fascinating to watch. It is fascinating to watch, Pierre-Pellierve and Memnie, members of his caucus, trying to find any attack that will work on the government of the day. But almost every influential Conservative leader, like Harper, as the pinnacle, but also Jason Kenny, James Moore, I mean Lisa Rape, the list just continues. Praise Prime Minister Karnie and his approach. And whether that means they agree with him broadly across all policies, or they recognize that we are in a very difficult moment, we are in a trade war, it is actually a sovereignty issue, it is not just the economy. And they are doing what you were supposed to do if you want to appear like a statesman and support the Prime Minister and the country. But it is fascinating to watch the Conservative politics, and as a liberal, it's really fun. Well, there's progressive liberals who might not like the Stephen Harper invitation to the cook-up. But Zayn, now that we've heard from this emerging Conservative Liberal coalition, what are your thoughts on this?

6:26How far we've come as a country in the last two years is why I'm a Michael. Well, let's talk about it. This is Stephen Harper, Stephen Harper endorsing a liberal. And yes, on the narrow scope of a trade war, which is actually the only thing we're talking about right now. But at the end of the day, this is a liberal party that was led by Justin Trudeau marching to the left, and now is getting endorsed by Stephen Harper. And you must be a new Democrat, just like myself, pulling your hair out, being like, it's all here. Billionaires were invited to town. The Stephen Harper endorsed it. Like, this is bad, right? And everyone's like, nope, Canadian consensus. This is where we're at. And frankly, David, this is where we're at. Because this endorsement, I think, underlines a commitment that Canadians are willing to make. Two Mark Karnie and his economic policy, so to do whatever it takes. And there's two things that got endorsed. It wasn't just Mark Karnie's government. It was Canada's overall framework and tact that it took against the United States. And it is the fact that we now have a national industrial strategy that is going to be co-authored by at least two partisan vehicles, if not more.

7:33And it looks like the left is just going to be left out of the conversation despite their fact of trying to get in, whether that's the NDP formally. Or as you mentioned, David, liberals who happen to be more new Democrat light in their current posture. It is just remarkable to see that, you know, the Liberal Prime Minister invite all of these investors to Toronto. And then jet off to the European Union to see closer ties with Brussels and throw the keys to Stephen Harper and say, close up for me. I got to talk out early. It's a remarkable thing because after all of that, the Prime Minister, he went to Strasbourg and addressed the European Parliament. And was even invited by the EU Commission President become the first associate member of the European Union. Now members of the EU Parliament welcome the idea of deepening ties with Canada. Have a listen to what one German member of that parliament had to say. Our history has had its ups and downs, but hey, we recently had a bad breakup with the Brits and you seem to be going through a rough patch with the US. So clearly, we are both open for something new. And for us choosing you, Canada and the Sikani, is quite easy.

8:36You have green hydrogen to keep us warm. You have maple syrup to keep us happy and heated rivalry to keep us entertained. Okay, for the people who aren't listening to this, but watching this, I just want to point out the pictures that were put in the MEP. Did that? That was not us putting a goofy picture of Nigel Farage. So just have to do a bit of editorial self-defense there. That was from his social media feeds. But you are on this. I mean, the Prime Minister has signaled a desire or willingness, a necessity for deeper cooperation with the European Union. But they pushed back on the associate membership label, but that seems to be where it's going. What are your thoughts on this move? Yeah, I mean, the label feels a little bit semantic at this point, right? I think that you can't have watched and listened to Prime Minister Karni definitely since the 2025 election, but maybe even since leadership. Listen to him talk about diversification, broadly, and not think that this is going to start edging away from economic ties and also start talking about things like security and digital sovereignty and middle powers banning together.

9:38He has talked extensively about how middle powers have to start working together in today's global context. It's not just about Donald Trump, they're a handful of other leaders we could all name, causing various problems worldwide. That all of the middle powers, but particularly European middle powers in Canada need to be aligned to share as silly as it sounds best practices, intelligence, how we are all defending our sovereignty both from a true security perspective and also from a digital sovereignty perspective, right? That landscape is changing drastically and this to me is a very logical next step. Michael, you can see this being a one, two punch, right? Of the investing Canada, build up Canada, but then seek more resilience through diversification. But then when you look at the energy potential here that the Prime Minister is keen on and the AI needs of Europe and all of these things, you can see the real potential of this relationship despite some of the political criticism that came out of it, which could be a vulnerability. How do you view it all?

10:39Of course it's intriguing, especially admits the severing of the ties with the US. We're talking about almost a billion Europeans, some of whom formed the largest economies in the world. Of course it's intriguing, and it's worth the conversation, but we shouldn't pretend that the EU is not fraught with their own issues. The idea of the idea is that the EU is not being ratified, but the conversation is worth having. But it's worth having in parliament, David. Finally we're coming back to parliament to have this conversation, so parliamentarians can have the proper debate on what exactly this means. Nobody still understands exactly what this means. PMO hasn't explained this to anybody. And there obviously was some daylight between the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission and what exactly the ambition is between these two entities. And fortunately we should find out soon. So I say it's a conversation worth having, but it's a conversation that does deserve scrutiny of parliament. I'm glad that they're going to be able to do that soon.

11:40Hi, this is Dave Roberts. Heading into summer without a medical emergency kit, that's a risk. Summer colds can linger and getting sick on vacation can derail everything. That's why everyone needs a medical emergency kit. It includes doctor prescribed medications to treat common and serious illnesses. So if you wake up sick, at home or on the road, you already have what you need. It's like having an urgent care and pharmacy at home. Say $45 with code blue at urgent care kit.com slash blue urgent care kit.com slash blue. Hello, sorry we're booked out at least three weeks. Yep, sorry. Another one you had to turn away. Yeah, third one today. And I'm not going to have the available cash or time to hire more help until after busy season. I don't think you can wait. Got any ideas? Get business financing through capital. Easy application, no hidden fees and really fast funding. Oh yeah, how fast are we talking here? This little is 24 hours. You know, let me call that guy back. Stop turning down work. Start growing. Get the funding you need at capitalist.com. That's KAP IT US.com.

12:42Yeah, and Dana's going to be a while before we even know how to have that conversation because I don't think we're going to get more clarity until the end of October when they have the Canada EU summit of Montreal. And you know, it sounds like Ursula von der Leyen may have pulled a fast one on a lot of European countries, maybe even Canada by throwing up the associate membership phrase in the speech after it got all leaked to the Wall Street Journal and stuff. But you know, who knows? Maybe it's a power play. Maybe it's a faux pas, but it's where we are right now. Your thoughts. Yeah, maybe it was just earnest enthusiasm. Just look at the what would seem like real respect and potentially even love she has for carney calling him dear mark, etc. Just like saying, this is possible. But once again, I think it underlines the Canada's and validates Canada's tact with the United States saying that we have other partners. It opens up the rola decks that carney is clearly has to be able to go here and get the respect he needs, etc. All those things are aces. I think that the added angle here might be the least economic, which is if the liberal start don't start defining what this looks like, not just in economic terms, but what it means to Canadians.

13:43We may actually be quite disappointed with the outcome, which means like people are asking questions like, hey, do I get to live in Europe now? Do I get to travel? Do I get to work there half the time? Like these are the albeit selfish. These are the questions people are asked for. And at the end of the day, yes, there's economic deals, Michael's right about to you to needing I think a half a dozen more countries to sign on and really get full closure on that. But Canadians are going to ask questions of what does this mean for me, especially upper income Canadians, especially a lot of those that vote for the liberals are going to say, what does this mean to me? And there is a bit of risk here, because and I think this is partially why they're side stepping the conversation of associate membership because that has a trickle down effect. Does that mean I, Zane Veljee, Michael Solberg, Laurel D'Angelo, David Cochrane, our associate members of the EU and can now live work freely there. And I think this is one of the reasons that the liberal government side stepping in being a bit cautious in on the nomenclature here. Yeah, it's 10 countries that still need to ratify those some of them have taken steps to do it this year like Ireland. It's gotten to a different point. But you know, if it does happen, we're all drinking red wine on this panel from now on, because that's just that's just the way it is.

14:47Okay, it was stopped. Yeah, that here at home, very different than associate membership in Europe. We've got Alberta's government learning the political costs and real costs of that upcoming outcome. October separation referendum. That's the opposition NDP celebrating their big win in Calgary Shaw this week. That was a UCP stronghold Rebecca Schultz's old seat making this a shocking upset victory. Plus we got new numbers from the University of Calgary out of the price tag on Alberta separating from Canada just in transitional costs. 50 to 170 billion dollars is the range and Zane, that doesn't even include the economic hit potential. Watch your sense of this and what happened in Calgary Shaw South Calgary going orange. To quote my one of my least favorite premieres, but a guy who has been a very outstanding citizen on the Canada file Jason Kenny. This is arguably the most conservative urban riding in all of Canada. That's when people each understand he's right about that and the NDP won there and they deserve props.

15:54This was a ground game victory Kyle Campbell, excellent candidate to a native excellent campaign manager. They eat one out here in a way that was a real shock to the system. This should be a real sort of high for for not had an energy. However, there are a few things to be intellectually honest about here that were also going in the NDP's favor. The candidate that the the UCP selected was a sympath the you know sympathizer separatism if you want to be charitable or outright separatist. He was not their chosen candidate and and that seems to have paid a price. The UCP didn't seem to necessarily have their their ground game in order. They seem to pay a price for that and I think for the longest time there was a bit of hubris and arrogance in Danielle Smith and her team thinking they're not going to face any political consequences for the constellation of things that they are doing including this referendum vote, which many alburns are pissed that we have to even do because no one was asking for it. You combine all those factors and a solid performance by the NDP and you get this and you put now win behind the sales of the new Democrats who can say things like there's no safe writing in Calgary and they've got a move point now.

16:56A significant one to make that claim going forward. We haven't even joined Europe and Zayn already going with the European language standards dropped the P word here on power and politics. Michael how bad is this for Daniel Smith's obviously pro Canada pro confederation caucus and cabinet that put separatism on the ballot? Well it's certainly not good for the premier. There's no there's no way that they should have lost this seat but as Zayn aptly described there was a perfect storm of factors here that ended up in the result that we saw earlier in the week. Not good but what I will say is it at least gives them an opportunity to reflect before the rot sets in further and I hope they do and I hope they have they've been at their caucus retreat in Fort McMurray. I know discussing this in the path forward but there's no way to look at this other than to say it's at best a soft lower cost rebuke of their position on the referendum on separation broadly.

17:58A terrible ground game and uninspiring candidate and a spirited effort by the new Democrats. But the new debt and any peace should be careful in the lessons here too. Hugh Britson thinking that this is their seat forever and that this was anything but a rebuke of Daniel Smith rather than an outright endorsement of not head and entry I think would be false I think would be wrong. But it does open up opportunity for them they now have an a compensate advantage and suburban Calgary so it's it's definitely good news for them. But the lessons learned I don't know I will be I will apply it to the end of the year well look the NDP did win a former cabinet minister seat in South Calgary so they do get at least a week of glow. I think you do get to dunk on the losers in Alberta politics for a while because that that is some rough politics out there. Laura Michael calls it a perfect storm but it's a weather pattern that maybe the premier helped create right. It sure is and I think you know I don't want to take anything away from the NDP it certainly sounds like the grand game was impeccable here. I don't think you can also take it as anything other than a shot across the bow from Calgary and to Daniel Smith on the referendum in particular I think there's a whole host of things to Zainspoint that Albertans are frustrated with Daniel Smith over.

19:11But this is the big one and and for South Calgary to go NDP you can't take that as anything else than a very clear message to Daniel Smith that you need to get much louder about your federalist stance you need to get much louder about tamping down the separatists and if you continue to allow them to take over your party. As they did with this candidate you will pay the ultimate price for it and I don't I think that it's maybe something that gets lost when we like to strategize and talk about politics. Separatism with those numbers coming up this week it's hard to remember that separatism at its core is an identity issue and it is an emotional issue and Calgarians delivered that message loud and clear this. Calgary Shaw is the conservative winning Toronto St. Paul. Correct. You know what I mean? They see it exactly. It is that kind of a shockwave in politics that I don't know if it will take route like that did for a while and lead to change but but is that kind of a moment. Okay we're going to look ahead to what we're all watching next week and Laura you're looking to Parliament Hill.

20:15It's going to be busier up there. What are you watching a little busier so Parliament does come back this week and I'm watching all of it but I'm particularly watching the conservative caucus. There's a message delivered at caucus at their caucus retreat in BC this week that the strategy is not changing but there will be changes and just to watch for them and I am curious to see what no change change looks like. Okay, well they're not careful it could be grand for brand. It could be grand for a bunch of as a mile actually coming there with Larry Brock resigning on on Friday. Zane what are you watching for next week? Also that no change slash change and in particular on the Canada Europe file conservatives came out like really hot like swinging against the EU thing on migrants on other things how association with the EU is not something we want. The problem for them just like there's risk for the government on this the problem for them is that Canada does want to be like Canadians want deeper integration with Europe. So how do they thread that needle without looking xenophobic on the immigration file how do they thread that needle when they're on the minority side of the file and what does a parliament debate look like like what are what are they going to make up either political or policy ground with on this particular I'm going to watch their strategy here to see if it does shift at all from the initial very like hot take that you saw coming out of the conservatives.

21:30Okay Michael you live and work in Alberta right now you're in Ontario but your eyes are on another province and that's BC what are you looking for there? Yeah well I'm watching for the highly anticipated and rumored election call that my sources at least tell me can come as early as Saturday or Sunday sometime in the next couple of days amidst just unprecedented gong show happening with the BC conservatives a story that continues to evolve is recently as a couple of hours ago here with three of them. Three more members of caucus being removed and ousted so I'll be watching for that dynamic amidst some polling that indicates that as many as 50% of voters do not like any of their choices so I think this has the shapeings of being a fascinating race and I'm not quite clear where it's going to go. Okay if you're a podcaster we could be into a BC election by the time you listen to this gong show Laura about what's happening with the BC conservatives it is it is a political grease fire the likes of which I have not seen. John Rustead the former leader said he was kicked out the 15 minutes later brought back in and then 12 hours later is like a hokey pokey caucus kicked out again just what do you make of what's happening in BC.

22:41I mean I'm trying not to laugh right but it does it really does feel like we're watching an episode of reality TV scripted reality TV like it is absolute chaos. I don't see at this point how premier E.D. has any true strategic choice but to call an election at some point in the next few days when you have the BC conservatives in chaos a fledgling party trying to take some ground but there's no time for them to do that. And he could be walking his way to a massive majority government. Well as we are having this conversation as they'll give you the last 40 seconds at least eight of the former BC conservative MLA's who left or got kicked out or whatever are joining center BC which is this semi dormant centrist party and their leader is stepping down to the Peter Millibur a former BC conservative MLA leadership candidate can step in and lead that all in the run up to an election that could be called even as people are listening to the music. Even as people are listening to this on their phones in three seconds to you man.

23:43This will to to me that will just look like more conservative fodder more conservative incompetence mismanagement regardless of what center of vehicle they join. He be has to call election let's also remember he be had a chance to call the election when the BC liberals returning into this BC United soccer team and he did not. And he almost lost to the conservatives he will not make that mistake again he's already put Cheryl votes as his campaign manager whenever that election happens. Yeah right choice there it is going to happen you you suspected has to happen especially with the conditions of even the last couple of hours. Yeah somewhere Kevin Falcon is having a stiff drink and a good laugh none of you are kicked out of the caucus you're here with the weekly rap out Michael soulburg's name Vellgie all over the angelo. That's it for today if you like this episode please follow the pod and catch our next live show on CBC News Network we're on weekdays at 5 p.m. Eastern time I'm David Cochran thanks for listening.

24:43For more CBC podcasts go to CBC dot C.A slash podcasts.