Ezra Levant and Manny Montenegrino reject Jean Chrétien’s call for Canada to surrender Meng Wenzhou’s extradition, exposing his ties to Power Corporation—backing Bombardier’s Tibet railway—and questioning his post-prime-minister lobbying. They contrast Chrétien’s China-first approach with Stephen Harper’s principled diplomacy, warning Trudeau’s U.S. estrangement (blocked pipelines, no ambassador, snubbing Trump) risks G7 exclusion and hostage stalemate. With Kovrig and Spavor still detained pre-election, China’s leverage persists, while Trudeau’s perceived weakness and internal divisions—like Scheer’s fading support—threaten Canada’s global influence. [Automatically generated summary]
Hello rebels, today I talk about Jean-Cretchen's masterful, brilliant 3D chess, complex yet achievable plan to get our hostages back from China.
I can sum up his plan in three words, which is miraculous considering it's like a Renoir painting.
And his plan is pay the ransom.
Yeah, who could have thought of that one?
And I explained to you why Kretchen said that.
I proved to you that he's a Chinese lobbyist.
Why are we even listening to the guy?
Anyways, before I get to that, can you do me a favor and become a Rebel Premium subscriber?
I know I ask you all the time, but I'd be grateful if you would do it.
Go to the rebel.media slash shows, and it's $8 a month or $80 for a year.
You get my show in video format, Sheila Gun Read Show, David Menzy's show, and, of course, it helps the Rebels stay strong.
All right, here's my Jean-Cretchen in China show.
You're listening to a Rebel Media Podcast.
Tonight, Jean-Cretchen tells Justin Trudeau to surrender to China.
Will Trudeau comply?
It's June 14th, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're the biggest carbon consumer I know?
There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
The only thing I have is in the government.
But why publish them?
It's because it's my bloody right to do so.
Jean-Cretchen, the most successful Liberal Prime Minister in memory, had some advice for Justin Trudeau, the weakest liberal prime minister in memory.
It was advice on how to deal with China, which has been holding two Canadians hostage for the better part of a year, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Kre-Chen's advice was pretty simple.
Just surrender.
Just pay the ransom to China.
Give the Chinese everything they want.
Just do it.
Here's the Globe and Mail story from a day ago.
Kretchen proposes canceling Meng's extradition case to unfreeze relations with China.
Just a reminder, Meng Wenzhou, if I'm saying that right, is a senior executive of the massive Chinese telecommunications company called Huawei.
They make cell phones and amongst other things.
And she also happens to be the daughter of the company's founder.
She was arrested when she touched down in Vancouver at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to the U.S. for various financial crimes, including illegally breaking sanctions in Iran.
Meng or Meng is fighting that extradition and is out on bail, but can't leave the city of Vancouver.
Of all the cities in the world to be kept in, Vancouver would probably be one of the nicest, and it's culturally pretty friendly to Hmong Tuesday so she's not in a prison or anything, unlike the two Canadian hostages China immediately seized as punishment to Canada.
Let me read some more from the article in the Globe.
Jean-Cretchen is floating the idea of having Canada's justice minister exercise his legal authority to stop the United States extradition of senior Huawei executive Meng Wenzhou as the means to normalize diplomatic relations with China, sources say.
The former Liberal Prime Minister who last week offered to serve as Canada's special envoy to China to help free two jailed Canadians has discussed the idea of canceling the extradition process with business executives, according to sources with knowledge of the conversations.
So just caving in, just giving them everything that they want.
That's his advice.
That's his complex, thoughtful, deeply experienced solution here, just to surrender to a foreign power.
The proposal, I'm going to read some more, which has not been formally presented to the Trudeau government, would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping's demand that Ms. Heng be freed to return home before Beijing would reconsider reprisals it has taken against Canada.
So it's not just a surrender.
It's a surrender, total, abject surrender, renounce everything the Canadian government has said about the rule of law, just cave in, abandon our U.S. ally and their police request.
All that has to happen first before China even considers releasing our hostages or ending its bans on canola and other imports.
So it's not even a capitulation.
It is a capitulation in advance with no strings attached, fingers crossed that China will be nice to us.
What?
Is that the advice of a man who ran the Canadian government, three majority governments in a row, for a decade?
Is that really how Kretchen himself operated in the countless large and small negotiations and disagreements and compromises that a prime minister faces, both with foreign governments, both friendly and unfriendly, and with provinces and territories with their particular demands and businesses and lobby groups with his own political coalition?
Is that really the best Kretchen could do?
His best advice, he's coming up on 80.
His best advice is just maybe he's over 80 now, is just do whatever the Chinese say, just give him whatever they want.
No, of course not.
So you have to understand that Kret Chen is in fact a fairly shrewd negotiator, much more than Justin Trudeau's never negotiated anything in his life.
He said his dad, trust fund lawyers, do that.
But you have to understand that Jean-Kretchen is a negotiator in this case for the other side.
Right now, not in the past, right now, at the same time he's giving Canada such great advice, he is a lobbyist for China, in China, on the Chinese side.
You might know that Jean-Cre-Chen's son-in-law is André Demarais.
He's the president of the accurately named Power Corporation.
Huge company, multi-billion dollars.
They own brands you would recognize, like Great West Life Insurance, London Life, the Investors Group.
You've heard of all those.
They're huge companies here in Canada, but they have huge international holdings and they are huge in China.
They went in early and they went in big.
They bet it all on China.
Just an example.
They're part of Bombardier's massive Chinese railway into Tibet.
That's an industrial investment, but it's really a tool to colonize the region, to bring in Han Chinese to dilute the ethnic Tibetans.
It's a conquering tool.
There's nothing Power Corporation won't do to get ahead in China.
There's no human rights violation they'll turn a blind eye to.
I point out the Tibet Railway.
And that's why Jean-Cre-Chen is such a perfect fit for it.
And not just for Power Corporation run by his son-in-law, but any other companies that want to get ahead in China, they go to Jean-Kret-Chen.
He's connected in China.
He gets it done for a huge fee.
See, when Jean-Kret-Chen resigned as Canada's prime minister, he couldn't go straight to work lobbying the Canadian government that he just left weeks earlier.
And these days, there's even a five-year cooling off period before any senior government office holder can lobby the government again.
But there's no rule against a prime minister quitting and then immediately going to work for a foreign government.
There's no rule against that.
And that's exactly what Jean-Cre-Chen did.
Literally, five weeks after stepping, five weeks, He went to work in China, working to schmooze the Chinese government on behalf of rich clients.
Oh, like his son-in-law who need connections, but a lot of other clients too.
Hey, quick question.
Aside from the ethics of that, do you really think that Zhang Kretchen didn't take any steps, didn't have any conversations, didn't take any plans in advance of stepping down as prime minister while he was still prime minister?
You really think he never crossed his mind that he was going to do lobbying in China until he was gone?
Do you really think it was a blank slate until the day he stepped down?
And then only in the five weeks, as he completely shut down his office as prime minister, shut down his office, said goodbye to staff, wrapped up all his projects, and just immediately went to work lobbying in China.
Do you really think he did that all in five weeks?
Or do you think, oh, there's a teeny tiny chance that while he was still our prime minister, still making decisions on security matters and diplomatic matters and trade matters, that he was already setting up his post-employment gig with China?
Yeah, yeah, I think so too.
So that's my point.
Ever since then, Jean-Kret Chen has had his bread buttered by China by doing what China wants, by getting other people to do what China wants so they can get what they want.
So imagine asking that guy.
Imagine asking that lobbyist for his opinion about China.
Yeah, you're going to get an answer, all right.
Imagine Zhang Kretchen still being treated as some sort of credible elder statesman on China instead of who he actually is, a total shill and lobbyist.
And I mean, being treated as credible on that subject, not just by the Liberal Party, but by the media too, who ignore the fact that he is a bought and paid for lobbyist.
Now, thank God for small mercies, but so far at least, Christia Freeland seems to be rejecting Kretchen's approach.
Politicians and the Chinese Reception00:02:05
For now, at least, she's as cringe-worthy as they come.
I mean, remember this.
I have sought repeatedly a meeting with Wang Yi, the foreign minister, my counterpart.
Thus far, that meeting hasn't happened.
But if Chinese officials are listening to us today, let me repeat that I would be very, very keen to meet with Minister Wang Yi or to speak with him over the phone at the earliest opportunity.
She was just doing a public radio show and she was just sort of begging, hey man, if you're listening, please call.
I've sent you so many text messages.
I've sent you flowers.
I've stood outside your apartment with a big ghetto blaster playing romantic songs.
I've, you know, I've deleted all, you know, I mean, that's so pitiful.
But at least she doesn't appear to actually be on the Chinese payroll like Jean-Qué-Chen.
On the other hand, I'm not quite sure about these folks.
See this story?
China's annual reception for local BC politicians slated to go ahead.
BC politicians, here, let me read a little moment.
The Port Quoquila mayor, at least, says reception inappropriate, given China's arrest of two Canadians.
Well, bully for the Port Quilt mayor.
But come on, you stick in the mud.
I mean, it's a party.
Invite the families of the hostages.
They could probably use a good stiff drink.
And hey, China's paying, so why not party on?
Let me read a little bit from the story.
A yearly networking opportunity for Canadian businesses and British Columbia politicians will take place again this year despite ongoing tensions between Canada and China.
The Union of BC Municipalities has released the program for its annual convention, which brings together hundreds of mayors and counselors from across BC every September, showing a Consulate General of the People's Republic of China reception scheduled for one evening.
The reception, paid for by China, has taken place every year since 2012 as a meet and greet where people can swap business cards and eat appetizers.
Party On, Despite Tensions00:02:14
Well, I mean, you've really put these politicians to an ethical test, haven't you?
I mean, standing up for Canadian hostages or free drinks and appetizers.
Woo!
That's a tough one.
Lead me not into temptation.
Oh, how can I resist?
You know, the whole thing's a disaster.
Freeland not getting her calls returned, Chris Chen publicly saying we should surrender, and the media clapping or just saying, yeah, good advice.
We haven't had an ambassador from Canada to China in, what, half a year?
And China just removed their ambassador, the Aidman promotion, to go to Paris, most beautiful city in the world.
So we don't even have ambassadors to talk to each other anymore.
The one guy who could help, the one guy whose calls get answered, his name is Donald Trump.
Justin Trudeau mocks him at every turn.
So Trump doesn't even waste his time on our man-child president.
At best, he sends his blandest host, Vice President, Mike Pence.
And what did Trudeau do with that opportunity when Mike Pence came up here a few weeks ago?
What does Trudeau make with his short moments with the VEEP?
He thought the best use of that meeting was to lecture Mike Pence on a state abortion law in Alabama.
I highlighted to the vice president that there was a significant amount of concern amongst Canadians on the new anti-choice laws being passed in a number of American states and highlighted that Canadians and indeed this government will always be a staunch defender of women's rights and a woman's right to choose.
It was a cordial conversation, but it is one on which we have very different perspectives.
I'm very proud to be part of a pro-life administration, and our administration has taken steps to stand for the sanctity of life at home and abroad.
What we find troubling is the Democratic Party in our country and leaders around the country supporting late-term abortion, even infanticide.
But those are debates within the United States.
A Lot of Banalities00:02:28
And I know that Canada will deal with those issues in a manner that the people of Canada determine most appropriate.
But for President Trump, for me, for our administration, we'll always stand for the right to life.
What a restrained answer.
He didn't even poke back at Trudeau.
He didn't offer an opinion whatsoever on Canadian abortion laws because he's a grown-up.
You know, I would really have rather have heard Mike Pence give some words on Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, wouldn't you?
But that was the opportunity that was the most important for Justin Trudeau.
Now, look, I'm not savvy in the ways of Chinese diplomacy, but I think, you know, who just had a bit of an idea?
Believe it or not, Stephen Harper.
He showed the way, some dignity, some standing by our Canadian values, but also being constructive where we could be, engaging, but on Canadian terms, saying what he meant and meaning what he said.
Those sound like a lot of banalities, right?
But they do mean something.
I mean, I think they mean the opposite of this kind of diplomacy.
Yeah, um, boy, that worked out well, didn't it?
And those little banalities, they probably mean the opposite of this.
I love this picture.
It makes me laugh so hard.
This band of millennial know-nothings that serve as freelance experts.
They're so good at looking things up on Wikipedia.
These know-nothing millennials have screwed up everything from Saudi Arabia to India to China to the Philippines to NAFTA.
What Would Stephen Do?00:15:36
So yeah, give me back that boring old Stephen Harper, please.
What would Stephen Harper do if he were prime minister now?
Well, I don't know.
And neither does Trudeau because Trudeau hates Harper too much to ask, which is a shame because I bet Harper would put aside any partisanship and personal feelings and give some real advice if he were asked genuinely.
He might even go over to China and try and help if Trudeau asked him to and if he thought it would work.
And if you think that's a bad idea to call Harper, well, what's your alternative?
To do what Cret Chen the lobbyist says.
But what would Harper do?
I don't know, but I think he would probably start by asking our U.S. allies for help nicely, in person.
Fly to Washington.
Go with genuine friendship.
Stop sneering and lecturing about abortion laws or whatever.
Trudeau would never do that.
Trudeau can't bite his tongue around Donald Trump.
Trudeau looks down on Trump, which is hilarious considering what the two men have accomplished in life.
Trudeau would never ask Trump for help.
Harper would.
Harper would get that help too.
Harper would make that help his top priority.
And Harper would slowly work to bring back public dignity to Canada's dealings with China.
I'm guessing he might even start taking steps if China didn't comply when he asked China nicely.
I remember years ago when the head of CISAS said there were more than 1,000 spies, Chinese spies in Canada.
This story is from 2005.
14 years ago.
Now they were mainly doing industrial espionage.
There's not enough work for 1,000 military spies in Canada, I regret.
The number today is, it's got to be 10 times larger.
Maybe Stephen Harper would just start sending those spies home, revoking their visas.
They're not even diplomats.
They're students.
They're scientists embedded in our industries.
Just send home one a day, maybe.
And there are, what, 100,000 Chinese nationals in our universities taking up spaces otherwise available to Canadian kids, crowding our campuses, jacking up housing prices, making class sizes too large.
The Chinese nationals maybe decline to renew their student visas.
I don't know.
That would get China's attention.
Maybe get out of that bizarre Asian infrastructure investment bank.
What are we doing?
Trudeau's putting Canadian tax dollars into a Chinese infrastructure bank.
He won't even let private investors build pipelines in Canada, but he's sending our tax dollars to build pipelines in China for China.
How about jacking up our commitment to NATO?
How about buying some real F-35 jets?
How about, I don't know, showing some self-respect?
How about showing China that there are some consequences to kidnapping our people?
There's a reason why China hasn't kidnapped any Americans, even though it was an American extradition request.
How about refusing to let Chinese goods trans ship through Canada to get into the United States?
We're letting Chinese junk come through our ports and into America.
Why don't we just stop that?
That's what's caused Trump to raise tariffs against us anyway.
It's Chinese junk being dumped in the U.S., but it came through us first.
How about just even making a moral statement once in a while in support of the Hong Kong democracy protests?
How about speaking out in favor of China's moderate Muslims, the million Uyghur Muslims who are going through forced re-education camps like political prisoners?
I'm as tough as anyone when it comes to militant Islam, when it comes to political Islamism.
But I've been to Xinjiang, the Muslim province in China.
It was extremely unmilitant.
I didn't see a single burqa the entire time I was there.
It hadn't been colonized and radicalized by either Saudi or Iranian money or imams.
It was a very comfortable live and let live Islam.
I liked it in Xinjiang.
Frankly, I think China's move of putting them in prison is probably radicalizing them.
In any event, I think in China, we found the only Muslims in the world that Trudeau is not championing.
And I wonder if that's because they're moderate Muslims or if it's because they're punishers of the Chinese communists that Trudeau so admires.
I guess what I'm saying is what Trudeau is doing isn't working.
And what Kra Chen proposes to do, well, that's China's plan.
That's not our plan.
What should our little potato do?
What would Stephen Harper do?
Well, I'll ask someone who just might know.
I'll ask him next.
I'm at 18 times the president of China.
I discuss human rights every time.
I was the first Western leader to make a public speech on human rights in China.
And it was at the University of Beijing.
Well, that's Jean-Cred Chen when Stephen Harper was bringing a principled approach to the Canada-Chinese relationship.
By the way, trade between Canada and China continued to grow under Stephen Harper.
Of course, we kept buying more of their stuff than they bought from us, in large part because we still don't have a pipeline that would sell oil to Asia.
The trade relationship is very imbalanced.
We buy their stuff, and I hate to be so blunt about it, but they steal our stuff.
It was probably 10 years ago now that the head of CISA said there were at least 1,000 Chinese spies in Canada.
That number has only multiplied.
So what would Stephen Harper advise Justin Trudeau to do if Trudeau had the courage to ask Harper?
Well, I think we know someone who might be able to make a pretty educated guess about that question, because that someone is a friend of Stephen Harper and his former lawyer.
I'm talking about Manny Montenegrino, the CEO of Think Sharp, who joins us now, Vice Skype from Ottawa.
Manny, great to see you again.
Yeah, nice to be with you, Ezra, as always.
You know, thank you for saying that.
I think it's a good idea for prime ministers to call on old hands, past prime ministers, across party lines even.
We heard from Jean-Krechen, but I think he's compromised because he does a lot of lobbying in China.
Before we talk about what Harper might suggest to Trudeau, do you have a word about what Jean-Krechen keeps saying we should capitulate to China?
What do you think of that?
Well, I mean, it is outrageous.
You've had the prime minister and every lawyer and every senior cabinet minister say that we are a country of rule of law.
And we've heard it, and that's what we are.
Although Prime Minister Trudeau and 10 members of his PMO obstructed justice with the S ⁇ T La Lan.
They've obstructed justice with respect to Admiral Norman.
China knows all this.
And so China is perplexed saying they keep telling us, and they know that Canada is a country of rule of law, but they've seen some cracks with Justin Trudeau, and they're hoping to fill in between those cracks.
So to have, you know, I'm very suspicious of why the former Prime Minister Krechen, once a member of my law firm, would come out on this side and say, well, sure, let's just forget about Canada's rule of law and let's just help China the best way we can.
That just astounds me and it just puts into question the whole bona fides of that statement.
Yeah, I think that he's speaking not so much as a former prime minister, but as a current China-centric businessman whose son-in-law Andre Demery is one of the most invested businessmen in China in all of Canada.
Well, let me ask you a more speculative question.
I think we know why Jean-Kretchen said what he said.
But I think that although Stephen Harper, I don't think he likes Justin Trudeau, and I know the feeling's mutual, but I think truly that if Justin Trudeau made a private phone call to Stephen Harper, I think Harper would pick up the phone.
I think he would listen.
I think he would swallow whatever residual anger he might have towards Trudeau.
And I think he would actually give whatever his best advice would be to Trudeau.
Do you agree with me that if Trudeau actually...
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't?
I would.
I hate Trudeau, but if he called me and genuinely asked me something, in the name of our country, I would answer my best.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it would happen.
And of course he would.
I mean, he is.
But Ezra, I think we're at a point where it's just the ship has sailed with Trudeau.
And fundamentally, it starts with his inability to put his feet into someone else's shoes to understand either a nation or a person or a principled person.
He really is tone deaf to everyone.
Now, psychologists can designate a certain psychosis with that type of behavior, but there is too much evidence that if you look at what happened to the two senior cabinet ministers, you have Jane Philippot pleading, please don't do this.
This will send him in.
He doesn't listen to anybody.
Our prime minister is only concerned about himself and only concerned about what he thinks.
And so that's how we got into the problem in the first place with China.
I mean, anyone who doesn't understand that China is a very serious player and they take things extremely serious, they do not like to be insulted.
They do not like to be ridiculed.
And this started from the beginning in the very first meetings with the Prime Minister and China to sit there and lecture him or them on his five virtue signaling clauses on his trade deal.
He was kicked out at that point in time and he was called the potato.
We went through that.
Now, you know, like Ezra, you've got to think, what kind of person doesn't understand?
This is a people of 1.5, a country with 1.5 billion people, now the second strongest economy, the biggest emitter of CO2.
This is a very serious player and has a long, long plan.
It has egregious violations to the millions of Muslims.
They have no rule of law.
We've just gone through the 30th anniversary of Tenement Square.
There's no record of it anymore.
I mean, so if you, I mean, if you're the prime minister of Canada, you've got to understand who China is.
He doesn't, doesn't listen to them.
And so it's very hard.
And the only way that we could get out of this is with help from either our best friend neighbor, United States.
He's burnt that bridge deeply by calling, by backstabbing the president when they had a deal at the G20, by being the White House referring to our prime minister.
There's a special place in hell for the I mean, so it is really, I don't, you could have a thousand Harpers go and see, and nothing would result at this time.
There's just been too much damage.
And it continues and it continues.
So, you know, the other players that you might get on the world scene, and you know, if you care about Canada and you care about those two young men in the Canadian jail, you get, you muster up everything you can.
We've insulted China, or the prime minister insults China.
We've basically insulted the president.
You know, the other players in the world scene would be Saudi Arabia, would be Russia.
Those two might come in and help.
Well, we have no diplomatic ties with Russia because the Prime Minister decided to lecture them on how they apply their own laws in their own country to their own citizens, which is just absurd.
And as you know, there's also that kind of tension with Russia.
So we are alone in the world.
And the reason why we're alone in the world, it's very simple, Ezra.
Our Prime Minister put his own likability ahead of the Canadian interests, ahead of our Canadian economy.
And so no one's here to help because this prime minister doesn't understand that very basic concept.
Yeah.
You know, I just, it's such a puzzle to me because Justin Trudeau is so obsequious to foreign leaders, to Cuba, for example, to China.
He said it's his favorite country.
And yet he managed to bungle things.
In Cuba, they use those sound weapons against our diplomats.
I can't think of a single country around the world that is friendlier towards Canada now than it was four years ago.
And yet Harper was tougher on all our enemies, but had their respect.
But, Ezra, that's true of everything.
Now, Ezra, break it down, you know, break it down, be analytical.
Trudeau, with his love of China at the beginning, he's done that with feminism.
He was a champion for feminism.
And look, in reality, he is not.
I think Trudeau likes these titles, likes to be something, but doesn't know how to get to it, doesn't know the hard work.
And it all comes down to doesn't know the hard work.
And are you true to your principles?
Are you true to yourself?
And that's where we fail.
I mean, if you look at the feminist issue, I mean, ostensibly, everyone thought at the beginning.
Well, look, first time in history, two very strong principles.
I mean, we've never had a cabinet minister leave cabinet because they didn't trust the prime minister.
These were two strong females.
You couldn't get a better message to say, this person does not speak the truth.
This person has no gravitas.
If you can't have gravitas in your own cabinet, how do you think you're going to get it with the president of the United States, with the president of China, with anyone in the world, if you can't even get people in your cabinet to trust you?
Wow.
You know, I never thought of it that way.
That's such a good point.
That's such a good point.
Well, that's many points.
Manny, unfortunately, I have to agree with you that, as you said, the ships have already sailed here.
There's probably, I mean, I don't know if it's fixable, but it needs to be fixed because there are two Canadians over there and Canadian farmers are taking it in the form of import blockages, whether, you know, trumped up claims that Canadian canola has, you know, some blight.
I mean, it's, so we are suffering in various ways.
Moving Far Away00:11:42
Let me come back to my hypothetical scenario, and I hope you don't think that's too fantastical to do, but maybe you could play along with me anyways.
If, I mean, you worked with Stephen Harper.
You were his lawyer when he was the prime minister.
I'm sure you gave him advice outside of narrow legal matters.
If Justin Trudeau were to show a miraculous personal growth, call Stephen Harper and say, listen, I need your help.
I just want you to do it for Canada.
What do you think Harper's one, two, three, four ideas would be based on your knowledge of Harper and how he's solved these problems before?
Can you guess with me?
Well, you know what?
It's very hard.
Like, I think it's almost at an impossibility stage.
I think Harper, you know, our Prime Minister Harper, our ex-Prime Minister Harper, understands, and is a very, very bright man, understands who Trump is.
I mean, Prime Minister Harper, his success was understanding everyone across the table.
So it's not, he wasn't interested in telling the world who he was.
He was very, very careful in listening to who they were.
So in one aspect, Prime Minister Harper has and knows who Donald Trump is, as I do.
All you have to do is listen.
And so he does have that benefit that it appears that no one in this cabinet or this prime minister cares to do.
No one in Canada cares to, our media cares to listen to what this president is doing.
So if you can't, you know, they talk about, you know, we're listening to Canadians.
If you can't start listening to someone on the other side, whether you agree with them or not, if you can't start listening, you can't start solving the problem.
So does Stephen Harper have the ability to listen?
Absolutely.
Does he have ability to understand who he is?
Absolutely.
Does he have the ability to find a solution?
Perhaps he does.
I can't see it.
I mean, I can't see it.
We still, I mean, you know, like we are in our third year of President Trump.
We haven't invited him to Canada for a state dinner.
Donald Trump has gone to Japan, has gone to the UK, completely full state dinners.
We haven't done that.
We don't have our ambassador to Canada.
He was very late in appointing Kelly Kraft.
I think it was October, November, the latest appointment for a Canadian ambassador.
And now she's been elevated to the United Nations, and there's no talk of a Canadian ambassador, and no one's concerned about that.
These are all facts that should tell you that pretty much America today under this government is tuned out of Canada.
They're focused on Mexico.
Mexico is the number one trading partner.
It's all Mexico, Mexico, Mexico.
And pretty soon, everyone's going to forget about Canada.
And if that does happen, that's not a good thing.
Yeah.
You know, I look at that Shinzo Abe, if I'm pronouncing that right, the Prime Minister of Japan.
And even though they have a deep language barrier, they both really seem to be trying to work together.
They visit each other.
They play golf together.
And I know you're a golfer.
Golfing's a fun game.
But it's also the ultimate way for two men to slowly harmonize with each other.
It's not a quick meeting.
You got a few hours out there.
You don't have to be intensive talking.
You can laugh.
It's a great way for two guys to get to know each other.
And the Japanese are closer to America now than we are despite the geographic and language barriers.
I find that so frustrating.
That should be us.
And so should Mexico be us.
I mean, we are, you're touching on a point that I don't think anyone's talking about.
And that is, is Canada slipping away from being United States' number one trading partner, number one friend?
And if these bonds are created on the Brexit, if Brexit does happen and America was there, you know, in assistance with trade or whatever, if the bonds are going to be Japan, Mexico, and the UK, you know, Canada's, and Ezra, let's add this in.
Canada's special interest to America has been our oil.
America has been dependent on Middle East oil until this year, or I think last year, but I think it's this year.
And America is now self-sufficient.
Canada was its best friend because we supplied America oil and we supplied America cheap oil.
And so oil is very important to America.
Once we lose that ability and Justin Trudeau is doing everything in his ability to stop oil in Canada, we have really very little to offer America.
We are going to be moving far and far away.
So this oil attack is not only an attack against Alberta and against Canada's economy and these pipeline attacks, it's an attack against a very special relationship that we've built for years with America.
America is moving on.
It's self-sufficient.
So if America, I mean, you ask yourself, if President Trump wins another four years and he's looking to the north, other than being, you know, completely envious that the NBA title is in Canada, I mean, what does Canada offer America that America can't do by itself?
And that is a very, very question that has to be examined.
Canada has to step up its game.
It can't keep insulting America.
It can't keep taking away its very essence of its main product, and it can't be lecturing them.
So, you know, I think over time, I hope that a new president comes back and is in love with Canada and we continue this very strong relationship.
Because what could fall from this, Ezra, is we slip out of the G7.
We're a G10 nation.
We're slipping to a G11, but we're in the G7.
These things can happen if America's not always thinking about its best friend, Canada.
Yeah.
Manny, you're making me sad because I see the levers slipping away.
And out of spite, we bought used jets from Australia instead of being a partner with America on those new F-35s.
I've seen those F-35s in flight in Israel.
I saw an F-15 go by.
That's an amazing jet.
Then I saw the F-35 go by, and I said, oh my God, that is, you can see it's so next.
It is the 25 years more modern.
And we just bought the used stuff off the Aussies so they can buy F-35s.
And I'm thinking, what is our place in the world?
Manny, I wish I could disagree with you because you're painting a sober picture that I wish there was some more sunny ways in it, but I don't see it.
Yeah, no.
Let me just ask you to make a prediction.
And it's always tough, but do you think we will get those two hostages home if Justin Trudeau, until, let's say, the October election in Canada?
Do you think there's a chance those hostages are coming home before then?
Absolutely not.
I think the best thing that can happen for those two men.
And, you know, and Ezra, I said this before.
I'm a dad, and I have a son almost that age, and I have people that have done commerce in China, good friends.
I think it could be them.
And I think of those two men and the other two men in prison, those two Canadians.
I think the only hope, I mean, China is about face.
I mean, Justin Trudeau will change his mind on everything for a bump in the polls.
China doesn't do that.
China will never do understand who China is.
They've made decisions.
They're not going back.
They punted their ambassador to France and said, it's an upgrade.
I mean, when is France an upgrade to China?
But that's what they said.
So it's going to escalate.
They will never, with this prime minister, they will never put their foot off the gas.
Our only hope is a new prime minister, a new, and from that point, new relationship could be set.
And from that point, those Canadians may come home.
And from that point, maybe trade.
But they have already, as I have, they've already written off this prime minister.
They've already said no more, nothing.
And they're going to escalate it.
Azra, you ask yourself, they are informed.
They have lawyers.
They have been told.
They do know that Canada was in the middle of this extradition.
It has nothing to do with us except for our laws with America to assist them.
They know it's an American law that we're enforcing.
It's an American extradition, but they have not taken one solitary act against America.
There are no Americans in jail.
There are no, because they know that this person is weak.
This person can't, the Prime Minister is weak.
The Prime Minister can't be trusted.
And the Prime Minister is alone in the world.
And the Prime Minister will relent if we keep pressure on.
And how does a Prime Minister put himself and Canada in that position is beyond me.
You know, Manny, that is such a key point there.
This extradition is at the behest of the United States, but not for one second would they think of taking an American hostage.
You took an American hostage with this president, you would see trillions of dollars of sanctions.
You would see the Chinese ambassador sent home from Washington.
You would see an aircraft carrier set sail.
And President Xi knows that.
And that's why Xi Jinping, that's why they haven't touched Trump.
Now that's why they think that they can push around Canada because they have a weak prime minister who will say anything, do anything, and put himself ahead of his people, ahead of his economy.
They are very intelligent.
I mean, I mean, it is almost insulting to think that the Chinese are not as informed as any other person.
Well, they've been doing diplomacy for 5,000 years.
I mean, this is not new to them.
And they know what they're doing.
They know what they're doing.
Well, just incredible.
And you're right.
Justin Trudeau's character will not change in the next six months.
And so China's calculations on how to deal with someone of his character will not change either.
Manny Montenegrino, what a pleasure to, I feel like you're a professor and we are taking a masterclass.
You certainly helped us through the NAFTA process.
And I think you really said a lot of interesting things today.
I'm going to re-watch this interview and pause it and contemplate it because I learned a lot from you today, my friend, and I thank you for that.
No problem.
As you're always glad to help.
Papa's Little Salt Lesson00:02:28
All right.
There you have it.
Our friend Manny Montenegrino, the CEO of Think Sharp, and he joined us via Skype from our nation's capital.
Stay with us.
More ahead on The Rebel.
Hey, welcome back on my monologue yesterday.
Keith writes, United We Stand, Divided We Fall.
The most important thing that we need to do is to get out of Trudeau's death grip.
Well, we've got five months to do it.
I saw a poll today that only 6% of people really like Trudeau.
I'm not surprised.
You know, most of the time it's a bell curve.
You know, some people hate a guy, more dislike him, and then most people sort of, yeah, so-so in the middle.
And then some like him, and then very few really like him.
Like it's shaped like a bell, right?
They call that the bell curve.
With Trudeau, it's not that way.
More people hate him than just dislike him.
Can you believe that?
That's a fact.
Bruce writes, we can only hope and pray Trudeau keeps making costly mistakes in his campaign.
We also need to get on Scheer's case to the point where he realizes he's alienating his base.
Yeah, listen, parties on the right sometimes take advantage and say, look, where are conservatives going to go?
Horror, hurricane, hurricane.
They have to vote for us so we can tack to the left now.
Well, that's the thing.
Maxime Bernier, if he takes one, two, three, four, five percent of the vote because he's a true conservative and Andrew Scheer's gone Nambi Pamby, well, that could cost the Conservative Party 10 seats.
Bernard writes, I have not been following the Rebel like I normally have been, but after an extended absence, I tuned in the other day.
I like the distinguishing look your gray hair is offering us.
Bernard?
Thanks.
Maybe I'm smarter.
I think I'm forgetting things a little bit more.
But if that's what it took, that's what it takes.
All right.
Folks, that's the show for today.
On behalf of all of Zero, I'm just joking around.
Listen, thank you.
I don't mind that little salt and pepper look.
A little salt and pepper.
Looking distinguished.
It makes me feel old.
I'm like twice as old as the average person here at the Rebel.