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Route 66?
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This week on And Another Thing, hosts Jodie Jenkins and Tony Clement welcome Canadian columnist Brian Lilley to the show. Dive into an engaging discussion covering the latest in Canadian politics, media insights, and beyond. Expect sharp analysis, candid conversations, and thought-provoking perspectives you won’t want to miss.
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Transcript
Intro
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of And Another Thing, the podcast that continues to set the bar in the world of podcasts. My name is Jody Jenkins. And I'm Tony Clement. And how you doing? It feels like we were just talking the other night. Yeah, I know. But, you know, I'm doing okay. I had that i had those four days in Boca Raton, so I was happy about that. Now I'm back. Yeah, yeah. Was it just four days? Yeah, yeah. was it was but It was a business meeting.
00:00:51
Speaker
Yeah, you never cease to amaze me. It's like, I say to you, I'm like, you going anywhere interesting? Like we're having a conversation. You're like, nah, I'm staying low key. I'm local. And yet every time we end a podcast, you get off and you say, you know, when do we want to schedule the next one? I'm in Thailand next week. I'm in Boca Raton, you know, next month.
00:01:12
Speaker
No, it wasn't, it was Mongolia. Mongolia. Don't exaggerate. Greece. I'm going to Crete. going to the ah the aisle What was the one I kept asking you about? The Isle of... No, what was that one I kept asking you about? Are you going to see... Do you remember when you were in Greece? Well, yeah, I was in Hydra where len Leonard Cohen hung out.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, but what did I, I kept asking you, what was the name of that island again? I don't know. It's like 8,000 islands. Yeah. I know there's a lot. I don't know. Roads. All right. So just for clarity. Yes. Like, are you going anywhere significant in the next say three to six months? No, not, not significant. I'm going to be in Vegas for a regular game. I mean, is Dubai significant, Jody? I mean, yeah.
00:02:04
Speaker
I don't know. Uh, no, the next big one is, is Vegas for a few days. Okay. And to see a Raiders game. And is it? Well, of course it gets to my Raiders. Yeah. I'm doing so well. yeah I'm thinking about buying some Browns tickets, which a week ago I wasn't. So yeah, exactly. You're all jazzed up now. They want a game. I'm a little, I'm a little excited. It doesn't take much for Browns fans. No, it doesn't. Yeah. One game winning streak and you're back on the bandwagon. Yeah.
00:02:32
Speaker
The wind blows a certain way and I'm probably back in the band. All right. Well, right Tony, I'm going to let you take over with the sponsorship avenue. Yes. Because of course we have a new brand new presenting sponsor, the Canadian Bankers Association. And you know, having spent some years in government, Jodi, one thing I've learned is that trust is everything without trust.
00:02:58
Speaker
government, between government and its people, it's tough to get anything done, whether it's building communities or creating jobs. The same level of trust is what Canadians place in their banks. It may surprise you, but maybe not.
00:03:13
Speaker
but over 99% of adult Canadians have an account, the financial institution. That's almost every one of your friends, your neighbors, basically it's everyone, it's all of us. And with that kind of trust, banks know they've got a big responsibility to deliver. It's not just about handling day-to-day banking, whether you're paying bills or saving for that dream home or setting something aside for your kid's future, it's about being there for over 3 million self-employed Canadians and small businesses too, helping them grow and thrive. Just like in government, it's about making sure people have the support they need to succeed. So next time you're making a financial decision, big or small,
00:03:55
Speaker
Remember, Canadian banks are on your side. They're working for you, for your family, and for the success of this country. If you need to learn more, and I think you do, you can visit cba dot.ca. That's the Canadian Bankers Association cba.ca for more details. We also want to thank our continuing presenting sponsor, Municipal Solutions,
00:04:19
Speaker
They are your project management team for rezonings and development approvals. Municipal Solutions cuts through the Municipal Red Tape to bring your project to fruition. Go to municipalsolutions.ca and John and the gang will help you out. And finally, we want to also thank KWM Consulting. They have been in the lobbying and advocacy business for over 23 years. They support companies and small businesses.
00:04:45
Speaker
to deal with governments and they believe in honest and ethical advice and the value of hard work. As always, contact Kelly Mitchell at kwmconsulting.com or phone Kelly directly, 416-728-8287.
00:05:00
Speaker
And finally, finally, finally, we want to thank our, uh, our sponsor and the radio waves, of course, our terrestrial radio sponsor, hundred bay radio.com. Every Saturday morning, they repeat this podcast and some other amazing podcasts, hunters Bay radio dot.com. Are you still on the board there or whatever? Yeah. I'm the vice president. Are you still at the VP and when's your next rock and shindig? The next rock and shindig. Thank you for asking is November the second.
00:05:30
Speaker
And what's that the theme? The theme is 90s music. It's time to just just enjoy 90s rock, though. Yeah, rock. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there won't be any NSYNC or anything like that. No, Avril Lavigne, even, you know. No, i just oh seriously. Yeah. I'm just going straight out rock. And I do have the an Alanis Morissette song. You can't really talk about the 90s without Alanis Morissette. Will there be any tool?
00:05:56
Speaker
No, I think we've got some Our Lady Peace as well. Oh, is it just it's not just Canadian? No, no, it's not. It's not not just Canadian. My Mother Earth. On Mother Earth, yes. Oasis, yes. Edwin. ah love There's a Rush song in there because they're Roll the Bones album was in the 90s. We're spoiling your entire ah show. yeah I know, I know, I know. No, but it's going to be fun because there's just so many good songs and the 90s are back, Jodie, like they're everywhere. What about Too Short? Will you be playing anything by Too Short? No. No. You're back. Are you familiar with his work? No, I'm not.
00:06:35
Speaker
too short Okay. Well, he's a real rapper. You should look him up. Okay. Well, he's not one of the ones that got in trouble or anything. For what? I don't know. ah He's not involved with Diddy or anything. What rappers don't get in trouble. now that's too yeah ah Oh, man. We should probably introduce our guest. Yes. If he's still there. he's I think he still might be there. Of course, we're so pleased to have back on the program. He's one of our original, I think four years ago. He was a it was a guest on our show, ah but he's back again. Brian Lilly is a political columnist for The Toronto Sun. He writes about federal and Ontario politics, and he's also an author and a broadcaster and a podcaster. Brian Lilly, ladies and gentlemen,
00:07:19
Speaker
Yay. Yay. It's very exciting. Thanks for having me back, guys. No, it's great to have you back. It has been four years. I did double check that. I remember being on once or twice early on, and I couldn't remember how long ago it was. Yeah. Before pandemic or middle of pandemic, that's like a whole section of my life that I've thankfully forgotten. I think that's what the vaccine did to you. It was really just a mind clearing to me, right? I can't remember a damn thing sometimes. If it's 2020 or 2021, it's just gone into the ether. I can't figure out the sequencing of events or anything. Interesting. I did get vaccinated and I remember it clear as day, so maybe you're onto something there. Yeah, no, he was one of the vaccine refusenix, Mr. Jody Jenkins.
00:08:12
Speaker
Oh, was it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't and i wasn't a vocal refuse, Nick. No, but you know you did not get the vaccine. I did not get it, no. Yeah, that's right. I was one of the people advocating for bodily autonomy. If you don't want it, you don't want it. Yep. Which seems like a normal thing to say now, but of course you're, and of course our prime minister said that at one point.
00:08:40
Speaker
And then he figured that he could win an election by going the other way. Funny how that works. yeah Yeah, exactly. But anyway, that was a long time ago and we've got lots of interesting things to talk about today, including your recent trip to Arizona, I believe. And I think part of that was about the the US election campaign. So I'd love to get your insights into how that went and what you observed and what you concluded.
00:09:10
Speaker
Well, the purpose of the trip, I was actually invited to go by Tourism Arizona, who I'm sure would rather I didn't write about politics at all. But it was the 100th anniversary of Route 66 is coming up. Oh my goodness. And so they invited journalists from around the world to go down to Arizona and tour Route 66. Come on, you're killing me right now.
00:09:36
Speaker
It was fantastic and I'll have a piece out in the sun about that in a little while. But of course, you know i I got the invite and it said mid-October. It's over Thanksgiving weekend. Do I want to be gone over Thanksgiving weekend? And I thought it's three weeks before election day in a swing state.
00:09:56
Speaker
And they're gonna pay for me to go yeah so I get to check it out. um And it was really interesting because when I got there on let me just pull up the date it's October.
00:10:10
Speaker
11th, I flew down. That was the Friday. And i when I arrived, Kamala Harris was on her second day of a two-day stint in Arizona, mostly in the Phoenix area. So ah she was not up in Scottsdale so much, but ah Chandler and Mesa, and yeah all in the Phoenix, Metroplex area, yeah ah doing events.
00:10:34
Speaker
And at that point, Arizona was still very much a state in play. In fact, two days later, October 13th, as we're you know two days into the Route 66 jaunt, Trump was at a campaign stop, a rally, just south of where we were, at a place that you and I and Joni, we'd all call it Prescott, um because that's how it's spelled. But in Arizona, it's Prescott.
00:11:04
Speaker
Really, Trump was in Prescott, Arizona. um and so So at that point, you know both camps, and in in but so just before I arrived, that week early voting had started, and both J.D. Vance and Tim Walz were in the state ahead of.
00:11:22
Speaker
me arriving. So everyone was spending a lot of time and effort on Arizona. They still are to a degree, right but this state definitely has started moving towards Trump. and yeah know Most of the swing states, when you look at polling now, are leaning towards Trump. it you know If something changes in the next eight days,
00:11:45
Speaker
Maybe harris wins it but if you're looking at where things are sitting right now. It looks like trumps gonna take this so whats What's your sense of why that is? Did they just take a look at Kamala Harris and say no? Thanks, or was there because there there hasn't been a ah huge Deciding issue as far as I can tell so I Arizona, like most of the country, is still very divided. I'm looking at the 270towin.com rundown of polls for Arizona.
00:12:16
Speaker
and yeah a Trafalgar Group has Trump 48 to 46. Marist has Trump 50 to 49. Bloomberg Morning Consult 49-49. It's still very tight. but I would say that in that state in particular from my conversations with people and my reading of the polls and the data, a lot of it's coming down to the economy. And when you look at what the issues are that people are voting on, it sounds awfully familiar.
00:12:52
Speaker
up to what we're we're getting up here. um right You know, the Biden administration can point to all these international issues to to say, oh, well, the G7 says this about as the OECD says that same thing Trudeau is doing. I think, in fact, the economists just had a big article on how great the American economy is, but people don't feel it. no So you've got, you know, yes, inflation has come down, but groceries are 25 percent higher than three years ago.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, one yeah one it's lived experience. Yeah. And then there's one stat that I found that really popped for me because ah Trump won Arizona in 2016, and then it flipped to Biden in 2020.
00:13:39
Speaker
Right. Mostly due to the area known as Maricopa County, which houses Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, major urban centers. Not so much Tucson, um but you know big urban centers and a lot of swing voters in there. They switched from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020. That swung the state.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, ah because there's big chunks of the state, especially small town and rural that are, you know, were Trump in 2016 and 2020. But the city's flipped. And
00:14:13
Speaker
The stat that jumped out at me that I think, you know, if you were to go in and ask people, because I've had conversations with people and they're talking about the price of housing, housing prices in Maricopa County went up 47% in four years. Wow. Yeah. And you can say it's not fair to blame the president for that. But you guys have both been in politics. You take credit for something when it goes well, you're going to get the blame when it goes bad.
00:14:43
Speaker
100%, 100%. Yeah. And at her problem, I mean, she, she has some things going for her, no question about it. She's not 86 years old, like the incumbent or whatever. Um, but, uh, you know, she's trying to thread a needle, which is I'm new and different from Biden, but I'm, uh, you know, when asked directly, are you.
00:15:06
Speaker
Are you in some way rejecting Biden policies? She says no. So there's a little bit of a disconnect there because a lot of people don't like the Biden economic or immigration policy. Well, you know, they named it Bidenomics. They they put his name in it. Yeah. Yeah. And and then, yeah i you know, you know, we're doing a tour around them up in Kingsman, which is a great stretch of Route 66. You guys got to go to and You know, Kingsman's a middle-sized town, ah but they got a cool downtown and they got a few cool restaurants going, a couple of ah craft brewers with restaurants attached to them open up, a little bit of a funky feel going on. And you're talking to the the owners of the places and they're saying the economy sucks. And you're talking to individual people and they're saying, yeah, the the economy's not going well and things cost too much. And it and so they put their name on it.
00:16:05
Speaker
and And you're right, she's saying, i'm I wouldn't do anything different, but I'm freshing you. that that That's hard to do. you know I'll grant her credit ah when before Biden dropped out, ah Trump was going to take just about everywhere. I mean, Virginia had become a swing state at that point. Minnesota, yeah yes New Hampshire. So all these places that normally go reliably Democrat were in play and she's brought them back into the fold. right Maybe not enough um in in the swing States because you know Trump winning has the potential to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, and and Wisconsin. that that That's her campaign done if he wins any of them.
00:16:55
Speaker
um But you know, she has brought the campaign back. I'll be upfront and honest. I don't like either one of them ah Because I view this from the lens of Canadian and they're both protectionist both in in different ways um and for ah You know for us here in Ontario what really? ah Worries me about Harris um is She was part of the push on the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act is the second time that Joe Biden has tried to get the entire Ontario auto industry to move to the United States. The Inflation Reduction Act, where he they pushed to have EVs made, but it had to be 50% American parts assembled in America with a battery made in America.
00:17:46
Speaker
and it had to be in a union shop. And that's the only thing that killed it because Democrat senators who represent auto areas with without unionized shops said you can't do that. And that part kind of fell by the wayside. But you'll you'll remember the first time he tried to to take away the Ontario auto industry because you were minister yeah at the time. You were doing industry during ah the the the economic fallout and and Barack Obama sent Joe Biden up to say get get as many of those jobs as you can, didn't he? Yeah, I was i was the one negotiating on behalf of Canada, believe me. Yeah. It was it was a rough and tumble fight. but But nobody believes me when I tell them that. So I'm glad you remember. Oh, yeah, I remember facing losing 500,000 auto auto-related jobs, not just the direct jobs, but the indirect jobs.
00:18:37
Speaker
I was one of two interviews that Stephen Harper gave on, because I was at News Talk 1010 at the time, he gave two interviews in Toronto ah when he was at the Marriott on Bay Street and announced ah one of the bailouts. One was to me and the other was to someone, it might have been Ken Shaw from CTV Toronto. I've interviewed Stephen Harper a bunch. Never seen him look so gloomy when I walked into a room.
00:19:05
Speaker
Yeah, it was not a good move, but it was what you had to do. You know what they had to do? It was on his 50th birthday, Brian. And so we had what we were doing the announcement with McGinty and and so on. And then he had a little holding room in the hotel and we got him a cake, you know, his first 50th birthday and we sang Happy Birthday to him. And he kind of looked at me and said, Tony,
00:19:30
Speaker
If you would have told me that on my 50th birthday, I'd be spending billions of dollars to bail out the auto sector, I would have called you a liar. oh it was You're right about assessing his his mood about these things. But but if you know if Harris gets in, they both have protectionist issues, yeah although I would say the Democrats are actually worse now and I can explain why I think that, but they both have protectionist issues.
00:19:55
Speaker
but for the auto industry i think harris is much worse than than trump um so you know yeah in case anybody but wants to walk away from the podcast thinking i prefer one over the other ah i'd like better candidates that don't try and screw over their neighbor.
00:20:13
Speaker
That would be nice, but we're in a different time, as you know, as you know. Speaking of neighbors, speaking of Canada, ah yeah, while you were away, by the way, there was a concerted push to to chop the head off, ah metaphorically, of course, ah Justin Trudeau by members of his caucus that kind of failed miserably. yeah Love to get your take on that.
00:20:37
Speaker
So I started hearing to put the coup while I'm in air that this is not an ad, although you can go sell them one if you want, but it was flying porter. So the Wi Fi is great. Yeah. And I start I'm I'm mid flight and I start getting all these messages about the coup and seeing stories and. Holy cow, I can't even leave the country. Things are falling apart. um So. yeah So I'll give her credit at the Toronto Star, she broke it and then CTV and CBC breathlessly followed up. And there were three different stories by the end of the day. None of them ended up being accurate. In the end, it was a bit of a wet squib. I remember being on a few radio shows in the days leading up to the Wednesday caucus meeting where they demanded he step down. And I said, they'll be lucky to get 24.
00:21:35
Speaker
And they got exactly 24 nailed it. Yeah, exactly. um And they didn't. And they didn't demand, Brian, come on, be re really. They asked politely. will They asked politely. Will you please consider going away? Exactly. so Yeah. so So is that the is that the end of it, then? I i don't know. You know, the day after I landed in Arizona, I'm on the phone.
00:22:02
Speaker
early in the morning with liberal MPs back in Canada saying, okay, well, what's going on? Is this serious? Oh, yeah, I think it's serious. Are you signed to on? I'm not part of this, but you should probably take it seriously. Nobody wanted to admit it. I talked to um you know a liberal friend who's been on the inside not not on the elected side but been on the inside and i said if any of the liberal MPs copped to being part of it to you he said no no one will admit it yeah so you know i that it makes me think okay you're not serious but
00:22:39
Speaker
It's going to continue giving them headaches. They're now talking about, hey, give us a secret ballot vote. Yeah, oh that that's what the that's the Michael Chong rules, right? For the conservative caucus. Yeah, do it by a secret ballot, right? Which the liberals didn't adopt. And so it doesn't doesn't apply to them. and And everyone keeps saying, well, the party constitution says this and so is that. And so they can't do anything.
00:23:02
Speaker
Look, you've been in a caucus. There's what, 150 odd of them? If 80 of them stood up and said, you have to go, he'd be gone. Yeah. Or or even if even if maybe 30 of them would say, we're actually going to leave the caucus,
00:23:23
Speaker
you know, thereby it is the Democratic Representative Caucus. Exactly. and hallan know You know, the history. Yes. Well, they and, and ah Chuck Strahl and, and those folks and, and, ah and consequently, but if it's your the governing party,
00:23:42
Speaker
that certainly yeah that that That would be the end. so so yeah A couple of them like Ken McDonald from Newfoundland, he's not running again. um He's mused about voting against the government on ah confidence votes.
00:23:58
Speaker
We can't get to a confidence vote right now now. And this is the crazy part. We can't even get to a confidence vote right now. There's no votes happening right now. Because what like I think they'll accept committee reports and that's about it. People don't realize, I think we talked about this last week, Jodie, did we? About the fact that the House of Commons is as actually completely twisted. Gridlock. that's all greatlock Gridlock. yeah Yeah. It's non-functioning. Yeah.
00:24:27
Speaker
so yeah like that There's no government business. That's why they they will accept committee reports because that's a committee of Parliament. but if the government like so They were about to introduce their Ways and Means motion to ah make you know make it official on the capital gains tax changes. though The capital gains tax changes that came into effect the day after the Toronto St. Paul's by-election in writing with a lot of entrepreneurs and doctors. ah Really dumb move. So that's not even official because they can't introduce it because Parliament's just debating the Green Flush Fund and whether the government is corrupt. And then once they finish with that, and I was checking with one of my parliamentary sources today, I said, okay, any movement, like, is this going to break?
00:25:18
Speaker
none of the parties are ready to break yet. um But once once they break on this, so eventually they either either do the debate will collapse. And so far it's been three weeks of nonstop debate on this and it hasn't happened. I guess it's coming on four weeks now.
00:25:35
Speaker
and the debate will either collapse or the government will force closure. None of the parties want to work with the Liberals to allow them to force an end to the debate. But once that ends, however this ends, then they have to go into the second question of privilege a about the Liberal Cabinet Minister ah Randy Bozzano doing business with his business partner while in cabinet and that business partner was doing business with the government, I believe. And there was another Randy, but not that Randy, but no one can find the other Randy. That's right. Because it's all Randy Bozzano. So, you know, they there once once they solve
00:26:14
Speaker
The issue of are they corrupt on the green slush fund then they go on to is one of your ministers corrupt and it Like no, they can't do anything. No, I'm shocked. They haven't probed yet. Yeah, that's the other thing they could or called an election or something Yeah, well, I mean ah if I think if Trudeau faced enough of a pressure he could he could threaten that and say look guys I can walk to the governor general tomorrow or and will all be in election. Is that what you want? but Can you imagine what the headlines would be if there was a solid month? because so We had the one week off for Thanksgiving.
00:26:54
Speaker
But this started, I believe, on October 2nd. And as we're talking, it's October 28th. A solid month of parliament not doing anything because we're debating a government slush fund. yeah What would the headlines be like if this was the Stephen Harper government with Tony Clemente's minister ah doing business with another Tony and Jodi and all all selling stuff to the government. like what What would the headlines be? Which I just want to put on the record never happened. I want to make that clear. But no, you're absolutely right. And and ah but I think it does show the depths to which Parliament under Trudeau has has sunk that ah none of this is kind of relevant right now for for a lot of people. But you you at the top of the podcast here, you talked about the US and the
00:27:49
Speaker
how people are suffering and how it's cost of living and how it's inflation and cost of housing and so on. And that's what people are focused on in Canada too. And nothing that, I'm speaking as a partisan here, nothing that Justin Trudeau is doing is alleviating that. so Well, yeah I've talked to liberals who say he's being tuned out. Yeah. And that includes with liberals who are big fans of his, who have worked closely with him, who have worked for him. People are frustrated. And even the ones that didn't sign on to the letter, you talk to them and they say, where's the plan to turn things around? Yeah. where Where's the ad campaign? What's your assessment of Pierre Poliev these days?
00:28:39
Speaker
i He's doing well. i mean look he He had a big announcement of yeah saying, we'll take the GST off of new homes under a million. and you know There's some parts of the country where people might say, well, that's ridiculous. Where does that house cost a million? I was two hours north of Toronto the other day. I was was headed up towards your way yeah um on a different highway. I was going up to Sudbury, but i'm about ah I'm well past Barry at this point, and I'm seeing ads for homes starting in the 900s. The cost of housing is crazy.
00:29:21
Speaker
And so Polly have said, okay, we'll take the GST off of a new home under a million. Now, GST does not apply on a resale of a home. right um And you know I'm seeing people debate, well, builders can do this and they they get the GST back. It's not about the GST on the building supplies. Once the home is built,
00:29:46
Speaker
and fully constructed and sold to you, you pay. in Ontario, 13%. If you're out in Alberta, you just pay 5%. You pay a GST or an HST on that. yeah So he's saying he'll get rid of that. That would save, they say, between $40,000 and $50,000 closer to $40,000 in low 40s in Ontario, right closer to $50,000 in British Columbia in the Vancouver area, where housing prices are even worse than Toronto, which gives me headaches thinking about it because I know how bad they are here. So, you know, I think that is a good one. Simple message.
00:30:26
Speaker
and you know we the double digit lead took effect around September 2023. And he hasn't looked back. And i I remember at the end of last year ah doing either radio appearances or TV or podcasts and people would say, yeah, but can he sustain it? Well, he has so far. yeah And he sustained it at or above that 20-point lead for quite some time. you know it It ranges depending on the poll. Between 15 and the latest poll is Abacus. therere They've got Pierre with a 22-point lead. you know ah Once we get into the new year, if if it stays that way, that will be a full year of a roughly 20-point lead for the Conservatives. so He's obviously hit his mark and
00:31:19
Speaker
i Based on on the polling and how things are looking, it seems like you know people have warmed up to them, so it's not just an anti-trudo.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, Trudeau, look, Trudeau is a good campaigner. Let's let's be honest. But 100 percent. And so there's there's that's the hope that the liberal caucus has that they can pull a rabbit out of a hat. But, you know, we felt that Stephen Harper was a good campaigner. And they're these these leaders are good campaigners until they're not. And when they're when that the magic is all gone, there ain't nothing you can do to get it back.
00:31:56
Speaker
Well, as my friend Warren Concello likes to say, eventually the voters get sick of your face. yeah And you know there's some interesting parallels between where Trudeau's at now and where Harper was. And ah it wasn't nowhere near as bad, um but the polling started to go sour for Harper.
00:32:20
Speaker
in 2013. So it was about two years out that the polling went sour for him and and he didn't recover. no yeah he at point He was just you know a few percentage points back. So yeah, in that scenario, you probably think, yeah, I can i can overcome that. Why Trudeau thinks he can overcome a 20 point deficit? I don't know. like why there's ah There's an anti-government you know, cycle right now, ah not just in Canada, but around the world, let's face it. And ah whether it's a post COVID malaise, or just, you know, sick, ah sick of the, you look at the, they look at the UK, you look at France, you look at Germany, there's
00:33:05
Speaker
very few exceptions to this laine higgs just got bounced in new brunswick well see mo can survive the the
00:33:17
Speaker
a year ago was considered unelectable ah the only the only preiere that i i knows doing Well, so far as Doug Ford in Ontario, who, you you know, as as is often the case, faces ah ineffectual opposition. Right. Right. Which benefits him greatly. But I think generally he's doing a good job still. Well, I mean, he's still we were talking about this last week on the show and, you know, he he's got these little not not little issues, but, you know, bike lanes in Toronto, which drive everybody crazy. Most popular thing the government's ever done according to a couple of people I've spoken to. Yeah, yeah. So so he he still has his finger on the pulse of some issues that are going to help people and and bring them on site. So are we going to have an Ontario election anytime soon, do you think?
00:34:07
Speaker
Well, um you know it's the pretty widely reported that there's some people around Ford who think he should go and some who think he shouldn't. And it as you know from your time in politics, there's one guy that makes the decision and it's not the backroom guys.
00:34:25
Speaker
it's not the advisers who are saying go don't go it's the guy whose name is ah at the top of the party i don't think ford's made up his mind yet um You know, and look, the federal um flux is kind of part of it. So the reasoning. And, you know, so I'll tell you the real reasoning on why some people around Ford want to go early. And it it's not a great reason to take to the voters. So they better come up with a better one if they do decide to go early, because craven opportunism is not a good pitch.
00:35:04
Speaker
ah So they're looking at their schedule, and if they go by the fixed election date, which you know isn't worth the paper it's written on, um you know fixed election date laws, I've said since the Harper government introduced them in 2006, are garbage. um that You can break them anytime. Every government that has one has done it. I think British Columbia was the first to have one. John Horrigan broke it. ah Stephen Harper's broke it. Justin Trudeau's broken it.
00:35:35
Speaker
you know So, the first line of all these laws says nothing changes the ability to you know ah right for the either the lieutenant governor or the governor general to dissolve parliament. So that's why I say they're not worth the paper they're written on. But you know if Ford followed that, he would be going to the polls in early June 2026.
00:36:00
Speaker
right If the federal government goes until October 2025 before an election, that and we everyone expects Polyev's going to win, then Polyev gets in, he takes over government with a big bloated budget. yeah Civil service has grown by 42%. It's insane. Yeah. it's yeah and And so there's going to be cuts. And I contend there'll be cuts that no one will actually notice because the government's that big. Your services are not 42% bigger. No.
00:36:33
Speaker
But they will cut billions of dollars in spending and the media and the opposition will scream about conservative cuts. Yeah. So Polly has budget probably comes out in April with a lot of cuts. Ford's ah election campaign starts at the beginning of May. Yeah, bad timing.
00:36:53
Speaker
so that's why they want to go early ah they they have to come up with a better reason than that tim houston down to nova scotia just called an election i saw that he's likely to win um you know everyone that that says fortune shouldn go raises david peterson the 1990, Ontario Liberal. In fact, I saw Rob Benzie from the Star because Benzie kind of kicked off this talk about the early election. and And he kept writing stories about it. And he kept writing about the Peterson example and how bad this was. And it's a disaster. And I saw him and I said, Rob, um you should really stop writing about that because all you keep doing is reminding everyone that the chairman of the board of the Toronto Star was really dumb.
00:37:42
Speaker
ah that's true and he laughed and you know if if i saw david peterson i would tell him the same thing and he would probably laugh because he he makes fun of himself on that but yeah you know for every david peterson there is a john horgan in bc who that's what there's jean kreschen who did it twice in one stephen harper won ah d mcginty this has happened No. no sorry i take mcginty back now ah But it's happened across the country and across partisan lines and it's worked more often than it hasn't. I don't think they have to go early. I i think that the Ontario Liberals and the Ontario NDP are still so weak that Ford will, um unless he really screws up, win a third majority.
00:38:28
Speaker
ah You know, but things can change. I don't think he needs to go early, but they might. It'll be next spring. There was never talk of going this fall. No, it's not this fall. Yeah. You know, it's it's next spring or next summer based on the federal calendar. So if the federal calendar changes, that changes everything. Brian Lilly, it's great having you on the program. Jodi has been listening avidly, but he has no further questions.
00:38:56
Speaker
ah But as I understand, he just texted me saying that. ah but You can ask me about standing on a corner park in Winslow, Arizona. I know. That's fantastic that you got to see that. i'm i'm i I'm putting on my bucket list Route 66 now. We got to do that. so I'll tell you, there is a debate between Flagstaff and Winslow.
00:39:20
Speaker
over where the song was actually written. And even though the the lyrics written by Jackson Brown say ah Winslow, the people in Flagstaff said, no, it was really it was really Flagstaff. But anyways, that's an ongoing debate. yeah I talked to a guy from Winslow who's met Jackson Brown several times and said, well, where was it? He said, I don't know. We were so stoned about that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
00:39:46
Speaker
Tony, sorry, I was going to say, there's an idea for your rock and shindig. How many songs mentioned Route 66? Yeah, that would be a good one, actually. There's a lot of you. There's quite a few. I just Googled it. Yeah, no, it's a storied thoroughfare and I've seen part of it in Chicago and there's a lot more to see, that's for sure.
00:40:09
Speaker
All right, Brian, Lilly, listen, there's lots to talk about, lots of politics, lots of elections. We appreciate you spending a little bit of time with us to make some sense out of it all. Oh, my pleasure. You are now a return guest. So thank you for that.
00:40:29
Speaker
And we just want to thank our sponsors again, the Canadian Bankers Association, cba dot.ca, a presenting sponsor, ah as well as Municipal Solutions, municipalsolutions.ca, and KWM Consulting, kwmconsulting.com, and finally, r our terrestrial radio friends at huntersbayradio.com. Jodi, any last words? We'll do this again in seven days. Yes, we will.