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Turncoat Politics: Why Quebec & Alberta Secessionists Are Begging Washington for Help · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's time for Litke's Gotta Take. John Litke, good morning.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Gene.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: So, Quebec voters are heading to the polls today, and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Alberta's referendum is taking place on the 19th of October. So,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: new investigations from the Globe and Mail reveal that separatist traitors...
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: on both fronts of quietly even making backroom trips to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Washington asking for help. And that is just the definition
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: of being a traitor. Now, Quebec tried to repeat what
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Alberta did and meet with the USA about a mutual
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: exchange to help the province secede from Canada. Again, traitors. Now,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I know it's important, but you explain why this is
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: important to everybody.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Tell us how you really feel, Gene.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Traitors. You know, we have to drop the polite diplomatic euphemisms.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: I'm glad that you are. Running to a foreign superpower
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: to dismantle our country is not advocacy. It is administrative treason.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: And it's infuriating, it's deceitful, and it shows contempt for
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: all Canadian voters. And not only their own, the secessionists.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, these weren't harmless get-to-know-you coffee chats in Washington.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: These were unauthorized backroom pitch meetings to break up the
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: federation without a single federal official or representative from global
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: affairs in the room. After seeing that seceding, though, during
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: trade wars wasn't going to pull well for Quebec with
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: only 30% right now supporting it, The PQ changed their tune,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: and then they started to blame Donald Trump, and that's
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: just a cheap rhetorical scapegoat. So they want to kick
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: now this referendum passed 2029 when he's out of office,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: which is just a joke, quite frankly. So the PQ
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: is using Washington to manufacture cover for a product that
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: they wanted to sell, but they found out it didn't
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: have any demand. But at the end of the day,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: soliciting foreign interference to subvert our domestic democracy should not
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: just be politically embarrassing. It should be criminal.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Ottawa doesn't really seem to want to engage
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: in either of these succession fronts here. Are they blissfully
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: unprepared and unaware of the risks here? I mean, what's
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Ottawa missing here? I don't get it.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I think Ottawa is suffering from institutional amnesia, Gene. I mean,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: they are sleepwalking into a legal trap because I think
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: that they think as long as polling stays below 50%,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Confederation is safe. But that's naive. And former NDP leader
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Tom Mulcair has been warning that the PQ is engaging
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: in linguistic gymnastics on the campaign trail, calling it a
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: consultation right now to put the sleepy Federalists to bed.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: But behind closed doors, the real PQ plan is to
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: draft a new provincial constitution to deliberately bypass Supreme Court
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: secession precedents to pull off a unilateral declaration of independence.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: And Alberta? I mean, federal public safety and security officials
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: are asleep at the wheel while foreign... interference is occurring
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: with U.S. Michigan Trump-aligned operatives flying in on private jets
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: to deploy voter software for the pro-secession campaign that ended
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: up leaking the private voter records of nearly three million Albertans.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: So provincial factions see the U.S. gene as a weapon
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: to bypass our, you know, Canadian democratic norms.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: You know, what I don't understand, John, Do these people
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: in Alberta and Quebec don't know that if they vote
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: to succeed, I mean, gone is the Canadian currency. Your
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: passport is no good. You don't get CPP. You don't
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: get old age security. Come up with your own form
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: of currency. You know, these traders in Alberta, they've offered
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: up resources to the U.S. in exchange for formal recognitions.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and the exit bill payment, I guess we could call it. Now,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: is this just building leverage in D.C. to show Ottawa
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: they're serious, or is it something more? Because it really
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: ticks me off.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: This really upsets me as well, Gene. I mean, listen,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: there is no leverage for them to be building by
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: speaking to Washington. And this argument is childish. It's unpatriotic.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: It's completely naive to offer up resources that aren't entirely
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: there is quite frankly but if you want to shift
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: federal policy you do what serious leaders do build coalitions
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: win national elections and govern for gosh sakes stephen harper
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: proved how to do that he didn't go running to
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: washington unpatriotically to beg for help on his knees And
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: we've seen that this is not strategic leverage. It's a
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: garage sale of Canadian sovereignty. And it's unfiltered delusion to
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: think that the United States is going to treat an
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: independent Alberta or Quebec as an equal sovereign partner. I mean,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: they're not going to be treated independent. They're going to
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: be treated as a subordinate vassal colony for Uncle Sam.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, so they can offer fresh water and oil royalties,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: energy corridors to Washington from Alberta to bypass the voters,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: but that's not leverage. It's turncoat madness.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: So here's what I don't understand. Why are provincial leaders,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I guess we can say, playing footsie with this and
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: not getting serious?
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, to call these people leaders is like calling your
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Uber driver a professional pilot. I mean... They are both
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: absolute disgraces. Instead of acting like the adults in the
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: room they were elected to be, quite frankly, these party leaders,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: in quotation marks, are playing the role of political arsonists,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: walking around with kerosene and reams of referendum ballots, ready
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: to burn down the country to remain in power in
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: their own provinces. But they know better. They have access
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: to economic data, polling data, and national security briefings that
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: show that this is not just a shell game. It's
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: an actual dangerous game, one of the most dangerous games.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: But instead of showing any moral courage or backbone to
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: shut it down, they're playing cowardly dog whistle politics with
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: fringe secessionists just to protect their party flanks and keep
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: their nomination safe. It's spineless, it's destructive, and it's playing
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: with fire.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: So Stephen Harper had an op-ed in the National Post.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: He had harsh words for both provinces. I'm sure you
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: read that. What was your biggest takeaway?
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Stephen Harper, which I don't think I've ever
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: said that out loud before. My biggest takeaway is that
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Stephen Harper stated the cold, brutal truth that secessionists refuse
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: to acknowledge, quite frankly. Using secession as a protest vote
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: brings zero benefit and maximum economic risk. Harper talked about
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: how he lived through the Quebec referendums and how it
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: reminded Albertans, and he reminded, excuse me, Albertans of the
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: historical reality. And that is two decades of Quebec sending
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: messages to Ottawa didn't give them supreme power. It permanently
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: spooked institutional capital, and it moved Canada's financial heart from
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Montreal to Toronto, and it never looked back. Harper made
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: it clear that threatening constitutional destruction destroys investor confidence instantly internationally.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: So playing games with Confederation doesn't build leverage. It impoverishes
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: your own province.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: All right, final take here. What would you say to
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: voters in either Alberta or Quebec, or both, when and
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: if it comes time to vote to leave Confederation?
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Gene, look, being frustrated, being furious at your government is
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: a 100% normal, healthy Canadian thing to do, just like hockey.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: There is nothing wrong with being angry at Ottawa. It's
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: our national pastime. But in a democracy, when you get
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: mad at management, you fire the manager. You don't burn
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: down the arena. So organize, build coalitions, find common cause,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: elect politicians who understand your values, and campaign like hell
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: against the ones who don't. But tearing up confederation, triggering
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: a $ 170 billion economic shock, selling off national resources to
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: a foreign superpower, that's not democracy. It's foreign collusion, and
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: it should be criminal. We don't solve Canadian problems on
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Capitol Hill. We solve Canadian problems on Parliament Hill. and
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: it's time for all separatists to stop running to Washington
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: to beg for help to fix their own problems, eh?
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: You nailed it. Excellent take today.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Gene.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: See you tomorrow.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Cheers.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: John Litke and Litke's Got a Take.