"SO DISGUSTING" Conservative figures slam 'campaign' to unseat Pierre Poilievre as leader

Last week on the show we had a panel conversation with former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Conservative Strategist Anthony Koch.We talked about the modern state of conservatism in Canada and in particular how Canadian Conservatives should react to deteriorating relations with the United States.How should they approach the Donald Trump issue?Now our conversation triggered quite the reaction on social media.In particular when we were discussing what seems to be a growing number of commentators on the right in Canada who blame Canada exclusively for the ongoing trade war with the US.Who never seem to hold Donald Trump accountable and instead seek to blame Canada.

Now what many of you don't realize is that we were supposed to have a countering voice on the right on the panel.But that commentator pulled out 10 minutes before we were set to record.But this week I'm bringing on two influential conservative voices in Canada who are going to provide the other perspective of this ongoing debate, this ongoing split within the Canadian conservative movement.That panel comes up next.If you want early access to every episode of Race Showed as well as exclusive Juno News reporting, you can use my code JUNONEWS .COM slash HARRISONRETURN to get a discount on a Juno News subscription.

As always, before we get into it, be sure to like this video and subscribe to the Juno News YouTube channel.The comment question for the episode is this.Is the conservative movement in Canada perceived as being too pro -American?Let me know your answer in the comments below.and let's get into it.All right, joining me now is conservative content creator, Mario Zelaya, and the founder of Juno News, Keean Bextie.

Thank you both for joining me.

Thanks for having me.

All right, Mario, I want to start with you.Last week, we spoke with Jason Kenney, who took aim at a growing number of conservative content creators, personalities online, who, you know, seem to view the trade war as entirely the fault of Canada and oftentimes justify or defend U .S.tariffs.You took aim at an issue with his comments on social media.I want to give you the floor to expand on your issue with Jason Kenney's view of where the conservative movement is at right now online.

Well, I mean, my big concern was he made a comment saying that these MAGA North content creators or whatever he called us, using similar terminologies that I would expect from liberals to use, to basically attack conservative content creators as though they're attacking Canada.And he actually used that word attack.And so there has to be this distinction between attack and holding the government accountable.Right?Just because we are criticizing the existing Carney government or the liberal government doesn't mean that we're all of a sudden attacking Canada.And there's this lack of patriotism.

You got to keep in mind what we do and specifically what I do.I don't do this for money.Like I literally do it to educate people.I do it to make sure that Canadians know what's truly happening in our country, because we have a very biased mainstream media.That exists, and that that is no mystery anymore like that is just an open secret that everyone understands, to the point where the government's now funded them or giving them more money to tell us what's misinformation.So the state gets to tell a state broadcaster to tell us what they should believe.

That whole circular logic doesn't work.And then, so when you have content creators literally, um, you know, keeping Mark Carney accountable, that's all of a sudden attacking Canada.I thought that was deplorable.I asked him flat out him and I tagged someone else who had been saying similar comments.Who are you referring to?Like, I want to know, like, I think it's about time we start naming names, because I would love to know who these individuals are that are attacking Canada, because if anyone's attacking Canada, I'm not going to be behind them.

I'm going to be attacking them.But for him to come out and I think disparage people who do this out of the passion and for the love of their country to then try to twist that, that we're attacking Canada.The only MAGA that I've seen is Mark Carney, where he literally said that Canada can make America great again.I never said that.He did.And so who's attacking who here?

Who's the one that has their elbows up and isn't able to negotiate a deal?

Keean, do you feel like the concerns that Jason Kenney has been raising and some other people have been raising that there is an electability issue here, that conservatives are viewed broadly by the electorate as being, if not pro -Trump, at least soft on the U .S.What do you make of that observation and whether or not you think there's anything to it?

You know, I think that he might be right that conservatives are unelectable at this moment.And it's all actually thanks to him.You know, Jason Kenney ruined this country back when he was Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.He ruined Alberta when he was the Premier of Alberta.Conservatives have a bad reputation.to people like Jason Kenney.

He's always hated Donald Trump so that's not a surprise.He wasn't a fan of Donald Trump during the primary season back in 2015 and he's part of this like conservative philosophical elite class in Canada that is just as bad as the Laurentian liberals, they are all inward looking, they're all in it for themselves.And Jason Kenney is no different than, you know, the worst of the worst.So when he gives advice to conservatives that actually, no, you just need more of me, more Jason Kenney, and less of these wrong -thinking influencers that clearly, by definition, have the support of grassroots Canadian Conservatives.You know, Jason Kenney famously lost his leadership review in Alberta as a Conservative Premier because he is a failure.He's a failure as a politician.

And any advice that he gives is not advice that I would be taking as someone who wants to see this country be more right -wing rather than less.

So Mario, do you think there's something afoot here?Do you think that there is a plan to undermine Pierre Polyev, to elevate some of these more philosophical conservatives as Keyan described them?What do you think is really going on here?

I think it's no secret.I mean, I think the issue which I'll say this kind of class of kingmakers has now is you have these conservative influencers and voices that didn't exist before.You know, like, you know, I'm going to use as an example where, you know, I believe people like Corey tonight who had registered a third party before to oust and run ads against Andrew Scheer to remove him as leader.And they successfully did because he left a few weeks after that.There used to be.able to do that.

They're used to being able to put out hit pieces and being able to get away with it and being able to get the leader to step down.They're used to a world where they have all the power and the control, they can manipulate media, they have relationships within the media, and they're able to put out these stories that, you know, Pyotr Polyaev is X, Pyotr Polyaev is Y, and all in the hopes to basically remove him.And I think it's happening in real time.And I'm of the belief that, you know, Ford is, I think it should be no secret, he's interested in the seat.I think Jason Kenney is interested in the seat.And I think there's going to be several others that are going to be coming up.

But to me, there's been more of an interest, at least on this kind of Kingmaker class, to remove Polyev instead of actually helping him.And I don't think that's very helpful for us to get elected.And what's interesting is, when you call them out on it, When you literally shut down the arguments that they're bringing forward, they all of a sudden say, this isn't the way to do it, Mario.You're not building a tent.Well, how can you tell me I'm not building the tent when you're the one that's putting the knife in, in pure poly of his back?You're the one that's actually destroying the tent.

So don't give me this whole tent argument that, you know, what they're doing is somehow, uh, significantly better and more, uh, I don't know for the better good than anything that I'm doing.I'm not the one doing anything.If anything, I'm supporting the leader that was democratically, you know, I'll say reelected by the conservatives to represent by a higher margin than what Harper was elected for.So we've already talked about this.So what are we doing talking about replacing a leader like that?This, to me, what they're doing behind the scenes is not only hurting the conservative movement.

I think they're purposely tanking it in order to try to remove Pierre and to say, hey, you know what?Look at his leadership.Like, what are we talking about here?What they are doing is undemocratic.And I think it is so incredibly wrong.And I think it is so incredibly disgusting.

It is transparent.And I think there is a unity among the grassroots conservatives that We are behind Pierre.Pierre has activated so many people.And when I use that word, I mean that there's people who were never involved in politics before.And I will put my hand up and say that that that's literally what he did with me.He's the person that got me interested in it.

And I said, who the heck is this guy?I was never interested in politics until he started becoming into the picture.Magnify that by literally hundreds of thousands, if not potentially millions of people.Look at the numbers he put up.Yet did we lose?Absolutely, we did.

But look at the numbers of what he did.There's only one person that did that.And then all of a sudden, the Kingmaker class is telling us that he's no longer good enough.

So I like that.Yeah, go ahead.I like the phrase Kingmaker class.And we saw that in BC where and again, I really do like Carolyn Elliott as a person and even her political beliefs.I really align with, but there was a lot of people who were paid to support her.And a lot of her support base came from people who she was paying and people who knew they would be paid if she won.

Right.There's being in the Kingmaker class is big, big business.So when you see Pierre Poly up there, he has his people around him.He has his people in the party office.He has his people in the opposition office and he has his front bench and he has his back bench and they're all supporting him.The people on the outside, They know that if there's a change in leadership or a removal of the top guy, they'll at least have a chance at putting their person in, getting better contracts, getting, you know, if you're involved in the campaign, well, then the CBC will pay you even more to be an analyst on their panels.

This is like how they live, how they make money.Jason Kenney.has never done anything else other than coast on the coattails of his political career after he famously destroyed it himself.So I'm not going to take his recommendations, and I'm not even a huge fan of Pierre Polya.I was supportive of him when he was running for the leadership, and I voted conservative.I just don't think that changing the leader is going to be massively beneficial.

What is Doug Ford going to?He's pulling it.at record lows right now.Jason Kenney, he's despised by conservatives in Alberta.Maybe he has a better go of it in Saskatchewan or wherever else he's from, I forget, but he's definitely not from Alberta.If there was a change in leadership, that's not going to change the political situation in this country.

The conservatives are disadvantaged at this moment.That will change if the NDP start doing well, which I think that they will.Canada is not an inherently right -wing country, and Mark Carney's governing as a right -wing effectively.So there's a huge, huge window on the left of this country for Abby Lewis to stumble through and do phenomenally better than Jagmeet Singh did.And if they do that, if they bring their vote up to like plus 10, there's going to be a huge redrawing of the political map of this country.And Pierre doesn't have to do anything.

Changing the leader would be a waste of money, a waste of time.And odds are we get someone way, way worse.

It seems though right now, like holding onto the leadership over the next three or four years before the next election, Is going to be a tough task given what is given what has happened to his predecessors.And if it is true that there is a an effort behind the scenes led by the provincial conservatives and whether it's Doug Ford and Corey tonight, if that effort is only going to ramp up, this seems like a tall task.Do you think that he can actually survive?

I think that the likelihood of Pierre leaving is effectively zero.People can clip that as much as they want if he ever ends up leaving.But I think it really is low, right?Like caucus has to remove him.The party membership voted 90%.Now, was that a fair vote?

Well, they kind of did.The delegates were people that supported the Conservative Party, thus likely supported the leader.They were handing out ballots that said, here's how you circle yes on Pierre's leadership review.But at the end of the day, they voted 90 % to support the leader.And the caucus shows absolutely no signs of dissent.And the ones that are, are leaving.

So, you know, it's kind of like the self -pruning mechanism that if people don't support the leader, if they actually support Mark Carney, if deep down they are Red Tories, well, go join the Red Tory party that is now the Liberal Party.They're welcome to do that.In fact, I encourage anyone who wants to cross the floor to go do it.We have Mark Carney for another three years.Go enjoy your time in government.Show everyone your true stripes.

Show people that you're in it for yourself.And then Pierre Poliev, what he actually the challenge that is ahead of him, he's not holding on to his leadership, but it is remaking caucus to be an actually conservative caucus.So when the NDP do their job and create the political situation that can cause the conservatives to accidentally be elected as is required in this country, Stephen Harper's majority was because the NDP did well, that he's able to go in with an elite, and not in that sense elite, but like a highly skilled, truly conservative bench of people who will go scorched earth on this country, who will change the institutions, who will fire the bureaucracy, who will appoint based judges, and actually do what Stephen Harper failed to do, which was remake this country in a way that would make Pierre Elliott Trudeau roll in his grave.Unfortunately, Stephen Harper failed to do that, and I hope that PierrePolyev, I think, will actually be able to execute on that if he is able to remake his caucus into a truly conservative one, one that doesn't allow people like Michael Ma to accidentally be nominated within their ranks.

Mario, going back to this issue between the provincial conservatives and the federal conservatives, particularly Doug Ford versus Pierre Polyev, I fully understand the frustration that a lot of conservatives feel, a lot of base conservatives feel right now because it seems as though the Premier is attacking Pierre and doing so quite a lot.The obvious flip side to this however is that if Ontario Conservatives just abandon the PC party we could end up with an Ontario Liberal Premier or even worse a New Democrat Premier.What would be the response to that?I mean, is the answer to abandon the PC party or say, no, hold on, we gotta make sure we don't, you know, in trying to solve this issue, in trying to call out bad leadership, we don't end up with an NDP premier.Go ahead, Mario.

Yeah, and, oh, I'm sorry, there's a bit of a delay there.What I will say is this, on the Ontario leadership side for the Liberals, if Eric Lombardi wins that, there will be a massive wave of conservatives that will be voting liberal.They will vote for him.Eric Lombardi, I'm not sure if you know his policies or his stances, but he's more conservative than Doug Ford and he's very pragmatic and he's very direct and he's very, very good in his policies and his ideas.He is intellectually levels above Doug Ford.His, I think, vision for what Ontario

can be and should be is completely different.You know, I would like to think that, you know, and I know it's a tough pill for many Conservatives to swallow, to vote in a Liberal government, but I think we're so fed up with the cost of living and all the issues that Doug Ford has not resolved in Ontario at all, has failed catastrophically for.At this point in time right now, there literally is no difference between voting for a Liberal or voting for Doug Ford, the Liberal.And that is the common understanding.And that's literally why I refused to vote in the last election.I refused to give Doug Ford my vote.

I think he's, I saw it long before his polling started getting down to the 21 % or whatever it is right now.And I think what he's doing right now with his whole antagonizing the US is purely for polling purposes.And you have to look at things with the US in a way of, are you doing things?for the better of the country?Are you doing things to better your polling?And right now he's doing the latter.

He's helping himself in the polling, which is trying to reactivate those people who he may have potentially lost.But I honestly think that if someone like Eric does win the Ontario leadership, he is going to get a monumental push from conservatives.And at that point, I think, I honestly think no matter what, Doug Ford is on his last term.

And from what I can tell with my own sources, I know that Eric Lombardi is in fact raising money from previous PC party donors.So that does tell you something about what is going on behind the scenes in this liberal leadership race.Key and Mario brought up the U .S.question again, and how much of this is political theater, how much of this is genuine strategy.And it seems that no matter what Pierre Pauly has said,

he's always going to be branded as being soft on Trump.Even when they criticize the liberal government for caving on the bridge deal, for example.Is there anything Pierre Polyev and the conservatives can actually say right now regarding this trade war that will give them good press?

It's a good question.And I think we need to be looking a little bit more medium to long -term on this.The goal that I see the Conservative Party kind of, the strategy I see them implementing is giving the Liberals enough rope so that they can hang themselves.They're not in government.The Conservatives do not need to execute a better trade deal or an alternative trade deal.That is not the situation they find themselves in.

The situation they find themselves in is being an opposition party in a country neighboring Donald Trump, which is not easy, but Donald Trump will not be president forever.And if JD Vance or Kamala Harris or Marco Rubio become the next president, the likelihood that they continue this attack on Canada, and all of their allies for that matter, I think is pretty low.Donald Trump will be a lame duck president in, I think it's like six months right after the midterms.It will be difficult for him to sustain this trajectory of antagonizing Canada.And with that, the Liberal Party's entire operating procedure over the last 12 years will be falling apart.They will have no more enemy to the south of the border.

They'll have a Republican, but conservative Canadians don't just hate Republican presidents just because they're Republican.They hate them when they antagonize us and when they treat us poorly and not as a friend and an ally and trusted partner.If peopleare able to see long enough ahead, just a few months ahead, where Donald Trump will no longer have the power that he wields now, and his base will be looking elsewhere for a future president, it will be a tough sell for the Liberal Party to keep using Donald Trump as a boogeyman.

Mario, what are your thoughts on what can be said and what maybe should just be kept silent?I mean, I look for example at the latest Toronto Star cartoon where, for whatever reason, they depict Pierre Polyev as the one making a deal with Donald Trump.It's absurd.It just makes me believe, actually, at this point, that it would be better for the conservatives to say nothing at all.What do you think?

Well, I mean, there's clearly a bias that exists there.And, you know, I think it doesn't help when we have I think last week on your show, Jason Kenney was saying, well, if I could, I'd whisper in Doug Ford's ear and tell him to keep poking the bear.And I mean, I will say this, that that type of rhetoric and that type of open discussion coming from the Conservative Party And it's already happening from the liberal party.It's not helpful at all.And I mean, I'm not clear on Jason Kenney's marital status, but I will tell you this.If I'm getting a divorce or if I'm, you know, in a rough patch with my wife, the last thing I'm going to do to try to salvage that relationship or our marriage is poke her in the eye and to keep poking her in the eye.

And for me to say, Hey, can you do me a favor?Go poke my wife in the eye.I'll play the good cop.You play the bad cop.Let's work together on this.And then we're going to see if we can make a deal.

You're like people have to remember there are neighbors forever, forever.Like this is a long -term partnership.And I'm using the analogy of a wife because I think it's the most perfect example.You don't want to head towards a divorce.You don't want to be splitting these assets.You don't want to antagonize the other side.

You want to actually form a relationship.We've tried the elbows up for 18 months.It has not worked.And look, look at what happened.Mark Carney said, guys, look at, look at this, the Gordie Howe bridge.I'm going to split my half and we're going to split our half after I pay my taxes, after I pay my mortgage payments, after I pay my car payments.

And there's going to be basically nothing for me to pay my ex -wife.So you know what, we're going to split things up and she's basically going to get nothing.That's what he literally said publicly.And so what do you think my wife is going to do?She's going to go on TV and she's going to set the record straight.Actually.

I'm getting half of his revenue before he even pays the taxes, before he pays the mortgage.So what I'm getting for my child support payments is actually going to be significant.And that's literally what happened.We only found out about the truth because of America.And this type of rhetoric and this type of antagonizing a monster isn't going to be very helpful, especially when we have such close relationship.Again, this is our partner and our neighbor forever.

And that's what people have to realize.And I think it was Scott Moe that said it best.And I think he said something like, what are we doing fighting them?It's not working.And so my whole approach to this is when you're making deals with someone, and I've experienced this myself on the business side.i have a rule where i don't do business with a -holes period as soon as i see the person for who they are i don't care how much money is on the table i have way more problems dealing with people like that than people who are good and nice but when you're constantly antagonizing the

side, that plays a vital role into the whole mechanics of actually negotiating a deal.And this to me strikes me as these are people who have been in politics for far too long that they forget how the real world and the private sector thinks and how people actually feel.They don't have the management skills necessary in order to negotiate something properly.And this type of antagonizing coming from literally the top levels of our government, both from Mark Carney acting completely immature and behaving this manner and publicly saying it's net profits, there's going to be no money left anyways, and then blaming it on his cowboy hat.And it being early in the morning is completely embarrassing.Like there's no other word for it.

It's embarrassing.And then to have Jason Kenney, who used to be the premier of Alberta, who used to be a cabinet minister under Harper saying, you know what, I would whisper in Doug Ford's ear, keep doing the same thing.It is embarrassing.

Keean, I want to just ask you about this recent column that was published in the Globe and Mail by Andrew Coyne that has really teed off a large conversation on social media saying that the Conservatives have a patriotism problem and that in Canada, unlike basically every other Western democracy, Patriotism seems to be the political domain of the left rather than the right.And I just find that all strange because I can't believe the party that claims patriotism is the same party responsible for mass immigration, for the mass change in demographics in our country, giving free drugs out to struggling Canadians.I mean, the list just goes on and on.And they get to claim patriotism.Why do you think that is?And what do you make of this argument that they do get to claim patriotism for their own side and turn conservatives as sort of the anti -Canadian party?

You know, it was the Liberals that destroyed this country, that made it hard to be a patriot.But it was still the Liberals.that were waving flags on Parliament Hill until they declared an emergency act and said, this is too much patriotism.You all have to go home.I'm not going to be like, I don't have a Globe and Mail subscription.I canceled it.

So I haven't read that drivel, but I'm not going to be lectured by Andrew Coyne on how to be a patriot.The liberals have fundamentally changed what this country is. I'm a patriot to Canada from what it was back in the 1900s.That's what I believe in.I believe in a country where you help your neighbor, where you can build a business and thrive, where you can go to the grocery store without being stabbed, where you can go to a hockey rink without being tasered by police officers.The liberals and Jason Kenney was the one overseeing those changes.So I'm a patriot.

It's not owned by one political party.It's a belief that this country is worth fighting for.And I think that it is, to some degree, despite what the liberals and liberal lights have done to it.And Andrew Coyne is certainly not the arbiter of who is and who is not a patriot.

What was your reaction, Mario, to that column that basically set everyone off on a debate?

Honestly, I just rolled my eyes.It's just the thing with Andrew is he's at least consistent.And he's consistent in his ongoing attacks against conservatives.You know, he might have the odd shining moment where there literally is no other choice other than to criticize the government for blatant failures.But honestly, it's just it.I didn't pay too much attention to it, to be honest.

I saw the title.Like Kian said, I don't have a subscription to it.I don't care to have one for the Globe and Mail because I put them in the same bucket as the Toronto Star.I don't care to read their content.I saw the titles, I saw people getting upset about it.It's just one of those things, when you know enough of what we all know, you just look at it and laugh and it's a joke.

Guys, we'll wrap it up there.Thank you both for joining me and for providing really a counterbalance to last week's conversation.I really appreciate it.A reminder that you can use my code junonews .com slash HarrisonReturn to get a discount on a Juno News subscription.Also a reminder to answer the comment question of the video.

Is the Canadian conservative movement perceived as too American?Let me know your answer in the comments below.My name is Harrison Faulkner and this is Ratioed.