CBCNEWS — Live Cross Country Check Up
20260920 200000 UTC
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[00:00:00] shows you where it starts, where it ends. were you really willing to
[00:00:04] risk that job? yes, at thunderbase favorite festival, wake the
[00:00:08] of diet. taada, there it
[00:00:12] of is. stream anytime. cbc
[00:00:15] news.
[00:00:22] hi, i'm enhannamansing, the host of cross
[00:00:24] of country of checkup. we're about to start the
[00:00:26] of show, and we have lot to talk about, but first here are few
[00:00:29] of stories. to get you ready for that conversation
[00:00:33] of
[00:00:34] of of today. of The
[00:00:35] of European Parliament gave the Canadian Prime Minister, a Rockstar's
[00:00:38] welcome, with selfies, a Sydney Crosby jersey and warm
[00:00:42] words. Opening the door to
[00:00:44] of deepening our alliance is
[00:00:47] of huge positive step forward. Despite fresh
[00:00:50] threats from US president Donald Trump,
[00:00:56] a I think it's laughable. Mark Carney outlined a plan to pull Canada and the EU closer together, what he calls " alliance for the
[00:01:00] future, this is about sovereignty,
[00:01:04] saying he wants closer cooperation on energy, defense,
[00:01:08] AI and research. The speech also featured few veil
[00:01:11] digs at the
[00:01:12] a Trump administration. I'm not proposing a third block in
[00:01:16] order to become a great power rival, only with better
[00:01:23] a manners. Curney left Europe with a willingness from allies to
[00:01:27] deepen ties, but no clarity on what that.
[00:01:33] of "I
[00:01:35] a would like to work with you on
[00:01:38] of opening the door for Canada to
[00:01:41] of being the first associate member
[00:01:44] of the European Union. That
[00:01:46] of form of membership doesn't exist and isn't
[00:01:49] of defined. The precise
[00:01:49] of nomenclature
[00:01:50] of is a for Europe is a question for Europe. The terms they
[00:01:54] use. The Spanish prime
[00:01:55] of minister seemed to express his support with this picture posted
[00:01:59] of online. Brothers have
[00:02:04] of doubts, including that heckler, chanting USA, Sigbarth Rusa,
[00:02:08] representing the right-wing populist alternative for Germany Party, told
[00:02:11] CBC News in a statement that was his way of addressing the geopolitical
[00:02:15] elephant in the room, adding it was an absurd and unrealistic
[00:02:19] Neejerk reaction from his Vonderlion to propose associate EU
[00:02:23] membership
[00:02:23] of for Canada, but any increased economic
[00:02:26] of cooperation could help Canada and
[00:02:28] of the EU, says this former ambassador. and it's a big upgrade for us
[00:02:32] and I'm alated that they seem
[00:02:35] to act believe that it's an upgrade for them. Still,
[00:02:39] Canada's conservatives, meeting in British Columbia have lots of
[00:02:43] questions. We have no
[00:02:45] of details, we have no uh understanding what that actually
[00:02:48] of means. I think it is abysmal that Mark Carney is
[00:02:52] making such incredible
[00:02:55] of announcements on foreign soil. The prime minister
[00:02:59] did say... Earlier today, any proposed deal will be debated
[00:03:02] of and voted on in Canadian parliament when it's finalized. It's expected
[00:03:06] of to be discussed further at the Canada EU Summit next
[00:03:09] a month.
[00:03:10] of And so
[00:03:10] of Kate,
[00:03:10] a the prime minister was also asked about Donald Trump's threat to levy
[00:03:14] more tariffs if he believes this deal is hostile act.
[00:03:19] of Mark Carney says any new deal with the EU is about creating opportunity and
[00:03:23] better future for
[00:03:24] me Canadians, not a reaction to something else. But he also said Canada is
[00:03:27] looking for partnerships that are complementary. and reinforce its
[00:03:31] sovereignty, those are the very concerns, the prime minister cited when he walked
[00:03:35] away from the deal with the US. All right, thank you, that is Kate McKenna
[00:03:39] in Ottawa. Is Canada joining the European
[00:03:42] Union? The
[00:03:43] a idea of
[00:03:44] me becoming associate member is being floated, but what exactly is that?
[00:03:47] Here at the European Parliament, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the EU he wants
[00:03:51] deeper cooperation. Canada and Europe are
[00:03:55] each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger
[00:03:59] together. President
[00:04:00] of the European Commission
[00:04:01] a surprised many when she
[00:04:03] of went a one step further and announced this
[00:04:05] in a major speech: "I would like to work with you on
[00:04:09] opening the
[00:04:10] of door for Canada to being the first
[00:04:14] of associate member
[00:04:15] of the European Union. Canada
[00:04:19] of welcomes this ambition. Polling shows that an overwhelming
[00:04:22] majority of Canadians support much closer
[00:04:26] ties with Europe. But it's unclear what
[00:04:28] a exactly associate..." membership would be, there's no legal
[00:04:32] a definition, and
[00:04:32] in it's also unclear what Canada's responsibilities would be if it
[00:04:37] of joins, will it have to pay taxes to the EU, will
[00:04:39] of it have to follow the EU's laws? Karney says all the details are being worked
[00:04:43] out and that Canada's parliament and the
[00:04:45] of EU
[00:04:50] of of will have to green light any possible membership. We are looking for of partnerships that are complementary that reinforce our sovereignty, and that's what
[00:04:53] is on
[00:04:54] of offer here. So what do we know about what Carney hopes this new alliance will look
[00:04:58] like? The prime minister has signal. two main things: first, Canada wants more
[00:05:02] cooperation on trade and key industries, think critical minerals,
[00:05:06] defense, AI and tech, energy
[00:05:08] of and
[00:05:08] in finances, and he's talked about improving what he calls people to people top.
[00:05:12] is basically making it easier for Canadian and EU citizens to live and
[00:05:16] work each other's countries. he specifically mentioned European
[00:05:20] education and research programs, signaling that he'd like to make it easier
[00:05:23] for students to study abroad. so why would Canada want to join the EU
[00:05:27] now? a Canada EU alliance would create beacon for
[00:05:31] other democracies. both have troublesome neighbors. Canada is trying to
[00:05:35] move away from its relationship with the US, and the EU is facing down
[00:05:39] Russia, so banding together could help both Canada and the Europe. union
[00:05:43] to better protect their economies, their laws and their
[00:05:46] sovereignty. they do not want this police
[00:05:49] presence, as the world's largest democracy, getting them to the pools
[00:05:53] is mamoth tas. it's been a
[00:05:57] year of strikes, train drivers, teachers,
[00:06:00] lawyers. how difficult has this period been for
[00:06:03] you? very difficult. i'm sitting in your one
[00:06:07] stolen vehicle in west africa. you walk into the
[00:06:10] hospital and what hits you? the chaos, this is our world,
[00:06:14] this is the
[00:06:15] national.
[00:06:22] Canada and Europe should secure our strategic autonomy
[00:06:26] through deep cooperation, including critical minerals,
[00:06:29] defense, industrial capacity, AI and compute.
[00:06:33] Hiam me and hencing in Vancouver, cross country checkup is
[00:06:37] live. The whole thing with Canada, Canada has been a terrible trade
[00:06:41] partner and uh... "if they do that, if I think it's at all
[00:06:44] hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop
[00:06:48] trading with Europe. our question for the first hour the program, is Canada
[00:06:52] more like Europe or the United States, what's it stake for you if Canada
[00:06:56] builds closer ties to the
[00:07:08] want to work with people who are interested in working with us and that's what
[00:07:11] Europe is all. "I think it's great to develop trade relationships with
[00:07:15] other countries and other parts the world. There's nothing wrong with diversifying trade, but I think that
[00:07:19] there's a bit of naivite among Canadians that we can
[00:07:23] replace our dependence on the United States. I think
[00:07:26] loosening our ties with the United States is a gift, because Trump is not to be
[00:07:30] trusted. As Canada US trade talks remain a
[00:07:34] stand still, the prime minister is making the case to forge deeper ties with
[00:07:38] the EU. The EU chief, Ersela Vonderlion floated making..."
[00:07:42] Canada, associate member this week. While Carney applauded her
[00:07:46] enthusiasm, he said he's looking for more economic cooperation
[00:07:50] and exchange programs for Canadian students. But as Canada looks
[00:07:54] across the Atlantic, how will this affect the already strained
[00:07:58] Canada US trade negotiations? As we just heard, Trump is
[00:08:01] already threatening more tarifs. We want to know what impact
[00:08:05] Canada's geopolitical shift has on you and your
[00:08:09] perspective on Canada's place in the world. few minutes
[00:08:13] we'll hear from experts like Paul Waldy the Glob and Mail Economist Mosha
[00:08:16] Lander and Stephen Marsh the host the Gloves off
[00:08:20] podcast. Our question is Canada more like Europe or the United
[00:08:24] States. What's it stake for you if Canada builds closer ties to the
[00:08:27] EU? Whether you rely on trade with the US or EU?
[00:08:31] Dream of studying in Europe or have lived abroad would love to hear your
[00:08:43] Now in our second hour, two former political rivals are
[00:08:47] joining forces to fight Alberta separation. Former Premiers
[00:08:51] Rachel Notley and Jason Kenny will be here together to answer your
[00:08:55] questions during our ask anything that's coming up in hour to.
[00:08:59] I mean Hannah Mansing in Vancouver, we are live on CBC radio and
[00:09:03] CBC News Network. This is Cross Country Checkup.
[00:09:06] Your voice, Canada's
[00:09:25] a unique perspective. I feel like lot of callers are going to have perspectives that
[00:09:28] are very particular to themselves. Liz Newcom
[00:09:32] was born in the United States, she moved from New York to Montreal in
[00:09:35] 2000 and two, and that's where she joins us from
[00:09:49] um, we were asking as you know callers, if Canada feels
[00:09:53] more like Europe to them or the United States, having grown up in the
[00:09:56] states, living now in Montreal, how do you feel about
[00:10:00] that? uh,
[00:10:03] Canada for me is definitely more like
[00:10:07] Europe. uh, for few reasons, uh, there's the
[00:10:10] healthcare system. which Canadians
[00:10:14] have collectively agreed to put their
[00:10:18] taxes in to cover people for basic and and
[00:10:21] catastrophic uh issues health.
[00:10:25] issues, there's also the social benefits
[00:10:28] like maternity leave, so I i feel that that's a lot more
[00:10:32] European, and then of course we've got our parliamentary
[00:10:36] system of government, which
[00:10:39] will
[00:10:41] it keeps things,
[00:10:42] I feel more in checks and balances
[00:10:45] especially compared to what we're seeing in the US right now, sometimes
[00:10:49] it leads to instability like in the
[00:10:53] UK where there seems to be... uh having a new prime minister
[00:10:57] all the time, but it also means that we're
[00:11:00] not uh kind of stuck with a
[00:11:04] party or or a certain prime minister, if there's disappointment
[00:11:08] then things can happen to uh change
[00:11:11] that. big move for you from the United States to
[00:11:15] Canada, um, was there a moment where you thought to yourself, okay,
[00:11:19] like I really feel Canadian right
[00:12:35] we're speaking live with Liz Newcom in Montreal, we're asking, is Canada more like
[00:12:38] Europe or the United States, what's it stake for you, if Canada builds
[00:12:42] closer ties to the
[00:12:51] is someone who was born in the United States, grew up there. How does it?
[00:12:55] feel especially in the last few days to see Canadians, many Canadians,
[00:12:58] celebrating at least the notion of moving closer, connecting more
[00:13:02] to to Europe and pulling away further from the United
[00:13:06] States. I'm all for it, I
[00:13:10] have to say, I still have ties to the US, my family live
[00:13:14] there, so it's a place that I visit regularly, I
[00:13:18] have nothing against most Americans
[00:13:21] or many Americans, they... don't all
[00:13:25] support what their president is
[00:13:27] doing, and but I also see
[00:13:31] that depending a
[00:13:35] trading partner - who is being that's being
[00:13:39] led by somebody who's unreliable is not
[00:13:43] good for Canada, and
[00:13:46] diversifying our options
[00:13:56] Liz Newcom, born in the United States, lives in Montreal, and that is where
[00:14:00] she spoke to us from. Coming up, we're going to speak to Journalist Stephen Marsh
[00:14:04] about how Canadian identity is changing with shifting global
[00:14:08] alliances, and of course we'd love to hear from you, our question, is Canada
[00:14:12] more like Europe or the United States? What's it stake for you if Canada builds
[00:14:16] closer ties to the
[00:14:25] 24 so the prime minister spoke in front the european parliament
[00:14:29] on Thursday for more on what his speech told us about what a
[00:14:33] potentially new relationship with Europe could look like, we've
[00:14:36] reached Paul Waldy, he's the Europe correspondent for the Global Mail, and
[00:14:40] we've reached him in Castle Acre, England, about two
[00:14:52] you from Prime Minister Carney's pitch to the EU? "I think
[00:14:56] what was interesting was how he very quickly backed off this sort
[00:15:00] of associate membership that the EU uh
[00:15:04] president the EU Commission Ersula Vonderline talked about the day
[00:15:07] before, she sort of invited Canada to be the first associate member the
[00:15:11] EU. Carney in his speech sort of said, yeah, that's a great ambition, but I think what
[00:15:15] we're aiming for is closer ties and deeper ties, and I think that's that's
[00:15:19] part the problem here. I think this whole issue has gotten way out in front of Carney, and I
[00:15:23] think now he's trying to reel it back in. because of course, how far you go
[00:15:27] with the EU really involves lot more obligations on the part of
[00:15:30] Canada, so I think he's going to have to rain this a little bit and focus
[00:15:34] more on sort of sectoral areas or areas like... minerals,
[00:15:38] AI, energy, these kinds of things that Canada and EU can work better on
[00:15:42] rather than some kind of broad, global
[00:15:45] sweeping kind of associate membership status, so we know we're never going to be
[00:15:49] member the EU, we don't know what associate
[00:15:52] member means, I guess we can look at countries like
[00:15:56] Switzerland or Norway or Iceland to try to figure out is there
[00:16:00] a model there for us, how are you trying to figure this
[00:16:04] out? well, I mean that that's the closest thing to associate.
[00:16:07] status, but I mean that brings benefits and and real costs that I'm not sure all Canadians
[00:16:11] are quite aware the benefits would be access to the single market, which
[00:16:15] Norway Switzerland and Iceland have. That's the big market,
[00:16:18] that's the the free, tarif free access to the one the biggest markets in
[00:16:22] the world. Uh, the flip side of that is you have to accept every single
[00:16:26] EU rule and regulation without any say over that, because those countries don't elect members to
[00:16:30] the European Parliament, they have no bureaucrats in Brussels looking out for their
[00:16:34] interest, so they are really just have to take whatever rules the EU and they have to
[00:16:38] contribute to the EU budget, now I don't think that's what Carney or the Canadian
[00:16:42] officials are really looking at, I think they're looking at something different, that would be
[00:16:45] along the lines, maybe what they call association arrangements, and these are
[00:16:49] the kinds of things they have with countries like Turkey, what they had one
[00:16:53] with Chile, they have one with Ukraine, so they have very broad
[00:16:57] agreements that can cover lot of different things, it might not be quite as
[00:17:00] involved as what Norway, Switzerland and Iceland have,
[00:17:04] so if we're looking for something different, looking for
[00:17:08] something less than those countries like Norway or
[00:17:11] Iceland or Switzerland have, is what we're looking for or the prime
[00:17:15] minister looking for meaningful? it it's hard
[00:17:19] to say, I
[00:17:20] mean in some respects we already have that, right? we we signed a
[00:17:24] trade deal with the European Union back in 2016, it was build
[00:17:28] at the time,
[00:17:28] it was the most comprehensive trade deal the world had ever seen it was
[00:17:32] going to open up tarif free access on goods, it was going to involve services,
[00:17:35] government procurement, all kinds of... things, it hasn't really done much
[00:17:39] for trade between both sides and in fact 10 EU member states haven't even
[00:17:43] ratified it,
[00:17:44] so they
[00:17:44] don't even view it as that much
[00:17:46] of a priority, so I think if you're talking about what we're going to build on from that, it's it's hard
[00:17:49] to see now, what Carney and I think Vandalar are talking about
[00:17:53] are more sort of political or more sort of economic arrangements that
[00:17:57] evolve, things like energy, things like critical minerals, things that kind of go
[00:18:01] beyond the nuts and bolts of a trade deal, but that's even hard to see how that
[00:18:05] would work and how you would bolt that onto the... trade deal. What's in all
[00:18:09] of this for the EU? I think right
[00:18:12] now, if we look at this realistically, it's all about symbolism. There's very little in
[00:18:16] it for the EU. Canada is not a major trading partner for the European
[00:18:20] Union, it's quite a small player in that sense, but I think
[00:18:24] this allows the EU to project some kind of toughness against Trump,
[00:18:28] and I think that's also partly Carney's agenda here, he wants to show that he's tough against
[00:18:32] Trump, so the two them together can talk a big game about forming some kind of
[00:18:36] closer alliance. think the EU wouldn't mind having access to Canadian
[00:18:39] critical minerals because they are desperately short of
[00:18:42] that and they're far too relying on China, so they're looking for new marks for that kind of
[00:18:46] thing, probably energy as well given the situation with Russia, so there
[00:18:49] are some pluses here for the EU, but I don't think in the grand schema
[00:18:53] things, this is top priority for the European Union. As a Canadian
[00:18:57] journalist who lives in the UK and spends time in Europe, maybe
[00:19:01] briefly explain to us how, and and it's a diverse group
[00:19:05] of countries, but how the EU views Mark. Oh,
[00:19:09] right now, I mean, they they view Mark Carney as a real ally, they view him as somebody who's
[00:19:13] who's taking the fight to Trump, I think he's, he could go into any, almost
[00:19:16] any EU country and
[00:19:18] get very, very warm welcome, warm reception, including here Britain,
[00:19:22] so yeah, he he's pretty highly
[00:19:34] earlier this week, CBC spoke to Canadians about how they... feel about
[00:19:38] building closer ties with the EU, take a listen. I
[00:19:42] think Canada should still work with United States
[00:19:45] and we should just realize
[00:19:49] Trump's not going to be there forever. Great Britain backed out the EU, part of that
[00:19:53] I think was though that reason that there was too much control. I think
[00:19:57] it'd be a great way to open gateways to both students over there and
[00:20:00] students over here to
[00:20:01] come crossover, learn new things. We were just talking about going on exchange next year and we
[00:20:05] all like our friends all wanted to go to Europe. will visa free?
[00:20:09] definitely, i want the warm weather and good food, so i'll be
[00:20:12] down. few voices from the streets of torondo, few days
[00:20:15] ago with their reaction to Canada's EU pivot, and of
[00:20:19] course we'd love to hear your reaction as well, whether you've lived in multiple
[00:20:23] countries, perhaps you have business that stands to win or lose customers in the
[00:20:27] US or the EU, give us call. our question, is Canada
[00:20:31] more like Europe or the United States, what's at stake if Canada builds closer
[00:20:35] ties to the EU, 8884?
[00:20:39] 416833 or you can text us at 226758
[00:20:42] 8924 also lots of online reaction to
[00:20:46] this program and i want to bring in our producer paris he lees been tracking the online
[00:20:50] reaction we're
[00:21:56] let's get to online responses. What do you seeing this hour? Well, we're
[00:21:59] hearing from folks who are excited about the prospect of closer Canada
[00:22:03] EU relationship like Lena who left this comment with CBC News
[00:22:07] on TikTok, I'm a 39-year-old Canadian who moved to Sweden in
[00:22:11] 2022. This is monumental. Working for a Swedish
[00:22:15] company is a dream and the cost of living is crazy cheap compared to
[00:22:18] Canada. not everyone shares that enthusiasm
[00:22:22] ian. Sabine Lions in Colona BBC sent us this
[00:22:25] message via Air Check. She wrote, "My family lives in
[00:22:28] Europe. Since joining the EU, their lives have been very negatively
[00:22:32] impacted, from immigration to their green agenda to dictating
[00:22:36] farming regulations, Europeans are being smothered with ridiculous
[00:22:40] regulations." Brenda Cavennaught from Calgary also shared her
[00:22:44] thoughts with us through aircheck. She wrote, "Well, it's great to have strong
[00:22:48] ties between Canada and the Europe." union, first nations should have
[00:22:52] rights to be consulted a matter, this important. European heritage
[00:22:56] is one part of Canadian identity, but we have Canadian citizens who come from all
[00:23:00] cultures and that is something to be
[00:23:09] As Canada realigns itself, or at least talks about realigning itself
[00:23:13] in this new world order, how do we define ourselves to the rest the world?
[00:23:16] Stephen Marsh is a journalist and host the Gloves off pod. cast
[00:23:20] which explores Canadian sovereignty and foreign policy and
[00:23:58] do you think about the EU and Canada building more of
[00:24:00] relationship? I think it's
[00:24:04] great. thanks for having me on. first of all, um, I'm really
[00:24:08] excited, I think it's great. um, I'm Dutch Canadian, so
[00:24:11] I've lived 23 years in Canada, moved back to the
[00:24:15] Netherlands a few years ago, and
[00:24:19] um, I'm having lived in both countries
[00:24:23] and enjoyed Canada's nature, I just hope that there is an opportunity for more
[00:24:27] exchange between Europeans and Canadians.
[00:24:31] Um, for Canada, I think it's great, diversifying your business is
[00:24:34] always makes business sense, so for people not
[00:24:38] to put your eggs in one
[00:24:40] basket, um, divide it
[00:24:44] between Europe and Canada, I think is is a good
[00:24:46] idea. What is it about?
[00:24:50] the Netherlands that you think connects to
[00:24:53] Canada
[00:24:56] uh, deeply?
[00:25:00] um, you know, it's really the sacrifice that the Canadians made here
[00:25:03] during um, during
[00:25:05] the second world war, and in the rest of Europe, the commemoration
[00:25:09] the first world war, I don't know if you've ever been to Vimy
[00:25:12] Ridge, I have, I have, yeah, done the
[00:25:16] trail from Pashendill in in Belgium down to
[00:25:20] ridge you come across all the Canadian graveyards and
[00:25:24] it's amazing to see how the local communities are maintaining them
[00:25:28] prestinely, the crosses are white, the grass is cut, and this is
[00:25:31] all done voluntarily. um, you Canadians are being
[00:25:35] remembered every year, um, even now, the liberation
[00:25:39] the Netherlands, we commemorate, I hang out my Canadian
[00:25:43] flag, when they come by, always being
[00:25:46] welcomed very warmly, um,
[00:25:50] very generously, that's interesting, you know, yes, I
[00:25:54] have been there and it is very moving, but I sometimes wonder when I watch coverage
[00:25:58] from afar on television, if this is something which
[00:26:01] people... perform the the
[00:26:04] historical uh connections on certain days let's say
[00:26:08] and
[00:26:09] and and you know do they deeply understand it and you're saying they
[00:26:12] deeply understand it so so that's very interesting what about the challenges if if
[00:26:16] Canada
[00:26:17] you know truly wants to move closer to Europe and let's talk specifically about the
[00:26:21] Netherlands what what's a challenge that Canada and the Netherlands
[00:26:25] will have to deal with
[00:26:29] um there's obviously an ocean between us.
[00:26:35] um um, think i think we have a number of similar
[00:26:39] challenges um amongst ourselves, so if you look at
[00:26:43] the how the provinces operate differently and the territory within
[00:26:46] Canada with different tax systems and different infrastructure, i
[00:26:50] think we see similar problems in Europe that really kind of confine us
[00:26:54] to what we can do and how we can expand, so really
[00:26:58] crossing crossing those bridges
[00:27:00] and ' "building those bridges is going to be a
[00:27:04] challenge,
[00:27:05] um, European Union is very
[00:27:09] known for being very bureaucratic, it may be difficult in terms of
[00:27:13] trade relations to improve things, it might take some time,
[00:27:17] but I think this is just beginning, this is associate membership,
[00:27:21] so things like student exchange can be very interesting,
[00:27:24] investing each other's economies and then just take it from there and see how it
[00:27:28] goes. one last thing, um, as somebody who definitely..."
[00:27:32] has foot each country and identifies, i
[00:27:36] feel like as as being a citizen of of both
[00:27:39] countries. what's a moment, what are the moments beyond the the
[00:27:43] history of the Canadian armed forces in
[00:27:47] in uh in the netherlands? beyond that, what are the
[00:27:50] moments or moment where you feel your Canadian pride
[00:27:54] stirring? you know
[00:27:58] when Mark Carney spoke and davos, his speech, that was
[00:28:02] heart. that was when I was really proud, the most recent time I was really proud to be
[00:28:06] Canadian and really proud that he's representing Canada
[00:28:10] in such an eloquent way and showing such great
[00:28:13] leadership, these are the leaders that we need in in the
[00:28:16] world, leaders with integrity, people who know what they're doing,
[00:28:20] people are knowledgeable, but people who also listen to their advisors and the
[00:28:24] experts, um that made me feel really
[00:28:35] country checkup. I'm mean Hannah Mansing. We're live in Vancouver and we're
[00:28:38] looking forward to hearing from you about how you feel about
[00:28:42] this this move towards at least you know being described as
[00:28:46] move towards and we'll kind of analyze how much we've actually moved
[00:28:50] towards Europe uh and maybe away from the United States and
[00:28:54] what you have at stake as Canada Shifts
[00:29:16] United States stalled last month, uh, you wrote that this is reshaping
[00:29:20] our national identity. tell us more about that?
[00:29:23] well, I think it it was a sort of drastic moment for Canada,
[00:29:27] because I mean, not only did we refuse American
[00:29:31] advances, which was... in itself um, but also I
[00:29:34] think what was kind of most interesting about it is rather than doing what
[00:29:38] everybody else was doing, we actually said, no, we know
[00:29:42] better, we're not, we're not going to do a jurisdictional sweep and figure out what what,
[00:29:46] what everyone in Europe is doing, we know better than everyone else, and we're not going to
[00:29:50] do this, and that I think is a moment of true independence for the
[00:29:53] country, and then when you watch the speech that the prime minister gave to the
[00:29:57] EU? Well, I mean, that speech was very
[00:30:01] confusing, because it was just... very unclear what it all, what it all means. I
[00:30:05] mean, the terms of associate membership and so on are are pretty vague, and I
[00:30:09] really think the devils in the details with this sort of thing, but I mean, I
[00:30:12] having more connections with Europe obviously gives us more sovereignty by giving
[00:30:16] us access to the resources that the EU has
[00:30:20] uh, particularly with financial instruments in tech, which I think are
[00:30:23] actually probably going to be the defining aspects of this
[00:30:27] relationship, along with the uh defense uh bank along
[00:30:31] with the the defense. spending that we're going to do with each other, as reports
[00:30:34] surfaced about whatever Canada is doing with the EU, the
[00:30:38] opposition leader Pierre Poliev tweeted, we will never be the 51st
[00:30:42] US state, and we will never be the 28th EU
[00:30:45] state. The prime minister of course, says we're not seeking membership, that
[00:30:49] seems to be pretty clear, though whether we are seeking
[00:30:53] something different is not so clear. Um, how do we draw the line,
[00:30:57] Stephen, between building alliances and protecting our sovereignty? -
[00:31:01] we're not giving up any of our... soverenty to Europe, I mean, that would, I think that would
[00:31:05] be totally unacceptable to the Canadian people, and and rightly
[00:31:08] so, um, but I, I think that's kind of obvious, also they
[00:31:12] wouldn't want us on those terms. lots of ways to
[00:31:15] do about this, the the finnish prime minister actually, alexander stub, he wrote his
[00:31:19] dissertation in the 1990s at the London School of Economics on what he called
[00:31:23] flexible integration with the EU, and we're going to have something like that, we're going to
[00:31:27] have, access to Erasmus Plus possibly, and few other things
[00:31:31] like this, but it's really, the deal with cohere is actually a
[00:31:35] sign I think of where the most exciting possibilities of this lie, which
[00:31:38] are you know technological um fusions and and and
[00:31:42] particularly financial instrument fusions, which are you
[00:31:45] know the really the hardest part for us escape
[00:31:49] the of us higem is is in tech, and europe can
[00:31:53] absolutely provide a way for us escape that, that's that's definitely worth
[00:31:57] pursuing. okay, let's quickly uh uh do a
[00:32:00] glossery, uh, cohere, guess an AI company, right? company,
[00:32:04] and erasmus plus, i'm afraid i don't know what that is. erasmus plus is their
[00:32:08] exchange stud is is there exchange program for universities and the university
[00:32:11] exchange program? mean i think that would just be wonderful for us. to belong to, but then of
[00:32:15] course I have kids around that age and it would be, incredibly beneficial for
[00:32:19] them.
[00:32:32] the liberals, capital L liberals want Canada to be more
[00:32:35] European, conservatives, capital C, want us to remain American in
[00:32:39] spirit, and if that is the case, uh, is
[00:32:43] that danger to... Canada trying to forge a
[00:32:46] unified identity, amid that political divide. Well,
[00:32:50] actually, I mean, what I what I wrote in the piece in the globe was that that's what it used to
[00:32:54] be, right? Like that, what used to be is the kind of this debate between
[00:32:58] liberals who wanted a more European state and wanted us to not necessarily to
[00:33:02] look towards Europe, but wanted us to be more like a European state, and conservatives who
[00:33:06] wanted us to integrate more with the United States and wanted us to be more American,
[00:33:10] but the truth the matter is that the America that we could integrate
[00:33:13] with is gone. Right, I mean, when you hear Stephen Harper talk about this,
[00:33:17] he's he's very clear about this, not just Harper, like many, many
[00:33:20] conservatives, um, and so that's that's a that's a real
[00:33:24] identity crisis for the Conservative Party for sure, um,
[00:33:28] but I think also for us, I think it represents a bit of a transition,
[00:33:31] because I think we, I used to think of us anyway as
[00:33:35] somewhere, you know, just in between Europe and America, and that
[00:33:39] was kind or maybe even just between the UK and
[00:33:43] and and America, but "now that's that's all over and
[00:33:47] I think we - our destiny, it seems to me is to
[00:33:51] both be more sovereign to ourselves, like more, like sovereignty
[00:33:54] obviously matters more now than it ever has to all Canadians, but
[00:33:58] also the dream of a cosmopolitan Canadian, the dream of
[00:34:02] a of a Canadian as a citizen the world, which is part
[00:34:06] of our multicultural reality, which is what we live, I think
[00:34:09] that's the identity we're moving towards and I,
[00:34:12] I, I think it's unique, I don't think
[00:34:13] it is something" that you can compare to other countries, i i think it's
[00:34:17] something that we alone possess and find it
[00:34:21] very new and find it very
[00:34:32] stephen marsh, journalist and host the gloves off podcast. he's in
[00:34:36] Toronto. in our next hour we have very special ask anything with Rachel
[00:34:40] Knotle and Jason Kenny together, the Alberta referendum
[00:34:44] coming up next month. two former Alberta premiers, one NDP, the
[00:34:47] other Conservative, will join us to answer your questions, so that is
[00:34:51] in our two. I hope you stay tuned for that. Right now, we're focusing
[00:34:55] on Canada's place in the world. Is Canada more like Europe or the United
[00:34:59] States? What's a stake for you? If Canada builds closer ties to the
[00:35:03] EU, 888-416-8333 or you can
[00:35:07] text us
[00:35:07] 22675-8-89-24.
[00:35:11] So for lot of people it is just very personal and it has to... do with their family
[00:35:15] history, for some people it has to do with business. Romana
[00:35:19] Chibagu and her family own claba hair and
[00:35:23] beauty supplies, which is based in London Ontario, though we've reached her today
[00:35:27] in Rigina. How are you? hi, how are you today?
[00:35:31] good, good,
[00:35:36] States, strain though it is, is so important to your
[00:35:39] business? sure, so we've been in business business for
[00:35:43] almost 30 years, we started in 1997 and
[00:35:46] uh throughout that time we've we've grown as a brick and mortar business
[00:35:50] of uh black hair and beauty supply products so wigs,
[00:35:54] extensions uh hair preparations of all types and skin
[00:35:57] preparations. um at one point we had six stores across southwestern
[00:36:01] Ontario um and as e-commerce emerged uh we went in
[00:36:05] that direction and we still have some sp brick and mortar stores in London
[00:36:07] Ontario. you buy most of your inventory from the United States
[00:36:11] and uh Canada's counter tariffs have have hit
[00:36:15] bottom line, how much are these added costs affecting your
[00:36:19] business? absolutely, so it's a real operational risk
[00:36:23] for us,
[00:36:25] so um, if you
[00:36:26] know anything about black hair, that the macca black hair care is in america in
[00:36:30] cities like Atlanta, cities like Chicago um and New
[00:36:33] York, and so the supply pipeline pretty much goes right through America
[00:36:37] in so far as our suppliers, manufacturers and distributors
[00:36:40] and so a 50% increase is
[00:36:44] major concern for us because we have a small market in terms the
[00:36:48] black population, we don't just serve the black population, we serve many others, we we are
[00:36:52] essentially our goal is to ensure that folks can uh
[00:36:55] be the be the best version themselves. um
[00:36:58] but we we def niche market is our the black population in Canada
[00:37:02] and uh the 50% increase um it impacts
[00:37:06] our our ability to be able to pay our staff um it
[00:37:09] impacts we we do large shipments imagine out
[00:37:12] $10000 shipment that's now $150,00 this is very
[00:37:16] concerning for us um in terms of our sustainability and we're a
[00:37:19] multi-generational business so we're actually looking at the next
[00:37:23] generation which is me um and and my sister uh
[00:37:26] taking over so we wanted
[00:37:28] we want to be able to to continue another 30 years and
[00:37:31] so you probably heard Donald Trump reacting to Canada and
[00:37:35] the EU uh
[00:37:37] their talks right
[00:37:38] and and he kind of dismissed it as laughable and even said that he might
[00:37:42] punish Europe at least uh if if he felt that
[00:37:45] Canada and and the European Union were trying to hurt the
[00:37:49] United States um I assume all of that must have made you a little bit
[00:37:53] nervous um I'm I am concerned about
[00:37:57] the... of this policy
[00:37:58] we absolutely see that there could be opportunities not necessarily to partner within
[00:38:02] Europe, I think within our industry, we're looking at Asia and Africa, particularly
[00:38:06] where we see R&D innovation in places in Africa for example, there's a lot of
[00:38:10] like sustainable fibers that are used for lot the
[00:38:14] products that that we um that we distribute
[00:38:16] and and that's really interesting to us, but ultimately when we're talking about
[00:38:20] legacy quality brands that have been around for generations, we're talking about the
[00:38:24] American market um and so we definitely... do not want to
[00:38:28] entrench or exasperate um the situation, make
[00:38:38] we're certainly hoping that this can be handled delicately by our
[00:38:40] government. Romano, thank you very much for speaking with
[00:38:43] us. no problem, thank you, Ian. Romana Chibagu and her
[00:38:47] family run Kaylaba hair and beauty supplies. the
[00:38:51] business is in London, Ontario, though she spoke to us this afternoon from
[00:38:55] regina. our question, is Canada more like Europe or the United States, what's
[00:38:59] it stake for you if Canada bills closer ties with the
[00:39:16] ourselves from the United States might be the wrong move.
[00:39:19] why? well, Canada and the United States share a
[00:39:23] massive border trade from an environmental perspective makes more...
[00:39:27] sense within North America uh Trump's going to be gone in two
[00:39:31] years right, so the the entire
[00:39:33] everything changes then, so we have more of
[00:39:37] relationship with the United States than Europe, identify
[00:39:40] more with Americans and have lot of friends down there, done a lot of
[00:39:44] extensive traveling down there, and as an
[00:39:48] English speaking Canadian, even though I have a French
[00:39:52] name, the the you know Canada
[00:39:55] and and the United States. shares so much media and film and
[00:39:59] television and and there's much more of influence
[00:40:03] in our you know society from the United States than there is
[00:40:07] from Europe. So as you saw, whether it was
[00:40:11] clip on the news or on your phone or however, you got the information, our
[00:40:15] prime minister at the EU, being greeted so warmly and
[00:40:19] being met with a standing ovation, how did you
[00:40:21] feel? Absolutely prideful to be a Canadian
[00:40:25] to to know that, we're... we're so respected in the global
[00:40:29] community
[00:40:30] like that, but you know, we we haven't lost that respect
[00:40:34] from the United States, we've only lost it from a fringe minority group
[00:40:38] that managed to get a president in the white house for few
[00:40:40] years and that dynamic changes in two
[00:40:44] years. how about the idea of
[00:40:48] of making these moves towards Europe, just to kind of thumb our
[00:40:52] nose at the United States? if that is, I mean, it
[00:40:55] feels like tip for tat from from the perspective of just a
[00:40:59] regular carpenter canadian on the ground right? yeah, and so how do you
[00:41:03] feel about that? well, it it costs more money for my uh clients
[00:41:07] to build houses and uh buy stuff uh you know at
[00:41:11] uh at the project stores to you know finish their builds.
[00:41:15] yeah okay Andreay thank you very much for calling i
[00:41:21] watching the online reaction. let's bring her in again. hey Paris hey we
[00:41:25] were talking about your time in Ireland you were... student and I just
[00:41:28] wonder what nine months, I guess you were there in 2022,
[00:41:32] um, how did it shape your perspective as a student?
[00:41:36] yeah, I think it really um, anyone who has the privilege or ability to...
[00:41:40] do a semester or year abroad, i think they should take that opportunity. it
[00:41:43] really broadens your perspective.
[00:41:47] certainly lot the issues that i maybe had
[00:41:51] trouble with reconciling in Canada, i realized they had the same issues in
[00:41:54] Europe, um, maybe for different reasons, but it it
[00:41:58] really uh, yeah, it really broaden my perspective lot.
[00:42:02] all right, let's get to the uh online reaction and maybe start with something
[00:42:05] on our tiktok account. yeah, cbc news got this uh,
[00:42:10] comment on TikTok, the viewer wrote, join the EU, we haven't
[00:42:13] removed internal trade barriers, we haven't reconciled labor mobility
[00:42:17] rules between provinces, CETA remains
[00:42:20] unratified. It's time for Carney to focus on fixing Canada's
[00:42:24] problems rather than hoping and relying on other nations to do so for
[00:42:28] him. Stacyson in Hag
[00:42:31] Sascatuan sent us this message on CBC.ca/aircheck, she
[00:42:35] wrote: in Sascatuwan, I think we have seen too much influence from our
[00:42:39] Albertan. who are themselves far too americanized in their
[00:42:42] thinking. At this point in time, people in Alberta and Sascatuwan are more
[00:42:46] similar to Americans than Europeans, but I think it would
[00:42:49] be far better if the latter were true. I support Prime Minister Carney's efforts to
[00:42:53] bring us closer to Europe and move us away from the US. Dennis
[00:42:57] Freesen from Calgary shared his thoughts online. Also, he wrote, "For me
[00:43:00] personally, I see only gains for Canada in closer relationship with the
[00:43:04] EU. I have lived and worked in Canada, Europe, and the US.
[00:43:08] The US is at the bottom of..." the list by a big
[00:43:17] listening or watching Cross Country Checkup on CBC
[00:43:20] News Network and CBC Radio. This program is live, and so let me
[00:43:24] share with you some news which is breaking right now from British
[00:43:28] Columbia. The leader the provincial opposition party, the
[00:43:31] Conservatives, Carrie Lyn Finley has
[00:43:34] resigned, as you've probably heard over the last couple of weeks, actually
[00:43:38] more than a couple of weeks. many of her MLA's have left the party, the
[00:43:42] most recent to leave the party, announced that today, there was a lot of
[00:43:46] question about her status within her own party, carry
[00:43:50] linley status within her own party a caucus meeting last
[00:43:53] week, uh CBC News had learned that she had been asked
[00:43:57] to step down, and so she has done that, breaking news, the
[00:44:01] opposition leader in BC stepping down, and one the potential impacts of
[00:44:05] that is what the provincial NDP government will do in terms of
[00:44:09] calling an election. "there been a lot of rumors swirling around in this province that
[00:44:13] that might be imminent, though usually parties don't
[00:44:16] call an election while the opposition is without a leader.
[00:44:20] all right, let's get back to our topic of this hour, which is about
[00:44:24] Canada's move towards Europe and away from the United States,
[00:44:28] and how you feel about that, and what's it stake for you if Canada were
[00:44:31] indeed to build closer ties to the EU.
[00:44:35] Gregory Fitzgerald is calling us from Siri, British Columbia, just outside
[00:44:38] Vancouver, hi Gregory."
[00:44:43] very well. how do you feel about Canada uh and
[00:44:47] and our relationship to the United States and Europe? I think it's
[00:44:51] wonderful, absolutely wonderful, and the more ties, the
[00:44:54] better. And you by wonderful, you mean moving away from the states
[00:44:58] and moving towards Europe? No, we, the states is going
[00:45:02] through. A hard time within
[00:45:06] itself, so we can still trade with other countries.
[00:45:10] around the world, this is why I'm so proud of our prime minister for
[00:45:14] stepping back from the discussions on the trades
[00:45:18] with the
[00:45:18] US,
[00:45:23] we this country is so unique in in
[00:45:26] itself from being
[00:45:30] multicultural excuse my voice, I have serious
[00:45:33] disability, no problem, we
[00:45:36] we we
[00:45:37] we were not we're not like Europe, we're not like any other. country in the world, we're
[00:45:41] unique in our own way, and that's what makes
[00:45:45] Canada so great around the world, everybody wants
[00:45:49] to be here, it's because like you just said,
[00:45:52] carry linley just stepped down, the people have a
[00:45:56] voice and things get done, this is the
[00:46:00] greatness about our country, and the more trade we
[00:46:04] have in Europe and as well other
[00:46:07] places if it works out, Saudi Arabia. if it works out,
[00:46:11] china if it works out a good
[00:46:13] way, like mark carne
[00:46:17] said, nobody tells us, who to trade with
[00:46:20] or who to do business with,
[00:46:23] so i i think you know we're like ourselves, we we
[00:46:27] Canada is just too unique, it's like we can't be compared to any other
[00:46:31] country in the world, gregory,
[00:46:40] Canada trades heavily already with the European Union, by the way, last year
[00:46:44] we bought $92 billion
[00:46:46] dollars in goods from the EU and sold 39 billion, that's
[00:46:50] according to Statistics Canada. with US tariffs looming
[00:46:54] pivoting to Europe may sound tempting, but is it realistic? whenever it comes
[00:46:58] economic issues like this, we turn to people like
[00:47:02] Mosha Lander, senior lecturer in the department of economics at Concordia
[00:47:05] University in Montreal, and he is in Montreal this afternoon. Hi
[00:47:13] are losing access to the United States market because the
[00:47:17] punishing tariffs, do you think expanding access to the
[00:47:20] EU can help or? fact in a substantial way
[00:47:24] offset those losses? it never hurts to have lot of
[00:47:28] trading partners, so even if everything we're going swimmingly with the
[00:47:32] US, we should still be pursuing other opportunities for other trade partners,
[00:47:36] whether in Europe, and Asia or anywhere else. uh, the more that you
[00:47:39] have, that's the diversity, that's the shock absorber that's needed, so that
[00:47:43] if something happens with any one partner, we have alternatives, i
[00:47:47] have zero interest in uh or zero problem with
[00:47:51] Canada trying to make this pit. but where my problem lies is that the prime
[00:47:55] minister in his recent speeches is kind of presenting it as an either or where
[00:47:59] he says that the world order is broken that we're going to have to move away from
[00:48:02] the the relationship with the US, that's not the solution, the solution is
[00:48:06] figure out solution on how to continue free trade with US
[00:48:10] while pursuing free trade with Europe uh and that's the first best
[00:48:13] solution. 10 EU countries still haven't ratified
[00:48:17] Canada's existing trade deal largely to protect their
[00:48:20] farmers from our... cultural exports, do you expect the
[00:48:24] EU will demand changes on how we protect farmers, and of
[00:48:28] course I'm thinking about supply management? yeah, and that's why it
[00:48:32] hasn't passed those 10 parliaments yet. uh, don't forget that CETA was
[00:48:36] negotiated uh 10 years ago, so
[00:48:39] they had a problem back then, uh, and for all the talk in Canada about
[00:48:43] how Trump makes issue with Canada supply management problem, it's
[00:48:46] important to recognize that both presidents Obama and Biden expressed their
[00:48:50] own concerns with the policy, every federal leader in the election last year said
[00:48:54] that this was no-go area, they were not going to talk about it, they weren't going to
[00:48:58] compromise it uh, and I think the fact that we're willing to say that this is
[00:49:02] some line in the sand that we won't cross, is going to be the thing that continues to impeed our
[00:49:05] ability to make deals with countries uh, we we've talked in the
[00:49:09] past about how Canada sometimes uh gives up leverage in these
[00:49:13] negotiations by hurting itself. This is one of those areas where I I think that we
[00:49:17] do need to have a conversation about what exactly is it that Canada is getting from
[00:49:21] this policy
[00:49:21] of supply management.
[00:49:22] and what does it cost in Canada
[00:49:24] and in particular the Canadian consumer,
[00:49:26] how much better off would we be, how much less would our cost of living and
[00:49:29] affordability issues be, if we were to have the conversation about maybe moving beyond
[00:49:33] this. as Mark Carney was in Europe to speak to
[00:49:37] the the European parliament, Donald Trump said that if he
[00:49:41] considers this Canada EU deal or whatever is
[00:49:45] going on there as hostile act, he would slap tariffs
[00:49:49] on the EU or maybe even stop trading with Europe, all
[00:49:52] together, what's the actual economic risk
[00:49:55] here? their risk to the
[00:49:59] US is if Canada finds that there are producers in Europe that can
[00:50:03] supply us with products uh more productively, less
[00:50:06] expensively, then of course we're going to move towards Europe, but that doesn't mean that
[00:50:10] we're going to move the entirety of our supply chain to Europe, it doesn't mean that all of
[00:50:14] sudden we're going to be importing from Europe
[00:50:17] $365 billion a year like we are currently from the US
[00:50:21] uh so if he stand up for those businesses that stand to lose
[00:50:25] uh, why exactly are we buying from the US and not from Europe? if it's
[00:50:28] because there are tariffs on Europe that make them uh less
[00:50:32] efficient, but in the absence of those tariffs they would be uh the
[00:50:36] efficient producer, that's actually a good thing for Canada,
[00:50:39] and I can understand why Trump would want to try and stick up for his US producers, but I don't think
[00:50:43] that's the motivation here, I think it's just purely that if Canada is trying to stand up to
[00:50:47] Trump by saying we're going to look to find uh trade partners that maybe do want
[00:50:51] to do business with us, aren't going to try and use it as a weapon uh, I
[00:50:55] think that's where his problem lies, and when Mark Carney has spoken about that
[00:50:59] trade is not a zero sum game, and that we have
[00:51:01] to be a little more respectful the
[00:51:02] of way that we deal with countries in the world, uh, in that part he's dead on
[00:51:06] correct, and Trump really is missing the mark here again, where he just
[00:51:10] doesn't understand how trade works. Let me finish by asking a version of
[00:51:14] our show question to you and you can answer it as economist or
[00:51:18] outside of your work as economist is Canada more like Europe or
[00:51:22] the... United States, you know, I seem to recall that
[00:51:25] there was a poll and I,
[00:51:26] I might be wrong with my facts, but I i think
[00:51:28] it was like the globan mail at the turn the century, ask Canadians, what makes Canadians
[00:51:32] Canadians uh, and I seem to recall among that top 10 list were things like Tim
[00:51:36] Hortons and Hockey and our weather and all the stuff that you would expect, but
[00:51:39] the number one answer was, what makes Canadians Canadians is we're not
[00:51:43] Americans, so I think part of our identity is in
[00:51:47] just saying that while we look a like talk like share common culture,
[00:51:50] history, values and things like that, 'don't you confuse us with Americans and
[00:51:54] whether that's a point of pride or whether that's big brother, little brother uh envy sort
[00:51:58] of thing. I lot of Canadians will say that when they travel, they travel with that Canadian
[00:52:02] flag uh, because otherwise we might be'. used for something that we don't want to be
[00:52:06] associated with, and that's at the best of times, so uh,
[00:52:09] you know, I i think that we like to think of ourselves as more
[00:52:12] European than American, but it's often funny that when we see Europeans try and
[00:52:16] analyze Canada, they say, you're a lot more like the US than you might care to
[00:52:20] admit uh, and that's where we get a little bit bent out of shape that, what do you mean, but it
[00:52:24] it's hard not to be uh a little more American than would like to admit
[00:52:27] given uh the amount of television and music and culture and arts that we're
[00:52:31] exposed to uh at some point that filters over into our language.
[00:52:35] uh and the way that we behave, and of course for all the Canadians that are proud the
[00:52:39] you that appears in uh some of our words like
[00:52:42] labor, uh,
[00:52:44] you know, there's another generation that's coming along that says, I don't have time for this
[00:52:47] silliness, uh, if the easiest way to do
[00:52:49] it is to spell it without the you like the Americans do, or to spell words that
[00:52:53] should end in I, se as I z e, or even
[00:52:57] pronounce the z is z. you, I think with each passing
[00:53:00] generation uh, that idea of don't you confuse us with Americans is weakening
[00:53:04] a little bit.
[00:53:20] you very much for speaking with us, and mosha lander, senior lecturer in the
[00:53:24] department of economics at Concordia University in Montreal. Coming up,
[00:53:28] we'll speak to an expert on Canada, US trade about how closer
[00:53:31] ties with the US could affect our Kuzma negotiations.
[00:53:35] Our number here on Cross Country Checkup
[00:53:37] 888-416-8333 or you can text us
[00:53:40] 226758-8924.
[00:53:45] Pete Mazy is in Chetwin British Columbia. Hi
[00:53:47] Pete. Hello. You lived in the
[00:53:51] UK? Do you think Canada is closer to the United States or
[00:53:54] Europe? Well, I'm British by birth and I was in the
[00:53:57] British Army, but I'm also Canadian, right? So
[00:54:00] I got half of my family. I've lived all over Europe and
[00:54:04] worked. been to Germany, Austria, all those places, we've got way more in common
[00:54:08] with the states, like we got hockey, baseball,
[00:54:11] football, uh, my great grandparents came up from
[00:54:15] Utah, my girlfriend's great grandparents came up from North
[00:54:18] Dakota, uh, the first Asians people don't recognize
[00:54:22] the medicine line, hope you remember that, the black,
[00:54:26] black foot for confederacy doesn't recognize the border, the
[00:54:30] Mohawks don't recognize the border, we've out in the west we've
[00:54:34] got rod. those and just got so much in common, my
[00:54:38] sisters used to live in
[00:54:40] uh uh
[00:54:42] the the lower mainland and we used to go across the border all the time, they never even used to
[00:54:46] ask us for passports, so it's interesting, so you were in
[00:54:49] the you were in the British army, you said yeah, so I mean there
[00:54:53] is lot of alignment obviously between the Canadian armed forces
[00:54:57] and go ahead, well we have our historical
[00:55:00] ties to England right, obviously who's a queen and all that stuff.
[00:55:05] like my neighbors are from Newfindland and you can hear it in their
[00:55:08] accents, like you can hear the Irish and the and the
[00:55:11] west country English in their accents and and some the you know some the
[00:55:15] stuff they eat and that so we do have lot of ties to England,
[00:55:19] but I don't know we don't have much in common with
[00:55:22] Spain, the main point of mine is we do have lot
[00:55:26] more in common with the United States and in the
[00:55:29] west at least I can say because that's my only experience
[00:55:32] is the furthest. i've been is a
[00:55:36] manitoba so we've got to you do have
[00:55:40] lot more in common with them, you can go back and forth across the border, you don't
[00:55:44] really notice a lot of differences, but one of
[00:55:48] my worries is getting closer to the EU is the EU
[00:55:51] isn't doing very well, Germany has bailed out so many
[00:55:55] countries in the EU over the years that even Germans, German
[00:55:59] Germany's economy isn't doing very well and even the country itself, like I
[00:56:02] was in Germany when I was in the military. "and they wasn't even
[00:56:06] cigarette butt or a piece of gum on the sidewalk, it was spotless and now
[00:56:10] I've heard from friends that it's changed lot, it's
[00:56:14] and you know countries like Sweden join the EU, they've got
[00:56:18] their crime rates gone through the roof, there's a I don't mind having a
[00:56:22] trade uh deal with the EU, but I don't any kind of
[00:56:26] close closer
[00:56:50] there. The debate we're having in the first hour, and actually we're
[00:56:52] going to spill over a little bit into the second hour the program, is about Canada's
[00:56:56] move towards Europe, away from the United States and what's at stake for
[00:57:00] you as a Canadian, as the prime minister
[00:57:04] contemplates, what? whatever it is that he's contemplating because there's lot that we
[00:57:08] don't yet
[00:57:18] again and Paris, what do you have for us online?
[00:57:22] well, it's remarkable to me how many people have written with their perspectives having lived in both
[00:57:26] Canada and Europe. Nicholas Hoffman and Dorville Quebec
[00:57:30] sentence this message through our aircheck form. He wrote, having lived half my life in
[00:57:34] Europe, and the other half in Canada, I believe Canada has similar values
[00:57:38] to Europe, such as helping each other out. Politically, our liberal and open-minded
[00:57:42] views are not that different from those the Europeans. The fact that the world
[00:57:46] order has changed is a good. reminder not to put all Canadian eggs in one
[00:57:49] basket. Jeff from Calgary also left us this message on
[00:57:53] aircheck. He says after traveling through both the US and
[00:57:57] Europe, I can say with full confidence that western Canada, especially the
[00:58:00] prairies is more similar in terms of
[00:58:02] core values, culture and economy to parts the United States then it is to
[00:58:06] Europe. It really is apples to oranges. And Matthew Barber and
[00:58:10] Edmonton shared his thoughts online. To he wrote, while there is room for
[00:58:14] closer relationship with Europe, there is no way that we could achieve this. of open
[00:58:17] access with Europe that European countries enjoy with each other, we can't even
[00:58:21] achieve that level of cooperation between the provinces within Canada
[00:59:23] okay, back to the online stuff, we'll talk to you next hour, and as we
[00:59:27] get ready to sign off from CBC News Network, I want to promote what's
[00:59:31] going to happen in about 15 minutes on this program. we are going to continue our
[00:59:35] conversation about Canada, Europe and the United States until about
[00:59:39] quarter after the next hour, and then we have two
[00:59:42] former Alberta Premiers who were once fierce partisan
[00:59:46] rivals. Rachel Notley who represented the NDP and then
[00:59:50] succeeded by Jason Kenny, a long-time conservative,
[00:59:54] uh, former premiers now, and they're going to be here to answer your
[00:59:57] questions about Alberta separatism, so
[01:00:01] great to have both them on the program, great for you to have an opportunity to
[01:00:05] talk to them, same number
[01:00:15] is Cross Country Checkup, I mean Hannah Mansingh in Vancouver, is Canada more
[01:00:18] like Europe or the United States, what's at stake if Canada builds
[01:00:22] closer ties to the
[01:01:01] going on right now with the prime minister, speaking?