Well, the political drama continues this morning. The Prime Minister is shuffling his cabinet later today, seemingly drowning

out the calls for him to resign by at least 15 of his own MPs. Those voices are joining those of the Bloc, the NDP, and

the Conservative Party. And of course, all of this is happening against the countdown clock to a new Trump administration and

his threats of crippling tariffs for this country. And while we have yet to hear from the Prime Minister, I am joined

once again by the leader of the Official Opposition and the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre.

Great to be with you, and Merry Christmas to you and your viewers.

Before we get started, I just want to set the table for our conversation. Canadians are very familiar with your

messaging, and obviously it's working for you; you're enjoying a 20-point lead in the polls. But what I'm not familiar with,

what Canadians aren't as familiar with, is your relationship with the incoming President Donald Trump. How would you

describe your relationship with him right now?

Well, I don't have one right now because I'm not the Prime Minister. I've

been very conscientious about putting the country first and avoiding, uh, dividing the message. So, um, that said,

I have the strength and the smarts to stand up for this country. And my message to incoming President Trump is

that, first and foremost, Canada will never be the 51st state of the U.S. We have a heroic history, a great people, and a very proud future ahead of us.

The President has raised concerns about our border and the government's destruction of our military.

Well, we should reinforce our border to stop fentanyl, guns, and stolen cars, not just

for President Trump, but for our own people. After nine years of Trudeau losing control of the border, we need

to rebuild our military to protect our continent and our country against Chinese and Russian submarines and spy balloons, terrorists, and other risks.

And to rebuild that military with a warrior culture, not a woke culture. Finally, on the trade issue, what I'd say

to President Trump is, 'Look, yeah, we have a trade surplus with you, but that's because we're basically donating you our

raw materials and letting American workers profit from $100 billion of underpriced Canadian oil and

gas. So they get the money and the jobs. I would be more than happy to bring that home, and that's why I will repeal

all the insane anti-energy, anti-resource laws the NDP and Liberals have passed so we can liquefy, upgrade, and transport our own

natural resources and bring powerful paychecks home for our people.' What would your approach then be, Mr. PV? Would it be

more like Premier Ford, who says, 'Look, retaliatory measures—we're going to turn out the lights if you can't

negotiate with us fairly,' or would it be more like Premier Smith, who's saying, 'Look, whatever you need at the borders,

we'll even make our own security team if it will help with terrorists'? Which approach seems more fitting with

yourself? Look, President Trump is a dealmaker. He became a highly successful billionaire in the most

ruthless real estate market in the world, New York. So he wants a deal, and my belief is that he wants America to

win. There's no question, but I want to show him that Canada can win at the same time. He will put America first; I will

put Canada first, which is new and different. And I believe that we have overlapping interests and values, and I

Can I say to the president, look, if we get richer in Canada because of our trade with you, we'll have a bigger, stronger

military that protects your northern flank. We'll buy more of your goods and we'll supply you with the

strategic minerals you need to secure America. So, in other words, we can both put our respective and separate

countries first while ensuring that both sides of the border win big. I know you value common sense. With the

Conservatives, common sense, if you're looking south of the border, would say maybe don't put 25% tariffs on your

largest trading partner. That's right. Tell me, common sense. Yeah, so tell me more again about this common sense of

the Conservatives versus 'America First'. Like I said, I'm Canada first. I'm going to be fighting for our country and

that includes things I will do here. You know what else doesn't make sense? The tariff that Trudeau and the NDP Liberals

are imposing on Canada, uh, called the carbon tax. They plan to quadruple it to 61 cents a liter. Can you

imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office calling our businesses saying, 'Hey, you want to get out of this carbon tax?

Drive 50 kilometers to the south; you can work and drive your trucks and operate your factories with no carbon tax and

where other taxes are going down.' It will be a large sucking sound of jobs and money leaving our country. That's why we

need to axe the carbon tax. We need to cut other taxes, speed up permits, uh, unleash mining, pipelines, and other major

projects to bring home production and paychecks to Canada. And that's what I mean when I say Canada

first. When we take a look at, uh, trade, for example, just so I get a clearer picture of what it is that you were

Wanting and willing to negotiate with him. Part of negotiating any deal are two things: one, what are your non-negotiables?

And two, what are the pressure points? So what pressure points will you press on America to bring about a good deal for Canada?

Canada first. And what are your non-negotiables for this country? Well, our non-negotiable is that

I have to put our country first, and I'll never sacrifice our interests for any other country in the world. What about

immigration? Oh, well, we—even Justin Trudeau's immigration minister admits that our immigration is out of control.

Um, last year we brought in 1.2 million people, and the number of doctors in Canada actually went down. Um, and so

forget whether Donald Trump likes our policy, Justin Trudeau's total reckless incompetence, supported by all Liberal

MPs, has caused complete chaos. He's lost control of the border, lost control of immigration, lost control of spending,

debt, and inflation. Uh, we need a prime minister with the brains and backbone to take back control of immigration,

a border, spending, how in costs, crime, and drugs. And that's why we need to annex the tax election as soon as possible. Sorry.

And again, your non-negotiables and the pressure points you're willing to push. Well, as I said, we're not going to

compromise anything that would hurt our country's security or economy, period. And we shouldn't have to, because

our interests are aligned. What are what are the negotiating tools I have? Well, I can say, 'Look, Mr. President, if you try to hurt our

economy,' obviously we would have to respond with counter-tariffs that will hurt the American side. Um, your your

workers will lose jobs because they will no longer be able to upgrade our natural resources, and higher gas prices would

result even though the president has promised to cut them in half. So those are all reasons for him not to do it on

the counterpoint I'll say, look, Mr. President, I know what you want: you want your Northern flank secure. You don't

want the risk that Chinese and other military assets are floating around in the Arctic, threatening your continent,

your country and our continent. Um, you don't want terrorists coming over the border. A strong trading

relationship will give Canada a powerful economy that funds a growing military with a stronger presence in the North, uh,

an ironclad border that keeps terrorists, drugs, and guns from flowing across, and that will make America secure, and it

will make both our peoples richer, safer, and stronger. Uh, just so that I have it on the record, Mr. Pyev, this 51st state

being characterized as a joke. It's obviously getting a lot of traction south of the border. We know Mr. Trump, uh,

likes to lean in when he's getting a good crowd response. Do you think it's funny? No, I don't. I think it's an example

of how Justin Trudeau is a total joke. Um, he's lost control of everything. Um, his Deputy Prime Minister resigned

moments before introducing her fall economic update. The deficit is out of control; our dollar is plunging to its

lowest level in almost two decades. The gap between Canadian and American GDP is at its worst since World War II, and

President Trump can smell weakness, so that's how he's been such a successful businessman, and he sees a weak,

ridiculous Prime Minister who's lost control of his own cabinet and his country, and he's preying on that

weakness. So that's exactly why we need a strong, smart leader who will put Canada first, regardless of

The election happens next year. Right now, you are poised, at least in the polls—the ultimate poll, of course, being the election day—but you are poised in the polls right now to become the next Prime Minister of this country. So, from a potentially incoming Prime Minister to an incoming President, what is your direct message to Donald Trump?

Well, one of the messages will be that the days of Canada enacting idiotic, uh, socialist, uh, economic policies that have driven half a trillion dollars out of our country into the United States are over. I will be cutting taxes. I'll be axing the carbon tax. I will cut income tax, tax on investment, energy, and making stuff in Canada. I will repeal the anti-resource law, C-69, to unleash massive production of both our resources and the value-added jobs that go along with them.

So we will—you know—you will have a friendly neighbor to the north, President Trump, but you will also be facing a free-enterprise Canada that is open for business, that is going to be fighting for jobs and opportunity on this side of the border. Uh, that is the new reality. We will—we will have a Prime Minister who puts Canada first.

All right. Well, if you don't have a relationship with him as of today, perhaps he sees this and one will get started. Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Official Opposition, I'm sure he's watching right now, and if so, I wish him all American—and all, more importantly, all Canadians, including Santa Claus, who is Canadian by the way—a great and very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Poilievre. Thanks so much for coming on. Good to have you here. Thank you. If you liked that video, make sure to subscribe to the "Your Morning" YouTube feed where you can find all kinds of new content posted every weekday morning.

Pierre Poilievre | Your Morning

Pierre Poilievre | Your Morning

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