He Didn't HOLD BACK—Poilievre Puts Carney on NOTICE

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Aren't you jumping the gun a little bit calling this a full-blown recession?

[00:00:03]>> Right.

[00:00:05]It is Friday, the day that news goes to die. Except for this week. This week things are just are too tasty, too juicy for them to really die on the vine as some in media would hope it would. or I should say some who are directing media communications inside the Liberal Party are hoping it would do. This morning we discussed the fact that Mark Carney said that Canada strong will make America great again and the reaction to that.

[00:00:37]Halfway through our live stream it was then the it was dropped through Stats can that Canada is now in a recession.

[00:00:45]They're going to tell you we're in a technical recession. The media will tell you we're in a technical recession. But the reality is what the reality is. They can use all the words they want to fluff this up to make it hurt a little bit less, but the reality is we are in a recession. So today we're going to be talking about how we got here, the messaging around it, the communications around it, and it's making yesterday make a lot more sense of why Mark Carney did what he did. He knew the numbers were coming out today. He needed something big from a communications perspective to maybe cover up the news that was going to be dropping today. So he pulled out the big guns and allowed the words make America great again come out of his mouth in order to cover up for the bombshell news that was coming out on our economy today. And we're going to be getting to this and so much more. Welcome to the Elevate Report. I'm your host Josh. Now let's get to our first story, shall we? As I said, Canada slips into technical recession as economy stalls in Q1 stats can says. And let's just read the first paragraph of what's happening. This is exact the exact terminology you're going to be hearing from the media in order to cushion the blow of what we are currently witnessing. Says stats can says economic growth stalled in the first quarter leading to a second consecutive decline in real gross domestic product. That means some definitions for a technical recession, though Statscan's Friday report painted a mixed picture of the economy. Real gross domestic product by expenditure was essentially unchanged on a quarter-over-quarter basis. StatCan said, "Converting that to an annualized rate, the figure most econ economists pay close attention to magnifies the quarterly changes and results in a decline of.1% in real GDP for the first quarter. That follows a real GDP drop of 1% in the fourth quarter of 2025. a figure stat can revise lower on Friday.

[00:02:40]Three of the last four quarters in Canada have now posted negative real GDP growth. And of course, when it comes to the economy, there's a few different measures you can hit to kind of get an idea of how the economy is doing.

[00:02:52]However, the one they really point to and use GDP. And you know, it's it's good to be used at some time and sometimes it can be faulty. However, you also just can't really fudge these numbers. It's our GDP is in is shrinking and of the three it said here three quarters three quarters we're talking about Mark Carney has been in power for four quarters and three of those four quarters he's seen and witnessed a decline in the economy and some will say especially the defenders of the government will say oh it's only 0.1 it's only it's only a little bit at a time it's not that big of a deal you know America tariffs global issues times are tough Yet it seems like when you look at all the other countries, they're doing having decent moderate growth. It's not great, but it's okay considering what we're facing. Canada's one who's lagging behind. And you have to wonder why of all the countries, why are we're the ones lagging behind. Is it maybe the policies we've put forward that's been hindering us and being able and and strangling us from being able to grow as a country? We'll talk about it today because what you're witnessing here is, you know, the liberals have not gotten in front of this just yet in terms of communications. The media has been doing that for them at this point in time, but they will and it will they will they're going to lean heavily into the technical side of this and really say, see, it's it's a moderate decline. It's really not much. It's really it's technically yeah, it's a recession, but there's so much else going on that it will it'll get better over time. We'll be okay. This is not a big deal. Because let's be honest, when anyone hears recession, well, 2008 hits them and you start talking recession, then people start panicking.

[00:04:32]That's why it's felt like we've been in a recession for better part of two years. It's felt that way because you're seeing it real time. You're feeling the pain, but you're not seeing it on the news. No one's talking about a recession. You're not seeing it in the media. You feeling it, though. Canadians have been feeling this for a long time, and now it's just the numbers are starting to catch up. or you can only fudge the numbers for so long before they eventually catch up to the narrative and the reality that we are currently living. And that's what's going to happen here. Mark Carney is going to get out in front of us. He's going to try and soften the blow. It's not that big of a deal. It's going to be eerily similar. It's funny how I've we've talked about this a couple times on the show. How Mark Carney is going to be our Joe Biden presidency and he's going to use very similar tactics that Joe Biden did during his time as president. Because you remember in 2022 when US the US slipped into a recession and all the spin doctors of the Democrat party is like, "Oh, it's not really a recession." And they started trying to redefine what a recession was in order to say that it wasn't a recession. Mark Carney is going to do the same thing here. However, Mark Carney's numbers are actually worse than what Joe Biden's were. So, it's going to be harder to cover up for him. Thus why some could speculate and me and Reggie talked about this this morning of like why did Mark car we know that it was going to be inflammatory. You knew it was going to be a like and I understand you're trying to talk to a group. We know you're not that dumb. You know more people are going to watch this. So why utter the words make America great again if you know it was going to cause such a stir. Then it hit me afterwards that h this news was dropping today and he needed something to take the edge off of that news coming out. So he thought, "What's the second worst thing I could do?" At least for in terms of his base.

[00:06:18]Canada's gonna make America great again.

[00:06:21]And boom, like wildfire to that this news dropping on a Friday on top of what Mark Carney said yesterday. Hopefully maybe it'll bury. I don't know if this one will get buried though because the pain is too real for people. This is Paul's reaction to it. Says, "Breaking.

[00:06:39]Mark Carney is the only leader in the G7 to lead his economy into a recession.

[00:06:43]All other G7 countries face the same tariff and global problems. Yet none are in a recession. Excuses, speeches, buzzwords, and signing ceremonies do not grow the economy. Canada is the only G7 country in a recession because of Carney Liberals hiking industrial carbon taxes, kept anti-development laws, and doubling Trudeau's deficit. And yeah, that's kind of where we're at. Of course, this is a very political way of putting it, but yes, there are mechanisms that are within the prime minister's control that he could have removed, got rid of to help spur growth in the country. Yet, all he's done is introduce ambiguity, vague notions, and lack of clarity into the economy, making a bad situation worse. Because let's look at the numbers. These are this is this is the uh the US GDP uh uh GDP per capita numbers, okay? The number there in the middle. And we're going to do this over we're going to try and be fair as fair.

[00:07:37]Okay. 2024 it was over $86,000. Okay.

[00:07:40]GDP per capita in the United States.

[00:07:42]Since then it's grown to over $94,000 which is roughly about a 9.5% growth in GDP per capita. We go to Canada over the same amount of time. We started at $59,598 and it has grown to a whopping $60,298.

[00:08:00]Our GDP per capita has grown in a whopping $900 in two years, which is roughly on a good day a 1.2% increase.

[00:08:10]So when you hear liberals and their supporters keep saying, "But it's not that bad. Just it's 0.1 up 0.1 down. It's not that big of a deal." Sure, let's look at that over course of the past two years. 0.1 up, point two up, point two up, point one up, point five up, down, point three, point four up, 0.1 down, point two up.

[00:08:31]When things are just marginally increasing like that and it's fluctuating, you see the end result in the numbers at the top there is a 1.2 net increase.

[00:08:43]That's not great growth if you want to grow an economy that's been plunged into a host of problems. So the big bad USA that's had its own problems and own issues, their GDP per capita has grown again 9 and a half% whereas ours in the same amount of time hasn't grown 1.2%. It's one thing to sit down and talk numbers with people. But again, you have to really speak to people's feelings. Is sure we can say yeah 0.1 down 2 up whatever you can do that. But the reality is people are feeling when they're at the grocery store that they can't afford anything there. People are feeling that they can't afford the power post. People are feeling they can't afford the rent.

[00:09:23]People are feeling they can't afford a house. And it's not just feelings. In a lot of cases, it's real. So when you have a government keeps telling you, "Don't worry, it'll get better. It's just a marginal issue. It'll be turbulent for a time. We'll get there."

[00:09:37]And it never really ever got there. Now we're a year into Mark Carney, and it's the same old story. people's emotions is not exactly matching Carney's rhetoric, is it? Well, Pier Pol took the time on Parliament Hill to talk about this and this is a big one like for Pier Pol to take the time on Parliament Hill on a Friday. No one hangs out at Parliament Hill on Friday. Okay, big day today because well the Chinese foreign minister is in town. So that's a big deal. But then Pierre Po decided to stay back and do this press conference. He's the only G7 leader who can say that he's been u Mark Carney uh will like to make excuses today. But let me ask him a question. But before I do, I'm going to actually quote back to him something he said to one of you.

[00:10:24]Mark Carney said to one of the journalists, Rosie, look inside yourself.

[00:10:30]Well, I'm going to ask Mark Carney to look inside himself and I'll ask him directly. Mr. Carney, if it really is global factors and tariffs that have given Canada the only recession in the G7, why have France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States all avoided a recession?

[00:10:52]They all have the same tariffs and same global factors. Yet, none of them, not one, is in recession. Only Mark Carney has the distinction of leading his country into a recession.

[00:11:03]Now, we know that there will be a lot of excuses today, but excuses will not put food on the dinner table of the 2.2 million people relying on food banks.

[00:11:12]Excuses will not get the jobs back for the 120,000 people who've lost them, as Canada has the second highest unemployment in the G7. Excuses will not allow a young couple to buy a home, as Mark Carney has given Canada the worst housing costs in the G7. Excuses will not help the mother who is tossing and turning in bed at night wondering how she will make her mortgage payment as Mark Carney has made Canada the most indebted household given Canada the most indebted households anywhere in the G7 according and by the way Mark Carney will claim that this is just technical there's nothing technical about having an empty stomach because you can't afford paying the worst food inflation in the G7 there's nothing technical about coming home from work and telling your kids that you no longer have a job and that they're going to have to sell the house because Canada has the second highest unemployment in the G7. That is not technical. It is real. This is a fullblown Liberal recession.

[00:12:16]>> Fairly pointed. And a theme of we've been talking about on the show is right now Canadians have been t tuning out conservatives tuning out Pierre Polyv and he's been saying and talking about all the right things but for whatever reason those things just aren't hitting the ear properly. I'll be honest, right here was the moment he did a good job of marrying the emotion with the reality that Mark Curry is going to make excuses today. And to see Paulv step out of the I need to hit do a speech framing. You could tell that he started going off the heart a little bit more there saying excuses don't fill your stomach.

[00:13:01]Excuses don't buy you homes. That's the narrative right there. That is a winning formula that hits home with people. They realize, holy smokes, this isn't what I voted for. And man, I just need the pain to stop. This was a good way of going about it. And we'll see where this all goes. Because I'll be honest with you, I hate simplifying bad news to potential ad advantages politically. The reality is though at the end of the day is that we can't keep riding this ride forever.

[00:13:37]I'm not a party guy. Never have, never will be. However, right now, at this point in time, yes. Do my goals and what I want to see for this country align with one party over the other? It sure does. Do I want that party to win because I want us to advance those interests? Yes, I sure do. That's what breaks my heart, man, is the pain that people are truly feeling right now. And they have to be subjected to because people on a broader scale just don't get it until they get it. And that messaging from Pier. Yeah. If he can keep on that hitting that chord in a thoughtful, calculated way moving forward where he's able to speak to emotion and not just speak off of paper that someone gave him, not just something he wrote down that he's got to read off of. No, no. Sometimes you just got to scrap the piece of paper and speak from the heart. When Pierre does that is when he's the most effective. So the question is is why will the media try to soften this? And obviously the liberals are going to try and get in front of it because it's, you know, it's their guy. It makes sense. But why is this news so damning?

[00:14:40]Well, the reason why this news is in particular is so damning is cuz it's really bad for the economy. It's bad for everybody. But it also is really bad for Mark Carney because that is his whole brand. Isn't it? On top of him saying that he's going to be the guy to deal with Donald Trump. That hasn't really been working out too well, he's also said that he's the guy who's the banker guy. He's the he's the bank executive.

[00:15:04]He's the smart guy. He's the numbers guy. I can take care of this. We have an economic problem. Well, then you you hire me to take care of the economic problem. That's his whole brand. When you've built your whole brand off of I'm the guy with good who's good with money and I can also deal with Donald Trump.

[00:15:18]Those are the two things you built your brand off of, at least in terms of your political brand here in Canada. And both those things are not going particularly well. This would sink somebody. Not going to say it's going to be the thing that sinks his him altogether. However, it's a big blow to him though. So, what did we say about last week? It's going to be a summer of love, baby. And I saw some of you commenting that on my different social posts saying, "Well, this summer of love is getting good." It is, isn't it? Gibo quitting, others quitting, popularity declining, the banker being shown to potentially be a fraud, all while not getting anything done on the US front and then throwing in a Hail Mary saying Canada Strong will make America great again and all the political turmoil that's now giving him on top of the news today, on top of Bill C22, on top of the selling of airports, on top of the selling of ports, on top of Alberta separation, B.

[00:16:17]It's all compounding in real time. This is not good for Mark Carney. Sure, I'm sure there will be a bounceback. Has to be. But as we talked about last week with the 14 MPs and all that saying, I don't know about this. This is all the beginning of the end for Mark Carney.

[00:16:31]And he might end up failing out of politics a lot sooner than I even expected him to. But we'll see how this goes cuz we'll finish off with this.

[00:16:40]Again, Pierre Polyv's press conference was filled with all kinds of things. He talked about Beijing. He talked about Brookfield, talked about the economy, of course, the issue we're talking about.

[00:16:49]And then he went had a back and forth with Stu Benson, reporter for the Hill Times. And they had a very testy interaction over Polyv calling out the issue of the economy shrinking under Mark Carney's watch. And well, this was fun to watch.

[00:17:05]>> To jump back to the economy real quick, um, in Q3 2025, the economy grew at an annualized rate by 2.6%. We have economists saying that today's numbers are so nominal they could be forecasted away and revised away. So, aren't you jumping the gun a little bit calling this a full-blown recession?

[00:17:21]>> Right. So, um I know that there's a lot of uh excuses being made for Mark Carney today. And I I'm not surprised. By the way, which outlet are you with?

[00:17:30]>> Times is 2.6% economy growth excuse or is that just the numbers?

[00:17:34]>> It's actually a there's no 2.6% economic growth. The economy, if I could, if I could. So, so you're having to go back.

[00:17:43]How many quarters are you having to go back now?

[00:17:44]>> Two quarters.

[00:17:45]>> So, you're having to go back. Okay. So, let's get this straight. There's been four quarters since Mark Cardi became prime minister. The economy shrunk in three of those four quarters. Canada is the only G7 country for which that is the case. There's now been an entire year of Mark Harney that is recorded in economic data and the GDP is smaller today than when he took office. That is only true of Canada among G7 countries.

[00:18:12]And now there are two backto back quarters where the economy shrunk, which is the literal definition of a recession. Canada. And by the way, it's not just that our economy is shrinking quarter after quarter. It's that we have the second highest unemployment in the G7. You think that the You think that the 120,000 people that lost their jobs since the beginning of this year call this just a technical recession? No, they call this real job loss. And then you have the delinquency rate and he goes boom boom boom boom. I said, uh, we've had Stu on this show before. I Me and Stu have a have a good relationship.

[00:18:53]We go we've we've gone to headtohead on a few different issues for sure.

[00:18:57]However, I see what he was trying to do here, and I it's a fair question. It's just the way he asked it was a little antagonistic from my perspective. Um, aren't you jumping the gun, though?

[00:19:07]Don't you understand? Again, it's just it's it's funny because you're you're clinging to that one quarter of 2.6% growth out of all the other quarters that saw a decrease. Overall, it's just it's a plateau. At best, it's a plateau, meaning our economy is not growing very much at all. And this is why you're going to hear liberals hold on to that number that you heard Mark uh Stuart Benson quote there. They're going to hold on to that because that's all they got because their whole brand is built on Mark Carney being the numbers guy.

[00:19:37]And what's also not helping is the fact that the media has not been too happy with the delegation coming from China.

[00:19:43]Chinese foreign minister is here and they're already dictating how things are going to go on Parliament Hill. Mickey J from Political Canada was tweeting about this today. She wrote this. original tweet was referring to this where Glenn Eye McGregor was reporting on what was happening with Mr. Wang's arrival. He says, "So the prime minister's office says Wang meeting is not part of official visit, but rather a courtesy call, quote unquote, which are sometimes closed to media. The PRC delegation includes an official photographer. So PMO has decided to allow still photographers from Canadian Press and Post Media to attend. Then Mickey was responding to that. Canadian press and post media photographers are also able to relay their observations from the room directly to the respective newsrooms. Other media organizations are not being afforded the same access or opportunity. This disparity is why the event should be covered through a pool.

[00:20:33]She follows up saying it is becoming increasingly clear that the prime minister's office is not setting the rules on its own turf on Parliament Hill while the Chinese delegation appears to be exerting significant influence over media access arrangements. Not a good end of the week for Mr. Mark Carney. And when members of the media are posting stuff like this, oh baby, the weekend can't come soon enough for them. But anyways, I'll leave it there.

[00:20:58]Have yourselves a good one. Enjoy your weekend. I'm out.