Former Canadian Minister of Finance Joe Oliver Analyzes Canada's Economic Outlook

CGTN Europe

Joe Oliver, a former Canadian Minister of Finance and Natural Resources, discusses the geopolitical challenges facing Canada, particularly those related to the U.S.

Transcript

00:00Let's talk to Joe Oliver, a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Finance and Minister

00:05of Natural Resources.

00:07Joe, welcome, good to see you.

00:09Mark Carney, well known of course in the UK.

00:12These are very difficult times in geopolitics.

00:15Is he the man to lead Canada at this moment?

00:18Does he have what it takes?

00:19It's going to take a lot, isn't it?

00:21It certainly is, because this is an unprecedented challenge from our close friend and enemy

00:29and friend, I should say, who's become sort of an erstwhile enemy now because of the threats

00:36not only to our economy, but actually to our sovereignty.

00:40Whether he's serious about that, I don't know, but he keeps repeating it.

00:45So there's been a resurgence of patriotism, and of course, Carney is trying to ride that

00:52wave.

00:53It's been a black swan where the President of the United States has actually extended

01:01to him a lifeline, because the Liberals were far behind and now they're ahead.

01:06The critical issue is whether he can move from being a technocrat to being a politician.

01:14He's considered a little bit dull, but maybe being dull is what's needed in these turbulent

01:20times.

01:22Joe, politics is a funny old game.

01:24Just a few months ago, it seemed pretty certain that the Conservatives would win the next

01:30election.

01:31Bluntly, what happened?

01:32Well, two things happened.

01:35One, the Prime Minister resigned.

01:37He was reviled, and had he stayed on, the Conservatives were roaring ahead to a massive

01:45majority.

01:47So when he left, some of the people who were part of the Liberal base had moved to the

01:55Conservatives and now moved back.

01:57Also, there was some strategic voting from the third party socialists.

02:03But the second big event, of course, was Donald Trump and the threatened tariffs.

02:10And so during a crisis which is foreign-induced, people often move to the leader of the government

02:21for reassurance and for leadership.

02:25And the leader of the opposition is a bit sidelined because he can't make decisions.

02:32So those were the two factors.

02:34But the Conservatives are still ahead by between eight or ten points, according to

02:40the latest poll.

02:44Enough to get most of the seats, but 50-50 whether they'll get a majority.

02:51OK, well, look, you were the Minister of Finance.

02:53You were the money man.

02:54I mean, Canada entering this period of significant economic uncertainty due to President Trump's

02:59policies.

03:00I mean, how well is Canada really positioned to deal with this, to weather the storm?

03:07Unfortunately, we're not positioned well at all.

03:12We've had a declining standard of living, really for quite a number of years, as measured

03:20by GDP per capita.

03:22We've declined over 20 percent in relation to the United States in terms of our standard

03:30of living.

03:31And in fact, every single province's average income is lower than every single American

03:40state.

03:41This is really lamentable, unacceptable, and a sign of weakness.

03:45We have burgeoning debt.

03:49We have huge deficits and insipid productivity, and we can't seem to get most of our oil and

03:58gas to tidewater because there's been an objection to building pipelines.

04:04And so we basically have one market for fossil fuels, and that is the United States.

04:11And we're selling to the U.S. our precious resources at a discount to international prices.

04:19So we're not in great shape.

04:21And politically, of course, we have a very weak government.

04:24It's in minority.

04:27The parliament has been paroled, and it really doesn't have a strong mandate from the people

04:33at this point.

04:34Joe, I'm sure we'll talk again in the coming weeks and months.

04:37Thanks for that.

04:38Joe Oliver, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Natural Resources in Canada.

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