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SPEAKER_00: Ambitions made real.
Zain: This is The Strategist, episode 1854. My name is Zane Velgey. With me as always, Corey Hogan. Stephen Carter's not here, Corey, because this is an emergency episode. There's no time to waste. We're not waiting for that guy
Corey: guy to get out of whatever all-day $5 buffet he's at to come talk to us about the issues of the day. There was no time.
Corey: Now,
Zain: Now, this actually opens up something. Is there still any $5 buffets left in Justin Trudeau's world?
Corey: Zane, there's no time. There's no time. We've
Corey: got to talk about Pierre Polyev. Fine,
Zain: Fine, fine. You've made us come to this emergency episode, Corey. For what I would classify in an unprecedented election, especially with the shift in the polls that we have seen, an unprecedented policy shift by Pierre Polyev. He knew he was losing. He
Zain: knew he couldn't necessarily continue on the same track. We've talked about build the homes. We've talked about axe attacks. attacks we've talked about uh scrap the whatever right we've talked about bring it home well cory he's now added two more to the mix that i think on
Zain: the surface make you scratch your head but when you dig deeper which is the which is the core of
Zain: this podcast it's what we're all about oh my god does it ever become a game changer cory i
Corey: can't argue i mean i i think we've still got to go over whether it makes any sense whatsoever it is on the surface quite a zag on the surface it's
Zain: on the surface quite a zag
Zain: the surface it's quite
Corey: quite as
Zain: as underneath oh
Corey: as underneath oh
Zain: it's just a lot to love about it is a boldness yeah okay do you want do you want to describe to people what we're talking about because pierre pauliev from a political perspective knew he needed to do something this morning he woke up to the news that there was organized support by india and his 2022 leadership race and the team decided control p let's go to the printer let's go with uh break glass if needed they broke glass gory they broke yeah i think
Corey: do
Corey: gory they
Corey: yeah i think it was one of those situations where they said to themselves we've got this in our back pocket for when we really need to mix things up because
Zain: for
Corey: nobody would expect this to be clear mix
Zain: would expect this to be clear mix things up and guarantee victory now
Corey: we should unpack that i think because there are some like is it just too sophisticated for the canadian electorate is it one of these things that they're not going to to be able to process the brilliance of in 35 days i think that's underneath the surface yeah like
Zain: that's underneath the surface yeah like they're gonna ask because like most canadians are surface level right
Corey: most canadians
Corey: right
Zain: right
Corey: right um yeah they're gonna wake up like three months from now for sure and get it but will they two weeks from okay do you want me to
Zain: okay do you want me to explain it or do you want to do you want to explain it yourself because i feel like i feel like this is something that that we could tag team on but i want to give you the first right of refusal we haven't even waited for steven so it's just you and i that's
Corey: you want to do
Corey: that's
Corey: a great point um and let's Let's be clear. This
Corey: This
Corey: This is the first of many podcasts on this, right? Well, it's an emergency because we have
Zain: Well, it's an emergency because we have thoughts, feelings, insight to add to the mix. But it's going to take us months and years to unpack it, not just Canadians.
SPEAKER_00: Mark your calendar.
Zain: Mark your calendar. Three months from now, we will be talking about this. We
Corey: calendar.
SPEAKER_00: calendar.
Corey: calendar.
Corey: We will revisit this. Yeah, we'll go around the horn. We'll also check in on the Dairy Queen. Listen, it was bold. He was under the gun. He decided he had to go out there. He decided he needed to shake things up. he's come up with two new slogans yeah he's put on his lectern he's going for it man axe the sales tax on homes so
Zain: yeah
SPEAKER_00: yeah he's
Zain: he's
Corey: we've got a guy who for a long time has been saying we've got to build new homes axe
Zain: we've got to build new homes axe the tax and build new homes axe the tax build the
Corey: the homes build the homes changing
Zain: the homes build
Corey: it up so now we're not selling homes anymore we're axing that and we're not just that because that's like hey you're not going to get any new homes like we're axing the sales there's no way to get into the market if you ax the sales we all get that see i
Zain: we all get that see i have to interrupt you there because i don't even think you've understood what he's talking about here right he's
Zain: he's talking about axing all sales these are two non-connected things you think oh right all sales all sales frozen right so so remember when mark carney used to cut the interest rates this
Corey: sales frozen right
Zain: guy's gonna ax sales right see carney never got that far carney with his little pretend job of governor of the bank of canada was cutting interest rates, which, by the way, any person adept with the just basic economic and financial lingo and knowledge would know that interest rates are one thing, but sales are bigger than interest rates. They're another thing.
Corey: ax
Corey: thing.
Corey: prices can't go up if you can't buy anything. There's
Zain: can't
Zain: There's the economy, then there's finance, then there's sales, then there's interest rates. That's the modern sort of four-tier system, as we call it. yeah
Corey: finance,
Corey: four-tier system,
Corey: yeah well understood in economic circles the four-tier system right but i think that you've still got to appreciate what this means for homes because axing the sales also does include homes right we can agree to that i just
Zain: right we can agree to that i just i just want people to know it's bigger yeah it's way bigger like the implications of which we haven't even fully appreciated like the technology we're talking about the clothes that we are wearing no
Corey: to know it's bigger yeah
Zain: no more these things
Corey: more these things
Zain: things no
Corey: no
Zain: more somebody sold them to
Corey: somebody sold them to us a strict facebook
Zain: to us a strict facebook
Zain: marketplace barter system going forward no more sales axing the sales i'll let you
Corey: more sales axing
Corey: axing the sales i'll let you
Zain: you get
Corey: get
Zain: get back to the homes well
Corey: well it gets rid of some of the currency challenges that pierre polyev has identified right but
Corey: but let's get back to the homes so ax the sales means you're not you're not buying a new home somebody needs to sell you a home to buy a home we all understand that right but what if you already have for those who
Zain: but what if you already have for those who don't just
Corey: just
Corey: just
Zain: just
Corey: just one more time
Corey: the sales means you don't get to buy a home right somebody needs to sell it to you correct it is worth underlining right yeah absolutely but
Zain: correct it is
Zain: right yeah absolutely but
Corey: there are you know there are other considerations right like maybe you would build your own home maybe you already have a home yeah what about those homes well
Zain: yeah what
Corey: this is where the second part of a slogan comes in tax on homes so can't get a new home we're
Corey: going to tax your existing home meaning we're going to drive you out i think it's actually brilliantly post-modern because what he's really saying is you know
Corey: the housing crisis has become so big we talk about the crisis part all the time but the root of it is housing you can't have a housing crisis without housing the
Corey: man is
Corey: like next level it's like five-dimensional chess well it's interesting right
Zain: it's interesting right like if you tax housing people will need less of it right it's like it's like a carrot and stick right so when you got the four models carrot and stick is the other thing that we talk about classic supply
Corey: got the four models
Corey: classic supply and demand curves right right
Zain: right right so so if you if you axe housing people will need less housing which means you get out of the the crisis that's the tax on homes but then this is where i think the brilliance comes and you have to go back to the first part you stop all sales
Corey: this is where
Corey: how you get out of your home like it's great why it's a great point you know what i hadn't even
Zain: a great point you know what i hadn't even put this together yeah
Corey: yeah you
Zain: you don't mean taxed
Corey: don't mean taxed on your home yes you
Corey: don't want that home anymore yes how are you gonna get rid of that home can't
Zain: can't
Corey: can't
Corey: sell the home because
Zain: because
Corey: because he's
Zain: he's axed the sales it's it's not just brilliantly post-modern it's it's It's a bit of right wing. It's a bit of left wing. It's a bit of up wing and down wing, as we call about it. Corey. We regularly talk about up and down wing. Yeah. It's true.
Zain: Corey, I
Zain: was initially skeptical, I have to say. So I know I should have asked you this first, but when you first saw it, were you as skeptical as me? Because like right now, like, listen, we're no fans of Pierre Polyav, right? But this, I think this will work for him. Like, if I'm being honest, like Carney's left so much room on the center left by moving to the right, fully acknowledging that he's in the center. He's left this room. The NDP have not been able to seize this opportunity. But I mean, if you're if you're a new Democrat sitting in fucking Davenport right now, what about the following three words do not appeal to you? Tax on homes. I'm sorry. Yeah, you're losing. It's his race now. Now, you live in a Pierre Poliev world because there's now a tax on homes. Let's just say you're a new Democrat out on, you know, Vancouver Island somewhere, right? You're living your life, right? You're living with the earth. What gets this? Acts of sales. You're never into consumerism. This speaks to you on that level. It's a strong point. I don't know. I don't say it's like he's moving to the left entirely, but
Corey: left this
Corey: It's a strong point.
Zain: there is movement here. And there's a brilliance to this that actually might allow him to keep his coalition on the right. Right. Those people who show up to the rallies and the PPC vote that's coming down and going to Pierre and then he and he just takes the far left as Jagmeet looks weak. I mean, from a political strategy, I know if Carter were here, he would he would be speechless. Yeah. Mainly because we'd mute his mic. Maybe he is here. Maybe he is speechless. Absolutely. People will not know.
Corey: Maybe he is here.
Corey: Absolutely.
Zain: Were you as skeptical as I was? And are you a bigger fan as I am right now? Well,
Corey: I guess I'm just floored. When's the last time we see even a left wing government go so far as to say ax the sales? I kind of felt that had fallen out of vogue. But we're talking about the end of capitalism being brought to you by Pierre Poliev, tied
Corey: up into the very notion of housing. He's looked at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and he said, we don't need Maslow's hierarchy. You know, he's really changed the game with this one here. Well,
Zain: Well,
Corey: you
Zain: you see, he's never been a fan of it because he's like, we've got the finance, economics, sales,
Corey: see, he's never
Zain: sales, and interest, right? He's got a
Corey: a different frame. He's got that other framework. That's a great point.
Zain: frame. He's got that other framework. That's a great point. I mean, I've made several of them. I feel like I'm the only one making great points on this podcast. I feel like I'm the only one who's fully absorbed both the financial and economic impacts of what's happening here, Corey. I
Corey: I'm the only one
Corey: I think you're being a little bit braggadocious even suggesting you could fully absorb it at this point. Because this is going to have a lot of knock-on effects. Like, it's easy to say, ask the sales. Sure, we can all get behind that.
Corey: But consider groceries. How are we going to get groceries if there's no sales? You know what? Doesn't matter. They don't exist anymore. more so like if you start getting into those next layers and you start understanding exactly what this could do to that just inflation environment that we've all been so concerned about yeah
Zain: yeah i
Corey: i mean there's a lot here like i just would say just when you think you've got it there's probably the next level to consider as well yeah it's like it's like to
Zain: it's like it's like to me it's like when you're hearing like you're like in a conversation with a buddy right and he's talking about it and you're like thinking about it and you're like listening to his points and you're like okay like i think my points are better about it and then you're like well his points aren't bad it's like that's exactly what it is there's so much here right there's so much here everyone is right everyone comes out a winner this is arguing for something that even chomsky i think would say is is a bit daring yeah
Corey: talking about it
Corey: here everyone
Corey: yeah like you're bringing together the the chomskys and the uh victor orbans of the world right like you've got it all in one package here because if
Corey: if you look at the if the human wall that was behind him as he who's making this
Zain: making this
Zain: this announcement too yeah you
Corey: too yeah you
Corey: you got somebody in like a yellow reflective vest you've got a bunch of people who look concerned
Corey: concerned probably because they're in sales i'm assuming right it's
Corey: it's just strong it's going in front of somebody who clearly builds homes and it's going in front of a bunch of people who clearly have homes and it's saying game's over right that's the kind of strength i think you need to convey if you're going to change the game with mark carney where he is in the polls and where pr polyev is you know
Zain: know what's interesting is that just yesterday when we recorded our our uh best episode ever um i
Corey: i
Zain: asked you guys this
Zain: this question of of do the conservatives want to pivot or
Zain: or do they just want to win on their own terms i
Corey: do they just want
Zain: apologize i just want to i just i thought they wanted to win the carbon tax election i'm wrong i'm
Zain: wrong they
Corey: wrong they
Corey: they
Zain: they
Zain: they
Corey: they actually want to win
Zain: they actually want to win society
Zain: they
Zain: tear
Corey: tear it down or something new right
Zain: tear it down or something
Zain: right listen
Zain: i i think they're redefining what conservative means like i think i'm a poly of conservative now
Corey: amazing because you own a home right so
Corey: so the tax on homes you you kind of get you kind of accept
Zain: accept it i'm
Zain: okay with it it's kind of what i've been arguing for from the beginning which is you
Corey: is you
Zain: know too
Zain: much consumerism i wouldn't have said ax the sales like i would have probably found something different like we've talked about in the past like we don't necessarily love like conservative copywriting right yeah like the three word like
Corey: we've talked about
Corey: yeah like the three word like ping ping ping it's a little it's a little played out i
Zain: a little it's
SPEAKER_00: it's a little
SPEAKER_00: i
Zain: i mean not even that like i could have i could have used different three words right like to like you know stop the capitalism but i i like axe the sales because it's like very like sales is like an active word right and axe is like a throwback so you know there is an element to like this is who we are um yeah so i i do like that you know but
Corey: like you
SPEAKER_00: yeah
Corey: yeah so i
SPEAKER_00: i
Zain: but ready
SPEAKER_00: to see your business savings grow the The CIBC Business Investment Growth Account is designed to help your money work smarter. No monthly account fee, total flexibility, and a standout up to 3.15% interest on new deposits up to $5 million. But this offer ends February 28th, 2026. Take your next big step. Open your account at CIBC.com slash big A now. Terms and eligibility requirements apply. CIBC. Ambitions made real. i
Zain: can buy like if the sentiment is exactly what they've presented here yeah which is we're stopping stopping late stage capitalism in its fucking tracks and conservative doesn't mean what you think it does anymore yeah right lincoln
Corey: yeah which is
Corey: yeah right
Corey: lincoln
Zain: lincoln was a republican sort of shit then
Zain: then fuck
Zain: me i'm in yeah
Corey: yeah
Zain: yeah
Corey: yeah
Corey: well it look like apple got from the usual corners people saying think different was a bad campaign pain because the grammatical correct way to say that would be think different think okay
Zain: different think okay
Zain: okay
Corey: okay
Zain: okay yeah
Corey: yeah yeah different think and
Corey: and similarly i think they said we're going for the ethos we're going for the vibe we're going for the colloquialism i got to tell you you say stop the capitalism and i get what you're saying yeah
Zain: yeah but i also get
Corey: i also get that capitalism is a five syllable word that's more than true acts the sales entirely like that sales is a good fucking
Zain: sales is a good fucking
Zain: fucking one syllable to talk about cat Yeah, it's amazing,
Corey: it's amazing, right? It's like, I don't even, I don't know, they've clearly been sitting on that for a while. So I know
Zain: So I know this is an emergency episode. We don't want to go too far.
Corey: too far. Yeah, we got to
Zain: we got to
Corey: to
Zain: to
Corey: to
Zain: to process this. What does Carney need to do here? Actually, I mean, Carney's the one moving to the right. So he probably takes Pierre's territory, who's now moving to the far left, off the political spectrum, I guess, with this tax to homes, ax on sales. Yeah,
Corey: moving to the
Corey: Yeah, like, I just fundamentally disagree that he's moving to the left. like he's looked at the spectrum and he said i'm
Zain: I just fundamentally
Zain: the spectrum and he
Corey: stepping off that like this is this is old tired ways to think about issues but
Zain: this is old tired
Zain: ways to think
Zain: but also like in another way like similar to that and associated like it's all a loop and it all just starts where it ends right
Zain: right and yeah
Corey: yeah
Zain: yeah
Corey: yeah
Corey: yeah
Zain: carter would appreciate i guess i
Corey: appreciate i guess i
Zain: i guess i'm like most trouble for jagmeet here he's
Zain: already down and out i mean who who
Zain: right yeah like where does i don't know why he was i
Corey: does i don't know why he was
Zain: mean this this makes makes rent control look like fucking
Zain: child's play yeah
Corey: yeah it also makes the greens uh de-industrialization look like like
Corey: a clown show like oh yeah you want you want to invest a little more in the environment how about i fucking destroy capitalism and get rid of housing we all live on the land again right like he's
Corey: just eating everybody's lunch has he not and
Zain: and in that way like the reconciliation elements of it i know not explicit both in terms of what we've seen but like there There is something about going back to the tradition, right? Like, if you axe the sales, right, you do that part,
Corey: both in
Zain: you know, you tax the homes, you
Zain: would think that, and of course, I'm not good with these slogans, and they are, like, give back the land is probably the third one, right? Like, that's probably where they're headed here, which I think is, like, such a brilliant closer, which is, like, of the country. Like, it's just, like, let's just end it all. um now i guess the question i have is is is mark carney how fucked is he i
Corey: is,
Corey: i mean very he's gonna have to take a beat i probably would pretend to have a cold for a couple of days regroup try
Corey: try to understand what it means to be fighting a post-capitalist in an election in 2025 like the other thing i'll say like really brilliant about this yeah where do we buy stuff from yeah
Zain: understand
Zain: about this
Zain: like
Corey: like alluding to earlier like oh fuck
Zain: like alluding to earlier like oh fuck yeah
Corey: yeah like this like what is a bigger defense of the country than say like it's we're not holy shit people are talking about boycott america but
Zain: like this like what is a
Zain: holy shit
Zain: shit people are talking
Corey: everything bleeds through like you end up with like we're right now recording i'm sorry are
Zain: i'm sorry are we just picking up on this at the 17 minute mark that this is the greatest tariff immunization strategy we have ever seen
Corey: that this
Corey: seen in our lifetime this is what i'm saying about the layers like you think you get it and then you go a layer deeper and you're like jesus this is amazing like what does it mean to be tariffed when we're not buying anything when we're not selling anything ax the sales man x
Corey: the sales
Corey: unbelievable
Corey: unbelievable like
Corey: he has just changed the game like who you're donald trump what are you going to do now what are you going to threaten us with now like
Zain: donald trump what are
Zain: did
Zain: did you did you think your life would be turned upside down at like around 12 30 on a tuesday yeah
Corey: yeah i always did in fact okay