Part 1: Canada China Trade Deal: The Surveillance Tech We're Importing

The Canada China trade deal brings electric vehicles from the country whose technology was banned from cell networks nine months ago. You're watching your government remove tariffs on "the most high tech of the retail products you can probably buy right now in the form of a digital recording device with wheels." The same surveillance concerns that kept Chinese tech out of telecom infrastructure now arrive on four wheels with batteries.

Zivo notes China "is in the midst of committing a genocide against the Uyghur people" and operates as "an autocratic regime" where journalists doing "basic research" have "long conversations with their supervisors about safety." Caddell trusts "Canadians just say, well, we're not going to buy them" despite cheaper prices. Zivo counters: "The average Canadian is not going to consider the larger geopolitical and security implications when making a basic choice." The US imposed 100% tariffs first, Canada followed, now this reversal risks American retaliation while importing surveillance technology previously deemed too dangerous for networks.

Discover why consumer choice can't guide national security policy. Learn what changed politically to make China acceptable for technology imports after telecom bans. Understand Doug Ford's response defending Ontario auto industry interests.

When the U.S. President Flips Off a Blue Collar Worker

Your president just flipped the bird at a heckler calling him a "pedophile protector" asking about Epstein files. You watched him drop two F-bombs, walk across the bridgeway, then clearly flip the bird before disappearing behind barricades. You've seen mob movies. This is someone who believes they're untouchable acting accordingly in public on camera at a Ford plant tour.

Caddell argues "this is the beginning of the end for Trump" because "when a blue collar worker calls him out, insults him in public, and he responds in that way, it's a sign that he's losing what is really Trump's America, that base." Zivo notes it's "on brand" for an administration that "published a video last year, an AI generated video of Trump in an airplane dumping feces on his opponents." The lament: "I mourn the decorum we used to have, let's say just even 10, 15 years ago." WestJet also faced backlash this week for reducing seat space to "28 inches" like "ultra low cost European carriers."

Discover why flipping off blue collar workers might signal base erosion. Learn what presidential decorum looked like 15 years ago versus now. Understand how airlines misjudge consumer tolerance for discomfort.

GUEST: Adam Zivo, Andrew Caddell

Originally aired on 2026-01-16