Uh, it was great connection between Canada and the US, and he is the ambassador.

He is the ambassador, and some things transcend politics, frankly, and 9/11 is one of them.

And I think for Gander and the Newfoundland community, 9/11 is a huge part of their current identity, their recent history.

It represents shared trauma and a time of alignment, uh, alignment when we were very much aligned with our neighbors to the south.

So our trade war with the US shouldn't overshadow how we, how much we have in common with the American people or American values beyond the current administration.

We have American call links.

We have American friends.

Well, I, you know, I don't know about you, Randi, but first of all, whatever mistakes Canada might have made in trying to put this deal together, Trump's really not my source for the truth.

And I was saying, you know, if we were sitting around this conference table here looking at this thing, uh, and some people, even, say, the woman involved says, "Eh, it's just a joke," I would've said, "We don't wanna deal with the fallout from this."

Exact- like, I don't wanna touch it.

And I know that...

And, and I don't doubt that the folks behind Good Good, 'cause they actually issued a, a pretty long statement afterwards, a video statement afterwards.

I have no doubt that they weren't intending to promote violence against women.

It just shows very poor taste, and I think Callaway, um, who's, you know, distanced themselves from Good Good going forward, did exactly the right thing.

Because i- even if you separate the specifics of this ad, um, a- and we don't talk about that, the fact is that golf is traditionally a male sport.

Yeah

Against the provincial budget it's not the biggest thing, but it's just, this is just not right.

It's not right, and it's out of touch.

And, um, you know, I think that it's a, it's a trap that politicians fall into all the time, of all stripes, and at all levels of government.

And so, you know, this is the latest iteration of politicians thinking that these expense, uh, accounts are sort of their, their, their, their pockets, and it's just not that way.

And especially if you live so close to proximity ... uh, within close proximity of Queen's Park, it seems like an obvious mistake, frankly, because they know that the auditor general's gonna take a look.

They know that, you know, at some point it's going to be found out.

Why would you even take the chance?

And I get where he's coming from to a certain extent, but it just, it just seems like this comes up time after time, when the rest of us are maybe lucky to get a, you know, a little pretzel or something on a plane.

... uh, do you think overall governments, including the city government but not limited to the city government, are becoming, uh, um, unduly paternalistic about these kinds of things? Or are they just more conscious of the health risks now and have the communication, uh, you know, platforms to be able to put out a message?

I think it's less about being paternalistic and more about being, uh, very sensitive to litigation and legal concerns, and I think everyone's so super cautious.

So I don't think it's about, "Oh, I want to protect my citizens, therefore I'm gonna step in and cancel all the fun." I think it's more about, uh, you know, somebody, some lawyer is warning them that, "If you put this on and something bad happens, you're liable." So I think everyone's become super skittish and very careful.

I will say, though, I mean, you see Doug Ford come out with a couple of different policies, one on, you know, increasing the, the speed limit on, on, uh, provincial highways and the other on, um, on extending the liquor, uh, uh, sorry, the hours for drink- the drinking hours.

So not every government, but, uh, you know, and not every issue, but I increasingly I think everybody is very, uh, sensitive to legal liability issues.

Are you worried about that on a, you know, in terms of all the things we could be worried about when it comes to the economy? And people that you talk to in business, are they worried or is it just one more reason for uncertainty at this point in history?

I think that this, to me, seemed much more symbolic than substantive.

Um, and I think...

I think we shouldn't have tax on food at all.

Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, already there's no tax on most food.

This, this is on, I think, this was on, you know, fa- some fast food items and prepared items.

Uh, we can debate that.

I mean, it's no surprise though, Gerry, that a, an NDP private member's bill that comes forward on cost of living issues gets killed by the government.

There's no way they're gonna let them own that issue, and it has significant revenue implications for, for the government.

Um, there's no way that was gonna pass.

And I, I know it sounds cold for me to say $4 billion isn't worth it if it's only gonna save a couple of lives, and it's not that I'm cold toward the lives that would be lost, it's that $4 billion would save a lot more lives if it was in the healthcare system, for instance, if the 4 billion has to be sent- spent somewhere.