Canada in Trouble: Tariffs, Crime & NDP Chaos

This week’s edition of Inside Politics with Kevin Klein delivers a blunt look at three issues shaping Canada’s political landscape — and why they matter to you.

Klein is joined by Winnipeg Sun colleagues Jeff Currier and Royce Koop, who also teaches political science at the University of Manitoba. The conversation opens on the day Canada’s 35% tariffs on U.S. goods take effect, a policy the panel agrees is hitting Canadians hard.

Royce questions Prime Minister Mark Carney’s priorities, pointing to his recent decision to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state — a move Donald Trump quickly said would complicate trade talks. “The focus ought to be on getting a deal done with Trump,” Royce says, adding that antagonizing the U.S. at this point is “very concerning.”

Klein raises the growing cost pressures on Canadian families, noting that retaliatory tariffs are pushing up grocery prices. The group debates whether it’s time to scale them back, with Currier warning that “the consumer always suffers” when tariffs stay in place.

From there, the discussion shifts to Canada’s justice system. Koop’s latest Sun column examines a Supreme Court ruling that makes it harder for judges to impose adult sentences on youth offenders, even in violent cases. The panel links this to rising youth crime in Winnipeg and what they see as a trend toward lighter sentencing — including the recent case of a man who threatened to bomb synagogues in Toronto but received just 60 days of house arrest.

The conversation then turns to the future of the federal NDP. Currier reveals new leadership race rules requiring that no more than half of a candidate’s nomination signatures come from cisgender men, along with quotas for other demographic groups. The panel questions whether these rules will shrink the party’s appeal at a time when it’s struggling to stay relevant — and broke.

All three agree the NDP’s weakness will help keep Carney in office longer, with little appetite or resources for an early election.

It’s a candid, fast-moving episode tackling economic pressures, public safety, and political identity.