Burner Phones, China Deals, and a Dangerous Turn for Canada

Winnipeg Sun columnist Kevin Klein didn’t waste time easing into this week’s episode of Inside Politics — he came in swinging, calling it “a roller coaster week in Canadian politics” and warning that Canada is sleepwalking into a dangerous moment where bad decisions are stacking up fast.

Joined by Sun columnist Lawrence Pinsky, KC and University of Manitoba political scientist Royce Koop, Klein tees up a blunt question that hangs over the entire episode: if Canada can’t stabilize its relationship with the United States, what exactly is the Plan B — and who are we really climbing into bed with?

That leads straight into the show’s biggest lightning rod: China. Klein describes being told that journalists travelling with the Prime Minister were advised to leave their phones at home and use burner phones — then asks the obvious question: if you need burner phones to enter a country, why are you rushing toward deeper partnership with it? Koop argues the optics are jarring after Ottawa previously described China as a major threat, while Pinsky warns the consequences could be immediate as Canada heads toward crucial trade and security decisions.

From there, the episode swings hard back to Manitoba — and this is where it gets personal. Klein challenges the Progressive Conservative leader’s handling of a controversy involving Patrick Allard, a party official who posted a provocative comment about ICE-style enforcement in Canada. Klein plays a clip of the leader previously promising he wouldn’t “pick who gets on the bus,” then asks: which version is real — the leader who promised openness, or the leader now handing out bans? The discussion turns into a broader argument about whether conservative parties win by chasing outrage headlines — or by staying disciplined and hammering governments on the basics: crime, borders, spending, and services.

Then Pinsky drops what he calls an “unbelievable” example of political messaging gone off the rails: an event poster circulating with NDP branding attached to language he argues hijacks tragedy and fuels division. The panel frames it as part of a larger problem: politicians behaving like activists, picking sides, and pushing identity-based narratives instead of fixing what’s breaking.

Klein ends by putting a blunt choice to viewers that is guaranteed to light up the comment section: If Canada has to lean harder on one superpower, do you pick the United States — or China? It’s not asked as a thought experiment. It’s asked as a warning.

If you want a polite panel, this isn’t it. If you want the arguments Canadians are having at their kitchen tables — it’s all here.