Exclusive: Pierre Poilievre talks trade, Alberta byelection

Once again, U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to slap more tariffs on Canada — and Pierre Poilievre has thoughts. The Conservative leader speaks with Catherine Cullen in his first national English interview with CBC since becoming party leader to discuss how he’d tackle the Canada-U.S. trade war differently and why he thinks he deserves a second shot at holding a seat in the House of Commons.

Then, national security expert Wesley Wark explains why Trump’s latest move should elicit a bigger response from north of the border.

Plus, the new head of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, tells The House her priorities for the new role in a “volatile and uncertain” time.

Finally, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s chief of staff and the new Clerk of the Privy Council officially take the reins of the federal government, Janice Charette, a former clerk who assisted with the Carney transition, and Ian Brodie, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, lift the curtain on the high-pressure roles and examine the challenges of executing the prime minister’s ambitious agenda.

This episode features the voices of:

• Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
• Wesley Wark, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation
• Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force
• Janice Charette, former Clerk of the Privy Council
• Ian Brodie, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper