Rebel News Podcast - July 17, 2021


Elections commissioner convicts Ezra Levant a second time, Trudeau's RCMP manhandle Drea Humphrey


Episode Stats

Length

37 minutes

Words per Minute

154.29456

Word Count

5,779

Sentence Count

455

Misogynist Sentences

10

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Rebel News Commander Ezra Levent is convicted for a second time for writing a book that was critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey went to a Justin Trudeau press conference recently and got the silent treatment.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, ladies and gentlemen, and the rest of you, in which we look back
00:00:19.740 at some of the very best commentaries of the week by your favourite rebels.
00:00:23.960 I'm your host, David Menzies.
00:00:25.620 Oh, not again!
00:00:27.000 And Trudeau's elections commissioner convicts Rebel News Commander Ezra Levent for a second time?
00:00:34.600 All for the egregious crime of writing a book that was gasped critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau?
00:00:43.660 Well, the Rebel News Commander will drop by to shed light on all the sordid details.
00:00:49.900 And Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey went to a Justin Trudeau press conference recently.
00:00:54.620 Not only did the PM give her the silent treatment, but Drea got manhandled by one of Justin's goons.
00:01:03.680 Drea will join me to weigh in on this outrage.
00:01:07.820 And letters, we get your letters. We get them every minute of every day.
00:01:11.000 And you had plenty to say about my story on a merchant being evicted from a Toronto-owned market.
00:01:17.300 Her sin? Well, she complained about a busker with addiction issues
00:01:22.860 who was performing in front of her shop and scaring off her customers.
00:01:27.640 And apparently, because she had the temerity to complain,
00:01:31.220 this offended a City of Toronto bureaucrat who was motivated into carrying out a vendetta,
00:01:37.840 namely getting rid of the tenant.
00:01:39.720 Unbelievable.
00:01:41.020 Those are your rebels. Now let's round them up.
00:01:43.280 I don't think you're going to believe what I'm about to tell you.
00:01:50.800 I just received another conviction letter from Justin Trudeau's elections commissioner.
00:01:57.040 He's personally found me guilty for a second time of writing an illegal book about Trudeau back in 2019
00:02:04.360 called The Libranos, What the Media Won't Tell You About Justin Trudeau's Corruption.
00:02:09.960 And the book, it's front cover, my tweets about it, our promotion of the book across the country.
00:02:17.660 Trudeau's elections commissioner had senior officers investigating me,
00:02:23.040 tracking me, tracking our staff, creeping through our social media.
00:02:27.340 And they say it's illegal.
00:02:28.860 And they now demand that I pay thousands of dollars in fines.
00:02:33.240 You probably think I'm exaggerating or even just making it up.
00:02:36.120 So I've put the police state-style letter online at thelibranos.com for you to see for yourself.
00:02:44.820 This 14-page letter convicting me is there, including the thousands of dollars in fines.
00:02:52.460 I've also put their past convictions to me online at the same website.
00:02:57.420 And my lawyer's submissions too.
00:02:59.400 I think the craziest thing on that website is a hidden camera video I recorded of my one-hour interrogation
00:03:06.720 at the hands of two senior ex-RCMP officers who are now on censorship patrol.
00:03:14.260 I mean, it's like that book, Fahrenheit 451, about the government's official book burners.
00:03:20.220 By the way, if you don't realize this is all a test drive for their plan to censor the internet,
00:03:24.340 I think you're missing their point.
00:03:25.740 I'm the test case, you're next.
00:03:29.160 So go to thelibranos.com for that.
00:03:31.560 If you're new to this story, you probably don't know how nuts it is
00:03:34.740 to have two 30-year ex-RCMP veterans who used to be on the counterterrorism beat
00:03:41.580 ask you questions like,
00:03:44.180 why didn't you register your book with the government before criticizing the prime minister?
00:03:50.020 The knowledge that you would have or not have of the election act, the Canada Elections Act.
00:03:55.740 When you are planning the book and you, the new third party rules,
00:04:03.260 because I believe there's some comments on your stuff as well about that,
00:04:06.720 did you give any consideration of saying,
00:04:09.220 maybe I should register as a third party for this circumstance,
00:04:13.140 or maybe I shouldn't, because of my interpretation of what I'm going to do,
00:04:18.920 or did you not make that determination?
00:04:22.740 How crazy is it to be told that you can't even see the complaint against you,
00:04:27.720 let alone know who complains?
00:04:30.140 Can I see the complaint against me?
00:04:32.560 The letter that you received?
00:04:35.840 No.
00:04:36.440 I presume that you're investigating me based on a complaint.
00:04:40.000 Oh, this is still part of the investigation, so we'll have to,
00:04:42.660 once the investigation's been completed,
00:04:47.400 the commissioner will have to make a decision,
00:04:49.160 and at that point, she'll have to decide if that is releasable or not.
00:04:53.000 It's not something that usually is released, no.
00:04:54.880 So it's a secret complaint?
00:04:56.980 It's not a secret complaint.
00:04:58.120 It's just a complaint that's part of the investigation,
00:05:00.540 and to keep the integrity of the investigation right now,
00:05:05.060 you'll understand that we can't share everything that we have.
00:05:08.200 Oh, I don't want everything that you have.
00:05:09.500 I just, if I'm here to meet a complaint,
00:05:12.800 but you won't show me the complaint,
00:05:15.840 how can I possibly meet the complaint?
00:05:18.300 How can I possibly respond to something that you won't show me?
00:05:23.000 Well, I think the letter was quite clear on what the infraction is alleged,
00:05:29.420 and this is what we want to clarify with you.
00:05:32.520 Well, did you generate the complaint, or was it from an outside party?
00:05:36.800 No, we didn't generate the complaint.
00:05:38.360 Okay, so someone external to your office generated the complaint?
00:05:44.260 That is usually the case.
00:05:45.740 Is that the case in this case?
00:05:47.180 Yeah.
00:05:47.920 Yeah, we did not generate the complaint.
00:05:49.280 Okay, was it the Liberal Party that generated the complaint?
00:05:51.680 We can't go into that, sir.
00:05:53.000 So you won't tell me who the complaint is?
00:05:57.260 The complainant is.
00:05:58.440 Is that the secret?
00:05:58.860 Yeah, no, not at this point.
00:06:00.800 So at what point do you tell me who the secret is?
00:06:02.920 The commissioner is the ultimate responsible person for the investigation,
00:06:08.820 and how this is decided.
00:06:11.180 So how do I know what conduct has been complained about if you won't tell me?
00:06:16.520 And talk about creepy, those cops wanted to know who we hire at Rebel News and why.
00:06:23.160 Wow, what a sordid tale of censorship and intimidation.
00:06:27.480 It's like Ray Bradbury teamed up with George Orwell and collectively wrote a book entitled Fahrenheit 451 1984.
00:06:34.940 But since when has it been against the law to write a book in our great dominion?
00:06:40.800 Well, apparently, ever since Justin Trudeau became prime minister, that's when...
00:06:46.520 Oh, by way of clarification, as an author, you will not be raked over the coals by a government goon squad if you pen a positive book about the PM.
00:06:56.320 However, if you have the chutzpah to be critical of Justin, well, then you've got some explaining to do.
00:07:03.960 And joining me now is Rebel Commander Ezra Levent.
00:07:06.500 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, Ezra.
00:07:08.940 This stuff, you being charged again for the Libranos, this is Banana Republic stuff, isn't it?
00:07:15.080 Yeah, I wrote the book almost two years ago.
00:07:17.160 It's called The Libranos.
00:07:18.480 I've actually had that idea as far back as when I was with the Western Standard Magazine more than 10 years ago.
00:07:25.320 I mean, it's a takeoff of The Sopranos, which was a hit show, I don't know, almost 20 years ago or so, probably.
00:07:33.540 And, you know, the book was about Trudeau's corruption.
00:07:37.640 There's over 200 footnotes in it.
00:07:39.940 No one's ever said I got a fact wrong.
00:07:42.120 I think it's my best-selling book ever, over 1,000 five-star reviews on Amazon, so it's a good book.
00:07:49.060 And I think maybe that's why Trudeau's so mad about it.
00:07:51.720 If no one was reading it or if it was ridiculed as being full of errors, I don't think he'd be worried.
00:07:57.740 But I think he's really upset by it because his elections commissioner,
00:08:02.360 instead of ensuring election integrity against Chinese influence or people voting without ID,
00:08:08.940 they have put so many lawyers and investigators and prosecutors on my book.
00:08:15.320 But the thing is, books are specifically exempt from election finance law.
00:08:21.800 There's a book exemption.
00:08:23.880 And because you could say, well, that book supports Trump, that book opposes Trump.
00:08:29.360 That book supports Stephen Harper, that opposes Harper.
00:08:32.820 Well, no, it's a book, and you don't have to register it as a campaigner.
00:08:36.680 You know, books are protected speech.
00:08:38.660 And 24 books were written about Trudeau at the same time as mine.
00:08:44.140 Mine was one of 24 Trudeau books in the campaign.
00:08:47.260 And they were all timed for the campaign.
00:08:49.640 You don't publish a book about an election right after the election unless it's sort of retrospective.
00:08:56.640 I was convicted and fined thousands of dollars, I think it was in January.
00:09:02.040 We appealed.
00:09:05.840 The chief election commissioner himself had issued a new ruling from,
00:09:13.060 it was not really an appeal, it was from scratch.
00:09:16.160 And he convicted me again, gave me the same fines again.
00:09:21.520 But the difference is, this time, he was replying to my lawyer's written briefings.
00:09:27.860 So my lawyers filed some arguments.
00:09:30.780 And I just want to focus on one of them.
00:09:33.600 And for folks who want to see the complete conviction letter, I think it's 14 pages long,
00:09:39.760 you can get that at thelibranos.com.
00:09:43.360 My lawyer said, you only prosecuted the one book that was critical of Trudeau.
00:09:49.980 You let the 23 pro-Trudeau books go.
00:09:52.840 That's right.
00:09:53.620 That shows that this is picking and choosing.
00:09:57.200 So what was the chief commissioner's reply to that?
00:09:59.600 He said, yeah, you're right.
00:10:02.480 And I have that power.
00:10:04.500 I have that discretion.
00:10:06.200 I don't have to prosecute them all.
00:10:08.660 I can choose which one to prosecute.
00:10:10.760 You're right.
00:10:11.860 And that does, and I have that right.
00:10:14.180 So he doesn't deny there were 24 books written.
00:10:17.880 The other 23 get the exemption.
00:10:20.940 He says he's allowed to only prosecute mine.
00:10:25.160 Well, I mean, what else is there to say?
00:10:27.520 There is more to say.
00:10:28.500 By the way, the book exemption, I know by heart now, books are exempt.
00:10:35.640 Here, I've got a copy of the book right here.
00:10:37.440 Books are exempt if they are sold for a commercial.
00:10:40.820 Like if this book was given out for free, I guess maybe that's campaign propaganda.
00:10:44.980 But this book is $15, which, you know, I think it's fair.
00:10:48.780 Like I didn't give this out for free.
00:10:52.240 We sold it.
00:10:53.160 Yeah.
00:10:53.560 And it also applies to the promotion of books.
00:10:57.000 That's important because we had, we promoted this with videos, with internet ads, and even
00:11:04.680 with lawn signs, which are fun.
00:11:06.720 We had lawn signs with the cover, and it had three words on it.
00:11:10.800 Buy the book.
00:11:11.660 It didn't say vote Trudeau or don't vote Trudeau.
00:11:14.400 It just said buy the book.
00:11:15.580 But Ezra, this, what's making my...
00:11:18.520 And he said that was illegal.
00:11:20.160 But this is what I don't understand.
00:11:22.360 Under the book exemption, if you've read the legal nitty gritty, looked at the regulations,
00:11:28.500 this is legit.
00:11:29.760 And also those, all those other books as well.
00:11:32.960 How can this be...
00:11:34.580 You know, it was really funny.
00:11:35.940 Again, I refer people to, you can see it for yourself if you think I'm fibbing.
00:11:41.140 That's at thelebranos.com.
00:11:42.700 And so the lawn sign I'm talking about that had three words on it, buy the book, it has
00:11:47.340 this picture on it.
00:11:49.440 It was in red instead of in black.
00:11:51.940 And I think that's, I think it's sort of a dramatic picture, but it's...
00:11:56.860 I think it's flattering.
00:11:57.700 I think, you know, they look handsome.
00:11:59.300 They look serious.
00:12:00.240 Yes.
00:12:00.600 They look serious.
00:12:02.180 But those aren't, I wouldn't call those doctored.
00:12:04.820 I wouldn't call those, like, they're not exaggerated.
00:12:08.580 It's just, it's the lighting.
00:12:10.200 It looks dark and somber.
00:12:13.680 All the investigators at Election Canada, the deputy commissioner, the chief commissioner,
00:12:18.480 they're obsessed with this photo.
00:12:20.960 It's part of their reason for convicting me.
00:12:23.660 They say this photo is designed to make them look bad.
00:12:27.840 Well, listen, let me make a little confession.
00:12:29.420 But that's so subjective.
00:12:31.840 Let me, just for the sake of argument, concede that point.
00:12:36.180 Okay.
00:12:36.360 So it makes them look bad.
00:12:37.920 So what?
00:12:38.580 So I can't write a book that makes...
00:12:40.880 In fact, if that's their problem with it, which it seems to be, that explains a lot.
00:12:45.780 That explains why the 23 books were allowed and this one wasn't.
00:12:49.800 So let me concede.
00:12:50.820 Yeah, this book, you may have guessed by calling it The Libranos.
00:12:54.160 I am a tiny bit critical about Trudeau.
00:12:56.720 So let's grant, for the sake of debate, that the purpose of this is to change people's minds
00:13:01.560 about Trudeau.
00:13:02.380 Of course, that's why I'm a journalist.
00:13:03.580 I'm not a journalist because I like the craft of writing.
00:13:06.120 I'm like a journalist because I have something to say.
00:13:07.880 I have a message.
00:13:08.780 And my message is that Trudeau, as you can see in the subtitle, is corrupt.
00:13:13.080 And I don't just make empty accusations.
00:13:15.320 I have 289 footnotes.
00:13:16.820 Right.
00:13:17.040 And so if they're saying, hey, your book is designed to make people change their mind
00:13:21.880 about Trudeau.
00:13:23.220 And yeah, free country.
00:13:25.600 It's a book.
00:13:26.600 Your point.
00:13:27.740 No, no, no.
00:13:28.240 That is their point.
00:13:29.160 They're obsessed with the fact that these pictures, they think, I think they're handsome.
00:13:34.040 You know, I think they're handsome and the women look pretty and the guys look serious.
00:13:39.980 But if this photo is why they're saying this book is illegal, we got ourselves a free speech
00:13:44.480 problem.
00:13:45.080 But Ezra, surely the elections Canada officials, surely Justin Trudeau himself, are they really
00:13:52.300 that thin-skinned?
00:13:53.940 Oh, absolutely.
00:13:55.060 And that's the thing.
00:13:56.560 When, if he was buffeted by criticism every day, he wouldn't care.
00:14:03.120 Like, remember Donald Trump?
00:14:04.640 He would have press conferences so frequently.
00:14:07.160 And they would often go on for an hour.
00:14:10.400 And he would take endless questions.
00:14:12.640 And I don't know why, but every single time, he would call on his most furious critics.
00:14:18.380 Like, he would call on Jim Acosta.
00:14:20.440 That's a perfect example.
00:14:22.300 Every time.
00:14:23.360 It was like he enjoyed the banter.
00:14:25.480 And Jim Acosta, I don't like him.
00:14:27.720 I think he was a liberal hack.
00:14:28.960 But, I mean, I guess he was effective in, you know, his company thought so.
00:14:33.480 CNN thought so.
00:14:34.980 Donald Trump is so used to criticism.
00:14:37.140 Yeah.
00:14:37.980 He got it everywhere, on TV, on radio, on the internet.
00:14:41.560 I mean, the media were so mean.
00:14:43.740 And I mean mean.
00:14:44.780 They didn't, Melania Trump, supermodel, first supermodel, first lady, never on the front
00:14:49.560 page of any fashion magazine or women's magazine.
00:14:51.860 But it is grace.
00:14:52.860 Yeah.
00:14:53.060 I mean, so that's so petty.
00:14:54.640 But Michelle Obama on all of them, because she's so beautiful.
00:14:58.660 My point is, there's a guy whose skin is so thick, he's like an armadillo.
00:15:03.900 Because everyone hated Trump, and he didn't care.
00:15:07.460 It was like he was in a suit of armor with like 200 arrows in it.
00:15:11.200 But compare that to Justin Trudeau.
00:15:13.400 Oh, yeah.
00:15:14.640 Kicks out Rebel News from any press conference he sees us.
00:15:18.160 Turns off the mic.
00:15:19.500 Last week had RCMP manhandle our reporter, Drea Humphrey.
00:15:23.540 Today kicked out our two reporters in Montreal.
00:15:27.680 He owns the CBC.
00:15:29.560 He rents all the newspapers through his bailout.
00:15:31.880 So he's got like 99% of the media.
00:15:35.340 And the rest is a safe space for him.
00:15:37.380 He's like a bubble boy.
00:15:38.340 So when he encounters one thing that's not on board, it focuses his mind.
00:15:46.100 He's obsessed.
00:15:47.500 If he were to allow criticism all the time, he'd laugh at this book if he even noticed it.
00:15:53.540 But because he's so obsessed on total submissive obedience from the media political intellectual class,
00:16:01.540 the one, and I mean, listen, this book was a bestseller.
00:16:04.160 I'm not playing it down.
00:16:05.420 But this book is not a dominant force in Canadian politics.
00:16:09.800 It's not.
00:16:10.460 This book is not going to win or lose the election.
00:16:12.820 It didn't.
00:16:13.860 The fact that he's obsessed by it, and it's not even that big a book.
00:16:16.980 You know, it's a book lit.
00:16:18.640 The fact that he was so furious with it tells me more about him than about the book.
00:16:23.860 He can't handle anyone.
00:16:25.680 We know that.
00:16:26.640 He kicked out Jody Wilson-Raybould because she disagreed.
00:16:29.420 He kicked out Jane Philbot.
00:16:31.000 Because she disagreed.
00:16:31.920 He kicked out Salina Cesar Chavent because he couldn't handle her.
00:16:35.100 Anyone who disagrees with him gets the axe.
00:16:38.380 Well, what do you do when it's an author?
00:16:40.000 How are you going to stop that?
00:16:41.220 Well, you sick the election commissioner on him.
00:16:43.000 Well, we're going to fight.
00:16:43.820 We're going to appeal.
00:16:44.720 If you're wondering, I'm going to appeal all the way.
00:16:46.440 That was my wrap-up question, Ezra.
00:16:48.880 Where do we go from here?
00:16:50.380 And by the way, since we've had two strikes against us from the elections candidate people,
00:16:55.820 what is your hope that we can get justice on this file?
00:16:59.860 Well, I mean, these days, it's hard to have hope in the courts.
00:17:05.360 Every single court challenge against the lockdowns failed.
00:17:09.240 And there were a lot of challenges across this country.
00:17:12.000 So the courts seem to be defending this government, and I find it worrying.
00:17:16.120 This is a pure issue of free speech and the interpretation of the law.
00:17:20.440 The law specifically exempts books and the promotion of books.
00:17:23.960 They don't like the lawn signs we use.
00:17:25.820 They have three words, buy the book.
00:17:28.040 It's explicitly permitted under the law.
00:17:31.300 I think a federal court judge looking at the law would say, it's exempt.
00:17:36.520 It's right there in the statute.
00:17:37.880 And if you're not applying the statute in the spirit of the charter, we're going to fix it.
00:17:44.500 So I think we have a really good chance to win.
00:17:48.100 But why wouldn't I take this all the way to the Supreme Court?
00:17:51.740 I totally agree.
00:17:52.420 I mean, why not?
00:17:53.680 And you know what?
00:17:54.580 If the Supreme Court of Canada says, yeah, you can ban a book, well, it's good to know.
00:17:59.560 Ezra, thanks so much.
00:18:00.520 Great report.
00:18:01.440 I wish you all the best.
00:18:02.600 And, well, what can I tell you, folks?
00:18:04.480 You know, the only thing is that in yesterdecade, you would see other media outlets coming together,
00:18:11.940 fighting this on the principle of freedom of the press, free speech, free expression.
00:18:16.940 But now, as the boss himself says, the watchdogs have become the Justin Trudeau lapdogs.
00:18:22.860 What a disgrace.
00:18:23.880 Keep it here.
00:18:24.600 More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
00:18:32.600 I'm not going to go too close.
00:18:41.040 You talked about Canada's last wrongs, the past things they haven't done right.
00:18:45.220 When will you speak out about the 20 vandalized churches?
00:18:48.400 They're burning churches and vandalizing them, and you're not calling it a hate crime.
00:18:53.860 This is Canada, folks.
00:18:55.520 The Prime Minister won't ask the tough questions.
00:18:57.820 They're acknowledging past wrongs Canada has allowed to happen in this country,
00:19:02.720 but they won't speak out about 20 churches being burnt or vandalized in the last three weeks,
00:19:09.480 by the way, which puts everybody at risk for fires as well, just like we saw in Lytton, B.C.
00:19:15.560 So this is the Prime Minister looking to be re-elected,
00:19:20.160 but not speaking out against the terrorist actions against Christian places of worship.
00:19:27.820 What should life look like for the citizens who don't want to get vaccinated
00:19:38.300 with a vaccine that's not fully approved by FDA?
00:19:44.780 All right, guys, you saw that.
00:19:46.700 He wouldn't answer the question.
00:19:48.100 That's how much care and thought he wants to put into what's happening,
00:19:53.620 the persecution against Christians right now in Canada.
00:19:57.000 He also said that 100%, basically, all of us need to be vaccinated.
00:20:02.680 Everyone's got to get vaccinated if we're going to get through this as a community, as a country.
00:20:07.600 So I tried to get a question in there about, you know,
00:20:11.560 what does life look like for the people who don't want to take a vaccine
00:20:14.760 or want to delay taking a vaccine that isn't fully approved by FDA yet?
00:20:20.700 And by the way, the vaccinated people can, in fact, catch and spread COVID-19.
00:20:28.800 What about the indigenous Christians who feel unsafe on their own reserve
00:20:33.240 because their place of worship has been burnt down?
00:20:37.480 Do they not matter?
00:20:39.140 Just ignoring, just ignoring the hate crimes in Canada.
00:20:52.100 Wow.
00:20:52.880 You know, I'd love to hop into a DeLorean equipped with a flux capacitor
00:20:57.320 and go back in time to, oh, I don't know, 2015,
00:21:01.240 when Justin Trudeau was first elected prime minister.
00:21:03.720 Remember his promise regarding how his Liberals were going to make
00:21:08.780 for the most transparent government in Canadian history?
00:21:13.500 Well, they're about as transparent as a granite wall.
00:21:17.180 And Justin's latest photo op demonstrated his lack of transparency
00:21:22.000 when he refused to take questions from our own Drea Humphrey.
00:21:26.820 Oh, well, let's look on the bright side.
00:21:29.320 At least this time, the PM wasn't donning blackface.
00:21:34.160 And as for groping female reporters, well, looks like this time around,
00:21:39.160 Justin outsourced that task to one of the members of his personal goon squad.
00:21:45.120 Oh, man.
00:21:46.380 And joining me now to discuss this further is Drea Humphrey herself.
00:21:50.620 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, Drea.
00:21:52.620 Hi, David. Thanks for having me.
00:21:54.640 It's always a pleasure.
00:21:55.640 Drea, you know, I've been manhandled on this job plenty of times,
00:22:00.840 and I basically take it all in stride.
00:22:03.060 But, you know, when I see my colleagues getting pushed around,
00:22:06.940 like you and Sheila Gunn-Reed, I just get outraged.
00:22:10.860 What the hell was that security thug thinking when he physically moved you away?
00:22:16.500 I mean, you weren't impeding the prime minister.
00:22:19.120 You were just asking, oh, I guess, impolite questions.
00:22:22.260 Or is asking insensitive questions not allowed in Canada anymore?
00:22:28.460 Well, I think when it comes to Justin Trudeau, that's the real threat, isn't it?
00:22:32.740 And if you look at the video closely, I'm at a reasonable distance from him.
00:22:37.680 It's actually Justin Trudeau who breaks that distance and puts his hands towards me.
00:22:42.900 And I go like this to stop that from happening.
00:22:47.020 And then clearly I maintain my space.
00:22:49.700 And then out of nowhere, this goon, as he said, just picks me up and tosses me to the side just for asking a question.
00:22:56.500 But the reason why I say that's the real threat there is because of the security detail when I first arrived,
00:23:04.880 who came up there and basically screamed if I'm going to be asking a hard question or not.
00:23:10.620 Yeah, I saw that.
00:23:14.360 I can't ever remember this in all the politicians I've ever covered, this pre-screening.
00:23:20.620 Are you going to ask the prime minister something other than what brand of shampoo he uses while in quarantine?
00:23:27.680 It's baffling.
00:23:28.700 But getting back to that goon, Jerea, I think there's a case here for an assault charge.
00:23:35.540 You were not under arrest, so he had no right to put his clammy hands on you.
00:23:42.200 So, you know, I don't know if it's worth pursuing legal action on that.
00:23:46.760 But to me, that was just outrageous and unnecessary.
00:23:50.980 And given that he's probably RCMP, he should know the law when it comes to getting handsy with people.
00:23:57.620 Well, exactly.
00:23:59.300 And there's, you know, reasonable courses of action you can take.
00:24:02.980 He could have, you know, stood in between me and the prime minister.
00:24:07.300 He didn't take that approach.
00:24:08.340 He just pulled me from the back.
00:24:10.240 So I know we have counsel who has looked at and drafted and is going to be sending the complaint.
00:24:16.320 But we're not done looking into this.
00:24:18.940 You know, I don't know if it's a little different if it's the prime minister, but it certainly seems like assault to me.
00:24:24.160 I wasn't doing anything wrong.
00:24:25.340 I wasn't a threat to the prime minister, and I didn't deserve to be treated like that for practicing journalism.
00:24:31.440 No, 100 percent, Drea.
00:24:32.580 And, you know, getting to the question you were asking, and he certainly heard it.
00:24:39.340 Why is it, Drea, that this prime minister won't address these now dozens of churches that have been burnt down or vandalized or spray painted?
00:24:51.360 Why won't he talk about the hate crime angle here, the anti-Christian mandate of the vandals and the arsonists doing this?
00:24:59.480 Why is that off limits for this prime minister?
00:25:02.620 Well, as hard as it to believe, I'm going to first say it's not a dozen churches.
00:25:07.300 It's not 20 anymore.
00:25:08.720 There's actually 45 churches burnt or vandalized in less than a month in Canada.
00:25:17.320 Our prime minister took over, took eight churches, burnt churches for him to say 18 seconds of this isn't the way to go.
00:25:26.220 So no acknowledgment of persecution against Christians, and, of course, one of his favorite words, hate and intolerance or any such thing like that.
00:25:35.660 So that's what I was trying to ask him.
00:25:37.160 Why is there this difference?
00:25:38.280 And I think it's just not politically advantageous.
00:25:41.800 So he thinks for him to shed light on that.
00:25:45.280 Can you imagine how weak do you have to be to say something as insipid as, hey, man, this isn't the way to go?
00:25:53.820 And, of course, his best buddy, Gerald Butts, didn't like the idea of churches being burnt down, but he understood it.
00:26:01.220 I think that is outrageous.
00:26:03.320 And I, you know, pose you the question, Drea, had this been even a single mosque torched or vandalized, I think there'd be a different narrative at play here by the PM, don't you think?
00:26:17.300 Oh, yeah, for sure.
00:26:18.180 A mosque, a temple, a synagogue.
00:26:21.200 It's clearly the Christians who don't matter.
00:26:24.140 We saw the pastors get thrown in prison for preaching in person.
00:26:28.140 So this seems to be a very frightening trend that's happening, in my opinion.
00:26:34.520 And to be honest, there's not a whole lot of outrage from what I'm seeing, even from the Catholic community.
00:26:40.220 There are people speaking up, even people from the First Nation ban land speaking out against this.
00:26:46.780 But where's the uproar?
00:26:48.460 Where are the protests?
00:26:50.360 Where is the outrage for this?
00:26:53.260 Yeah, no, I don't understand it either.
00:26:55.300 And, Drea, we should point out that after that event, you went to a Premier Horgan event and you ran into a security detail.
00:27:03.580 I think it was Justin Trudeau's security detail person.
00:27:06.680 And it was Matt, actually, pardon me.
00:27:09.720 And he recorded him with his cell phone.
00:27:14.080 And it was the most bizarre kind of conversation, I thought.
00:27:19.560 But he kept talking about, are you going to go overboard again this time, i.e., yelling out questions from the sidelines.
00:27:31.320 And Matt quite rightly said to him that, listen, if you let us in the building and you let us pose a question,
00:27:39.700 yeah, we're going to play by the rules, but we can't get on the playing field.
00:27:45.760 What was your take hearing that?
00:27:48.260 And also this idea of, you know, the media like to get together ahead of time and discuss what they're going to ask and whatnot.
00:27:55.840 I just found it incredulous.
00:27:58.620 Yeah, it left me speechless for a little bit.
00:28:03.240 I learned that that was that particular person is the media liaison of sorts.
00:28:09.340 So not the security detail.
00:28:11.780 The security detail did stop Matt, you know, in the underground parking lot before that.
00:28:16.740 But basically, we got a firsthand account of the monopoly that you have to try to get in order to ask a question.
00:28:27.780 He literally told us that you have to earn the respect of state media.
00:28:33.900 CTV, he mentioned, CTV, and that they get to choose who gets to ask the questions.
00:28:40.540 It's like, are you kidding me?
00:28:42.300 This is a joke.
00:28:43.320 And I know Ezra made a good point about Trump, love him or hate him.
00:28:49.220 He always let, you know, the media that wasn't favorable to him ask a question.
00:28:54.580 Whether he called them fake news or not, he let them ask the question and he answered the question.
00:28:59.860 But Trudeau, Morgan, they're just cowards, I guess.
00:29:02.820 A hundred percent.
00:29:03.560 I think actually President Trump enjoyed it when he would call upon somebody like Jim Acosta of CNN
00:29:09.280 and they'd get into this verbal brouhaha and it was absolutely fascinating.
00:29:14.960 But you're right, the people who are leaders today in Canada, Drea, they are cowards
00:29:21.640 and they want to keep any kind of prickly, insensitive questions at bay.
00:29:27.120 And that's why we have goons manhandling you in such a disgraceful fashion.
00:29:31.780 Listen, Drea, we've got to wrap it here.
00:29:34.180 I know you'll continue to cover these politicians and hopefully in the words of Justin Trudeau's security detail,
00:29:41.380 you will behave in a normal and responsible fashion.
00:29:48.080 Whatever the heck that means.
00:29:50.260 But Drea, it was a great report and keep on trucking, my friend.
00:29:55.020 Thank you.
00:29:55.560 All right.
00:29:56.760 And folks, that was Drea Humphrey in Vancouver.
00:30:00.060 Keep it here.
00:30:00.840 More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
00:30:10.280 Ignore, right?
00:30:11.640 And then when I have no choice, then I wrote a letter to the manager's boss in the city.
00:30:22.080 But the letter was come back to the manager, right?
00:30:25.940 And the manager very mad.
00:30:28.500 And he even threatened me in the face, say, like, you know, I can kick you, I can move you to the back or to the basement, you know.
00:30:38.280 So I...
00:30:39.240 Or move your shop, that is, right?
00:30:40.660 I'll move your shop because I'm here complaining, you know.
00:30:43.760 So if I, if they put me on the basement, maybe I'm not complaining anymore, you know.
00:30:50.540 So, so that's why I think, because at that time I still have a long lease, like from 2015 to 2019.
00:30:59.880 So I guess I was protected by the lease.
00:31:02.740 So when my lease was finished at 2019, you know, I think they found a reason, like excuse.
00:31:10.120 Now it's like you have too many souvenirs.
00:31:12.500 So they kicked me now.
00:31:15.220 I've seen our friend Joe Warmington in the Toronto Sun.
00:31:19.180 He did some stories chronicling your plight.
00:31:21.380 And sure enough, he quotes Brad Ross, the city spokesman, as saying there were too many souvenir shops.
00:31:27.760 I understand there's five, but you were the first one here.
00:31:32.640 So why do you have to leave and the other four don't?
00:31:36.600 I have no idea.
00:31:38.440 That's why I'm very confused.
00:31:41.080 Yeah, because I'm the first one open the souvenir shop and other people copy my souvenir items.
00:31:50.500 Yes.
00:31:50.920 Now they become a souvenir shop.
00:31:53.460 Actually, they just like have to add on, you know.
00:31:56.620 But when you see their lease, they are not allowed to sell in souvenirs, you know.
00:32:03.360 So I think this is an excuse, you know, to try to kick me out.
00:32:08.740 And it's an excuse because when we talked about this off camera,
00:32:13.100 you had some incidents where there was somebody with, I guess we can call it addiction issues.
00:32:19.960 He was busking, you know, for change in the front door or near your store.
00:32:25.560 He was scaring customers away.
00:32:28.560 And you, as a rent-paying tenant, you did the logical thing.
00:32:32.880 You complained to management.
00:32:34.340 But it looks like management didn't like you complaining.
00:32:38.600 Amazing.
00:32:39.460 So let's get this straight.
00:32:40.740 If you are a rent-paying tenant at the city-owned St. Lawrence Market for 18 years,
00:32:45.680 but you have the utter temerity to complain about a person with addiction issues that is hurting your business,
00:32:53.420 it appears that city policy is to turf the complainer rather than to deal with the problem.
00:33:00.660 And so it is that a vendetta was launched against Jenny Wang to get her ousted.
00:33:05.860 What else can you call it, folks?
00:33:07.320 The city says the market has too many souvenir shops.
00:33:11.940 Okay, but Jenny's store was there first.
00:33:15.140 It makes no sense that she would be the first to go.
00:33:18.700 But then again, welcome to John Tory's Toronto,
00:33:21.740 where the unofficial slogan would seem to be
00:33:24.120 rewarding the takers, penalizing the makers.
00:33:28.680 In any event, you had plenty to say about Jenny going up against City Hall
00:33:32.980 and losing her livelihood in the process.
00:33:36.800 Janine Kennedy writes,
00:33:38.540 The government has done so much harm to the people.
00:33:42.680 Oh, you're not kidding, Janine.
00:33:44.180 Toronto remains the most locked-down jurisdiction in the world.
00:33:47.640 It's all in the name of protecting us from a virus.
00:33:50.400 But I would argue the curse has been worse than the cure.
00:33:54.160 The depression rates, the unemployed masses,
00:33:57.080 the massive number of bankruptcies, etc.
00:33:59.780 Not that any of the politicians or bureaucrats
00:34:03.140 have been adversely affected these past two years, mind you.
00:34:07.220 Indeed, I think they all gave themselves raises.
00:34:11.140 Ted Breyer writes,
00:34:13.740 You want something screwed up?
00:34:15.280 Give it to the government.
00:34:16.660 Well, you know, couldn't agree with you more, Ted.
00:34:18.340 Government can't even operate monopolies properly,
00:34:21.960 be it the gambling or the booze businesses,
00:34:24.480 much less a retail environment such as the St. Lawrence Market.
00:34:28.160 You know, they say the biggest lie in the world is
00:34:31.240 the check is in the mail.
00:34:32.960 I disagree.
00:34:33.920 I think the biggest falsehood is,
00:34:35.980 Hi, I'm from the government.
00:34:37.920 I'm here to help you.
00:34:39.540 Oh, and also, these days,
00:34:41.940 we're all in this together.
00:34:44.940 J.R. writes,
00:34:46.300 You have it wrong.
00:34:47.480 It's Tory as he has enabled his idiot lackeys
00:34:51.420 to abuse their power for profit.
00:34:53.800 She's honest and believes in the rule of law.
00:34:56.120 I bet she doesn't understand that the management
00:34:59.260 slash city rep wants kickbacks,
00:35:02.360 and so they push her out.
00:35:04.140 Someone else will pay,
00:35:05.520 and that's all they care about.
00:35:07.980 Tory's Toronto in action.
00:35:10.000 Well, J.R., I have no proof to support allegations
00:35:13.200 that any sort of kickbacks are involved in this story,
00:35:16.220 but I can say this.
00:35:18.020 We did reach out to the bureaucrat
00:35:19.680 that Jenny says is harboring a grudge against her,
00:35:22.280 and his only comment to all our queries was,
00:35:25.920 No comment, no comment, no comment.
00:35:28.660 I think that's very telling, actually.
00:35:31.480 The great Canadian guy writes,
00:35:32.860 Bureaucrats run the show.
00:35:35.280 Politicians are just in place to lie for their mistakes.
00:35:39.240 Oh, ain't that the truth, great Canadian guy?
00:35:41.260 As I mentioned, I truly believe that Jenny is being squeezed out
00:35:44.480 by a petty and vindictive bureaucrat
00:35:46.540 with a score to settle.
00:35:48.720 But in the bigger picture,
00:35:49.660 just look at how her lives have been made miserable
00:35:51.580 for almost two years
00:35:52.720 by unelected, non-accountable health bureaucrats.
00:35:56.340 And then there's the education bureaucracy in Ontario
00:35:59.120 deciding the math curriculum must be rewritten
00:36:02.160 because somehow math is racist?
00:36:06.380 And where is the mayor, the premier,
00:36:08.660 the minister of education?
00:36:10.480 All missing in action.
00:36:12.420 Wow, talk about an appalling lack of leadership.
00:36:16.240 And Sean Callender writes,
00:36:18.120 I'm going to visit her store and buy some items.
00:36:20.580 Well, that's very kind of you, Sean,
00:36:22.040 but you better get cracking
00:36:23.680 unless Jenny's lawyer can manufacture a miracle
00:36:27.280 or the city does the right thing
00:36:29.860 and reverses its odious decision.
00:36:33.800 Well, Jenny's last day in business will be July 31st.
00:36:37.920 It's so sad.
00:36:40.060 Shame on you, Mayor Tory.
00:36:42.200 Well, that wraps up another edition of Rebel Roundup.
00:36:45.180 Thanks so much for joining us.
00:36:46.500 See you next week.
00:36:47.400 And hey, folks, never forget,
00:36:49.160 without risk, there can be no glory.
00:36:50.880 Good night.
00:36:57.280 We'll be right back.