Rebel News Podcast - April 27, 2023


EZRA LEVANT ｜ Hold The Line： A feature interview with Tamara Lich


Episode Stats

Length

41 minutes

Words per Minute

168.99567

Word Count

6,978

Sentence Count

505

Misogynist Sentences

8

Hate Speech Sentences

4


Summary

Tamara Leach was the leader of the Trucker Convoy, the biggest news story in Canada in 2022. She was arrested, held in prison for a month and a half on an incitement to mischief charge, and yet she maintained her composure and good faith the whole time. Her book is doing amazingly well, and we re going to talk with her about it in an extended interview.


Transcript

00:00:00.060 Hello, my Rebels. Very special show today. Tamara Leach is on. She was the leader of the Trucker
00:00:06.080 Convoy, the biggest news story in 2022. But the news stories will keep coming in 2023. You know,
00:00:12.240 she still hasn't had her criminal trial yet. They're really treating her like a political
00:00:16.760 prisoner. There's no other word for it. Anyways, her book is doing amazingly well, and we're going
00:00:21.940 to talk with her about it in an extended interview. I think people genuinely want to hear the other
00:00:28.060 side of the story. They do not trust what the media party has said. You will hear directly from her,
00:00:34.280 and if you're moved to do so, of course, you can get the book yourself. But before I get onto that
00:00:41.680 interview, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. That's the video version of
00:00:46.300 this podcast. Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe. It's eight bucks a month. I do this
00:00:51.460 show every weekday. And as you know, we don't get any money from the government. We don't get any
00:00:56.240 money from YouTube, so we really are dependent on you, our faithful viewers. All right, here's today's
00:01:01.720 podcast.
00:01:17.380 Tonight, a one-on-one feature interview with Tamara Leach, author of the best-selling book,
00:01:23.560 Hold the Line, published by Rebel News. It's April 27th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.
00:01:33.040 Shame on you, you censorious bug!
00:01:44.620 You know the number one news story in Canada in 2022. It was the trucker convoy,
00:01:52.660 a grassroots, authentic uprising of ordinary Canadians, rather leaderless, certainly without
00:01:59.480 funding. Crowdfunding attempts were seized or frozen or rebuffed by the government.
00:02:05.600 But frankly, that only added to the mystique of the truckers. They were beholden to no one,
00:02:12.280 no political party or super PAC behind them. They inspired the nation. They snapped us
00:02:18.640 out of the false consciousness that everyone agreed with the way things were going.
00:02:23.300 They, in the instant,
00:02:26.780 crystallized a civil liberties crisis
00:02:29.760 when Justin Trudeau panicked
00:02:32.040 and evoked the Emergencies Act. But in so doing,
00:02:35.780 they succeeded by revealing Trudeau as the tyrant
00:02:38.780 that he is, and I think
00:02:40.840 set the stage in the medium term
00:02:43.180 for his downfall. I believe that when the history books are finally written,
00:02:47.920 his greatest opponent won't have been
00:02:50.180 Aaron O'Toole, Andrew Scheer, or
00:02:52.140 Pierre Polyev,
00:02:53.060 but rather the truckers. Now, I said the truckers were rather
00:02:55.980 leaderless, and I think there's a lot of
00:02:57.480 truth to that. Truckers, by nature,
00:02:59.800 are independent-minded.
00:03:01.920 They're people who spend a lot of time
00:03:03.600 thinking about things as they drive
00:03:05.560 in their trucks.
00:03:06.640 But as the
00:03:08.100 convoys converged
00:03:09.960 in Ottawa, a handful of voices became
00:03:13.100 known as, if not the
00:03:15.060 organizational leaders, at least the
00:03:18.400 spiritual leaders of the
00:03:21.280 convoy. And I think
00:03:22.500 by far the woman with the most following
00:03:25.200 and who best reflected
00:03:27.220 the goals of the convoy
00:03:29.560 was Tamara Leach.
00:03:31.940 As you know, Tamara
00:03:33.100 was arrested, held
00:03:35.440 in prison for a month and a half
00:03:37.660 on an incitement to mischief
00:03:39.720 charge. She was
00:03:41.260 persecuted by a zealous
00:03:43.320 prosecutor known for his
00:03:44.920 hefty donations to the Liberal Party,
00:03:47.220 and yet
00:03:47.600 she maintained her composure
00:03:49.800 and good faith
00:03:50.640 the whole time.
00:03:52.620 She was slapped with bail
00:03:54.000 conditions that made it so
00:03:55.440 she couldn't speak
00:03:56.780 candidly, couldn't even travel
00:03:58.860 into certain places without
00:04:00.720 her lawyers.
00:04:02.220 But I'm delighted to say
00:04:04.080 that in one of the greatest
00:04:05.060 achievements that Rebel News has had
00:04:06.920 in our eight years, Tamara
00:04:09.060 Leach has agreed to publish
00:04:10.980 her memoirs, her autobiography,
00:04:13.240 a book that's part history book
00:04:15.200 and part inside story
00:04:17.120 and all autobiographical
00:04:18.600 about those momentous days
00:04:21.840 and about who she herself is.
00:04:25.260 The book is called
00:04:26.220 Hold the Line, and it's her story
00:04:29.140 from the heart of the trucker convoy,
00:04:30.840 and she joins us now via Skype
00:04:32.700 from her home in Medicine Hat.
00:04:34.860 Tamara Leach, it's a pleasure
00:04:36.400 to have you on the show.
00:04:37.860 I've enjoyed getting to know you
00:04:39.100 a little bit over the recent weeks.
00:04:40.960 I am extremely excited
00:04:42.480 that we are publishing
00:04:44.380 your autobiography,
00:04:45.360 and I couldn't be prouder
00:04:46.880 that it hit number one
00:04:49.260 on the Amazon.ca bestseller list
00:04:51.740 in its very first day.
00:04:55.040 Crazy.
00:04:56.280 I'm still stunned, actually.
00:04:58.060 I never anticipated
00:04:58.980 it would take off that quickly.
00:05:01.340 So thank you and everybody
00:05:02.680 at Rebel, too,
00:05:03.480 for all your help.
00:05:04.800 This has just been
00:05:05.500 an amazing, amazing journey.
00:05:08.500 Well, it's an excellent book,
00:05:10.560 and I don't want to say
00:05:11.820 that I'm surprised by that.
00:05:13.140 I mean, I knew it would be excellent.
00:05:14.800 I mean, you have a lot
00:05:15.640 of thoughtful things to say,
00:05:17.180 but it's genuinely,
00:05:19.840 there's details in there
00:05:21.500 that have never been written
00:05:23.220 or published before.
00:05:24.860 I think you show your heart.
00:05:26.860 You're kinder, I think,
00:05:29.180 than many people would be
00:05:30.980 having been through
00:05:31.880 what you've been through.
00:05:33.700 And I think your love
00:05:35.740 for country is what shows through.
00:05:37.340 And again, I think other people
00:05:38.740 having been through
00:05:39.540 what you went through
00:05:40.560 would come out maybe sour
00:05:42.500 or hostile or combative.
00:05:45.580 I think you met hate with love.
00:05:47.980 I say that as, you know,
00:05:49.660 we published the book,
00:05:50.660 obviously we like it,
00:05:51.580 but the book surprised me
00:05:53.420 a little bit.
00:05:54.100 Well, I'm not a very angry person.
00:06:01.120 I don't think that
00:06:02.420 that's how you solve problems
00:06:04.020 is by getting angry
00:06:05.440 and stomping your feet
00:06:06.480 and being bitter.
00:06:07.920 I always, from day one,
00:06:10.020 maintained that we were going
00:06:11.700 to Ottawa in peace.
00:06:13.780 We were just calling for love
00:06:15.600 and unity and respecting
00:06:17.180 the police officers.
00:06:18.880 We just wanted to be heard.
00:06:20.660 And, you know,
00:06:21.740 sitting through the POEC
00:06:22.920 and all the stuff
00:06:23.880 that we've been through since,
00:06:25.380 I come away with thinking
00:06:27.000 with the same point of view
00:06:28.340 that we did everything right.
00:06:30.720 You know, we saw the risks involved
00:06:32.520 and we mitigated them
00:06:33.620 at every turn.
00:06:35.100 And I'm proud.
00:06:37.180 I'm very proud of the people
00:06:39.920 that I've been fortunate enough
00:06:41.540 to work with
00:06:42.160 throughout this last year and a half.
00:06:44.200 We've become like family.
00:06:46.020 I'm very grateful
00:06:47.300 that I have an opportunity
00:06:48.580 to share my story,
00:06:50.580 what my experience was like in Ottawa,
00:06:52.520 and how, like my perspective.
00:06:55.440 And I think people were curious about it.
00:06:57.980 So I think they'll,
00:06:59.200 I think it'll answer a lot of questions
00:07:00.520 for a lot of people.
00:07:02.000 You know, I think it will.
00:07:03.920 And I think it is a kind of fact check,
00:07:07.060 not just on the government,
00:07:08.560 but on the regime media.
00:07:10.560 I mean, let me give you one example.
00:07:12.120 I mean, I only met you in recent months
00:07:14.540 and I had heard that you were Métis.
00:07:18.300 And I mean, in some ways,
00:07:19.940 that's irrelevant.
00:07:20.640 If you were black or white or whatever,
00:07:22.500 it doesn't matter.
00:07:23.200 You're a Canadian.
00:07:24.260 But I know that in our current media culture,
00:07:27.300 if someone is indigenous,
00:07:29.200 that's an interesting plus
00:07:32.200 that shows that they're part
00:07:33.740 of a diverse movement and tolerant.
00:07:36.080 And it's a plus that,
00:07:37.840 you know, journalists mention.
00:07:40.060 And the only thing I read
00:07:41.700 about your indigenous background
00:07:43.400 was that it was in question.
00:07:46.160 And you treat that in the book
00:07:47.900 and you say, it's not in question.
00:07:49.900 It's absolutely true.
00:07:51.980 But even the Aboriginal People's TV Network,
00:07:55.660 which should have cheered you on as a champion,
00:07:58.560 it was almost like they knew
00:08:00.120 their mission was to discredit you
00:08:02.000 even on something as basic
00:08:04.180 as your ethnic identity.
00:08:07.620 Reading your book
00:08:08.980 was an enormous fact check.
00:08:10.880 Almost everything I had read about you
00:08:13.580 through the mainstream media
00:08:15.360 turned out to be false.
00:08:19.340 That's correct.
00:08:20.600 I think that was one of the greatest things
00:08:22.560 that we exposed in Ottawa
00:08:23.940 was the fact that
00:08:25.800 the narrative that was crafted,
00:08:28.040 they were crafting.
00:08:29.200 And as you saw,
00:08:30.240 when the evidence came out at the POEC,
00:08:32.420 that narrative was crafted
00:08:33.940 before I even met Chris Barber in person.
00:08:36.280 And that was January the 24th.
00:08:38.360 So they already had a whole narrative crafted.
00:08:41.300 I think the convoy exposed them
00:08:44.060 for what they are.
00:08:45.800 And I know, speaking for myself
00:08:47.780 and on behalf of a lot of the other organizers,
00:08:50.660 we are so grateful to organizations
00:08:53.700 like Rebel News and True North
00:08:56.940 and all the, like Rupus and Mariana,
00:08:59.500 all the journalists
00:09:00.860 that actually got off their butts
00:09:02.540 and went down and talked to people
00:09:05.720 and recognized immediately
00:09:07.400 that what they were seeing on the ground
00:09:09.240 was not what they were seeing on the news.
00:09:11.460 And that is to your credit.
00:09:14.680 Well, thank you for that.
00:09:16.360 But it's just astonishing
00:09:18.100 because most, I mean, listen,
00:09:19.140 I'm proud of Rebel News
00:09:20.100 and we covered the trucker convoy
00:09:21.500 pretty comprehensively.
00:09:24.000 But most Canadians still get their news
00:09:27.480 from traditional sources.
00:09:28.800 The CBC is in decline,
00:09:30.480 but it still is huge.
00:09:32.240 And CTV and Global
00:09:33.500 and the Toronto Star
00:09:34.480 and Globe and Mail,
00:09:35.820 they, I got a question for you.
00:09:38.460 Have you,
00:09:39.400 and maybe the answer is yes, by the way,
00:09:41.540 have you ever been interviewed
00:09:43.180 on a CBC television program?
00:09:45.660 Have you ever been invited?
00:09:48.140 You're shaking your head no.
00:09:50.320 You, you, you've never.
00:09:51.400 Not since then.
00:09:52.460 I, I know I had emails
00:09:54.220 from CTV's Glenn McGregor.
00:09:56.640 Oh, he's extremely hostile to you.
00:10:00.000 He's something else.
00:10:00.820 But how about, okay.
00:10:01.740 And I'm glad you mentioned that.
00:10:02.840 So he, I mean,
00:10:03.560 I think he was probably trying to trap you,
00:10:05.040 but you know, you're a newsmaker.
00:10:07.380 And again, the fact that you're a woman
00:10:09.600 is, is interesting,
00:10:10.700 but it's not the story here.
00:10:13.340 It's, it's a,
00:10:14.240 it's an interesting addition to the story.
00:10:15.760 And again, if you were on the other side
00:10:17.760 of the ideological spectrum,
00:10:19.760 you would be,
00:10:21.060 look at this woman leader,
00:10:23.260 young, indigenous woman fighting the world.
00:10:26.580 Like it would be,
00:10:27.820 they would sing your praises.
00:10:29.320 You would be given honorary degrees at university.
00:10:32.620 You would be invited to,
00:10:34.480 to give a TED talk or something.
00:10:37.220 Well, it checks all their boxes, you know.
00:10:39.680 And that's not the most,
00:10:41.180 the most important thing is what you did.
00:10:42.840 But I'm just thinking of how the media,
00:10:47.700 if they covered you at all,
00:10:49.440 came out to destroy you.
00:10:50.880 Are you, sorry,
00:10:51.360 let me just ask it clearly.
00:10:52.520 Cause Glenn,
00:10:52.980 you said Glenn McGregor reached out to you once
00:10:54.680 and he's,
00:10:55.140 he's sort of a muck raking CTV reporter
00:10:58.060 who extremely partisan.
00:10:59.820 But how about any of the,
00:11:01.060 the talk shows?
00:11:02.100 Like CBC has a panel called At Issue
00:11:04.540 hosted by Rosemary Barton
00:11:06.240 and,
00:11:06.780 or,
00:11:07.820 or see,
00:11:08.860 you know,
00:11:09.300 there were some,
00:11:10.420 there are some talk shows,
00:11:11.800 Global has them,
00:11:12.600 CTV has them,
00:11:13.520 where they have newsmakers on
00:11:15.320 and ask them questions.
00:11:16.360 Were you ever invited on any of these panel shows?
00:11:20.900 And maybe you were,
00:11:21.600 I just don't know if you were.
00:11:24.120 No,
00:11:24.520 I haven't.
00:11:25.080 Never once.
00:11:26.040 With the exception of,
00:11:26.580 while I was in Ottawa,
00:11:28.140 I,
00:11:28.380 I was approached by a gentleman
00:11:29.840 from the Fifth Estate.
00:11:31.220 Okay.
00:11:32.300 And I think,
00:11:33.060 you probably saw that.
00:11:34.340 I believe they had James Bowder
00:11:35.580 and Pat King on their show.
00:11:37.240 I declined.
00:11:38.920 When they asked me,
00:11:40.200 cause I wasn't obviously at that point,
00:11:42.000 this was a week or two into the protest.
00:11:44.420 Uh,
00:11:45.800 actually I think it was the day
00:11:46.840 the Emergency Act was invoked
00:11:48.240 and I did that press conference
00:11:49.580 with the Honorable Brian Peckford
00:11:51.340 and he approached me,
00:11:53.080 this gentleman approached me
00:11:53.940 from the Fifth Estate after that
00:11:55.320 and I just said,
00:11:56.080 no,
00:11:56.220 thank you.
00:11:56.840 And again,
00:11:57.520 the Fifth Estate,
00:11:58.480 not really a panel show,
00:12:00.260 they're an investigative,
00:12:01.440 they're basically a hit team
00:12:03.240 to,
00:12:03.820 to go.
00:12:04.560 And I,
00:12:05.020 so I appreciate you telling me that
00:12:06.520 because I did ask,
00:12:07.580 did any reach out?
00:12:09.040 But if the only,
00:12:10.140 so,
00:12:10.420 so you were never invited on a CBC panel,
00:12:12.560 like they've got this news,
00:12:13.600 this 24 hour news channel
00:12:15.180 and they have 24 hour radio,
00:12:18.320 they,
00:12:18.540 they've got a lot of different channels.
00:12:21.020 No one ever said,
00:12:22.300 hey,
00:12:22.540 here's the woman at the heart of this thing.
00:12:24.320 She's also an indigenous woman
00:12:26.320 from the West,
00:12:27.860 uh,
00:12:28.900 who's suddenly become this leader
00:12:30.580 of this movement.
00:12:32.040 Let's ask her some,
00:12:33.040 let's ask her some tough questions.
00:12:34.660 Let's,
00:12:35.080 let's ask her some really good questions
00:12:36.600 that never,
00:12:37.380 never once.
00:12:38.520 I think you're the newsmaker of the year.
00:12:41.140 The truckers were surely
00:12:42.240 the story of the year.
00:12:44.420 They would rather write about you
00:12:45.880 than talk to you
00:12:46.720 because you might give answers
00:12:48.040 they didn't want.
00:12:49.500 Well,
00:12:49.800 it wouldn't fit their narrative.
00:12:51.100 Yeah.
00:12:51.680 I find that incredible.
00:12:53.400 I find that just incredible.
00:12:54.820 And I mentioned the indigenous thing
00:12:56.200 because,
00:12:56.540 I mean,
00:12:56.900 because I just know
00:12:59.120 that if you were a Trudeau
00:13:01.220 supporting indigenous woman,
00:13:03.780 you,
00:13:04.100 you would,
00:13:04.760 the sky would be the limit.
00:13:05.580 You'd probably be in the Senate right now.
00:13:07.660 You know,
00:13:08.380 you absolutely would.
00:13:09.700 Well,
00:13:09.920 that,
00:13:10.180 that,
00:13:10.480 they would be,
00:13:10.940 they'd be parading me around Canada,
00:13:12.760 giving me medals.
00:13:13.480 And I mean,
00:13:14.180 that's,
00:13:14.500 that's the,
00:13:15.480 that's the tragedy of,
00:13:17.240 of this whole thing.
00:13:18.200 I mean,
00:13:19.240 I do check a lot of their boxes,
00:13:20.640 but because I don't fall on the same side
00:13:23.660 of the spectrum politically as they do.
00:13:25.780 I mean,
00:13:26.180 they question,
00:13:27.280 they question my heritage.
00:13:28.340 They accused me basically of lying
00:13:30.180 or at least insinuated that I was lying.
00:13:31.960 That was crazy.
00:13:32.700 And I,
00:13:33.300 I mean,
00:13:33.480 I'm not going to say I believe them,
00:13:34.740 but boy,
00:13:35.080 they kicked out such a fuss
00:13:36.120 that even I myself,
00:13:37.140 your book set me straight on that.
00:13:40.360 And,
00:13:40.960 and on so many things,
00:13:42.080 I don't think people know how much of a logistics organizer you were.
00:13:47.000 I just didn't know that you,
00:13:48.760 I mean,
00:13:49.120 to me,
00:13:49.720 when I saw you,
00:13:50.580 I saw you give these emotionally,
00:13:52.320 uh,
00:13:53.620 encouraging Facebook videos along the way,
00:13:56.920 sort of like a daily update.
00:13:58.480 They almost felt like healing messages.
00:14:02.200 I didn't know you're also a tough as nails logistics boss.
00:14:05.460 I just didn't know that about you.
00:14:07.240 Tell our viewers a little bit about where did you get this organizational skill from?
00:14:10.920 Cause not everyone can,
00:14:13.200 it's like an air traffic controller or,
00:14:15.000 you know,
00:14:15.180 spinning plates.
00:14:16.200 You got 20 things on the go.
00:14:18.340 Uh,
00:14:18.780 you know,
00:14:19.060 I think an ordinary person would be overwhelmed,
00:14:21.180 would get bogged down in emails,
00:14:23.080 would forget about things.
00:14:24.020 How did you stay on top of this army that was like assembling and asking you for guidance?
00:14:33.800 Uh,
00:14:34.400 yeah,
00:14:34.720 it was pretty crazy.
00:14:35.880 I,
00:14:36.240 I got involved in logistics,
00:14:37.740 um,
00:14:38.780 through the oil and gas industry actually.
00:14:40.920 And it was through working in the fracturing department that I,
00:14:45.800 I discovered I was really good at it.
00:14:47.800 And at that time we didn't really have cell phones.
00:14:50.180 So I had memorized all the employees numbers,
00:14:54.300 the managers numbers,
00:14:55.380 like all the service industries that we use,
00:14:58.020 the sales guys in Ottawa,
00:14:59.940 you know,
00:15:00.360 I,
00:15:00.660 I,
00:15:01.060 I was organizing personnel and equipment and specific jobs.
00:15:05.840 And so I,
00:15:07.860 I was sad.
00:15:08.760 I just,
00:15:09.040 I really love doing it.
00:15:10.000 And,
00:15:10.220 and,
00:15:10.720 uh,
00:15:10.820 and I turned out to be good at it and it turns out I can multitask really well.
00:15:15.200 So it,
00:15:16.400 it's a passion of mine.
00:15:17.540 I,
00:15:17.700 I work really good under pressure.
00:15:19.760 I,
00:15:20.440 I,
00:15:20.820 I found that I worked really well,
00:15:22.320 you know,
00:15:22.660 with deadlines and,
00:15:24.680 um,
00:15:25.040 I,
00:15:25.280 I had a very successful logistics career in oil and gas.
00:15:28.600 And as you know,
00:15:29.480 in Alberta,
00:15:30.540 when it's booming,
00:15:31.580 it was busy,
00:15:33.420 like really busy.
00:15:35.640 Yeah.
00:15:36.420 Well,
00:15:36.920 and you would have,
00:15:38.160 if you're dealing in the frack business,
00:15:39.560 I mean,
00:15:39.980 fracking,
00:15:40.580 there's a lot of trucks,
00:15:42.140 there's a lot of truckers,
00:15:43.860 you know?
00:15:44.500 And so the kind of people who like independent minded,
00:15:49.120 slightly cowboy,
00:15:50.920 you know,
00:15:51.360 rambunctious,
00:15:52.200 maybe,
00:15:53.000 uh,
00:15:53.200 not too politically correct,
00:15:54.680 maybe big guys like that's,
00:15:56.800 you could call it a men's world.
00:15:58.420 I,
00:15:58.900 I,
00:15:59.120 I think it's fair to say,
00:16:00.420 but you fit right in and you weren't intimidated by the big lads.
00:16:04.180 You were sort of the one boss and them around,
00:16:05.960 you were again,
00:16:06.960 what the left would call a girl boss.
00:16:08.940 You just,
00:16:09.680 you'd always done that.
00:16:11.040 And so you fit right in as a really a logistics captain.
00:16:15.180 I mean,
00:16:15.380 I can only imagine you've got hundreds,
00:16:17.820 even thousands of trucks.
00:16:19.480 Okay.
00:16:19.580 Well,
00:16:19.720 where are they going to get gas?
00:16:21.080 Where are they going to get food?
00:16:22.500 Where are they going to stop for the night for the ones who,
00:16:24.820 who can't sleep in their cat or the ones who can't like,
00:16:27.580 I,
00:16:28.000 once you start thinking about these,
00:16:29.560 where are you going to park when you get to Ottawa,
00:16:31.660 where are you going to go then?
00:16:32.880 Like those are real problems that need to be solved and solved quickly.
00:16:37.500 Especially like a lot of that stuff had to be done kind of on the fly
00:16:42.460 because we didn't know when we started,
00:16:45.700 how big this was going to grow.
00:16:47.180 So when we pulled into Arnprior on the 28th of January,
00:16:49.820 we were a hundred kilometers long.
00:16:51.780 So,
00:16:52.660 you know,
00:16:53.000 there's the safety aspect,
00:16:54.420 not like keeping the truckers safe,
00:16:56.060 but also,
00:16:56.860 you know,
00:16:57.520 keeping the,
00:16:58.160 the,
00:16:58.420 the supporters that were on the side of the road.
00:17:00.400 Say,
00:17:00.600 I mean,
00:17:00.800 they were coming right out onto the highway,
00:17:02.960 tossing food in our windows,
00:17:04.520 you know?
00:17:04.820 So there was a lot of aspects that occurred.
00:17:07.500 Like in real time on the ground that we had to mitigate and rips and
00:17:11.560 everything.
00:17:11.880 And again,
00:17:12.920 like I can't say enough about the people that I,
00:17:15.320 I worked with here.
00:17:16.460 I mean,
00:17:16.700 they were just,
00:17:17.280 they were all professional.
00:17:18.360 You nailed it.
00:17:19.640 Truckers are independent minded.
00:17:22.000 They're very strong.
00:17:23.680 They don't like being told what to do.
00:17:26.600 And,
00:17:27.160 and they're just so resilient.
00:17:28.740 And in this case,
00:17:30.880 heroes,
00:17:31.580 they're heroes.
00:17:32.680 Yeah.
00:17:33.120 You know,
00:17:33.660 I think people trust truckers because I mean,
00:17:37.140 there's other professions that people have raised an eyebrow,
00:17:39.340 like lawyers,
00:17:40.520 journalists,
00:17:41.160 politicians,
00:17:42.300 you know,
00:17:42.720 the,
00:17:43.080 uh,
00:17:43.980 you know,
00:17:44.280 people joke about used car salesmen and,
00:17:46.980 and maybe that's unfair,
00:17:47.920 but no one looks,
00:17:50.040 no one thinks a trucker is trying to trick me.
00:17:52.820 They think the trucker is the guy working hard.
00:17:55.420 I'm tired.
00:17:56.300 I need to pull over,
00:17:57.360 uh,
00:17:58.080 to get a night's sleep on the motel.
00:17:59.480 That trucker still has miles to go before he sleeps.
00:18:02.620 I,
00:18:03.260 I'm lonely.
00:18:04.420 Well,
00:18:04.780 yeah,
00:18:04.980 well that trucker is on the road for,
00:18:07.680 you know,
00:18:07.820 I mean all because people know it's hard work.
00:18:11.080 He's not slacking.
00:18:12.520 You can't slack off as a trucker.
00:18:14.140 You got to pay attention.
00:18:15.580 And I don't know.
00:18:17.120 I think people admire truckers.
00:18:18.680 And so if the,
00:18:19.680 there was a moral clean cleanliness to them and people knew they were not like,
00:18:25.360 if you have a bunch of lawyers doing something,
00:18:27.240 well,
00:18:27.440 who's organized them?
00:18:28.400 What are they being promised?
00:18:29.980 Did the justice minister say,
00:18:31.380 Hey,
00:18:31.480 I need your help.
00:18:32.140 And if you help me,
00:18:33.200 I'll appoint you to be a judge.
00:18:34.540 Like there's always some other story when a lawyer is doing something,
00:18:38.020 but when a trucker is doing something,
00:18:40.220 everyone took it at face value.
00:18:41.580 I think it was so important.
00:18:42.920 And by the way,
00:18:44.000 you have a hundred miles of truck.
00:18:45.940 That is a bloody amazing sight to see.
00:18:48.760 Let me ask you a question.
00:18:49.640 What part of the country gave the most exciting welcome?
00:18:55.100 Because by the time these trucks came to Toronto,
00:18:57.400 I'm going to guess maybe a million Canadians firsthand saw the trucks.
00:19:04.560 They were,
00:19:04.900 they were going over the 401.
00:19:06.660 People were watching in busy Toronto.
00:19:09.560 They wanted to see this phenomenon.
00:19:13.600 And I think they wanted to see it with their own eyes because they knew the media was sort of telling,
00:19:18.680 you know,
00:19:19.660 porkies about it.
00:19:20.640 And,
00:19:20.940 and they wanted to see,
00:19:22.140 is it real?
00:19:24.000 And you see 20 miles of truck go by,
00:19:26.300 you think,
00:19:26.760 holy,
00:19:27.260 it's real.
00:19:28.800 I'm not the only one who's got some questions.
00:19:31.440 I thought I was alone.
00:19:34.220 Here's an endless convoy of truckers who says I'm not alone.
00:19:38.020 And if that's what the truckers say,
00:19:39.720 surely other people,
00:19:40.640 like it was,
00:19:41.580 I was amazed by how many people came out and watched where,
00:19:45.160 give me an anecdote.
00:19:46.000 Tell me a story of a place you went that you thought,
00:19:49.320 whoa,
00:19:50.180 this is really connecting.
00:19:52.140 Absolutely.
00:19:54.540 Hands down.
00:19:55.880 Manitoba.
00:19:57.020 When we got through Headingley,
00:19:59.860 well,
00:20:00.080 when we got to Headingley and all around the perimeter,
00:20:03.220 way out to the other side,
00:20:04.880 almost to the Ontario border,
00:20:06.540 believe it or not,
00:20:07.720 was thousands and thousands of supporters.
00:20:12.620 And,
00:20:12.880 you know,
00:20:13.900 by this time already,
00:20:14.960 we knew that we were growing and,
00:20:16.400 and,
00:20:16.860 you know,
00:20:17.420 the momentum was really growing,
00:20:19.280 but I,
00:20:19.920 I mean,
00:20:20.360 I've,
00:20:20.540 I've said this before,
00:20:21.620 but,
00:20:22.140 you know,
00:20:22.620 we're driving down the highway and I look out the window and to my
00:20:26.360 right is native dancers drumming in their full regalia,
00:20:31.360 standing beside a group of young Sikh gentlemen who were standing
00:20:34.860 beside Hutterite women and children with holding signs and beside nuns in
00:20:40.820 full habits,
00:20:41.640 Catholic nuns.
00:20:42.480 Like that is,
00:20:43.760 that was one of the most profound moments for me because I realized the unity
00:20:50.160 that we were seeing that we hadn't seen in so long,
00:20:53.700 you know,
00:20:54.260 it didn't matter what color your skin was,
00:20:56.600 what God you worshiped,
00:20:57.820 how much money you earned in a year,
00:20:59.900 which part of the country you were from.
00:21:01.740 You were just a Canadian and we were celebrating that again.
00:21:06.720 And,
00:21:06.960 and that's what it was.
00:21:07.860 You know,
00:21:08.140 the people on the roads were celebrating that hope again and being,
00:21:13.300 feeling proud of our country again.
00:21:15.460 You know,
00:21:16.400 there was,
00:21:17.160 after all the last few years,
00:21:20.080 there's been so much division.
00:21:22.180 It's been,
00:21:23.060 you know,
00:21:23.760 labels against labels constantly.
00:21:26.560 And,
00:21:27.120 and we just crushed it.
00:21:29.020 Canadians crushed it.
00:21:30.480 Yeah.
00:21:30.880 You know,
00:21:31.480 there was a feeling of love in the air.
00:21:33.240 I,
00:21:33.520 when I went to Ottawa,
00:21:34.400 I was there only for a few days myself,
00:21:36.280 but there was a festival feeling.
00:21:38.420 It almost had like a Canada day patriotic feeling.
00:21:42.040 I,
00:21:42.620 I,
00:21:43.400 when I first arrived,
00:21:44.320 people were driving in the streets,
00:21:45.620 like,
00:21:46.160 you know,
00:21:46.800 an NHL,
00:21:48.460 almost like the Stanley cup finals and your team won.
00:21:50.920 Like people were just whooping it up,
00:21:52.700 driving around,
00:21:53.480 cheering.
00:21:53.760 Like there was a feeling of harmony.
00:21:57.520 And,
00:21:57.640 and I imagine in a way it would have felt a little bit like,
00:22:00.680 Woodstock would have felt,
00:22:02.420 you know,
00:22:02.740 60 years ago.
00:22:04.900 You mentioned ethnic diversity.
00:22:07.080 I didn't know there were so many South Asian and indigenous truck drivers.
00:22:11.180 Like there's a ton of Sikhs who drove trucks.
00:22:14.000 And,
00:22:14.200 and I really enjoyed seeing their political commentary.
00:22:18.040 I became friends with one protester named Palminder Singh,
00:22:22.120 who,
00:22:22.440 who's very,
00:22:23.200 you know,
00:22:23.380 you can,
00:22:23.960 he's got this beautiful golden turban and he so loves freedom.
00:22:28.120 And we've had him on the show before.
00:22:29.800 I got to know Canadians from walks of life.
00:22:33.860 I had never would have got to know before.
00:22:36.260 There were a ton of Quebecers because of course,
00:22:38.240 Ottawa was just across the river from Quebec.
00:22:40.680 So a ton of Quebec drivers.
00:22:42.500 It was,
00:22:43.500 and again,
00:22:45.080 it,
00:22:45.580 it,
00:22:45.880 this was heartening.
00:22:47.360 I know if it was the other side's protests,
00:22:49.860 they would,
00:22:50.360 they would be hamming up how diverse it was.
00:22:52.260 And that's not the point.
00:22:53.580 The point is they were there for freedom.
00:22:55.540 We,
00:22:55.660 there was a commonality,
00:22:56.620 but I have to say there,
00:22:59.260 there were people from every background united by their love for freedom.
00:23:04.400 It was one of the most pro Canada.
00:23:09.040 It was a warm,
00:23:10.220 it was so bloody cold,
00:23:11.240 but it was a warm feeling.
00:23:13.240 And there was a feeling of brotherhood.
00:23:15.460 And I know I'm sounding a little bit misty eyed here,
00:23:18.620 but that is honestly how it felt.
00:23:20.640 And I wasn't in the center of it.
00:23:22.040 I was at the periphery.
00:23:23.160 I can only imagine what it was like to be at the hub of all these spokes.
00:23:29.100 It was,
00:23:30.100 it was beautiful.
00:23:31.840 It was emotional.
00:23:34.420 It was heavy.
00:23:36.560 You know,
00:23:37.440 at the POEC in my testimony,
00:23:39.960 I said,
00:23:40.680 I have the tears of thousands of Canadians on my shoulder.
00:23:44.720 And it's so true.
00:23:46.100 I mean,
00:23:47.380 the,
00:23:47.540 the Facebook is the text messages that we received every stop that we made,
00:23:53.480 you know,
00:23:53.980 people were hugging us and crying and thanking us and telling us their stories.
00:23:58.120 And it,
00:24:00.120 it definitely,
00:24:01.560 I think I had a big heart before,
00:24:03.540 but it,
00:24:04.140 it definitely made it swell.
00:24:06.500 I just have so much compassion for these people.
00:24:09.940 You know,
00:24:10.360 we all suffered.
00:24:11.460 That was two years of,
00:24:12.780 of a tyranny and you nailed it earlier.
00:24:16.160 You know,
00:24:16.740 it was so organic that people just got up off their couches in their communities.
00:24:22.340 They didn't phone their friends and organize things.
00:24:24.900 People just got off their couches,
00:24:27.240 collected their families,
00:24:29.040 walked out to the highway and then saw all these people and thought,
00:24:33.560 you know,
00:24:34.100 they weren't alone or they weren't going crazy.
00:24:36.820 You know,
00:24:37.100 what it was.
00:24:37.640 It was,
00:24:38.300 they had felt alone for a few reasons.
00:24:40.380 First of all,
00:24:40.700 they were told to be alone.
00:24:42.360 They were told,
00:24:42.900 don't go to church.
00:24:43.640 Don't go to synagogue.
00:24:44.480 Don't go to funerals or weddings.
00:24:45.960 Don't go to the gym.
00:24:46.960 Don't go to a restaurant.
00:24:48.320 Stay at home.
00:24:49.020 Six feet of separation.
00:24:50.540 Don't have Christmas dinner.
00:24:51.740 Don't have Thanksgiving.
00:24:52.560 They,
00:24:52.800 first of all,
00:24:53.180 they made us feel alone.
00:24:54.700 Then they forced us to get our information through the internet and TV.
00:24:58.060 And there was a,
00:24:59.320 they enforced a unanimity there.
00:25:01.080 So you felt alone.
00:25:02.720 And who could you check with?
00:25:05.740 Well,
00:25:06.000 every single institution in society was repeating the official line.
00:25:10.500 That's the independent nature of the truckers gave people proof that they were not going crazy.
00:25:16.640 Like if you thought everyone else in the world was mad or you were mad,
00:25:22.180 a rational person would say,
00:25:23.440 no,
00:25:24.380 I'm crazy.
00:25:25.120 If I'm the only guy in the world who thinks this way,
00:25:28.060 it must be me who's nuts.
00:25:29.800 No,
00:25:30.180 turns out it was the system that was nuts.
00:25:32.400 I don't know.
00:25:32.720 I,
00:25:33.000 I,
00:25:33.480 I absolutely know what you mean.
00:25:36.100 You gave you and the truckers were visual proof that people were not alone.
00:25:41.000 Hey,
00:25:41.180 I got a question for you.
00:25:42.320 And one of the things I thought was interesting in the book is how closely you and the other organizers worked with police the whole way across,
00:25:54.360 like,
00:25:54.480 not just in Ottawa,
00:25:55.680 where you were in regular contact,
00:25:58.420 but all along the highways.
00:25:59.900 Like you say,
00:26:00.540 you got a hundred kilometers worth of trucks coming.
00:26:03.860 Well,
00:26:05.020 you better talk to the highway patrol.
00:26:07.020 You,
00:26:07.160 they better be ready.
00:26:08.040 And,
00:26:08.340 and tell me about that because to me,
00:26:11.920 that shows two things.
00:26:13.080 It shows the logistics,
00:26:14.700 the planning,
00:26:15.140 the organization,
00:26:16.160 planning to make sure things go right,
00:26:17.860 not just crossing your fingers.
00:26:19.140 But it also shows that you were not rogues.
00:26:24.020 In fact,
00:26:24.720 once you got to Ottawa,
00:26:25.820 there was this enormous effort.
00:26:28.020 And the book describes this in great detail to be compliant,
00:26:32.040 to move away from residential areas,
00:26:35.020 to,
00:26:35.200 to clear lanes,
00:26:36.480 to do things,
00:26:37.860 to stop antagonizing ordinary people,
00:26:41.920 even though I think there were some professional complainers in Ottawa.
00:26:44.920 I read the book and I thought,
00:26:47.360 wow,
00:26:47.960 if you were to believe the CBC,
00:26:50.160 you would think that these were rioting revolutionaries,
00:26:54.620 Canada's January 6th uprising moment.
00:26:57.360 But to read the book,
00:26:58.960 there was really nothing you did that wasn't telegraphed in advance to police
00:27:05.320 to ask their advice,
00:27:07.200 to get their help,
00:27:08.120 to put them at ease.
00:27:11.440 Exactly.
00:27:12.060 And that's why,
00:27:12.760 you know,
00:27:13.100 at the inquiry,
00:27:13.960 I kept hearing people testify,
00:27:15.400 well,
00:27:15.800 we thought they were going to leave in two days.
00:27:17.780 Like,
00:27:18.160 where did you even get that from?
00:27:20.540 I've,
00:27:21.080 I never said that on any lives.
00:27:22.840 Like,
00:27:23.180 I mean,
00:27:23.440 who in their right mind thought we were going to travel for five days,
00:27:26.240 stay for two,
00:27:26.740 and then come home.
00:27:28.260 It's crazy.
00:27:29.100 But to,
00:27:30.140 to your question,
00:27:30.920 it was within just a few days after we started organizing and people,
00:27:35.700 the support started coming in and the money,
00:27:37.680 the donations started coming in.
00:27:39.200 And I said to the captains,
00:27:41.140 the road captains,
00:27:41.840 I said,
00:27:42.140 we need to start reaching out to all of our local RCMP or,
00:27:46.300 or city municipal police,
00:27:48.060 whatever,
00:27:48.280 and start letting them know,
00:27:50.000 you know,
00:27:50.280 when we're going to be coming through.
00:27:51.600 And so we decided that each road captain would be responsible for their own
00:27:56.060 areas.
00:27:56.480 So,
00:27:56.880 so for example,
00:27:57.880 while I wasn't a road captain,
00:27:59.060 I mean,
00:27:59.740 I obviously contacted the Red Cliff RCMP here and the medicine at city police
00:28:03.860 to make sure that we could get through the city very safely.
00:28:06.560 And everybody did that as,
00:28:08.660 as we continued,
00:28:09.700 the road captains all ended up with their own liaison officers to keep in
00:28:14.480 contact with.
00:28:15.280 So we had communications with police and law enforcement almost from the very
00:28:20.260 beginning.
00:28:22.200 When we got into Manitoba,
00:28:25.240 we were just supposed to have an escort by the OPP from the border of
00:28:29.780 Manitoba to Kenora.
00:28:30.840 And the gentleman that we were with was amazing and decided to escort us the
00:28:35.620 whole way.
00:28:36.720 So,
00:28:37.120 I mean,
00:28:37.600 the majority of the law enforcement that we dealt with were amazing.
00:28:41.020 They were very helpful.
00:28:42.540 They gave us a lot of really good advice.
00:28:44.340 And I think in the long run,
00:28:47.400 my personal opinion is if we could have dealt with the OPP through the duration of
00:28:52.080 the convoy in Ottawa,
00:28:53.420 instead of the extremely dysfunctional,
00:28:56.940 as we learned at the POEC,
00:28:58.540 Ottawa city police,
00:28:59.780 this convoy would have had a different outcome.
00:29:01.940 Yeah.
00:29:02.080 Oh,
00:29:02.740 it was incredible.
00:29:03.640 The meltdown in the Ottawa police and their unprofessional conduct,
00:29:06.880 just,
00:29:07.140 just absolutely shocking throughout their bullying.
00:29:10.860 And then of course,
00:29:11.560 nothing takes the cake like Trudeau invoking martial law.
00:29:14.640 He didn't invoke martial law during nine 11.
00:29:16.860 He didn't invoke martial law when an Al Qaeda terrorist stormed parliament,
00:29:21.120 but some honking horns and some parked trucks.
00:29:24.140 He panicked.
00:29:25.420 And I think he has a,
00:29:28.820 I think he's spiteful and vengeful.
00:29:32.160 And if you dare cross him,
00:29:34.760 he will go to extreme lengths to teach you a lesson.
00:29:38.760 And I think that was the real sin of the convoy is it embarrassed him.
00:29:43.020 And we saw that in the trucker commission of inquiry.
00:29:45.320 We saw that he was embarrassed in the eyes that the eyes of the world were on Canada.
00:29:51.880 And he felt he looked like a meek,
00:29:55.260 fumbling,
00:29:56.900 powerless fool.
00:29:57.960 I think the reason he invoked martial law is because he was losing face.
00:30:03.640 And I don't know.
00:30:05.080 I think it was an incredible moment.
00:30:07.580 Let me ask you about the world.
00:30:11.200 We've talked a bit about Canada and the Canadian media,
00:30:13.400 but I think that the world for the first time looked at Canada and said,
00:30:17.760 there is something very interesting here.
00:30:20.240 Most of the time I think people think Canada is a little bit boring or just
00:30:24.600 America light or something,
00:30:27.880 but around the Carlson called us the great white West of the great white waste
00:30:32.580 of time once or something.
00:30:34.260 Yeah.
00:30:34.940 I mean,
00:30:35.640 but Fox news,
00:30:37.040 I mean,
00:30:37.280 was riveted by us,
00:30:39.300 but so was many other media.
00:30:41.240 You saw copycat trucker convoys everywhere from the Netherlands to Israel,
00:30:45.440 to Australia.
00:30:48.520 I think that people were excited and impressed.
00:30:54.760 Tell me if you had any international stories that,
00:31:00.280 that you haven't shared before.
00:31:02.580 Oh man,
00:31:04.200 I not really specifically.
00:31:06.620 I have gotten letters from all over the world.
00:31:10.940 Lots from the States.
00:31:12.300 I've got letters thanking me from the Netherlands,
00:31:15.440 from Italy,
00:31:16.560 Norway,
00:31:18.060 Scotland.
00:31:20.040 It's unbelievable.
00:31:22.080 We net,
00:31:22.520 we could not have imagined that that would have went global like that.
00:31:26.360 And I remember when they came to us and said,
00:31:29.180 you know,
00:31:29.420 these convoys are starting all across the,
00:31:32.220 you know,
00:31:32.400 all over the world.
00:31:33.100 And I,
00:31:33.800 of course I cried cause that's what I do now.
00:31:36.380 Cause I,
00:31:36.980 I just couldn't believe it.
00:31:38.300 Like,
00:31:39.260 you know,
00:31:39.540 that Canada could have,
00:31:41.200 or a movement that originated in Canada.
00:31:43.160 And you're right.
00:31:43.760 I mean,
00:31:43.980 we're known for being passive.
00:31:46.520 I'll tell you one quick story on the way to Ottawa.
00:31:49.660 We,
00:31:50.160 we made a stop,
00:31:50.960 a pit stop.
00:31:51.500 And I walked into the women's washroom.
00:31:53.080 And of course there's a lineup and there's women everywhere standing.
00:31:55.600 And all you could hear was sorry,
00:31:57.960 sorry.
00:31:59.020 Oh,
00:31:59.480 I'm excuse me.
00:32:00.000 Sorry.
00:32:00.680 And I,
00:32:01.080 and I said,
00:32:01.700 this is the most Canadian bathroom I've ever been in,
00:32:04.280 but that,
00:32:04.660 that is who we are,
00:32:05.800 you know?
00:32:06.420 So I think to see something like this originate in Canada,
00:32:10.400 probably surprised a lot of people,
00:32:12.820 but it is a credit to our strength and to our resilience and to
00:32:18.380 fundamentally who,
00:32:19.800 who we really are.
00:32:20.780 I believe we are fairly passive.
00:32:23.840 We don't like to make waves,
00:32:25.000 but we also will stand up for ourselves if we get pushed too far.
00:32:28.860 Yeah.
00:32:29.540 Well,
00:32:30.000 let's talk about that because I think it was atrocious that you were
00:32:33.560 jailed.
00:32:34.940 There are accused terrorists in this country who are allowed out on
00:32:39.840 bail.
00:32:40.100 You were in prison for almost 50 days.
00:32:42.600 The bail restrictions on you not to use social media,
00:32:48.040 not to do this,
00:32:49.020 not to,
00:32:49.340 they were clearly political.
00:32:50.840 I think that you meet the test of a political prisoner.
00:32:55.160 If there were as a peaceful protester in Moscow who embarrassed Putin and
00:33:02.440 was put in jail for 50 days or a peaceful protester in Tehran,
00:33:06.760 Iran was jailed for 50 days.
00:33:09.080 I think we would properly be outraged.
00:33:11.540 I think you were a political prisoner and you actually have not had the
00:33:16.620 substantive trial of the criminal charge against you.
00:33:20.640 The fact that,
00:33:21.840 yeah,
00:33:22.000 I just think it's insane.
00:33:24.040 I can't help,
00:33:24.680 but think that we have cabinet ministers,
00:33:26.780 Pablo Rodriguez,
00:33:28.740 drunk driver,
00:33:30.020 Stephen Gilboa,
00:33:31.260 the environment minister,
00:33:32.420 a convicted eco-terrorist,
00:33:34.780 not,
00:33:35.000 not just his stunt at the CN tower,
00:33:36.860 but he did a weird home invasion of Ralph Klein's home.
00:33:40.760 When,
00:33:41.140 when Ralph was away,
00:33:42.120 it was just his wife,
00:33:42.900 Colleen Klein,
00:33:44.180 the most insane crimes.
00:33:46.880 And that's a crime.
00:33:48.200 He's in the cabinet.
00:33:50.280 You give peaceful protest advice to the truckers.
00:33:54.860 You're jailed for 50 days and you haven't even had your day in court yet for
00:33:57.620 the trial.
00:33:58.640 I think that that is as much a banana Republic move.
00:34:03.120 As seizing bank accounts and martial law.
00:34:06.060 You still have your,
00:34:07.260 what's,
00:34:07.660 what's the latest on that?
00:34:08.900 When,
00:34:09.220 when is that criminal trial expected for you?
00:34:12.060 Is that going to happen this year?
00:34:14.180 Yes.
00:34:14.680 I hope,
00:34:15.360 uh,
00:34:15.660 barring any delays.
00:34:17.020 Uh,
00:34:17.380 one thing I'm learning about the legal system,
00:34:19.420 because we don't actually have a justice system in Canada.
00:34:21.900 It is a legal system.
00:34:23.620 The punishment is in the process and nothing,
00:34:26.460 nothing goes fast.
00:34:27.320 And once you get caught in it,
00:34:28.620 I mean,
00:34:28.920 this is,
00:34:29.200 I've never even been in Facebook jail before.
00:34:31.100 So this has been quite an eyeopening experience for me.
00:34:34.020 And once you get caught in it,
00:34:36.340 you're stuck there.
00:34:37.360 I mean,
00:34:37.580 there's nothing you can do.
00:34:38.920 You just got to wait it out.
00:34:40.380 So our trial is scheduled to start on September the 5th.
00:34:43.660 Chris Barber and I are co-accused and we'll be tried together.
00:34:46.280 Uh,
00:34:47.080 we just had court on Monday morning as the crown prosecutor was hoping to switch
00:34:51.840 judges.
00:34:52.560 Um,
00:34:53.160 she came back with a decision saying she was not going to be recusing herself
00:34:56.700 and would remain as our trial judge,
00:34:58.360 which we're very happy about.
00:35:00.300 And,
00:35:00.880 um,
00:35:01.640 hopefully everything sticks on the timelines.
00:35:04.260 We have been in a,
00:35:05.580 in and out of court now for about the last six weeks on just a bunch of
00:35:08.560 miscellaneous things,
00:35:09.980 nonsense,
00:35:10.560 basically.
00:35:11.020 And,
00:35:11.620 um,
00:35:13.060 so not,
00:35:13.640 it's really frustrating to have all these hearings and,
00:35:16.660 and not have,
00:35:17.320 like,
00:35:17.480 we still don't even know what we did.
00:35:19.000 I mean,
00:35:19.240 we're still waiting for the particulars,
00:35:21.740 which were the crown prosecutor to tell us.
00:35:23.920 It's been more than what exactly we did.
00:35:25.660 It's been more than a year.
00:35:26.680 You haven't got full disclosure.
00:35:30.460 That is,
00:35:31.060 we were supposed to have particulars on February 16th and 17th.
00:35:35.380 Uh,
00:35:35.860 that got changed into a different motion that the crown put forth.
00:35:39.220 So they've just rebooked our particulars hearing for July the 18th.
00:35:43.780 If you can believe that are you just about a year and a half later,
00:35:46.940 you know,
00:35:47.700 you were public enemy number one to Trudeau and to this liberal partisan
00:35:51.280 prosecutor.
00:35:52.440 The idea that they don't know the case against you,
00:35:55.360 that they don't have the details and the particulars is absurd.
00:35:58.680 They have unlimited resources.
00:36:00.420 And here we are a year plus into it.
00:36:03.160 And they haven't,
00:36:03.560 that is a disgrace that is bringing the administration of justice into
00:36:07.740 disrepute.
00:36:08.800 We'll talk more another time about,
00:36:11.240 uh,
00:36:11.540 how,
00:36:12.380 uh,
00:36:12.820 we hope to help at the trial.
00:36:14.820 I won't get into that now,
00:36:15.800 but our viewers can guess what I'm thinking of because we do it a lot.
00:36:19.500 But,
00:36:20.140 um,
00:36:20.640 listen,
00:36:21.020 I,
00:36:21.280 I think that trial,
00:36:22.760 it's a shame that it's,
00:36:24.020 it shouldn't even happen.
00:36:25.460 It's such a obvious political stitch up,
00:36:28.540 as they say.
00:36:29.200 And the prosecutor himself is out of control,
00:36:31.880 huge liberal donor.
00:36:33.560 Uh,
00:36:34.000 vendetta abusive.
00:36:35.880 Uh,
00:36:36.240 he's really a disgrace to the profession.
00:36:38.220 I,
00:36:38.460 I can't believe the crown has not replaced him with someone more even keel.
00:36:42.900 But like I say,
00:36:44.140 Trudeau never forgives.
00:36:45.620 Um,
00:36:47.180 listen,
00:36:47.520 I want to end by telling our viewers that this book,
00:36:52.240 which I have read cover to cover and I ordered my hard copy book.
00:36:55.860 It's beautiful.
00:36:57.960 It's,
00:36:58.480 I learned so many things.
00:37:01.760 There's a few chuckles in it.
00:37:03.560 There's a few humorous moments.
00:37:05.640 There's some touching moments.
00:37:07.560 Uh,
00:37:08.080 there's some infuriating moments.
00:37:11.240 It's a,
00:37:12.020 it's a good read.
00:37:13.860 And I think that is why it is the number one bestselling book in the country.
00:37:21.300 It was on the very first day we listed it,
00:37:23.540 but I just see just today,
00:37:24.860 Amazon called it the bestseller of the week as well.
00:37:27.780 Even beating out,
00:37:28.860 uh,
00:37:29.580 Prince Harry's autobiography.
00:37:32.160 So people want to know.
00:37:33.820 And I think one of the reasons they want to know is because they sense that
00:37:38.160 they've only been told either half the story or an incorrect story.
00:37:42.440 And they know that by getting this book,
00:37:44.420 they'll hear the other side of the story.
00:37:46.840 I'm really excited about that.
00:37:48.340 Last word to you.
00:37:49.960 Me too.
00:37:50.540 I hope everybody likes it.
00:37:52.840 Uh,
00:37:53.280 I think it's great.
00:37:54.520 Again,
00:37:54.920 I think it's going to answer a lot of questions and,
00:37:56.960 and get,
00:37:57.560 let people get to know me a little bit better.
00:37:59.080 I mean,
00:37:59.420 that was always one of the things right from the start as the money started to
00:38:03.160 come in last winter,
00:38:04.240 but you know,
00:38:04.680 it was important to me that people got a sense of who I was.
00:38:07.980 That's a huge responsibility.
00:38:09.600 I mean,
00:38:09.740 we raised $10 million that had like my name on it,
00:38:13.480 you know?
00:38:13.860 So it became really important to me that people got a sense of who I was.
00:38:18.220 And,
00:38:18.540 um,
00:38:19.260 and I think this will help.
00:38:20.720 And thank you all again,
00:38:22.020 so much for all your help for helping me publish this book.
00:38:25.900 I I'm very pleased to,
00:38:27.740 to get some truth out.
00:38:29.580 Yeah.
00:38:29.720 Well,
00:38:29.900 it's our pleasure.
00:38:30.580 And you talk about that money at great length.
00:38:33.160 In the book and how it was frozen by the government and,
00:38:36.400 and,
00:38:36.640 and the battles to keep that money out of the hands of the government and how
00:38:40.500 go fund me interfered.
00:38:42.320 It's a fascinating part.
00:38:44.080 And if anything,
00:38:45.060 it shows the difference between our side and the other side is the other
00:38:49.240 side is bought and paid for professional protesters,
00:38:52.020 but our side,
00:38:54.160 authentic grassroots,
00:38:55.360 organic,
00:38:56.080 the million people or the hundreds of thousands of people that came out to
00:38:59.100 see the truckers,
00:38:59.740 no one paid them.
00:39:00.560 The truckers in the end,
00:39:02.180 most of them didn't get any dough because the go fund me was refunded and the
00:39:07.940 give send go was,
00:39:09.400 yeah,
00:39:09.620 the government really tried it.
00:39:11.240 The fact that you succeeded despite having no organ,
00:39:14.920 no formal organization of money was amazing.
00:39:17.900 And the book details that folks,
00:39:19.560 you can go to the website,
00:39:21.780 the convoy book.com.
00:39:24.520 You can bet buy your copy there.
00:39:26.540 You can also,
00:39:27.340 if you want chip in to help us with our guerrilla style marketing campaign for the
00:39:34.180 book,
00:39:34.360 which is coming along.
00:39:35.980 And in fact,
00:39:36.460 we're hiring a,
00:39:37.680 a marketer producer,
00:39:39.540 helper outer to get this.
00:39:41.060 Cause I believe this book needs to be pushed because it's not going to be pulled by chapters
00:39:46.880 indigo.
00:39:47.340 I doubt they'll even put it on their shelves.
00:39:49.140 We have to sell this book grassroots through word of mouth.
00:39:53.480 And we've got a plan to do that.
00:39:55.940 And Tamara,
00:39:57.140 I couldn't be prouder than to be,
00:39:59.180 uh,
00:39:59.400 than to have rebel news as a publisher of the book.
00:40:02.120 I,
00:40:02.440 um,
00:40:03.960 I think the convoy was the story of the year in 2022 and you were the leader of that
00:40:08.680 story and it's time your voice was heard.
00:40:11.360 Congratulations,
00:40:12.020 my friend.
00:40:13.000 And,
00:40:13.560 uh,
00:40:14.420 many more successes may many more successes.
00:40:16.960 Thank you.
00:40:17.300 Thank you so much.
00:40:19.740 Thank you.
00:40:20.240 Our pleasure.
00:40:20.740 There you have it.
00:40:21.260 Tamara Leach,
00:40:22.060 the author of hold the line available now,
00:40:24.820 uh,
00:40:25.640 the hardcover book.
00:40:26.680 And of course soon the Kindle version and the audio book.
00:40:31.960 Narrated by Tamara herself.
00:40:33.640 That's our show for today until tomorrow on behalf of all of us here at rebel world headquarters
00:40:39.360 to you at home.
00:40:40.460 Good night and keep fighting for freedom.
00:41:01.460 Thank you.
00:41:03.300 Good night.
00:41:04.060 Good night.
00:41:04.120 Good night.
00:41:07.700 Good night.
00:41:14.080 Good night.
00:41:14.620 Good night.
00:41:16.740 Good night.