EZRA LEVANT ｜ Mark Carney enjoys warm White House welcome — despite anti-Trump rhetoric
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Summary
Mark Carney went to the White House, and it was not a disaster. There were some disagreements, but I think he actually had a pretty good day. I ll take you through it with 10 different clips from the meeting.
Transcript
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Hello, my friends. Mark Carney went to the White House and it was not a disaster.
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There were some disagreements, but I think he actually had a pretty good day. I'll take you
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through it with 10 different clips from the meeting. But first, let me invite you to become
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a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. I want you to see the facial expressions, the gestures. I want
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you to see the body language when Carney and Trump met. And to do that, you need the video
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Tonight, Mark Carney meets with Donald Trump, and it was a love-in. It's May 6th, and this
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is the Ezra Levant Show. I was going to do my monologue today about Danielle Smith's interesting
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announcement yesterday, but we'll have plenty of time to dig into that in the weeks ahead. She
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basically announced she's opening up two tracks with Ottawa, a negotiation track to get more rights
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and respect within Confederation, but also she's permitting Alberta citizens to have a referendum
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on secession. Very interesting combination. But I'd like to today show you some clips from Mark Carney's
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meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. Now, Trump likes to have press scrums in the Oval Office
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with foreign leaders. Sometimes it goes really well, like his visit with the Irish president.
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Time-honored tradition. I'm going to present the bowl of shamrock to President Trump.
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Boy, they were nervous that would go sideways because all the Irish politicians take shots
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at Trump. I don't think he even knew it. Sometimes his meetings don't go well, like when Vladimir
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Zelensky visited, and at the last minute, you could tell he decided to scupper an agreement
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You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad
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position, and he happens to be right about it. From the very beginning of the war, Mr.
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Brown, I was arrested. You're not in a good position. You don't
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have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards. I'm not playing cards. But right
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now, you're playing cards. I'm very serious, Mr. Brown. You're playing cards. You're gambling
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with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World
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World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.
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Sometimes the meetings can be a little bit tense, like when the United Kingdom's Keir Starmer
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met with Trump. Starmer brought gifts with him, which was smart. He brought an invitation
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to a state dinner with the king. So this is a letter from His Majesty the King. It's an invitation
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for a second state visit. This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.
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And I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us. So this is
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a very special letter. I think the last state visit was a tremendous success. His Majesty the
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King wants to make this even better. But Trump and J.D. Vance had their own plans. They took
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Starmer to task publicly for the U.K.'s infringements on freedom of speech. Great. Yeah. Look, I said
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what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the
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U.K. and also with some of our European allies. But we also know that there have been infringements
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on free speech that actually affect not just the British, of course, what the British do in their
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own country is up to them, but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American
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citizens. So that is something that we'll talk about today at lunch. We've had free speech
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for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom and it will last for a very, very long time.
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So which one of these precedents would it be with Mark Carney? The friendly Irish visit,
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the disastrous Ukrainian visit or the half and half U.K. visit? Well, I mean, Carney had some brutal
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things to say about Trump during the election campaign up here. But I honestly don't think the
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White House even pays much attention to Canada at all, let alone our campaigns. Half the time
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when Trump tweeted about the election, I honestly don't think he knew Carney's name. And there were
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moments when it seemed like Trump still thought Trudeau was around, which he's not. Here's what
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik had to say just yesterday, which again, sounds a bit boilerplate,
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you know what I mean? Like that. It sounds like a prefabricated statement.
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Can we make a deal with Canada? I think it's really complex. I think this is really complex
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because they have been basically feeding off of us for decades upon decades upon decades,
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right? They have their socialist regime and it's basically feeding off of America. I mean,
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the president calls that out all the time. Why do we make cars in Canada? Why do we do our films
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in Canada? Come on. So I think the president's going to have, I think it's going to be a fascinating
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meeting. I'm glad I'm going to be there listening, but it's going to be a fascinating meeting tomorrow.
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But I watched the whole meeting today and I have to say from Mark Carney's point of view,
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really couldn't have gone much better with one exception that I'll mention. But here,
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the whole public press conference was over half an hour, but much of it was Trump talking about
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other matters like the Houthi terrorists in Yemen who apparently have agreed to stop being terrorists.
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and a teaser about a announcement from the Middle East that's yet to come. But here are 10 clips
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from other parts that do pertain to Canada. I think they're interesting. I'll show you the 10 clips.
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I think the most startling thing for many Canadians, especially liberals, the kind who said elbows up,
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the kind who told pollsters that fighting back against Trump was their top issue, was Trump celebrating
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Carney's victory and in fact, taking some credit for it right off the top. It's a great honor to have
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Prime Minister Mark Carney with us. As you know, just a few days ago, he won a very big election in Canada.
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And I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him, but I can't take vote.
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They were his party was losing by a lot. And he ended up winning. So I really want to congratulate him
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and it was probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.
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But I want to just congratulate you. That was a great election, actually.
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I honestly don't know what to make of that. I don't understand how Trump could favor
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a globalist environmentalist extremist, a former board member of the World Economic Forum. I mean,
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put aside Carney's personal insults to Trump. How would Trump prefer a socialist woke tax hiker? I just don't
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get it. Here's another clip where Trump says Mark Carney wants to end the war in Ukraine.
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I think we have a lot of things in common. We have some tough, tough points to go over,
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and that'll be fine. But we're going to also be discussing Ukraine, Russia,
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the war, because Mark wants it ended as quickly as I do. I think it has to end.
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Now, I'm sure in a way that's true. I suppose everyone wants to end the war, but
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it's certainly a change of politics and policy from Trudeau, who talked about supporting Ukraine
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no matter what, all the way to the bitter end. Or maybe Carney just didn't have a chance to get
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a word in edgewise. I'm not sure. Now, Carney spoke next, and it was actually the most incredible
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part. It was a love in. He said he admires Trump. He respects him. He loves his leadership. I mean,
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holy moly. I tell you, he couldn't have been more different a week ago. Take a look. Mark,
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would you like to say a few words? Well, thank you, Mr. President. I'm on the edge of my seat,
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actually. But thank you for your hospitality and above all for your leadership. You're a
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transformational president, a focus on the economy with a relentless focus on the American worker,
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securing your borders, ending the scourge of fentanyl and other opioids, and securing the world.
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And I've been elected with my colleagues here. With the help of my colleagues here, I'm going to
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spread the credit to transform Canada with a similar focus on the economy, securing our borders,
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again, on fentanyl, much greater focus on defense and security, securing the Arctic and developing the
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Arctic. And, you know, the history of Canada and the U.S. is we're stronger when we work together,
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and there's many opportunities to work together. And I look forward to, you know, addressing some of
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those issues that we have, but also finding those areas of mutual cooperation so we can go forward.
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Great. That's great. Very nice. Thank you very much. That's a nice statement.
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Hang on. Does Mark Carney really have a mandate to transform Canada? Does he really? In what way?
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I don't think he's actually told us. Then Trump came with more praise. I don't believe for a minute
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that Trump watched the debates, but here's what he said about them.
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I have a lot of respect for this man. And I watched him come up, in a sense, through the ranks
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when he wasn't given much of a chance. And he ran a really great campaign. He did a really great
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debate. I think that debate was very helpful. I was going to raise my hand. I don't know if that's
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good or bad. I shouldn't say that. That might hurt you. But no, he ran a really great election,
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I thought. And yeah, something could happen. And here's something that seems surprising. Trump said
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he wanted nothing from Canada except friendship.
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The top concession you want out of Canada. The top concession you want out of Canada.
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But that's not a concession. No. Just, I just, we're going to be friends with Canada.
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Regardless of anything, we're going to be friends with Canada. Canada is a very special place to me.
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I know so many people that live in Canada. I don't really think that's true. In fact,
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in the following moments, Trump did bring up his issues. Then came the 51st state thing. And Trump
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explains it again, that it was Trudeau who put the idea in his head, which we know from others is how
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it happened. Trump tones it down a bit with Carney right there, but later starts to dream out loud
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about it again. Mr. Prime Minister, I'd like to get your responsibilities too. Mr. President,
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you have said that Canada should become a fit in first aid. No, no. Well, I still believe that,
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but, but, you know, takes two to tango, right? But no, I do. I mean, I believe it would be a massive
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tax cut for the Canadian citizens. You get free military, you get tremendous medical cares and other
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things. There would be a lot of advantages, but it would be, it would be a massive tax cut.
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And it's also a beautiful, you know, as a real estate developer, you know, I'm a real estate
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developer at heart. When you get rid of that artificially drawn line, somebody drew that line
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many years ago with like a ruler, just a straight line right across the top of the country. When you
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look at that beautiful formation, when it's together, I'm a very artistic person. But when I looked at
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that, you know, I said, that's the way it was meant to be. But you know, it, uh, I guess I do feel it's
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much better for Canada. Now, Mark Carney didn't want to let that stand. And I think he managed to
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disagree with Trump on the 51st state business in a way that actually clicked with Trump and lowered
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the temperature on that a bit. As you know, from real estate, there are some places that are never for
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sale. That's true. We're sitting in one right now, you know, Buckingham Palace and you visited as well.
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That's true. Uh, and, um, having met with, uh, the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign,
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uh, last several months, uh, it, it, it's not for sale, won't be for sale, uh, ever. Uh, but the
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opportunity is in the partnership and, uh, and what we can build together. And we have done that in the
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past. And part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our own security. Uh, and my
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government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership.
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And I'll say this as well, uh, that the president has, uh, revitalized, uh, international security,
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revitalized NATO, uh, and us playing our full weight, uh, in NATO. And that will be part of it.
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That's true. And then Trump tore a strip off Christian Freeland.
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I won't say this about Mark, but I didn't like his predecessor. I didn't like a person that worked for,
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she was terrible, actually. She was a terrible person. And she really hurt that deal very badly
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because she tried to take advantage of the deal and she didn't get away with it. You know what I'm
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talking about. But, uh, so, you know, I had a, we had a bad, we had a bad relationship having to do
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with the fact that we disagreed with the way they viewed the deal. And we ended it, you know, we ended
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that, uh, that relationship pretty much. The, uh, USMC is great for all countries. It's good for all
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countries. We do have a negotiation coming up over the next year or so to adjust it or terminate it.
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I've got just two more clips I want to show you. Here's Trump when he, uh, was asked if there was
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anything anyone could do to make him lift the tariffs.
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Mr. President, is there anything the prime minister can say to you today to change your mind
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on tariffing Canada? Tariffing cars? Tariffing Canada. Is there anything he could say to you
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in the course of your meetings with him today that would get you to lift tariffs on Canada? No.
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Now, Carney weighed in again, suggesting that he has some issues he wants to raise with Trump about those
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tariffs. And then Trump makes it pretty clear that he's not interested in bending on his key issue
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automobiles. Trump talks about a trade deficit with Canada. Now, oil and gas imports are the biggest
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part of that. Trump earlier said that the US doesn't need Canadian oil. That's just not the facts. We
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help the US displace OPEC conflict oil. They import almost 10 million barrels a day and better to get it
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from us than from the Saudis or Qataris. But he only mentioned the oil and gas thing in passing. What he's
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really against, I think, and what Carney hasn't been able to convince him otherwise, it seems,
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is that the US wants to get out of the auto pact. That's the, well, I guess it's almost 70 year old,
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65 year old deal with the US for free trade in the auto sector. The US wants to build its own cars in
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America, not buy them from Canada. The tremendous auto sector between the two of us and the changes
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that may have been helpful. You know, 50% of a car that comes from Canada is American.
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That's not like anywhere else in the world. And to your question about, is there one thing? No,
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this is a bigger discussion. There are much bigger forces involved. And, and this will take some time
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and some discussions. And that's why we're here to have those discussions. And that's, that is
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represented by who's sitting around the table. See, the conflict is, and, and this is very friendly.
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We're, we're not, this is not going to be like, we had another little blow up with somebody else.
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That was a much different, this is, this is a very friendly conversation. But, uh, we want to make our
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own cars. We don't really want cars from Canada. And we put tariffs on cars from Canada. And at a certain
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point, it won't make economic sense for Canada to build those cars. And we don't want steel from
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Canada because we're making our own steel and we're having massive steel plants being built right
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now. As we speak, we really don't want Canadian steel and we don't want Canadian aluminum and
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various other things because we want to be able to do it ourself. And we, because of, you know, past
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thinking of people, we have a tremendous deficit with Canada. In other words, they have a surplus with us.
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And there's no reason for us to be subsidizing Canada. Canada's a place that will have to be
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able to take care of itself economically. What do you think? I think it went pretty well for Carney.
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I think any true believers, Trump derangement syndrome, liberal voters will be confused. Just
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like I'm confused, but really liberal voters don't care. They're on the red team. They hate the blue team.
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They're especially against Pierre Polyev. So they're happy no matter what happened, I think.
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I don't see how having a liberal, globalist, environmentalist, anti-carbon radical
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at Canada's helm, I don't see how that helps the US or his America First agenda. I just honestly don't
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understand it. I admit that. I'll try to understand it in the months ahead. I'm sure you will too.
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For the last 10 years, successive liberal governments in Ottawa, supported by their new Democrat allies,
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have unleashed a tidal wave of laws, policies, and political attacks aimed directly at Alberta's free
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economy, and in effect, against the future and livelihoods of our people. They have blocked new
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pipelines with C-69, cancelled multiple oil and gas projects, and banned the very tanker ships needed to
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carry those resources to new markets. They have stacked an oil and gas production cap on top of
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a crippling industrial carbon tax, making new energy and agricultural projects economically
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impossible to pursue, without massive subsidies from governments, which Ottawa has failed to provide,
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and which our taxpayers cannot afford. This onslaught of anti-energy, anti-agriculture, and anti-resource
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development policies have scared away global investments to the tune of a half a trillion dollars,
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driving those investments and jobs out of Alberta and Canada to much more attractive investment
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climates in the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. Having traveled much of the world these past few
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years, it is evident that Canada is not viewed as an attractive place to invest in resource development,
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manufacturing, or agriculture, because of our high carbon taxes, endless red tape, and the uncertainty
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and chaos brought about by these and other federal government policies. There it is, a clip from Alberta
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Premier Daniel Smith's presentation yesterday. Very interesting. I like what's going on. It's sort of a
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two-track approach, a panel on how to get a better position within Confederation, but also lighting the
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fuse on what will surely be a referendum. We spoke last week with Keith Wilson, the King's counsel, the
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lawyer, who pointed out the new rules for a citizen referendum. You only need 177,000 names on a petition,
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which in a province of almost 5 million people shouldn't be too hard to get. You also have 120 days
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to get it. The Premier herself suggested that she would not be for separation, but she would respect
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the wishes of voters who, if that was the will of the people. Very interesting strategy. But it suggests
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to me that the Premier will be more the presiding host of the referendum, as opposed to a contestant
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therein. We'll try and get the Premier on the show later this week. But there are others who are ready
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to make their move now. Some are civil society organizations. Some are registered parties. And
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here's one that I didn't even know existed, I'll tell you that. I suppose that's what happens when you
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move out of Alberta and move to Toronto. You sort of lose touch with the grassroots. But I'm delighted today
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to be joined by Cameron Davies. He's the leader of the Republican Party of Alberta. And I went through
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their literature and it looks like there's some familiar names there. I see my old buddy Art Hanger,
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former Reform Party member of parliament, is their VP of policy. That's a familiar name. Joining us now
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is Cameron Davies. Cameron, nice to meet you. Thanks for taking the time.
00:21:08.440
Thanks for having me, Ezra. It's always good to see you. I think we bumped into each other a few
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years ago at some conservative convention. We're always bumping into each other at, but it's great to see
00:21:20.120
you again. And we're excited to help build the political will to ensure that not only a binding
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referendum happens, but that the will of the people is followed through on. If you recall,
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a few short years ago, Alberta spent, the Alberta government spent millions of dollars educating and
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promoting an equalization referendum that Albertans voted on overwhelmingly in favor of. And since then,
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successive so-called conservative governments in Alberta have done absolutely nothing to enact
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the will of the people. You know, it's funny, just when you said that, it made me think of the Brexit
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referendum in the United Kingdom. By the way, the entire establishment was against Brexit.
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All the political parties other than UKIP, all the banks, all the media, all the celebrities,
00:22:12.680
all the important people, everyone except for the citizens who voted for it. And my point of saying
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that is- And it was split. It was split, but it was a win. But here's the thing. The parties in power
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slow walked implementing Brexit for years. In fact, they had to be sort of finally hectored into doing it.
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So it sounds to me like you're saying winning the referendum is step one, but then implementing
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it is step two. I would say step one would be harder. Here's why, Cameron,
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every single force of the establishment would be out to squash it. And they would take it seriously.
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They already are. I think Brexit sort of sneaked through. It sort of caught everyone by surprise.
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But when the premier herself is saying, we're going to do this, I don't know. So you say they already are.
00:23:00.680
Tell me, tell me what's happened. What have you detected? The empire striking back
00:23:06.280
against the rebels who would secede. Tell me what you've seen or heard.
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So interesting language yesterday. The language was that we would be having another panel,
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yet another panel. We've already had panels in Alberta, if you recall, the Fair Deal panel 1.0.
00:23:23.320
And now we're having the Alberta Next panel, which we articulated yesterday that we're not interested
00:23:28.360
in Alberta Next, we're interested in Alberta First. But Albertans are tired of panels. Much of the speech
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from the UCP yesterday was regurgitation of tired talking points, that Alberta has been mistreated,
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but somehow another panel is going to lead the way and solve these problems. It simply won't.
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The fact of the matter is that a citizen-led referendum could turn into, with this current
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government, nothing more than a recommendation. And that's what we're here fighting against,
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that there has to be a binding referendum that the legislative powers are bound to execute on.
00:24:09.400
Cameron, sorry to interrupt, isn't that what the premier said? Like, isn't that the big news
00:24:14.040
from yesterday that the premier is saying? Yeah. Like, to me, that's the thunderclap.
00:24:17.960
So, a key point there to make note of, a key point to make note of there, Ezra, is that the language
00:24:24.920
that was used is fascinating. That there would be multiple items on a referendum, which could include
00:24:33.160
a question on Alberta independence. Now, many who have looked at the Clarity Act understand that it
00:24:40.680
has to be a singular question for it to count, if you will. And so, there's already a bit of a poison pill,
00:24:48.360
if you will, in that the provincial government is looking at a plethora of questions,
00:24:53.800
not a singular question on independence. And so, there already seems to be
00:24:58.360
some muddying of the waters, an attempt to appease and talk out of all sides to try and appease all
00:25:06.600
Albertans, that I'm against separation, but I'm going to allow the voters to have a vote of one of
00:25:13.640
many votes on things they're displeased with. And that is not how the independence process has to play
00:25:19.560
out. There needs to be a binding referendum, even in the UK. And I say this from experience,
00:25:24.280
having worked on the Brexit campaign in favor of in favor of leave, even in the Brexit campaign,
00:25:29.880
we had a split in the Conservative Party in the UK. And many UK MPs were in favor,
00:25:37.640
many were against, but we had some political will pushing for it, nonetheless.
00:25:43.400
Well, okay, you've made your case, you suggest that it's not a,
00:25:48.040
that there's some wiggle room in there or that the water has been muddied. I'll look at it again
00:25:55.320
with your warning in mind, but it certainly seemed quite, it seemed clear to me. I'll go back and
00:26:01.080
look at it maybe with a more lawyerly skepticism. But let me park that for a second. I want to talk
00:26:07.400
a little bit more about the party, Alberta Republicans. Tell me more about the party.
00:26:13.480
Republican has a certain meaning. Why don't you define the party for me? And then I might ask
00:26:18.840
you some follow up questions. Go ahead. Perfect. We are 100% focused on a binding independence
00:26:25.560
referendum so that Albertans can have the opportunity to choose a new form of government,
00:26:32.680
a constitutional republic, as over 30 other nations in the Commonwealth have chosen
00:26:38.520
to form a new system of government and to take into our own hands, our own self-determination
00:26:46.680
and determine our own future. That's what we're focused on.
00:26:51.640
Okay. Was the party registered as Alberta Republicans or did it start as something else?
00:27:00.280
It started off as a pro-autonomy party prior to the 2022 UCP leadership race.
00:27:07.160
And what was it called? And it was called the Buffalo Party in reference to the territory of
00:27:12.120
Buffalo between Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was one of the premier groups pushing for autonomy at the
00:27:19.800
time. And if you recall in the 2022 leadership race, the leading contender pushed forward a policy
00:27:30.440
And the first order of government after that leadership race was to change the Sovereignty Act
00:27:38.040
to a Sovereignty Act within a united Canada. And that was the first, if you will, betrayal
00:27:45.640
of those who had supported absolute sovereignty for Alberta within the UCP.
00:27:50.520
All right. I hear what you're saying. So you're a harder line than the premier. And I think there's
00:27:55.960
certainly room for that. Now, Republicans suggest a republic, I think, and that suggests that
00:28:06.280
why don't you tell me what that means? I mean, some people want to join the United, some separatists
00:28:10.680
want to join the United States. Some want what the Parti Québécois used to call sovereignty
00:28:16.280
association with Canada. Other people talk about being an independent member of the Commonwealth.
00:28:21.960
Um, what is the position of your party on, on that sort of final status question?
00:28:28.120
So, first of all, we're not affiliated with any political party, whether that be within Canada
00:28:33.720
or without Canada. Okay. But you are a political, you're your own political.
00:28:37.560
We are, we are a political party here in the province of Alberta. Currently,
00:28:41.880
our mission is to see Alberta as an independent constitutional republic. Um, we want to see
00:28:48.760
that, uh, the change of government include separation of powers that don't currently exist,
00:28:55.480
among other things that, that Albertans can have more autonomy over their medical choices
00:29:01.000
and property rights, including firearms ownership. Um, we are in an abusive and toxic relationship
00:29:07.160
with Ottawa. And it's not something that's new. It's something that's been happening for decades.
00:29:13.000
And we've tried mediation. We've tried counseling, if you will. And the time is now. Albertans have
00:29:18.920
had enough and it's time for a divorce. Um, it's an interesting analogy. I've, I've referred to that
00:29:25.000
same analogy when Donald Trump quote proposed to Canada, I would say, well, that sounds like an
00:29:31.000
indecent proposal for a couple. We're not interested in arranged marriages right now. That's, that's not
00:29:36.440
even on the discussion. Um, no, I, I, uh, before I was in journalism, I, I was in the reform party of
00:29:44.120
Canada. So I know a little bit about some of these issues. And I also know the difficulty of a startup
00:29:49.320
party as does art hanger. Um, in fact, uh, you know, back in the day, some 25, 30 years ago, I used to
00:29:55.480
battle with art against the bad guys. Um, and what little I know about politics tells me you need
00:30:05.000
a few things. You need money. You absolutely need money to hire staff, to buy ads, to,
00:30:13.320
you know, you just, that's how it works. You need money to, to even design something for quote for
00:30:19.640
free on the internet takes money. The second thing is you need is members. You need people.
00:30:24.440
You need them to talk to their neighbors, to put up lawn signs, things like that.
00:30:29.240
And then the third thing I think, and I'm just making up my own list here is you need a leader
00:30:34.920
who is out there leading, um, every day in the media, on the ground, crisscrossing the province.
00:30:44.620
I think those are three important elements to a win. Absolutely. What is, what does your party have
00:30:51.320
to say about money members and the leader? Why don't you take me through each of those?
00:30:56.760
How's your fundraiser? What's your budget like? How much money do you have?
00:31:01.320
Well, I can point to our Q1 financials. So there are currently, uh, five, uh, independence leaning
00:31:08.200
parties in the province. Um, and in quarter one, the Republican party of Alberta posted a fundraising,
00:31:16.200
um, achievement of just under $123,000. Uh, all four, uh, other independence minded parties,
00:31:24.920
I think combined raised just under, uh, 6,000. And so on the fundraising side, there is a coalescence
00:31:32.840
of independence minded Albertans that are rallying behind the Republican party of Alberta on the
00:31:38.920
membership side within 48 hours of the federal election. We had signed up over 11,000 new members
00:31:46.840
bringing our party membership to just over 20,000 current members. Uh, if you recall in 2015,
00:31:54.360
the wild rose party, uh, had a membership base of around 30 to 35,000 members. So we are well on our
00:32:00.760
way to becoming a, uh, a, the fastest growing and we are the fastest growing conservative alternative
00:32:08.360
here in the province of Alberta. And on leadership, I have committed to touring over 300 stops across
00:32:15.560
the province between now and end of the year. And we are, we are well on our way, uh, on that tour.
00:32:21.000
It's been an amazing experience so far. We have had packed out town halls, standing room only,
00:32:26.680
and the engagement from Albertans, uh, don't believe mainstream media, uh, independence and
00:32:32.920
actual independence from Canada is on the rise. We're beyond this talk of being team Canada and
00:32:38.920
in a united Canada, Albertans want out. They've had enough. And a 300 stops. That's a very busy
00:32:45.800
itinerary. Um, does that mean you're doing this full-time? I am. I am. I have, I've taken a leave
00:32:53.400
from, uh, from the positions I held with, uh, with my companies and I am doing this full-time
00:32:59.240
because Alberta is too important. Do you have any allies? Do you have any,
00:33:05.480
tell me, are there any influencers or business leaders or, uh, retired politicians who said,
00:33:11.960
I like those? For example, I'm just going to make up a name, Preston Manning. Um, I don't know. I
00:33:17.080
mean, he's written some interesting things in the, in the global mail. He said, Mark Carney could be
00:33:21.720
the end of Canada. Uh, he wrote that op-ed in the globe, but a month ago, and it caused some
00:33:26.360
ruffled feathers at least. Have you had any people from the reform party, from the Canadian Alliance,
00:33:32.520
from the conservative party of Canada and more likely retired than current, uh, has anyone joined your
00:33:39.400
team as some sort of a gray haired source of wisdom? I, I, I might put Art Hanger in that category.
00:33:45.240
Who else? Art Hanger has been a great source of wisdom and he brought him up earlier. Another
00:33:49.240
gentleman that, um, we've spoken to frequently and has been a great source of encouragement,
00:33:55.320
uh, and, and wisdom, uh, from having been in the trenches in this particular endeavor before is
00:34:00.120
former MLA Gordon Kessler. Sure. And, uh, him and I have talked several times and he's been a
00:34:05.160
fantastic, fantastic source of support. Uh, we have a, uh, former United conservative party, uh,
00:34:12.920
executive member on our current board right now. Um, and so, and there, and there, there are many,
00:34:18.760
we've had entire, uh, constituency association boards that have walked over from the UCP to join
00:34:25.240
the RPA. Uh, so there's been an immense amount of institutional knowledge that the early days of wild
00:34:31.880
rose 2007, 2008 didn't have. And so we're, we're about a step ahead in some regards in getting that
00:34:40.360
support from those who have been in the trenches before. Uh, we have some of the founding members
00:34:46.040
of the UCP board, uh, in our corner, uh, helping us out and cheering us on. So there's, there's a lot of
00:34:53.400
institutional knowledge and wealth that's, um, that's been falling, uh, and, and supporting,
00:34:59.880
uh, the RPA and, and helping us get to where we are today. And, uh, the support is, is just
00:35:05.720
increasing. Uh, there's always the naysayers, Ezra, and you know, this having been through in the, in
00:35:09.960
the trenches yourself, there's always the naysayers and those who say, well, we don't need political
00:35:14.920
solutions. Uh, we just need to sign a piece of paper and snap our fingers and everything's going to be
00:35:20.840
okay. And our political experience shows otherwise. I think you've seen that you highlighted Brexit.
00:35:27.000
Uh, it took political leadership and the reform party, uh, to essentially force the execution of
00:35:34.200
Brexit to happen. And Alberta is not any different. Um, it will take political will to see this across
00:35:41.400
the finish line. And that's what we're here to focus on and build. Uh, one more question,
00:35:44.840
just a detail. You say you have 20,000 members now, how many electoral associations are riding
00:35:49.720
associations? I'm not sure what you prefer to call them. How many local in each riding,
00:35:55.560
the committee, the board nominating a candidate? I, I'm not, I think their job would be more to
00:36:01.080
fight for the referendum as opposed to nominating a candidate just yet.
00:36:08.680
We have a, we have a different, a different approach to it. So we start off writings as a
00:36:12.760
writing branch, which is a unofficial organization in a writing. And currently there's about
00:36:19.560
38 writing branches that have been formed. There is a more formal process. Once a threshold of
00:36:25.960
memberships in those writings has been reached. And once there's an organizational plan, if you will,
00:36:30.920
like a franchise to ensure that there's a proper organization on the ground, a president, a CFO,
00:36:36.760
so that that writing branch can turn into a constituency association and then participate in
00:36:41.480
the policy development process, which is ongoing. And in fact, MP, former MP Art Hanger is our VP of
00:36:47.640
policy and doing a great job at organizing that and preparing for this fall's AGM and policy convention.
00:36:53.880
Well, Cameron, it's all very interesting. And let me just tell you what Rebel News's approach is
00:36:57.880
going to be. I mean, I'm born and raised in Alberta and I did some work with the Reform Party
00:37:02.760
and the Canadian Alliance. And for about five minutes, I was actually a candidate for the Canadian
00:37:07.720
Alliance before I stepped aside for some young pup named Stephen Harper.
00:37:11.240
But I live in Toronto now and Rebel News's main office is in Toronto. We have journalists across
00:37:20.040
the country, including in Alberta, and we're incredibly sympathetic to Alberta. And we are pro-Alberta.
00:37:26.440
And we agree with the thesis that Ottawa, especially the Liberals, are punitive towards Alberta.
00:37:34.040
And we support this referendum. We support Albertans having the right to complain. The law was,
00:37:40.760
the precedent was set by Quebec, approved by Parliament in the Clarity Act, approved by the Supreme Court
00:37:46.600
in the constitutional reference. So we believe that Alberta should have just as much right as Quebec
00:37:52.040
to exercise its democratic functions. And we believe that those who contest it should be dealt with
00:37:59.080
with respect. You don't see the kind of calumnies and vitriol towards the Parti Quebecois or the Bloc
00:38:06.120
Quebecois. In fact, the opposite. You see Ottawa sucking up to them, appeasing them, compromising with
00:38:11.800
them, bargaining with them. You don't hear them denouncing them. So our role as Rebel News will be to
00:38:16.680
be honest brokers and to help host the conversation and the debates. In fact, we're having two town hall
00:38:23.640
meetings next week in Alberta. We've got on Edmonton on Monday night and Calgary on Winston.
00:38:29.320
And unfortunately, that coincides with some hockey games. But we've already sold out the Calgary event,
00:38:34.840
and I think we'll sell out the Edmonton event too. There's a lot of interest out there. People want
00:38:38.360
to hear what's going on. So I just wanted to tell you, Cameron, Rebel News will be a friendly, objective,
00:38:45.240
truth-telling, democratically sympathetic, journalistic outfit because I think you were
00:38:51.720
going to be attacked by every establishment force that you know of and many that you don't know of.
00:39:00.200
Well, Ezra, my background in Alberta's oil patch and later in life serving as a United States Marine
00:39:07.240
have prepared me in many ways to have the resilience, grit and determination to see this fight through
00:39:15.560
no matter what flies our way. And we are dedicated to this mission. We appreciate your support in being
00:39:21.640
an advocate for those voices that would see a free and independent Alberta. And another Easterner who has
00:39:31.560
been on our side for some time is law professor Bruce Party. In fact, he'll be a speaker at our
00:39:37.480
rally for Alberta on May 24th in Red Deer. And of course, you and the team are more than welcome to
00:39:43.640
attend as are all Albertans. It will be the largest rally for Alberta independence that this province
00:39:50.360
has ever seen. And it's going to further ignite the fuel and organization that this movement needs
00:39:58.680
to ensure that Alberta independence becomes a reality. So I just encourage your viewers,
00:40:03.160
visit albertarepublicans.com, get involved. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.
00:40:09.000
All right, May 24th in Red Deer. Well, I'll try and make it if I'm available.
00:40:12.600
Cameron Davies, leader of the Alberta Republicans. Thanks for spending a little time with me,
00:40:16.840
giving me a little bit of a briefing, telling me a little bit of the shape of your organization.
00:40:22.840
It'll be interesting to see how you progress in the months ahead. And I think if I can't attend,
00:40:28.760
in Red Deer, I'm sure one of our Alberta team will. So thanks for the heads up about that.
00:40:32.840
Keep in touch. This is a very important story. I dare say this could well be the most important
00:40:38.120
story of the next year. Thank you so much for having me, Ezra. It's always good to connect with
00:40:42.440
you. And we're in this to make Alberta truly strong and free. All right. There you have it,
00:40:46.920
Cameron Davies, leader of the Alberta Republicans. Stay with us. Your letters to me next.
00:40:58.360
Hey, welcome back. Your letters to me. Lisa Clark says, if CBC is such a national treasure,
00:41:10.600
why do they turn off the comments section on their newscasts? They don't want anyone questioning
00:41:14.920
their narrative. That's why. Yeah. Oh boy. They would get more thumbs down than thumbs up if it was
00:41:23.320
on YouTube. I think a lot of people are sick of the CBC agenda. But really, like I always say,
00:41:29.720
they only have to please one viewer. For the last 10 years, it was Justin Trudeau. Now it's Mark
00:41:34.440
Carney. Every single day, Rebel News and other independent journalists have to listen to our
00:41:39.000
viewers. And if we don't, we go out of business because we're no longer supportive. It's sort of
00:41:43.880
the opposite with the CBC. They only have to please Mark Carney and they know how. Next letter from Richie
00:41:51.080
Buckto says, if you wanted more Canadian news, why did they shut down the media scrum after the
00:41:56.280
English debate? This guy contradicts himself on a daily basis. They don't want more news. The fewer
00:42:03.560
news sources, the better. They literally arranged it so Facebook no longer shares news. Who does that
00:42:09.240
hurt? It doesn't hurt the big players like CTV, CBC, Global. It hurts independent upstarts that are shared
00:42:15.400
more often peer-to-peer on social platforms, social media platforms. They do not want more news. You have to
00:42:21.560
understand that. Last letter from Michael Carriere who says, the look on Carney's face when Trump
00:42:27.460
mentioned what a loser Freeland is, was priceless. And the sad part is there are hundreds of them in
00:42:33.000
our government. It's a weird thing. I really haven't seen such an anti-American campaign in memory.
00:42:40.200
Maybe the free trade debates in the 1980s, but even that was more substantive. People were worried about,
00:42:45.600
you know, technical things. Here it was just raw America hate, Trump hate. And why Trump is fine
00:42:53.560
with that, I do not understand. Maybe I will be illuminated one day. That's our show for today.
00:42:59.580
Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night,