Rebel News Podcast - January 20, 2022


EZRA LEVANT ｜ Trudeau’s Parliamentary Press Gallery considers accrediting Xinhua


Episode Stats

Length

48 minutes

Words per Minute

163.60405

Word Count

8,010

Sentence Count

521

Misogynist Sentences

8

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary

Rebel News has been banned from the Parliamentary Press Gallery because they're too opinionated. Xinhua, a Chinese state news agency, is applying for accreditation at the Press Gallery, but of course they're not a news agency. They're a propaganda arm for the Communist Party, and worse than that they're actually spies.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hello, my Rebels. Very exciting news.
00:00:02.300 There's a new company applying for accreditation at the Parliamentary Press Gallery,
00:00:07.500 and it's called Xinhua, which is the Chinese state news agency.
00:00:13.800 But of course, they're not a news agency.
00:00:15.340 They're a propaganda arm for the Communist Party.
00:00:17.060 And worse than that, they're actually spies.
00:00:19.180 I'll prove it to you, and then I'll show you who's going to make the decision,
00:00:22.920 and I'll leave it to you to guess if they accredit them or not.
00:00:26.960 It's quite something.
00:00:28.000 I mean, Rebel News has been banned from the Parliamentary Press Gallery
00:00:31.740 because we're too opinionated.
00:00:33.820 It'll be quite something if a dictatorship's propaganda unit's allowed in.
00:00:37.680 I can hardly wait.
00:00:39.880 Before we get to that podcast, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
00:00:43.900 That's the video version of this podcast.
00:00:46.680 We do it every day.
00:00:48.660 And once a week, we have podcasts from David Mantes, Andrew Chapados,
00:00:53.200 and our friend Shiligan Reid, our chief reporter.
00:00:55.720 So, eight bucks, half the cost of Netflix,
00:00:59.880 and I think you'll get unique content you can't find anywhere else.
00:01:02.540 Just go to rebelnewsplus.com and click subscribe.
00:01:04.900 Okay, here's today's podcast.
00:01:06.120 Tonight, Trudeau's Parliamentary Press Gallery banned Rebel News,
00:01:24.940 but is considering an application from Xinhua, a Chinese state broadcaster.
00:01:30.680 It's January 19th, and this is The Ezra Levant Show.
00:01:33.640 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
00:01:39.360 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
00:01:43.400 The only thing I have to say to the government, the wire publisher,
00:01:47.220 is because it's my bloody right to do so.
00:01:54.860 Great story in Blacklock's reporter.
00:01:57.860 You know who they are.
00:01:58.920 They're one of the few independent news companies left in Canada.
00:02:02.640 And by that, I mean they don't take money from the government.
00:02:06.000 From any government, as you know, 99% of media companies in Canada are now on Trudeau's payroll.
00:02:13.260 That sends a message to a lot of people.
00:02:15.480 It sends a message to Trudeau and every liberal that you're a journalist willing to sacrifice your independence
00:02:20.920 for some favor, some trinket, some cash, who knows, maybe some access.
00:02:26.520 And you can see that message has been received by journalists who actually haven't truly gone after Trudeau in years, have they?
00:02:33.740 Really, since the Jody Wilson-Raybould story.
00:02:36.480 Have you seen any real accountability journalism in Canada's mainstream media?
00:02:41.520 How about even on the pandemic itself?
00:02:44.140 Of course, readers see that too, which is why alternative media such as Rebel News and True North and Western Standard Online and Blacklocks are gaining viewers.
00:02:53.880 Why would you pay a dollar or two for a copy of a newspaper that is little more than laundered Trudeau talking points?
00:03:00.120 You can get that for free from the Liberal Party website if you really want it.
00:03:03.800 But others see what's for sale too, others with money, like China's Communist Party.
00:03:11.400 So they see that all the newspapers in Canada are desperate for a bailout, so desperate that they're willing to sell their own soul to Trudeau.
00:03:18.920 Well, Xi Jinping has more money than Justin Trudeau.
00:03:24.120 And look at this.
00:03:25.400 So he buys two, four, eight-page spreads in Canadian newspapers where the Chinese embassy
00:03:31.340 literally writes every word.
00:03:34.060 In the small print somewhere, you can see that it's a paid ad, but it doesn't look like a paid ad, does it?
00:03:39.280 It looks like news reporters writing in a newspaper.
00:03:42.120 And it's called China Watch, as if it's some skeptical watchdog, someone watching critically like Neighborhood Watch or Crime Watch.
00:03:51.020 No, it's Chinese propaganda.
00:03:53.440 I just showed you a recent spread in the Globe and Mail.
00:03:56.900 Now, here's what the Toronto Star's Rosie De Mano said.
00:03:59.260 She saw that spread, and she said,
00:04:02.980 Shame on the Globe and Mail for running Chinese government propaganda by publishing paid content from the international propaganda arm of China's state-run English-language newspaper.
00:04:12.580 The Globe made itself a shill for a government that's at diplomatic war with Canada, Rosie De Mano writes.
00:04:20.460 I agree with the Toronto Star, which is quite rare.
00:04:23.600 But then look at this.
00:04:25.080 Holy moly.
00:04:26.300 Not only did the Globe and Mail do it again, but China cut the Toronto Star in on the deal.
00:04:32.340 They must have read Rosie De Mano's great piece and thought, how do you shut up a journalist in Canada?
00:04:39.480 Back in China, you throw them in jail.
00:04:41.700 In Canada, it's actually much easier.
00:04:44.500 You just buy, I don't know, a $50,000 or $100,000 ad spread in the newspaper,
00:04:49.800 and the editor will shut up the journalist for you.
00:04:54.420 How humiliating for Rosie De Mano.
00:04:57.740 The entire editorial board of the Toronto Star was humiliated, by the way, which they should be.
00:05:03.780 And they wrote this.
00:05:05.120 They said,
00:05:05.740 Our collective China hypocrisy.
00:05:08.880 Talk is cheap.
00:05:09.940 Real change will require unified sacrifice.
00:05:12.260 If we want to begin to have an impact on the Chinese government's behavior, we need to collectively open our eyes more, not less.
00:05:20.100 Hmm.
00:05:21.080 Oh, and look at this.
00:05:22.220 Over the last few years, newspapers around the world and many in Canada, including several in our group,
00:05:27.040 such as the Toronto Star, have been running advertisements or advertorials paid for by a Chinese government-sponsored organization,
00:05:34.480 China Watch.
00:05:35.500 Yeah, no, speak for yourself.
00:05:40.620 Most journalists haven't sold out to China.
00:05:43.460 We haven't.
00:05:44.640 Neither have most people.
00:05:46.660 It's no excuse for the Toronto Star to do it because the Globe and Mail did it.
00:05:51.440 You are properly humiliated by your ad department and the fact that you are making excuses for it
00:05:57.200 and calling for someone else to take a stand while you won't is pitiful.
00:06:01.740 If a newspaper in Toronto can't take a stand against communist China, well, then who can?
00:06:08.640 What a bunch of losers.
00:06:09.880 But they are who they are.
00:06:11.760 They're for rent.
00:06:12.760 And now everybody knows.
00:06:15.060 It's really gross.
00:06:16.120 But back to Xinhua for a moment.
00:06:18.780 That's China's equivalent to Reuters or the Associated Press.
00:06:21.400 It's a news agency, except every word is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
00:06:25.480 So it's actually an impersonation.
00:06:27.580 They call themselves a news agency.
00:06:30.160 They say their staff are reporters.
00:06:33.220 Their website in Chinese and in English and many other world languages, by the way,
00:06:37.500 looks like a news website, except that it is all 100% controlled by the Communist Party of China.
00:06:43.540 Cannot criticize Xi Jinping in the Xinhua news agency.
00:06:47.700 You cannot write about the plight of Tibet or the Uyghurs or Hong Kong or Taiwan
00:06:51.760 other than to condemn those people.
00:06:53.940 You cannot praise democracy or Christianity or any rival thought system or ideology.
00:06:59.940 I'm sure some of their human interest stories are politically neutral.
00:07:04.300 But even as I say that, it's not true, really.
00:07:06.920 Everything must support the narrative.
00:07:08.900 China is happy, powerful, successful.
00:07:11.560 Its rivals are immoral, hypocritical, and weak.
00:07:14.200 So even weather stories, even sports stories would be propaganda for Xinhua.
00:07:19.400 But Xinhua is much worse than just propaganda.
00:07:22.720 I mean, the CBC here in Canada is propaganda, too.
00:07:26.580 It's owned by the government.
00:07:27.440 Everything I just said about Xinhua could, in some way, be compared to the CBC or Britain's BBC.
00:07:34.620 But there is one thing that is worse about Xinhua.
00:07:37.760 And I've had this confirmed to me personally by Dr. Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat
00:07:44.040 to China, who now writes about the Canada-China relationship.
00:07:47.780 He says that reporters from Xinhua call him up as reporters to ask him questions.
00:07:54.800 They say they're reporters.
00:07:56.400 They say they're doing a news story.
00:07:58.400 But no news story is ever written or published about what he says.
00:08:02.040 Dr. Burton says it's obvious what's happening.
00:08:04.460 They're actually just spies.
00:08:05.580 They do write up a report based on what he says, but they don't file it as a news report
00:08:10.680 publicly, but rather they file it as a report to the Chinese embassy about the views of
00:08:16.220 Canadian scholars who track the Canada-China relationship.
00:08:20.240 It's espionage.
00:08:21.200 Dr. Burton is savvy.
00:08:22.340 He knows what's happening, and he's not giving any secret intelligence.
00:08:26.420 In fact, he usually criticizes Communist China.
00:08:28.800 But let me give you a darker example, and it comes from Mark Bury, a journalist in Ottawa who
00:08:34.640 actually worked for Xinhua for a while in Ottawa.
00:08:39.340 Let me read to you what happened when the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, and a great
00:08:44.820 enemy of the Chinese Communist Party came to Canada.
00:08:48.360 So I'm going to read to you at some length from this, but I just want you to see it.
00:08:52.960 Just FYI, Zhang Da Cheng, that's the name of the boss of Xinhua in Canada when Bury worked for them.
00:09:02.700 So, by the way, he was an army officer.
00:09:05.720 So like I say, it's a Soviet-style propaganda project.
00:09:08.500 They're not real journalists.
00:09:09.720 So let me read a few paragraphs.
00:09:11.060 Give me two minutes, because I really want you to hear straight from a guy who actually worked for
00:09:15.420 Xinhua in Ottawa and what they really did, okay?
00:09:21.280 It was the Dalai Lama who tossed over the apple cart for me.
00:09:25.460 He came to Ottawa this past April 27th, the featured speaker at the Sixth World Parliamentarians'
00:09:31.040 Convention on Tibet.
00:09:33.060 Xinhua asked me to cover the session.
00:09:35.380 When I asked if the material was being used for a news article, Zhang said yes.
00:09:39.520 The next day, the Dalai Lama spoke to a packed hall at the Civic Center.
00:09:45.160 I bought a ticket and sat in the crowd.
00:09:47.840 As I left, my cell phone rang.
00:09:50.180 Zhang, who had been with the press contingent on the floor of the hall,
00:09:54.820 wanted me to cover the Dalai Lama's press conference, held a few minutes after the public event.
00:10:01.400 I used my press gallery pass to get into the room where the press conference was being held.
00:10:06.320 Zhang was already there with a video camera, but he wanted me to provide a written transcript of the press conference.
00:10:14.000 He also wanted me to use whatever sources I had in the government to find out what had happened
00:10:19.500 in the Dalai Lama's private meeting with Harper earlier in the day.
00:10:24.440 I asked if this material would be used in any kind of news story.
00:10:28.640 Zhang said no.
00:10:31.420 Xinhua does not report on Tibetan separatists, he said.
00:10:34.500 To do so would cause the government to lose face.
00:10:38.580 Over the past year, Xinhua's English-language news site has carried a few stories mentioning the Dalai Lama.
00:10:44.080 These mainly outlined diplomatic objections filed with the leaders of countries who met with the spiritual leader.
00:10:50.300 I reminded Zhang that the press conference was open only to accredited media.
00:10:55.540 Xinhua was therefore using our parliamentary press gallery ID
00:10:59.580 to gather information on critics of China.
00:11:02.680 If Xinhua would not carry any journalism on the Dalai Lama's visit,
00:11:06.440 we were there under false pretenses, pretending to be journalists, but acting as government agents.
00:11:14.740 We were allowed to be there as journalists, I wrote to Zhang in an email that I sent later that morning.
00:11:19.280 We were not working as journalists.
00:11:21.520 We were, by your description, gathering intelligence for China.
00:11:25.360 That day, I felt that we were spies.
00:11:29.040 It was time to draw the line.
00:11:30.160 I put down my pen, a notepad, listened to the Dalai Lama, shook his hand when he left,
00:11:34.980 went home, and sent Xinhua an email telling them I quit.
00:11:38.640 I was replaced by another press gallery freelancer within a few hours.
00:11:45.900 So that's not even propaganda, is it?
00:11:48.120 That's just spying.
00:11:49.460 I remember about 20 years ago when some Falun Gong members had a press conference on Parliament Hill,
00:11:56.020 and Xinhua sent some reporters to cover it.
00:11:59.120 And instead of covering it, they actually stood up and started shouting at the Falun Gong,
00:12:05.920 literally threatening them and insulting them and disrupting the event.
00:12:11.020 So not just propaganda and not just spying, actual intimidation and disruption in our country.
00:12:17.220 Imagine how much worse they are now, 20 years later.
00:12:22.260 And so the spy ring, this group of propagandists and spies and agents provocateurs,
00:12:28.460 is applying for membership in Trudeau's Parliamentary Press Gallery.
00:12:32.860 The same group that repeatedly bans our reporters at Rebel News by saying that we're too partisan,
00:12:39.740 or we advocate too much, or whatever they say.
00:12:42.980 As if the Toronto Star and the CBC aren't as partisan, as if left-wing media groups don't advocate the way we do.
00:12:49.840 But even Trudeau's own henchmen would never claim that we spy for a foreign power,
00:12:57.740 that we disrupt our enemies like Xinhua does to the Falun Gong.
00:13:02.700 And yet they are actually meeting to consider the application of Xinhua.
00:13:08.440 Maybe Xinhua's giving them $100,000 due, like they gave to the Globe and Mail or the Toronto Star.
00:13:14.500 And why not?
00:13:15.440 The Parliamentary Press Gallery accredits foreign powers now.
00:13:18.880 State broadcasters from Ukraine, from Vietnam, from Russia.
00:13:24.880 I mean, there is no dictatorship they've refused yet.
00:13:28.400 Why would they refuse China?
00:13:29.680 They hate us at Rebel News.
00:13:32.500 We're not allowed in.
00:13:33.580 But genocidal countries that put millions of dissidents in internment camps?
00:13:38.640 No problem.
00:13:39.700 We're happy to take your application.
00:13:41.640 Hey, did you see that billionaire tech bro who owns the Golden State Warriors NBA team?
00:13:47.480 Do you see this?
00:13:48.860 Nobody cares about what's happening to the Weakers, okay?
00:13:52.740 You bring it up because you really care.
00:13:54.720 And I think that's nice that you care.
00:13:56.400 The rest of us don't care.
00:13:57.300 I'm just telling you a very hard...
00:13:59.600 Wait, you're saying you personally don't care?
00:14:01.020 I'm telling you a very hard, ugly truth, okay?
00:14:03.200 Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line, okay?
00:14:07.160 Of all the things that I care about, it is below my line.
00:14:10.600 I mean, look, if the NBA has to crawl over a million dead Uyghurs to get access to the Chinese TV audience, they'll do it, okay?
00:14:20.540 I mean, money's money, okay?
00:14:23.100 At least that NBA collaborator has an excuse.
00:14:26.180 China is taking him from being very rich to being super rich.
00:14:31.180 What's the excuse for the Parliamentary Press Gallery, though?
00:14:33.440 I mean, seriously.
00:14:34.560 Are they being paid off?
00:14:37.420 Hmm.
00:14:38.000 Take a look at this.
00:14:39.680 It's a list of the executive of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
00:14:43.020 These are the deciders.
00:14:44.780 These are the ones having the secret meeting.
00:14:46.780 Seriously, they're doing it behind closed doors, in secret, Chinese-style.
00:14:52.020 Eight people.
00:14:54.000 Two of them are from the CBC.
00:14:55.280 They love China, or at least they do whatever Trudeau does, and he loves China.
00:14:59.880 There's someone from the Globe and Mail, publisher of China Watch.
00:15:03.020 So that's three yes votes, I'm presuming.
00:15:05.680 Two people from the Canadian press, also a huge benefactor of Trudeau's bailout.
00:15:09.880 Two from Global News, extreme leftists, as you know.
00:15:12.720 And two more Quebec bailout newspapers.
00:15:14.880 I mean, seriously, these are the insiders of the insiders.
00:15:18.880 There really is no separation between them and the Trudeau liberals financially, ideologically, socially.
00:15:25.500 Even their office space is right there in Parliament.
00:15:28.580 So what do you think?
00:15:31.360 Do you think Xinhua will be banned from the Parliamentary Press Gallery like Rebel News is?
00:15:37.180 Or do you think like the Golden State Warriors billionaire?
00:15:40.060 Huh, it's just about the money and the power.
00:15:44.820 We'll find out soon enough.
00:15:46.140 Stay with us for more.
00:15:46.920 We can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations to expire.
00:16:00.240 As a result, from the start of Thursday next week, mandatory certification will end.
00:16:06.760 Organisations can, of course, choose to use the NHS COVID pass voluntarily,
00:16:10.760 but we will end the compulsory use of COVID status certification in England.
00:16:15.440 From now on, the Government is no longer asking people to work from home.
00:16:21.000 And people should now speak to their employers about arrangements for returning to the office.
00:16:25.540 and having looked at the data carefully, the Cabinet concluded
00:16:30.100 that once regulations lapse, the Government will no longer mandate the wearing of face masks anyway.
00:16:39.260 And the Department for Education will shortly remove national guidance on their use in communal areas.
00:17:07.120 In the country at large, we will continue to suggest the use of face coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces,
00:17:12.960 particularly when you come into contact with people you don't normally meet.
00:17:16.260 But we will trust the judgment of the British people
00:17:20.380 and no longer criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear one.
00:17:25.620 The Government will also ease restrictions further on visits to care homes.
00:17:30.760 And my right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,
00:17:34.480 will set out plans in the coming days.
00:17:37.120 Mr. Speaker, as we return to Plan A, the House will know that some measures still remain,
00:17:43.120 including those on self-isolation.
00:17:45.460 Well, there you have it, as brought to you by GB News, my favourite British broadcaster,
00:17:51.260 Boris Johnson announcing the end of mask mandates, the end of work from home,
00:17:58.220 the end of some forms of the VAX passport.
00:18:00.980 He's obviously not going as far as Florida, where the state has positively banned other authorities from mask mandates.
00:18:09.900 For example, Florida does not have a mask mandate, but more than that,
00:18:13.320 they ban schools from forcing masks on people.
00:18:17.480 I'm afraid, because I've seen this movie before, that just because Boris Johnson lifts the mask mandate
00:18:23.380 doesn't mean that every petty bureaucrat, every mayor, every school principal won't demand masks,
00:18:32.160 using what little vestige of authority they have.
00:18:34.820 So if you're not banning forced masks, you're probably still going to get them from the diehards.
00:18:41.480 But at least there's an emotional and momentum shift.
00:18:47.300 Joining us now to talk about this is our friend, Louis Brackpool, our UK correspondent.
00:18:50.820 Louis, it's great to see you.
00:18:52.580 Yeah. Let's recognise this as a step forward, even though Boris Johnson has been all over the map
00:18:59.800 and he's been one of the worst, you've still got to give a guy credit when he does the right thing.
00:19:05.120 Yeah, absolutely.
00:19:06.360 I mean, it's very divided at the minute when I speak to circles about this issue.
00:19:10.600 You've got one side saying, right, let's have a party, let's celebrate, there's no restrictions anymore.
00:19:15.480 But then the other half are saying, well, why has he done it now and what's to come?
00:19:21.860 That's the main question.
00:19:24.140 Well, that's another thing.
00:19:24.940 I mean, we've seen across Canada, for example, you know, that I don't know if they have the same Snoopy cartoon in the UK.
00:19:34.000 When Lucy holds the football, I think it was for Charlie Brown to kick,
00:19:37.760 and the last minute she pulls it away and he falls.
00:19:40.840 I mean, we've seen this, just kidding, or sorry, just one more time, Groundhog Day, endlessness.
00:19:48.720 I think what you alluded to there is correct.
00:19:52.000 Boris Johnson had such a terrible week because so much of his own hypocrisy,
00:19:57.600 his secret garden parties, bring your own booze parties, and then the Labour Party, the opposition,
00:20:03.860 they had their beer parties.
00:20:05.920 Oh, it was just beer, not wine, they said, so it's different.
00:20:08.760 The entire political class in the UK has been caught cheating.
00:20:13.060 The government, the opposition, the media.
00:20:16.160 And I think everyone was just so sick of it, and now with the endless boosters required,
00:20:20.420 I think that Boris Johnson realized that he couldn't, that he had to do something dramatic to survive.
00:20:27.240 I think that's the only reason this happened now.
00:20:31.060 But I'm over here, thousands of kilometers away.
00:20:34.720 What do you think of my theory, that this dramatic gesture was just Boris Johnson's way of saving himself,
00:20:40.760 because he really was the target of a rebellion in his own party?
00:20:45.920 You're absolutely spot on.
00:20:48.580 It's exactly the same as what I think.
00:20:50.840 I think it's just all political theater now.
00:20:52.760 They could have done this months ago, but because the polls aren't looking good for Mr. Johnson,
00:20:58.420 he's had revolters.
00:20:59.800 I mean, we remember back when they tried to put through the vaccine passports and they had a vote on it,
00:21:05.420 126 Tory voters rebelled against it.
00:21:09.660 So he had a bit of a revolt against him.
00:21:11.480 There's even people talking about a no-confidence and have published a letter,
00:21:15.340 and we're seeing defectors left, right, and center, and more to come, apparently, according to sources.
00:21:21.880 So I think you're absolutely spot on.
00:21:23.800 I think it's political theater because he is in a lot of turmoil, and that's my opinion as well.
00:21:29.320 And I think that's the only way to see this situation.
00:21:33.460 You know, for all the problems you have in your system, Lewis,
00:21:37.700 the fact that 126 conservatives rebelled,
00:21:41.760 is that just the conservatives, or does that include Labour Party MPs?
00:21:46.700 Just conservatives.
00:21:47.920 I believe there was only seven on the Labour Party side.
00:21:51.020 But still, even that, there is not a single MP from any party in Canada who was allowed to dissent.
00:21:58.080 There was a conservative MP named Marilyn Gladue, a leadership contender.
00:22:01.460 She merely said, let's have a civil liberties caucus.
00:22:03.760 She was frog-marched out to the press by the so-called conservative leader of the opposition
00:22:08.140 and me to abjectly apologize.
00:22:10.760 Anyone remotely skeptical is sacked.
00:22:14.280 And you have 126 MPs saying, of the governing party, say, not us.
00:22:19.980 And even on the Labour side, like you say, seven MPs,
00:22:23.340 I understand that Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader whose brother, Pierce Corbyn,
00:22:28.020 is a real skeptic of lockdowns,
00:22:30.440 he himself is against it for reasons of class.
00:22:32.980 He doesn't want the working class punished while the fancy people,
00:22:37.060 the lawyers and the business folks who can work from Zoom, from home, are loving it.
00:22:42.420 So I have to admire the British system, as flawed as it is.
00:22:46.140 At least it allows some dissent and some debate.
00:22:48.580 We have none of that in Canada, Lewis.
00:22:51.320 Yeah, absolutely.
00:22:52.500 And I think comparing both countries, Canada and the UK,
00:22:56.340 I think it is safe to say that there is a kind of a gratefulness over here in that respect.
00:23:01.960 However, I believe the work is definitely not done.
00:23:05.120 I believe there is still 10 tons worth of work to be done since this call.
00:23:12.400 So like I said, it's split between two camps.
00:23:15.360 It's the people that are celebrating and that are happy.
00:23:18.500 There are revolters, but other people are saying it's not enough.
00:23:21.700 I'm swaying towards the not enough side.
00:23:24.900 Well, that's the thing.
00:23:25.740 I mean, as I said right at the top, just because the prime minister,
00:23:28.760 I mean, listen, the prime minister is obviously a moral leader, leads by example.
00:23:33.080 That's why he was in so much trouble when he was caught cheating and his senior staff were caught cheating.
00:23:38.840 And Neil Ferguson, the fear-mongering epidemiologist, was caught cheating.
00:23:42.940 All the big shots were caught cheating.
00:23:44.680 And that really corroded respect for the lockdowns.
00:23:47.760 But now that Boris Johnson basically says, all right, I'm not even going to try anymore.
00:23:52.840 I think that encourages other people to to be free as well.
00:23:57.280 But I do know that there are some people who love the lockdown so much they're going to want to keep it in their little place.
00:24:03.740 And I also know, forget about little authoritarians like like mayors and little counselor, anyone with a shred of government power.
00:24:13.060 I think it is permanently screwed up.
00:24:16.580 Ten percent of people that they are genuinely terrified and that they will probably wear masks for the rest of their lives.
00:24:24.740 I think that some people are so susceptible to fear and the way they've psychologically coped is to absolutely go full, you know, hazmat suit.
00:24:36.260 They will never give up the terror.
00:24:39.100 And they'll and in some quarters they'll impose that on others, like like a parent demanding that a school do it.
00:24:45.500 I think you will still see very noisy lay citizens demanding.
00:24:50.380 I mean, we see that in the state of Virginia, in the United States, the new governor says no more mask mandates.
00:24:58.220 And a lot of the schools said, oh, yeah, well, we'll see you on that one.
00:25:02.280 So that's my worry, Louis.
00:25:03.980 Do you think that's going to happen in the UK?
00:25:05.560 Like, I mean, even there's the different regions, like the different countries, Wales and Scotland, very lockdownist over there, aren't they?
00:25:13.280 Absolutely.
00:25:13.980 I mean, when I've always gone out to do reports through London, I'm the only one on the tube not wearing a mask.
00:25:18.960 And it's sad to say.
00:25:20.720 I mean, sure, that was during the restrictions, but it happened even when we lifted these restrictions last year.
00:25:26.760 And we're going to continue to see that.
00:25:28.680 People, it's no secret now that we're being run by behavioural scientists.
00:25:33.260 So now this almost psychological operation has sort of transformed people and made people think that now even the government telling them, no, you don't have to wear this to feel safe or to protect others.
00:25:48.980 And you're seeing people now taking the step one step further.
00:25:55.840 And, yeah, I don't think people are going to ditch the mask soon.
00:25:59.280 I mean, I know Twitter is an example of real life, so it kind of is a bad example.
00:26:03.580 But people have started trending hashtag wear a mask already on Twitter for the United Kingdom.
00:26:10.960 So, no, you're completely right.
00:26:12.560 I don't see a shift of people starting to rebel.
00:26:16.260 I think they're just going to take things to the next level in their own case.
00:26:21.000 The leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, if I'm saying his name correctly, he's been all over the map on things.
00:26:26.120 He was actually a bit of a lockdownist.
00:26:27.720 I remember last year when he walked into a pub and was thrown out by the public owner because the pub owner was just so disgusted with the Labour Party for cracking down on middle class shopkeepers like that.
00:26:41.040 It was quite something. But besides him, Sadek Khan, the mayor of London, is an extremist leftist in his own right.
00:26:52.780 He's been terrible on every issue.
00:26:55.320 He really is the British equivalent to, I don't know, the mayor, you know, the outgoing mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio.
00:27:02.500 Have we heard anything from Sadek Khan?
00:27:05.520 I mean, I would expect that he would say, well, you may be the prime minister, but I'm the mayor of London.
00:27:11.040 And I control the tube and I control the buses and I control the police and I control all this.
00:27:17.600 And I'm the boss of London and I say the masks stay.
00:27:21.160 Has he said anything like that yet?
00:27:23.920 Yes, it has.
00:27:24.960 He's come out and said that for the tube and public transport in London, we are to keep masks.
00:27:31.520 So you must continue to wear masks, even though the government have turned around and said you don't need to.
00:27:36.880 He's still implementing that on the citizens of London.
00:27:40.000 And it's almost that classic metropolitan bubble that he likes to encapsulate all the people in.
00:27:46.380 Yeah, it's awful.
00:27:47.680 So he's still playing dictator over in London.
00:27:50.200 Well, it's very interesting.
00:27:52.720 I do think it's a step in the right direction.
00:27:54.700 I think it's because he wanted the Boris Johnson wanted to change the channel from his growing scandals and the rebellion.
00:28:01.940 I think he needed to do something dramatic.
00:28:03.780 Whatever the reason is, I'm glad it happened.
00:28:06.160 And you'll keep us posted from the UK.
00:28:08.140 Great to see you again, Lewis.
00:28:09.800 Thank you.
00:28:10.400 Thank you, Ezra.
00:28:11.040 I'll keep posted.
00:28:11.900 Right on there.
00:28:12.360 You have a Lewis Brackpool, our UK correspondent.
00:28:14.900 Stay with us more ahead.
00:28:15.780 Hey, welcome back.
00:28:24.860 Your viewer feedback, Ramblote, says we are a communist province of a foreign power.
00:28:31.160 And it's pretty disgusting.
00:28:32.220 Only fellow Chinese vassals like Australia and New Zealand are more committed to abusing their citizens for unclear motivations.
00:28:40.240 Again, as always, you could be talking about any number of stories that we cover here.
00:28:44.040 I was very pleased to see that Boris Johnson, in a panic, after having tried every other option, the only thing left to do was to do the right thing and abolish the parliamentary mask mandate and vax passes.
00:28:56.360 I think, as Lewis said, there's going to be a lot more battles to come, but at least it's a moral signal.
00:29:00.940 They're done with it.
00:29:02.000 Listen, if that's what it took Boris Johnson to do to save his political career, I'm happy to see it.
00:29:07.240 But, uh, Perseus 09 says, here again is proof that the liberals have taken a page out of Nazi history and are applying to our society today.
00:29:15.860 It didn't start with the gas chambers.
00:29:17.360 It started with one party controlling the media, one party controlling the message, one deciding what is truth, one party censoring speech and silencing opposition, one party dividing citizens into us and them and calling on their supporters to harass them.
00:29:30.760 It started with good people turning a blind eye and letting it happen.
00:29:35.040 This video proves that history is repeating itself.
00:29:37.600 The liberals have done everything mentioned in the above statement.
00:29:40.840 I think we can truthfully now say that the liberals are the neo-Nazis of Canada.
00:29:45.000 Well, I'm not going to go all the way there because there are certain things that the Nazis did that the Canadian government is doing, things that the Nazis did in the early days, the demonization, the censorship, the whipping people up, the calling people dirty and unclean.
00:30:02.800 But, of course, we can't go the full distance because, thank God, they haven't gone to the death camps and to murder and things of that sort.
00:30:09.600 But there is a lot of intimidation, there is a lot of pressure, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that they're neo-Nazis or Nazis of the old variety.
00:30:19.280 But I want to show you a video clip from Quebec TV that I saw today that makes me afraid because one of the tricks of the Nazis, and indeed the Soviets do, the Soviets had their young pioneers, the Nazis had their Hitlerjugend, which was basically the Hitler Youth is what that translates into directly.
00:30:36.800 Look at this video from Quebec TV. And these are children. Children can be taught to say anything. Children basically repeat what their parents or teachers say. Look at these children and what they've been taught to say.
00:30:49.480 For the vaccine, you both?
00:30:51.340 Yes, we both, we have a single dose.
00:30:53.640 Ah oui? And are you of course, you both, with the mandatory vaccination?
00:30:57.660 Oui.
00:30:58.160 Oui?
00:30:58.440 Oh!
00:30:59.020 Ah oui, hein?
00:30:59.700 Wow!
00:31:00.000 On dirait que je les ai drillés, Julie.
00:31:01.420 Oui.
00:31:02.820 Puis qu'est-ce qu'on devrait faire avec les gens qui ne veulent pas se faire vacciner?
00:31:05.920 On devrait appeler la police.
00:31:08.780 Oh!
00:31:09.180 Oui!
00:31:09.840 Oui!
00:31:10.480 S'ils n'ont pas leur vaccin, ça peut mettre beaucoup de personnes en danger.
00:31:14.240 Fait que comme le gouvernement est en train de faire en ce moment, il faut leur couper petites choses à petites jusqu'à temps qu'ils se donnent puis qu'ils se fassent vacciner.
00:31:22.740 En tout cas, on a des futurs politiciens à côté de nous. Merci! Merci beaucoup à tous vos invités.
00:31:27.600 And this was on a celebrated Quebec TV station, and no one in the entire operation said, this is a little dark, this is a little scary, this is a little cruel.
00:31:38.420 They loved it.
00:31:41.000 Here's a letter from RSCH who says, the Bank of Canada is supposed to be a public-owned bank, one of the only ones in the world.
00:31:49.280 Well, I'm not sure if that's quite true. I mean, I suppose it's owned or controlled by the Canadian government in the same way that the Federal Reserve Bank is and that other national banks are.
00:31:59.680 So I don't know about being owned or, I don't know exactly what you mean. I'm not an expert in banking, but I think it is the counterpart to the Bank of England or to the Federal Reserve.
00:32:11.420 I have a lot of problems with our Bank of Canada. The fact that they are so demonstrably partisan and political, I think, is one of the problems, but it's just one of many.
00:32:24.780 Let me close today with a video of the day from Drea Humphrey talking about Vancity Bank and their approach to the crisis.
00:32:32.700 I'll leave you with that. Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rubble World Headquarters, to you at home, good night. Keep fighting for freedom.
00:32:39.320 Really, it's anything. So we've moved virtual. We were virtual when the pandemic first hit. 15-minute appointments, if it's in-person and whatnot.
00:32:50.980 We went back to in-person appointments. Now we're moving back. Anything longer than 15 minutes in an office, we're just trying to protect people, right? Protect members, protect the staff.
00:33:01.360 We're just trying to protect people, right?
00:33:31.360 A woman from the Lower Mainland who is from a one-income family and has already taken the blow of being put off work without pay due to her vaccination status,
00:33:43.300 only to be told that when she goes to take her money out, she can't do it unless she shows a QR code.
00:33:50.920 You're not going to want to miss a minute of this shocking report, but before I get there, if you're new to Rubble News, you should know that we've had enough of segregation at Rubble News.
00:34:00.940 And if you have too, please take this simple step. Open up a new tab or go to another device and search fightvaccinepassports.com.
00:34:11.640 That's our special website where we crowdfund to help support the slew of lawyers fighting around the clock to end vaccine passports and to represent people at no cost who are fighting no jab, no pay policies.
00:34:26.620 We've partnered with the Democracy Fund charity to do this initiative, so all funds go directly to that charity to pay off the legal fees.
00:34:34.940 Not a penny goes to Rubble News.
00:34:36.420 We must restore freedom in Canada now.
00:34:41.640 Tracy, this is a crazy story, one the public really needs to hear and grasp, hopefully not a sign of the times.
00:34:48.780 You wanted to cash in your RRSPs with Vancity Bank and you called to make an appointment.
00:34:55.320 Tell us what happened after that.
00:34:57.620 I had an appointment and the night before the bank called me at home and told me I needed to bring in my QR code to show my vaccination status to my appointment.
00:35:10.360 And I got quite upset on the phone and I actually hung up on the guy and I ended up talking to the bank manager, who said to me that because it's an appointment in closed quarters, anything over 15 minutes, they were going to start to need to show vaccination status.
00:35:31.280 So, where were they getting this rule from?
00:35:37.420 Did they say it's their Vancity policy because it's certainly not government policy?
00:35:42.460 Right.
00:35:43.000 And I got upset with the manager as well and she said she would accommodate me.
00:35:46.900 And I went in the next day and I did confirm with her, she said at that appointment that you were to, people were, it was a new policy.
00:35:56.620 She confirmed it was not a branch policy, it was coming from head office.
00:36:01.340 And she said that they were not going to scan the code, so they were just going to look at them.
00:36:08.600 Let's throw to a clip of Tracy speaking to the manager about just that.
00:36:12.500 Okay, yes, I want you to explain the QR, the new QR code policy of your bank.
00:36:18.060 So, really it's anything, so we've moved virtual.
00:36:20.960 We were virtual when the pandemic first hit.
00:36:25.400 15-minute appointments, if it's in person and whatnot.
00:36:29.500 We went back to in-person appointments, now we're moving back.
00:36:33.740 Anything longer than 15 minutes in an office, we're just trying to protect people, right?
00:36:38.040 Protect members, protect the staff.
00:36:39.840 So, no, explain the QR code part, please.
00:36:44.300 So, you know what, the QR code really is, it's, if you're going to be sitting in anything longer than that, we're just requesting that.
00:36:54.080 You know, same thing when people go to restaurants and whatnot, yeah.
00:36:57.400 So, you're requesting that people show you their medical information at the bank.
00:37:01.740 Well, we're not scanning, we don't scan anything, we really don't.
00:37:04.420 I know, but that's, that's irregardless.
00:37:07.740 But you're requesting.
00:37:08.560 So, and I do think, I do think it's something that I don't know if it's being looked at or whatnot.
00:37:13.960 So, really, to that right now, I mean, that, that came out yesterday, we're still gathering information.
00:37:21.480 So, this isn't your branch, this came out from head office yesterday?
00:37:24.920 Oh, yeah.
00:37:25.880 So, it's not, yeah, I mean, we don't, we don't make these rules in branch.
00:37:29.240 Well, yes, I don't know that, right?
00:37:30.500 We take direction from our head office.
00:37:32.840 Okay, because somebody, they phoned me last night and told me I could not come to my appointment without a QR code.
00:37:40.280 Of course, that's not the case.
00:37:41.340 We find other ways that we can.
00:37:43.020 It's, you can come to your appointment.
00:37:44.740 If it's a put-in-out appointment, absolutely.
00:37:47.940 Okay, so.
00:37:48.780 So, where's the science between, behind 15 minutes for somebody without a QR code?
00:37:54.440 It's to minimize the, the actual interaction that we have.
00:37:57.540 Because, I mean, because honestly, the public health says it's actually, the public health order says it's illegal to ask for a QR code at a credit union, right?
00:38:08.820 So, you guys know that because that's part of the public health order and everybody's, I'm sure the bank has seen that.
00:38:15.700 And also, I'd like to know why anybody with any common sense would see that the government has said that 84% of new cases are in the fully vaccinated, according to the government stats, right?
00:38:29.080 I'm not going to get into the weeds of it because I'm not, you know.
00:38:32.520 I know it's not your policy personally, but you're the only person I have to talk to about it.
00:38:36.920 What I am going to do is, because this is still so new and whatnot, I can take your information and let's, we can, we can forward it on, right?
00:38:45.320 But it's, for me to, like, I'm not an expert.
00:38:48.660 So, it sounds like you, you stood your ground, you did a little fighting, and that actually got you the appointment without showing a QR code, correct?
00:38:57.460 And then the manager said, oh, we were just going to show it, and you can hear your questioning, you know, what would be the purpose of that?
00:39:05.320 What do you think about the answer she gave?
00:39:08.340 Well, because I told her, according to the public health order, which I brought with me to my appointment, it says no QR codes will be required at banks or credit unions.
00:39:16.260 And I said, so how can you guys just arbitrarily make these rules?
00:39:20.160 And not only that, but 80% of the new cases are vaccinated, so how is this protecting your employees from me specifically?
00:39:30.540 Which, of course, she didn't have an answer for, because it doesn't make any sense.
00:39:35.020 Tracy was right. This doesn't make any sense.
00:39:38.240 Across Canada, we are seeing that fully vaccinated people are filling the majority of hospital beds.
00:39:43.500 Pfizer's own CEO recently stated that those with two shots have little, if any, protection against the dominant Omicron strain.
00:39:52.960 And a new clinical study out of Israel is showing that four COVID shots is not looking very promising either.
00:40:00.340 Was Vancity asking to see Tracy's QR code based on signs that meant doing so would make their staff and customers safer?
00:40:07.360 Or following the lead of our Trudeau government by making life harder for Tracy so she will finally cave, go against her conscience, and comply?
00:40:18.260 We've continued to put forward strong incentives to be vaccinated.
00:40:21.440 If you want to get on a plane, if you want to get on a train, if you want to travel internationally,
00:40:26.260 these are the kinds of things that encourage people to get vaccinated.
00:40:30.320 And I can tell you that there continue to be people showing up in vaccination clinics to get their first shots.
00:40:38.520 Something quite remarkable happened after you kind of stood that ground, had that conversation with the manager.
00:40:45.400 You went home and then received a phone call. Tell us about that.
00:40:50.220 I got a phone call at home from, I can't remember the gentleman's name now.
00:40:55.580 He's VP from Vancity. He called me at home, and he apologized, and it was a little bit of a lengthy conversation,
00:41:03.780 but he did say that no QR codes would be required or asked from people, so he was basically backpedaling.
00:41:13.780 We want to make sure that we're not creating any challenges for our members in any way, so definitely,
00:41:24.480 an error on our part, so that's all I can say if it's an error, and we will make sure that our staff going forward
00:41:31.660 have all the right information to share with our membership.
00:41:35.960 Okay, because the manager did confirm with me that was the new policy as well.
00:41:42.540 It wasn't just the person that...
00:41:43.680 Confirmed that with you today?
00:41:46.520 We were on the phone the other day that they would make an accommodation for me, but that was the policy.
00:41:51.540 And they told me, and they did tell me, you have to know that they told me it was to keep the members safe
00:41:58.860 because the unvaccinated were transferring the virus, they told me.
00:42:03.600 And they also...
00:42:04.300 Those words that they used to?
00:42:05.260 Yes.
00:42:06.420 Yes.
00:42:07.100 And I will go and swear on this.
00:42:11.340 And they also told me that I could bring in a medical exemption, and that would be okay.
00:42:17.980 And even when I went to the bank today, they said, well, we weren't going to scan your QR code.
00:42:22.080 We were just going to look at it, the manager said.
00:42:25.040 And I have that...
00:42:26.100 I have it on tape, though, too, right?
00:42:28.280 Yeah.
00:42:28.460 So, you know...
00:42:29.460 I don't know...
00:42:30.400 I don't know quite...
00:42:32.160 Honestly, I don't know where that piece of information would have come from,
00:42:36.220 but I will certainly connect directly with the manager on that one
00:42:40.720 because that information, I'm not sure how that was interpreted or where that came from
00:42:46.640 to be completely transparent.
00:42:49.460 But I will certainly deal with it.
00:42:51.000 The last thing we want to do is create anxiety.
00:42:53.140 You know, it's a very challenging time for everyone in society,
00:42:57.040 and we certainly do not want to create more layers than we need to
00:43:01.220 in terms of supporting our membership in our communities.
00:43:04.380 And as I said, I apologize for the experience that you've had.
00:43:07.500 That's not what our intention is or our expectations are.
00:43:13.260 And I do believe in this situation, it was a misinterpretation of what we were trying to convey.
00:43:18.500 and trying to do, but we've rectified that.
00:43:21.660 As I said, there's a communication and information that's gone back to our team
00:43:26.040 to make sure that everyone across all of our member-facing channels
00:43:31.460 and branches and call center and mobile team
00:43:34.500 are well aware of how we are going to accommodate our members going forward.
00:43:38.780 And again, there is no proof of vaccination required or to be requested.
00:43:43.740 Well, it is nice to get an apology for being discriminated against these days,
00:43:48.220 but what exactly was the bizarre policy in the first place?
00:43:51.600 And while we're at it, how is Vancity treating their own employees
00:43:54.880 who haven't yet taken a COVID-19 injectable with zero long-term studies?
00:44:00.540 Here is a bit of their response to my inquiry on just that.
00:44:04.360 I'll put their full statement on my written article for this report at rebelnews.com.
00:44:10.800 Vancity members are not required to provide proof of vaccination
00:44:14.400 to access any of its community branches or financial services.
00:44:18.920 They included a list of other less extreme measures they have taken to address COVID-19,
00:44:24.100 including daily health checks, plexiglass shields, distancing and masking.
00:44:28.620 And for their staff, they say that they will require them to be fully vaccinated for COVID
00:44:33.760 by February 7th, 2022.
00:44:37.440 They say that they value their employees and are currently working with a small minority
00:44:41.860 of unvaccinated employees on personalized plans.
00:44:46.120 I was able to confirm with a Vancity employee who prefers to remain anonymous
00:44:50.340 that to date, Vancity has accommodated unvaccinated employees,
00:44:54.940 including by allowing them to work from home.
00:44:59.040 So while they are choosing to accommodate the marginalized employees,
00:45:02.440 they are segregating despite the virus spreading regardless of one's vaccination status.
00:45:07.240 And they were also quick to try and smother out further sparks
00:45:11.020 from asking Tracy for her QR code to withdraw her own investment.
00:45:16.400 Should Canadians still be concerned that this ever happened to her in the first place?
00:45:21.500 Now, I think you should give yourself a pat on the back with that.
00:45:26.040 I recently covered the Ronald McDonald House story,
00:45:29.060 where they have this inhumane policy that's throwing out sick children
00:45:33.920 and their families based on the vaccination status.
00:45:36.520 And at the time of recording this, they still have not even revoked that policy.
00:45:40.040 But you asked some solid key questions to that manager,
00:45:44.240 and obviously they probably had a conversation and then changed that.
00:45:47.980 So I do think that's a win because this is concerning to see more and more areas
00:45:52.080 where unvaccinated people are treated less than human.
00:45:55.580 Now, it might have had a little bit to do with you pressing for who people should talk to
00:46:02.100 should they have concerns about the Vancity policy.
00:46:05.020 Let's throw to a clip of you speaking with the manager about just that.
00:46:09.300 I take your feedback for sure.
00:46:11.880 And I will, I trust that I will forward it all to the appropriate people.
00:46:16.260 Okay.
00:46:17.020 And if people want to phone and have their opinion,
00:46:20.720 I don't want them necessarily all calling you.
00:46:23.080 That's not fair.
00:46:24.240 Right?
00:46:24.620 So who should they call?
00:46:25.900 Can you give me?
00:46:27.240 So there is, on our website, there is a feedback link.
00:46:30.820 It's called Feedback and Complaints.
00:46:32.180 I don't think they're going to go in there.
00:46:33.480 I think they want to call somebody.
00:46:35.380 So then it would be probably directed to the CEO's office.
00:46:39.140 Okay.
00:46:39.460 Do you have a, do you have a contact?
00:46:40.880 I can, it's on the website.
00:46:43.000 This, the CEO?
00:46:44.260 Yeah, CEO's office.
00:46:45.060 Yeah.
00:46:45.300 I'm going to give a little credit where credit is due.
00:46:47.300 It's good that they tossed out that policy.
00:46:49.700 But for you, why was the apology not good enough?
00:46:55.600 Well, I did say to the VP when we were talking, like, what if it wasn't me?
00:47:01.340 What if it was a senior trying to get their money?
00:47:03.520 And what if they just, you know, what if they weren't able to push back?
00:47:08.440 What if you continued with the policy?
00:47:10.100 There's lots of people that need their money now because they've lost their jobs,
00:47:14.320 because of these outrageous policies and stuff like that, which was my case.
00:47:18.620 And it just wouldn't be right if we wouldn't be able to access our money.
00:47:24.560 What would you say to the people who say, what's the big deal?
00:47:27.020 Even if they're vaccinated, just show your QR code and go get your banking done.
00:47:30.760 I don't know.
00:47:33.860 Where does it stop, really?
00:47:36.740 I've heard rumors that in other countries they're stopping people from accessing any kind of public transportation
00:47:42.560 and going into the post office.
00:47:46.620 And now in Quebec, you're not allowed to go to do a lot of your shopping.
00:47:51.000 Like, where does it end?
00:47:52.760 That's a really good question.
00:47:55.360 Well, thank you so much, Tracy.
00:47:56.580 This is a very important story.
00:47:58.300 I know it's not always easy to do an interview, but you're keeping the public informed.
00:48:02.900 Drea Humphrey for Rebel News.
00:48:07.440 Now, again, you can see the full written statement at rebelnews.com.
00:48:11.960 But I also want to encourage you guys to remember to go to fightvaccinepassports.com.
00:48:18.020 Yes, Tracy's able to get her own money out after not being able to get paid to do a career she's trained to do.
00:48:24.380 But we got to make sure this stuff stops altogether.
00:48:27.600 We'll see you next time.