Rebel News Podcast - October 31, 2022


MENZIES ｜ The social irresponsibility of lottery and liquor monopolies


Episode Stats

Length

47 minutes

Words per Minute

153.23123

Word Count

7,220

Sentence Count

361

Misogynist Sentences

12

Hate Speech Sentences

4


Summary

The ostensible policy reason why provincial governments justify their liquor and lottery monopolies comes down to that nifty, albeit nebulous term known as social responsibility. Social responsibility is the caveat governments cling to when justifying their monopolistic ways. So why do these entities act so socially irresponsibly?


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Tonight, provincial governments justify their lottery and liquor monopolies
00:00:04.480 on the proviso of social responsibility.
00:00:08.860 So why do these entities act so socially irresponsibly?
00:00:14.220 It's Halloween 2022.
00:00:16.960 I'm David Menzies and this is the Ezra Levent Show.
00:00:21.460 Shame on you, you censorious bug.
00:00:30.000 The ostensible policy reason why provincial governments justify their liquor and lottery monopolies
00:00:42.000 comes down to that nifty, albeit nebulous, term known as social responsibility.
00:00:48.960 Social responsibility boils down to this.
00:00:51.880 Because alcohol and gambling have the power to negatively affect consumers,
00:00:56.620 i.e. one might become an alcoholic,
00:00:58.960 and or go bankrupt,
00:01:01.820 then the management of these vices simply cannot be trusted to the private sector.
00:01:08.140 The private sector is all about money-obsessed capitalists
00:01:11.660 making moolah regardless of the consequences, you see.
00:01:15.580 So if booze and blackjack were entrusted to those in the private sector,
00:01:20.560 well, the next thing you know,
00:01:21.520 you'd have 12-year-olds guzzling down Colt 45 as they emptied their piggy banks at the roulette table.
00:01:29.040 But G is for government and G is for goodness, you see.
00:01:33.120 And so it is that government, as opposed to private sector profiteers,
00:01:37.200 always acts in good faith and in a socially responsible fashion.
00:01:43.860 That's a load of crap, of course, and I will indeed present evidence to prove this point.
00:01:48.620 But the crux of the matter is that social responsibility is the caveat governments cling to
00:01:54.740 when justifying their monopolistic ways.
00:01:58.020 So it is that I found it quite curious to learn that the ever-scandal-plagued
00:02:03.180 Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
00:02:05.620 recently decided to quietly jettison its social responsibility mission statement
00:02:12.620 pertaining to sports wagering.
00:02:15.780 Well, not officially, of course.
00:02:18.420 But the OLG did say all revoir to social responsibility nevertheless,
00:02:23.800 and in doing so dismissed their very reason for existence.
00:02:29.140 You see, for decades, the OLG limited its sports gamblers
00:02:33.560 to wagering no more than $100 per day.
00:02:37.760 So if you thought you had a sure-thing parlay
00:02:40.820 and you wanted to bet $500 or $5,000 or even $50,000,
00:02:45.440 well, tough luck.
00:02:47.140 You were confined to that measly $100 limit.
00:02:50.260 You see, the social responsible OLG
00:02:53.780 didn't want Joe Blow blowing the milk money
00:02:57.520 on yet another doomed wager on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
00:03:02.060 That could lead to financial and family distress,
00:03:05.020 and who wants to see that play out?
00:03:07.200 Oh, and if you were a cheeky monkey
00:03:09.960 and you tried to exceed that $100 limit
00:03:12.620 by purchasing multiple tickets at multiple different stores
00:03:16.700 and you were to win big, guess what?
00:03:19.620 The OLG would simply refuse to pay out on those winning wagers.
00:03:23.940 The OLG would merely pay off on that first $100 bet,
00:03:27.900 then refund the wagers on all subsequent wagers,
00:03:31.120 and then they really just tell you to bugger off
00:03:34.300 without paying out on those remaining jackpots, of course,
00:03:37.980 because evidently that was the socially responsible thing to do.
00:03:42.360 Now, you may have picked up
00:03:44.360 that I've been speaking in the past tense
00:03:46.720 these past few minutes,
00:03:48.060 because get this,
00:03:49.460 I was recently tipped off by a sports gambler
00:03:52.200 that the OLG very quietly dropped
00:03:55.160 the social responsibility caveat
00:03:58.100 pertaining to those $100 wagers
00:04:00.420 vis-a-vis sports gambling.
00:04:03.480 Why?
00:04:04.220 Well, there's now some competition
00:04:06.220 in the sports betting field,
00:04:08.620 competition where limits do not apply.
00:04:11.720 And why is there suddenly competition
00:04:13.760 to the OLG's monopoly, you ask?
00:04:15.900 Well, Premier Doug Ford had to figure out
00:04:18.620 a way to pay off his liberal buddies.
00:04:20.640 Oh, sure, it's one thing for the chief
00:04:23.380 cherry cheesecake enthusiast
00:04:25.180 to say that he stands shoulder-to-shoulder
00:04:27.940 with Justin Trudeau,
00:04:29.280 but money talks and you-know-what walks,
00:04:32.700 and Dougie's growing cadre of liberal cronies
00:04:35.860 desperately needs some do-re-mi these days,
00:04:39.600 and lots of it.
00:04:40.860 Indeed, check out this excerpt
00:04:42.700 from an ad run by the New Blue Party,
00:04:46.140 which exposes how Premier Ford
00:04:48.480 decided to enrich his media party minions
00:04:51.720 at the Toronto Star?
00:04:54.220 Oh, it's true, it's true.
00:04:56.120 Did you know the Toronto Star
00:04:58.260 got the first licence in Ontario
00:05:01.420 to make an online casino?
00:05:05.680 Why would Ontario let liberal
00:05:08.580 and left-wing establishment media,
00:05:10.640 like the Toronto Star,
00:05:12.900 suck $500 million
00:05:14.040 out of the pockets of Ontario families?
00:05:17.640 Will Doug Ford defund the Toronto Star?
00:05:21.840 No, because Doug Ford approved
00:05:24.640 this liberal jackpot.
00:05:28.900 Doug Ford gave a $500 million
00:05:31.860 online gambling licence,
00:05:34.800 the first of its kind in Ontario,
00:05:37.600 to the Toronto Star.
00:05:39.380 And then he gave the Ontario Lottery
00:05:42.040 Gaming Commission
00:05:42.940 another $500 million
00:05:44.860 of your taxpayer money.
00:05:47.560 And after all that,
00:05:49.340 Doug Ford put the Toronto Star's lobbyist,
00:05:52.020 a liberal lobbyist,
00:05:53.320 in charge of it all.
00:05:56.180 Doug Ford, good for Liberals,
00:05:59.060 bad for Ontario families.
00:06:01.060 Now, naturally,
00:06:02.120 the online casinos want no part
00:06:04.960 when it comes to wager limits.
00:06:06.820 So what Torstar wants,
00:06:08.840 Torstar gets.
00:06:10.420 They don't give a rodent's rectum
00:06:12.120 about a gambling addict
00:06:13.240 losing his or her house.
00:06:15.180 Which is kind of weird
00:06:16.560 because the Toronto Star's model
00:06:18.340 used to be comforting the afflicted
00:06:21.020 and afflicting the comfortable.
00:06:23.520 Yeah, but that was way back
00:06:25.040 when the Toronto Star
00:06:26.100 was actually selling newspapers
00:06:27.900 at a profit,
00:06:28.860 and Torstar wasn't a penny stock company.
00:06:31.700 These days,
00:06:33.240 readers aren't renewing
00:06:34.740 their subscriptions
00:06:35.540 and advertisers
00:06:36.640 continue to abandon ship,
00:06:38.980 which means that
00:06:39.900 there are far better profits
00:06:41.940 to be had
00:06:42.700 by operating a casino
00:06:44.840 rather than a woke joke newspaper.
00:06:48.160 But surely the OLG
00:06:50.200 would never acquiesce
00:06:51.940 to limitless wagering,
00:06:53.660 would it?
00:06:54.500 Because unlike Northstar
00:06:56.140 and all the rest,
00:06:56.980 the OLG is socially responsible,
00:07:00.020 right?
00:07:00.280 Well, that was then
00:07:02.160 and this is now, folks,
00:07:03.240 because the OLG,
00:07:04.460 in the face of online competition,
00:07:06.340 has decided to withdraw
00:07:07.620 its betting limits, too.
00:07:10.020 Now, I decided to reach out
00:07:11.280 to the OLG to find out
00:07:12.560 how it was socially irresponsible
00:07:15.340 to bet more than $100
00:07:17.320 on, say, a baseball game
00:07:19.240 back in August,
00:07:19.960 but it's now perfectly fine
00:07:22.860 to do so today.
00:07:24.600 And here is the word soup response
00:07:26.980 I received from the OLG's
00:07:28.840 communications department
00:07:30.540 and you tell me
00:07:32.240 if the OLG's careen
00:07:33.920 answered my query
00:07:35.180 in a clear and concise way.
00:07:37.960 Quote,
00:07:38.720 OLG offers a competitive sports book,
00:07:42.280 ProLine Plus,
00:07:43.540 and in-store ProLine
00:07:45.140 backed by the confidence
00:07:46.680 and trust our customers' place
00:07:49.040 in the OLG brand.
00:07:50.800 We have recently updated
00:07:52.940 a decades-old sport betting limit policy
00:07:55.880 for ProLine at retail
00:07:57.960 that will improve our player
00:07:59.860 and retail experiences.
00:08:02.280 ProLine customers in Ontario
00:08:04.160 are no longer be restricted
00:08:06.440 to betting $100 per day
00:08:08.760 per lottery retailer.
00:08:10.680 The $100 cap applies
00:08:12.680 to each sports wager.
00:08:14.760 This update brings Ontario
00:08:17.480 in line with prevailing practices
00:08:19.400 across Canada
00:08:20.340 and allows OLG
00:08:21.600 to remain competitive
00:08:22.720 in a growing sports betting market.
00:08:25.800 End quote.
00:08:26.560 Huh?
00:08:27.200 Was that really
00:08:28.740 the answer to my question?
00:08:30.860 Hey, OLG media relations,
00:08:33.900 to quote the pang one,
00:08:35.420 Make those messages clear.
00:08:37.340 Oh, make those messages clear.
00:08:40.240 In any event,
00:08:44.220 it would seem that
00:08:45.360 the unclear message
00:08:47.220 the OLG is trying to convey
00:08:49.060 is this.
00:08:50.020 Ever since Fat Bastard
00:08:51.420 opened up the online marketplace
00:08:53.060 to competitors,
00:08:54.520 screw social responsibility.
00:08:56.900 So it is that
00:08:57.740 the OLG's new marketing mantra
00:08:59.900 is if you can't beat them,
00:09:02.540 join them.
00:09:03.900 Besides,
00:09:04.340 have you checked out
00:09:05.260 Ontario's debt and deficit lately?
00:09:07.560 Hoo-hoo.
00:09:08.420 And by the way,
00:09:09.860 is Corrine high on something
00:09:11.680 when she states that
00:09:13.060 ProLine is, quote,
00:09:14.840 backed by the confidence
00:09:16.460 and trust our customers' place
00:09:18.920 in the OLG brand?
00:09:20.580 End quote.
00:09:21.580 In fact,
00:09:22.560 that is the marketing message
00:09:24.440 being pushed at retail stores
00:09:26.380 these days.
00:09:27.040 Check out this poster.
00:09:28.360 It reads, quote,
00:09:29.480 ProLine,
00:09:30.260 your trusted sports book
00:09:32.020 since 92.
00:09:33.560 End quote.
00:09:34.580 Are you kidding me?
00:09:36.280 If you wanted truth
00:09:37.720 in advertising,
00:09:38.420 the slogan should be
00:09:40.240 OLG celebrating
00:09:42.040 three decades of corruption
00:09:43.780 since 92.
00:09:45.020 End quote.
00:09:46.440 I mean,
00:09:47.020 confidence and trust?
00:09:48.820 Surely this is not
00:09:49.700 the same government entity
00:09:51.240 that was the subject
00:09:52.580 of the most scathing
00:09:54.120 ombudsman's report
00:09:55.300 in the history of Ontario.
00:09:57.960 Check out the Ontario
00:09:59.320 ombudsman's report
00:10:00.320 from March of 2007
00:10:01.900 entitled
00:10:02.460 A Game of Trust.
00:10:04.080 This report was prompted
00:10:06.100 by numerous scandals
00:10:07.780 and allegations
00:10:08.760 of insider wins
00:10:10.320 that the OLG
00:10:11.820 was embroiled in.
00:10:13.420 This report led
00:10:14.460 to the dismissal
00:10:15.460 of several senior
00:10:16.900 OLG executives,
00:10:18.440 but not all the skunks
00:10:20.260 were cleared out
00:10:21.160 of OLG headquarters.
00:10:22.900 Many OLG
00:10:23.920 head honchos
00:10:24.780 who were part
00:10:26.300 of a corrupt culture
00:10:27.800 in which jackpots
00:10:29.740 were being denied
00:10:30.860 while the Crown Corporation
00:10:32.820 turned a blind eye
00:10:34.100 to insider wins
00:10:35.360 while they remain
00:10:36.600 gainfully employed
00:10:38.100 at the OLG today,
00:10:39.860 earning six-figure salaries,
00:10:41.820 no less.
00:10:42.980 In any event,
00:10:43.900 I reached out again
00:10:44.720 to Karine
00:10:45.360 and politely stated
00:10:46.500 that I don't think
00:10:47.580 she answered
00:10:48.260 my query clearly.
00:10:49.900 This time,
00:10:50.440 I got a response
00:10:51.280 from Nicole Conte.
00:10:53.300 Quote,
00:10:54.340 Dear Mr. Menzies,
00:10:55.760 as to your follow-up question,
00:10:57.740 we believe we have
00:10:59.060 answered your question
00:11:00.140 in our initial response.
00:11:02.560 As you stated,
00:11:03.560 in our social responsibility policies
00:11:05.800 when it comes to gaming,
00:11:07.680 also known as our
00:11:08.900 responsible gambling,
00:11:10.820 RG policies,
00:11:12.480 allow us to share with you
00:11:14.120 a news releases
00:11:15.740 regarding our latest RG news.
00:11:18.980 End quote.
00:11:20.280 Oh, some breaking news
00:11:22.060 on the gambling front, eh?
00:11:23.580 And what, pray tell,
00:11:25.040 would that be?
00:11:25.800 Well, let's check it out, folks.
00:11:28.100 Quote,
00:11:28.480 The Ontario Lottery
00:11:30.200 and Gaming Corporation,
00:11:31.440 OLG,
00:11:32.080 is continuing to expand
00:11:33.740 its globally recognized
00:11:35.380 responsible gambling RG program,
00:11:38.640 PlaySmart,
00:11:39.500 with the launch of
00:11:40.700 MyPlayBreak.
00:11:42.180 Our new enhanced
00:11:43.620 and rebranded
00:11:44.760 self-exclusion program
00:11:46.440 offers customers
00:11:47.580 more flexibility
00:11:48.980 and choice,
00:11:50.340 whether they want
00:11:51.120 to take a break
00:11:51.920 from play
00:11:52.500 at an Ontario casino,
00:11:54.440 charitable gaming center,
00:11:55.660 or an OLG.ca.
00:11:59.200 MyPlayBreak offers
00:12:00.660 several new features,
00:12:02.020 including defined
00:12:03.300 renewable term lengths
00:12:04.620 of three months,
00:12:05.440 six months,
00:12:06.060 one year,
00:12:06.580 two years,
00:12:07.120 three years,
00:12:07.640 four years,
00:12:08.240 and five years,
00:12:09.460 as well as optional
00:12:11.180 check-in calls
00:12:12.400 from responsible
00:12:13.920 gambling council,
00:12:15.580 RGC,
00:12:16.620 staff to allow
00:12:17.760 for more timely,
00:12:18.980 effective,
00:12:19.740 and relevant referrals
00:12:20.660 to treatment
00:12:22.260 and support services.
00:12:24.140 End quote.
00:12:24.980 So what,
00:12:25.740 pray tell,
00:12:26.320 does all that nonsense mean?
00:12:27.920 Well,
00:12:28.240 the OLG
00:12:28.980 is offering gamblers
00:12:30.420 to voluntarily
00:12:31.940 exclude themselves
00:12:33.560 from betting.
00:12:34.760 But what if
00:12:35.780 that compulsive gambler
00:12:37.160 can't help him
00:12:38.540 or herself
00:12:39.360 and enters,
00:12:40.780 say,
00:12:41.000 a casino
00:12:41.460 and hallelujah
00:12:42.660 actually hits
00:12:43.900 a jackpot
00:12:44.700 at a slot machine
00:12:46.000 or a table game?
00:12:47.760 Happy days
00:12:48.480 are here again,
00:12:49.320 right?
00:12:49.620 Wrong,
00:12:50.780 because when
00:12:51.280 the prize claim
00:12:52.300 is made,
00:12:53.440 the person
00:12:54.100 cutting the check
00:12:55.200 first checks out
00:12:56.860 the potential winner's name
00:12:58.900 in the OLG's database,
00:13:00.520 and if you are on
00:13:02.180 the self-exclusion list,
00:13:04.480 then this is what happens.
00:13:07.100 No prize.
00:13:08.980 Au cadeau.
00:13:09.980 That's right.
00:13:11.060 No cadeau.
00:13:12.600 How do you say
00:13:13.900 sucker in French?
00:13:16.280 You see,
00:13:16.960 self-exclusion,
00:13:18.380 which has been
00:13:18.960 an option for several
00:13:19.980 years now,
00:13:21.260 is simply not enforced.
00:13:23.100 There are numerous
00:13:24.120 people on the
00:13:25.040 self-exclusion list
00:13:26.120 who continue to visit
00:13:27.280 Ontario casinos
00:13:28.280 and gamble away
00:13:29.700 their life savings
00:13:30.620 even though
00:13:31.220 these casinos
00:13:32.080 have facial recognition
00:13:34.260 technology,
00:13:35.320 which apparently
00:13:36.920 doesn't work.
00:13:38.020 And besides,
00:13:38.860 why would the OLG
00:13:40.760 want facial recognition
00:13:42.600 technology to work?
00:13:43.700 It's good business
00:13:45.480 indeed,
00:13:46.000 given that the
00:13:47.060 rubes tend to lose.
00:13:49.540 And if they do happen
00:13:50.700 to luck out and win,
00:13:52.540 ha,
00:13:53.020 no soup for you.
00:13:55.280 This is precisely
00:13:56.100 what happened in
00:13:57.160 2017 to John
00:13:58.840 Miranda.
00:13:59.360 Mr. Miranda scored
00:14:01.380 a $10,000 jackpot
00:14:03.080 at a casino.
00:14:04.520 Well,
00:14:04.980 sort of.
00:14:06.200 You see,
00:14:06.700 because he had signed
00:14:07.820 a self-exclusion document
00:14:09.480 some 17 years earlier,
00:14:12.340 the OLG refused
00:14:13.500 to pay him his winnings.
00:14:15.560 Miranda said,
00:14:16.800 at the time,
00:14:17.580 the OLG,
00:14:18.460 quote,
00:14:19.100 didn't mind taking my money
00:14:20.900 all these years.
00:14:22.260 It sure would have been
00:14:23.600 a nice sum.
00:14:24.580 No,
00:14:25.200 they don't want to pay me.
00:14:27.160 End quote.
00:14:28.560 Granted,
00:14:29.340 there's an old saying
00:14:30.420 in the gambling business
00:14:31.560 that goes,
00:14:32.800 the house always wins,
00:14:34.340 baby.
00:14:35.100 But this is ridiculous.
00:14:37.620 Indeed,
00:14:38.340 seeking clarity
00:14:39.160 about the $100 bet limit
00:14:41.080 being eradicated
00:14:42.100 and the self-exclusionary
00:14:44.240 policy as well.
00:14:45.860 I phoned the OLG's
00:14:47.460 1-800 customer service line
00:14:49.560 after being placed on hold
00:14:51.740 for eternity and a day.
00:14:53.460 I finally got to speak
00:14:55.500 with Carol.
00:14:56.800 Here's how that conversation went.
00:15:00.020 Thank you for holding.
00:15:01.320 I do apologize
00:15:01.920 for taking so long.
00:15:03.980 Yeah,
00:15:04.300 that restriction
00:15:05.000 is no longer applicable.
00:15:06.700 So there is no limit
00:15:10.180 then,
00:15:10.500 right?
00:15:12.160 Yeah,
00:15:12.480 ProLine customers
00:15:13.240 in Ontario
00:15:13.880 will no longer
00:15:15.060 be restricted
00:15:15.840 to betting
00:15:16.480 $100 per day.
00:15:18.200 Okay,
00:15:18.780 then.
00:15:19.120 I'm wondering
00:15:19.860 why that is
00:15:20.640 because when I originally
00:15:21.460 raised this question
00:15:22.620 maybe decades ago,
00:15:24.400 it was due to
00:15:25.240 social responsibility
00:15:26.600 that,
00:15:27.320 you know,
00:15:28.220 the OLG
00:15:28.800 didn't want
00:15:29.540 people betting
00:15:31.140 the milk money,
00:15:31.960 so to speak.
00:15:32.600 So I'm wondering
00:15:34.300 what happened
00:15:36.060 to the social
00:15:36.600 responsibility
00:15:37.480 caveat.
00:15:41.340 Okay.
00:15:42.520 So OLG
00:15:43.440 has the PlaySmart
00:15:44.980 program in place.
00:15:47.640 It's very accessible
00:15:48.800 to customers
00:15:49.600 that require it.
00:15:54.240 Yeah,
00:15:54.980 but that's not
00:15:55.820 the question.
00:15:56.460 It was socially
00:15:58.300 irresponsible
00:15:59.200 to bet
00:15:59.900 more than $100
00:16:00.640 on ProLine
00:16:01.700 back in August,
00:16:02.640 say,
00:16:03.480 but now it's
00:16:04.340 perfectly socially
00:16:05.400 responsible to do so.
00:16:06.740 So I'm wondering
00:16:07.160 what changed.
00:16:09.380 So OLG
00:16:10.260 has updated
00:16:10.780 their sports
00:16:11.360 betting limits
00:16:11.980 to harmonize
00:16:12.840 with the approach
00:16:13.540 taken across Canada
00:16:14.780 and improve
00:16:15.640 our player
00:16:16.160 and retailer
00:16:16.860 experiences.
00:16:18.640 So that makes
00:16:20.460 it socially
00:16:21.180 responsible now
00:16:22.400 to bet
00:16:23.480 more than $100
00:16:24.260 as opposed
00:16:25.420 to less
00:16:26.620 than two months
00:16:27.180 ago where you
00:16:27.760 were capped
00:16:28.200 to $100.
00:16:28.720 I get
00:16:35.660 what you're
00:16:36.080 saying,
00:16:37.160 but at the
00:16:38.460 same time
00:16:38.880 they have
00:16:39.440 in place
00:16:41.000 the PlaySmart
00:16:43.520 and it's
00:16:44.280 very accessible
00:16:45.060 to all customers
00:16:46.340 to be able
00:16:46.960 to take that
00:16:47.760 help
00:16:49.060 or if they need
00:16:50.100 additional
00:16:50.760 support,
00:16:52.020 they have access
00:16:52.820 to that now
00:16:53.420 and there are
00:16:53.860 other supports
00:16:55.440 in place
00:16:56.140 throughout Ontario
00:16:57.680 and Canada
00:16:58.480 as a matter of
00:16:59.260 fact.
00:16:59.840 Oh, I know
00:17:00.640 PlaySmart
00:17:02.400 is in place
00:17:04.540 but it doesn't
00:17:05.720 work.
00:17:07.180 There's been
00:17:08.040 stories in the
00:17:09.080 news of people
00:17:10.000 on that
00:17:11.860 self-exclusion
00:17:12.780 program going
00:17:13.580 to the casinos
00:17:14.320 winning big
00:17:15.320 jackpots and
00:17:16.100 the OLG
00:17:16.660 denying the
00:17:17.280 winnings.
00:17:17.680 so I don't
00:17:18.900 see how
00:17:19.300 that's a
00:17:19.720 viable
00:17:19.980 option.
00:17:25.220 If you'd
00:17:25.960 like more
00:17:26.480 clarification
00:17:27.340 on that,
00:17:28.120 I'd be happy
00:17:28.640 to set you
00:17:29.140 up with a
00:17:29.520 callback
00:17:29.940 where someone
00:17:30.580 else can
00:17:31.200 explain it
00:17:33.440 in better
00:17:34.480 clarity.
00:17:35.100 But PlaySmart
00:17:35.700 is the answer
00:17:36.860 to why.
00:17:37.980 Yikes.
00:17:40.020 By the way,
00:17:41.100 there's been
00:17:41.680 a total
00:17:42.560 blackout
00:17:43.740 regarding
00:17:44.580 mainstream
00:17:45.100 media coverage
00:17:46.240 about the
00:17:47.080 OLG
00:17:47.560 abandoning
00:17:48.240 its social
00:17:48.920 responsibility
00:17:49.760 mandate.
00:17:50.920 Now,
00:17:51.540 why would
00:17:52.060 that be?
00:17:53.460 Could it
00:17:53.940 be that
00:17:54.700 lottery
00:17:55.060 corporations
00:17:55.780 and liquor
00:17:57.000 boards are
00:17:57.740 very, very
00:17:58.460 big advertisers?
00:17:59.880 So if you
00:18:00.860 are part of
00:18:01.440 a sunset
00:18:01.960 industry
00:18:02.800 dependent upon
00:18:04.160 government
00:18:04.660 bailouts
00:18:05.420 to make
00:18:06.020 ends meet,
00:18:06.660 are you
00:18:07.740 really going
00:18:08.520 to alienate
00:18:09.280 the few
00:18:09.800 advertisers
00:18:10.480 that remain?
00:18:11.980 One doesn't
00:18:12.780 practice journalism
00:18:13.700 these days
00:18:14.440 if a story
00:18:15.200 is going to
00:18:15.940 kill the
00:18:16.440 golden goose
00:18:17.240 after all.
00:18:18.600 In the meantime,
00:18:19.660 since the
00:18:20.080 OLG has
00:18:20.900 completely
00:18:21.660 abandoned
00:18:22.280 its very
00:18:23.040 reason for
00:18:23.680 existence,
00:18:25.120 how about
00:18:25.780 the Doug Ford
00:18:27.140 progressive
00:18:27.820 conservatives
00:18:28.680 dismantle
00:18:30.300 this corrupt
00:18:31.280 dog that
00:18:32.200 doesn't hunt?
00:18:33.660 Well,
00:18:34.200 fat chance
00:18:35.120 even if
00:18:36.380 government's
00:18:37.060 role when
00:18:37.580 it comes
00:18:38.000 to lotteries
00:18:38.720 and liquor
00:18:39.440 should be
00:18:40.340 confined to
00:18:41.420 regulation
00:18:42.260 and taxation,
00:18:43.940 period.
00:18:45.000 Government,
00:18:45.700 especially a
00:18:46.500 conservative
00:18:47.120 government,
00:18:48.280 should not
00:18:48.780 be in the
00:18:49.220 business of
00:18:49.860 selling and
00:18:50.660 marketing
00:18:51.080 booze and
00:18:51.920 blackjack.
00:18:53.340 Oh,
00:18:53.660 wait a minute,
00:18:54.200 I almost
00:18:54.580 forgot the
00:18:55.280 current regime
00:18:56.020 in power at
00:18:56.780 Queen's Park
00:18:57.380 is about as
00:18:57.960 conservative as
00:18:58.780 the federal
00:18:59.500 Liberal Party
00:19:00.460 of Canada.
00:19:01.660 Again,
00:19:02.480 Doug Ford
00:19:03.060 is adamant
00:19:03.680 that he
00:19:04.060 stands
00:19:04.420 shoulder to
00:19:05.100 shoulder with
00:19:06.220 Prime Minister
00:19:06.940 Blackface
00:19:07.660 McGroper.
00:19:09.060 So when it
00:19:09.780 comes to
00:19:10.220 doing the
00:19:10.640 right thing
00:19:11.300 in terms of
00:19:12.240 reining in
00:19:12.920 an out-of-control
00:19:14.340 crown corporation
00:19:15.600 such as the
00:19:17.280 OLG,
00:19:18.760 sorry folks,
00:19:20.500 all bets
00:19:21.140 are off.
00:19:21.640 As the
00:19:34.060 Emergencies Act
00:19:35.060 inquiry hums
00:19:36.240 along,
00:19:36.900 there is a
00:19:37.480 notable sidebar
00:19:38.760 to the
00:19:39.240 affair,
00:19:40.160 namely
00:19:40.540 Ontario
00:19:41.320 Premier
00:19:42.020 Doug Ford
00:19:42.880 is absolutely
00:19:44.740 adamant
00:19:45.740 that he
00:19:46.700 should not
00:19:47.420 have to
00:19:48.080 give testimony,
00:19:49.760 one of the
00:19:50.160 excuses being
00:19:51.140 that this
00:19:51.740 is a
00:19:52.160 federal
00:19:53.040 as opposed
00:19:53.780 to a
00:19:54.140 provincial
00:19:54.520 inquiry,
00:19:55.600 another
00:19:55.920 excuse being
00:19:56.840 that Ford
00:19:57.620 should be
00:19:58.540 exempt due
00:19:59.460 to parliamentary
00:20:00.660 privilege,
00:20:02.220 but the
00:20:02.660 question arises,
00:20:04.120 why does
00:20:04.660 Premier Ford
00:20:05.700 seem downright
00:20:07.000 terrified to
00:20:08.600 go to Ottawa
00:20:09.340 and take the
00:20:10.420 stand?
00:20:10.920 I mean,
00:20:11.680 is there a
00:20:12.240 cherry cheesecake
00:20:13.100 shortage in
00:20:13.940 our nation's
00:20:14.540 capital these
00:20:15.240 days?
00:20:16.140 And with his
00:20:16.920 thoughts and
00:20:17.800 analysis on
00:20:18.960 this bizarre
00:20:19.740 sidebar story,
00:20:21.140 is the
00:20:21.740 leader of
00:20:22.340 the new
00:20:22.800 blue party
00:20:23.520 of Ontario,
00:20:24.340 and that
00:20:24.640 would be
00:20:25.200 Jim Carahalios.
00:20:26.760 How are you
00:20:27.180 doing there,
00:20:27.840 Jim?
00:20:29.200 I'm good,
00:20:30.180 and thank you,
00:20:31.080 Dave, for
00:20:31.360 covering this
00:20:31.940 because it's
00:20:33.120 an important
00:20:33.560 issue and
00:20:34.160 it's not
00:20:34.580 gotten a lot
00:20:35.840 of attention
00:20:36.560 until Premier
00:20:38.780 Ford decided
00:20:39.840 to go to
00:20:40.560 court to do
00:20:41.140 everything he
00:20:41.600 can to
00:20:42.880 not appear
00:20:43.500 in Ottawa,
00:20:43.960 but the
00:20:44.860 situation
00:20:45.380 actually arose
00:20:46.320 a few months
00:20:47.140 ago when the
00:20:47.820 government of
00:20:48.340 Alberta and
00:20:48.960 the government
00:20:49.360 of Saskatchewan,
00:20:50.100 they all put
00:20:50.660 in applications
00:20:51.340 to have full
00:20:52.440 standing at
00:20:53.000 the inquiry,
00:20:53.660 which gives
00:20:54.100 them the
00:20:54.560 right to
00:20:55.000 send a
00:20:55.900 lawyer or
00:20:56.500 two,
00:20:57.140 cross-examine
00:20:57.880 witnesses,
00:20:59.220 and the
00:20:59.400 federal government
00:20:59.960 hold them to
00:21:00.440 account.
00:21:00.940 And Ontario,
00:21:01.820 the Ontario
00:21:02.240 government said,
00:21:02.840 we're going to
00:21:03.240 pass, we're not
00:21:03.880 interested in
00:21:04.360 going.
00:21:05.080 So, Jim,
00:21:05.660 let me rewind
00:21:06.760 the chronology
00:21:08.000 here.
00:21:08.720 Several days
00:21:09.320 ago, Doug
00:21:10.260 Ford said he
00:21:12.100 stands shoulder
00:21:13.520 to shoulder
00:21:14.240 with Prime
00:21:15.120 Minister Justin
00:21:15.920 Trudeau,
00:21:16.780 which shocked
00:21:18.320 the bejeepers
00:21:19.400 out of so
00:21:20.100 many
00:21:20.420 Conservatives
00:21:21.080 I know.
00:21:22.480 I haven't
00:21:23.420 heard a
00:21:24.060 similar statement
00:21:24.800 from Justin
00:21:26.120 Trudeau about
00:21:27.080 Premier Ford,
00:21:28.900 but what I'm
00:21:29.960 getting at,
00:21:30.580 Jim,
00:21:30.760 is that since
00:21:32.160 Doug has
00:21:32.880 publicly stated
00:21:33.880 he is
00:21:34.880 simpatico on
00:21:36.300 how the
00:21:36.740 Prime Minister
00:21:37.320 handled the
00:21:38.020 situation,
00:21:39.300 what in the
00:21:39.780 world is he
00:21:40.240 so spooked
00:21:40.880 about?
00:21:41.860 The federal
00:21:42.100 government was
00:21:42.560 justified in
00:21:43.760 using the
00:21:44.220 Emergencies Act
00:21:45.060 to lift the
00:21:46.240 occupation of
00:21:46.920 downtown Ottawa.
00:21:47.720 Well, we have
00:21:48.360 some of the top
00:21:48.920 officials with
00:21:49.600 the OPP
00:21:50.040 testifying,
00:21:51.600 and yes,
00:21:52.920 I stood
00:21:53.580 shoulder to
00:21:54.040 shoulder with
00:21:55.000 the Prime
00:21:55.560 Minister.
00:21:56.680 These folks
00:21:58.080 were, you
00:21:59.940 know,
00:22:00.220 camping out
00:22:00.920 everything from
00:22:01.940 whirlpools,
00:22:02.720 disrupting
00:22:03.180 downtown,
00:22:03.880 disrupting the
00:22:04.820 lives of the
00:22:05.420 people of
00:22:05.880 Ottawa.
00:22:06.780 We've worked
00:22:07.440 collaboratively
00:22:08.280 with the
00:22:08.880 Mayor and
00:22:09.440 the Prime
00:22:10.740 Minister
00:22:11.180 over at
00:22:12.120 the borders.
00:22:12.820 They were
00:22:13.000 holding up
00:22:13.420 a billion
00:22:13.980 dollars of
00:22:14.780 trade every
00:22:15.920 single day
00:22:16.620 getting across
00:22:17.300 our borders.
00:22:18.020 We were
00:22:18.180 getting phone
00:22:18.660 calls from
00:22:19.220 governors.
00:22:20.380 It's
00:22:20.540 unacceptable.
00:22:21.900 Myself,
00:22:22.660 and I know
00:22:23.480 the Prime
00:22:23.860 Minister,
00:22:24.320 believe in
00:22:24.840 free speech,
00:22:26.080 and if you
00:22:26.680 want to
00:22:26.960 protest,
00:22:27.540 protest.
00:22:28.100 If you
00:22:28.260 want to
00:22:28.480 come down
00:22:28.780 to Queen's
00:22:29.600 Park and
00:22:29.940 do cartwheels,
00:22:30.860 but if you
00:22:31.300 disrupt the
00:22:31.960 lives of
00:22:32.480 the people
00:22:32.880 of Ottawa
00:22:33.380 every single
00:22:34.080 day,
00:22:34.420 disrupt the
00:22:34.880 lives of
00:22:35.400 economic
00:22:35.920 flow across
00:22:36.580 our borders,
00:22:37.220 I have
00:22:38.040 zero
00:22:38.240 tolerance for it.
00:22:39.700 Thank you.
00:22:40.740 The only
00:22:43.560 shocking thing
00:22:44.400 about that is
00:22:45.120 if you think
00:22:45.780 that the
00:22:46.580 Doug Ford
00:22:47.020 PC party is
00:22:47.900 conservative,
00:22:48.820 if you think
00:22:49.580 they're a bit
00:22:50.040 better than the
00:22:50.740 Justin Trudeau
00:22:51.360 liberals,
00:22:51.840 then you'd be
00:22:52.240 shocked.
00:22:52.680 And maybe
00:22:52.980 some of those
00:22:53.560 conservatives that
00:22:54.340 were shocked
00:22:54.840 had their head in
00:22:56.280 the sand for the
00:22:57.000 last four or five
00:22:58.300 years.
00:22:58.620 I don't know.
00:22:59.080 But they're
00:23:00.640 not.
00:23:01.020 They're not any
00:23:01.500 better.
00:23:01.780 They're liberals.
00:23:02.740 They're called the
00:23:03.560 PC party, but
00:23:04.400 they're progressives,
00:23:05.280 they're liberals.
00:23:06.260 And he's been in
00:23:07.300 simpatico with
00:23:08.240 Justin Trudeau for
00:23:09.300 at least four
00:23:10.860 years now, and
00:23:11.520 not just in
00:23:12.060 simpatico and
00:23:12.900 shoulder to
00:23:13.340 shoulder.
00:23:13.640 He's actually
00:23:14.180 leading the
00:23:14.740 parade.
00:23:15.460 I mean, when the
00:23:16.600 emergency act and
00:23:17.760 the emergency order
00:23:18.460 came out, you
00:23:19.240 remember, Dave, it
00:23:20.040 was Doug Ford that
00:23:21.020 did it first.
00:23:21.820 He came out the
00:23:22.500 day before.
00:23:23.740 He condemned the
00:23:24.980 protesters, called
00:23:27.500 them names, vilified
00:23:28.460 them.
00:23:28.680 He really set the
00:23:29.360 stage and he rolled
00:23:30.120 out the red carpet
00:23:30.980 for Justin Trudeau
00:23:32.080 to do the exact
00:23:33.160 same thing at the
00:23:33.920 federal level the
00:23:35.480 next day.
00:23:36.120 And one thing that
00:23:36.980 the convoy did was
00:23:38.080 it took away a lot
00:23:39.040 of the spotlight on
00:23:40.080 the Ford PCs,
00:23:41.480 because before we
00:23:42.800 had the international
00:23:43.780 travel mandates by
00:23:44.960 Justin Trudeau,
00:23:46.260 most of the
00:23:47.020 mandates that people
00:23:47.840 were upset about in
00:23:48.880 Ontario were at
00:23:49.680 the provincial level,
00:23:50.440 at the hands and
00:23:51.240 total responsibility
00:23:52.300 of the Doug Ford
00:23:54.500 government.
00:23:55.520 And that's in
00:23:56.440 terms of repeat
00:23:57.280 lockdowns, mandates
00:23:58.460 and Justin Trudeau
00:23:59.460 was just spending
00:24:00.220 like a drunken
00:24:01.040 sailor, but he
00:24:02.200 wasn't responsible
00:24:02.900 for those mandates.
00:24:04.200 The protest allowed
00:24:05.500 a lot of the focus
00:24:06.800 to shift to Justin
00:24:07.980 Trudeau and away
00:24:08.840 from Doug Ford.
00:24:09.480 So he enjoyed that
00:24:11.020 kind of shift and he
00:24:12.420 rolled out the red
00:24:13.020 carpet, did his buddy
00:24:13.820 Justin a favor, and
00:24:15.360 then he escaped it
00:24:16.440 for a few months
00:24:17.480 here.
00:24:17.900 No one really
00:24:18.420 questioned the
00:24:19.160 Ontario government.
00:24:19.980 Why haven't you
00:24:20.480 applied for standing
00:24:21.860 to get standing like
00:24:22.900 the government of
00:24:23.480 Alberta, the
00:24:23.960 government of
00:24:24.360 Saskatchewan have
00:24:25.260 at the inquiry
00:24:25.900 to hold the
00:24:27.000 federal government
00:24:27.680 and Justin Trudeau's
00:24:28.420 feet to the fire.
00:24:29.180 No one really
00:24:29.600 asked those
00:24:30.060 questions.
00:24:31.640 And until now,
00:24:32.840 when he was
00:24:33.460 summoned to go
00:24:34.360 and testify, and
00:24:36.080 he's using all the
00:24:36.920 taxpayer money he
00:24:38.160 can, all the legal
00:24:39.540 tools at his
00:24:40.160 disposal, rushing to
00:24:41.240 go to court, to
00:24:42.420 say, no, no, no,
00:24:43.020 don't ask me what I
00:24:44.180 know, because I
00:24:44.960 don't want to tell
00:24:45.580 you.
00:24:46.580 And it's a terrible
00:24:48.180 look.
00:24:48.620 I mean, even some
00:24:50.520 of the mainstream
00:24:51.040 commentators are
00:24:52.000 saying it's a
00:24:52.540 terrible look,
00:24:53.080 because what it
00:24:54.180 reveals is he has
00:24:54.980 something to
00:24:55.440 hide, and I
00:24:56.680 think it's more
00:24:57.480 than just, he's
00:24:58.880 hiding more than
00:24:59.640 just the fact that
00:25:00.620 he's walking
00:25:02.140 shoulder to
00:25:02.720 shoulder than
00:25:03.220 Justin Trudeau.
00:25:04.180 Number one, he
00:25:04.700 doesn't want the
00:25:05.280 spotlight to shift
00:25:06.160 to him and all
00:25:06.980 the mandates and
00:25:07.740 the lockdowns that
00:25:08.480 his Ontario
00:25:09.020 government put in
00:25:10.320 place for four
00:25:10.920 years, but there's
00:25:11.460 more to that.
00:25:12.040 There's more there,
00:25:13.200 and I think we're
00:25:14.160 just scratching the
00:25:14.880 surface.
00:25:16.160 And Jim, I think
00:25:16.860 you're right.
00:25:17.460 I tend to agree
00:25:18.140 with everything you
00:25:18.840 just said there,
00:25:19.720 but let's look at
00:25:21.340 his excuses.
00:25:22.460 I mean, the crux
00:25:23.560 of his argument,
00:25:24.420 I remember more
00:25:24.920 than a week ago
00:25:25.700 at Queen's Park,
00:25:27.260 he was stating,
00:25:28.580 and I'm paraphrasing
00:25:29.320 here, but this is
00:25:30.260 a federal inquiry.
00:25:32.220 It's about something
00:25:32.880 that happened in
00:25:33.840 federal jurisdiction.
00:25:35.700 It is a federal
00:25:36.900 matter, et cetera,
00:25:38.620 et cetera.
00:25:39.300 Well, then, Jim,
00:25:40.360 if this is all
00:25:41.280 about federal
00:25:42.760 entities and
00:25:43.920 people testifying,
00:25:45.480 then why have we
00:25:47.520 been listening to
00:25:48.440 the testimony of
00:25:49.860 Ottawa Police
00:25:50.860 Service officers
00:25:51.460 past and
00:25:53.300 present,
00:25:54.080 that's a
00:25:54.800 municipality
00:25:55.420 police service,
00:25:57.680 not a federal
00:25:58.300 police service.
00:25:59.100 So in that
00:26:00.040 respect, does
00:26:01.200 this whole idea
00:26:02.440 of a jurisdictional
00:26:03.540 argument, meaning
00:26:04.480 that it's a
00:26:05.540 federal matter,
00:26:06.320 does that make
00:26:06.900 sense to you?
00:26:08.440 From a purely
00:26:09.480 legalistic, like if
00:26:10.720 you're going to ask
00:26:11.180 me legally, he's
00:26:12.580 kind of using
00:26:13.600 weasel words to
00:26:14.460 get out of it.
00:26:15.000 It's true that the
00:26:15.760 inquiry is not
00:26:16.900 mandated to look
00:26:18.440 into what the
00:26:19.720 provincial government
00:26:20.580 did, right, with
00:26:21.260 their state of
00:26:21.840 the emergency and
00:26:22.600 the law they
00:26:23.120 passed to
00:26:23.740 deregister or
00:26:24.800 rip away the
00:26:25.580 license of, what
00:26:26.800 was it, like over
00:26:27.500 30 trucking
00:26:28.360 companies that
00:26:28.920 were at the
00:26:29.280 protest got
00:26:30.060 deregistered from
00:26:32.500 an order from
00:26:33.700 the Ontario
00:26:34.220 government, from
00:26:34.980 a minister, it
00:26:35.560 didn't even go
00:26:35.980 through legislation.
00:26:37.640 And so the
00:26:38.320 inquiry is not
00:26:39.340 going to look
00:26:39.820 into the
00:26:40.340 provincial emergency
00:26:42.060 that was called
00:26:42.900 by Doug Ford and
00:26:44.240 the powers that he
00:26:45.080 exercised.
00:26:45.900 So that's true.
00:26:47.400 But what they're
00:26:50.340 summoning him for is
00:26:51.320 not to ask him what
00:26:52.080 he did as premier in
00:26:53.180 terms of provincial
00:26:53.900 laws.
00:26:55.000 They want to know
00:26:56.020 what was his
00:26:57.760 interaction with the
00:26:58.700 federal government, any
00:26:59.860 discussions he may
00:27:00.840 have had with the
00:27:02.000 federal government and
00:27:03.060 police, you're right,
00:27:04.080 city police, provincial
00:27:05.240 police, the OPP, in
00:27:07.040 terms of how to handle
00:27:08.060 the situation.
00:27:09.740 And this, we heard
00:27:10.780 from Chief
00:27:11.720 Slowly, or the
00:27:12.480 former chief, just
00:27:13.820 I think it was
00:27:14.800 today or yesterday,
00:27:16.280 that he said this
00:27:17.360 is a political
00:27:18.140 problem that requires
00:27:19.260 a political solution.
00:27:20.460 Well, as premier
00:27:21.480 of Ontario and the
00:27:22.300 man responsible for
00:27:23.160 most of the
00:27:23.560 lockdowns and
00:27:24.080 mandates, did he
00:27:25.300 try to do
00:27:25.980 anything to bring
00:27:27.600 a peaceful
00:27:28.100 resolution to the
00:27:29.080 protests in
00:27:29.640 Ottawa?
00:27:30.100 Or did he just
00:27:30.880 hide and then come
00:27:31.700 out and call them
00:27:32.860 names and maybe
00:27:34.120 even make the
00:27:34.820 situation worse and
00:27:37.100 try to justify the
00:27:38.360 emergency that his
00:27:39.180 buddy Justin
00:27:39.720 Trudeau called?
00:27:40.720 So those are all
00:27:41.320 the important
00:27:41.960 questions that have
00:27:43.000 to be asked.
00:27:43.820 And he's using
00:27:44.700 kind of like this
00:27:45.560 excuse from a
00:27:47.340 legal perspective.
00:27:48.080 It might work.
00:27:48.720 It might work.
00:27:49.320 He might actually
00:27:49.980 win the argument in
00:27:51.180 court.
00:27:51.900 He's got all the
00:27:52.600 money he needs to
00:27:53.260 hire all the lawyers
00:27:53.980 to go in court in a
00:27:55.480 rushed basis to
00:27:56.440 fight this.
00:27:57.820 And it might work.
00:27:59.400 He might get out of
00:28:00.040 it.
00:28:00.200 But politically, the
00:28:01.760 consequences are
00:28:02.580 really high here that
00:28:03.980 he's trying to use
00:28:04.780 every tool at his
00:28:05.720 disposable to avoid
00:28:06.900 talking about it and
00:28:07.700 avoid speaking under
00:28:10.100 oath.
00:28:10.600 Like, that's what we're
00:28:11.160 talking about here.
00:28:11.820 He doesn't get to lie
00:28:12.560 when he's at the
00:28:13.200 inquiry.
00:28:13.820 He's got to testify
00:28:15.640 under oath.
00:28:17.160 You know, Jim, when
00:28:18.200 we drill down to the
00:28:19.660 nitty-gritty of what
00:28:21.120 he might be fearful
00:28:22.640 of, is it perhaps
00:28:24.140 emails, text
00:28:25.760 messages, voice
00:28:27.280 conversations that
00:28:29.040 might be made
00:28:30.160 public that he
00:28:31.880 thought back when
00:28:33.060 those conversations
00:28:34.040 took place they
00:28:34.880 would be forever
00:28:35.560 private?
00:28:36.140 And maybe there's
00:28:37.480 some very embarrassing
00:28:38.940 things said.
00:28:40.100 Could this be what
00:28:41.800 his reluctance is all
00:28:42.940 about?
00:28:43.940 Well, this week, we're
00:28:45.020 going to hear from a
00:28:46.040 bunch of witnesses
00:28:46.660 after the former
00:28:47.760 chief slowly
00:28:48.520 testifies.
00:28:50.360 Witnesses from the
00:28:51.460 protester side.
00:28:52.480 And I'm going to be at
00:28:53.500 the inquiry on Thursday,
00:28:54.980 I think, representing
00:28:56.480 one of the witnesses,
00:28:58.700 one of the people that
00:29:00.380 were involved in the
00:29:01.540 protest, acting as their
00:29:02.800 legal counsel.
00:29:03.440 But here's a question
00:29:04.420 that hasn't come up.
00:29:06.240 Maybe it'll come up
00:29:06.900 this week from those
00:29:07.800 testifying.
00:29:08.900 Doug Ford's first
00:29:09.660 chief of staff and his
00:29:10.920 close personal friend
00:29:11.960 for decades, Dean
00:29:13.520 French, appeared
00:29:14.360 somehow after that
00:29:16.060 first weekend at the
00:29:17.100 protest.
00:29:17.760 When I was there,
00:29:18.660 I remember the New
00:29:19.220 Blue Party set up the
00:29:20.100 mic and the speaker.
00:29:21.400 Ezra used it.
00:29:22.380 We got on the flatbed
00:29:23.400 because it was the
00:29:23.940 first day of the
00:29:24.500 protest.
00:29:25.340 After that first
00:29:26.180 weekend, somehow Dean
00:29:27.220 French appeared.
00:29:28.360 And he declared in a
00:29:30.020 Toronto Sun article
00:29:31.860 that he was, again,
00:29:33.440 against legal protests
00:29:35.440 on public property.
00:29:36.640 So he was against
00:29:37.780 what was going on
00:29:38.580 there.
00:29:38.840 But somehow Dean
00:29:40.080 French, Doug Ford's
00:29:41.100 close friend, got a
00:29:42.820 meeting with the mayor
00:29:43.500 and presented himself
00:29:45.320 as representing the
00:29:47.320 protesters or something
00:29:48.620 along those lines,
00:29:49.740 having a contact where
00:29:50.920 he could negotiate or
00:29:52.780 talk to the mayor on
00:29:54.040 behalf of protesters.
00:29:56.300 So how did he get
00:29:56.920 there?
00:29:57.200 Is it believable that he
00:29:58.380 got there and Doug
00:29:59.220 Ford, his buddy for
00:30:01.420 many years, had no
00:30:02.580 idea that Dean French
00:30:04.240 was there?
00:30:04.980 And who told him that
00:30:06.280 he should go and try to
00:30:07.380 represent the truckers?
00:30:09.160 And furthermore, it's
00:30:10.960 weird that the mayor of
00:30:12.460 Ottawa would see this
00:30:13.760 guy, Dean French, who's
00:30:15.240 against the protests
00:30:16.240 publicly, who's Doug
00:30:18.280 Ford's first chief of
00:30:19.240 staff, and he would
00:30:21.080 accept Dean French as
00:30:22.240 being some kind of
00:30:23.040 spokesperson for the
00:30:24.740 protesters.
00:30:25.440 I mean, that's like,
00:30:26.460 Dave, that's like me
00:30:27.720 negotiating with the
00:30:28.680 rebel and someone from
00:30:29.340 the CBC shows up and
00:30:30.480 say, hey, we're here to
00:30:31.320 represent the rebel in
00:30:32.360 this negotiation.
00:30:33.440 I wouldn't buy that.
00:30:34.960 So how does the mayor
00:30:37.080 of Ottawa, a liberal, buy
00:30:38.480 this line from Dean
00:30:40.380 French that, yeah, he's
00:30:41.500 there representing the
00:30:42.380 truckers?
00:30:43.260 And what does Doug Ford
00:30:44.380 know about this?
00:30:45.000 Did he send Dean
00:30:46.300 French?
00:30:46.840 And what was Dean
00:30:47.540 French's role?
00:30:48.140 Was he really
00:30:48.700 representing the
00:30:49.420 truckers?
00:30:50.140 Or did Dean French go
00:30:51.880 trying to empty out the
00:30:53.820 protest and trying to
00:30:55.040 clear out the trucks for
00:30:56.720 Justin Trudeau and for
00:30:57.800 Doug Ford?
00:30:58.420 Those are interesting
00:30:59.120 questions that I haven't
00:31:00.220 seen them being asked.
00:31:01.140 I haven't covered every
00:31:01.940 minute of the inquiry,
00:31:03.420 but this week's
00:31:04.420 testimony from some key
00:31:05.480 witnesses on the
00:31:06.320 protesters' side is
00:31:07.760 going to shed some
00:31:08.600 light.
00:31:08.940 And I think Doug Ford is
00:31:10.060 terrified of going
00:31:11.940 up their oath to talk
00:31:12.900 about it.
00:31:13.740 Yeah, Jim, I mean,
00:31:14.580 it's so weird.
00:31:16.180 There's no other word
00:31:16.980 that Dean French would
00:31:18.840 say that he is
00:31:20.260 representing the
00:31:20.920 truckers as opposed to
00:31:21.940 say Tamara Leach,
00:31:23.540 who is a legitimate
00:31:25.100 representative of the
00:31:26.400 Freedom Convoy
00:31:27.200 movement.
00:31:27.780 And of course, it
00:31:28.680 should be said, this
00:31:29.900 is the same disgraced
00:31:31.540 Dean French that had
00:31:33.060 to walk away after one
00:31:35.400 of the first scandals
00:31:36.420 that hit this
00:31:37.000 government.
00:31:37.400 Is that correct, Jim?
00:31:38.920 Well, you remember,
00:31:39.680 yeah, he was one of the
00:31:40.840 first in a lot of
00:31:41.780 controversy in the PC
00:31:44.240 government when he was
00:31:45.320 in charge.
00:31:45.940 I mean, many blame him
00:31:47.480 for Tonya Granik-Allen
00:31:48.620 getting kicked out as a
00:31:50.360 candidate.
00:31:51.400 Many blame him for the
00:31:53.600 chaos and the fact that
00:31:54.920 the Ford government was in
00:31:56.180 pure chaos in the
00:31:57.140 beginning and for the
00:31:58.420 leftward trajectory of
00:32:00.000 the fact that the Ford
00:32:02.060 PCs have transformed
00:32:03.220 officially into a wing of
00:32:05.240 the Trudeau Liberal
00:32:06.300 Party.
00:32:06.720 And so in his role as
00:32:08.020 chief of staff to Doug
00:32:09.680 Ford, he was obviously
00:32:11.260 working closely with
00:32:12.720 Justin Trudeau and
00:32:13.660 Justin Trudeau's team and
00:32:14.620 Katie Telford, right?
00:32:15.760 Like they struck a deal
00:32:16.860 like we talked about in
00:32:17.800 our last interview on a
00:32:19.480 carbon tax on industry in
00:32:21.180 Ontario that Justin
00:32:22.160 Trudeau agreed to.
00:32:23.600 So Dean French was
00:32:24.300 working hand in hand with
00:32:25.680 the Justin Trudeau
00:32:26.440 officials and then he
00:32:27.380 reappears after resigning
00:32:28.780 in disgrace.
00:32:30.180 And you know, the
00:32:30.580 amazing thing is, didn't
00:32:31.760 the CBC put him on in
00:32:32.960 an interview, Dave?
00:32:33.900 Like he resigned in
00:32:34.980 disgrace for patronage
00:32:36.260 appointments, patronage
00:32:37.260 appointments, for all
00:32:38.600 kinds of shady
00:32:40.280 decisions that were being
00:32:41.360 made in terms of why the
00:32:42.540 Ford government was
00:32:43.500 endorsing certain
00:32:44.800 legislation, ties to
00:32:46.340 lobbyists, in disgrace.
00:32:48.000 But then the CBC brought
00:32:49.280 him on like nothing had
00:32:51.380 happened.
00:32:51.940 Like we just rewrote
00:32:52.760 history.
00:32:53.020 They brought him on as a
00:32:54.120 spokesperson on behalf of
00:32:55.860 the truckers saying, oh
00:32:57.080 yes, Mr. French was
00:32:58.500 representing the
00:32:59.680 protesters in this
00:33:01.300 negotiation with the
00:33:03.640 mayor.
00:33:04.360 Wow.
00:33:04.820 I mean, you got to like
00:33:06.000 just basically stick your
00:33:07.000 head in the sand and
00:33:07.720 pretend like this is all
00:33:08.660 true because the
00:33:09.720 mainstream media is not
00:33:10.780 asking any questions, not
00:33:12.140 digging into it.
00:33:13.060 And no one's asking Doug
00:33:14.760 Ford from a media
00:33:16.320 perspective, how did this
00:33:18.060 happen?
00:33:18.460 How did Dean French get
00:33:21.140 there?
00:33:21.380 Did you know about it?
00:33:22.900 And maybe someone will
00:33:23.920 ask the prime minister,
00:33:25.020 was your staff in
00:33:26.000 communication with Dean
00:33:26.920 French?
00:33:27.200 And what did Dean French
00:33:28.020 really want to do there?
00:33:28.880 Was he really trying to
00:33:29.780 represent protesters, which
00:33:31.580 you know, I find it hard to
00:33:33.100 believe any protester on the
00:33:34.520 street would say, yeah,
00:33:36.300 yeah, that's my guy, Dean
00:33:37.260 French, that chief of staff
00:33:38.480 of Doug Ford and his buddy
00:33:40.540 Doug Ford who put in all
00:33:41.560 those lockdowns and
00:33:42.240 mandates.
00:33:42.780 He's representing us.
00:33:44.340 Wow.
00:33:44.940 And what does Doug Ford know
00:33:45.860 about it?
00:33:46.360 And we're not getting those
00:33:47.360 answers.
00:33:47.800 Maybe that's why the
00:33:48.680 commission said it's time to
00:33:49.940 summon Doug Ford and the
00:33:50.960 Solicitor General, who
00:33:52.300 conveniently got COVID now.
00:33:55.380 And Doug is fighting tooth
00:33:57.940 and nail not to go and not
00:33:59.380 to answer questions because
00:34:00.500 in front of the media, he
00:34:01.740 gets to say whatever he
00:34:02.540 wants.
00:34:02.800 He can say, they never asked
00:34:03.860 me for an interview.
00:34:04.560 And then later it's revealed
00:34:05.600 the commission was asking Doug
00:34:07.760 Ford for an interview and he
00:34:09.060 was denying it.
00:34:10.540 And now he's trying to fight
00:34:11.560 the summons.
00:34:12.460 So amazing.
00:34:13.840 And Jim, it would seem to me
00:34:15.300 to go back to your original
00:34:16.340 point.
00:34:16.640 It looks like the CBC is
00:34:18.160 espousing that ancient
00:34:19.600 Middle Eastern proverb, the
00:34:21.160 enemy of my enemy is my
00:34:22.600 friend.
00:34:23.820 But moving on from that, I
00:34:25.740 got to ask you a hypothetical
00:34:26.980 question because I think one
00:34:29.300 thing we've learned over the
00:34:31.520 last five years and the one
00:34:33.440 thing that Ford Nation
00:34:35.560 members have learned over the
00:34:39.160 last five or so years, of
00:34:41.380 course, Ford Nation people now
00:34:43.100 referred to as a bunch of
00:34:44.520 yahoos by the premier, is
00:34:46.620 that Doug Ford is not Rob
00:34:49.620 Ford.
00:34:50.320 And Jim, I want to ask you if
00:34:52.400 the late great mayor of Toronto,
00:34:54.280 Rob Ford, were alive today and
00:34:56.540 observing this on the sidelines,
00:34:59.100 what would he be saying about
00:35:00.880 how his brother is behaving in
00:35:03.380 the office of the premier?
00:35:05.360 Well, I got the pleasure of
00:35:06.880 meeting Rob and, you know, we
00:35:09.660 talked frequently in the last
00:35:11.500 year of his life and it was an
00:35:12.680 honor and a privilege for me to
00:35:13.840 get to know him and get to know
00:35:15.260 the real Rob Ford, not what the
00:35:17.300 media painted him out to be.
00:35:19.080 And he was a great guy and very
00:35:20.360 reasonable.
00:35:20.900 And Dave, I know you had a lot of
00:35:22.000 interactions with him.
00:35:22.980 And back then he used to warn me,
00:35:24.480 you know, he used to say Doug's
00:35:25.440 politics are not like my politics,
00:35:27.200 Jim.
00:35:27.400 And I don't know, you know, you
00:35:28.860 just think it's maybe like a
00:35:30.020 sibling rivalry, but I'm I don't
00:35:32.560 know for sure what he'd say, but
00:35:33.800 he'd probably say, I told you so.
00:35:35.200 I told you.
00:35:35.940 Yeah.
00:35:36.520 And there'd probably be a lot of
00:35:38.000 conflict among them in terms of
00:35:41.180 policy.
00:35:42.180 But, you know, the sad part is
00:35:45.440 that the legacy of Rob Ford is so
00:35:48.360 strong that it's actually working
00:35:51.100 against Ford Nation in the sense
00:35:53.020 that the values and principles of
00:35:54.780 Ford Nation and what Rob built and
00:35:57.060 in many respects, he sacrificed so
00:35:59.360 much doing it like the abuse he got
00:36:01.140 from the mainstream media and the
00:36:02.340 left.
00:36:03.800 Those values and principles are being
00:36:05.800 constantly undermined and under attack
00:36:07.460 by his brother, but he still maintains
00:36:09.900 popularity because the brand is so
00:36:12.000 strong that people just they can't
00:36:14.260 accept that Doug is total opposite of
00:36:16.920 his brother, that he doesn't really
00:36:19.280 respect those values and principles
00:36:20.860 and that he's far happier standing in
00:36:23.780 front of a mic and saying, I stand
00:36:25.280 shoulder to shoulder with Justin
00:36:26.640 Trudeau.
00:36:27.280 And because of Rob's work and all the
00:36:29.940 sacrifice Rob did, Doug still, you know,
00:36:32.620 benefits and he still got enough votes
00:36:35.180 out there to give him another majority.
00:36:37.460 And it's going to take a lot of work
00:36:39.140 for the new blue party to catch up.
00:36:41.420 But one thing we can do is continue
00:36:43.380 to expose what he's saying and what
00:36:45.480 he's delivering is not the truth and
00:36:46.920 that he has something to hide, whether
00:36:48.620 it's on the trucker convoy or any
00:36:51.380 other policy, fiscal, social in nature.
00:36:54.560 You know, everything they say in their
00:36:56.160 emails and their press releases and
00:36:57.620 their media avails are not what they're
00:37:00.200 actually doing behind the scenes.
00:37:01.500 And we're on top of it every day,
00:37:02.900 exposing it and trying to cover it, Dave,
00:37:05.480 and holding them to account.
00:37:07.160 Well, I'll tell you that the behavior, I
00:37:08.640 think, of this government, Jim, it's
00:37:12.560 equal part sad and infuriating if you are
00:37:16.460 a true blue conservative.
00:37:17.800 Last question.
00:37:19.120 If you were a betting man in the days
00:37:21.800 ahead, is Doug Ford going to be forced
00:37:26.260 to testify or is he going to have a
00:37:28.700 successful legal challenge and prevent
00:37:30.780 himself from taking the stand?
00:37:35.000 I don't know the arguments that have
00:37:36.700 been presented in front of the court,
00:37:38.060 Dave.
00:37:38.360 I haven't looked at them and I don't
00:37:41.020 want to get into a scenario where I'm
00:37:42.780 giving you legal odds on what a judge
00:37:44.600 will do.
00:37:45.360 I think he's got, you know, from a legal
00:37:48.420 narrow sense, a good argument on its
00:37:50.980 face.
00:37:51.360 It'll really come down to, I think, the
00:37:53.880 facts and the application of the legal
00:37:56.140 test on whether he can rely on
00:37:58.520 parliamentary privilege.
00:37:59.760 And I don't think it's ever been used
00:38:01.340 before in the sense of a federal
00:38:03.300 inquiry and whether a provincial
00:38:04.780 politician or premier in this case has
00:38:07.120 to speak.
00:38:07.540 So it'll be very, very groundbreaking.
00:38:09.380 But then the other question is, say he
00:38:10.920 loses in court, is he just not going to
00:38:12.900 go anyway?
00:38:13.700 And what's the inquiry going to do?
00:38:15.780 Put the premier in jail?
00:38:17.320 So he might just say, forget it.
00:38:18.800 I'm not going.
00:38:19.760 And if you guys want to come after me,
00:38:21.640 we'll see what happens and drag it out.
00:38:24.900 Certainly if he's going to these lengths
00:38:26.920 to avoid it, I don't see him even if he
00:38:29.300 loses in court showing up this week to
00:38:31.940 testify or next week or whenever they
00:38:33.680 were thinking of doing it.
00:38:34.740 But the longer he drags it out, you know,
00:38:37.420 I think if, Dave, if you were advising
00:38:39.500 him or anyone, they would just say, just
00:38:40.960 go.
00:38:41.640 Yeah.
00:38:42.000 But he's terrified of being under oath
00:38:44.460 and getting cross-examined by like, I
00:38:47.100 don't know, how many parties are there?
00:38:48.140 Over 15.
00:38:49.020 There's like almost 20 parties there.
00:38:50.700 Each of them have their lawyers.
00:38:52.620 It's not fun.
00:38:54.100 Maybe he just doesn't want to go because
00:38:55.600 he doesn't want to, he doesn't enjoy it
00:38:57.420 sitting there and actually asking
00:38:58.500 questions under oath for the first time
00:39:01.160 in five years.
00:39:02.160 Jim, undoubtedly there's something there
00:39:03.960 that he's scared of.
00:39:05.320 I don't know what it is exactly, but
00:39:07.820 given his behavior, he is just, he just
00:39:10.520 looks terrified at the prospect of
00:39:12.880 giving any kind of testimony.
00:39:15.040 And speaking of scary, Jim, I want to
00:39:16.960 wish you a happy Halloween.
00:39:18.700 Of course, in this province, in this
00:39:20.420 country, it seems like it's Halloween
00:39:22.340 every day of the year.
00:39:23.960 Things are so bizarre.
00:39:25.640 But Jim, I really appreciate your
00:39:27.440 thoughts and analysis.
00:39:28.920 And thank you very much, my friend.
00:39:31.680 Well, there's nothing that'll scare the
00:39:33.080 PCs and Doug Ford more than
00:39:34.540 accountability.
00:39:36.140 And there's no costume I can put on
00:39:39.380 for Halloween that'll scare them more
00:39:40.840 than that.
00:39:41.300 So we'll just do the scariest thing
00:39:42.900 possible, which is tell people what's
00:39:45.220 really going on behind the PC
00:39:46.540 government.
00:39:47.380 Wow.
00:39:47.740 Fancy that.
00:39:48.600 Thank you again, Jim.
00:39:49.520 Thanks, Dave.
00:39:51.960 And that was Jim Carajalios, the leader
00:39:54.780 of the New Blue Party of Ontario.
00:39:58.300 Keep it here, folks.
00:39:59.180 More of the Ezra Levent show to come
00:40:00.980 right after this.
00:40:10.940 Well, folks, tons of feedback from
00:40:13.340 Friday's Ezra Levent show, which was
00:40:15.840 also guest hosted by yours truly.
00:40:19.000 The monologue was on the ongoing circus,
00:40:23.220 I guess you can call it, at the Halton
00:40:24.860 District School Board regarding Busty
00:40:27.380 Lemieux.
00:40:28.240 And then I interviewed Alexa Lavoie about
00:40:32.080 why she wasn't summoned to the Emergencies
00:40:35.680 Act inquiry, given that, well, you know, she was
00:40:39.480 kind of shot in the thigh by some kind of
00:40:41.300 cylinder, I think that's more important than some
00:40:44.960 Ottawa snowflake having his or her feelings hurt by honking
00:40:49.480 horns and diesel fumes.
00:40:51.140 In any event, Rule Roofer writes,
00:40:56.520 Steve Bell was sure aware of all the hurt feelings, how odd he missed the real
00:41:01.600 violence.
00:41:02.820 You are absolutely right, my friend.
00:41:05.100 We went to the press conference the day after Alexa was shot at police
00:41:09.740 headquarters in Ottawa.
00:41:11.920 And when I asked acting chief Bell what he was going to do about the
00:41:17.600 shooting of Alexa, he said he was ignorant to the fact or he pretended to be
00:41:22.640 ignorant of the fact this was news going around the world.
00:41:25.960 I mean, is the Ottawa police force a legit law enforcement agency or the second
00:41:31.240 coming of the Keystone cops?
00:41:33.720 Unbelievable.
00:41:34.220 Lost Korg writes, one inch closer to that circular saw and Busty going to have a double
00:41:42.080 mastectomy.
00:41:43.360 You know, you're so right.
00:41:44.640 As I've always said, folks, when it comes to Busty Lemieux at Oakville Trafalgar High
00:41:49.440 School, forget about the Ministry of Education.
00:41:52.580 Where's the Ministry of Labour?
00:41:54.600 Just about every shop safety rule is being violated by this so-called shop teacher.
00:42:00.820 And yet nothing to see here.
00:42:02.940 What is it calling foul on a safety rule being broken by Busty Lemieux would somehow
00:42:09.240 be interpreted as being transphobia?
00:42:14.120 Oh, unbelievable.
00:42:15.920 And Mr. Barlow writes, Busty, from what I've heard, is a troll teacher.
00:42:20.540 He's bringing awareness to the ridiculousness they've allowed and defended.
00:42:25.200 I heard he was caught for toxic masculinity.
00:42:28.280 So he decided to transition.
00:42:31.860 Culture jamming.
00:42:33.160 Well, you know, my friend, that is one of the theories out there.
00:42:36.180 And it could be true.
00:42:37.280 There's tons of chatter about this on social media.
00:42:41.980 There are there's also a lot of chatter, too, that he could be suffering from some kind of
00:42:47.400 sexual perversion.
00:42:49.080 I think it's one of the two.
00:42:50.800 I don't believe this is an individual genuinely transitioning from male to female.
00:42:57.100 If you were a trans person, you want to blend in.
00:43:00.100 You don't want to go through life as some kind of drag queen caricature.
00:43:05.240 But the thing is, right now, we simply do not know for sure.
00:43:09.680 We've reached out to the school, the school board.
00:43:11.760 We've even gone to Busty Lemieux's condominium in Burlington to get an interview.
00:43:17.620 He's not interested in coming on camera.
00:43:20.220 So for now, speculation takes root.
00:43:23.480 But in the meantime, should we really have these kids at this shop class put up with this?
00:43:29.680 I say no and shame on the Halton District School Board for ignoring this issue as opposed to
00:43:38.000 what they should be doing, which is investigating this issue.
00:43:42.800 Unbelievable.
00:43:43.920 Well, folks, that wraps up another edition of the Ezra Levent Show.
00:43:47.700 I'll be back here tomorrow with more mirth and merriment.
00:43:51.960 In the meantime, happy Halloween.
00:43:54.540 And as always, stay sane.
00:43:59.680 You won't believe this new and creative way the Liberals are wasting your hard-earned money.
00:44:04.740 At Rebel News, we love to browse the government procurement and contract websites.
00:44:09.860 Canada Buys is a great one to watch.
00:44:12.600 And on that website, they've got a very voyeuristic and kind of perverty contract posted for tender
00:44:17.900 on behalf of Women and Gender Equality Canada, what they call wage,
00:44:22.620 which is ironic because I feel like they're wasting part of your wages by even being a thing.
00:44:28.400 Let me show you this contract.
00:44:30.180 It's from a government agency that I'm sure you can tell I think shouldn't exist.
00:44:35.000 But it's trying to justify its existence by doing bizarre studies on its face.
00:44:39.580 It's your standard social justice study that you might expect from Justin Trudeau's federal government.
00:44:44.660 It's especially important right now when women are bearing the brunt of the impacts of COVID-19
00:44:49.980 and we face a she-session.
00:44:52.120 But just wait till we dig down.
00:44:54.240 It gets weird.
00:44:54.840 I don't know why anybody would wonder these things or try to study these things.
00:44:59.380 Here's what wage needs.
00:45:03.120 A research study examining barriers and enablers to addressing the primary reproductive and sexual health care needs of women and gender diverse people.
00:45:12.980 Okay, really at this point in Justin Trudeau's tenure, this is a run-of-the-mill study done by the liberal government
00:45:20.120 at an agency, again, that I think needs to justify its own existence by proving that there are barriers to things for women and others
00:45:27.000 that really just aren't there.
00:45:29.300 I've been a woman my whole life so I feel like a bit of an expert on all of this.
00:45:33.320 Anyway, here's where it gets bizarre under description of the tender.
00:45:38.760 The purpose of this request for information is to identify suppliers that have the required experience and expertise
00:45:45.800 to conduct a three-year research project that aims to understand and respond to the primary sexual and reproductive health care needs of women
00:45:54.620 and gender diverse people, wait for it, who have recently experienced criminalization and are living in the community.
00:46:02.500 Huh?
00:46:03.740 Knowledge generated by this project supports WAGE's joint mandate with Health Canada
00:46:08.340 to ensure that all Canadians have access to the sexual and reproductive health services they need
00:46:15.560 by providing key insight into the barriers and enablers of accessing health services for this population.
00:46:24.240 Experiencing criminalization is a hell of a way to describe recently released convicts
00:46:29.840 and I'm not sure why we're studying the birth control preferences of recent criminals anyway
00:46:35.000 but I am sure this is going to be very, very expensive.
00:46:39.700 For Rebel News, I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed.
00:46:44.460 If you'd like to support our ongoing research project into all levels of the government through access to information
00:46:52.140 please consider making a donation at rebelinvestigates.com
00:46:57.100 As always, I'll remind you, we are fiercely independent.
00:47:00.440 We take no money from any level of government to do the work we do.
00:47:04.900 Thanks again for making this important work possible.