Unions, not COVID, children or parents are keeping the schools closed
Episode Stats
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Summary
Why should others go to jail when you won't give them an answer? Why should others be quarantined in long-term care when you can keep kids in school? Why is it so hard to get kids back in school in Ontario?
Transcript
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hey folks we're all in this together right just will you hear what teachers union head honchos
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have to say it's february the 5th 2021 i'm david menzies and this is the ezra lavent show
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why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer i know
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there's 8 500 customers here and you won't give them an answer the only thing i have to say to
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the government but why i publish it is because it's my bloody right to do so
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you know folks it's hard to imagine but in ontario unlike all the other provinces in our great
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dominion the kids still aren't back in school i guess the educrats are really buying into that
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lyric from pink floyd's the wall you know hey teacher leave them kids alone oh they're being
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left alone all right and sometimes they're being left home alone it's that rascally wuhan virus you
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see it's very very deadly especially if one is very young and very healthy well no that's not true of
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course we now know from bitter experience that the precise opposite is true if you are elderly and or
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sick and if you're living in a long-term care facility that is potentially very bad news on the
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virus front which is sad even if one is very old or very sick their lives have meaning too of course
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so maybe if we could reverse the time space continuum maybe what we should have done is focus our efforts
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on long-term care facilities and halt international flights from virus hotspots as opposed to shutting
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down the entire economy that's what taiwan did maybe we could have saved lives that way instead of
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ruining lives the thing is children are practically invulnerable to the wuhan virus not that the fear
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spreading mainstream media wants you to know that fact did you know that only two people in ontario
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under 20 have died from contracting this bug and those persons sadly were suffering from other health
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complications in percentage terms that's not even a rounding error when it comes to the overall death
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toll and yet overnight summer camps for kids were canceled in ontario last year and in the here and now
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schools have remained closed since the christmas time break many schools aren't scheduled to reopen
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until february the 8th the schools in toronto york and peel shall remain closed for an additional eight
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days until february the 16th for some inexplicable reason um why weren't all these schools opened like
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about a month ago much like everywhere else surely during the downtime these schools have been scrubbed and
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sanitized to such a degree that mr clean would blush with envy needless to say there's going to be
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a lot of ground to make up in the weeks and months ahead so when ontario education minister steven lecce
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recently said he's thinking of cancelling march break that seemed reasonable on two fronts for starters
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the kids need a ton of catching up time i mean they really do you want them to get some semblance
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of an education this year right you want little johnny and little janey to be able to spell cat
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without having to spot them the c and the t right not that it really matters i guess nobody fails anymore
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wouldn't want to hurt anyone's self-esteem after all secondly what with all the new travel restrictions
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coming into place and the costs and hassles of quarantining really who the hell's going on
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anywhere on march break next month well i mean who amongst all of us the great unwashed masses will
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be traveling oh i'm sure the likes of sneaky rod phillips and members of clan tori will be jetting off to
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their private little margaritavilles because you know the rules don't apply to them they're special
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they're important you must know that by now eh folks but for the rest of us march break abroad
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just doesn't seem to have a lot going for it this year in any event here's what lecce had to say
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quote i'm going to follow the public health advice on this i've sought the opinion of the chief medical
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officer of health and if he believes and the experts believe it is better to keep kids in school
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learning then i will accept that advice at the end of the day folks should not be traveling during
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march break anyway end quote now while i agree with minister lecce on this file there's one little red
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flag here those medical experts that would be abbott and cassilla or i mean david williams and barbara
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yaffe remember that little hot mic moment last december tell me if these medical experts fill
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your sales with confidence i don't know why i bring all these papers i never look at them
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yikes can you believe yaffee after this gaffee didn't just oh i don't know go away and hide
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forever i hear wireton willie is a very lonely groundhog these days but no this arrogant and
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ignorant woman continues to suck at the taxpayer teat parroting the words from they whoever
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they are yeah really i mean who is they will we ever find out who they are but while kids want to
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go back to school and parents want their kids to go back to school and perhaps even most teachers
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want to go back to school alas and alack lecce didn't count on what the various teachers unions
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would have to say about going back to work you see the union head honchos are concerned about the
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mental health of people going back to school no i'm not making this up folks yeah it's as though
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there are no mental health issues whatsoever associated with people remaining cooped up in
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their homes and segregated from their friends for months but check out this mind-bending state
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statement from sam hammond the president of the elementary teachers federation of ontario quote
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we are living in unprecedented times that continue to create high levels of stress fear and anxiety
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for everyone we have heard repeatedly that students families and educators need a break right now end
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quote what did he actually say that the various vested interests involved in the education biz
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need a break right now a break from what a break from taking a break a break from having an extended
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break holy hell this guy is nuts or lazy or supremely entitled or all of the above and hammerhead or i mean
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sam hammond says the times we live in are creating high levels of stress fear and anxiety for everyone
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um not for everyone me thanks surely not for sam hammond you know folks i googled sam's salary
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in 2005 he was making just a tad over a hundred thousand dollars along with the gold-plated benefit plan
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that comes with such a position mind you well today this fat cat is raking in close to two hundred
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thousand dollars hey folks how many people do you know in your circle saw an almost 100 salary increase
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in the space of 15 years and what the hell does sam hammond do exactly other than planning strike
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actions for his members every few years because when you run a teachers union your slogan is the same
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as that lyric from the 1976 andrea true connection song yeah that's right more more more more money more
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benefits more time off because the world is not enough when it comes to teachers unions who look
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upon the taxpayer trough as a bottomless pit of moolah for their members even when provinces are saddled
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with record debts and deficits but that's how they rolled in club public sector union where the taxpayer
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fueled gravy train continues to whip down the track like a formula one race car stuck in top gear not to
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be outdone in poo-pooing the potential cancellation of march break is harvey bischoff president of the
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ontario secondary school teachers federation here's what he had to say quote i truly believe he
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minister lecce is just floating political trial balloons and he truly doesn't care about the medical
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advice he gets the idea of reducing gatherings for example by cancelling march break flies in the face
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of logic end quote what how exactly does lecce's comments fly in the face of logic well you see when
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one drills down further it turns out there are some logistical reasons at play according to bischoff
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hmm logistical issues eh what would that be i mean the definition of logistics is quote the management
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of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption end quote so what the
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hell is bischoff talking about here he's the head of a teachers union not the ceo of canadian pacific rail
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well folks upon further drilling down it turns out that a cancelled march break isn't really a logistical
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issue it's a contractual issue you see there are collective agreements in place that have a requirement
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for the number of school days in a year according to bischoff so if march break is axed and there are no
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days off offered in lieu of that cancelled march break well then that could lead to problems problems
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now he's kind of talking like a mafioso i wonder if he's going to offer minister lecce a ride downtown
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too you see here's the maddening thing maybe you run a retail business or a restaurant or a gym
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unless you are amongst the chosen selected few such as walmart and costco you've been forced to adapt
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and make changes so unlike the big box stores no customers are allowed into your boutique it's curbside
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pickup only and to paraphrase the road dog if you all got a problem with that then premier doug ford
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has two words for you and one of those words is imprisonment just ask claudia rocca of claudia's
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closet or derek noble of noble toys these bolton shopkeepers have been threatened by the attorney
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general with jail time should they open up their doors again to shoppers hey you think the ag is bluffing
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here we all know what happened to adam skelly of adamson barbecue in november right
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but meanwhile in unionized rainbow spirit unicorn teacherland
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the union kingpins are essentially warning the government that they are entitled to their
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entitlements the wuhan virus be damned and if you upset the apple cart they'll likely go on strike
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they do that so well folks because they've had so much practice at it but me thinks it will be a
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zoom or a skype strike this year should it materialize uh safety first everyone and hey it gets really
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chilly in february doesn't it and so it is that even during a global pandemic when it comes to the
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teachers unions it's still business as usual no there shall be no adapting for them you see well
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that's not entirely true if we're talking about the unions adapting so that their members get endless
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extra weeks of time off oh they're fine with that oh but losing out on march break are you kidding me
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i mean come on folks hammond and bischoff have already stocked up on the tanning butter i mean
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the dominican republic has downright perfect weather in march surely you don't expect these vip educrats to
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shiver in ontario like the rest of us ham and eggers once again when the elites talk about making
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sacrifices that doesn't apply to them okay the biggest fallacy of this pandemic
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is the ludicrous phrase we are all in this together the biggest truism to come out of this pandemic
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is actually one law for thee and one law for me and the likes of hammond and bischoff have proof just
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check out the fine print in those contractual agreements read them and weep you sucker taxpayers
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and so it is that the poobahs lording over the teachers unions continue to make the case
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for their members to enjoy breaks because they already have a pent-up need for a break
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from all the breaking that they are currently doing it's maddening isn't it speaking of maddening
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i think my favorite half minute rant of 2021 thus far comes courtesy of brandon michon of virginia
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he's a father of two children aged eight and five and last week he launched a verbal torpedo for the ages
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not at entitled teachers union bosses but rather at cowardly school board trustees employed at the
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ludon county school board those tall forehead types also don't like the idea of kids going back to school
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even though kids have been off for months now in any event michon's rant is a thing of beauty and
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i really think he speaks for most parents check out this excerpt the garbage workers who pick up my
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freaking trash risk their lives every day more than anyone in this school system figure it out or get
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off the podium because you know what there are people like me and a line of other people out there
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who will gladly take your seat and figure it out you know that should be a slogan on a t-shirt eh
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figure it out leading up to that verbal poleaxing michon also had this to say quote
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you're a bunch of cowards hiding behind our children as an excuse to keep our schools closed figure it out
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or get off the podium you should all be fired from your day jobs because if your employers knew
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you were more inefficient than the dmv you would be replaced in a heartbeat end quote
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and that's the thing isn't it folks when it comes to the publicly funded education system
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everyone who is a part of this racket claims their sole motivation is well it's about the kids
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say teachers why are you out on strike again it's for the kids say teachers why are you asking for
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more moolah when you're already being paid so handsomely it's for the kids say teachers why do you
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need more benefits and sick days when so many people in the private sector you know the people that pay
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your salaries don't get such benefits themselves it's for the kids rinse and repeat well guess what
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teach kids are social animals they crave and need interaction with their peers when union bosses and
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school board trustees kowtow to the invisible boogeyman that is the wu hound virus this is not
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in the kids best interest it's in their best interest these entitled fat cats have been on cruise control
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for months and as they and and right now they want to continue floating down that lazy river they have
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not lost a single nickel in pay they have not lost a single benefit none of them has experienced a single
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layoff and yet you walk down main street canada and what do you see papered over businesses shops
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that had been around for decades now placed into bankruptcy not by the wuhan virus but by government
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edict yeah that's the real virus here big government meanwhile look at those people in say trucking or
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those who are running mom pa convenience stores they're putting in brutal hours to make a living and to
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serve the public the best they can you think they're going on march break this year mr hammond and mr bischoff
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no because that's life in the real world not in the fantasy land of a public sector union environment
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but enough is enough after a year of dealing with all this crap that china inflicted upon the world
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and all this crap that our own governments have inflicted upon their own citizens the one thing we
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know is who's truly at risk and who's not at risk and the kids going by the only wuhan virus metric that
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counts i.e the death toll they are the least likely to succumb to this virus so enough with this bloody
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entitlement already enough with this fear factor the likes of hammond and bischoff and the rest of
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these ricotta cheese candy ass jerks are supposedly educators so in the already immortal words of mr michon
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figure it out even if figuring it out means perish the thought working through march break in the great
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white north as opposed to working on your suntan in the balmy caribbean stay with us for more
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you know folks they say sunlight is the best disinfectant but apparently that's not true in
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every case and what i'm speaking of here is a few days ago you probably tuned in and saw ezreal events
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incredible scoop about mayor john torrey's north palm beach florida mansion actually being used perhaps
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by members of the john torrey family or extended family people that have gone down from canada to
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florida you know the kind of behavior we're not supposed to be doing well you would think after being
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shamed in such a fashion we saw the luxury cars we saw the bicycle we saw that the house was being
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used that they would avoid using it but no these people are so arrogant they're still using it and
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our drone caught a man on a bicycle and his initial reaction was to take a picture of the drone i don't
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know why and then entomb his face in a towel so he couldn't be identified
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my oh my it reminds me of my favorite yiddish word chutzpah sheer unmitigated gull and ezra i mean
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to me this is astonishing i mean it's not really surprising we know from the likes of uh sneaky rod
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phillips he buggered off the saint bart's and then had these uh pretend videos he was doing fireside chats
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in uh ajax but the fact that we caught members presumably members of john torrey's extended family
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at the florida mansion and then instead of going into hiding like wired and willie the next day
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um they went back for more frolicking in the floridian sun what do you make of this yeah well
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i just want to start off by saying i have no problem with people being rich with having 10 million
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dollar waterfront homes and you didn't do why i have no problem with people wanting to get away
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from the dreary canadian winters especially in toronto uh where it just feels gray and and miserable
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um all i'm saying is if you are the mayor who has the strictest lockdowns anywhere in english canada
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it's worse in quebec but the worst mayor in english canada is john torrey he has become an obsessive
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scold don't leave your house don't go out don't don't don't and anyone tries to do anything against
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his lockdown he'll send as you know what he did to adam skelly a hundred horse 100 cops 50 cop cars
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six ride horses so that's how he is when dealing with his political enemies but he's part of the
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ruling class and apparently he doesn't think the rules apply to him and so we have tracked parties
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gatherings get togethers at his palm beach home now he denies it's him now i haven't spoken to him
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personally his staff denies him now maybe they're lying but let's take them at their word i mean
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politicians lie and john torrey has a track record of hiding overseas travel for example right at the
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beginning of the pandemic he secretly flew to london england didn't tell anyone it was found out by the
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toronto sun so we know he lies we know he tries to have a bit of a public track and then he sort of
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sneaks away so let's take it in that context but let's say for the sake of argument that it's not he
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himself who's been partying in his florida home okay so who is it if is it some friend in florida who's
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sort of house sitting okay that's a good answer but i have now asked the premier staff five times
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who is it why are you covering up for them if it's just like it's not a maintenance person these
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are luxury vehicles um they're there coming and going it's it's it's clearly not a maintenance person
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it's not a housekeeper uh the whole compound is under high security so it's on a security staff
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we saw someone riding a bike and then hide their face when they saw the drone that's a sign of shame
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or secrecy yeah well why would you be ashamed of being in a beautiful community riding a bike
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unless you were maybe hiding your identity so the fact that he says to torontonians you can't open
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your business you can't meet with friends you can't go to a funeral or wedding you can't go to a gym
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you can't go to school but me and my elite friends can jet set down from toronto where to florida
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which is the most one of the most open states schools are open restaurants are open gyms and
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hair salons are open it's pretty much normal life down there i have to wonder is it the mayor's wife
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is it the mayor's kids and remember his son is a pilot they fly private is he going down is his family
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sneaking down from this dreary toronto winter made drearier by tory's own lockdown and are they partying
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and the fact that he won't say who it is and the fact that when we spot a guy he hides his face yeah
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tells me that the answer is not an acceptable answer you know um i think that speaks volumes and
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as well let's check off all the boxes as you just said it's certainly not a cleaning lady driving a
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six-figure luxury car it's not trades people um let's say it's not john torrey's relatives the only
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other thing i can think of do you think john torrey could be renting out his mansion on airbnb
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i don't think people that have that kind of real estate do that kind of thing no and by the way i
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did check there are no airbnb rentals in this compound and i would have to think that it wouldn't even
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be allowed this is a high security compound there are approximately 1 000 residents of this compound
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most of whom are not there at any given time it's uh these are the fortune 500 ceos jack welsh
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has a place there wow john torrey's home which is probably about 10 million us is one of the cheapest
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homes there um it is so exclusive it is highly armed uh there's one gate in and out it's completely
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self-contained uh they have their own golf course they have their own clubhouse and restaurant
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once you're in there you never have to leave you can have a wonderful day uh start off in your house
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bike around play around a golf have lunch at the club um he's got his own little dock there so this
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is not a normal people and again i'm not saying my problem is that he's a wealthy oligarch i'm not
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saying my problem and by the way his family has other it's not just him he and his family have several
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houses in this company he probably has 50 million dollars worth of real estate there wow you know
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it's interesting what you said earlier on ezra that it's highly armed because i i think john torrey
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is on the bandwagon about banning all guns and all ammunition in toronto but uh we won't go there
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here's the thing that bothers me as a journalist this was a legitimate scoop this was fantastic footage
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from our man in florida with the drone where oh where is the media snowball i mean you would think
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this is front page at least of all the local toronto dailies unless you saw it on rebel you didn't see
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the story right and part of me feels that's unjust it part of me feels like the media party as i call it
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is letting down their viewers part of me thinks that it shows how biased and controlled the media are
00:28:11.560
that's all true but another part of me says well that's why we're in business because our viewers
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value what we do and i i should tell you that on occasion i've had some scoops that i think are of
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such public importance that i have tried to in a certain way share them with mainstream journalists
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i don't want to get into examples because i typically do it very privately because i believe that the story
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is it's great for the rebel to have scoops yeah but sometimes stories need to be seen by
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people beyond our our circles and i should tell you that i offered footage without credit without
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our watermark to other media institutions in this city and they declined it i also know that at least
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two other journalists wanted to ask questions of the mayor but were not permitted to do so by their
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managers and wow that is an active suppression of a genuine story in the public interest i want to let
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you know that i generally do not believe that a politician's family or their private homes are
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relevant i think it is interesting and perhaps relevant that john tory is a centi millionaire who
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lives uh like seriously a rock star lifestyle in terms of his fortune that's that's of it's worth
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knowing that but i don't think i would drone someone's house just for the sake of it the reason
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we're focused on the house and the family is because john tory has taken upon it himself to be focused on
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your house and your family he'll tell you how many people you can have in your house how many family
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members can meet he'll talk about your personal life your business your funeral your wedding and i think
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that those are all inappropriate policy choices but he's the mayor and and the emergency laws are in effect
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but this shows he doesn't mean it this shows that it's not actually an emergency if it's fine
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for his people to travel it's not actually an emergency if he's fine with households mixing
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and we already saw when his friend rod phillips was caught yeah that john tory said well
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um i'll forgive a friend well hang on that's not the rule of law that's not how it works
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everyone's a friend of someone yeah so you're throwing the adam skelly has friends but i guess
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he doesn't have friends in high places i think i really do think when i look at that and let me
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just throw that for a second take a look at this clip just so people can remember what i'm talking
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about here's john tory excusing rod phillips because they're friends take a look uh minister phillips
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made a mistake a serious mistake he's been chastised by the premier for that he has admitted
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his own deep regret at making that mistake i have acknowledged that it was a mistake it's a very
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regrettable uh series of events but i think people who know me also know that uh you know i especially
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stand by my friends uh when they make mistakes and when they're in trouble uh because i just think that
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you have to do that it's it's it's it's it's not about the actions it's about the person he's a human
00:31:13.720
being and he made a mistake and he'll pay a price for that so when i look at that clip
00:31:19.320
now that i know that john tory has been hosting parties whether or not he personally was there
00:31:25.720
at his florida mansion i think did he give that answer about rod phillips knowing in the back of
00:31:31.560
his mind that he was letting friends and family visit his uh waterfront mansion in north palm beach
00:31:39.080
and that he thought well i'd better go easy on rod phillips so that if i'm ever revealed people won't
00:31:45.160
say that well why were you tough on rod phillips when you were doing yourself but that's not good
00:31:49.800
enough because he is tough on the little people this reminds me of leona helmsley that's a hotel matron
00:31:58.680
in new york taxes are for the little people you know and john tory who's an oligarch yeah really yeah
00:32:07.640
and he has a jet set lifestyle and he sneaks away and i think that it is of great public interest and
00:32:18.840
importance that the lockdown mayor is cheating it would be like in the era of prohibition
00:32:25.720
if the mayor who was shutting down every bar was found to have a speakeasy in his own house it's
00:32:33.000
and it's not just that he's a hypocrite it's how can he enforce the law against anyone else
00:32:37.960
when he himself is exempt from it and not only that ezra again what i find fascinating maybe we
00:32:42.760
have to wrap it here is the fact that he somehow got some pool some power for the managers the editors
00:32:49.960
of these journalists that want to write this story yeah and it gets quashed and it reminds me of last
00:32:55.240
month as you know we thought we had a hell of a scoop it was about john tory's wife barbara
00:33:00.920
going to a hair salon we know the date we know the amount she paid for the cut allegedly four hundred
00:33:07.960
dollars there is a photo in existence we offered five hundred dollars for the photo our go between
00:33:14.520
offered the photographer an additional five hundred dollars so a thousand dollars for this young lady
00:33:19.800
to give us that photo because without that photo we have nothing it remains in allegation territory
00:33:25.240
and supposedly she's being intimidated i don't know by whom not to surrender that photo even for one
00:33:33.000
thousand dollars so again um it fascinates me what kind of pull this man has behind the scenes yeah and
00:33:42.280
i'm a little bit scared about it for this reason um when you and our cameraman and our team go out onto
00:33:50.280
the streets yeah and cover lockdown protests in the city and the toronto police service takes a violent
00:33:57.720
approach yes to our journalists i know that on paper the toronto police service is independent
00:34:04.120
but i also know that when john torrey said get adam skelly they got adam skelly i'm talking about
00:34:10.280
adamson's barbecue and so the fact that you are doing such excellent reportage on the lockdown
00:34:15.880
protests and i had my little story about his north palm beach mansion i'm nervous because if john
00:34:22.680
torrey can pull the strings to get major newspapers in this town to bury the embarrassing story for him
00:34:30.680
and if we see what he did to adamson's barbecue is he the reason why toronto police assaulted three of
00:34:37.400
our reporters two weekends ago i don't know and i'll likely never know but i don't believe you can
00:34:43.640
trust john torrey and i think that he operates at a level of wealth and power that ordinary people do
00:34:51.880
not and cannot understand and we i believe in many ways are a voice for the people yeah we're not
00:34:58.360
supported by elites we're not owned by a major corporation he used to be the boss of rogers
00:35:02.200
yeah um we're not in that world he can't control us he can't call up our editors yeah to kill a story
00:35:08.040
he can't pull in a favor it's just us so will he do terrible things to us god forbid through the
00:35:14.680
police and this may sound like paranoia but we saw what he did adam skelly and we saw police assaulting
00:35:21.960
mocha efron and lincoln of our team and we know that john torrey cannot be trusted he's sneaked away
00:35:28.520
before these are dangerous days and one other thing you may have forgotten uh ezra i think our
00:35:33.800
best and most important video of last year was us going down to reclaim nathan phillips square
00:35:39.080
from a bunch of thugs called afro-indigenous rising who were camped out there for three weeks
00:35:43.880
breaking 11 sections of the trespass act but we were the bad guys for practicing journalism and then
00:35:49.160
in the aftermath we found out john torrey's minions were spying on us including the senior
00:35:55.560
communications guy bruce hawkins uh he slash him he wants to make sure you know your agenda i think
00:36:02.920
there's some ambiguity there with the name bruce but and it was all about how can we ban the media
00:36:09.160
from the square how can if we can't ban them can we limit them maybe one cameraman one reporter so
00:36:15.000
there was this i guess what i'm getting at there seems to be this mean streak to john torrey passes
00:36:20.760
himself off as a nice guy and every man when he's on radio with his media friends but beneath that
00:36:26.920
facade not so much yeah it's a great point literally today we received an access to information document
00:36:32.600
back on that file i'll share with you you haven't seen it yet um showing how many staff at city hall
00:36:38.760
accessed that secret database that he was collecting on us does i don't know if you saw that yet we just
00:36:44.040
arrived no have not dozens of they have collected closed circuit tv footage of you and me and of our
00:36:50.440
staff put it in a city database and dozens of times it has been accessed our private data collect he has set
00:36:59.960
up his own municipal spy system wow with closed circuit tvs with private security john torrey has likely illegal
00:37:11.400
civil civic i'm not going to call it a spy agency because they're too stupid to be actual spies these
00:37:18.760
are like the but but they do have it that connects their closed circuit tv their human intelligence their
00:37:26.600
security to a searchable database photos of me in it photos of you in it accessed dozens of times
00:37:33.480
so i suppose in a way john torrey is running his own little mini stupid cia wow well you you likened
00:37:39.560
them to roman emperor caligula that appointed his horse to the senate we know uh john torrey likes
00:37:45.320
horses when it comes to restaurants and you know there you have it folks uh i hate to be repetitive
00:37:51.880
but i think the biggest fallacy that's come out of this pandemic is the phrase we're all in this together
00:37:58.520
and the biggest truism is one one law for you for thee and one law for me and that is again evident
00:38:07.160
with somebody in clan tory uh jetting off to the sunny skies of florida well you and i and the rest of
00:38:14.680
the great unwashed masses we better stay at home or else despicable keep it here more of there's a
00:38:34.680
hey folks thanks for tuning in have an awesome weekend ezra is back on monday good night