Whistle Stop Victory Lap, Quarantine Hotel Visit
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
150.23082
Summary
A victory on the Alberta Food Service front! Yes, the little whistle stop cafe in the wee hamlet of Mirror, Alberta got into a staring contest with the provincial government regarding an illegal reopening. And guess who won?
Transcript
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Welcome to Rebel Roundup, ladies and gentlemen, and the rest of you,
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in which we look back at some of the very best commentaries of the week by your favourite Rebels.
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Yes, the little Whistle Stop Cafe in the wee hamlet of Mirror got into a staring contest
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with the provincial government regarding an illegal reopening.
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Andrea Humphrey took a visit to a Vancouver-area quarantine hotel.
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Part of the problem is that there is so much secrecy surrounding this property.
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And you had plenty to say about Alicia Herder, a single-mother entrepreneur
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who is being bullied and harassed and defamed by pro-lockdown types
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ranging from bylaw officers to the local media outlet, the St. Catherine's Standard.
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Opening her hair salon in order to make a living and serve an appreciative clientele.
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We've got a major victory to report in the Alberta Restaurant Rebellion.
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Now, the Restaurant Rebellion was first started when Mirror Alberta's Chris Scott
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opened up his little whistle-stop cafe to the open arms of his community.
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Alberta restaurants at the time had been closed to dine-in services since the middle of December.
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But by January, with no end in sight to the closure of his restaurant,
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Chris just reopened in complete defiance of the lockdown orders.
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And customers came and filled up his small diner day after day after day.
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And so did Alberta Health Services and the local RCMP.
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Day after day, Chris was subject to constant surveillance and constant visits
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from the local police and Alberta health inspectors.
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Chris was given a closure order and then two summonses to appear in provincial court
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In the midst of all of this, a rebellion was inspired.
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Restaurants from all across the province followed suit,
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also breaking the lockdown to welcome customers back into their dining rooms again.
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It spread to Cold Lake and Bashaw, Sylvan Lake, Big Valley, Smith, Red Deer, Hannah.
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And the rebellion grew so fast that the Alberta government was forced kicking and screaming
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into announcing an official launch date for restaurants.
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Now, Alberta Health Services sought and won an emergency court injunction to close Chris's whistle-stop.
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This was especially draconian and spiteful because then it meant a bench warrant could be issued for Chris's arrest
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if he was found to be in breach of the judge's emergency order.
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Now, that emergency injunction came just two business days before the official reopening launch date
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But Chris wasn't worried because we had hired him a top-notch criminal lawyer at no cost to Chris
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That lawyer is named Chad Williamson, and he worked diligently, aggressively, and passionately on Chris's case.
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And now, Chris and Chad have scored a major victory against the entire health bureaucracy here in Alberta
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and everything that bureaucracy could have thrown at Chris.
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Alberta Health Services has stopped pursuing legal action against a small-town cafe
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for defying the province's public health orders
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Just look at what happened at the Whistle Stop Cafe, folks.
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Not only did owner Chris Scott defy the province in reopening,
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but he's also getting compensation for his hefty legal fees.
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Now the question arises, what does this restaurateur do for an encore?
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In other words, Chris is going to pursue litigation against the province of Alberta
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for causing him so much grief in the first place.
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Can't wait to see how this case plays out in a court of law.
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And with more on the victorious Great Alberta Restaurant Rebellion
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is the reporter who covered it from start to finish,
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and that would be the one and only Sheila, the she-devil gun-reed.
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So, Sheila, talk about a tale of two restaurants and two provinces.
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literally sent in all the king's men and all the king's horses
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But quite a different story has played out in Little Mirror, Alberta, hasn't it?
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Yeah, I mean, Chris Scott, he took on the entire government in a staring contest
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several times now, and the government continues to blink.
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And it is a much different tale than what unfolded in Toronto,
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both in the reaction of the government, but also the reaction of the police
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and the reaction of his peers in the restaurant industry.
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So, Adam Skelly was basically left to fight this alone.
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Chris Scott inspired other restaurants to do the same as him
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The local RCMP, a small detachment out of Bashaw, Alberta,
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they were as hands-off as they could possibly be,
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Never actually issuing him a ticket, rather two different summonses
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So while he has this one application withdrawn by Alberta Health Services,
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those two summonses for breaching the public health order,
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And, you know, in Toronto, Adam Skelly, like you say,
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the right squad was brought in to stop a barbecue place
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And it was, I mean, things could not have been more different
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than what unfolded in Mirror and what unfolded in Toronto.
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But Chris Scott, he fought the government and he won.
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He had Alberta Health Services withdraw their application against him.
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And instead of what has happened to Adam Skelly in Toronto,
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the government is paying Chris Scott now for his troubles.
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You know, what do you think was going on behind the scenes,
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I believe it was 1990, the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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But, you know, when the stories emerged after the fact,
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it was a minute-by-minute decision whether the East German authorities
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were going to send in the tanks and quell that little rebellion with force.
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So I'm not comparing a restaurant rebellion to the fall of the Berlin Wall, of course.
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But what I'm getting at is the authorities in charge
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It speaks to the fact that there are truly two Canadas,
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So this is a place where we don't like anybody telling us what to do.
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Versus very progressive Toronto with their very progressive mayor
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And in Alberta, Jason Kenney's base is rural Alberta.
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you need to get either Edmonton or Calgary and all of rural Alberta.
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Well, Edmonton's generally a write-off most of the time
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he has to not annoy rural Alberta, and he has been lately.
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And so, you know, the fact that this restaurant rebellion
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supported by the farming communities around them
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and the farmers, producers were dropping off food
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That's why things, I think, worked out differently.
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the death of conservatism in Central Canada or not,
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That's why we get mad at our conservative politicians.
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you guys seem to get mad at your conservative politicians
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And they can't make that connection in their minds.
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And we see this unfolding in the federal party, right?
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And we see that with all the conservative politicians.
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like it's a speakeasy serving liquor in the 1920s.
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Now they're controlling every aspect of our lives.
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isn't it a lot easier to just have every aspect
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it's a means to their end of controlling your life
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They're just using these new health regulations to do it.
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they've almost become household words and celebrities.
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And this is only further making our lives miserable.
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for all the great reporting at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
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Yes, and if people at home would like to help Chris
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somewhere in the northern hinterland of Alberta.
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More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
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We've been bringing you the other side of the story
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of life with COVID-19 since as early as January 2020,
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without her family even knowing where she was going.
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and he didn't want to come forward with his name.
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Oh, unfortunately, we are closed until May 15th.
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but there's a lot of vehicles in the parking lot.
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So in B.C., restaurants are allowed to be open,
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so it's not like they were ordered to shut there.