Got Questions About Independence? - We have answers (Sign the Petition)
Episode Stats
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Summary
Jeevan Mangat is one of the organizers of the Stay Free Alberta event on Saturday, January 10th at the Queensland Community Centre in Southeast Calgary. He is also a friend of mine and has been a long time supporter of the independence movement in Alberta.
Transcript
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Hi, it's John and welcome to the channel. It is Friday, January the 9th. I hope you're
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having a great start to your Friday morning. I surely am here with the big blue mug of
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coffee, of course. Thank you so much for being part of this video and with my guest here
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today. Really excited about this one because we've got an event coming up tomorrow night
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at 7 o'clock at the Queensland Community Center in Southeast Calgary that's going to be really
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exciting and I think a little bit different. I'd like to welcome Jeevan Mangat who is one of the
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organizers of the event, an independence-minded Albertan as well and a friend of mine as well.
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Jeevan, great to have you here. Thanks for spending some time. Well, thank you, John. It's wonderful to
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meet you again and wonderful to be on your show. Well, you know, I want to just, I want to go back.
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I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but I contacted you to talk to you about the independence
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movement way back in the spring. You asked me to emcee an event on May 3rd at the Alberta legislature
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and it was a really terrific event, really the first independence rally at the legislature
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after the April 28th election. It was a great day then and things have really moved along,
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haven't they, since that date? Yes, at the speed of light, but, you know,
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here we are a few months later from May the 3rd and we are already have a petition where, you know,
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Stay Free Alberta has canvassers and it's a huge organization. But remember, all of these people are
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volunteers. Like there's thousands of people volunteering for the independence of Alberta.
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And what does that say? Well, it says a lot. And, you know, I had Mitch Sylvester on with me the other
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day and I said to Mitch, you said something at the October 25th rally at the Alberta legislature that
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you really needed some people's time. If everybody puts some time into this, then we can win this
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thing. You know, I was thinking about this today, Jeevan. This will probably be the only time in my
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lifetime that this will happen. These opportunities don't come around very often because if you look
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the last time that there was a referendum on independence or separation was in Quebec and that was
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30 years ago. So, you know, I'll be 91 years old if it's 30 years before Alberta has another one of
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these referendums. So we need to act now. And if everybody volunteers some time, we can get this
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thing done, right? Yes. And John, you're so right that this is the one. And I've been saying the same
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words. This is once in a lifetime opportunity. And if we don't act now, we are going to leave a
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province for our children and grandchildren in a disarray. And I am of the opinion, and I always state this,
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I said, don't forget the settlers, the pioneers, the veterans who came here, you know, 120 years ago and
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there was nothing. And look, the province that they had built, that's who I'm working for. Those are the people I
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wish to remember and continue their legacy. Yeah. So we've got an event coming up on Saturday night,
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which I think is unlike the other ones that you might see around the province with Stay Free Alberta.
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There are great events as well. You contacted me back in December saying, I want to do an event on
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January the 10th. And initially, I think it was going to be us maybe inviting some people out to answer
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some questions and whatnot. But this has really taken on a life of its own. We've got some great guests
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coming up on Saturday night at the Queensland Community Center here at seven o'clock and tell
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us a little bit about it. Yes. So this event, Heather Field, sorry, Heather Field is the organizer.
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She's actually the main organizer. We're both working together to have this event. And it was her idea
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that we should do a chapter event, that we should have the few Southeast writings. Maybe we can combine
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and hold an event. And so I agreed. And then I said, well, I'm going to phone a few people. So
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I phoned Corey Morgan, yourself, Eva Chipiak, and also Heather phoned in Dennis Kalma. I mean,
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Dennis is an icon because he's co-author of The Value of Freedom. Here it is right here. Yes.
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You know, I've got the same copy. So it's, and I can't believe the amount of work that went to it,
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into it. But don't forget, Dennis, again, is a volunteer who put this document together.
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Look at the hours, the data collection. It's incredible.
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I've had Dennis on. I had him on within the last week or so. And he's a wealth of knowledge for
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people who want to be at this event on Saturday night. I think the neat thing about this, we've got
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Eva Chipiak, who works with Jeff Rath, who's a lawyer. We're going to answer some of the big
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questions, I think, that are always brought up when it comes to the independence movement,
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people have concerns about. And I think they're going to address those things. But we're going
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to have a question and answer as well, which I think should be very interesting and informative
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for people who aren't quite sure about independence. Or maybe we can pull some people over from the
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absolute no side who might show up and bring them over to the yes side when it comes to a vote in
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the upcoming referendum. Yes, that's always our objective, right, is to introduce this movement
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to people that are undecided. They're thinking about it. They're sitting on the fence. And this
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is to provide them information so they can use their critical thought and say, you know what?
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Oh, we've given over $800 billion to Ottawa since the early 60s. What do we have to show for it?
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That we're a trillion dollars in debt. Our province is close to $100 billion of debt. Where did the
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money go? Mitch Sylvester always asks this question. And we also prefer this event, John, and you know,
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we've kept the length of the speeches short because we want people, we really want the audience to be
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interactive. And we've got such a great lineup, people with great knowledge. And then we're hoping
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people can get up, write questions, ask, because that's what is really the objective.
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Yeah, you know, we're going to have cards at the door so people can write down a question. If you're
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a little bit shy and you don't want to get up in front of a microphone, that's fine. So we'll ask
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them. Just like us. Well, yeah. And then obviously, if you want to stand up and ask a question, you can
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do that of the guests we've got and the speakers that we've got. I'll be kind of moderating the evening
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and throwing in a few questions of my own. You know, I remember sitting down talking about this
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a few weeks ago and we thought, what are the main questions that are always asked about this
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movement? And it would be treaties. It would be the fact that people say we're landlocked. It would
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be people are concerned about the Canada pension plan. Shouldn't be, but we'll answer those questions
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as well. And then Eva will be there as a lawyer. And she's going to say, what happens the day after
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we vote? Yes, what is going to happen? But if you've got other questions, this is really the
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opportunity. I'll tell you what will happen the day after. We'll still have those great
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mountains that you're showing in the background. Yeah, that's Two Jack Lake up by Banff. I took
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that when I was bike riding one day. But you know what? That little picture there, it wasn't
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hanging in the sky when I took the picture, Jeevan. But here's the other thing that I want
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people to know. We got confirmation today. There will be a petition there for you to sign
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on Saturday night. So that's great news. So I'm looking forward to putting my John Bolton
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on that petition. Bring some identification along so you can sign it because we're looking for those
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177,000. And there's going to be more petitions rolling out. Kind of a slow process. Everybody's
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kind of had to apply at stayfreealberta.com. And then it's Elections Alberta that has to roll out
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sort of the credentials for this. So there'll be more and more petitions going out over the next
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several weeks. So you'll be able to sign when you're in that event as well. Right, Jeevan?
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Yeah. And, you know, looking back at all the process, logistically, it has been difficult
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because there's so many processes to follow to ensure we're following the guidelines of Elections
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Alberta. And, you know, so I keep emailing my canvassers, giving them information saying,
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okay, this is the process. This is what will happen. And you have to be ready. And Heather and I
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will also be holding for our canvassers in class training because we want people to be well-trained
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before they knock on somebody's door and have that person sign the pledge. So, or the petition,
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sorry. And, you know, that's another job that we have to do. And remember, Ava, Dennis, Corey,
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yourself, you're all volunteers giving up your valuable time on a Saturday night. You know,
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very few people will do it. Only people that are committed to the movement will do it.
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Well, I'm really looking forward to it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Now, I know we're
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going to have several hundred seats available there, I understand, which is great, but it will
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be live-streamed as well. I'll put a link in the description. Max at Freedom Calendar has been great
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going around the province covering a lot of these events. It will be live-streamed. You'll be able to
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watch it even after the event because it will be posted on YouTube. So that's good for everybody
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who wants to be there. But it's seven o'clock, 649 Queensland Drive at the Queensland Community
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Centre. Eva Chipiuk, Corey Morgan from the Western Standard, The Corey Morgan Show. Dennis Kalma,
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the writer or the co-writer of The Value of Freedom will be there. And they got a lot of answers. If
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you've got any, be sure to be there. Come up and say hi as well, because we're interested in
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meeting all these people, aren't we, Jeevan? Yes. And, you know, after the event, we will stick
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around at the hall and to talk to people if they may have further questions. And, you know, John,
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Heather and I truly appreciate yourself, Eva, Dennis, and Corey giving up your time. And all it
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took was just one phone call and no hesitation. They say, yes, we'll be there. That's the power
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that I have. Yeah. He's a man you can't say no to, Jeevan. Hey, listen, it's a pleasure. I'm looking
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forward to it. I'm going to have some fun with this, I'm sure. It's going to be different as well.
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So I hope people will show up in great numbers. I think it'll be a full house that night. And again,
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you can go out there and you'll be able to sign the petition. Be patient because it's a bit of a
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process you've got to go through, but bring your identification if you want to sign. Of course,
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there's going to be lots of time over the next four months to sign that petition to get
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the number of signatures we need. Great to talk to you again, Jeevan. And we will see you on
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Saturday night, tomorrow night. Appreciate it. Thank you, John. Always a pleasure.
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Jeevan Mangat, organizer of this event coming up at the Queensland Community Center, 649 Queensland
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Drive Southeast with Stay Free Alberta. Head over to the website if you'd like to donate,
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stayfreealberta.com. Volunteer as well. And thank you very much for watching. If you like the video,
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give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, ring the bell for notifications. I will see you