John Bolton - March 22, 2026


Independence Calendar (Episode #16) - March 22nd - with Berta Proud Dad


Episode Stats

Length

16 minutes

Words per Minute

176.69507

Word Count

2,917

Sentence Count

256

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the Independence Calendar.
00:00:07.320 It is Sunday, March 22nd.
00:00:08.840 This is episode number 16.
00:00:10.920 Thank you so much for being here.
00:00:12.540 Great to have you along.
00:00:14.180 And I'll tell you, I'm wiped out today.
00:00:16.000 I'm very tired.
00:00:17.480 I don't know that you saw the video I did earlier this morning.
00:00:20.100 We had one hell of a day on Saturday for this event right here,
00:00:24.300 the 21st on 21 Spring Road Rally.
00:00:27.380 It was a signature hunt we had with the folks from Edmonton and Red Deer yesterday,
00:00:31.520 put together by Mr. and Mrs. Albert, and I'd like to thank them for a great idea yesterday.
00:00:37.080 It was really fun.
00:00:38.860 My day started at 2 o'clock yesterday.
00:00:41.320 We left my place at 8.30, got back at 10.30 last night, and I was awake at 2.30.
00:00:46.900 So I'm not working on much sleep right now.
00:00:49.360 So this might be an abbreviated independence calendar, but I can't tell you how wonderful this event was.
00:00:54.800 We started in North Calgary, went to Iricana.
00:01:00.120 We also went to Three Hills, Elnora, Delburn, and ended up in Mirror at the Whistle Stop Cafe for a pig roast.
00:01:09.960 Started off with about 10 or 12 cars.
00:01:11.920 We more than doubled that on our way up to Mirror and got more than 500 signatures along with the folks from Red Deer and from Edmonton as well.
00:01:22.460 I got a chance to meet a bird-of-proud dad.
00:01:24.620 we're going to have his interview. I interviewed him yesterday, first time I ever met him. His
00:01:29.020 full interview coming up in just a few minutes. Really great guy. I spoke with Jason Levine,
00:01:33.180 Mr. Alberta, John talking with Albertans as well. Never got a chance to even say hi to Chris Scott.
00:01:38.240 He was too busy helping in the kitchen with so many people showing up yesterday. So I'll put a
00:01:43.160 card of that event up at the end so you can watch the whole thing. It's almost 25 minutes long,
00:01:47.320 but it was so much fun. I think you'll really enjoy it. Also on this edition, we've got your
00:01:53.540 submissions. I've got an update on the northernmost petition signing place in the world.
00:01:58.860 They didn't get a lot of signatures, but for where they were, they got a lot of signatures.
00:02:04.040 Also, this would be the most unique petition signing place in the world. The only thing that
00:02:11.620 would be more unique is if it were on the moon. Not kidding. It's great. You won't believe it.
00:02:17.100 That's coming up in the submissions as well. And also, probably the oldest canvasser ever.
00:02:23.540 And I gave this person a round of applause.
00:02:28.020 You'll find out that in just a moment.
00:02:30.140 So lots and lots of things going on.
00:02:32.720 Here are some of the upcoming events when it comes to Alberta independence.
00:02:53.540 They don't read our headlines
00:02:56.040 They don't hear the pressure rise
00:03:00.140 They just see the wheat fields
00:03:02.540 Never see the fire in our eyes
00:03:06.640 We've been shrinking on the map
00:03:09.540 Just a corner, just a stack
00:03:12.680 But there's a border in our brain now
00:03:16.300 Drawn in red and black
00:03:19.100 Pop goes the province right out the back of your mind
00:03:24.760 One day you look up, we're a dotted foreign line
00:03:31.140 Pop new passports, same old northern sky
00:03:36.760 Pop up independence, I'm while you are passing by
00:03:43.440 Ottawa is half asleep
00:03:45.900 Arguing in marble halls
00:03:49.620 We're out here in work boots
00:03:51.980 Fixing cracks they never saw
00:03:55.740 Emails in their inbox
00:03:58.160 Unread like a quiet thread
00:04:01.660 They're busy with their selfies
00:04:04.140 We're busy learning how to disconnect
00:04:07.540 You keep shrinking us to west
00:04:11.660 Like we're just some empty chest
00:04:14.780 But there's an anthem in our accent
00:04:18.080 You won't hear till we've left
00:04:21.180 Goes the province right out the back of your mind
00:04:26.840 One day you look up where we got a foreign line
00:04:33.040 So lots of events are still coming up
00:04:39.240 events and activities, events where you can hear a speaker, generally Mitch Sylvester, so check them
00:04:44.120 out. And by all means, let me know about your signing event, your pop-up petition signing you've
00:04:51.040 got coming up. You can send that information to me at johnboltonab at gmail.com. I'd love to see
00:04:56.500 the pictures as well. I've got the submissions coming up in just a moment, and we'd like to see
00:05:00.680 as many of those as possible. I want to say hi to Nadine. You know, I try to read all your email.
00:05:07.060 I cannot respond to all of them. And generally when I do respond, it might be rather short
00:05:12.680 because I receive hundreds of email each week. It takes a long time to get through all of them.
00:05:17.260 Nadine had some advice for me. And I would happen to agree with what Nadine has to say here. I was
00:05:22.660 out yesterday on that cruise from Calgary up towards Mirror. So many people driving by and
00:05:27.680 honking their horns. And you have no idea how that makes everybody out there feel. We feel great when
00:05:32.820 you honk your horn in support of the independence movement. So she said, John, can you encourage all
00:05:38.280 the people that have signed the petition when they drive by a pop-up to honk the horn to indicate
00:05:44.740 they have signed? This will encourage the canvassers knowing they are just not driving by
00:05:49.380 and not signing. Thank you, Nadine. Well, Nadine, there you go. And it is a great piece of advice.
00:05:54.920 I wanted to bring this to your attention as well. I've got a bit of a friendship with Jason Levine.
00:05:58.760 I'm going to be on his show tomorrow morning at 7.30.
00:06:01.360 He just got in touch with me today, so you can check that out.
00:06:04.900 The Levine Show, you can go to his website, thelevineshow.com.
00:06:08.060 He's got all of these coming up in the next week.
00:06:10.460 So if you haven't been out to hear anything about the independence movement,
00:06:14.620 Jason's events are unique as well.
00:06:17.380 You can see here he's got a number of speakers, Marty Belanger, Marty up north,
00:06:21.520 Tanya Clements, fantastic speaker.
00:06:23.480 I've had her on the channel here.
00:06:24.880 Fergus Hodgson, Angela Tabak, and Jason will be speaking as well.
00:06:28.760 He's got events all week long. You can see them there Monday through Friday in Drumheller,
00:06:34.440 Leduc, Red Deer, also here in Calgary and in Lethbridge. Free event. Donations are welcome.
00:06:40.860 Bring your questions and your friends as well. So I wanted to say that to Jason. I had a chance
00:06:45.520 to meet him for the first time, although I've spoken to him a number of times on my channel
00:06:49.820 and on his. I do have an interview with him and all the folks I met yesterday. I will have those
00:06:55.280 on an upcoming show. So right now, let's take a look at some of your submissions this week.
00:07:00.640 Some remarkable ones, like really remarkable. Check these out.
00:07:12.260 So here we go with this week's submissions. Keep them coming at johnboltonab at gmail.com.
00:07:19.260 all things Alberta independence. Now, not as many this week. Still a lot, but not as many.
00:07:26.380 But we've got some real interesting ones for you. Update on the northernmost petition signing place
00:07:32.100 probably in the world, which I told you about last week. But this week in the submissions,
00:07:38.540 probably the most unique place ever. And I don't think anything can beat it. We'll get to that in
00:07:47.020 just a moment. You won't believe it's true, but it is. So let's take a look at your submissions
00:07:51.800 this week. As promised, the update on Kirk in Zama City, Alberta. If you've never checked this
00:07:58.400 one out and you didn't see last week, this is about as far north as you can get in Alberta and
00:08:03.280 probably the northern most petition signing location in the world. Kirk got back to me and
00:08:07.800 he got 12 signatures. Unbelievable. Thanks, Kirk, for the update. Jess in Grand Prairie, Bullets
00:08:13.520 and Broadheads. They have a permanent signing location. Jess, I always appreciate getting
00:08:19.820 email from you. Nicole, Rocky Mountain House, check out this great looking group of people.
00:08:24.260 Thanks for being part of the independence movement. Lisa in Fort Mac goes out with her
00:08:28.780 husband collecting signatures. Always nice that you can do those kind of things together, Lisa.
00:08:33.320 This is very awesome. I appreciate it. Doug in Grand Prairie says someone stole his flag. So he
00:08:39.560 put up another one and he's got a camera on it now so no one can steal it again. Bernard with a flag
00:08:45.560 in the snow with a pickup. Can you get any more Albertan than this? Check that out. Fantastic.
00:08:50.240 Francesca sent this picture. Husband Pietro here at a signing event with two other ladies. She says
00:08:56.540 I met them in Dalhousie when we had that great event up in the northwest here in Calgary. Thanks
00:09:00.860 Francesca. It was nice meeting you and thanks for the photo. Terry wants me to talk about the
00:09:06.300 spring bank signing event mitch sylvester will be at this one and this is at 91 commercial court
00:09:12.720 uh terry said he's very excited and if you want to meet mitch that would be a good one to go out
00:09:18.700 to go up and shake his hand great guy terry with picks in the snow from bonnieville uh 20 signatures
00:09:24.820 in very rough weather says terry steve steve was some guy um do you recognize this guy have no idea
00:09:31.800 That's Steve. Thanks for the picture. Steve, again, was somebody who is very recognizable.
00:09:36.360 I think this is Tamara Leach. Thanks, Steve, for the photos. Curtis got this. I wanted to show this
00:09:42.260 to you. A nasty Facebook post. Probably not a customer, Curtis. Don't respond. Many respect
00:09:50.020 you for you supporting a democratic process, so thanks for this. And Mike, check this out. Mike,
00:09:56.380 with this message. I did on-site training of my newest canvasser. Meet 92-year-old, yes, 92-year-old
00:10:06.340 Murray. Murray, thank you so much. A round of applause for Murray, everybody, 92 years old.
00:10:14.880 And this, folks, is real. Terry sent this to me. Albertans in Cairo, Egypt, can sign the Alberta
00:10:23.660 Independence Petition at the Base of the Great Pyramids. I swear to God, this is true. March
00:10:30.500 23rd and 24th, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Bring valid Alberta ID and add your name. I guess we've got
00:10:38.560 to give that a round of applause as well. Well done. So we've got the most northernmost
00:10:42.500 petition signing place, a 92-year-old canvasser, and signing at the base of the Great Pyramids.
00:10:50.040 outstanding excellent submissions keep them coming johnboltonab at gmail.com wow
00:10:57.220 let's move on into the interview segment of the independence calendar for this week i could have
00:11:08.980 chosen from four different people from yesterday when we were out in mirror alberta at that special
00:11:15.240 a car road rally event where we gathered 500 signatures. I had a chance to talk with Jason
00:11:20.200 Levine. I had a chance to talk with John, talking to Albertans, Mr. Alberta. And I spoke with
00:11:27.300 Berta Proud Dad. I figured, why not? We'll put Berta Proud Dad on this one. He had a lot of
00:11:32.540 great insight into the independence movement, a little different perspective as well. So here's
00:11:36.580 my interview with him yesterday. So here are the Whistle Stop Cafe just outside Mirror, Alberta.
00:11:42.000 Berta, Proud Dad with me.
00:11:43.760 An honor to meet you, sir.
00:11:45.600 First time meeting you and bumping into you.
00:11:47.820 I come across YouTubers and social media people and influencers.
00:11:52.480 You're one of the best.
00:11:53.460 Thanks for talking to me here today.
00:11:55.260 You came in from Calgary today.
00:11:56.920 Yes, sir.
00:11:57.420 What are your thoughts on what we're seeing here today and overall the independence movement as we move forward into the kind of the end of the signature campaign?
00:12:04.620 Well, you know what?
00:12:05.360 It's kind of got his own legs, right?
00:12:07.760 And the thing is, is what people don't understand about me is I haven't always been part of the independence movement.
00:12:12.000 I supported more. I was like Daniel Smith. I supported, you know, sovereign Alberta within a United Canada. And that's what I wanted until we started seeing floor crossers. And it was at that moment, you know, and, you know, a lot of people were ahead of me on that. And believe it or not. And the thing is, is I said, Canada is over, you know, democracy is done. It's finished. Right. So I jumped all in on Alberta independence. A lot of people from all over, because I have followers from all over. They kind of said, what are you doing? You're turning your back on the conservative movement and doing all this.
00:12:40.460 You know, you really have to find your line in the sand. And that's what happened. And since then, what I've seen is, you know, a brotherhood, a sisterhood. We've seen community. We've seen people, you know, from all walks of life, whether they're, you know, immigrants that, you know, their parents are immigrants or their First Nations people or from wherever they're from, they're getting behind this because it makes sense.
00:13:02.420 You can't actually look out the back door and what is Canada today versus what it used to be and say that, you know, there's not corruption or scandal or it's not harder on your life anymore.
00:13:14.460 You just can't.
00:13:15.160 Let me ask you this.
00:13:15.780 A question I've asked of Corey Morgan, Mitch Sylvester, Jeff Rath.
00:13:19.420 Are you finding people who are against the independence movement using patriotism as their answer for being part of Canada?
00:13:27.680 And I think that's a hard nut to crack.
00:13:29.880 What are your suggestions?
00:13:30.840 Or do you have any?
00:13:31.720 Because that is a very difficult thing to get across to people that, you know, just liking the flag and being patriotic to Canada isn't isn't good enough anymore, as far as I'm concerned.
00:13:42.440 Well, the thing is, is when I look when I look at it, I look at patriotism.
00:13:46.220 What is patriotism? Right.
00:13:47.800 What does it mean to you?
00:13:49.020 Who defines patriotism?
00:13:50.360 I define my own patriotism and what it means to me.
00:13:52.560 Yeah. And I can't say what yours is either.
00:13:54.380 Right. And why you fight for Alberta or why you might fight for Canada is up to you.
00:13:59.100 But again, I go back to the same thing.
00:14:01.160 You can't look out your back door and tell us that we can fix this without something like a sovereignty movement.
00:14:07.300 And for anybody out there in the country, whether you're from Newfoundland, whether you're from Quebec, whether you're from British Columbia, you have to do something about this.
00:14:15.400 We just saw the budget, for instance, let's take that, you know, 42 billion announced in November, now 78 billion.
00:14:23.360 And while Carney tells us that we have to make sacrifices, well, he's sending money overseas.
00:14:28.440 You cannot live in a country like that anymore, and you have to make change.
00:14:32.920 And how do we make change?
00:14:33.820 We band together, and we believe in something that is greater than ourselves, and that is sovereignty for Alberta.
00:14:39.380 Well, let me throw one more at you here.
00:14:41.340 But things will be better if the Conservatives get in, Berta Proud, Dad.
00:14:44.660 Not at all.
00:14:45.320 Not at all.
00:14:45.760 Not at all because, you know, and don't get me wrong, I sat there and I pushed Pierre Polyev.
00:14:51.380 And I like Pierre Polyev.
00:14:52.500 I love him.
00:14:53.100 I like him a lot.
00:14:54.020 He's a good man.
00:14:54.720 He is a great man.
00:14:55.740 But again, you have to be able to look at the current state of the country.
00:14:59.640 $1.3 trillion in debt is what we're moving up to.
00:15:03.220 We are almost at a point where we can't service our debt while we're locking resource in the ground.
00:15:08.360 How does that make any sense?
00:15:09.780 How do you do that in your own home?
00:15:11.700 When your finances are crumbling, you go out and try to find more money when their bills go up.
00:15:18.140 We're not doing that in this country.
00:15:19.620 And not only that, we're giving our money away.
00:15:21.580 We have to do something different.
00:15:22.860 So, Pierre Polyev, I love you, man, but Alberta needs to be sovereign, and we've got to do something about this.
00:15:28.340 Thank you for this. I hope I run into you again real soon, and keep doing what you're doing, man.
00:15:32.780 Thanks, John. Really appreciate it.
00:15:33.960 Thank you.
00:15:34.440 I hope to be featuring all the different interviews I did for Mirror Alberta at the Whistle Stop Cafe, including Mr. Alberta, you know, the guy with the mask, Jason Levine, and John talking with Albertans.
00:15:46.180 I spoke to all of them yesterday, all with different perspectives when it comes to the independence movement.
00:15:51.380 I will be on the Jason Levine Show tomorrow morning at 7.30.
00:15:54.780 Be sure to check him out.
00:15:56.560 You can always find out about Jason at thelevineshow.com.
00:16:00.140 I really want to thank everybody I met yesterday,
00:16:03.120 everybody I've met over the last week in the independence movement.
00:16:06.120 I love meeting the people, shaking their hands,
00:16:08.160 and finding out about your personal journey when it comes to independence.
00:16:12.140 A little shorter this week, I have to say.
00:16:14.420 A little bit tired today for sure.
00:16:16.960 So an abbreviated version of the independence calendar,
00:16:20.300 but it will be back again next week at 11 o'clock.
00:16:23.040 If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up,
00:16:26.100 subscribe to the channel, ring the bell for notifications.
00:16:28.680 I will see you in the next one.