John Bolton - March 29, 2026


Independence Calendar Episode #17 - March 29th (with Mister Alberta)


Episode Stats


Length

23 minutes

Words per minute

158.88673

Word count

3,726

Sentence count

254

Harmful content

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode of the Independence Calendar, we take a look at the incredible efforts of all the people who have been out and about collecting signatures and all the events happening across the province in support of the petition. Stay Free Alberta is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to fighting for Alberta's independence from Canada.

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 for Sunday, March the 29th, episode
00:00:10.080 number 17. I can't believe we've done 17 of these things so far. I tip my big blue mug
00:00:17.380 to you, my fellow Albertans. And what a week it's been. Another great week. Lots of speaking
00:00:23.040 events. I saw Mitch Sylvester. He was out last night in Edmonton with a full house there.
00:00:28.060 There was an earlier one this week in Calgary, which was a full house as well, and people still out there collecting signatures.
00:00:35.040 No matter where you go across the province, you bump into people, you see those blue flags, and you see the happy faces of people signing up, people on the petition.
00:00:45.140 Now, I did speak with Mitch Sylvester not long ago.
00:00:47.900 We do have this court case coming up, which begins on April the 7th, which could bring the petition signing to an end.
00:00:55.180 We hope not.
00:00:55.940 We hope it goes till March 2nd.
00:00:57.420 But Mitch said we would be collecting signatures until the 7th of April.
00:01:03.520 And I'm hoping that it continues on.
00:01:07.540 And next weekend, on Saturday in particular,
00:01:10.760 you can be part of something that I'm working on behind the scenes
00:01:13.880 that I just thought about doing earlier this morning.
00:01:16.580 I'm waiting for a call from a friend who can help out with this.
00:01:19.740 And you, if you're out there, you've been part of the independence campaign
00:01:23.680 or you haven't been, but would like to be,
00:01:25.980 there's a small thing you might be able to do
00:01:27.860 this coming Saturday.
00:01:29.280 I'll let you know if it happens this coming Saturday
00:01:32.060 that will be very easy, but could have a huge impact.
00:01:36.260 Okay, so I'll let you know about that later,
00:01:38.220 but keep in mind, I may be asking for your help
00:01:41.000 and you may be able to help out.
00:01:43.260 Now, the calendar may look a little bit different today.
00:01:46.300 And the reason for that is I do depend
00:01:48.400 on the Stay Free Alberta website an awful lot.
00:01:50.960 It's changed a lot over the last week.
00:01:52.660 they're upgrading and it looks better let's go over to it right now you can check it out
00:01:55.960 and here it is right here let me bring myself up on the screen looks fantastic as usual stay free
00:02:03.020 alberta the find assigning location button right now isn't working properly generally you can go
00:02:08.480 in there put the name of a community and then find assigning location not working right now
00:02:13.240 hopefully we'll get that fixed up real soon but it's got all the normal information here for you
00:02:18.380 upcoming events we'll take a look at that in just a moment that's going to be the big change on the
00:02:22.100 calendar this week. That section won't look much the same. This great little snippet here from
00:02:28.540 Mitch Sylvester, people said it was impossible when we started this citizen-initiated petition.
00:02:34.360 They said we would never receive the signatures, but as Mitch says at the end, we won't be slowing
00:02:39.340 down. We're completing what we began. I can guarantee you we've got enough signatures.
00:02:44.560 I think we had enough signatures at the end of January. I really believe that when we had all
00:02:48.960 those people showing up at all those events and the massive lineups. 177,000 signatures. I think
00:02:54.840 we got that by the end of January. And you go over here and you can follow Stay Free Alberta
00:02:59.920 on Instagram. Amazing pictures here of the wonderful things people have been doing.
00:03:06.020 I mean, check this out, this picture from Egypt. I've got this later in the submission section,
00:03:10.860 but look at this. They're signing up people at the pyramids. And then look at this picture.
00:03:14.920 They're on top of a mountain. I've got a picture of them in a helicopter. This is absolutely
00:03:21.580 outstanding. Now, there are different events coming up. The ones you're seeing on the screen
00:03:26.320 right here, these are events that are happening. Let me get myself off the screen. Now, you can
00:03:32.380 see it a little bit better. These are events where there are actual speakers, okay? So, you've got
00:03:38.240 this one coming up today in Moranville. Okay, six o'clock until 10. Petition signing there.
00:03:45.440 Speaker at seven o'clock. Then you've got one on the 31st in White Court. And then you've got one
00:03:50.700 on Wednesday, April the 1st. This one in Hinton. And then Grand Cash on Thursday, April the 2nd.
00:03:56.760 So there are speakers. Mitch Sylvester will likely be at all of these different events.
00:04:02.000 And as I said, the one in Calgary was very busy this week. And the one in Edmonton last night
00:04:06.300 was a full house. So that's really good news. Now, for those of you who can't get out and you want
00:04:12.500 to sign the petition, you may be shut in, you may have a physical disability, you can request a home
00:04:17.880 visit. Go to stayfreealberta.com, request a home visit, and somebody will come by and see you. So
00:04:24.160 lots of big things happening right now in the independence movement and more to come. We're
00:04:30.060 just waiting for the opportunity to find out about our question to be on a ballot so we can all say
00:04:36.020 yes, keep working hard out there. It's just astounding what's happened so far. And it seems
00:04:43.440 like just yesterday we started up this petition signing back on January the 2nd, and we're getting
00:04:49.820 closer to the end of the petition signing day by day. What I want to do right now is I want to talk
00:04:54.380 about the submissions from this week. You sending me pictures and information about things going on
00:05:01.300 and different signings you've had over the last several weeks,
00:05:04.560 keep them coming.
00:05:06.140 johnboltonab at gmail.com is my email address.
00:05:11.000 johnboltonab at gmail.com.
00:05:13.420 And it's funny, I didn't get as much email this week.
00:05:15.740 Still a lot, but not as much.
00:05:17.880 But boy, did I get a lot of pictures and submissions for you.
00:05:21.860 So let's take a look at that right now.
00:05:23.940 We are Alberta, child and free.
00:05:27.860 Forged by word and destiny.
00:05:31.300 We start off with Jack and Michelle with some Sherwood Park pictures and they've got a big
00:05:36.840 blue cup on the table. I see so many people showing up at events that I do and they've got
00:05:42.260 a big blue mug or something. Thank you very much for that. Allison and a team of canvassers at
00:05:46.640 Market Mall. Thanks a lot, Allison, for that. Neil and a couple of photos from the Lethbridge
00:05:51.160 Visitor Center. Abraham with this picture and also a video from Canmore. Check this out.
00:05:58.880 thanks for sharing that abraham abraham has sent some beautiful pictures from the canmore area
00:06:11.360 stay free alberta with three sisters in the background you can't get more alberta than that
00:06:17.880 jess is back thanks for all the submissions over the last 16 episodes of the independence calendar
00:06:23.680 I'm not sure if this is sunrise or sunset, but beautiful for sure.
00:06:28.200 Jess says all of her neighbors can see this flag.
00:06:31.640 This is Greg with some pictures from South Edmonton.
00:06:34.280 Thanks a lot, Greg, for these. I do appreciate it.
00:06:37.780 Busker James sent these from the March 7th Bouncy Castle event,
00:06:41.860 which was just an outstanding day.
00:06:43.500 People still talking about that.
00:06:45.320 And I thought that maybe we should have a bouncy castle at every petition signing
00:06:49.600 just to drive Thomas Lukasik crazy.
00:06:51.740 Sandy with photos from Camrose on March 14th, Mirror Lake, Beaumontel, Shell, minus 17 that day, but they're still out there collecting signatures.
00:07:01.620 And DJ with his four-wheeler with a nice-looking flag and a beautiful-looking dog as well. Thanks, DJ.
00:07:07.540 Lynn, who I met in Irocanna last week, saying this is Logan, who is close to 1,000 signatures.
00:07:14.860 Logan, well done. Logan, this picture of him with his Mobile Independent Signing Station sweatshirt.
00:07:21.820 So thanks a lot, Logan. Well done. Annie and Gerald sent this picture. Nice to meet you at
00:07:26.680 the Whistle Stop Cafe just a little over a week ago. James with a unique Alberta flag. He calls it
00:07:32.860 Alberta Black Gold. Terry sent this, and I think you may have seen this, and I showed it earlier,
00:07:39.560 But this is the amazing Egypt Signing Station at the base of the Great Pyramids.
00:07:44.640 I never thought I'd ever see anything like this.
00:07:47.720 Neil with another fantastic photo.
00:07:49.500 Thanks, Neil.
00:07:50.360 Also, we've got this from the Westview Village in Edmonton.
00:07:55.080 Chris with a couple of snowy pictures for us.
00:07:57.760 Says he got 20 signatures.
00:07:59.300 That's pretty amazing on a snowy day.
00:08:01.940 And Chris here again with a photo after the snow had melted.
00:08:07.400 Kat sent this in from the town hall with Mitch at the Carnarvon Hall, titled a bromance.
00:08:14.100 Thanks, Kat.
00:08:15.160 That just happened on Saturday night.
00:08:18.060 And Bill, from the same place.
00:08:20.260 And it is okay that the youngster has this flag backwards.
00:08:24.020 We're glad that he's holding it.
00:08:25.500 And then, of course, you saw the picture of a mountaintop petition signing location.
00:08:29.560 Now, I want to read this next little bit to you because I think this is really outstanding.
00:08:33.720 and this is the kind of things that are happening everywhere across the province. We may not see
00:08:39.860 them all. So I got this. Hi, John. I'm a great follower of your YouTube channel. Here's a couple
00:08:44.760 of pics attached of my meager signing station at the Clive Corner on Highway 12 east of Lacombe.
00:08:51.080 I'm there all by myself and one great Albertan drove by me. He has signed already and saw me
00:08:56.560 looking lonely. So he went home and gathered his saxophone and came back to my location
00:09:02.280 and gave me some great live entertainment.
00:09:05.460 I've met the greatest people while doing this canvassing.
00:09:08.540 Go Alberta strong.
00:09:10.600 Well, thanks a lot for sending that in.
00:09:12.200 I do appreciate it.
00:09:13.200 But that's the kind of thing we're seeing everywhere across Alberta.
00:09:16.860 We are Alberta, child and free, forged by word and destiny.
00:09:24.480 What a great group of submissions for this week.
00:09:27.340 And generally on Saturday, the day before the calendar,
00:09:30.540 I go through all the pictures that I get at my email address johnboltonab at gmail.com
00:09:36.520 and I have to do a listing of all the different pictures I get and then a description of each
00:09:42.820 one so I can do a voiceover for it and I waited until this morning because I didn't get as many
00:09:47.800 email this week but most of the email I got was submissions from you and did it ever take a long
00:09:53.560 time today I was under the gun to get this done today but keep them coming anything Alberta
00:09:59.100 Independence, a petition signing, a picture of a flag, anything you got from anywhere in the world,
00:10:04.780 I'd love to see it. And we'll get it on the calendar for next week. Now, still to come,
00:10:09.840 you know, so many people have sent me fantastic songs and videos that they've created using AI.
00:10:17.020 And as a matter of fact, when I was out on the 21st, on the 21st, the cruise we did up to Mirror
00:10:23.560 Alberta last weekend, a woman had collected all of them and was playing them wherever we stopped
00:10:29.700 for a petition signing all the way up to Mirror. And they were all songs created by people who want
00:10:35.380 Alberta independence. And my song that I did, We Are Alberta, was actually on the playlist that
00:10:41.560 she created. But I got one coming up in just a moment. I want to play for you in its entirety.
00:10:45.820 I think it's called Alberta Born by Art. You're going to love it. And the video is terrific. I'm
00:10:51.300 going to play it off the end. So what I'm going to do right now is play an interview I did from
00:10:55.540 Mirror last week. And you remember Jason Levine was there, John from Talking with Albertans was
00:11:01.680 there. We also had Berta Proud Dad there. So I interviewed all these people last week,
00:11:07.460 but I also had a chance to meet for the very first time, the person you know as Mr. Alberta.
00:11:15.000 He's the guy with the mask. And here's what he had to say. And we're here at the Whistle Stop,
00:11:20.100 Of course, we've been talking to everybody here at the Whistle Stopper, an absolutely fantastic day to get out here.
00:11:25.980 Sunshine in the morning, actually snow in the morning and then some sunshine, a little cloudy right now.
00:11:31.020 Kind of a typical Alberta day here in late March and here with Mr. Alberta.
00:11:36.140 And great, great to talk to you. Just your thoughts on what you saw here today.
00:11:41.480 I heard you talk. I got a chance to say a few words. Jason Levine said a few words.
00:11:46.200 talking with Albertans.
00:11:49.100 Proud Alberta dad did as well.
00:11:51.060 Your thoughts?
00:11:51.880 I think it's awesome.
00:11:52.960 I think we've got a great bunch of people
00:11:54.660 who now come out and they've won their support,
00:11:56.820 both knocking doors, visiting people's homes,
00:11:59.860 doing these pop-ups,
00:12:00.720 but also rallying the troops,
00:12:02.260 bringing up the morale.
00:12:03.700 I mean, it's a cold out here
00:12:05.620 and we need a little boost
00:12:06.680 and you guys have been more than helpful
00:12:08.180 to make that happen.
00:12:09.140 You obviously have some fun with this.
00:12:11.460 Oh yeah, tons.
00:12:12.280 And I think it was Corey Morgan
00:12:14.740 said to me a few weeks back,
00:12:16.040 We did an event down in Southeast Calgary.
00:12:17.900 He said, John, we need to have more fun doing this because it's a long slog.
00:12:20.960 We're getting into three months now when it comes to the petition campaign, maybe another month.
00:12:25.080 Who knows?
00:12:25.920 But then after that, there'll be five or six more months if we get a question on a referendum.
00:12:30.340 We need things like this.
00:12:31.600 We need people like you to have some fun and, you know, kind of have a laugh about this, but be serious at the same time, I guess.
00:12:38.880 Well, it's a serious topic, but at the same time, I think only Ottawa would do things serious the whole time.
00:12:43.820 yeah yeah but where can people find you you can find me at mr alberto on all the platforms
00:12:50.860 okay mr alberto written out written out yeah absolutely what do you think we need to do the
00:12:55.900 rest of the way and what do you think it's going to take for us to get a majority yes when we
00:13:00.760 eventually get that question on a referendum honestly i think at this point in time we need
00:13:04.360 to shift from just trying to gather signatures casually to secure your signature because we have
00:13:10.460 of a potential injunction happening at the start of April.
00:13:13.320 So a lot of people think we have another month
00:13:15.400 and a bit left, but really we only have
00:13:17.120 about a week and a half-ish to get the signatures in.
00:13:19.400 So if you haven't secured your signature,
00:13:21.560 now is the time to go do that.
00:13:23.060 Yeah, get out if you haven't signed up.
00:13:24.840 A lot of people are waiting and time is running out.
00:13:27.000 You know what I found interesting today?
00:13:28.340 A lot of people said when they went into each town,
00:13:30.740 they knocked on doors and they got a lot of success
00:13:33.380 doing that and we're doing the side of the road stuff,
00:13:36.660 those pop-up tables sitting on the side of the road,
00:13:39.300 but I think we need to get a lot more people out knocking on those doors.
00:13:41.880 Oh, 100%.
00:13:42.560 I mean, like sometimes Edmonton, for example, where I'm from, it's a little tougher,
00:13:45.960 but some of these small towns where they have no native canvassers,
00:13:49.260 you're getting like one guy, he went, knocked 10 doors.
00:13:52.140 Five of them said yes, and they signed there.
00:13:54.800 Two of them said they already signed, and only three of them said they're not interested.
00:13:58.100 So that's a better use of time, I think, than a side of the road for a lot of pop-ups.
00:14:02.040 And, you know, we pay a lot of attention to this as well.
00:14:04.800 This is, I mean, it's on our mind almost 24 hours a day.
00:14:07.780 Sometimes I wish it wasn't, but we're thinking about it all the time.
00:14:10.540 There are still people out there who aren't paying much attention.
00:14:13.580 You knock on the door, you say, listen, are you interested?
00:14:16.560 And they might start thinking about it as opposed to just being apathetic, I guess, is the word.
00:14:21.240 100%. A big part of this is you're planting seeds.
00:14:23.440 This is part of the Turning the Hearts and Minds campaign.
00:14:26.060 So every person you talk to and answer even just one question about, that's another little seed you're planting.
00:14:30.780 And we got a little bit of six months of germination after this is all done before the referendum to help turn those seeds and help them sprout.
00:14:37.780 keep having fun out there events like this they're great to meet everybody but having fun will keep
00:14:43.640 everybody interested and motivated and thanks for what you're doing oh yeah well like albertans as
00:14:47.920 a whole are just fun people yeah absolutely thank you the best thing for me about the alberta
00:14:52.220 independence movement other than you know getting the petition signed is meeting you so if you ever
00:14:58.280 are at an event and you see me be sure to come up and say hi it was nice meeting everybody last week
00:15:03.080 and Mirror, and people like Mr. Alberta as well. I did want to bring this to your attention. This
00:15:08.040 is happening on Sunday, which is today, the 29th. In Airdre, there is a petition signing from 12
00:15:15.420 until 4 o'clock, 126 Main Street North, and check that out. And I want to bring this to your
00:15:20.020 attention, my friend Jason Levine having this event, which I will be at. This is happening on
00:15:25.200 April the 11th in Red Deer. Let me just zoom in on this a little bit for you. At the Legacy Center,
00:15:30.720 Tickets are $30 online, $40 at the door.
00:15:34.380 Go to thelevineshow.com.
00:15:37.180 And I will be here along with Viva Fry is going to be there, which is outstanding.
00:15:42.680 Unacceptable Fringe.
00:15:43.660 Derek will be there.
00:15:44.500 That's me right there.
00:15:45.560 I'll be doing a speech.
00:15:47.440 Berta Proud Dad's going to be there.
00:15:49.080 Melanie Bennett from Juno News.
00:15:50.740 Stockwell Day will be there.
00:15:52.340 Chris Scott.
00:15:53.060 This is going to be an outstanding event.
00:15:55.140 So make sure you get your tickets.
00:15:56.980 Again, it's happening April the 11th in Red Deer.
00:15:59.760 30 bucks online, $40 at the door. So save yourself a few dollars by going to thelevineshow.com
00:16:05.900 and they'll have a special screening of Jason's, the shot, the Sean Hartman story. So I'm looking
00:16:11.220 forward to being at that event. So that's it for the independence calendar for this week.
00:16:16.180 Keep all of your submissions coming. JohnBoltonAB at gmail.com. Love to see them. Anything
00:16:22.120 Alberta independence. Now, as far as your email go, I try to read them all. It's hard to do that
00:16:28.260 because I do get a lot of email here.
00:16:30.300 I don't respond to them all.
00:16:31.660 Some of them I do.
00:16:32.440 And if I do respond, they're generally very short.
00:16:35.700 But if you've got a video, a picture, anything,
00:16:37.540 send it to me, johnboltonab at gmail.com.
00:16:40.920 Now, I want to end with this
00:16:42.380 because this is a pretty cool song.
00:16:44.320 This was sent by Art.
00:16:45.900 It's called Alberta Born.
00:16:47.600 He's calling it the Independence Anthem.
00:16:50.140 Thanks a lot, Art, for sending this in.
00:16:51.880 And I'll see you next time on the Independence Calendar.
00:16:58.260 Mm-hmm, yeah.
00:17:22.140 Crossed on the windshield, Babylon's here, oh, no one's coming to save you out here. 1.00
00:17:28.260 Dirt in the creases, oil on the hands
00:17:31.920 Another long drive through the heart of the plain
00:17:35.140 We built half this country on cold, tired backs
00:17:38.780 Sent our billions away and fell through the cracks
00:17:42.280 Rents out of reach and the shelves are half bare
00:17:45.740 We're choking on taxes and breathing cold air
00:17:58.260 Where the house is a ransom and a dollar's a ghost
00:18:05.640 We keep on bleeding for the ones who need us most
00:18:09.040 The weight's cracking the floor beneath our feet
00:18:12.380 But Alberta doesn't fall, we don't retreat
00:18:15.800 We are the land where the cold makes you strong
00:18:27.920 We've been holding up this country our whole lives long
00:18:34.560 From the black of the past to the peaks in the west
00:18:39.240 We're done being quiet, we know we're the best
00:18:42.360 Yeah, the mountains still stand and the wild rose grows
00:18:45.820 We are the fire that burns in the snow
00:18:49.140 We're rising up
00:18:57.920 The Palm Jacks are bowing like ghosts in the white 0.99
00:19:05.920 Keeping the whole country warm through the night
00:19:09.180 We're paying the toll, we're carrying the load
00:19:12.420 While they count our money on the other side of the road
00:19:15.920 Cupboards run thin, but the backbone is thick
00:19:19.460 We don't ask for handouts, we lay every break
00:19:22.780 From the tar sands to the foothills, we know who we are
00:19:27.060 Alberta born and we're bearing the scar
00:19:30.800 When a house is a ransom and a dollar's a ghost
00:19:46.260 We keep on bleeding for the ones who need us most
00:19:49.660 The weight's cracking the floor beneath our feet
00:19:52.960 But Alberta doesn't fall, we don't retreat
00:19:56.480 We are the land where the cold makes you strong
00:20:08.620 We've been holding up this country our whole lives long
00:20:15.200 From the back of the patch to the peaks in the west
00:20:19.900 We're done being quiet, we know we're the best
00:20:23.000 Yellow moth, we still stand in the wild rose rose
00:20:26.500 We are the fire that burns in the snow
00:20:29.720 We're rising up
00:20:34.700 We build half this country on cold tired hands
00:20:52.980 Send our wealth to the east by government demands
00:20:56.320 But the wild rose doesn't ask permission to bloom
00:20:59.460 We've been quiet long enough
00:21:01.720 Now we're filling the room
00:21:04.440 Filling the room, yeah
00:21:31.720 We'll be right back.
00:22:01.720 We are the land where the cold makes you strong
00:22:21.640 We've been holding up this country a whole life long
00:22:28.320 From the black of the past to the peaks in the west
00:22:33.020 We're done being quiet, we know we're the best
00:22:36.140 Yeah, the mountains still stand and the wild road grows
00:22:39.600 We are the fire that burns in the snow
00:22:42.820 We're rising up
00:22:48.020 We're rising up
00:22:51.940 Right out of the cold
00:22:53.680 We know what we're worth
00:22:57.060 Thank you.