John Bolton - August 09, 2026


Independence Calendar Episode #33 - August 9th, 2026 - With Tanya Clemens


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

203.17

Word count

3,176

Sentence count

275

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the Independence Calendar for Sunday, August the 9th.
00:00:07.720 Hope you're having a great weekend.
00:00:10.680 Thank you so much for being here.
00:00:12.160 I do appreciate it.
00:00:13.300 We're getting closer, folks.
00:00:14.520 Day by day, we get closer to the referendum on October the 19th.
00:00:19.120 Got lots of stuff coming up today, a bunch of events happening, some real fun stuff coming
00:00:23.080 up, including one coming up next Saturday at the Whistle Stop.
00:00:27.420 We've got other events happening, talking about the independence movement and a couple of rallies as well.
00:00:32.620 Two of them.
00:00:33.700 So we'll tell you about that in just a little bit.
00:00:36.260 I've got an interview with Tanya Clemens or a segment of an interview I did with Tanya Clemens in my backyard, which was just terrific the other day.
00:00:44.360 I've got about five minutes of a 32-minute interview.
00:00:48.020 I'll put a card at the end so you can watch the whole thing.
00:00:50.040 Tanya, of course, with Let Alberta Decide, with Keith Wilson doing great work, as are all the third-party advertisers.
00:00:56.620 so we'll have that for you in just a moment. Plus, we've got your pictures coming up. Got a
00:01:01.580 bunch of great pictures this week, so thank you very much for sending them in. My email, by the
00:01:06.480 way, johnboltonab at gmail.com. I try to read as many email as possible. I can't read them all,
00:01:13.300 and I cannot reply to them all as well. Some of them I do, but not all of them. It just takes
00:01:18.380 too much time, but get your pictures in of the signs you're putting out there. Again, get a
00:01:22.900 picture of a sign with somebody beside it or out in front of your house looking oh so nice out there.
00:01:28.440 We'll show you those pictures in just a moment. So what we're going to do right now though is
00:01:32.540 we're going to get into something that I've been doing over the last several weeks. I've been
00:01:37.440 putting together a bunch of commercials and I've done them with Danielle Smith, basically using
00:01:43.080 Danielle Smith, her words to support the Alberta independence movement. And she certainly has a lot
00:01:49.040 a lot out there for me to use for these commercials. More of those with Danielle coming up. 0.77
00:01:54.860 I've got one on Polyev. I've got one on Jason Kenney. And I did one called It's Morning in the
00:02:01.320 West about what it'd be like if we do vote for independence finally here in this province. Now,
00:02:07.660 I did this one this week. I think Jason Levine may have posted this one on X, but I like this
00:02:13.080 one. And I was talking to somebody recently at an event and we were talking about Canada. And I
00:02:18.520 don't remember the name of the person, but we were talking about what we can and cannot do,
00:02:23.380 what we can and can't do in Canada. And this person said to me, you could call us Cantida.
00:02:29.000 So I did this commercial. I hope you enjoy it. Welcome to Cantida, a blissful place where people
00:02:35.780 sleepwalk through life, slowly accepting what they once thought possible now lives in a world
00:02:41.720 of can't. People can't afford a home, but can be corralled into rental units. People can't afford
00:02:48.200 the deficit as it spirals out of control the young can't pay down the rapidly growing debt
00:02:54.840 we can't build pipelines without meddling from ottawa and concessions by provincial politicians
00:03:01.240 we can't do anything about investment except drive it away the royal bank of canada released
00:03:07.160 a study two months ago concluding that over a trillion dollars in investment left canada
00:03:12.840 we can't make a deal with our biggest trading partner who cares we can't speak our mind young
00:03:19.000 people can't find a job people can't afford food we can't find politicians who respect their
00:03:28.280 constituents and can't elect a government other than the one that caused all the problems in the
00:03:34.120 the first place. Welcome to Canada. On October the 19th, vote option two on question 10.
00:03:45.280 I hope you like that. I have a lot of fun putting those things together. More of them will be coming
00:03:50.060 and I will be playing those leading up to the referendum coming up on October the 19th. Now
00:03:55.960 let's take a look at some of the events and activities that are happening over the next week
00:03:59.860 and all the way up to the referendum in late October.
00:04:03.420 Lots of events are coming up.
00:04:04.940 If you've got something coming up, you're doing an event,
00:04:07.140 or maybe you're doing a pop-up where you're talking to people about Alberta independence.
00:04:11.500 I ran into some people about a week or so ago just outside Okotoks.
00:04:16.260 Let me know about that as well.
00:04:17.340 Put in the subject matter pop-up event.
00:04:20.100 And when you're sending me pictures, for instance,
00:04:22.380 put picture for the independence calendar or something like that in the subject matter.
00:04:27.320 By the way, a lot of people getting in touch with me,
00:04:29.260 I try to read as much email as possible. A lot of people get in touch with me about, you know,
00:04:34.580 Thomas Lukaszek and the Forever Canadian thing, not having to report how much money they're
00:04:39.020 raising. I did do a video on this this week. If you want to check it out, I'll put a link in the
00:04:44.180 description. You can watch it. I'm concerned about referendum interference. I did write to
00:04:49.360 CSIS about this. Okay. So you can watch that. It's a pretty interesting video. Now let's take a look
00:04:54.800 at some of your pictures from this week. And again, send them to me, johnboltonab at gmail.com.
00:05:06.740 This is always my favorite part of the Independence Calendar, your pictures. I didn't get as good a
00:05:11.620 crop this week as I had last week. If you have a picture, please send it to me, johnboltonab
00:05:16.740 at gmail.com. Let's get into the pictures this week. We've got a good bunch of pictures and
00:05:22.600 some interesting ones as well. We'll bring this one up on the screen. This from B. And I put in
00:05:27.780 the title of this one, Fighting Back. Now, take a quick look at this picture. What do you see here?
00:05:31.740 Well, I see B here with a Choose Alberta sign. And on either side of her property, there's one
00:05:37.600 of Thomas Lukasik's bought and paid for signs by God knows who's paying for his signs. But thanks
00:05:43.820 to B for that one. Mervyn sent this in. Thanks to Mervyn. Great sign there. A bunch of signs
00:05:49.520 around a tree. I think we've got a few more from Mervin coming up. Cody, thank you very much for
00:05:53.680 these. Cody getting a good selection of signs out in front of his place. Then we've got Jerry in
00:05:59.340 Edmonton. Beautiful here. Nice home there, Jerry. I love the flag and I love a Corrie sign. Corrie's
00:06:04.100 done very well. I think he said he's got 14, maybe 15,000 signs out there. We've got this one as well.
00:06:09.100 Let Alberta decide. Vote option two, question 10 on October 19th and send Ottawa a message. Thank 0.99
00:06:14.820 you very much for that. Mervyn here as well. Beautiful home here. Look at this. Look at the
00:06:19.980 signs and the flag up in the top of the spire there. I guess you could say here they are a
00:06:26.260 little closer up. Love it. Thank you very much for that, Mervyn. Steve sent this in. Chris Scott
00:06:32.000 with a new van here or a new bus. It's not a van. It's a bus. This at the Whistle Stop Cafe up in
00:06:39.160 Mirror. This with Let's Talk Alberta. I'm thinking might be putting some graphics, more graphics on
00:06:44.180 there with Let's Talk Alberta on it. Steve's saying that, you know, I think that Thomas
00:06:50.340 Lukasik's going to lose it when he sees this. I think we've got a few more of them here. There's
00:06:53.620 another one right there. Beautiful bus. Look for this around the province. This from Wade. Wade
00:06:58.440 sent me a bunch of them. A whole bunch of pictures of signs. A whole bunch of Corey signs out there.
00:07:03.420 Wade handing out all kinds of signs. This is his place. Let me fix this. It's kind of blurry. Let
00:07:08.020 me fix that for you. Wade with all kinds of signs. Look at the signs up here. And this would be at
00:07:13.200 his place up in Sylvan Lake. I think we've got some more of them here. There you go. Check that
00:07:19.000 out. And this is a pop-up he's been having on his peace sign out here on his property. Look at all
00:07:24.920 the information he's got out here. Well done, Wade, my good friend Wade up in Sylvan Lake.
00:07:29.120 Who's this one here? Sorry. This is Daniel. Thanks for this picture. And I went and made
00:07:34.020 it blurry. Let me fix that for you. Daniel, thanks for this picture. Beautiful dogs,
00:07:37.920 beautiful sign and a beautiful flag as well. Wade also sent this one in from Sylvan Lake. He's got
00:07:44.200 a great spot there right out in the open so people can see his signs and his flags as well.
00:07:49.360 And another one from Wade, Get Off My Lawn. I think he's got another one here for you in just
00:07:53.480 a moment. Yeah, Wade sent this one in. Check this out. Yeah, I think this is a good idea. I was
00:08:00.260 actually talking to Jason Levine. He said maybe we need more signs like this. I love it. Thanks
00:08:05.560 for sending that in, Wade. Mike in Tofield, the Unity Board. Check this out. Outstanding. Put it
00:08:11.920 on the back of a trailer. Haul it around. I think he's got another photo here, and there it is on
00:08:16.100 the back of the truck. Thanks a lot for that. I do appreciate it. Another picture from Daniel,
00:08:21.400 the sign out in front of the house. Another one here. Great shot. Next door neighbors with their
00:08:27.720 flags up and their signs as well. Down here, Jocelyn sent this one in. Thanks so much, Jocelyn,
00:08:33.780 for this great picture. I love it. Right out of the back of the vehicle. You got to love when that
00:08:37.820 happens. Actually, let me show you that again. Jocelyn and Jason sent this picture in. So thank
00:08:42.860 you very much for that. And we've got this picture here. This is actually a video. Where was this
00:08:49.640 now? Oh, goodness. Was it Vagraville? I think it was. Let me just show you a little bit of this
00:08:54.100 video. I love the horse.
00:09:03.780 And there's the cow. West feeds the cow. The East milks the cow, folks. Love it. Well done,
00:09:14.140 the dirt farmers. Thanks very much for that, and thanks for all your pictures this week.
00:09:22.920 If I didn't get your picture on, maybe I missed it. Put picture or something in the subject matter
00:09:28.020 so I get it. I make sure I find it. And if you want to send me your pictures,
00:09:32.040 John Bolton, ab at gmail.com is the email address. Love seeing your pictures. And now we've got this
00:09:38.880 week's interview and it's with Tanya Clemens from Let Alberta Decide. Do you think people on the
00:09:44.460 other side truly understand that that's what the question is about? Do you think, because I, you
00:09:48.920 know, I look at, I look at video footage of these people, generally older people. And I'll tell you
00:09:56.140 this, when I go just across from where I live here, I go out to Mackenzie Lake, which is over by
00:10:01.660 the park here in South Calgary, the big houses overlook the lake, and they're the ones with the
00:10:06.440 Forever Canadian signs out front. Big $3, $4 million homes. No doubt these people have probably
00:10:11.420 got the mortgage paid off, probably have a nice pension. I'm assuming they're a little bit older.
00:10:15.540 Do you think they truly get what this question is about? Or do you think, and I'm starting to
00:10:20.740 think this, that they're actually thinking this is a vote for or against independence?
00:10:25.580 Yeah. And I think that's the communication that we're trying to get out there and the messaging
00:10:28.640 that we're trying to convey to them.
00:10:30.120 The way that the questions are phrased,
00:10:32.320 this first vote is about empowering our government.
00:10:35.380 And there is definitely a lot of people
00:10:36.660 that have made their wealth
00:10:38.740 and have created a path forward for themselves
00:10:41.640 within the current system
00:10:43.300 that don't want it to be rocked
00:10:44.680 and don't want it to change.
00:10:46.060 But if we can get them to think outside
00:10:47.620 of just their own personal life
00:10:49.440 and what this means for their children
00:10:50.880 and their grandchildren,
00:10:52.280 we absolutely don't want to continue
00:10:53.660 on the path that Canada is on right now.
00:10:55.460 We want to empower Alberta
00:10:56.740 to be able to negotiate with Canada
00:10:58.320 to do better for Alberta so we can have more self-determination, more prosperity.
00:11:02.880 And the way to do that is to vote option two.
00:11:04.700 If you vote option one, you're voting for the status quo.
00:11:07.860 You're voting that this should just stay exactly as it is.
00:11:10.300 Yeah, well, you know, I think of Corey Morgan's sign.
00:11:13.200 It says, send Ottawa a message, right?
00:11:15.260 The big one down in Tabor they tried to take down.
00:11:17.540 Send Ottawa a message.
00:11:18.720 It gives us a chance to do that for sure.
00:11:20.280 You know, I was out at an event the other night with Jason Levine and Maxine Bernier was there.
00:11:25.840 And he wasn't there so much as the leader of the People's Party of Canada, but he was in Quebec during the last referendum.
00:11:32.000 And he made a he made a very interesting point from a different perspective.
00:11:35.580 But talking about the same thing, here's your chance to have some leverage.
00:11:40.020 Here's your chance to gain some respect. And that's the message we have to get across.
00:11:44.620 We talked early on in this campaign and we've been talking for quite some time.
00:11:48.800 We have to get that mushy middle. Do you think they're still out there?
00:11:51.620 Do you think that do you think that mushy middle is moving over to our side?
00:11:54.780 Do you think they're getting the message?
00:11:56.000 Because the other side, they're trying to get the mushy middle as well.
00:11:59.600 I think the mushy middle is moving to our side.
00:12:01.600 And I think it's just a little bit of fear, maybe.
00:12:03.980 But I think that when they get to that referendum day and they're holding that ballot sheet in their anonymous voting booth,
00:12:12.600 I think that they'll start to weigh what's going on there and they'll be able to actually make a vote with conviction.
00:12:18.900 Because I hope that they'll spend that time holding that sheet and realizing this isn't just a little piece of paper with an X.
00:12:23.940 like it's so much more than that. It's been decades and decades of efforts, thousands and
00:12:28.880 thousands of people to get us to the point where we can choose our path of self-determination.
00:12:33.860 And this vote is non-binding on independence. It starts that path, but it also, again,
00:12:39.800 leverages our government to be able to negotiate with some strength for the first time. We've
00:12:43.660 never been able to do that. If we lose that vote, it goes back to the status quo and Ottawa can walk
00:12:48.040 all over us like it has been for the last number of decades. This is one of the most, and I've said
00:12:52.300 this a few times over the last couple of weeks, probably one of the most, what's the word I'm
00:12:57.560 looking for here? I've said it a couple of times. I can't come up with it right now, but this is one
00:13:01.000 of the most consequential things that has happened in our lifetime, probably more than a federal
00:13:04.700 election. Oh, it is. It's the most important question that Albertans have ever been asked
00:13:09.480 in their lifetimes. And we need to treat that with that reverence that it deserves, right?
00:13:13.740 There's been lifetimes getting us to this point. It's not just a simple referendum. It's not just
00:13:18.300 a simple X on a ballot. It's very, very important. Yeah. You know, I, when I was out last week,
00:13:23.580 we were talking about the ballot itself. Are you concerned that there's so many questions
00:13:27.000 because Angela, yeah, yeah, I think, I think you are as well. Angela and Kathy are trying to
00:13:32.160 educate people on those questions. Well, yeah, if you, if you go through the first nine questions,
00:13:36.480 you could spend 20 minutes standing there before you get to the one, you know, that's the most
00:13:40.940 important to us right now. Some of those questions that are on there will never get changed because
00:13:44.740 they require constitutional change. You're concerned with all the questions that we've got
00:13:48.500 here, aren't you? Well, I'm concerned for the whole process. The whole process is not exactly
00:13:52.560 what we intended, but it is what it is and that's where we're at. And we've been assured that our
00:13:57.200 ballot is going to be on top. So the first question you're going to ask or be asking and answering
00:14:02.920 is, should we be an independent nation and should we pursue that basically? So that's the one you
00:14:08.520 need to worry about first. All the other ones that come below that will be answered by voting
00:14:13.500 appropriately on the top one. That's right. Yeah. And this is what's going to empower Alberta that
00:14:18.480 I think Albertans get worried that, well, it's going to be independence. It's going to be
00:14:22.700 changes overnight. We're going to be like floundering. We don't know what we're going to
00:14:25.900 do, but there is a lot of the process that's actually going to be very continuous. It's not
00:14:31.460 as scary as it appears. It's just because we've never gone through this before, but there is a
00:14:36.020 pathway through it. Lots of the things don't actually change overnight. It's a continuity
00:14:41.140 of programming and regulations that we've had. And we just got to transition a few of the things
00:14:46.700 from being federally regulated to regulated by the new sovereign nation of Alberta.
00:14:51.880 Thanks a lot to Tanya for talking to me. And if you want to watch the whole interview,
00:14:55.640 it's more than 30 minutes long. Well worth it. Look for the card at the end of this video and
00:15:00.680 just click on it. I'll be at this event coming up on Thursday night, August the 13th, seven o'clock
00:15:06.560 Airdrie Town and Country Center with Mitch Sylvester. I'm just going to show up. I don't
00:15:11.140 even think Mitch knows I'm coming, but I'm going to go to that event. I hope to see you there.
00:15:15.320 And I'll be at this event this coming Saturday, August the 15th at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Music
00:15:21.060 1 to 5 with my friend Jason Levine. You can get tickets at thelevineshow.com forward slash events.
00:15:27.820 $20 a ticket, $10 senior and youth, $50 for a family of four. Go to thelevineshow.com. Thanks
00:15:34.660 so much for watching the Independence Calendar. I'll see you next Sunday.