John Bolton - January 25, 2026


Independence Calendar Episode #8 (January 25th) - with Jeff Rath & You


Episode Stats

Length

18 minutes

Words per Minute

189.04637

Word Count

3,530

Sentence Count

330

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary

In this episode of the Independence Calendar, I talk about the amazing progress being made by the Strive for Alberta petition drive, and how you can get involved. I also talk about some of the upcoming events happening across the province.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 www.stay3alberta.com
00:00:13.840 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the Independence Calendar for Sunday, January 25th, episode number 8.
00:00:24.780 It is great to have you here, and I want to start off by saying thanks to Joe.
00:00:30.400 You saw a windy video from Joe at the beginning of this.
00:00:34.220 Joe, I didn't feature the whole thing.
00:00:36.260 It's a little long for me, and it's a little windy, but I wanted to get that very important part you sang at the end there.
00:00:43.800 StayFreeAlberta.com.
00:00:45.020 Joe, find a less windy place next time, but keep them coming.
00:00:48.540 That's exactly what I was looking for.
00:00:50.440 I do appreciate it.
00:00:51.560 And I appreciate you emailing me at my email address, johnboltonab at gmail.com.
00:00:56.840 Keep your pictures of flags coming, your videos, anything independence-related, an event.
00:01:01.620 I would love to hear from you.
00:01:03.040 You can also drop your videos into Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox.
00:01:06.160 Send me the links, and I'll try to focus on what you're sending me on the Independence Calendar.
00:01:11.300 That is coming up, and I got a whole bunch of them for you today, and some of them are terrific.
00:01:15.420 I've also got part of an interview I did with Jeff Rath.
00:01:17.820 I was in Panama at the time, and Jeff and I, on this little segment I'm going to show you,
00:01:23.740 focus on the positivity of the petition-signing campaign right now, so stay tuned for that.
00:01:29.960 Before I move on to some of the events that are going on around the province and petition-signing locations,
00:01:35.400 if you scan this with your phone, you can download information on the Alberta independence movement.
00:01:42.800 There's 20 different facts there.
00:01:44.360 Maybe somebody comes up and says, I'll lose my CPP.
00:01:47.420 Not the case, but you can get the information if you scan this.
00:01:50.820 Somebody says, but Alberta will be landlocked if it leaves.
00:01:54.300 That information is here as well.
00:01:55.820 Download it to your phone, and you will have the answers at your fingertips.
00:01:58.960 So, I want to tell you how successful things are right now, just before I get to the first big event I want to tell you about here.
00:02:08.300 When I first started doing this, the independence calendar, about eight weeks ago,
00:02:12.300 the plan was to focus on events that were being put on by Stay Free Alberta.
00:02:17.100 That would be the 200 to 300 people that were showing up at places where Mitch Sylvester, Dennis Modry, Jeff Rath were speaking.
00:02:24.720 And we did that for a couple of weeks, but there's almost too many of them to tell you about now.
00:02:28.720 This is good news.
00:02:30.200 And the same can be said for the petition signing places.
00:02:34.220 So, if I went through all of them here on the independence calendar, it would take forever.
00:02:39.360 So, go to stayfreealberta.com to get all that information.
00:02:42.920 I'll show you a few of them in just a moment.
00:02:44.580 Now, the first big event I want to tell you about is this one.
00:02:47.360 I will be at this one tomorrow.
00:02:49.920 January 26th, big four building here in Calgary.
00:02:53.260 Hopefully, you've RSVP'd to this.
00:02:55.260 We're expecting about 7,000 people there, speakers at 7 o'clock.
00:02:59.220 It's going to be insane.
00:03:00.900 It's going to be terrific.
00:03:02.460 It's going to be wonderful.
00:03:04.180 If you want to sign a petition, they're starting the signing of petitions at 11 a.m. on Monday morning.
00:03:09.340 So, they're going to be there all day long and during the time when the speakers are there at 7 o'clock.
00:03:14.500 Now, somebody said, John, I want to get myself a hat like this or something that says Alberta on it.
00:03:19.660 I'm sure there'll be lots of that stuff available here.
00:03:22.160 You'll be able to get flags and other things at this event.
00:03:25.440 A lot of people have said to me, John, I want to meet you.
00:03:28.140 I'm looking forward to shaking your hand.
00:03:29.680 I'm looking forward to seeing you as well, just as much.
00:03:31.920 So, come up and say hi tomorrow.
00:03:33.660 I'll see if I can bring along the big blue mug.
00:03:35.420 I don't have anything to do with this event other than I'm covering it tomorrow.
00:03:39.340 Derek from Unacceptable Fringe is emceeing this event.
00:03:42.040 He's going to do a great job.
00:03:43.460 And the speakers are going to be just off the charts tomorrow.
00:03:47.160 And it's going to be great.
00:03:48.280 So, I will see you there.
00:03:49.680 And I think I'm going to go around and interview lots and lots of people about the independence movement.
00:03:54.380 Now, if we go over to stayfreealberta.com.
00:03:56.940 Let me go over to the website right now.
00:03:59.980 Here's the top of the page.
00:04:01.520 Okay.
00:04:02.440 And it tells you where to sign, become a canvasser, donate, request to sign the petition.
00:04:08.020 And again, this is such a successful campaign right now.
00:04:12.500 All this information is there.
00:04:14.240 That there are too many places to list here on the independence calendar.
00:04:18.280 But here's just what they're saying at the where to sign section.
00:04:22.320 Events are being planned all around Alberta.
00:04:24.380 If you miss an event in your area, it will be scheduled again later on.
00:04:27.880 We have 120 days until approximately May 2nd to collect signatures.
00:04:31.680 There will also be door-to-door canvassing and signature stations in community center and businesses in the very near future.
00:04:38.120 And that is happening more and more.
00:04:40.080 As you can see, they've got a section for recurring here.
00:04:43.040 For instance, Ghost Pine General Store.
00:04:46.220 Pine Lake.
00:04:46.980 Seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
00:04:50.020 They're signing up, people.
00:04:51.940 Different days of the week.
00:04:53.160 You'll find them in Leduc.
00:04:55.040 You'll find them in Beaumont.
00:04:56.580 At Main is Donaire.
00:04:58.400 Monday to Friday at Paul's Shop in Claire's Home.
00:05:01.320 And they're all listed here.
00:05:02.820 You've got things happening in Didsbury, Bonneville, White Court, Sylvan Lake, Innisfail.
00:05:08.080 On and on and on.
00:05:09.420 And this list goes on and on and on, folks.
00:05:12.120 People are saying, I don't know where to sign up.
00:05:14.020 There will be a sign-up place near you.
00:05:16.440 For those of you who are shut-ins or elderly or have a disability,
00:05:21.420 we'll see what we can do about getting somebody over for you to sign the petition.
00:05:25.640 Because I know you want to do it.
00:05:27.400 But as you can see, this list goes on and on.
00:05:29.320 It's impossible to tell you about everything that's going on.
00:05:33.340 That's how successful things are right now.
00:05:36.120 And if you go down here, you can see the Big Four building is on here.
00:05:40.380 This event right here.
00:05:41.640 You'll see that there are Stay Free Alberta events happening.
00:05:46.860 Pinocchio County.
00:05:48.080 One here in Edmonton.
00:05:49.840 One here in Metaskawin.
00:05:52.060 Blairmore.
00:05:53.880 Thorsby.
00:05:55.140 Pinscher Creek.
00:05:56.780 Thorsby again.
00:05:59.140 Forsberg.
00:06:00.800 Cardston.
00:06:02.700 Camrose.
00:06:05.260 Vulcan.
00:06:06.820 Toe Field.
00:06:08.060 Black Falls.
00:06:09.820 Beaumont.
00:06:10.400 It just goes on and on.
00:06:12.100 It's amazing the things that are happening.
00:06:14.560 There's one happening in Grand Prairie as well.
00:06:17.020 Rolling Hills.
00:06:18.380 I hate to sound like a broken record, but the place to go for information is stayfreealberta.com.
00:06:23.040 There's too many things going on right now.
00:06:25.320 The campaign is so successful, there's just too much stuff.
00:06:28.020 So go there to get information on events or where to sign up for a petition.
00:06:32.080 Now I want to show you this.
00:06:32.940 This is my official canvasser badge, which I got the other day.
00:06:38.320 And I've said here, I would like to set up a table or a number of tables or get a number of people down here with petitions to sign people up.
00:06:45.580 I've seen people on my wife's Facebook that want to do the same.
00:06:48.160 I'll let you know if that happens.
00:06:49.920 Okay.
00:06:50.200 Now I want to keep the calendar as positive as possible, but there are people spreading misinformation about the petition campaign because they don't like us.
00:07:00.780 And they're saying that stayfreealberta.com is limiting the number of people with petitions so that the lines look longer.
00:07:10.560 That is a lie.
00:07:12.040 That is a lie.
00:07:14.960 I put my name in and registered for this around the 3rd of January.
00:07:19.120 It took almost three weeks to get it.
00:07:20.860 So a lot of people are getting these every day.
00:07:23.060 It's just taking time.
00:07:24.700 So more people will be signing up.
00:07:27.720 You, if you want to sign the petition, keep that in mind.
00:07:30.360 Before I move on to your stuff, I wanted to focus in on Jeff Rath.
00:07:34.500 I kept it positive with Jeff for a segment of the interview I did with him from Panama the other day.
00:07:39.020 I asked him about the long lineups you're seeing and the success of this campaign.
00:07:43.660 It's been remarkable.
00:07:45.080 I was, again, I was on the Saturday prior to coming to Panama a couple of Saturdays ago, and we saw all these people line up.
00:07:52.880 And I felt kind of out of it here.
00:07:54.960 I felt like I was missing something being on vacation, seeing all these pictures all around the province of people lining up in droves to sign the petition.
00:08:04.560 Talked to Dennis Modry last week here when I was here in Panama.
00:08:07.900 He couldn't believe it.
00:08:09.340 What are your thoughts on that?
00:08:10.360 Well, it's been fantastic, right?
00:08:12.560 It's like, you know, and what a silent protest that, you know, has been, and this is how the government should take it.
00:08:20.220 This is a huge message of protest to the government of Alberta when literally tens of thousands of Albertans will line up into a dark January night and silently wait in line with their neighbors with a look of determination on their face because they want to sign what they're calling the Alberta Independent Declaration.
00:08:40.340 Declaration of Independence Petition, right?
00:08:42.800 Right.
00:08:43.260 And that's what it is.
00:08:44.400 I mean, people are going, where can I sign the Declaration of Independence Petition?
00:08:48.020 I need to sign it, right?
00:08:49.620 And they're, you know, and they're, you know, and they're determined to do it.
00:08:52.940 And I mean, it's, if that isn't sending a message to the government of Alberta, you know, they bet, you know, they're not paying attention, right?
00:09:00.080 And then on top of it, you know, and to be clear, I mean, you know, well, I think the lineups have been phenomenal from an optics perspective to demonstrate the degree of support for what Jason Kenney was, you know, referring to as a fringe movement that couldn't organize a two-car funeral procession, etc.
00:09:18.300 You know, visually demonstrated what an idiot Jason Kenney is and how out of touch with Alberta politics he is, right?
00:09:27.780 But, you know, we were, I felt kind of bad because the reason we had those long lineups was because somebody I'm not allowed to criticize publicly or I violate the rules weren't getting election badges out in time, right?
00:09:40.040 So we had a shortage of canvassing badges, which meant we'd only have two or three, you know, signer, you know, people allowed to sign or take signatures at these events.
00:09:50.220 And these poor volunteers, like, poor man, I mean, her little hand was falling off at the end of every evening.
00:09:57.520 Congratulations.
00:09:58.320 Applies for those people who are sitting there for hours after hours to do that.
00:10:01.680 My most heartfelt thanks to all of our volunteers and canvassers who have literally been working around the clock and just writing their hands off, you know,
00:10:09.720 to the point of Carpool Tunnel to get as many people signed up as they can.
00:10:13.680 But now, you know, because we're getting our badges out, you know, in a more timely fashion,
00:10:17.920 and we literally have thousands of canvassers that are now registered, you know,
00:10:22.280 because we don't think that it's, you know, appropriate to have our, you know,
00:10:27.340 have our fellow Albertans having to wait in line for two or three hours, you know,
00:10:31.120 like they're in a communist country waiting for the last loaf of bread that Mark Carney is going to let them have, right?
00:10:36.160 You know, we're trying to have, you know, like at these events where we have more than 1,000 people,
00:10:40.420 we want to have, you know, 20, 30 canvassers there so we can just move people through, you know, 20, 30 at a time
00:10:46.320 so the people that have heard our message, believe in what we're doing, can just sign and go home without wasting a bunch of time.
00:10:52.960 And those that want to stay and, you know, listen to Mitch and I talk some more,
00:10:56.700 listen to other speakers talk about the benefits of independence, they can stay, whatever.
00:11:00.080 So we're getting, you know, as more and more canvassing badges come out, you know,
00:11:04.660 we can move people through much more and more quickly.
00:11:07.960 And then the other thing that we're doing, which I'm really excited about,
00:11:10.900 is that all of these events, we're asking for people to volunteer, you know,
00:11:15.200 if they have main street businesses or businesses that are on a ground floor with good parking somewhere
00:11:20.220 to volunteer a little bit of space so that we can have volunteer canvassers come in,
00:11:24.420 set up tables and man tables, you know, 40, 50 hours a week on a permanent basis
00:11:31.060 at permanent locations at these businesses.
00:11:34.340 And that campaign is now getting underway.
00:11:36.460 So everywhere we go, there's more and more people volunteering, you know,
00:11:40.680 their businesses, volunteering space so that we can set up permanent locations.
00:11:44.940 And then people can just come in, you know, go to the website,
00:11:48.860 see all the permanent locations, find the one closest to them, go and sign and go home, right?
00:11:53.540 Doesn't have to be a big rigmarole, you know, the price of admission to sign the petition
00:11:57.560 isn't being forced to listen to Mitch Sylvester and Jeff Rath tell you again
00:12:01.680 how much better off your life is going to be without federal income tax, you know what I mean?
00:12:05.400 But it's going really well. We're excited about the campaign.
00:12:08.480 Jeff is excited. I'm excited. I want to thank Jeff for his time.
00:12:11.980 He's very giving of his time. I got in touch with him early in the morning.
00:12:14.840 By noon hour, I had an interview with him when I was in Panama.
00:12:17.980 Dennis Modry, the same thing. I'm in Panama. I did an interview with him.
00:12:21.400 And if you see any of these people, Mitch Sylvester, the CEO, walk up, just put your hand out and say thank you.
00:12:28.240 Because they don't get paid for this and they're working hard for you and for Alberta independence.
00:12:32.180 Now let's move on to your stuff because you can work hard for Alberta independence
00:12:35.600 and all you have to do is show your pride in your province because we love Alberta here.
00:12:41.600 I am Albertan. You are Albertan as well.
00:12:43.920 So let's look at a few of the things I got in this week.
00:12:46.000 I got this from David.
00:12:47.200 He sent in these Make Alberta Great Again flags.
00:12:51.100 Interesting, the first letters here with what they spell out.
00:12:54.920 Thanks so much to David for doing this.
00:12:57.440 Moving on to the next thing.
00:12:59.280 I think this is Wade.
00:13:00.400 Let me go over to Wade first.
00:13:01.400 Here's Wade.
00:13:02.060 Legend.
00:13:02.600 Wade, thank you so much for sending this to me.
00:13:05.420 I believe my friend Gary in Edmonton got in touch with Wade and said,
00:13:09.400 can you send John a video?
00:13:10.900 So here's Wade in Eckville.
00:13:12.760 A legend.
00:13:13.400 Here we go.
00:13:13.760 Here we are at the Eckville corner.
00:13:15.640 I don't know if there's any Albertan that would ever believe that lying, greedy, five-gallon pail full of excrement person that calls himself our prime minister.
00:13:37.220 But I can tell you Albertans have had enough.
00:13:43.280 And this one's for you, Mr. Kearney and Mr. Lukasuk.
00:13:47.220 So thanks a lot to Wade for sending that in.
00:14:03.160 Much appreciated.
00:14:04.360 Always a pleasure to have you on the channel.
00:14:06.120 Please send me some more stuff in the future.
00:14:08.560 Now, some of you may have seen this footage.
00:14:11.720 I'd like to thank the River's Edge 3008 for sending this drone footage in.
00:14:17.840 It's remarkable the shots you can get today.
00:14:20.380 But this is just incredible.
00:14:22.820 This is Edmonton.
00:14:24.460 And this is a lineup to sign a petition in the dead of winter.
00:14:28.580 Look at the snow on the ground.
00:14:30.400 It's cold out there and people don't care.
00:14:32.600 They're signing up in droves for the petition.
00:14:38.560 And remember that the forever Canadian people had the summertime to do this.
00:14:44.020 And we're getting this kind of turnout in the middle of the winter.
00:14:46.340 So thanks again to River's Edge 3008 for sending this to me.
00:14:51.380 I do appreciate it.
00:14:53.320 And keep sending that kind of stuff in because it's fun to see.
00:14:55.440 Then we've got this from Christian with his Alberta Independence flag.
00:15:00.340 And he's got one here as well with Alberta Republic.
00:15:03.020 Thanks for that.
00:15:03.900 I just think that the Alberta flag has got the most beautiful color of blue on it.
00:15:07.440 Don't you agree?
00:15:08.460 I also got this from Nancy.
00:15:09.800 She said, I am so excited.
00:15:12.380 I had to send my photo.
00:15:14.160 I can't get out.
00:15:15.420 But I did contribute.
00:15:16.580 And you can contribute.
00:15:17.940 Put up your flag.
00:15:18.800 Show your pride in your province.
00:15:20.540 Show your pride in the Alberta Independence Movement as well.
00:15:22.940 And she went on to say, we have a great view of the mountains that screams freedom.
00:15:27.500 Have a wonderful holiday in Panama.
00:15:29.080 I did.
00:15:29.500 You have a beautiful view there.
00:15:31.400 You know, a few years ago, I was riding my bicycle, my mountain bike near Barrier Lake.
00:15:36.540 And I was with a bunch of friends who were all from America, from the States.
00:15:39.740 They were working in Calgary at the time.
00:15:41.520 One of them is named Tom.
00:15:42.660 And he's moved back to the United States.
00:15:45.100 He was a bit of a religious guy.
00:15:48.660 Really good guy.
00:15:49.620 And we got up to the top of Barrier Lake and we're overlooking the mountain.
00:15:54.080 And this is the picture that I had taken of myself.
00:15:56.600 But I remember him looking at me and saying, blessed.
00:15:59.100 That's all he had to say.
00:16:00.400 And we are blessed to live in this province.
00:16:02.820 Moving along to Paul.
00:16:04.060 I love this, Paul.
00:16:05.000 Thanks so much.
00:16:06.280 He says, I made this back in the early 80s.
00:16:08.300 So have been an advocate for a long while.
00:16:10.940 A distinct society.
00:16:12.700 The people who are more seasoned out there, if you get my drift, know what this is about.
00:16:16.780 Distinct society is what you heard a lot through the 1995 Quebec referendum.
00:16:21.500 They called themselves a distinct society.
00:16:24.360 I got this from Cecile.
00:16:26.420 She sent me this book cover.
00:16:28.280 Hi to her husband, John, as well.
00:16:30.040 Wade, who you saw just a while back from Eckville, is Cecile's cousin.
00:16:35.980 And this is a book called I Am Albert in the Case for Alberta Sovereignty.
00:16:40.380 And David Bach wrote this.
00:16:42.900 And it is available on Amazon.
00:16:44.740 So there it is.
00:16:45.440 There's the listing if you want to pick up a book.
00:16:47.440 And apparently, it's a good read.
00:16:49.040 So check that out.
00:16:50.180 Moving along to Gerald.
00:16:51.820 This is Gerald.
00:16:52.920 Gerald said, am waiting to vote for Alberta independence.
00:16:56.420 I have six other Alberta-born residents who wish to go as well.
00:16:59.480 Here is a picture of them.
00:17:00.660 And you can see in his backyard, he's blessed as well.
00:17:03.660 Six deer in his backyard.
00:17:05.560 So thanks for sending that to me.
00:17:07.920 Cindy.
00:17:08.780 Well done to Cindy.
00:17:10.180 She said she drew this, made this drawing.
00:17:12.700 And from what I remember, it's been a few days since I downloaded this picture.
00:17:16.300 I think Cindy said she was very young when she drew this.
00:17:18.700 You're a very talented, Cindy.
00:17:20.340 Alberta independence.
00:17:21.280 And at the bottom, Canada.
00:17:23.260 Okay.
00:17:24.120 Well done.
00:17:25.140 Love this.
00:17:26.200 And thank you so much for all of your submissions.
00:17:29.300 Keep sending them to me.
00:17:30.360 JohnBoltz and AB at gmail.com.
00:17:33.140 I love them.
00:17:34.120 Videos, pictures, whatever you got.
00:17:35.940 I would love to see it.
00:17:37.240 Carvings.
00:17:39.000 Everything is good here on the independence calendar.
00:17:42.420 So just before I go, once again, I want to tell you about the big event coming up on Monday night.
00:17:46.320 I will see you at the Big Four here in Calgary.
00:17:50.360 Seven o'clock.
00:17:51.180 All the speeches start.
00:17:53.360 You can start signing the petition at 11 o'clock in the morning.
00:17:56.600 I'm looking forward to seeing you there.
00:17:58.700 Come up and say hi.
00:17:59.720 Shake my hand.
00:18:00.720 Love to talk to you as well.
00:18:02.200 I will have my camera rolling.
00:18:04.220 And I hope to get some video of you.
00:18:06.120 Maybe I can feature some of that on an upcoming independence calendar.
00:18:09.720 Thanks so much for watching.
00:18:11.300 I hope you appreciate it.
00:18:12.640 By the way, if you've got an event coming up and you're a planner or something, I'd like to hear from you as well.
00:18:17.660 Okay.
00:18:18.880 JohnBoltz and AB at gmail.com.
00:18:20.140 Let me know about an event coming up.
00:18:21.420 Maybe I'll interview you and I can feature you here on an upcoming independence calendar.
00:18:26.800 By the way, for those of you who watch the channel regularly, I do have my big blue mug.
00:18:31.500 And to all my friends in independence, I tip it to you today.
00:18:34.360 If you like the video, give it a thumbs up.
00:18:36.340 Subscribe to the channel.
00:18:37.260 Ring the bell for notifications.
00:18:38.800 I will see you in the next one.