John Bolton - March 26, 2026


Independence Talk with Jason Lavigne & the Kenney⧸Wilson debates

Topics
independence debates
Hosted by
John Bolton
Mentioned
Jason Kenney Keith Ellison Mark Carney Honorable Peckford Dennis Kalma Tanya Clemens Jason Levine Marty John
AMERICA： A Great Friend to ALBERTA — Canada Isn’t in the Picture (May cause TDS) Fake Graves, Speech Laws, Forced Labour...OH MY ! A sad state of affairs

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

213.02

Word count

3,306

Sentence count

77

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode, I chat with Jason Levine, a third party advertiser with Elections Alberta and host of the "Jason Levine Show" about the independence movement in Alberta. We talk about how important it is to have a conversation about a divisive issue like this, and what it means to be a part of a movement that is focused on self-dividend and self-determination.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 hi it's john and welcome to the channel thursday march the 26th i hope you're having a great
00:00:08.600 thursday just another day away from the weekend i hope you're enjoying your day got the big blue
00:00:14.500 mug of coffee with me guest you may know who i've spoken to a number of times i actually met him for
00:00:20.100 the first time on the weekend which was great at the whistle stop cafe in mirror alberta
00:00:24.120 jason levine the jason levine show uh is here with me today great to see you thanks again for
00:00:29.960 being on the channel thanks a lot for having me back and i really appreciate it i gotta tell you
00:00:34.720 though john my bucket list is getting shorter because now i got to strike off meet john bolton
00:00:39.280 and i was able to get that done so it was great to see you over in mere but thank you very much
00:00:44.200 for having me back yeah well it's great to have you here and i i admire what you do jason i really
00:00:48.900 do um you know there's been so much talk about the independence movement uh you know we were
00:00:54.860 talking before we actually started recording here saying that you know mitch sylvester has been sort
00:00:59.100 of a one-man show uh for the last couple of months there's been some restrictions when it
00:01:03.200 comes to elections alberta mitch has been the guy going from town to town to town trying to pass
00:01:08.580 along the message at meetings all across alberta uh you've been out there as well you you've got
00:01:14.220 your own little thing going on here and you've been doing some events over the last three days
00:01:18.320 you've got an event tonight in calgary let me just say where it is right now that you can attend for
00:01:22.980 free if you want to go the glenmore inn and convention center seven o'clock tonight to talk
00:01:28.040 about alberta independence and in lethbridge tomorrow night at seven uh nest events and
00:01:33.080 meeting rooms in lethbridge got some great guests out talking about different things
00:01:37.320 and expanding on the independence talk tell us what's going on jason it's really exciting
00:01:41.740 well thanks a lot john yeah so what i'm doing as a third party advertiser with elections alberta
00:01:47.100 with the levine show so i want to bring additional people to the conversation and i really want to
00:01:52.100 open it up to dialogue for against middle whatever is going on with the people out there i want to
00:01:57.920 open up to that this isn't a for independence movement uh conversation this is a conversation
00:02:03.860 about independence which i think is really important because there's a lot of people out
00:02:07.640 there that have questions concerns and quite frankly they're very very upset at some points
00:02:12.820 and having a conversation is a great way to reach out to them address their concerns because we don't
00:02:17.820 want to vilify anybody we want to actually have good conversations and make sure that we listen
00:02:22.560 to what people have to say and a great example of that is last night we had some first nations
00:02:27.000 people show up to our event. And it was a fantastic back and forth. They were kind of
00:02:31.720 concerned that First Nations weren't being represented in the conversation. So they were
00:02:35.520 very pleased that we were open. And we sat and had a great conversation with two gentlemen.
00:02:40.160 And in the end, it turns out, everybody is involved and everybody wants to see self-determination. So
00:02:45.100 I'm glad that our events are bringing out all types of people. What a radical thought, Jason,
00:02:49.480 having a discussion about something, it almost seems like we can't have those anymore. And
00:02:54.440 And particularly when it comes to a divisive issue like this, I remember the last time I spoke to you, you made a very good point, which really stuck in my brain is, you know, we talk about the benefits of independence, but we have to be truthful with people when it comes to this.
00:03:09.080 It's not going to be, you know, all a bed of roses.
00:03:13.700 There are going to be some challenges here as well.
00:03:16.740 Correct.
00:03:17.100 And I think that's where we really need to expand on that conversation because a lot of people think, oh, as soon as we vote yes and we get the referendum done, boom, tomorrow there's going to be the nation of Alberta flag go up and we're going to be good to go and it's going to be lollipops and unicorns everywhere.
00:03:33.860 That's not the way it's going to be.
00:03:35.360 There's going to be a lot of resistance within Alberta and outside of Alberta.
00:03:38.540 We're going to have to enter the global stage and there is going to be some growing pains for sure.
00:03:42.660 much like a birth the mother and a child has to go through some trauma before it all happens
00:03:47.360 and then we get to start grow and heal but i do want to have those conversations and we're being
00:03:52.040 very frank about it because quite frankly this is what the audience wants to hear and they really
00:03:56.680 respond quite well to it we're not sugarcoating this it's going to be difficult but it's going
00:04:01.480 to be worth it i think is a conversation we're having right now well i i think even when i've
00:04:05.500 been out to events that mitch has been there i was out to one with dennis kalman was there i've been
00:04:09.860 out to other events when cory morgan was there eva chipiak um the people in the room seem very
00:04:15.340 much aboard with independence at those events but they do come up and they do provide some pushback
00:04:20.680 in their questioning even the people who are 100 for it now you've got a number of people out there
00:04:25.580 you've got marty up north out there you've got tanya clemens fergus hodgson angela taback you're
00:04:32.060 there as well are are these have you got people like on the absolute opposite side of this any of
00:04:37.960 these people that totally against the independence movement or are they sitting on the fence well
00:04:43.100 quite frankly it's very difficult to get people that are against the independence movement to
00:04:47.080 come out and speak on stage there has been some invites thomas usack was somebody i was speaking
00:04:52.540 to very early he was receptive and then didn't become receptive anymore uh have reached out to
00:04:58.580 all sides uh but what is happening is our audience seems to be a mix of all types of people good so
00:05:04.400 of the first questions i ask is you know if you would like to share with us who has signed the
00:05:08.560 petition and it's about 60 has signed which means there's about 40 who hasn't signed may not signed
00:05:15.360 or are there for more information so i'm really glad that our events are pulling out those
00:05:19.520 conversations and those types of people and i think what sets us a different than a lot of the
00:05:23.760 town halls you're probably used to yeah is we're not so much focused on what has canada done to us
00:05:28.640 and why is canada so bad we're more focused on how can alberta step up what's the global stage
00:05:34.160 look like for alberta if they step up and how does this help the rest of the world the western
00:05:38.480 society if there's a place like alberta that's standing up for their own freedoms we focus more
00:05:43.440 on what could happen to alberta a little bit less on why we don't like canada or why canada's
00:05:48.800 pushing us out okay so again your um your events are happening there's one tonight here in calgary
00:05:55.040 glenmore indian conference center seven o'clock lethbridge seven o'clock tomorrow night nest
00:06:00.000 events and meeting rooms and again kudos to the people you've got following you around all week
00:06:04.420 you certainly you certainly have got some good people there that they're coming out and spending
00:06:08.620 their time over a whole week doing these events all around Alberta so well done to you and it's
00:06:14.380 a free event so if you want to go out and participate be there now just just quickly I
00:06:19.100 want to talk we're talking about sort of almost debating here and it looks like you had one of
00:06:23.280 those debates when it came to Indigenous people showing up at one of these events you've been at
00:06:27.320 this week. What do you make of the Jason Kenney, Keith Wilson debates that have been scheduled,
00:06:32.760 I think, March, or sorry, May 2nd and May 25th? Well, I'm really looking forward to those. So
00:06:39.620 on Tuesday night, Keith surprised us by showing up in Leduc. He was there to watch. He wasn't
00:06:45.160 there to speak. I did pull him out of the crowd and get a few words out of him. But he did let
00:06:50.040 us know that night that these debates were coming. And on the heels of the Bruce Party,
00:06:54.540 jason kenny debate that was put on i thought that that was a good conversation because what jason
00:06:59.820 kenny was doing was very honest when he was letting us know that it's very difficult to work
00:07:04.460 with ottawa there's a lot of roadblocks and hurdles in the way but when we're able to get
00:07:09.100 through some of those hurdles good things can happen to alberta so i was really appreciative
00:07:13.180 that he brought that conversation to the table but frankly it also opened up part of the problem
00:07:18.620 only when ottawa permits it does good things happen in alberta yeah jason kenny was very
00:07:23.340 good at highlighting that and letting us know that even as the premier and a referendum about
00:07:29.740 the equalization payments he couldn't get things done because of the issues with ottawa
00:07:35.100 so i'm looking forward to seeing a good strong conversation about the constitution the path
00:07:40.940 forward what independence could mean between two albertans this time so now we got jason kenny and
00:07:45.980 keith wilson who are both in alberta fighting different sides of this but i'm looking forward
00:07:51.100 to it i don't think it's gonna be a bloodbath i don't think it's gonna be anything like that i
00:07:54.300 don't think there's some like knockout debate but i do think it's gonna let a lot of people
00:07:58.540 understand fully how does alberta function within the current canadian system constitutionally
00:08:04.220 and when it comes to having the levers of power like jason kenny did and how he was unable to
00:08:09.420 move some of the needle for us yeah i think it i i mentioned in a video i did earlier this morning
00:08:14.620 that i think kenny unwittingly is providing more oxygen to the independence movement as well i
00:08:19.740 I really believe that.
00:08:20.620 I think there's a, you know, we follow this all the time.
00:08:22.960 There's a lot of people who don't follow the news at all.
00:08:25.000 And they may all of a sudden go, hey, maybe this might be a good thing.
00:08:28.660 Or, you know, or at least they understand more about the independence movement.
00:08:32.440 Because Jason Kenney, federal politician at one time, premier of the province, big name, big voice.
00:08:38.680 So I think it will be very interesting.
00:08:40.440 Just quickly, I want to talk to you about a tweet I saw yesterday on my favorite website, which I brought up here a number of times.
00:08:46.740 and unfortunately it's not loading up here on my let me just do this again let me copy it and
00:08:52.580 I'll paste it in here it showed up on my favorite website yesterday small dead animals and you were
00:08:59.260 responding to table salt basically Canada or indigenous groups that are sort of getting
00:09:06.060 control of land in British Columbia selling resources to China can and you said that you
00:09:11.100 were warning about this a while ago your thoughts on that yeah so when I was at the NCR in
00:09:16.520 Edmonton there were several people that testified there and one of them was an Indigenous chief from
00:09:20.820 BC and he was actually there to warn everybody that he took a close look at UNDRIP, took a look
00:09:26.520 at DRIPA, read between the lines and had conversations and he was warning everybody
00:09:31.060 that this is more of a segue towards the China capture of the land of Canada because the way
00:09:37.400 he laid it out was first step is the land is passed over to the Indigenous people through 0.75
00:09:42.160 under the drippa and then from that point the indigenous people would take loans or get 0.99
00:09:46.720 investments from through the un to china and if they default on these loans guess what happens
00:09:53.280 in the default it goes to the principal uh holder of the uh the loan so he was warning people and
00:09:59.600 he was going around the tribes all over uh bc saying don't take these deals it's not what it
00:10:04.640 looks like it's a land grab and then i sat down with an enoch chief uh former enoch chief here in
00:10:10.800 alberta he said the exact same thing so there's a whole bunch of people that fully understand
00:10:15.360 what's going on here this isn't about returning the land to indigenous people this is about
00:10:20.160 returning not returning but selling the land off to china through various mechanisms so i did give
00:10:25.200 that warning over a year ago after i met these gentlemen and now they're starting to seem like
00:10:30.400 this is coming to light people are starting to see the the the the right on the wall here and i
00:10:35.280 can't say the countries right now this has already happened around the world china has done this
00:10:39.040 they bought land or places in different countries, they default on the loans, and they end up with
00:10:45.180 the property and the land. So this has already happened. I can't recall the countries off the
00:10:49.020 top of my head, but it does ring a bell. And that's scary to think that's happening in Canada.
00:10:53.320 One more thing I want to touch on. The notwithstanding clause was agreed to back when
00:10:58.400 the Constitution was signed. Several provinces wanted the notwithstanding clause. They wouldn't
00:11:03.720 sign it otherwise. Liberals right now, basically, I think they're trying to change the Constitution
00:11:07.880 going through the courts, saying that some of the provinces are using it too often. This is in
00:11:12.940 basically regarding Bill 21 or the law in Quebec when it came to religious people wearing religious
00:11:20.160 garb and, you know, head coverings and things like that. What are your thoughts on that and
00:11:24.300 what's going on right now? I think five provinces are fighting against the feds and the liberals on
00:11:28.340 this right now. Yeah, so when the constitution and the charter were envisioned, and I had
00:11:34.160 Honorable Brian Peckford on to talk about this he wanted to make sure that there wasn't a way for
00:11:38.600 the federal government to just take over everything that's why there's jurisdictional separation in 91
00:11:43.760 and 92 and he also wanted to make sure that if the federal government goes too far that the provinces
00:11:49.700 have a way through their autonomy to go ahead and stop that that's what the notwithstanding clause
00:11:53.900 is meant to do so for the federal government to say anything along the lines of provinces using
00:11:59.300 it too much is exactly why it's there. It's because when the federal government is doing
00:12:05.020 things that doesn't work for a province, it impedes them or gets in the way of what they're
00:12:09.580 trying to do, save their culture, save their economy, save their society. That's the whole
00:12:14.260 purpose of it. And for the federal government to say, hey, we don't like that, that means it's
00:12:18.720 working. So for them to try and remove it through the Supreme Court, I think everybody who was part
00:12:24.200 of the conversation to create the charter and put that in there would be rolling in their graves
00:12:28.540 except for brian peckford who's still with us because that's the whole point now the federal
00:12:33.840 government overstepping like we saw with the federal decision at the appeals court about the
00:12:39.260 emergency act invocation now they're taking it to the supreme court isn't a surprise this is why it
00:12:44.800 was needed in the first place so absolutely i think this is helping both quebec and alberta
00:12:49.640 when it comes to their sovereignty movement get a little bit more gasoline in the engine because if
00:12:55.060 this is going to continue with the federal government, they can't even abide by the one
00:12:59.960 section that allows the province to go ahead and take care of their autonomy, then I think it's
00:13:05.340 time for a lot of provinces to reconsider whether or not they want to be part of this constitution.
00:13:09.740 Great point. Alberta recently used a notwithstanding clause, I believe, with the 0.68
00:13:13.460 teacher strike here and regarding gender surgeries. Quebec's been more likely to use it over the years.
00:13:19.380 And the thing is, this is something that has to be, if they use a notwithstanding clause,
00:13:23.300 I think they have to come back five years later and do it again in order, because it's only a five year period that the notwithstanding clause is in place for this.
00:13:32.360 So, yeah, this is amazing that this is even happening and that the government would would go to this, go to court over this right now.
00:13:41.160 And you've got provinces fighting back over it.
00:13:44.160 Yeah, completely true.
00:13:45.520 But it's kind of showing us where Mark Carney and the liberals are headed with this country.
00:13:50.000 They want to have full control and a tight grip on it.
00:13:52.580 bill c9 just passed the house is now headed to the senate we're not expecting any resistance in
00:13:57.820 the senate on this one there's a lot of trudeau liberal appointed senators in there basically
00:14:03.020 expecting this to be rubber stamped and as you are very well aware it's people like you and i
00:14:07.860 who are kind of targeted on this one because they're going to tell us what is hate speech
00:14:11.920 what we're allowed to do and because it's a change to the criminal code we can really be affected
00:14:16.580 really quickly even just by being charged we can be affected really quickly much like in the uk
00:14:21.340 OK, over 12,000 people have been charged just for their speech online.
00:14:25.660 I think Canada is going to catch up quickly because Mark Carney is really making it very clear to the rest of us.
00:14:31.460 He's unhappy with what we're doing in Alberta and across the country.
00:14:34.680 And if we do not like what he's up to and we want to expose it, he's going to crack down on us.
00:14:39.320 I'm pretty sure of that.
00:14:40.580 Jason, great to talk to you.
00:14:41.740 I always enjoy your insight.
00:14:44.200 Check out Jason online, the Levine Show, his events again tonight here in Calgary.
00:14:50.160 seven o'clock for Glenmore Inn Convention Center, a free event there if you're in the Lethbridge
00:14:54.020 area. Tomorrow at the Nest events and meeting rooms, go by and say hi to everybody. I know
00:14:59.420 that, I know you, I know Marty, you met him a couple of times. I know Tanya Clemens as well,
00:15:04.220 always very welcoming if you want to go up and say hi and shake hands. That's a big, a real fun
00:15:09.680 part for me when I go to things. People want to say hi, so go out there and say hi and get in on
00:15:14.380 the conversation. It's always a pleasure to have you here, Jason. Thanks so much for being on the
00:15:17.940 channel. Have yourself a wonderful day. John, thanks for having me on again, and God bless.
00:15:22.920 Thank you, Jason Levine. And if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up,
00:15:26.480 subscribe to the channel, ring the bell for notifications. I will see you in the next one.