John Bolton - February 08, 2026


The Petition Campaign GROWS as locations POP-UP across Alberta


Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

190.87187

Word count

2,098

Sentence count

146

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Pop up petition booths set up across the province to get people to sign the petition to get a referendum in the fall here in Alberta. In this episode, I visit three of them in the south of Calgary and talk to the canvassers setting them up.

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 channel. It is Saturday, February the 7th, 10 minutes
00:00:08.120 before 10 o'clock, and I'm in my car. And what am I doing in my car today? Well, I thought
00:00:13.260 I'd go out and visit some of the pop-up petition places here in the south part of Calgary.
00:00:18.300 There's three that I know of are happening right now. Average people, they are canvassers,
00:00:23.640 they're setting up tables, and they're signing up people for the petition for a referendum
00:00:28.160 here in Alberta. This is happening everywhere across the province, so let's go check it
00:00:33.100 out. Here I am at my first pop-up today for those people who live in Calgary. This is at
00:00:38.400 McLeod Trail and Bannister Road. They're just setting up right now, hoping to have a great
00:00:43.280 day. Now, maybe I shouldn't say this, but I think God is on the independent side. The weather
00:00:49.420 is outstanding for the first week of February. It's about six degrees when I left my house.
00:00:55.360 It's supposed to get up to 12 today. We've had warm weather through January and February
00:00:59.900 in Calgary as people set up these pop-up petition places all around the province. It's kind of
00:01:05.620 a challenge to do these things because, you know, there are rules when it comes to election
00:01:10.140 Alberta. We'll try to get Jeevan Mangat, who's here today, who is responsible for this pop-up.
00:01:15.200 And it's amazing because people are doing this everywhere. If you've ever watched my independence
00:01:19.640 calendar on Sunday, you'll see the people that have cars that have flags on them, and they drive
00:01:24.380 around, and they just set them up on public property, and they just do these events everywhere
00:01:30.000 across the province to try to get people to sign the petition to get a referendum in the fall here
00:01:35.580 in Alberta. So this is the first of three I'm going to today, and a great day here in Calgary,
00:01:40.780 and a great day for Alberta independence.
00:01:43.280 So I'm here with Jeevan Mangat, who is organizing this pop-up petition booth here today. Jeevan,
00:01:47.800 I've spoken to you on the channel many times before, and these things are happening all across
00:01:52.700 the province. I'm going to three. I've heard about more of them already just standing here today
00:01:56.340 talking to some of the people who you've got working with you today. Is this a challenge doing
00:02:00.720 this, or has it been great? I just said God's on independence side because of the weather.
00:02:07.040 God is always on our side, right, for the independence movement. No, these are, the pop-ups are
00:02:12.320 really good. The word spreads out very quickly because a lot of people are just driving around the
00:02:18.040 city. They see a pop-up, they sign. Instead of waiting for somebody to come to their house
00:02:22.800 or contacting them, this is a much expedient way of getting signatures.
00:02:28.580 And they're happening everywhere across the province as well. It's kind of a challenge doing
00:02:32.040 this. There are rules you have to follow with Elections Alberta. So a lot of these things are
00:02:36.040 happening outside. Yes, and we have to follow the rules. And so we're in a public place, which we're
00:02:42.820 allowed to do because this is a public petition. And, you know, the challenge, there's really no
00:02:47.980 challenge because I phone up my canvassers and they're just willing to say, come out right away.
00:02:53.700 They say, wait, what time do you need us? How many hours do you need us? They're so enthusiastic.
00:02:58.300 And this is the, I would say, the generation of movement because once you have people participating
00:03:05.500 at their volunteer time, you know, this is how movements are made. And I always say the two
00:03:12.980 greatest assets people have, sorry, relinquish or the most two difficult assets to relinquish
00:03:20.820 is time and money. So people are paying currency with their time here.
00:03:26.240 Absolutely. How many, you said you're the people that you're dealing with. How many people do you
00:03:29.940 figure you have as canvassers that are working with you?
00:03:32.260 Well, we're going to have three this morning and then three later on this afternoon. So
00:03:36.760 I've got six canvassers total.
00:03:39.260 But overall, how many people are you dealing with?
00:03:41.320 Right now in my writing, I've got about 35 canvassers and some are still waiting for their
00:03:47.540 badges. So as soon as they get their badges, we'll be moving on. Yes.
00:03:51.700 Jeevan, thanks so much. Good luck with this today.
00:03:53.620 Thank you, John, for all you do.
00:03:54.820 I'm at my second little pop-up petition place of the day. I've got Shanna over here with a single
00:04:03.760 table. She says more people are coming out to sign up people throughout the day today. I'm at
00:04:08.860 Fish Creek Boulevard here in the Southwest at Everbrook Drive. As a matter of fact, if you drive
00:04:13.520 along Fish Creek Boulevard, you're going to see Alberta flags posted. So you'll know exactly where
00:04:18.420 I am. But this is the kind of thing that's happening all over the province. Now, if you're
00:04:22.540 somebody that's looking for a petition signing location, the best thing for you to do is go to
00:04:27.680 stayfreealberta.com. Stayfreealberta.com. And you can get information on events that are coming up as
00:04:34.700 well. But Shanna's out here today. She's expecting more people to come help out as we try to get people
00:04:39.420 to sign for independence.
00:04:44.520 I'm at my third place today. I'm at the Sue Higgins Dog Walking Park. If I swing around here, you'll see a
00:04:50.620 lot of traffic coming in and out of here. A huge parking area. And they've set up right here at the
00:04:55.840 entrance to this. And it's so exciting to have all of these people, four or five people, signing people
00:05:00.440 on the petition today. You know, it's really remarkable. It's sort of a grassroots movement
00:05:05.100 that's going on here. My last stop when I was talking to Shanna over there, she says she goes around
00:05:10.780 several times a week and just sets up and signs 10, 15 people at a time. I know we set kind of a goal of
00:05:17.580 maybe over a million people on the petition. We've got till about May 2nd to do that. But we're seeing
00:05:23.100 constant people coming out to these. And as I've been here today, I've seen people walk up and you
00:05:28.020 can see people in behind me signing the petition right now. So if you're out and about, make sure
00:05:33.540 you sign a petition. And again, go to stayfreealberta.com if you're looking for a petition
00:05:38.200 location. They've got a great database there now that's easy to find all the different communities
00:05:43.580 and places across the province of Alberta. So I've been to three places now. I said earlier,
00:05:48.180 I was going to go to three, but I'm going to another one right after this. I'm going to go
00:05:52.040 over to New Brighton in Southeast Calgary, not too far from where I live here in the city.
00:05:59.220 So here I am at my fourth pop-up petition signing place here in Calgary, not too far from where I live
00:06:05.340 here in the Southeast. This is the New Brighton Athletic Park. And they're here occasionally,
00:06:10.660 mostly on the weekends. So if you're looking for a place to sign in Southeast Calgary,
00:06:14.460 this is one of those places for sure. You know, what's amazing about this is you see
00:06:18.460 a lot of organization involved. And then you see the average person that has gone to
00:06:24.200 stayfreealberta.com. They've signed up, they've got their badge. They're now a canvasser.
00:06:29.860 So now they're able to go out and set up a table anywhere around the province and sign people up for the
00:06:36.100 petition. And certainly there have been some amazing lineups. It is Saturday morning here
00:06:41.420 and everybody's commenting on how the weather has been amazing. I mean, this is early February
00:06:47.100 in Calgary. And usually this time of the year, it's minus 30 degrees. And I'd say right now it's
00:06:52.740 getting up into around 15 degrees Celsius right now. We're having a good time out here. Lots of
00:06:57.780 people honking their horns out on the road with thumbs up as they drive by at this petition place
00:07:03.040 here in Southeast Calgary at the new Brighton Athletic Park.
00:07:09.100 Just taking a moment to talk to one of the canvassers here at the new Brighton Athletic Park.
00:07:14.660 The last place I'm visiting today, we've got four places I'm at. And as I've said before,
00:07:19.240 there are dozens of these happening all around the province. I'm here with Austin Westwood.
00:07:23.120 Austin, we've kind of had a little back and forth through email and whatnot. And I'm wondering,
00:07:28.700 why are you out here today? Why are you out on this beautiful, unbelievably beautiful Saturday
00:07:33.460 morning taking down names for this petition? Yeah, well, I want a better future for my kids,
00:07:40.100 two daughters. And just the way Canada is going right now, I don't see the Canada that I was proud
00:07:47.180 to grow up in as a kid. Censorship, taxes, just cost a living. Like it's hard to buy groceries,
00:07:55.840 hard to live. I was going to say, you know, what's the number one reason you would like to see an
00:08:00.640 independent Alberta? We don't have any malice towards Canada whatsoever, but is it money? Is
00:08:05.060 that the number one thing you think about? It's hard to get away from that, isn't it? It's hard to say.
00:08:11.620 The money is definitely a huge, um, motivator, uh, economics. Uh, I think Alberta would be a much 0.99
00:08:18.380 better place, you know, if all that money that goes to Ottawa could stay here. Um, and, but policy
00:08:25.600 and is a, is a major thing too. Like I'm a Christian. So I look at the bills that the federal
00:08:31.800 government's trying to pass, trying to make, you know, certain Bible scriptures illegal. I could go to
00:08:39.040 jail for saying those things eventually. And, and that, that's just the way that Canada continues
00:08:44.200 to seem to progress. So I, I'm proud as a Canadian, I'm glad I grew up here, but I don't see the same
00:08:50.580 country that, that I grew up in. And you make reference to Mark Miller, the liberal who said
00:08:55.120 that in a committee meeting, not too long ago, talking about scripture being hateful. And we're
00:08:59.400 seeing these bills, Bill C2, Bill C9. There are a lot of, a lot of bills talking about freedom of
00:09:04.640 speech and it's certain that you take away freedom of speech and you don't have much. Right. So
00:09:08.500 I think there's a very, very valid reason there. And of course, then there's the money
00:09:12.160 because, you know, we'd be one of the richest countries on the planet, if not the richest
00:09:15.740 per capita, if we were to walk away. And, uh, how do you feel about it? Are you feeling good
00:09:20.020 that we're going to get to where we want to be and get the vote eventually in a referendum
00:09:24.120 and, and, and leave? I, I'm, I'm pretty confident it's going to happen. Uh, at least the vote, uh,
00:09:30.620 still not sure how the, it'll end. I really hope it's the, the yes side. Um, but you know, uh,
00:09:38.900 some positive words from Danielle Smith saying she will call a referendum later this fall. If
00:09:43.940 it passes, the petition succeeds, um, with the momentum and all the crowds and everybody showing
00:09:50.200 up, I'm pretty confident that's it's, it's already passed. I think I can't say officially
00:09:56.280 cause I don't know, but, um, it sounds like it's, uh, already there. Okay. Well, Austin,
00:10:01.640 thank you so much. Thanks for coming out and volunteering and talking to me. Absolutely. Thank you.
00:10:08.900 It's been remarkable going around here today. If you're looking for a pop-up petition place,
00:10:14.300 you can find them everywhere around the province. Again, go to stayfreealberta.com. If you're
00:10:19.900 interested in being a canvasser, finding one of those places on the easily accessible database
00:10:25.140 they've got there, or you can donate as well because we need some money as well to push this
00:10:30.020 over the top so we can get a million people to sign this petition and, uh, gain our independence at a
00:10:35.900 referendum in the fall. Thank you very much for watching. If you liked this video,
00:10:39.560 please give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, ring the bell for notifications.
00:10:43.340 I will see you in the next one.
00:10:45.340 We are Alberta, child and free, forged by word and destiny.
00:10:52.060 With hands that build, with hearts that care, our spirits strong beyond compare.