John Bolton - What Alberta Independence Can Learn From The Past - Jason Lavigne

00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the channel. Great to have you here today. Thank you so much for

00:00:07.500 clicking on this video. As always, I do appreciate you, and I'm going to have an interesting

00:00:12.340 discussion here today. You know, there's a saying, those that don't learn from the past

00:00:16.200 are doomed to repeat it. I think we can learn a lot from the past today with the guest you see

00:00:21.460 on the screen right now. It's my friend Jason Levine from The Levine Show, thelevineshow.com.

00:00:27.600 Jason, my friend, how are you today? I am very good. We are very busy on this end,

00:00:32.700 getting up right and early to get ourselves onto the road. And John, thanks for squeezing us in.

00:00:37.000 I really appreciate your work you're doing and helping us get our messages out there.

00:00:41.080 Well, you know, I was going to say, I hope that when you introduced or when you answered that

00:00:45.200 question, how are you doing today, that you use the word busy because you and your family are

00:00:49.620 so busy. You're always running around. I don't know when you're home. You've got a number of

00:00:53.220 things going on right now. I want to get right into it because once again, you've got a panel

00:00:58.160 together. You've got kind of a Q&A thing going on here. You've got a chance for people in the

00:01:03.580 Alberta independence movement to learn from the past as I kind of framed this interview off the

00:01:08.160 top. You're on the road all week starting today, right through Friday night, Lethbridge, Calgary,

00:01:15.320 Red Deer, Edmonton, and Grand Prairie. Got a special guest with you to talk about lessons

00:01:21.160 from Quebec. Tell us about this. Yeah, thankfully we have Maxime Bernier flying in from Quebec

00:01:27.480 to have conversations with us about the referendums in 1980, 1995, because I think it's

00:01:33.060 really important for Albertans to be able to kind of check in on what happened there to somebody who

00:01:37.020 was on the ground. He was very active in 1995. He was voting for the Leave side, and he wanted to

00:01:43.940 make sure that Albertans took this opportunity, understood how important it is, and why you have

00:01:49.340 to win this one if you actually want to see change here in Alberta. This is not a PPC event. He's not

00:01:54.440 here as a leader of the PPC. He's here as Maxime Bernier, a voter in the referendum in 1995, and he

00:02:01.400 wants to share his experiences, what we should look out for, and possibly what we have to make

00:02:05.980 sure we're ready for. Yeah, and I find it interesting. I didn't know he voted for leave

00:02:10.620 back then, so it'll be interesting to get his perspective on that, as I've told you and other

00:02:15.440 people. Now, I was living in Eastern Ontario in Cornwall. Cornwall, Ontario is about 15 minutes

00:02:19.940 from the Quebec border. I'm very, very familiar with Quebec, Montreal, Quebec City, that whole

00:02:24.800 area. I used to go mountain biking a lot in Quebec. And I was actually at the unity rally

00:02:29.220 in Montreal just prior to the 95 referendum. I was there trying to encourage Quebecers to stay.

00:02:36.000 I probably wouldn't do that today the way I feel now, but it's going to be really interesting to

00:02:41.600 to see what his perspective is on this. And maybe, do you think he's going to know a little

00:02:46.360 bit about the strategy that was used back then that we may learn from, from the independent side

00:02:52.280 here in Alberta? Yeah, absolutely. Cause he saw kind of how the federal government and the rest

00:02:57.800 of Canada was interfering. There were buses that brought a lot of people into vote, how that whole

00:03:03.880 thing got messed up and how close it was. 50,000 votes was all that separated the outcomes on that

00:03:10.280 one what he's really really interested in sharing with us so on this particular one is why albert

00:03:15.300 is in a very unique position and what we need to watch out for when it comes to the counter

00:03:19.760 conversation and how nasty it can get he's going to let you know how they're going to just drum

00:03:25.540 drum up to fear we're seeing some of this now but as we get closer to that referendum the things we

00:03:30.260 should be watching out for so we don't fall into the trap that a lot of kebeckers fell into during

00:03:34.840 the referendum yeah we see uh we keep talking that things are really going to kick off about

00:03:39.720 a month from now, right after Labor Day, expect those last five to six weeks to be incredibly

00:03:44.760 interesting in many, many, many different ways. So Maxime was somebody in favor of leaving back

00:03:51.800 then. Is he going to be talking about, you said that he'll try to give us an idea of why it's so

00:03:57.500 important to win this one. I don't want to give away everything. I want people to go to your

00:04:01.880 events, but just from talking to him, any thoughts on what he's thinking here, how important it is

00:04:07.200 for Alberta to vote to leave now?

00:04:09.660 He thinks this is incredibly important,

00:04:11.720 not just for Alberta's future, but the rest of Canada.

00:04:14.400 And he's also going to bring with him

00:04:15.600 the Parti Quebecois currently.

00:04:17.380 They're leading in the polls.

00:04:18.860 October 6th is when they have their provincial election.

00:04:21.580 And he's going to highlight how both provinces

00:04:23.540 are currently at the same stage about wanting to leave.

00:04:26.700 Their referendum, to have a referendum like we are,

00:04:30.140 is basically their provincial election.

00:04:32.200 So if the province votes in Parti Quebecois,

00:04:35.000 their commitment is to bring a binding referendum for secession. And here we are just a couple of

00:04:40.680 weeks later in Alberta doing the same type of thing. So he's here to kind of highlight how

00:04:44.940 both provinces are headed in that direction and why it's so important Alberta does vote to option

00:04:49.700 two on October 19th. Interesting perspective, because when he says that this will be helpful

00:04:54.700 to Canada, if you talk to Bruce Party, he says the same thing. If Alberta leaves, it will be better

00:04:59.420 for Canada down the road as well. So I'm interested. Now, how do people get tickets to this? How much

00:05:04.100 does it cost? And event information, again, tell people where they can go. Yeah, these tickets are

00:05:10.460 by donation, so pay what you can afford from $1 and up. If you do $100 or more, you get a little

00:05:15.760 early entry, pick your seat, and actually have some one-on-one time with Maxime. And you can go

00:05:20.440 to theleveneshow.com forward slash TPA hyphen events, or you can go to the website itself,

00:05:26.540 click your way to the TPA section, and you'll find the event there as well. And again, let's just

00:05:31.200 remind people he's there to tell us about what happened in 95. He's not there as the People's

00:05:36.620 Party leader. Certainly, you could ask him questions later if you want to, but this is

00:05:40.860 certainly about us learning from him and what happened back in 95. You've also been very busy

00:05:45.620 writing a book. Where do you find the time? You got a new book out there. Now, I haven't read the

00:05:50.080 book. I ordered it. Oh, Canada, what have you done? Alberta, Ottawa, and the Long Road from Permission

00:05:55.160 to Sovereignty. I love the title of this. Tell me a little bit about this. And again, it's kind of

00:06:00.140 of the same theme. We're going to learn from Maxime Bernier over the next five days in those

00:06:03.760 five different places around Alberta. But you're trying to educate people, I think, in your book

00:06:08.320 about what's happened to Alberta going back, I think, prior to 1905 when Alberta became part of

00:06:14.180 Canada. So just before I jump into that, a little update on the event. The Holmes family, sadly,

00:06:20.700 are going to be stuck in Ontario due to the WestJet flight cancellations and a strike. But we will

00:06:26.040 hopefully have special guests through the rest of the tour to come in and talk to our wonderful

00:06:30.600 audience. The book, How Do I Find Time? It's hard. It really is hard, but I have a wonderful family

00:06:36.520 and my wife does allow me to focus on things like that. The book started when I did a post about

00:06:42.280 the timeline for the energy sector for Alberta and what was, how it was under attack, all the

00:06:46.900 different bills, especially the National Energy Program, etc. And it was a really popular post

00:06:52.720 on X. So I thought I better expand on this and turn it into a book. You're correct. The journey

00:06:58.060 for Alberta started in 1867 when Canada became a country and Alberta was not part of it, not part

00:07:04.640 of the negotiations and had no say in how the country was created. And that's kind of where it

00:07:09.300 all started for Alberta. 1905, we were drafted and then signed in as a province without a vote,

00:07:16.640 referendum or any type of say. We didn't even have our first premier voted. It was appointed.

00:07:21.040 and then to continue that entire journey.

00:07:24.460 There's over 100 actions from the federal government towards Alberta.

00:07:28.360 Some of them are labeled as attacks.

00:07:30.540 How did it hurt Alberta in our future?

00:07:33.140 And some of them are labeled as allowances.

00:07:34.940 In other words, the government, the federal government, allowed us to do something.

00:07:39.960 This establishes the parent-child relationship that's always existed for Alberta.

00:07:44.220 Even when good things happen here, it's only when Ontario or Ottawa allows it.

00:07:49.440 And then it takes you all the way through to Bill C-9, 22, 34, and the Kearney early years.

00:07:55.420 And we're expecting to have an update to this book probably next year as Kearney continues this.

00:08:00.520 And then the last chapter is what are the hurdles in the way for independence?

00:08:04.300 Why is the Clarity Act not a positive thing?

00:08:06.780 What was the Supreme Court's decision?

00:08:09.420 How did it actually harm, not help, a province from moving forward with this?

00:08:13.780 And we lay it all out in a very easy way, all with sources.

00:08:17.520 So there's over 100 attacks or allowances with over 100 sources provided as well.

00:08:22.320 Yeah, I think it's great.

00:08:23.340 You know, you mentioned a parent, I think, parent-child relationship.

00:08:26.720 And I think at times, people, when we talk about independence, Alberta has grown up and we want to move out of the house.

00:08:31.760 I think that's interesting that you put that in there.

00:08:34.180 And, you know, you look back to when Alberta came in.

00:08:36.800 It's something that I've learned over the last several months.

00:08:38.900 I didn't know.

00:08:39.960 I'm looking forward to reading your complete book here.

00:08:41.880 But, you know, Alberta and Saskatchewan were originally supposed to come in as one known as Buffalo.

00:08:48.320 And they split us up because they were afraid of us being too strong.

00:08:51.980 Isn't that fascinating?

00:08:53.160 And it goes all the way back to the beginning.

00:08:55.600 And it has never changed since 1905.

00:08:58.160 And prior to that, as you said, back to 1867.

00:09:02.520 How do people get your book if they're interested in picking it up?

00:09:05.860 Right now, you can find it on Amazon.

00:09:08.160 It's available there in Kindle or paperback.

00:09:10.840 and it's been selling quite well.

00:09:12.580 And we'll also have copies with us on tour.

00:09:14.660 So if you want to meet us at the tour,

00:09:16.480 one of the locations,

00:09:17.520 you can get a copy there using cash or otherwise.

00:09:20.300 And happy to sign it for anybody

00:09:22.020 that picks it up that way as well.

00:09:23.420 I was just going to say,

00:09:24.340 you know, maybe I should have waited.

00:09:25.340 I've got it coming on Amazon.

00:09:26.600 I'd like to get a signed copy.

00:09:27.660 I'll have you sign my copy when it comes in for sure.

00:09:30.900 And I'll put a link in the description

00:09:32.280 so people can find it on Amazon

00:09:33.740 if they're interested in picking it up.

00:09:35.260 And of course, go up to one of your events.

00:09:37.440 More information,

00:09:38.240 I'll put a link to your webpage on that

00:09:40.700 on your events page as well.

00:09:42.040 Speaking of events, another one coming up.

00:09:43.940 I'm looking forward to, you know,

00:09:45.300 things have been very hot, very heavy.

00:09:48.280 Everything's really, really serious,

00:09:49.620 but you've got an event coming up on the 15th of August

00:09:52.240 up in Mirror at the Whistle Stop Cafe,

00:09:54.840 Chris Scott's place.

00:09:55.660 I'm going to be there,

00:09:56.400 but this is really kind of just a fun event.

00:09:59.200 Not a lot of speeches, just a lot of music.

00:10:01.520 Tell us about that.

00:10:02.920 Well, when you're as busy as we are

00:10:04.540 with the Levine family,

00:10:05.500 you have to schedule events just to have family days.

00:10:08.260 So August 15th is a family event.

00:10:11.040 It's meant for all the volunteers, canvassers, campaigners,

00:10:14.460 anybody that put in some support towards the movement.

00:10:17.480 Come and bring your family.

00:10:18.940 It's a free event now, thanks to our generous sponsors.

00:10:21.920 And it's going to be four hours of music.

00:10:23.880 We have the vendor tables there as well.

00:10:26.320 And we just kind of want to lay back.

00:10:27.940 There's no political speeches.

00:10:29.180 It's not a political event.

00:10:30.540 It literally is bring your own chair, bring your own family,

00:10:33.280 sit back, relax, and enjoy a bit of the fruits of all of our labor

00:10:36.700 as we're making our way through towards that October referendum.

00:10:40.780 And I do want to make sure everybody understands, bring everybody.

00:10:44.500 Bring everybody.

00:10:45.360 This is going to be an event for us to just kick back, relax,

00:10:47.900 and listen to some great music, including Lindsay Butler, Ruth Purdy-Smith.

00:10:52.060 We even have Ben Crane and Marty, who's a good friend of mine who does a lot of covers.

00:10:57.260 I think you'll enjoy yourself and have a good time on August 15th, Saturday, in Mir, Alberta.

00:11:03.500 I'm looking forward to it.

00:11:04.680 I will be emceeing the event.

00:11:05.900 Maybe I'll sing a song if somebody knows Johnny B. Good.

00:11:08.440 Maybe I can do that by Chuck Berry.

00:11:10.300 The other thing is you just got some sponsorship for this as well.

00:11:12.840 We want to point that out because it's nice when everybody's sticking together to be part of events like this.

00:11:19.060 Yeah, so Let's Talk Alberta has stepped up to help us out, make sure that we can cover our costs.

00:11:23.800 And Pathway to Independence, Corey Morgan himself contributed it as well to ensure that we can make this a free event for everybody.

00:11:31.040 There's a few more that's going to be announced shortly as we finalize it.

00:11:34.400 But talk about coming together and to say thanks to everybody to make sure this event stayed free and welcoming to everybody that wanted to help and has helped to come and check it out and have some good music and some good food.

00:11:47.180 Just one more thing before we go here.

00:11:49.280 Your third-party advertiser, things have been going great at thelevineshow.com forward slash TPA.

00:11:55.780 You've been out.

00:11:56.820 I see your signs everywhere.

00:11:58.200 People are sending me pictures from all over the province.

00:12:00.080 You've got volunteers helping you.

00:12:02.060 people just show up i think pick up signs and put them all over north south east and west of this

00:12:06.680 province how are things going right now for you and how can people support that things are going

00:12:11.380 great john thanks for bringing that up yes the living show.com forward slash tpa you can sign

00:12:16.500 up to be a volunteer you can make a donation you can request a sign a lawn sign or highway sign

00:12:21.580 and i'm pleased to announce this will be some breaking news for you and your audience i have

00:12:25.940 adopted the same policy that cory morgan has adopted so when one of our signs gets vandalized

00:12:31.120 We build it up bigger, better, and we put in cameras because it seems to be kind of the whack-a-mole game that we're all playing here is you put up a sign, you wake up the next morning, and it's been destroyed by someone.

00:12:41.700 So we have the same policy now with the Levine Show TPA.

00:12:45.040 We'll build it back twice as big and much, much larger and add Alberta flags to it as well.

00:12:49.840 So we're looking forward to working on that front with Corey Morgan as well.

00:12:54.400 Fantastic.

00:12:55.080 Well done.

00:12:56.320 Congratulations, by the way, to all the third-party advertisers and doing great work.

00:12:59.620 just in a little bit. I've got another interview with somebody who's got in as a third-party

00:13:06.120 advertiser. We're going to need all hands on deck to win this thing on October 19th.

00:13:10.120 If anybody wants to find out any information, theleveneshow.com, you can click on the links

00:13:13.920 to find out about all these different events and activities and find out where Jason and his

00:13:18.380 family are having some fun putting on events so that you can attend as well. Jason, thanks so

00:13:23.100 much. Best of luck to you. Good luck with the tour this week. See you in Calgary on Tuesday night.

00:13:28.340 God bless you, John. Thanks so much for the time today. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody

00:13:31.800 again. It's going to be a wonderful way to see Alberta, Lethbridge, all the way to Grand Prairie.

00:13:36.340 God bless. If you like this video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel,

00:13:40.060 ring the bell for notifications. I will see you in the next one.

John Bolton - August 03, 2026

What Alberta Independence Can Learn From The Past - Jason Lavigne

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