Juno News - Poilievre back in parliament after byelection win

00:00:00.000 I just noticed that none of us are from Ontario, which is, you know, interesting.

00:00:07.020 There's usually always one when we do this representing the center of the universe.

00:00:12.220 But today we have an all-Western panel, two Albertans, one from Edmonton, one from Calgary, and one from B.C. in and around Vancouver.

00:00:20.700 So today's off the record, I guess, has a very of-the-West flavor.

00:00:27.480 Wow, it's nice.

00:00:28.660 Yeah, none of those people from O.E. is telling us what to think and what to do, especially because their track record is pretty bad.

00:00:38.380 Okay, I guess let's get started.

00:00:46.560 Well, good afternoon and thank you for joining us here on Off the Record.

00:00:50.660 My name is William and joining me this week, we have Isaac and Alex, your all-Western team for this week's show.

00:00:58.520 And we're excited to be talking about what made news in the past week.

00:01:03.240 So first up, I guess, big news out in our neck of the woods was Pierre Pallievre is going back to Parliament.

00:01:10.660 He's got his seat.

00:01:12.280 Isaac, why don't you tell us what happened?

00:01:14.600 Yeah, so this was actually kind of exciting to watch as the results were coming in there, William,

00:01:19.920 because at first it actually looked like Palliev was going to do better than Conservative MP Damian Couric.

00:01:26.220 And he almost did.

00:01:27.640 It got really close because he ended up with 80.4% of the vote.

00:01:33.260 And despite what we saw in the legacy media, William, I'm sure you'll talk more about this,

00:01:38.000 but they were propping up.

00:01:40.420 I don't know how else to say it.

00:01:41.480 Bonnie Critchley, who, of course, received less than 10%.

00:01:43.920 She got 9.9% of the vote.

00:01:46.580 And just to remind those, of course, this by-election was triggered when Damian Couric resigned.

00:01:50.900 And he won in the general election with 82.8% of the vote.

00:01:55.360 So that's how close Palliev came, despite legacy media pundits trying to frame this as,

00:02:00.980 oh, Palliev is going to get, like, I don't know, even if he wins with 50, 60%,

00:02:05.440 it's going to be terrible for the Conservatives.

00:02:07.100 This is not acceptable.

00:02:08.380 But, of course, we saw he pretty much did as good as Couric did.

00:02:12.100 And that was despite the 214 candidates in the riding,

00:02:17.320 201 of whom were with the longest ballot committee,

00:02:21.320 which we're seeing continue to make waves whenever Palliev is running.

00:02:24.700 They don't seem to care if anyone else is.

00:02:27.780 So, of course, Elections Canada had to issue write-in ballots.

00:02:32.260 So this election was special in the sense that voters had to write the names in.

00:02:37.040 And from the people I talked to on the ground,

00:02:38.820 I guess there was lists of the names, at least,

00:02:41.640 because no one knew how to spell Palliev.

00:02:44.300 Of course, Elections Canada did say that if the spelling was close enough, it'd be fine.

00:02:48.620 But writing Conservative wasn't enough.

00:02:50.920 Either way, they actually tallied the results when they said they would.

00:02:54.380 So the write-ins at least didn't delay the election that much

00:02:58.420 because I was honestly expecting it to take a week

00:03:03.060 because they had to have a special ballot counting process

00:03:07.800 where they have to read the names.

00:03:08.780 I don't know how they did it.

00:03:09.640 But, yeah, were you guys surprised when you saw that Palliev 1.00

00:03:12.600 almost got as many votes as Couric in this writing?

00:03:18.080 Alex, what did you see from your part of the world?

00:03:20.860 No, I wasn't terribly surprised at all.

00:03:23.020 I assumed that Palliev would win handily.

00:03:25.360 I think it's kind of funny that he's the first person ever to get more votes

00:03:28.320 than the next 213 candidates combined.

00:03:30.920 So, like, however you want to slice that, I think it was a pretty remarkable victory.

00:03:36.580 Of course, it's a very Conservative place, and so it was a pretty safe seat for him to win.

00:03:42.320 I think it's also interesting that Bonnie Critchley, you know,

00:03:44.900 as terribly as she did in the grand scheme of things,

00:03:47.460 did much better than both the NDP and the PPC.

00:03:49.820 Yeah, I mean, I think it was interesting to watch the legacy media's coverage

00:03:57.420 of this by-election.

00:03:58.740 Had you been solely following CBC and others of that nature,

00:04:05.840 you might have thought that this was going to be possibly even a close race,

00:04:10.780 that Bonnie Critchley was waging this aggressive, insurgent, guerrilla campaign,

00:04:18.080 and she was winning over thousands of votes and really putting the heat onto Pierre.

00:04:23.500 And Pierre, you know, they were saying, well, what if he doesn't get to, you know,

00:04:26.820 what if he only gets 48% of the vote?

00:04:29.200 What if he doesn't get any?

00:04:30.800 And, of course, it all turned out to be this complete bunk.

00:04:36.280 You know, CBC in particular wrote a fawning, lengthy profile of Bonnie Critchley,

00:04:42.820 and I don't want to take away from any of her personal achievements,

00:04:45.260 but the reality is she never really had a hope of winning in this very blue part of Alberta.

00:04:53.100 And I think CBC should actually have had to have registered as a third-party advertiser

00:04:57.040 for how positive their coverage of Bonnie Critchley was.

00:05:01.520 And it did.

00:05:02.160 It was an entirely manufactured, I think, controversy designed to try and destabilize Pierre

00:05:07.200 that, and to hurt him and to make his return to Parliament be under this possible shadow,

00:05:15.840 that if he had somehow only gotten 60% as opposed to 80%.

00:05:21.260 I love that.

00:05:21.900 There are parts of this world where 60% would be considered the, you know,

00:05:26.620 an amazing achievement in an election.

00:05:29.000 But, yeah, now, Mr. Ford, the Premier of Ontario.

00:05:34.560 Now, normally we do have an Ontarian on this panel to talk about some of these things.

00:05:38.720 But on the day of the by-election, he said that Polly Everett should work with Prime Minister Carney

00:05:45.520 because, boy, Prime Minister Carney is doing just this fantastic job when it comes to trade

00:05:51.380 and dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump.

00:05:55.340 What do we think of the, quote-unquote, conservative Premier of Ontario

00:06:01.520 basically campaigning for the Carney Liberals?

00:06:05.120 Isaac, what does that say to you?

00:06:07.320 Yeah, I don't know what to think about Ford.

00:06:10.480 I do kind of wish we had an Ontarian on the panel to balance this out here.

00:06:13.880 But I don't even think people in Ontario really approve of Ford these days

00:06:18.500 because it just seems to me more and more as time goes on that he keeps siding with the Liberals.

00:06:24.340 He keeps going against the Conservatives in many fashions.

00:06:27.300 I don't understand.

00:06:29.440 I certainly don't think he's a Conservative.

00:06:32.080 Certainly not.

00:06:33.300 I mean, we live in Alberta, William.

00:06:34.840 We have Daniel Smith, one of the strongest Conservatives in the nation.

00:06:38.180 And then you look at Ford in Ontario and it's just the other side of the coin.

00:06:41.700 But just for this article, working with Carney seemed kind of a contradiction in a way

00:06:49.840 because Carney really hasn't done any work in my eyes.

00:06:53.220 I mean, he ran his entire election on dealing with Donald Trump

00:06:58.040 and how he was the best suited to do that,

00:06:59.940 only to get us the fifth worst tariff rate in the world out of hundreds of,

00:07:04.100 or in the hundred of countries.

00:07:06.720 We have the fifth worst tariff rate in the world.

00:07:08.760 I don't even think he's talked to Trump.

00:07:10.160 Trump said he called him.

00:07:12.460 He didn't even pick up the phone.

00:07:13.920 We recall Trump saying before the election that he wanted Carney to win,

00:07:18.400 I think because, if I recall correctly,

00:07:20.820 because he thought a Liberal government would be weaker

00:07:23.120 and he could just push them around, which we're seeing from him, really.

00:07:26.020 He doesn't really have any respect for Carney, in my opinion,

00:07:28.840 based on the interactions we've seen between them.

00:07:33.000 As for Paliyev working with Carney,

00:07:35.800 well, we'll have to wait and see until Parliament resumes.

00:07:38.940 I don't know that we'll see them working together,

00:07:40.840 but we might certainly see some fireworks in the House of Commons

00:07:43.960 because, so far, Carney's pretty much had a free ride.

00:07:47.520 He's not in Parliament, of course.

00:07:48.820 He has the legacy media writing about how good he's doing,

00:07:51.740 but he's not really doing anything.

00:07:53.500 So, once the House of Commons resumes here,

00:07:56.480 we're going to definitely see Paliyev go on the attack, I think,

00:07:58.980 and say, hey, Canadians, listen up.

00:08:00.960 This is actually what's happened so far.

00:08:02.460 Here's the reality.

00:08:03.220 Now that the legacy media is not telling you what's happening,

00:08:06.880 here's the actual truth, here are the facts,

00:08:08.840 and here's what Carney has done, which is nothing.

00:08:11.140 So, I can't wait for that to happen.

00:08:14.120 You do have to wonder if Mr. Ford maybe misunderstands

00:08:18.180 the traditionally confrontational relationship

00:08:22.140 between the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition,

00:08:26.320 the opposition part being in the name of the role right there.

00:08:32.340 So, Alex, what do you think?

00:08:33.940 What are all these great things that Mr. Carney has done

00:08:37.880 to help Canada in this time of trade crisis?

00:08:41.880 What are his successes?

00:08:44.120 Well, I can't think of any specific successes.

00:08:48.200 I will defend Doug Ford a little bit on this

00:08:51.900 in the sense that most people in Ontario are liberal.

00:08:55.740 I mean, the electoral results flesh that out nicely.

00:08:57.920 And so, he has to appeal to his constituents.

00:09:00.300 It's the same thing as Danielle Smith, right?

00:09:02.560 I mean, she aligns herself with the Federal Conservative Party

00:09:04.880 because that's what her constituents like. 0.98

00:09:06.860 That's politicians doing politics.

00:09:10.680 I don't find that particularly unusual.

00:09:12.900 However, what I find egregious and outrageous

00:09:17.120 about Doug Ford making this comment

00:09:18.980 is we have had, like, what, two weeks of Parliament sitting in Ottawa

00:09:22.740 going back to last year.

00:09:25.180 How could he possibly say or urge Paul Yev

00:09:28.340 to work with Mark Carney when he can't?

00:09:31.940 Like, Parliament isn't even sitting.

00:09:34.120 If he wants the leader of the opposition

00:09:36.380 and the leader of the government to be cooperative,

00:09:39.880 he should be urging them to go back to work.

00:09:43.120 Yeah, you know, it does.

00:09:45.040 One might think maybe Doug Ford, Premier Ford,

00:09:48.580 is trying to curry favor

00:09:50.620 because he thinks that'll get him some more money

00:09:54.540 for social programs or infrastructure

00:09:56.700 or whatever the case is.

00:09:58.100 It is certainly not endearing him, though,

00:10:00.900 to folks that are in our part of the world

00:10:02.900 where Mr. Carty remains not the most popular choice.

00:10:07.440 I can say, on behalf of Alberta,

00:10:09.400 one thing that is driving a lot of us just nuts

00:10:13.060 is these aggressive canola tariffs from China

00:10:17.820 and the fact that when it seems like an Ontario industry

00:10:21.640 is under threat, well, goodness me,

00:10:25.060 does our federal government move heaven and earth

00:10:26.880 to try and help protect, defend, subsidize, nationalize,

00:10:32.060 whatever it takes in order to protect it,

00:10:34.120 but if you grow canola and sell it to China,

00:10:37.440 a $43 billion industry in this country,

00:10:40.440 and suddenly your largest customer says,

00:10:43.540 no, we're not going to buy from you anymore,

00:10:45.020 we're going to buy it from the Australians, 0.98

00:10:46.920 well, it's just been crickets from the federal government.

00:10:51.020 I think, you know, people wonder

00:10:52.820 why there's such alienation, Western alienation,

00:10:56.320 the idea that the West doesn't always feel

00:10:59.160 that it has a full voice at the table.

00:11:00.580 I think it's because, honestly,

00:11:02.500 at least with Mr. Carney doing these great things,

00:11:05.260 well, he's not done a lot of great things for canola,

00:11:08.340 at least since this latest round happened.

00:11:12.920 Well, it will be exciting to see Polly Evra

00:11:15.040 back in the House of Commons.

00:11:16.360 I think there's been a lot of people missing that.

00:11:18.500 I like Andrew Scheer quite a bit,

00:11:20.120 voted for him a couple of times here and there

00:11:22.200 over the time,

00:11:23.800 but I don't think he has quite the same,

00:11:28.180 maybe level of showmanship that Pierre has,

00:11:31.680 which is required when you're in the House of Commons.

00:11:34.380 It's to put on a bit of a show,

00:11:35.920 make Question Period exciting again.

00:11:39.320 There, that's our call.

00:11:41.820 Let's just have Question Period again.

00:11:43.560 I'd be satisfied with that.

00:11:45.440 Well, this is true.

00:11:46.880 Endless ministerial announcements

00:11:49.040 where they don't really announce anything

00:11:50.480 is part of summer.

00:11:51.940 It just isn't as exciting as Question Period.

00:11:54.180 Looking at the next one,

00:11:55.860 we saw a judge,

00:11:58.480 and I think this was out in your neck of the woods, Alex,

00:12:00.920 a judge stay a deportation order

00:12:03.620 for an applicant for an immigrant to Canada

00:12:07.720 who was being deported.

00:12:08.740 They said, well, his wife has ADHD,

00:12:12.640 and therefore, if her husband gets deported,

00:12:15.960 that could make managing her ADHD worse.

00:12:19.300 So we're going to put a hold on that deportation.

00:12:24.520 Alex, why don't you tell us a few of the details

00:12:26.740 of what you think?

00:12:27.740 Sure.

00:12:28.260 So yeah, this sounds like it would be a BC story,

00:12:30.220 but it's not.

00:12:30.880 This is actually Ontario.

00:12:34.220 So yeah, they can actually take responsibility

00:12:36.300 for this one.

00:12:37.500 The judge in this case,

00:12:38.640 her name is Justice Goh,

00:12:39.940 and she is an activist judge.

00:12:42.160 She proudly regards herself as an activist judge.

00:12:45.220 She previously worked as a lawyer

00:12:47.860 on behalf of what she calls

00:12:49.020 marginalized and vulnerable people,

00:12:50.920 specifically immigrants.

00:12:52.440 And she was appointed to the bar by David Lemetti,

00:12:56.320 who many people would also consider

00:12:57.800 to be a bit of a leftist activist as well.

00:13:00.560 He was the former attorney general,

00:13:02.640 very, very liberal individual.

00:13:04.080 And so I went through a bunch of her case studies,

00:13:07.600 and this is not an isolated incident.

00:13:10.860 She has given,

00:13:12.580 she has stayed deportation orders many, many times,

00:13:15.620 in particularly ridiculous cases.

00:13:17.840 There was one individual, for instance,

00:13:20.020 who had taken on a fake identity in Sweden

00:13:22.600 for seven years,

00:13:23.880 and had come to Canada,

00:13:25.700 and had overstayed her welcome,

00:13:27.140 and she stayed her deportation order.

00:13:29.900 There are all kinds of different cases.

00:13:31.640 She's also denied some appeals

00:13:34.680 to deportation as well.

00:13:36.100 So it's a bit of a mixed bag.

00:13:38.060 But I don't know if it's a great idea

00:13:41.000 to have leftist pro-immigration judges

00:13:45.640 in charge of adjudicating appeals

00:13:49.760 to deportation orders.

00:13:52.220 Yeah, I mean,

00:13:53.140 I think a lot of people would be surprised

00:13:54.920 that someone with such an activist background

00:13:57.080 would be appointed to the bench.

00:13:59.840 You know,

00:14:01.740 you're sort of our crime expert there, Alex.

00:14:04.660 You follow a lot of the days in

00:14:06.180 and days out of justice.

00:14:08.060 Canadians might be surprised to know

00:14:09.520 that judges don't really have terms either,

00:14:11.940 do they?

00:14:12.340 Once appointed,

00:14:13.720 they're there for life.

00:14:15.760 Yeah, and actually,

00:14:16.960 I think also,

00:14:18.040 maybe our viewers would be surprised

00:14:19.280 to hear my opinion on this.

00:14:20.580 Most judges I have found

00:14:22.180 are actually pretty good in Canada.

00:14:24.880 I have a great respect

00:14:26.880 for most of the judges

00:14:27.780 that I've witnessed in court.

00:14:30.680 But yes, you are right.

00:14:31.840 They do not have terms.

00:14:33.060 And unlike in some parts of the United States,

00:14:35.300 they are not elected.

00:14:36.200 They are appointed.

00:14:36.880 And in the case of the,

00:14:41.280 you know,

00:14:41.800 talk about the appointment process,

00:14:43.200 that's a political appointment.

00:14:44.960 It's very much within,

00:14:46.320 I mean,

00:14:46.640 it's probably not called

00:14:47.880 a political appointment,

00:14:48.860 but I say that

00:14:49.960 because it's a politician

00:14:51.100 who actually does the appointings.

00:14:53.740 The Minister of Justice

00:14:54.780 pretty well is it has sole discussion

00:14:57.180 when it comes to appointing judges?

00:14:59.160 I believe so.

00:15:00.600 And I hope that this is correct.

00:15:03.420 I think it was the Globe and Mail

00:15:04.640 did a report on this a few years ago.

00:15:06.780 Amongst the judges

00:15:07.540 who were appointed

00:15:08.280 by the previous two liberal governments,

00:15:10.420 I think it was more than 70%

00:15:12.200 were not only liberal voters,

00:15:13.640 but liberal donors.

00:15:16.380 Yeah, I mean,

00:15:17.160 it certainly,

00:15:17.760 I think,

00:15:18.220 gives Canadians pause

00:15:19.820 for whether or not

00:15:21.720 justice is truly blind

00:15:23.780 when its background

00:15:25.380 appears to be activist

00:15:26.860 and liberal leaning.

00:15:29.620 Now, Isaac,

00:15:31.280 we also saw Michelle Rempel

00:15:32.560 sort of talk a little bit

00:15:33.840 about the issue

00:15:35.220 of immigration

00:15:36.860 and criminal behavior

00:15:38.240 because I believe

00:15:38.980 the story was

00:15:39.940 an immigrant to Canada

00:15:42.900 who had committed a crime

00:15:44.100 got a lenient,

00:15:45.560 more lenient sentence

00:15:46.820 because a harsher sentence

00:15:49.080 could jeopardize

00:15:50.080 their immigration status.

00:15:52.120 And Michelle Rempel, 0.99

00:15:53.040 I believe,

00:15:53.840 has put a private member's bill forward

00:15:56.200 that would say

00:15:58.480 that you really can't do that.

00:15:59.740 Isaac,

00:16:00.040 what's the case

00:16:01.080 in that situation?

00:16:01.960 Yeah, no,

00:16:03.280 Alex and I have talked

00:16:04.420 about this before

00:16:05.300 at various times

00:16:06.480 because we see this happen

00:16:08.200 time and again.

00:16:09.180 But, I mean,

00:16:09.840 realistically,

00:16:10.380 in my eyes,

00:16:10.980 if you are in any way

00:16:12.520 not a Canadian citizen

00:16:13.680 and you commit a crime here,

00:16:14.880 you should be deported

00:16:15.600 immediately,

00:16:16.200 full stop.

00:16:16.620 There's no question about it.

00:16:18.320 I mean,

00:16:18.640 of course,

00:16:19.000 we're talking about

00:16:19.380 jaywalking or something,

00:16:20.220 but an actual crime,

00:16:21.420 like a criminal offense,

00:16:24.660 you should be deported.

00:16:25.680 I don't know why

00:16:26.420 anyone would be against that.

00:16:28.720 And I don't know,

00:16:31.040 especially like we see

00:16:32.240 in this case here,

00:16:33.140 ADHD.

00:16:34.080 I mean,

00:16:34.400 it's ridiculous.

00:16:35.320 Plus,

00:16:35.720 you assume the man

00:16:37.020 who's a non-citizen,

00:16:38.340 I guess his wife is too,

00:16:39.600 so just deport them together.

00:16:41.220 It's not that challenging.

00:16:43.460 Just bye,

00:16:44.300 you committed a crime,

00:16:45.100 you got to go.

00:16:45.660 It's that simple.

00:16:46.820 Especially because,

00:16:47.680 I mean,

00:16:48.560 if we're in a crime-ridden country

00:16:50.540 and all the people committing crimes

00:16:51.820 aren't even Canadians, 0.99

00:16:52.820 it's a really simple fix.

00:16:54.240 Just get rid of the people

00:16:55.520 committing the crimes.

00:16:56.500 Just deport them. 0.99

00:16:57.100 It is that simple.

00:16:58.000 And it's ADHD.

00:16:59.440 We're not talking about

00:17:00.340 this person needs

00:17:02.580 like full-time care.

00:17:03.680 She's ADHD.

00:17:04.740 I mean,

00:17:05.440 don't even get me started

00:17:06.320 on ADHD,

00:17:07.000 but I personally think

00:17:08.320 that it's one of the most

00:17:09.160 over-diagnosed things,

00:17:10.320 especially for children.

00:17:11.120 You take your kid

00:17:11.600 into the doctor,

00:17:12.240 they'll just give you

00:17:12.820 something for ADHD

00:17:13.500 and say,

00:17:14.020 be on your way.

00:17:15.000 I don't know about

00:17:15.760 this person's specific diagnosis.

00:17:18.380 And then just getting back

00:17:19.420 to the judges

00:17:19.880 thing you were talking about there,

00:17:20.580 Alex,

00:17:20.860 this was something

00:17:21.920 I was paying attention to

00:17:24.060 heading up to the election

00:17:25.160 because people were saying

00:17:26.480 with concern

00:17:27.600 if Paliyev were to win

00:17:28.840 that the cards

00:17:29.480 were in a way

00:17:29.940 stacked against them

00:17:30.720 with the judges

00:17:31.200 all being liberal,

00:17:31.880 the Senate all being liberal.

00:17:33.100 I mean,

00:17:33.560 the people in power

00:17:35.420 in regard to crime jurisdiction

00:17:37.580 are kind of all liberals.

00:17:39.120 So then when you come in

00:17:40.560 as a conservative government,

00:17:41.260 it's like,

00:17:41.640 what can you really do?

00:17:42.280 Obviously,

00:17:42.560 we're not in that case,

00:17:43.620 but it could be something

00:17:44.500 that could still occur

00:17:46.200 in the future

00:17:47.020 going forward here.

00:17:49.060 Yeah,

00:17:49.540 no,

00:17:49.860 I,

00:17:50.280 you know,

00:17:50.500 there's an old joke

00:17:51.280 that liberal governments

00:17:52.500 really never lose.

00:17:53.440 They just go into,

00:17:55.000 you know,

00:17:55.160 they may not be in the commons,

00:17:57.020 but they're still everywhere else.

00:17:59.120 They're in the civil service.

00:18:00.440 They're in the judiciary.

00:18:02.080 They're in the upper chamber.

00:18:04.340 They're in the Senate.

00:18:05.320 And so they just bide their time

00:18:07.340 until they're back

00:18:08.860 in the commons again

00:18:09.840 after those pesky,

00:18:11.520 interloping conservatives

00:18:12.780 have been sent packing again.

00:18:15.660 Now,

00:18:16.140 you know,

00:18:16.720 we talk about this private members bill

00:18:18.360 from Michelle Rempel,

00:18:19.380 and I understand sort of

00:18:21.080 what her goal was,

00:18:22.960 but I actually,

00:18:23.740 I don't fully agree.

00:18:25.160 I would say

00:18:26.060 your immigration status

00:18:28.760 should be taken into account

00:18:30.280 when you commit a crime,

00:18:31.360 but not because you should get

00:18:32.680 a more lenient sentence.

00:18:33.980 I actually think

00:18:34.380 you should get a harsher sentence.

00:18:36.060 I think coming to this country

00:18:37.360 is a privilege.

00:18:38.720 You know,

00:18:39.100 you,

00:18:39.480 you,

00:18:39.820 you,

00:18:40.420 we welcome you here

00:18:41.860 into a,

00:18:42.760 into a by and large,

00:18:44.620 safe,

00:18:45.700 tolerant,

00:18:46.840 pluralistic,

00:18:47.920 peaceful society

00:18:49.060 with,

00:18:50.420 well,

00:18:51.040 maybe not great job opportunities

00:18:53.220 anymore,

00:18:54.000 thanks to the current

00:18:55.500 incumbents government,

00:18:57.300 but,

00:18:57.680 you know,

00:18:58.520 possibly better prospects

00:18:59.720 than you have

00:19:00.300 from where you're coming from.

00:19:01.660 And therefore,

00:19:02.900 it's,

00:19:03.320 it's a privilege

00:19:03.920 to be here.

00:19:04.900 And if you abuse

00:19:05.660 that privilege

00:19:06.360 by,

00:19:06.900 by committing

00:19:07.880 a criminal act,

00:19:09.440 I think we should,

00:19:10.980 again,

00:19:11.260 as Isaac says,

00:19:12.020 being sent you packing,

00:19:12.980 I think we should revoke

00:19:14.480 the privilege

00:19:15.060 of being here.

00:19:16.340 And certainly,

00:19:17.380 it's very costly

00:19:18.600 to keep people

00:19:19.820 in,

00:19:20.220 in prison.

00:19:21.640 Those costs

00:19:22.500 are borne

00:19:22.820 by Canadian taxpayers,

00:19:24.320 people who are in prison

00:19:25.480 still avail themselves

00:19:26.480 of our publicly funded

00:19:27.540 health care.

00:19:28.700 Sometimes they even

00:19:30.100 accrue benefits

00:19:31.060 like old age security

00:19:32.400 while in prison.

00:19:34.700 And so all of that

00:19:36.220 comes at a cost

00:19:37.040 and it's a cost

00:19:37.740 Canadian taxpayers

00:19:38.500 are bearing for people

00:19:39.460 who are privileged

00:19:40.580 to be here

00:19:41.140 and have broken the law.

00:19:42.060 So as we grapple

00:19:44.900 with this immigration issue,

00:19:46.280 I'm curious to see

00:19:47.280 if we're going to see

00:19:47.920 more situations

00:19:49.360 like this.

00:19:50.420 And Alex,

00:19:51.540 what do you think?

00:19:52.720 Well,

00:19:52.860 I couldn't agree more.

00:19:53.840 And I think another concern

00:19:55.060 surrounding this issue

00:19:56.500 is that serial criminals,

00:19:59.040 especially those

00:19:59.880 who are guilty

00:20:00.380 of repeat sex offenses,

00:20:02.620 they seek out countries

00:20:04.380 that are criminal safe zones

00:20:05.820 for their activities.

00:20:07.580 And my fear

00:20:08.620 is that if Canada

00:20:09.820 continues on

00:20:10.800 with this extremely

00:20:11.880 lenient attitude,

00:20:13.000 especially towards immigrants

00:20:14.220 with regards to sex offenses

00:20:15.940 specifically,

00:20:17.320 Canada could become

00:20:18.500 in the eyes

00:20:19.680 of those individuals,

00:20:20.920 those sickos,

00:20:22.780 a safe zone

00:20:23.980 for that type of activity.

00:20:27.040 We also have

00:20:27.980 a lot of vulnerable people

00:20:29.260 with our lenient

00:20:30.020 immigration system.

00:20:31.100 We have a lot

00:20:31.500 of human trafficking here.

00:20:32.940 So you have a combination

00:20:34.260 of vulnerable people

00:20:35.320 and a lenient justice system

00:20:36.640 that lets people

00:20:37.200 literally get away

00:20:38.180 with murder.

00:20:38.780 where we're just

00:20:40.560 going to invite

00:20:41.120 more and more

00:20:41.820 horrible people

00:20:44.180 to this country

00:20:45.360 to do more

00:20:45.860 and more horrible things.

00:20:47.680 Yeah,

00:20:48.140 I think,

00:20:48.900 you know,

00:20:49.460 that is not

00:20:50.260 the reputation

00:20:51.000 Canada wants.

00:20:53.500 Certainly,

00:20:54.020 I don't think

00:20:54.480 what most Canadians want,

00:20:56.720 maybe a small number,

00:20:58.340 would say,

00:20:59.160 bring all the criminals here.

00:21:01.180 But I don't think

00:21:02.400 they're the majority.

00:21:03.100 And I think

00:21:03.940 you're absolutely right

00:21:05.600 that a justice system

00:21:07.080 that isn't seen

00:21:07.780 to be fair

00:21:09.080 and effective

00:21:10.300 just is a problem

00:21:13.540 not only

00:21:14.480 for those involved

00:21:15.480 with it,

00:21:15.860 but for an entire country,

00:21:17.280 for the social fabric

00:21:18.200 of it.

00:21:18.880 So a third thing

00:21:21.200 we have had to laugh

00:21:22.700 a little bit about

00:21:23.560 happening

00:21:24.500 was there was

00:21:25.340 a trans fest

00:21:26.820 that was supposed

00:21:27.960 to happen.

00:21:29.140 I'm still not

00:21:30.120 100% certain.

00:21:31.240 I know what

00:21:32.720 a trans fest is,

00:21:34.660 but it looks colorful

00:21:36.780 from that picture there.

00:21:38.660 But,

00:21:39.040 and it was supposed

00:21:40.180 to be held out

00:21:40.800 on Vancouver Island.

00:21:42.400 And then it was canceled.

00:21:44.320 And it wasn't canceled

00:21:45.800 because of any issue

00:21:47.660 related to

00:21:48.840 transgender identity.

00:21:50.040 There wasn't

00:21:50.860 a big debate

00:21:52.080 around,

00:21:52.680 you know,

00:21:53.700 trans medical care

00:21:55.320 or should minors

00:21:56.440 get puberty blockers

00:21:58.340 or hormone therapy.

00:21:59.720 It was canceled

00:22:00.580 because

00:22:01.400 the trans fest

00:22:03.320 wouldn't take a stand

00:22:04.780 on the Palestinian

00:22:06.760 Gaza issue,

00:22:08.320 which,

00:22:09.000 you know,

00:22:09.460 to,

00:22:09.780 to someone

00:22:10.480 outside the trans community,

00:22:12.060 I did have to wonder

00:22:13.420 what exactly

00:22:15.060 does the conflict

00:22:16.960 in Gaza

00:22:17.720 have to do

00:22:19.260 with

00:22:20.040 trans issues

00:22:21.360 only other than

00:22:22.340 the fact that

00:22:22.880 if you were

00:22:23.400 transgender

00:22:24.020 in Gaza

00:22:25.740 under the control

00:22:27.260 of Hamas

00:22:27.940 and the Palestinians,

00:22:29.420 they would throw you

00:22:30.640 off the biggest building

00:22:31.580 they could find

00:22:32.220 because that tends

00:22:32.880 to be their attitude

00:22:33.560 towards anybody

00:22:34.360 in the LGBTQ community.

00:22:37.820 They certainly

00:22:38.700 don't have the same

00:22:39.500 welcome

00:22:39.860 and tolerant position.

00:22:41.680 And I guess

00:22:43.700 one of the sources

00:22:45.440 of discontent

00:22:46.260 was one of the people

00:22:47.520 involved in the organizing

00:22:49.380 of trans fest

00:22:50.860 had also

00:22:52.620 supported

00:22:53.980 some Jewish

00:22:55.920 and Israeli organizations

00:22:57.320 and that apparently

00:22:58.320 was a source

00:22:59.140 of ire

00:22:59.740 for

00:23:00.820 the trans gender.

00:23:02.800 So now,

00:23:03.220 Isaac,

00:23:04.140 make it make sense.

00:23:06.060 Why should

00:23:07.420 the trans fest

00:23:08.480 care

00:23:09.580 or have an opinion

00:23:10.700 on the Israel-Gaza

00:23:13.240 conflict

00:23:14.020 and the fight

00:23:15.140 against Hamas?

00:23:16.340 Yeah,

00:23:16.820 you're asking a lot there,

00:23:18.080 William,

00:23:18.420 to make it make sense.

00:23:19.440 But yeah,

00:23:20.160 no,

00:23:20.380 I don't,

00:23:20.880 there's a few things.

00:23:22.220 First of all,

00:23:22.900 as you said,

00:23:24.060 any LGBTQ groups

00:23:26.180 fighting for

00:23:27.260 anything to do

00:23:28.680 with Palestine

00:23:29.240 and being pro-Palestine

00:23:30.320 makes no sense.

00:23:31.120 They will literally

00:23:31.680 kill you there. 0.95

00:23:32.980 It's like the

00:23:33.340 Queers for Palestine group.

00:23:34.460 It's kind of a paradox

00:23:35.980 in a way.

00:23:36.620 Really,

00:23:37.540 you support Palestine.

00:23:38.720 They go there

00:23:39.420 and see what happens to you.

00:23:40.560 You won't be coming back.

00:23:42.160 It really is that simple.

00:23:43.720 This isn't some

00:23:44.360 figure of speech.

00:23:45.480 They don't accept you

00:23:47.040 as you are

00:23:47.780 in Palestine,

00:23:48.880 unlike Canada

00:23:49.780 where you're safe

00:23:50.460 to be whoever

00:23:51.080 you want to be.

00:23:52.220 But I just think,

00:23:53.820 I don't know,

00:23:55.300 I've seen over the last

00:23:55.960 few years,

00:23:56.560 let's say,

00:23:57.020 that the weaponization

00:23:58.580 of the Pride movement,

00:24:00.180 really,

00:24:00.680 activist groups

00:24:02.040 like a pro-Palestine group,

00:24:04.340 for example,

00:24:04.960 would be an activist group

00:24:06.000 have used Pride

00:24:07.620 just to fight

00:24:09.600 for whatever they want,

00:24:10.440 really.

00:24:11.120 I don't know

00:24:11.740 why that is.

00:24:12.740 I guess

00:24:13.580 they see

00:24:14.900 the group of people

00:24:16.380 and the activists

00:24:16.960 within Pride

00:24:17.620 as weaponizable,

00:24:19.200 like they're already

00:24:19.800 fighting for a cause.

00:24:20.860 You just shift the cause.

00:24:21.780 At first,

00:24:22.100 it's climate change

00:24:22.840 and then it's whatever.

00:24:24.180 And you could just

00:24:24.960 kind of move the goalposts

00:24:27.000 and they're still just

00:24:27.700 picketing,

00:24:29.540 rioting.

00:24:30.180 It's like,

00:24:31.040 I don't get it.

00:24:32.060 As for this transfest, 0.97

00:24:33.640 what does this have to do

00:24:35.700 with the Israel-Gaza conflict?

00:24:38.340 That is a question

00:24:39.300 that I don't think

00:24:40.300 really has an answer.

00:24:42.440 Now, Alex,

00:24:43.440 you live in and around

00:24:45.360 Vancouver,

00:24:46.140 which is pretty different,

00:24:48.040 I would say,

00:24:48.660 than Alberta here.

00:24:50.560 What are your thoughts

00:24:51.500 on this particular situation?

00:24:53.500 Yeah,

00:24:54.060 so,

00:24:55.000 I'll try to maybe

00:24:56.780 answer Isaac's question

00:24:57.840 to the best of my ability.

00:24:59.620 I'm going to try

00:25:00.120 to play devil's advocate here

00:25:01.320 and maybe just

00:25:02.820 put myself into the shoes

00:25:04.080 of the transfest folks.

00:25:06.140 So,

00:25:06.340 I think the reason

00:25:07.100 they think,

00:25:08.580 and I'm totally

00:25:09.200 speculating here,

00:25:10.020 I think the reason

00:25:10.560 they think that

00:25:11.180 Israel-Palestine conflict

00:25:13.040 is relevant to transfest

00:25:14.580 is that they view

00:25:15.440 the world

00:25:15.940 in a very kind

00:25:17.540 of Marxist lens.

00:25:19.860 Right?

00:25:20.180 So,

00:25:20.360 there's the oppressor

00:25:21.380 and the oppressed.

00:25:22.640 And they identify

00:25:23.620 as the oppressed

00:25:24.440 and so they can take

00:25:25.520 any issue around the world

00:25:26.740 and they can distill it down

00:25:27.860 into this very,

00:25:28.940 very simplified

00:25:29.680 view of the world.

00:25:32.380 And in their opinion,

00:25:33.880 Israel,

00:25:34.420 because they have

00:25:34.900 an asymmetrical amount

00:25:35.920 of power compared

00:25:36.920 to Palestine,

00:25:37.920 are the oppressors

00:25:38.780 and Palestinians

00:25:39.360 are the oppressed.

00:25:40.220 Therefore,

00:25:40.820 they identify

00:25:41.360 with the Palestinians

00:25:42.260 and nobody is allowed

00:25:44.000 to disagree with them

00:25:44.860 on that.

00:25:45.820 And that's where

00:25:46.240 I think it really

00:25:46.880 like their argument

00:25:47.540 kind of falls apart

00:25:48.420 because they present

00:25:49.640 themselves as the most

00:25:50.600 accepting and tolerant

00:25:51.520 people.

00:25:52.000 And you would

00:25:52.800 expect that

00:25:53.300 to be the case.

00:25:54.100 I mean,

00:25:54.280 it's transfest

00:25:55.080 for heaven's sakes,

00:25:55.960 right?

00:25:56.220 I mean,

00:25:56.760 you'd think that

00:25:57.300 they would be

00:25:57.760 very,

00:25:58.400 very,

00:25:58.740 very progressive

00:26:00.100 and accepting

00:26:00.960 of all types

00:26:01.520 of people,

00:26:01.940 but they're not.

00:26:02.980 They don't let you

00:26:05.060 have your own opinions

00:26:05.820 on Israel

00:26:06.440 or the Middle East.

00:26:07.560 They don't let you

00:26:08.200 wear dreadlocks.

00:26:09.360 My friend was just

00:26:10.080 recently kicked out

00:26:11.660 of some 2SLGBTQI plus

00:26:14.260 theater because

00:26:15.820 she had dreadlocks

00:26:16.660 and they said

00:26:17.040 that it violated

00:26:18.120 their cultural

00:26:18.680 appropriation policy.

00:26:19.820 just all kinds

00:26:21.660 of nonsense.

00:26:23.000 So they're,

00:26:23.720 yeah,

00:26:24.300 the most intolerant

00:26:25.560 people you can find

00:26:27.100 in some respects.

00:26:29.160 Now,

00:26:29.740 Alex,

00:26:30.000 I did want to ask

00:26:30.740 you specifically

00:26:31.500 about that story

00:26:32.740 you wrote

00:26:33.240 about the woman 0.68

00:26:34.300 who had

00:26:35.880 dreadlocked hair

00:26:37.080 and was accused

00:26:38.500 of cultural appropriation.

00:26:40.020 I can't help

00:26:41.240 but notice

00:26:41.880 how many

00:26:42.720 non-Palestinian

00:26:45.440 members

00:26:46.320 of the LGBTQ

00:26:47.400 community

00:26:48.140 are wearing

00:26:48.900 keffias 0.97

00:26:49.560 and wouldn't

00:26:51.560 that be

00:26:52.240 an example

00:26:53.180 of cultural

00:26:53.940 appropriation?

00:26:54.980 So shouldn't

00:26:56.220 that venue

00:26:57.000 and I guess

00:26:57.880 any others

00:26:58.420 who purport

00:26:59.020 to oppose

00:27:00.300 cultural appropriation

00:27:01.480 therefore ban

00:27:02.560 any keffia 0.75

00:27:04.120 wearing individual

00:27:05.640 from any event

00:27:07.060 or property

00:27:07.680 that supposedly

00:27:08.940 opposes

00:27:09.540 cultural appropriation?

00:27:10.840 Well,

00:27:10.980 you know,

00:27:11.160 it's wild

00:27:11.700 because their

00:27:12.180 cultural appropriation

00:27:13.180 policy,

00:27:13.760 which I tracked down

00:27:14.640 and by the way,

00:27:15.220 this individual

00:27:15.740 who was barred

00:27:16.300 from the event

00:27:16.640 was not my friend

00:27:17.460 originally.

00:27:18.380 I just found her

00:27:19.320 and reached out to her

00:27:20.020 and she's actually

00:27:20.400 a very,

00:27:20.780 very reasonable person.

00:27:21.840 So we found

00:27:22.420 all of these policies

00:27:23.560 to try to figure out

00:27:24.560 what the rules were.

00:27:26.000 We're still not really sure

00:27:26.980 but they had a list

00:27:28.360 of all kinds of things

00:27:29.360 you can't wear.

00:27:30.000 Saris were on the list 1.00

00:27:31.000 for instance.

00:27:32.080 I assumed turbans

00:27:33.440 would be on there.

00:27:34.720 Certain things,

00:27:35.400 you know,

00:27:35.580 they don't want you

00:27:36.080 wearing an Indian headdress

00:27:37.560 when you come in.

00:27:38.340 Okay, fair enough.

00:27:39.900 But keffias 0.98

00:27:40.760 were not on the list.

00:27:42.900 Huh.

00:27:43.720 What a surprise.

00:27:44.940 Almost like

00:27:45.740 there's a double standard

00:27:47.120 on this issue.

00:27:48.920 Well,

00:27:49.360 it's also a drag show theater.

00:27:51.740 I mean,

00:27:51.980 their entire shtick

00:27:52.940 is people pretending

00:27:53.820 to be things

00:27:54.500 that they're not.

00:27:56.760 Like that's,

00:27:58.060 they're all raised in Tetra.

00:27:59.800 Can you,

00:28:00.420 can you appropriate

00:28:01.560 a gender,

00:28:02.420 I guess,

00:28:02.860 is the question then?

00:28:03.800 Is that,

00:28:04.220 is that perfectly okay?

00:28:06.060 As long as you don't

00:28:07.160 appropriate their race

00:28:08.280 along with the gender,

00:28:09.560 I suppose,

00:28:10.420 is the rule.

00:28:11.980 But,

00:28:12.260 black people can.

00:28:14.100 So,

00:28:14.680 because it's all based

00:28:15.480 out of their

00:28:15.900 anti-blackness policy.

00:28:17.260 So,

00:28:17.460 a black person

00:28:18.020 can have a blonde wig.

00:28:19.500 That's fine.

00:28:20.020 And again,

00:28:20.280 this goes back

00:28:21.000 to this kind of

00:28:21.760 reductionist way

00:28:22.680 of viewing the world,

00:28:23.560 right?

00:28:23.740 Where you have

00:28:24.140 oppressors and oppressed

00:28:25.220 and so you have

00:28:25.740 two different rules

00:28:26.540 and two different attitudes

00:28:27.660 and purely based

00:28:29.660 off of power dynamics.

00:28:31.220 frankly,

00:28:31.640 it all sounds exhausting

00:28:33.040 is my attitude.

00:28:35.900 Now,

00:28:36.060 this wasn't the only,

00:28:37.000 of course,

00:28:37.860 gender issue

00:28:38.920 to surface this week.

00:28:40.000 We saw the example

00:28:40.960 of a nurse,

00:28:42.920 Amy Hamm,

00:28:43.940 who dared to

00:28:45.380 utter the hate speech

00:28:46.720 that there are,

00:28:47.880 in fact,

00:28:48.460 only two genders,

00:28:50.000 male and female,

00:28:50.720 and that

00:28:51.500 what you're born with

00:28:54.480 is what you are.

00:28:55.700 And that ended up

00:28:56.660 costing her nearly

00:28:57.600 $100,000

00:28:59.020 in costs

00:29:00.680 and fines

00:29:01.140 levied against her

00:29:01.880 by the nurses,

00:29:04.420 I guess I shouldn't say union,

00:29:06.580 Nurses Association.

00:29:08.820 So,

00:29:09.300 the question is,

00:29:09.960 though,

00:29:10.220 again,

00:29:10.580 Alex,

00:29:10.960 you know,

00:29:11.280 as our crime reporter,

00:29:12.300 you see a lot

00:29:13.060 of terrible criminals

00:29:14.080 in a given week

00:29:15.420 and,

00:29:16.080 you know,

00:29:16.640 arsonists,

00:29:18.220 assaulters,

00:29:19.240 people who steal

00:29:20.980 tens of thousands

00:29:22.040 of dollars

00:29:22.680 in property,

00:29:24.280 are the fines

00:29:25.720 for those

00:29:26.860 dangerous,

00:29:28.840 violent crimes

00:29:29.800 anywhere close

00:29:30.660 to $100,000?

00:29:32.600 No,

00:29:33.120 the average surety

00:29:33.960 I see for,

00:29:34.580 like,

00:29:34.660 a stranger attack

00:29:35.500 is generally

00:29:35.880 between $500

00:29:36.680 and $2,000.

00:29:38.460 So,

00:29:39.260 say at the upper end,

00:29:40.680 $2,000,

00:29:41.820 you know,

00:29:42.220 you could commit

00:29:43.640 serious bodily harm

00:29:45.100 against 50 people

00:29:46.480 and be equivalent

00:29:48.160 to the

00:29:49.060 societal damage

00:29:50.880 of telling people

00:29:53.900 there are two genders,

00:29:55.100 of being J.K. Rowling

00:29:57.160 in the nursing profession.

00:29:59.160 So,

00:29:59.720 Isaac,

00:30:01.380 in your view,

00:30:03.520 what insanity

00:30:04.640 is this

00:30:05.300 that stating

00:30:06.240 a biological fact

00:30:07.580 that there are

00:30:08.400 two genders

00:30:08.980 somehow now

00:30:10.300 nets you

00:30:10.780 from a

00:30:11.240 quote-unquote

00:30:11.740 professional association

00:30:13.100 fines and fees

00:30:14.880 up to $100,000?

00:30:16.860 Yeah,

00:30:17.500 and again,

00:30:18.080 William,

00:30:18.380 we're talking about

00:30:18.980 a medical professional

00:30:20.420 here.

00:30:20.780 This would be

00:30:21.300 like a doctor

00:30:22.320 coming into the room

00:30:23.220 when your child

00:30:23.740 is born and saying,

00:30:24.400 do you want to know

00:30:24.740 if it's a boy or a girl?

00:30:25.720 Boom,

00:30:25.960 $100,000 fine.

00:30:26.560 Two genders, 0.98

00:30:27.040 that's it.

00:30:27.420 That's all you can have.

00:30:28.240 I mean,

00:30:28.460 it's ridiculous.

00:30:30.640 And,

00:30:31.080 of course,

00:30:31.600 Amy Hamm

00:30:31.980 previously said,

00:30:32.800 or she sided

00:30:33.500 with J.K. Rowling,

00:30:34.860 God forbid,

00:30:35.640 J.K. Rowling,

00:30:36.500 who has the best-selling

00:30:37.560 book of all time

00:30:38.420 behind the Bible,

00:30:39.620 the Harry Potter series,

00:30:40.400 the best-selling book

00:30:41.040 of all time.

00:30:41.820 I mean,

00:30:42.200 this is insane.

00:30:43.060 And something this

00:30:43.760 reminded me of,

00:30:44.300 actually,

00:30:44.600 was,

00:30:45.220 I think this was

00:30:45.820 just leading up

00:30:46.360 to the election.

00:30:47.020 Pierre Paliyev

00:30:47.620 had the gusto

00:30:48.660 to say that

00:30:50.420 there were two genders. 0.96

00:30:51.400 You'll recall

00:30:51.780 he was in an interview

00:30:52.960 and he was asked

00:30:54.660 about this

00:30:55.120 and he said,

00:30:55.980 oh,

00:30:57.240 I only think

00:30:57.820 there's two genders 1.00

00:30:58.400 or I only know of two

00:30:59.240 or whatever

00:30:59.640 the exact wording was.

00:31:01.020 And I think,

00:31:01.540 Alex,

00:31:01.780 it was you

00:31:02.100 maybe asked Carney

00:31:03.460 a similar question

00:31:04.220 which he sidestepped.

00:31:05.940 But one thing

00:31:06.560 I wanted to mention

00:31:07.180 quick, 0.77

00:31:07.540 William,

00:31:07.840 was just last year,

00:31:10.020 I think,

00:31:10.440 at the end of last year,

00:31:11.740 Alberta,

00:31:12.120 in Alberta,

00:31:13.100 we passed a law

00:31:13.800 that essentially

00:31:15.220 regulatory agencies,

00:31:17.560 so I think that would apply

00:31:18.460 to the nurses' associations

00:31:19.500 here,

00:31:20.060 cannot do this,

00:31:21.660 cannot find people

00:31:23.160 for politics,

00:31:25.220 for anything like this.

00:31:26.440 So I think,

00:31:27.760 I don't know the exact details

00:31:29.100 because it was a while ago

00:31:30.620 that I wrote this story,

00:31:31.380 but I don't think

00:31:32.460 the Amy Ham fine

00:31:33.720 would have occurred

00:31:34.560 if she lived in Alberta

00:31:35.840 because of those laws,

00:31:37.140 assuming they're passed

00:31:39.080 and stuff.

00:31:39.780 But yeah,

00:31:40.240 do you know

00:31:41.300 about that,

00:31:42.260 William?

00:31:42.520 Would that have been,

00:31:43.400 is that true?

00:31:45.380 You know,

00:31:46.120 Alberta is moving forward

00:31:47.660 with a whole suite

00:31:49.600 of legislative changes

00:31:51.960 to protect,

00:31:53.780 you know,

00:31:54.260 not just

00:31:55.220 government-funded professionals

00:31:57.540 like nurses and teachers, 0.95

00:31:58.680 but basically,

00:31:59.440 to an effect,

00:32:00.020 say,

00:32:00.420 this cannot be labeled

00:32:01.480 hate speech.

00:32:02.520 You cannot,

00:32:03.240 you cannot take someone

00:32:04.620 to a human rights tribunal

00:32:06.160 and file a grievance

00:32:07.360 based on the statement of fact.

00:32:09.600 And Alex,

00:32:10.300 I was going to say,

00:32:10.940 you did famously,

00:32:11.800 of course,

00:32:12.480 ask the prime minister

00:32:13.660 this very question

00:32:15.380 at the one leaders debate

00:32:18.360 we were allowed to attend

00:32:19.800 until the legacy media

00:32:20.940 had a meltdown

00:32:21.800 that there were

00:32:23.080 non-legacy media

00:32:24.180 allowed to talk

00:32:24.860 to the prime minister.

00:32:27.000 When will he be paying

00:32:28.660 his $100,000 fine?

00:32:30.440 Have you heard

00:32:31.140 from Prime Minister Carney

00:32:32.400 on that?

00:32:32.800 Well,

00:32:35.000 so,

00:32:36.260 it's a great question.

00:32:39.060 Okay,

00:32:39.560 so first of all,

00:32:40.120 we have to make

00:32:41.080 a little bit

00:32:41.600 of a correction here.

00:32:43.560 So,

00:32:44.440 we're doing a bit

00:32:45.140 of an apples and oranges

00:32:46.000 thing here

00:32:46.540 because a surety

00:32:47.940 that you pay in court

00:32:48.840 is obviously different

00:32:49.940 than a fine.

00:32:51.540 And in this case,

00:32:52.000 it's not really fine.

00:32:52.720 It's a bit of a misnomer,

00:32:54.340 a legal penalty

00:32:55.580 being applied

00:32:58.680 by a self-regulatory body.

00:33:01.560 So,

00:33:01.740 in that legal penalty,

00:33:02.500 I believe they're trying

00:33:03.260 to get back

00:33:03.700 the legal fees

00:33:04.500 that they accrued

00:33:05.980 putting this nurse 1.00

00:33:08.200 through this terrible

00:33:09.040 case of lawfare.

00:33:10.700 So,

00:33:11.680 a bit of an apples

00:33:13.180 and oranges comparison there

00:33:14.380 I think that we should address.

00:33:16.160 I find it really,

00:33:17.280 really crazy

00:33:18.000 that they bothered

00:33:19.540 spending $100,000

00:33:20.720 taking this person

00:33:22.360 to court.

00:33:23.060 She has no cases

00:33:24.560 of professional misconduct.

00:33:26.860 I think that the scope

00:33:27.960 of the self-regulatory

00:33:29.080 organization

00:33:29.680 should be very limited.

00:33:31.100 It should be for the purpose

00:33:33.060 of if a nurse abuses 0.85

00:33:34.480 a patient,

00:33:35.860 right?

00:33:36.040 Then in that case,

00:33:36.820 we revoke your license.

00:33:38.020 That's what the purpose

00:33:38.920 of these self-regulatory

00:33:40.040 bodies are.

00:33:40.880 It's not to regulate

00:33:41.800 people's speech

00:33:42.680 or their ideas

00:33:43.680 or their politics.

00:33:45.080 It's really that simple.

00:33:46.600 And there's a case,

00:33:47.420 actually,

00:33:47.880 going through

00:33:48.420 New Westminster Supreme Court

00:33:49.540 right now

00:33:49.960 of a doctor

00:33:50.540 who has been accused

00:33:52.660 four times

00:33:53.600 of sexually assaulting

00:33:54.600 his patients.

00:33:55.720 He has been through

00:33:56.400 two criminal trials.

00:33:57.420 One is currently

00:33:57.900 under way.

00:33:58.440 He was actually

00:33:58.800 acquitted in the last one.

00:34:00.120 So his new allegations

00:34:01.620 have not been tested

00:34:02.480 in his court

00:34:03.020 and he was deemed

00:34:03.720 not guilty

00:34:04.160 on the last one.

00:34:04.800 But nonetheless,

00:34:05.620 the College of Physicians

00:34:06.920 has allowed him

00:34:07.540 to continue running

00:34:08.320 his pain clinic,

00:34:09.900 even though he's

00:34:10.540 almost run up

00:34:11.260 half a dozen

00:34:12.340 sexual assault allegations.

00:34:14.780 So that just shows,

00:34:16.260 I think,

00:34:16.900 that the self-regulatory

00:34:18.480 bodies maybe have

00:34:19.300 lost sight of what

00:34:20.140 their purpose

00:34:20.800 ought to be.

00:34:22.540 Yeah, I think

00:34:23.440 you're absolutely right.

00:34:24.100 And in the case

00:34:25.440 of some organizations,

00:34:28.160 the one I'm

00:34:28.880 most familiar with

00:34:29.620 would be, say,

00:34:30.160 the Alberta Teachers

00:34:31.040 Association.

00:34:31.780 And I suspect

00:34:32.460 it's the same

00:34:33.220 for a lot of others

00:34:35.360 where their

00:34:37.360 professional association

00:34:38.500 is also their union.

00:34:40.260 And therefore,

00:34:42.100 it becomes really hard

00:34:44.300 to distinguish

00:34:45.140 what is something

00:34:47.100 a union would do,

00:34:48.200 which might be

00:34:49.060 to, you know,

00:34:51.540 pontificate endlessly

00:34:52.880 on what people

00:34:54.620 should think

00:34:55.280 or should feel.

00:34:56.080 I mean,

00:34:56.680 CUPE appears to,

00:34:57.940 when it's not standing up

00:34:59.240 for Air Canada's

00:34:59.940 flag attendants,

00:35:00.740 it does send

00:35:01.300 an awful lot

00:35:01.820 of its time

00:35:02.440 weighing in

00:35:03.440 on the Israel-Palestine

00:35:04.800 conflict, for example.

00:35:06.360 But in the case of,

00:35:07.840 you know,

00:35:08.420 I think if you're

00:35:09.160 out there

00:35:10.120 playing politics

00:35:11.680 on what people

00:35:12.560 should think

00:35:13.100 on these sorts

00:35:15.000 of issues,

00:35:15.420 it really undermines

00:35:16.320 the professional association

00:35:17.640 role, right?

00:35:19.000 Because now suddenly

00:35:20.000 you think,

00:35:21.140 well,

00:35:21.920 but they're going

00:35:23.000 after Amy Hamm

00:35:24.300 and she believes

00:35:25.400 what I believe.

00:35:26.660 And so does that mean

00:35:27.740 that I'm going to get

00:35:28.700 a nurse who, 0.70

00:35:29.300 if they discover

00:35:29.980 that I don't subscribe

00:35:32.520 to this gender orthodoxy 0.55

00:35:35.260 of there being

00:35:36.300 many, many, many genders

00:35:37.780 and it being

00:35:38.680 an entirely social construct,

00:35:40.580 am I going to have

00:35:41.240 my care compromised

00:35:42.160 because that nurse 1.00

00:35:43.320 will vehemently disagree

00:35:45.200 with where I stand?

00:35:45.980 So I do think

00:35:46.760 there are legitimate

00:35:47.340 concerns about

00:35:48.260 the role

00:35:49.280 of professional associations,

00:35:50.960 the limits

00:35:51.560 on their power

00:35:52.860 or lack thereof

00:35:54.380 and what that actually

00:35:56.260 means for the people

00:35:57.380 who are supposed

00:35:58.400 to be protected.

00:35:59.840 I mean,

00:36:00.080 that's the role, right,

00:36:01.000 of a professional association.

00:36:02.200 It's supposed to safeguard

00:36:03.340 the public interest

00:36:04.580 to ensure that people

00:36:05.560 performing that profession

00:36:06.900 are doing so

00:36:08.140 in a qualified,

00:36:09.460 competent,

00:36:10.660 and careful manner.

00:36:12.200 So,

00:36:12.880 you know,

00:36:14.480 either one of you,

00:36:15.300 please weigh in

00:36:15.960 and let me know

00:36:16.540 what you think.

00:36:17.440 Well,

00:36:17.740 I actually listened in

00:36:18.660 on some of the hearings

00:36:19.600 with Amy Han.

00:36:20.820 This was about a year ago

00:36:21.820 between her 0.65

00:36:22.860 and the College

00:36:23.740 of Nurses and Midwives

00:36:24.900 and all self-regulatory

00:36:26.960 organizations

00:36:27.540 or most of them anyway

00:36:28.540 tend to have

00:36:29.060 this philosophy

00:36:29.680 of you can't do anything

00:36:30.740 that brings

00:36:31.200 disrepute

00:36:32.460 to the organization.

00:36:33.340 So we had this

00:36:34.200 in finance,

00:36:34.760 for instance.

00:36:35.280 So they want you

00:36:36.140 to avoid engaging

00:36:38.180 in political activism

00:36:39.400 of any kind,

00:36:40.900 really.

00:36:41.660 So you can kind of

00:36:43.220 understand why

00:36:43.780 that would be the case

00:36:44.600 to some extent.

00:36:46.140 But with Amy Ham's case,

00:36:48.360 like she did,

00:36:49.080 this all started

00:36:49.720 because she put up

00:36:50.260 a billboard that says

00:36:51.080 I love J.K. Rowling.

00:36:52.840 But she didn't say

00:36:53.500 my name is Amy Ham,

00:36:54.800 I am a nurse

00:36:55.500 and I love J.K. Rowling.

00:36:57.020 I don't think anybody

00:36:57.780 would know

00:36:58.360 who put up that billboard

00:36:59.820 if the College

00:37:00.740 of Nurses and Midwives

00:37:01.840 hadn't engaged

00:37:02.600 in this giant witch hunt.

00:37:03.980 So they're the ones

00:37:04.960 bringing disrepute

00:37:05.780 to the organization,

00:37:06.880 not Amy Ham. 0.53

00:37:08.120 I mean,

00:37:08.420 she was essentially

00:37:09.440 an anon.

00:37:10.600 She was an anonymous person

00:37:12.020 voicing these opinions

00:37:13.240 until they decided

00:37:14.480 to engage

00:37:15.480 in this really weird

00:37:16.820 witch hunt.

00:37:19.920 Like I said, Alex,

00:37:20.920 J.K. Rowling has,

00:37:21.900 again,

00:37:22.080 the best-selling book

00:37:22.960 of all time

00:37:23.500 next to the Bible.

00:37:24.380 I mean,

00:37:24.600 it's not some ludicrous

00:37:25.720 statement to say

00:37:26.340 I love J.K. Rowling.

00:37:27.500 I'd say most people do

00:37:28.720 based on those numbers there.

00:37:29.920 And I would certainly

00:37:31.900 suggest that

00:37:32.820 professional associations,

00:37:34.600 regardless of their intent,

00:37:37.240 have to also understand

00:37:38.340 the fundamental freedoms

00:37:39.400 every Canadian enjoys

00:37:40.760 protected by our Constitution

00:37:42.460 and the Charter,

00:37:43.240 including the right

00:37:44.380 to free speech,

00:37:45.160 even speech

00:37:45.960 that you might not

00:37:46.880 occasionally agree with

00:37:48.960 or fully support,

00:37:50.260 which for those on the left,

00:37:52.100 I know that part

00:37:53.880 really rankles them.

00:37:55.280 Well, of course,

00:37:55.780 free speech rights

00:37:56.400 only exist to protect

00:37:57.440 the speech you don't like.

00:37:58.400 Yes.

00:38:00.180 Yeah, that was well said,

00:38:01.140 William.

00:38:01.460 You know,

00:38:01.660 everyone wants to say

00:38:02.440 how much they support

00:38:05.120 free speech

00:38:05.600 and then you ask them,

00:38:06.580 well, what about this?

00:38:07.240 What if someone said this?

00:38:08.080 Oh, now I don't support

00:38:09.240 free speech.

00:38:09.720 Well, you can't have it

00:38:10.320 both ways.

00:38:11.060 Either you support it fully

00:38:12.320 or you don't at all.

00:38:14.160 So we have freedom of speech,

00:38:15.680 which I think most of us

00:38:17.600 on the right cherish

00:38:18.840 as an important protection.

00:38:21.700 What about freedom to drive

00:38:23.580 and freedom from

00:38:25.620 oppressive bike lane

00:38:27.980 maniacs who systematically

00:38:30.220 ruin cities

00:38:32.040 with their bike-obsessed

00:38:33.680 agendas?

00:38:34.360 Now, Isaac,

00:38:34.940 you've done some work

00:38:36.140 on this this week.

00:38:37.140 What is happening

00:38:37.980 in Edmonton?

00:38:38.920 Yeah.

00:38:39.740 Where do I start, William?

00:38:41.060 Obviously,

00:38:41.640 I published two articles

00:38:43.040 over two days there

00:38:44.440 about what's going on

00:38:45.380 in Edmonton

00:38:45.880 and they're really,

00:38:46.820 in my opinion,

00:38:47.400 trying to push this forward

00:38:48.720 just before the

00:38:50.320 municipal election

00:38:51.060 or just around there

00:38:51.940 because, well,

00:38:53.160 of course,

00:38:53.460 I'm a member

00:38:53.900 of this Delta neighborhood

00:38:55.080 which got slapped

00:38:56.000 with these pamphlets

00:38:57.120 yesterday that said

00:38:58.020 essentially we're pushing forward.

00:38:59.880 We're trying to complete

00:39:00.480 this project by the end

00:39:01.640 of the year,

00:39:02.200 which I felt was fast-tracked

00:39:03.640 perhaps in light

00:39:05.800 of the municipal election,

00:39:07.200 which is, of course,

00:39:07.780 in October of this year.

00:39:09.580 They were going to finish

00:39:10.460 right around then.

00:39:11.640 And that's despite,

00:39:12.940 William,

00:39:13.480 despite the members

00:39:15.060 of Delta and of our community

00:39:16.140 sending the city

00:39:17.280 a petition with a clear

00:39:18.420 majority of residents

00:39:19.360 signing it saying

00:39:20.460 we do not want

00:39:21.300 these bike lanes.

00:39:23.140 Now the city's saying

00:39:24.240 actually you do.

00:39:25.400 You don't know

00:39:26.080 what you want.

00:39:26.940 We pulled you guys

00:39:28.460 and trust me,

00:39:29.220 this is what you want.

00:39:30.980 So one of the community members,

00:39:32.660 Margarita Gosselin,

00:39:33.500 sent them a letter

00:39:34.500 to that effect

00:39:35.160 basically saying

00:39:35.900 you're lying.

00:39:37.260 Here's a quote from her.

00:39:38.600 What is especially troubling

00:39:39.540 is the city's

00:39:40.200 repeated misrepresentation

00:39:41.920 both in correspondence

00:39:43.080 and through media statements

00:39:44.260 claiming that all residents

00:39:45.900 of the neighborhood

00:39:46.380 were consulted,

00:39:47.240 which of course

00:39:47.660 is not true.

00:39:48.240 But yeah,

00:39:50.200 no,

00:39:50.400 then the city

00:39:50.880 citing their research,

00:39:52.080 which I found

00:39:53.380 their numbers interesting

00:39:54.160 because apparently

00:39:54.860 they had an online survey

00:39:56.420 that was completed

00:39:56.980 by 50 people,

00:39:58.060 50 people.

00:39:59.080 But conversely,

00:40:00.200 the neighborhood here

00:40:01.300 had a community hall

00:40:02.360 with like four times

00:40:03.460 more people than that

00:40:04.420 opposed to the bike lanes

00:40:05.540 again.

00:40:06.520 And then they said

00:40:07.940 they had an,

00:40:08.780 the city had an

00:40:09.520 in-person event

00:40:10.900 where 11 participants

00:40:12.340 gave feedback.

00:40:13.180 Again,

00:40:13.320 11 participants

00:40:14.100 versus the town hall

00:40:14.920 we had that had

00:40:15.500 like two,

00:40:15.900 300 people.

00:40:16.600 And again,

00:40:17.560 the petition that

00:40:18.460 Delton submitted

00:40:19.460 to the city clerk

00:40:20.160 had 292 signatures.

00:40:22.040 So really showing

00:40:23.180 a discrepancy

00:40:24.380 in numbers there.

00:40:25.580 And I don't know,

00:40:26.440 the city's basically

00:40:27.120 saying it doesn't.

00:40:29.120 Oh,

00:40:29.300 another thing.

00:40:31.080 Gosselin,

00:40:31.880 the lady who sent 0.94

00:40:32.760 the letter there,

00:40:33.260 she went into

00:40:33.800 the city's feedback

00:40:37.180 that they did online,

00:40:38.200 their survey there,

00:40:39.600 and it had nothing

00:40:40.340 about bike lanes,

00:40:41.220 nothing about bike lanes.

00:40:42.140 Can you believe that?

00:40:43.040 It was talking about

00:40:43.900 speeding,

00:40:44.640 shortcutting,

00:40:45.480 illegal U-turns,

00:40:46.400 vehicles not coming

00:40:47.400 to complete stops,

00:40:48.100 things like that.

00:40:48.660 But there was actually

00:40:49.220 nothing about bike lanes.

00:40:50.280 So even the research

00:40:51.120 they're citing

00:40:51.620 didn't actually discuss

00:40:53.040 bike lanes,

00:40:53.620 believe it or not.

00:40:54.740 And look,

00:40:55.520 this is a big problem

00:40:56.720 for the community.

00:40:57.400 I've talked with

00:40:57.960 the lead organizer

00:40:58.680 a few times,

00:40:59.860 Jeremiah Rawling,

00:41:00.560 and he basically said,

00:41:01.500 well,

00:41:02.580 the number one concern

00:41:03.680 is, of course,

00:41:04.660 there's a lot of

00:41:05.220 handicapped parking,

00:41:06.020 a lot of old people here.

00:41:06.840 They're going to lose

00:41:07.240 their parking.

00:41:08.500 I mean,

00:41:08.880 I've drive down my street,

00:41:09.800 there's handicapped parking

00:41:10.600 all over the place.

00:41:11.820 And also,

00:41:12.720 just emergency services.

00:41:14.060 Look,

00:41:14.880 they're taking

00:41:15.820 a lot of the,

00:41:17.580 like,

00:41:17.860 I have the map here,

00:41:18.620 actually.

00:41:19.740 Not that this will

00:41:20.620 tell you anything,

00:41:21.360 but essentially,

00:41:22.120 they're turning a lot

00:41:22.940 of the streets

00:41:23.380 into one-ways

00:41:24.000 or no traffic.

00:41:24.940 So there's nowhere

00:41:25.540 for the emergency

00:41:26.160 vehicles to go,

00:41:26.960 evidently.

00:41:27.440 He actually laid out

00:41:28.460 the way

00:41:29.880 the closest fire truck

00:41:31.620 would have to travel,

00:41:32.460 and it just completely

00:41:33.540 ruined now.

00:41:34.880 They wouldn't be able

00:41:35.380 to go that way.

00:41:36.100 So this is actually

00:41:37.220 impeding emergency

00:41:38.320 services verifiably.

00:41:40.340 So he said,

00:41:41.540 quote,

00:41:42.580 it actually has the

00:41:44.480 potential to put

00:41:45.160 lives at risk

00:41:45.880 due to delayed

00:41:46.760 response times

00:41:47.580 for emergency

00:41:48.140 services,

00:41:48.620 which is way worse

00:41:51.680 than losing parking.

00:41:52.660 So yeah,

00:41:52.960 this could actually

00:41:53.780 put lives at risk,

00:41:54.840 but also slow down

00:41:56.380 traffic,

00:41:56.800 which is terrible.

00:41:57.500 If anyone's driven

00:41:58.140 in Edmonton lately,

00:41:59.080 it's a nightmare.

00:42:00.220 I often have to drive

00:42:01.820 out to my mom's place

00:42:02.640 there on the weekends,

00:42:03.360 which is out of town,

00:42:04.100 and just driving

00:42:04.920 on Yellowhead West there.

00:42:07.080 I mean,

00:42:07.220 it's terrible.

00:42:07.780 The whole thing's

00:42:08.460 under construction.

00:42:09.280 The whole city's

00:42:10.100 under construction.

00:42:10.760 Wherever you drive,

00:42:11.400 it's terrible.

00:42:11.920 They're building bike lanes.

00:42:12.740 They're building LRTs.

00:42:13.680 They want to have

00:42:15.940 this fantasy world

00:42:17.140 where we're like

00:42:17.620 San Francisco,

00:42:18.420 as if there's not

00:42:19.700 snow on the ground

00:42:20.620 nine months of the year

00:42:21.640 in Edmonton.

00:42:22.220 It's minus 50 outside

00:42:23.460 in the winter.

00:42:24.180 Nobody's in the bike lanes.

00:42:25.840 This is,

00:42:26.200 I mean,

00:42:27.500 and then I'll just

00:42:28.240 touch on the economics.

00:42:29.060 I'm going to cut you 0.89

00:42:29.580 off from the ramp

00:42:30.260 because we're running out.

00:42:32.020 Now, Alex,

00:42:33.240 you're out in,

00:42:34.100 the West Coast,

00:42:35.200 also sometimes

00:42:36.080 called the left coast.

00:42:37.960 What is your view

00:42:39.640 of bicycle lanes?

00:42:40.820 Probably different

00:42:41.740 living in and around

00:42:42.760 Vancouver.

00:42:43.560 No, not different.

00:42:44.600 No, we hate them too.

00:42:45.980 So I used to live

00:42:46.940 in Penticton

00:42:47.760 and Penticton's

00:42:48.920 beautiful place.

00:42:49.900 If you ever go there,

00:42:50.880 it's like one of the only

00:42:51.620 cities sandwiched

00:42:52.320 between two legs.

00:42:53.140 Very picturesque.

00:42:54.560 We installed

00:42:55.360 these bike lanes

00:42:56.260 and it almost

00:42:57.560 destroyed the entire town.

00:42:59.200 They actually had

00:42:59.980 to pass a moratorium

00:43:01.820 on talking about

00:43:03.240 bike lanes.

00:43:04.540 We're not even allowed

00:43:05.320 to talk about them anymore

00:43:06.580 because people were

00:43:07.260 getting so upset.

00:43:08.240 City council said

00:43:08.960 no more talking

00:43:09.720 about the bike lanes

00:43:10.540 until I think

00:43:11.000 like 2027.

00:43:13.060 Speaking of,

00:43:13.760 you know,

00:43:13.940 limiting people's

00:43:14.620 free speech rights.

00:43:15.880 And then there's

00:43:16.240 this other issue

00:43:16.900 with bike lanes too

00:43:17.760 where there's this

00:43:18.400 always this philosophy

00:43:19.280 among city planners.

00:43:20.460 If you build it,

00:43:21.160 they will come.

00:43:22.560 Right?

00:43:22.720 That does not apply

00:43:24.000 in this particular instance.

00:43:26.340 So much like Edmonton,

00:43:27.760 it snows like eight months

00:43:28.880 to nine months

00:43:29.460 out of the year there.

00:43:30.180 So you can't really

00:43:31.120 use the bike lane.

00:43:32.200 So instead what we have

00:43:33.300 because Penticton,

00:43:34.220 much like the rest

00:43:34.880 of the province of BC

00:43:35.780 has a lot of homeless people

00:43:36.920 is the bike lanes

00:43:38.420 have become

00:43:39.060 these like dystopian pathways

00:43:41.180 for people pushing

00:43:42.240 their shopping carts

00:43:43.160 and their makeshift shelters.

00:43:44.820 So when you drive around

00:43:45.680 in the winter,

00:43:46.120 it's just like the most

00:43:47.180 horrendous thing to see.

00:43:50.060 Right?

00:43:50.340 You know,

00:43:50.560 because now it's,

00:43:52.220 yeah,

00:43:52.520 that's what they use it for.

00:43:54.180 And occasionally older folks

00:43:55.460 using it for their segue

00:43:57.560 or what do they call those

00:43:58.520 as a segue?

00:43:59.020 Is that it?

00:44:00.680 Scooters?

00:44:01.260 They're little ability scooters?

00:44:03.360 Yeah.

00:44:03.920 You do have to laugh

00:44:04.920 but city council bans

00:44:06.860 talk about,

00:44:08.160 you know,

00:44:08.400 in the list of contentious issues,

00:44:11.220 you know,

00:44:11.580 it wasn't gender slash trans rights.

00:44:15.120 It wasn't Israel slash Gaza.

00:44:18.020 It was bicycle lanes

00:44:19.880 that resulted in a suspension

00:44:21.880 of the constitutional right

00:44:24.240 to free speech.

00:44:25.800 And I do think bike lanes,

00:44:27.980 I mean,

00:44:28.480 I have to laugh a little bit

00:44:29.560 because I used to work

00:44:31.540 with a Calgary municipal

00:44:33.120 advocacy group.

00:44:34.440 It was called Safe Calgary.

00:44:36.200 And we,

00:44:37.140 when we really wanted

00:44:38.140 to get people all amped up,

00:44:40.360 we would put out a newsletter,

00:44:41.960 a weekly newsletter

00:44:42.660 and talk about bikes,

00:44:43.660 bicycle lanes

00:44:44.300 and all of the things

00:44:46.020 that bicycle lanes do.

00:44:47.080 I mean,

00:44:47.260 they eliminate street parking

00:44:48.460 because you're converting

00:44:50.100 the parking lane

00:44:51.000 usually into then a cycle track.

00:44:52.820 So for anybody

00:44:54.060 who's trying to park

00:44:55.040 around a small business,

00:44:56.240 coffee shop,

00:44:56.980 bakery,

00:44:57.900 what have you,

00:44:58.940 there's no longer any parking.

00:45:00.640 It means you can't turn

00:45:02.160 right on a red light anymore

00:45:04.000 because of course

00:45:04.680 that means crossing cycle tracks.

00:45:07.320 And so,

00:45:08.860 you know,

00:45:09.280 in the grand scheme of things,

00:45:11.040 maybe not,

00:45:11.620 but three or four

00:45:12.180 of those intersections

00:45:12.900 on your commute home

00:45:13.980 that you would normally

00:45:15.240 be able to do,

00:45:15.940 maybe your commute's

00:45:16.640 two or three minutes longer

00:45:17.600 than it used to be.

00:45:18.380 And we all know how much

00:45:19.280 people love hanging out

00:45:20.520 in traffic.

00:45:20.920 And there is more traffic now

00:45:23.380 because instead of having

00:45:24.340 two lanes each way

00:45:25.500 is one lane each way,

00:45:27.320 right?

00:45:27.520 The other one now occupied

00:45:28.760 by the cycle track.

00:45:30.880 And,

00:45:31.220 you know,

00:45:31.860 all of that being said,

00:45:33.900 if there were tens

00:45:35.520 of thousands of cyclists

00:45:37.300 cramming onto those cycle tracks,

00:45:39.960 I think most of us

00:45:41.560 would probably grumble

00:45:43.420 but say,

00:45:44.580 well,

00:45:45.840 look,

00:45:46.180 at least,

00:45:46.640 at least it's providing

00:45:47.920 a service to people.

00:45:49.060 But it's not.

00:45:49.940 I mean,

00:45:50.360 I live on a cycle track.

00:45:52.540 There is one outside

00:45:53.440 the front door

00:45:54.120 of my building

00:45:54.840 and no cyclists use it.

00:45:58.020 Why?

00:45:58.340 Because it doesn't happen

00:45:59.100 to be a very convenient way

00:46:00.400 to get from most parts

00:46:02.120 of downtown

00:46:02.620 where I live

00:46:03.200 to another part.

00:46:04.160 People,

00:46:04.480 the bicycles

00:46:05.160 drive on the road

00:46:06.320 where,

00:46:07.520 by the way,

00:46:07.920 they used to

00:46:08.400 for,

00:46:08.980 you know,

00:46:10.340 hundreds of years.

00:46:11.300 They used to just bike

00:46:12.220 on the road

00:46:12.660 and most of them

00:46:13.240 were perfectly fine.

00:46:14.340 The ill-behaved ones

00:46:15.220 occasionally got

00:46:15.880 run over by cars.

00:46:17.140 But by and large,

00:46:18.840 that was their fault

00:46:19.580 for not obeying traffic rules.

00:46:21.920 So because the cycle track

00:46:23.640 isn't going exactly

00:46:24.480 where they want,

00:46:25.080 nobody's using it.

00:46:25.820 And I think,

00:46:26.200 well,

00:46:26.280 great.

00:46:26.900 Calvary has spent,

00:46:27.660 like Edmonton,

00:46:28.340 and I'm sure every other

00:46:29.140 big municipality,

00:46:30.020 has spent hundreds

00:46:31.280 of millions of dollars

00:46:32.520 on cycle tracks.

00:46:33.840 And they're just sitting

00:46:35.680 empty

00:46:36.520 19 times out of 20.

00:46:38.400 So guys,

00:46:39.680 final words

00:46:40.400 on the cycle track thing.

00:46:42.540 Do you think

00:46:42.920 we're reaching

00:46:43.600 a tipping point?

00:46:44.680 Do you think

00:46:45.020 we're going to turn

00:46:45.760 the corner?

00:46:47.280 You know,

00:46:47.760 we can only hope.

00:46:48.760 Do you think

00:46:49.060 one day we'll even

00:46:49.720 see some of these

00:46:50.400 being uncycled tracked

00:46:52.520 back into actual roads?

00:46:55.260 Yeah,

00:46:55.500 well,

00:46:55.680 of course,

00:46:56.060 William recently,

00:46:57.120 probably about a month ago,

00:46:58.320 Gondek called them temporary,

00:46:59.940 which is ridiculous,

00:47:01.640 of course,

00:47:02.080 considering we spent

00:47:02.760 hundreds of millions

00:47:03.340 of dollars on them.

00:47:04.500 Edmonton's have

00:47:04.980 an $11 million

00:47:05.800 annual maintenance cost.

00:47:07.880 So to call them temporary,

00:47:09.340 like they're just some

00:47:10.160 pylon you can remove,

00:47:11.980 not dig up the whole ground

00:47:13.560 for years again

00:47:14.360 and get rid of them

00:47:15.500 and turn them back

00:47:16.040 into lanes.

00:47:16.660 I mean,

00:47:17.000 it is insane,

00:47:17.900 but I do feel

00:47:18.920 the tide is shifting

00:47:19.560 on that,

00:47:19.960 which is why

00:47:20.400 the Delton being

00:47:21.700 pushed forward

00:47:22.180 was so ridiculous to me,

00:47:23.380 especially with

00:47:23.820 the transportation minister

00:47:24.900 and all the mayors

00:47:25.760 now saying,

00:47:26.340 we don't want

00:47:27.000 these bike lanes,

00:47:27.780 but I mean,

00:47:28.400 here they are.

00:47:29.900 Alex,

00:47:30.380 final thoughts.

00:47:31.120 Are we returning

00:47:32.360 to sanity?

00:47:33.080 Are we doomed

00:47:34.000 to bike lane madness?

00:47:35.900 I think that

00:47:36.680 the pendulum swings

00:47:37.700 and so I hope

00:47:38.900 that it does

00:47:39.500 with regards

00:47:40.060 to bike lanes.

00:47:40.920 I think what pisses

00:47:41.820 people off so much

00:47:42.820 about the bike lanes

00:47:43.660 is kind of similar

00:47:44.380 to what pisses people

00:47:45.080 off about the trans 1.00

00:47:45.800 insanity,

00:47:46.840 right?

00:47:47.060 Is that it's a tyranny

00:47:48.300 of the micro minority.

00:47:50.640 This is less than 1%

00:47:51.920 of the population

00:47:52.720 want this

00:47:53.500 and yet we all

00:47:54.380 have to dole

00:47:55.400 at a significant

00:47:55.980 amount of money

00:47:56.720 to assuage

00:47:57.680 this tiny group

00:47:58.940 of people.

00:47:59.580 Why do they

00:48:00.060 have so much power?

00:48:01.080 It's a great question

00:48:04.100 and one,

00:48:05.480 I think taxpayers

00:48:06.300 in cities

00:48:07.000 will continue

00:48:07.900 to ponder

00:48:08.340 as they see

00:48:08.860 their property tax

00:48:09.660 bills go up

00:48:10.300 every year

00:48:10.820 and the only thing

00:48:11.760 we seem to get

00:48:12.460 in return

00:48:13.060 is cycle tracks.

00:48:14.820 So I want to say

00:48:16.000 thank you very much

00:48:17.060 to Isaac and Alex.

00:48:19.100 We've had a lot

00:48:19.680 of fun today.

00:48:20.820 You can always

00:48:21.720 check out our work.

00:48:23.040 It gets published

00:48:23.740 on junonews.com

00:48:25.620 and we will see

00:48:27.300 you again

00:48:27.800 next week

00:48:28.620 and just a reminder

00:48:29.440 that everything

00:48:30.480 we've said

00:48:31.220 has been off

00:48:32.160 the record.

00:48:37.280 There is a

00:48:38.280 small group

00:48:39.140 of people

00:48:39.820 who watch

00:48:40.840 and read

00:48:41.280 True North products

00:48:42.300 who are deeply

00:48:43.520 pro bicycles

00:48:44.960 and

00:48:45.840 Really?

00:48:46.820 Yeah,

00:48:47.200 I mean,

00:48:47.620 I say a small minority.

00:48:49.080 It might be

00:48:49.780 two or three people

00:48:50.640 but

00:48:51.300 they

00:48:52.160 have

00:48:54.100 fearsome ability

00:48:55.220 to comment

00:48:55.800 and send

00:48:56.900 correspondence

00:48:57.560 on it

00:48:58.120 because

00:48:58.560 I guarantee

00:48:59.740 you

00:49:00.060 when this

00:49:00.480 gets published

00:49:01.140 there will be

00:49:01.900 a tiny

00:49:03.500 but vocal

00:49:04.400 group of people

00:49:05.260 who love

00:49:06.340 everything else

00:49:06.980 we do

00:49:07.360 but hate us

00:49:07.940 over cycle tracks.

00:49:09.020 You know what?

00:49:10.280 Go ahead, Isaac.

00:49:11.480 Alex, yeah,

00:49:12.080 you said it was

00:49:12.580 a micro minority

00:49:13.320 that being less

00:49:14.040 than 1%

00:49:14.520 that support it.

00:49:15.440 Interestingly,

00:49:16.060 the Alberta

00:49:16.420 Director of the

00:49:17.000 Canadian Taxpayers

00:49:17.600 Federation,

00:49:18.040 Chris Sims,

00:49:18.560 told me if there

00:49:19.120 was a referendum

00:49:19.800 on it province-wide

00:49:20.840 she thinks it'd be

00:49:21.520 an 80-20 vote

00:49:22.900 in opposition

00:49:23.540 so that would

00:49:24.460 indicate 20%

00:49:25.460 support

00:49:25.860 but then

00:49:26.580 Dreeshan

00:49:27.000 in the same

00:49:27.660 line

00:49:27.940 has cited

00:49:28.900 the number

00:49:29.360 of people

00:49:29.700 that use this.

00:49:30.380 It is less

00:49:30.880 than 1%

00:49:31.700 of traffic

00:49:33.140 or whatever

00:49:33.560 so really

00:49:34.680 I mean

00:49:35.080 catering

00:49:36.040 to the minority

00:49:37.060 is beyond

00:49:37.640 an understatement.

00:49:39.080 Yeah, I mean

00:49:39.440 it depends

00:49:39.780 where you go

00:49:40.220 too.

00:49:40.580 In Montreal

00:49:41.040 there's bike lanes

00:49:42.560 everywhere

00:49:42.920 and tons

00:49:43.680 of bicyclists

00:49:44.500 and it actually

00:49:45.340 operates pretty well

00:49:46.860 just because

00:49:47.760 it's been

00:49:48.160 a long

00:49:48.840 cultural element

00:49:50.800 of the city,

00:49:51.440 right?

00:49:51.620 Like they've

00:49:51.960 been bicycling

00:49:52.780 forever.

00:49:53.240 So maybe

00:49:54.920 I mean

00:49:55.540 maybe we'll

00:49:58.360 all just get

00:49:58.840 used to it

00:49:59.320 and we'll all

00:49:59.720 start basically

00:50:00.520 eventually.

00:50:02.280 Who knows?

00:50:02.720 Having parts

00:50:03.640 of it of course

00:50:04.140 that are also

00:50:04.820 hundreds and

00:50:05.680 hundreds of

00:50:06.240 years old.

00:50:07.520 Yeah.

00:50:07.920 We have time

00:50:08.680 to build up

00:50:09.220 an urban core

00:50:10.080 that supports

00:50:11.900 some of this

00:50:12.720 cycle infrastructure

00:50:13.540 as opposed to

00:50:14.460 cities like say

00:50:15.640 Edmonton and

00:50:16.140 Calgary who

00:50:16.800 you know

00:50:17.380 300 years ago

00:50:18.340 all you would

00:50:19.320 see here is

00:50:20.140 grass.

00:50:20.540 So that's

00:50:21.820 that might

00:50:22.480 be a difference.

00:50:23.640 Well Vancouver

00:50:24.140 they're quite

00:50:24.600 tolerant of it

00:50:25.260 too but

00:50:25.640 Vancouver I

00:50:26.140 just learned

00:50:26.480 this recently

00:50:26.980 is one of

00:50:27.380 the only

00:50:27.840 major cities

00:50:28.640 in North

00:50:28.980 America that

00:50:29.520 doesn't have

00:50:29.940 a highway

00:50:30.300 running straight

00:50:30.900 through its

00:50:31.260 downtown.

00:50:32.140 So it's

00:50:32.680 always been

00:50:33.180 a nightmare

00:50:33.600 to drive

00:50:34.360 downtown

00:50:34.780 Vancouver

00:50:35.220 almost nobody

00:50:35.940 does it.

00:50:37.020 Right?

00:50:37.180 Like you're

00:50:37.600 better off

00:50:38.080 just parking

00:50:38.600 outside of

00:50:39.240 downtown and

00:50:39.920 then taking

00:50:40.280 the Sky

00:50:40.640 train or the

00:50:41.140 bus in or

00:50:41.680 whatever.

00:50:42.020 Well I'm

00:50:45.560 sure there'll

00:50:45.880 be more to

00:50:46.280 say about

00:50:46.620 CycleTracks in

00:50:47.280 the future.

00:50:48.940 As much as

00:50:50.120 we would want

00:50:50.660 they aren't

00:50:51.220 going anywhere.

00:50:52.760 No, no.

00:50:53.740 I'm curious

00:50:54.360 when they

00:50:55.520 finally lift

00:50:56.280 that speaking

00:50:57.020 ban.

00:51:01.760 Oh yeah Alex

00:51:02.620 I was waiting

00:51:03.320 for the cops

00:51:03.900 to show up

00:51:04.260 at your door

00:51:04.560 we hear you

00:51:04.980 talking about

00:51:05.320 bike lanes.

00:51:07.360 No that's

00:51:08.040 real though.

00:51:08.740 That's totally

00:51:09.240 a real thing.

00:51:09.920 I couldn't

00:51:10.280 believe it.

00:51:10.700 I think they

00:51:10.980 banned it for

00:51:11.340 like five

00:51:11.720 years.

Juno News - August 23, 2025

Poilievre back in parliament after byelection win

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