Juno News - The Zero-Sense, One-Dose Summer

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:06.700 This is The Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.940 Coming up, Justin Trudeau throws some crumbs to the peasants with his offer of a one-dose summer,

00:00:17.780 a caucus mutiny in Alberta's UCP government,

00:00:20.620 and calling out dishonest reporting about Israel from the mainstream media.

00:00:26.280 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:30.000 Hello, welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:35.980 This is The Andrew Lawton Show on True North, May 13th, 2021.

00:00:40.900 Just coming up in a few weeks' time is our one-dose summer.

00:00:45.880 I know, I'm so excited. I've been looking forward my whole life to having a one-dose summer.

00:00:50.080 Sounds like a weird band from the 90s, or alternatively some weird summer chick flick teenage rom-com type film

00:00:59.380 where you get to have your one-dose summer.

00:01:01.640 You've been cooped up. You finally get to come out and have a little bit of fun with your friends,

00:01:05.440 but not too much because it's only a one-dose summer.

00:01:09.180 Yeah, this was something that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threw to us as being in some way a good thing.

00:01:15.980 Why don't you take a look?

00:01:16.940 We all want to have a summer where we can see our loved ones and invite friends over for barbecues.

00:01:22.820 We can have that summer. We can have a one-dose summer.

00:01:28.820 But for that, two things need to happen.

00:01:32.500 First, restrictions need to remain in place until cases go way down with more screening, testing, and contact tracing.

00:01:41.000 We need to successfully limit community transmission.

00:01:45.800 Second, as Dr. Tam said, at least 75% of Canadians need to have received their first shots.

00:01:54.260 And we need to keep ramping up those second doses.

00:01:57.820 If we can do this, then we can have a more normal, better summer.

00:02:02.760 So Trudeau's saying this is all part of the big master plan.

00:02:05.620 A one-dose summer sets us up for a two-dose fall.

00:02:08.140 And then, I'm not sure if you heard it, but the wording is very important here.

00:02:12.180 And in the fall, we'll be able to talk about going back to school, back to work, and back to more normality.

00:02:20.740 So not that in the fall we'll be able to go back to a normal life,

00:02:24.940 but in the fall we'll be able to talk about maybe at some point, somehow,

00:02:29.900 at some point in the next 72 years, having a back-to-normal plan,

00:02:34.440 which is pretty much the only crumbs we're being thrown from our leaders and overlords right now.

00:02:40.320 And I'm not exactly convinced.

00:02:42.340 After all, remember when he said this?

00:02:44.260 It's all too likely we won't be gathering for Thanksgiving,

00:02:48.000 but we still have a shot at Christmas.

00:02:51.600 Together, we have the power to get this second wave under control.

00:02:55.540 Yes, that was in the lead-up to Thanksgiving of 2020,

00:02:58.400 when Justin Trudeau said, well, we still have a shot at Christmas.

00:03:02.260 Alas, there was no shot to be found.

00:03:04.500 If you're a Hamilton fan, we all threw away our collective shot,

00:03:07.760 as we're doing now with our one-dose summer.

00:03:11.420 Now, I know not everyone watching this wants to get their COVID-19 shot.

00:03:15.840 Not everyone wants to be vaccinated.

00:03:17.540 I am a complete believer in your right as an individual to make that determination for yourself.

00:03:22.280 But we cannot ignore the fact that there are countless people in Canada

00:03:26.480 that desperately want to be vaccinated, but cannot be.

00:03:30.340 They want to get their shots, but are unable to,

00:03:32.660 because Justin Trudeau's government has completely mishandled this.

00:03:36.660 Well, Britain is having large, huge raves in Liverpool,

00:03:40.480 and the United States is reopening, stripping away mask mandates,

00:03:44.160 stripping away gathering restrictions,

00:03:45.800 while the cruise industry is firing up.

00:03:47.920 What we see in Canada is that people are going to be limited

00:03:51.400 to just a few nice little outdoor masked activities in the summer months,

00:03:55.180 and only potentially maybe just sort of talking

00:03:57.960 about getting back to a normal restriction-free life in the fall.

00:04:02.080 And if this government's record is any indication,

00:04:04.500 I am not convinced that is going to happen.

00:04:06.780 And if you need proof they don't know what they're doing,

00:04:08.720 just look at what Canada's chief medical officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said,

00:04:12.900 that by the summer, we could as a country be mixing and matching vaccines.

00:04:16.460 If you got one dose of this, they might give you a second dose of something else.

00:04:20.340 AstraZeneca for dose one, Pfizer for dose two. 0.99

00:04:23.040 This is not what you do when you have your crap together. 0.85

00:04:26.680 This is what you do when you're floundering, 0.98

00:04:28.500 when you have no guaranteed trajectory for your vaccine supply,

00:04:32.200 and when you are actually just making things up on the fly

00:04:34.880 because you didn't have any long-term planning.

00:04:37.720 The thing about the way that the vaccines were supposed to be taken,

00:04:41.260 the two-dose regimen, three or four weeks apart,

00:04:43.700 is that it's a lot easier to control

00:04:45.780 because you're only looking three weeks down the line, basically.

00:04:49.580 When you're starting to plan four months down the line,

00:04:52.260 you cannot, certainly not in Canada right now,

00:04:55.080 guarantee that if someone has a dose of something in May,

00:04:58.320 that they will have a dose ready for them four months from that point.

00:05:02.780 And that's the problem Canada has now,

00:05:04.980 which is why we're stuck with a one-dose summer,

00:05:07.140 because no one thought that,

00:05:08.280 hey, maybe we should get things moving earlier on

00:05:10.920 to have the two-doses available for when the people

00:05:13.960 who want to get vaccinated are ready to get vaccinated.

00:05:17.380 And then you have health minister Patty Hajdu saying that,

00:05:20.500 well, you know what, people should probably check with their doctor

00:05:22.740 if they've had AstraZeneca, 0.96

00:05:24.700 and politicians that are making really dumb calls on one hand,

00:05:28.680 but not even wanting to own them. 0.96

00:05:30.780 Michelle Rempel-Garner, the conservative health critic,

00:05:33.480 had put to Justin Trudeau a very realistic question,

00:05:36.720 a very valid question,

00:05:37.720 which is that given the mismatch we've seen in health guidance

00:05:41.200 about what AstraZeneca is supposed to be used for,

00:05:44.580 who should use it,

00:05:45.720 should people who got an AstraZeneca shot be talking to their doctor?

00:05:49.540 Here's the exchange from question period,

00:05:52.260 and instead of owning that the Liberal government has messed this up,

00:05:56.100 Trudeau just goes to his default,

00:05:58.040 which is name-calling and insulting Conservatives.

00:06:00.960 The Prime Minister received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

00:06:04.680 Will he be getting a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine,

00:06:08.560 two doses of Pfizer or Moderna,

00:06:10.820 or one dose of Pfizer or Moderna in the future?

00:06:14.300 Which one will it be?

00:06:15.880 Right, Honourable Prime Minister.

00:06:17.720 Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honourable Member for Nosehill

00:06:20.560 for her questions about my well-being.

00:06:22.780 Let me assure her that I talked to my doctor just last week.

00:06:26.460 He recommended that I indeed get a second dose of AstraZeneca

00:06:29.980 in the coming weeks or months when it becomes available,

00:06:34.480 when my turn comes up in the province of Ontario.

00:06:39.400 That is what I am focused on doing.

00:06:41.720 I know there are questions being asked around the world

00:06:43.960 about the data that involves mixing and matching doses.

00:06:47.580 There are no recommendations around that yet,

00:06:49.660 but I know scientists are leaning in carefully

00:06:51.380 to see if it may be the right option for many people.

00:06:54.980 Honourable Member for Calgary, Nosehill.

00:06:57.300 Is the Prime Minister and the government recommending

00:06:59.980 that people who receive the first dose of AstraZeneca

00:07:02.580 get a second dose of AstraZeneca with that comment he just made,

00:07:06.440 or is he advising them to contact their doctor?

00:07:09.460 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.

00:07:11.900 The Prime Minister and the government

00:07:13.380 don't make health recommendations.

00:07:15.320 That's not my job.

00:07:16.680 My job is to...

00:07:17.760 I shared, for example, what the member asked

00:07:21.680 what advice I personally got from my doctor.

00:07:23.920 I certainly encourage all Canadians to talk to their doctors.

00:07:26.800 Who will then be informed by experts and doctors

00:07:30.500 both in their jurisdictions, in their provinces and territories,

00:07:34.440 and by the national guidance from NACI and from Health Canada.

00:07:38.960 That is the best way to move forward.

00:07:41.100 Don't take recommendations from politicians,

00:07:42.900 particularly not Conservatives.

00:07:44.380 Take recommendations from your doctors and the experts.

00:07:47.360 Just like Stephen Gilbeau, whenever you're backed into a corner,

00:07:49.880 just name-call the Conservatives,

00:07:51.320 and all your problems will go away.

00:07:53.420 What about all of that civil tone and Team Canada stuff

00:07:56.440 that we were supposed to be hearing about?

00:07:58.420 Well, that only works when you're talking to Conservatives, apparently.

00:08:02.160 So right now you have a government

00:08:04.160 that has completely lost any ability for the population to trust it.

00:08:09.580 This poll I found not all that surprising,

00:08:12.280 that Canadians have less trust in political leadership

00:08:15.180 because of how the pandemic was handled.

00:08:17.180 This is true of Jason Kenney.

00:08:19.480 It's true of Doug Ford.

00:08:20.960 It's true of Justin Trudeau.

00:08:22.580 Oddly, it's true of everyone but Francois Legault,

00:08:25.360 which is odd because Quebec has been

00:08:26.900 one of the more restricted provinces in Confederation.

00:08:30.380 But pretty much every leader in this country

00:08:32.480 is less trusted now because of the pandemic.

00:08:36.180 So Trudeau doesn't get to say,

00:08:37.460 well, political leaders don't give health advice.

00:08:39.800 Yeah, you do.

00:08:40.820 You're actually responsible for imposing restrictions.

00:08:43.260 You're responsible for vaccine supply.

00:08:45.980 And your staff are responsible for giving the guidance

00:08:49.020 that has been the source of all of the confusion right now.

00:08:52.920 And incidentally, even trust within parties,

00:08:55.880 within governments is waning.

00:08:57.900 This is a huge bombshell out of Alberta.

00:09:00.620 You may remember I spoke to Premier Jason Kenney on the weekend.

00:09:04.340 His caucus chair, an MLA,

00:09:06.920 has stepped down from caucus

00:09:09.400 with the reason being he does not trust

00:09:13.700 Jason Kenney's handling of the pandemic.

00:09:15.500 And he actually slips into his letter this.

00:09:18.980 Along with so many Albertans,

00:09:20.540 our understanding was that we in the UCP

00:09:22.700 had united around our shared principles,

00:09:25.140 integrity, and common sense approaches to governing.

00:09:28.080 In short, an Alberta strong and free.

00:09:30.380 We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man.

00:09:33.600 And while you promoted unity,

00:09:35.160 it is clear that unity is falling apart.

00:09:37.440 I know that many Albertans, including myself,

00:09:40.660 no longer have confidence in your leadership.

00:09:43.300 I thank you for your service,

00:09:44.860 but I'm asking that you resign

00:09:46.440 so that we can begin to put our province back together again.

00:09:50.660 Now, he hasn't resigned from the UCP.

00:09:52.640 He's resigned from his leadership role

00:09:54.380 to say to Jason Kenney,

00:09:56.060 you've got to go.

00:09:57.540 Now, this does not speak to specific restrictions,

00:10:00.440 although I think those certainly contributed to it,

00:10:02.660 but rather a leadership style

00:10:04.320 that Todd Lowen is calling out here,

00:10:06.140 where he says individual voices who've wanted to speak up

00:10:08.960 do not have the right to,

00:10:10.400 and it's basically the Jason Kenney show.

00:10:13.420 And you may think,

00:10:14.380 oh, well, it's just one disgruntled MLA,

00:10:16.880 except it's really not,

00:10:18.380 because another MLA hours later came out

00:10:21.340 and said the same thing,

00:10:23.160 and that was UCP MLA David Hanson

00:10:25.660 supported his colleagues' courage.

00:10:28.340 Those are his words.

00:10:29.140 He said,

00:10:29.420 Todd, I applaud your courage

00:10:30.600 and stand behind your decision.

00:10:32.620 I hear the same thing from our supporters in my area.

00:10:35.740 I, along with many of our colleagues,

00:10:37.420 share in your frustration.

00:10:39.000 We, along with many Albertans,

00:10:40.600 worked too hard to unite conservatives

00:10:42.920 to hand this province back to the NDP.

00:10:45.240 Thanks for taking a stand.

00:10:46.420 He doesn't specifically say he wants Kenney to resign,

00:10:49.160 but he speaks up in support of a letter that does.

00:10:51.820 And if he's being truthful

00:10:53.240 when he talks about many colleagues sharing the same thing,

00:10:56.020 this is going to be bad news for Jason Kenney.

00:10:59.020 And the thing about Alberta

00:11:00.300 is that Alberta's caucus

00:11:01.400 has a lot of true believers in it,

00:11:03.200 people that are genuinely bona fide conservatives

00:11:06.040 that are not going to take a lot of these measures

00:11:08.800 if they persist.

00:11:10.700 And this is just me putting on my analytical hat now.

00:11:13.460 This is not even a judgment call on my part,

00:11:15.820 but there are a lot of people

00:11:17.140 that I think in Alberta would not hesitate

00:11:19.500 to dethrone the king, so to speak,

00:11:21.960 in a way that we don't see political leaders

00:11:24.780 and politicians doing in Ontario,

00:11:26.860 where everyone's just shut up

00:11:28.080 and gone along in lockstep with it,

00:11:30.040 especially after the PC party made an example

00:11:33.340 of Roman Baber and Belinda Carajalios

00:11:35.420 by kicking them out, 0.77

00:11:37.460 by kicking them out for daring to criticize

00:11:39.880 earlier on even their government's handling

00:11:42.080 of the pandemic.

00:11:44.260 So I expect we'll see a lot more of this,

00:11:46.300 certainly in Alberta, maybe in other provinces,

00:11:48.700 but less likely there in the days and weeks to come.

00:11:51.400 But when you can't even command

00:11:53.540 the confidence of your caucus,

00:11:54.800 you certainly cannot command the confidence

00:11:57.180 of your country or your province,

00:11:59.760 whatever the case may be.

00:12:01.020 And that is why we see a trust pandemic going on,

00:12:04.440 or rather a mistrust pandemic.

00:12:06.480 We've got to take a break.

00:12:07.620 When we come back,

00:12:08.280 we will turn our attention to Israel 0.94

00:12:09.640 here on The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:12:11.260 Stay tuned.

00:12:11.800 Welcome back to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:12:24.440 I want to turn to what's been happening

00:12:26.380 over in the Middle East,

00:12:28.140 an inflammation of the conflict

00:12:30.040 between Israel and the Palestinians,

00:12:33.180 particularly between Israel and Hamas,

00:12:36.140 which is the de facto governing authority,

00:12:39.240 if you can call it that, of Gaza.

00:12:41.800 And the interesting dynamic that's taking place here

00:12:44.440 has been so woefully misrepresented by the media.

00:12:47.420 Yes, you've got rockets and missiles

00:12:48.900 that are going back and forth

00:12:50.340 between Gaza and Israel,

00:12:51.880 between Hamas and Israel.

00:12:53.860 But the effect it's having on civilians

00:12:57.060 has been misrepresented.

00:12:58.720 The chronology has been misrepresented.

00:13:01.220 And even the tension that actually triggered this

00:13:04.400 has been misrepresented.

00:13:06.160 A dispute that goes back

00:13:08.340 to a specific area of Jerusalem

00:13:11.440 and Palestinian families being evicted.

00:13:14.620 But I want to talk about this in great detail

00:13:16.560 because, again, the facts are important

00:13:18.500 and are not being told

00:13:20.020 in the mainstream media coverage,

00:13:21.580 which is why Mike Fegelman

00:13:23.240 of Honest Reporting Canada does what he does.

00:13:25.860 He goes through,

00:13:26.580 and if you look at his website,

00:13:27.560 you can see point by point

00:13:29.080 anytime the media passes off

00:13:31.240 a falsehood as truth

00:13:32.540 or makes even an honest mistake

00:13:34.560 that has significant implications,

00:13:35.920 he's there to record it

00:13:37.920 and to actually get it corrected

00:13:39.940 and has a fair bit of success

00:13:41.680 with this in the past as well.

00:13:43.820 Mike Fegelman, good to talk to you.

00:13:45.160 Thanks for coming on today.

00:13:46.500 My pleasure.

00:13:47.140 Good to be with you, Andrew.

00:13:48.080 So I want to start with,

00:13:49.640 because this is so complicated

00:13:51.120 and people like you

00:13:52.220 who immerse yourself in this

00:13:54.640 have a background knowledge

00:13:56.620 that a lot of Canadians

00:13:57.920 might not have looking at this,

00:13:59.960 if we bring this most recent bout

00:14:03.280 of tension and conflict back,

00:14:04.980 it seems to be something

00:14:06.360 that most people are triggering back

00:14:08.060 to what has itself been misrepresented,

00:14:10.840 which is this eviction

00:14:11.820 of Palestinian families

00:14:13.600 from their home.

00:14:14.240 And I want to play a brief clip here,

00:14:15.980 if I may,

00:14:16.880 of a radio report

00:14:18.500 that aired on CBC Radio.

00:14:20.860 A spokesman for Hamas in Beirut,

00:14:23.000 Osama Hamdan,

00:14:24.140 isn't making any promises

00:14:25.500 about how long they will continue,

00:14:28.300 but he sounded just as defiant,

00:14:30.600 blaming Israel

00:14:31.340 for weeks of clashes in Jerusalem,

00:14:33.520 where Israelis are trying 0.94

00:14:35.280 to evict Palestinian homeowners 0.99

00:14:37.100 and where Palestinians

00:14:38.420 and Israeli police

00:14:39.760 have clashed

00:14:40.720 at the city's holiest shrine,

00:14:43.100 Al-Aqsa.

00:14:44.120 So that reporter, 0.98

00:14:45.760 Sasha Petrikic,

00:14:46.800 says that there are Israelis

00:14:49.080 trying to evict

00:14:50.740 Palestinian homeowners.

00:14:53.060 This is not, though,

00:14:54.360 as you point out,

00:14:55.300 accurate.

00:14:55.700 Well, it's not.

00:14:57.460 And quite frankly,

00:14:59.300 what the Palestinians are doing, 0.99

00:15:01.420 Hamas and Palestinian Authority,

00:15:03.040 they're exploiting

00:15:03.640 what is traditionally

00:15:04.380 a real estate dispute,

00:15:06.040 something between tenants

00:15:07.100 and landowners,

00:15:08.740 into a nationalistic claim

00:15:12.900 with a fervor

00:15:13.620 to incite the masses

00:15:15.280 to convict violence.

00:15:16.600 The issue is simply

00:15:17.360 that the Palestinians

00:15:19.060 who are living in these homes

00:15:20.520 are living there rent-free

00:15:22.500 and are squatting

00:15:23.460 and not paying rent

00:15:24.420 to the Jewish owners.

00:15:26.500 And, you know,

00:15:27.300 Israel, it's a democracy

00:15:28.840 and it's an issue

00:15:30.380 that's being dealt with

00:15:31.280 and adjudicated

00:15:32.060 in the Israeli courts,

00:15:33.480 Supreme Court, mind you.

00:15:34.860 The Israeli government's

00:15:35.780 not taking a position.

00:15:36.740 This is for the judiciary.

00:15:39.280 And yet this issue

00:15:40.940 is being used

00:15:42.540 as a pretext,

00:15:43.940 a whipping tool,

00:15:45.260 really,

00:15:45.780 to foment a discord

00:15:47.460 between Israelis 0.56

00:15:48.240 and Palestinians

00:15:48.940 of the likes

00:15:49.600 that we're seeing

00:15:50.120 play out in the streets

00:15:51.480 of Jerusalem

00:15:52.040 and as you see

00:15:53.920 with, you know,

00:15:54.460 2,000 rockets

00:15:55.360 that have been fired

00:15:56.060 on Israeli cities

00:15:56.900 like Ashkelon

00:15:57.660 and Sderot.

00:15:58.840 Yeah, and the shameful

00:16:00.100 part of this

00:16:01.320 is that you are

00:16:02.320 very correct to point out

00:16:03.540 that there are people

00:16:04.300 that want to turn this

00:16:05.700 into something different

00:16:07.140 than what it is,

00:16:07.840 who want to misrepresent

00:16:09.220 the facts

00:16:09.720 and who want to stoke this.

00:16:11.160 But a lot of people

00:16:11.920 in the media

00:16:12.520 are buying into it.

00:16:14.400 And I have to ask,

00:16:15.340 is this just because

00:16:16.220 of ignorance

00:16:17.160 in a lot of ways?

00:16:18.020 They don't know this

00:16:18.840 or is it because

00:16:19.820 there is a more,

00:16:22.120 if I can use the word,

00:16:23.160 a more insidious bias

00:16:24.300 that's taking place

00:16:25.240 where they just want to view

00:16:26.440 that Israeli dynamic

00:16:28.560 through that lens?

00:16:30.620 Yeah, so I think

00:16:31.260 it's a combination.

00:16:32.180 I'll draw back

00:16:32.920 to the report

00:16:33.940 by Sasser Petrasek.

00:16:35.440 You know,

00:16:35.580 do I think that he has

00:16:36.440 an axe to grind

00:16:37.220 against Israel?

00:16:38.100 Not necessarily,

00:16:39.380 but I do think

00:16:39.900 that he got the facts wrong

00:16:40.960 because the Palestinians

00:16:42.120 were not homeowners.

00:16:43.720 They were just living

00:16:44.740 in a rental establishment.

00:16:47.140 You know,

00:16:47.500 Andrew,

00:16:48.080 if you rent your apartment

00:16:49.380 and you don't pay it,

00:16:50.900 you're going to have

00:16:51.580 to deal with

00:16:52.000 the legal process.

00:16:53.100 You know,

00:16:53.600 the next step

00:16:54.640 is not to,

00:16:55.720 you know,

00:16:56.740 throw rocks 1.00

00:16:57.340 and shoot people 0.96

00:16:58.960 and lob rockets 1.00

00:17:00.680 at Israelis. 0.57

00:17:01.540 But there are,

00:17:03.560 you know,

00:17:03.780 it's a case-by-case basis,

00:17:04.900 but there certainly

00:17:05.380 are journalists

00:17:06.080 who have inclinations

00:17:09.240 where they have

00:17:11.020 certain partisan favoritism

00:17:13.680 of certain issues

00:17:15.100 and their opinion

00:17:15.940 sometimes gets disguised

00:17:17.280 as news.

00:17:18.460 It can be subtle

00:17:19.280 and other times

00:17:19.880 it can be really quite obvious.

00:17:21.900 I mean,

00:17:22.100 a report that we flagged

00:17:23.080 this morning,

00:17:24.080 a CBC journalist,

00:17:25.540 a freelancer,

00:17:26.460 had claimed that Gaza

00:17:27.420 is an open-air prison.

00:17:29.120 That's highly

00:17:30.200 inflammatory language

00:17:31.260 for a supposed

00:17:32.540 neutral and objective

00:17:33.880 journalist to use.

00:17:34.980 But therein,

00:17:35.880 you see,

00:17:36.460 you know,

00:17:36.920 representatives

00:17:37.520 from Canada's

00:17:38.940 public broadcast

00:17:39.700 or our tax dollars

00:17:40.620 who are using

00:17:41.580 that kind of

00:17:42.720 incendiary language 0.58

00:17:44.060 and it's just

00:17:45.460 not objective.

00:17:46.780 And essentially,

00:17:48.260 what we do

00:17:48.740 at Honest Reporting,

00:17:49.360 we're not trying

00:17:49.780 to impart

00:17:50.540 and tell the media

00:17:52.700 that they have to

00:17:53.260 report in a certain way.

00:17:54.460 We just want them

00:17:55.020 to get the facts straight

00:17:56.180 and to give Israel 0.94

00:17:57.960 a fair shake,

00:17:58.740 but we're not seeing it.

00:18:00.220 Yeah,

00:18:00.780 and open-air prison.

00:18:02.000 I mean,

00:18:02.180 I've heard that term before.

00:18:03.580 It's frequently used

00:18:04.420 by people who are

00:18:05.600 quite anti-Israel,

00:18:06.740 whatever the motivation

00:18:07.540 of this particular journalist

00:18:09.820 that CBC tapped

00:18:11.700 for this segment was.

00:18:12.960 But it's a values judgment.

00:18:14.460 There's no way about it.

00:18:15.620 It is a value judgment.

00:18:16.980 It is an argumentation point

00:18:19.380 that people could debate,

00:18:20.660 but it's not a neutral point.

00:18:22.380 It's not a fact-based point.

00:18:23.540 I saw another news report

00:18:25.480 not from Canada

00:18:26.240 that kind of nonchalantly

00:18:27.820 refer to Israel

00:18:28.820 as occupying Gaza,

00:18:30.360 which as well is not true.

00:18:32.140 Someone would hear that, though,

00:18:33.460 and that inherently frames

00:18:34.820 the way they listen to

00:18:36.340 and consume coverage.

00:18:38.140 And for a region

00:18:38.880 that has so much history,

00:18:40.100 I mean,

00:18:40.240 I've been to Israel twice.

00:18:41.560 I've studied this extensively.

00:18:43.000 It's a part of the world

00:18:43.960 that I'm very passionate about.

00:18:45.260 And even I wouldn't proclaim

00:18:46.600 to be an expert

00:18:47.400 on all of these details

00:18:48.820 and nuances.

00:18:49.600 And whenever I've written

00:18:50.420 about Israel,

00:18:51.160 I'm very nervous

00:18:52.240 of accidentally using

00:18:53.720 the wrong word

00:18:54.540 or stumbling into

00:18:55.560 some sort of a landmine.

00:18:57.640 And people are going

00:18:58.820 to make mistakes.

00:18:59.560 I get it.

00:19:00.280 They need to be corrected.

00:19:01.840 You've been flagging these.

00:19:03.100 Has there been,

00:19:04.080 in this particular case,

00:19:05.380 any response from CBC

00:19:06.880 that's saying,

00:19:08.100 yeah, you know what?

00:19:08.720 You raise a good point there, Mike.

00:19:11.060 So what I'm happy to say

00:19:12.980 is we have a very good dialogue

00:19:14.440 with the CBC.

00:19:15.360 We speak to their teams,

00:19:17.380 various teams,

00:19:18.140 different leverage points

00:19:18.900 to the CBC very regularly.

00:19:21.520 In some media,

00:19:22.760 there's a feeling

00:19:23.480 that they're immune

00:19:24.020 to criticism.

00:19:24.920 In some levels of the CBC,

00:19:26.180 that exists.

00:19:27.280 But I think that the CBC

00:19:28.720 is cognizant

00:19:30.520 that mistakes are being made.

00:19:32.500 I'd like to think

00:19:33.460 that they are taking

00:19:34.740 remedial action.

00:19:35.800 It doesn't always happen.

00:19:37.500 You're right to point out

00:19:38.360 that covering

00:19:39.160 the Arab-Israeli conflict

00:19:40.340 is probably the most complicated,

00:19:43.240 difficult assignment

00:19:44.060 for a journalist to do.

00:19:46.120 You know,

00:19:46.300 the lexicon of the Middle East

00:19:47.560 is a ticking time bomb.

00:19:48.600 You refer to people

00:19:49.800 making claims

00:19:50.740 that Israel's occupying Gaza,

00:19:52.480 though it doesn't.

00:19:53.760 And it disengaged in 2005

00:19:55.960 and Israel pulled out

00:19:56.960 its armed forces,

00:19:58.620 just, you know,

00:19:59.140 removed all 21 settlements,

00:20:01.280 8,500 settlers.

00:20:02.760 And what did it get?

00:20:03.380 It got a forward launching base

00:20:04.740 by an Iran proxy

00:20:06.080 shooting 2,000 rockets at it.

00:20:08.080 And it's,

00:20:09.060 the issue mostly

00:20:10.060 is that kind of context

00:20:11.520 is stripped.

00:20:12.820 You know,

00:20:13.340 when we talk about

00:20:14.120 the rocket fire,

00:20:15.320 we don't really consider

00:20:16.800 how, you know,

00:20:17.360 you hear the media say,

00:20:19.060 these are homemade rockets.

00:20:20.380 Well, the reality is

00:20:21.300 these things are really

00:20:22.940 going great distance.

00:20:24.440 They're lethal.

00:20:25.820 And the real concern is

00:20:27.720 not just with these,

00:20:28.940 these kind of rockets

00:20:29.920 that exist now,

00:20:30.640 but what could happen

00:20:31.680 in the future 0.90

00:20:32.180 if Palestinian terrorists 0.92

00:20:33.900 or Hezbollah terrorists

00:20:34.980 in Lebanon

00:20:35.420 or elsewhere

00:20:36.060 could get ICBMs,

00:20:37.700 intercontinental ballistic missiles,

00:20:39.520 which could really

00:20:40.980 put Israel in paralysis.

00:20:43.360 We saw last night,

00:20:44.300 there's incredible footage

00:20:46.320 of planes trying to land

00:20:48.420 at Ben-Gurion Airport

00:20:49.280 in Tel Aviv

00:20:49.980 where you see

00:20:50.920 the rockets being fired in

00:20:52.860 and Israel's missile interceptor,

00:20:54.380 the Iron Dome,

00:20:55.000 trying to repel them back.

00:20:57.040 And that's what 0.51

00:20:57.660 these terrorists

00:20:58.280 are really trying to do.

00:20:59.400 On top of,

00:21:00.140 you know,

00:21:00.540 ultimately committing 0.99

00:21:01.480 the genocide of Jews 0.98

00:21:02.440 and wiping Israel 0.95

00:21:03.700 off the map,

00:21:04.280 they're trying to paralyze Israel 0.98

00:21:05.520 because what ends up happening

00:21:06.980 is,

00:21:07.320 and we had,

00:21:08.100 I think,

00:21:08.260 three or four different

00:21:09.180 major airlines

00:21:10.520 cancelling flights to Israel

00:21:13.700 perhaps indefinitely

00:21:14.680 until the hostilities stop.

00:21:17.240 And that's what

00:21:18.220 they're trying to do.

00:21:19.000 It's another effort

00:21:20.180 to put a stranglehold

00:21:21.040 on Israel.

00:21:21.980 So when you have

00:21:22.680 different people

00:21:23.320 who are,

00:21:23.740 you know,

00:21:24.400 cavalierly advocating

00:21:25.420 for weapons sales

00:21:27.740 to be cancelled on Israel,

00:21:29.080 whether it's Canadian politicians

00:21:30.320 or elsewhere,

00:21:31.240 what they're actually doing

00:21:32.280 is saying,

00:21:33.020 is putting out a welcome mat

00:21:34.220 for Israel to be 0.82

00:21:35.420 on the continued receiving

00:21:36.740 end of rockets.

00:21:38.380 And I should add,

00:21:39.260 if that kind of a policy

00:21:41.000 took hold

00:21:41.620 and other governments

00:21:42.940 worldwide said,

00:21:43.940 you know what,

00:21:44.660 we shouldn't sell arms

00:21:45.520 to Israel,

00:21:46.340 that's welcoming

00:21:46.980 Israel's destruction. 0.81

00:21:48.580 And,

00:21:48.920 you know,

00:21:49.580 naturally Israel 0.94

00:21:50.540 is doing everything

00:21:51.420 in its power

00:21:52.940 to safeguard

00:21:54.880 its citizenry

00:21:56.500 and it has that responsibility.

00:21:58.500 And it goes without saying

00:21:59.560 that any civilian life

00:22:00.900 that is lost

00:22:01.980 is tragic.

00:22:03.280 But the reality is

00:22:04.320 Hamas is committing

00:22:05.200 double war crimes.

00:22:06.420 It's firing on civilians

00:22:07.880 while hiding behind civilians.

00:22:09.260 And that's the issue

00:22:10.660 that the media

00:22:11.160 are really missing out.

00:22:12.500 Well,

00:22:12.680 that is so tremendously

00:22:14.120 important, Mike,

00:22:14.960 because we see the footage

00:22:16.700 of,

00:22:17.220 in the last few days,

00:22:18.580 apartment buildings,

00:22:19.340 for example,

00:22:19.880 that have become

00:22:20.600 very ravaged

00:22:22.120 by Israeli responses

00:22:24.280 to Hamas rockets.

00:22:27.500 And what people

00:22:28.500 don't realize

00:22:29.240 is that Hamas

00:22:30.820 literally uses

00:22:32.120 civilians

00:22:32.940 as human shields

00:22:34.040 in this case.

00:22:34.780 But in the media,

00:22:36.000 these stories

00:22:36.620 tend to get told

00:22:37.480 as examples

00:22:38.320 of just rampant

00:22:39.480 and indiscriminate

00:22:40.280 Israeli aggression.

00:22:41.600 And one story

00:22:42.680 that you flag as well,

00:22:43.720 CBC National

00:22:44.480 claiming that

00:22:45.280 Palestinian rocket fire

00:22:46.540 was, quote,

00:22:47.440 in return,

00:22:49.020 unquote,

00:22:49.740 of Israeli airstrikes.

00:22:51.020 Again,

00:22:51.360 two words

00:22:51.900 that very fundamentally

00:22:53.100 change the dynamic

00:22:54.340 of how people

00:22:55.300 view the news.

00:22:57.220 Yeah,

00:22:57.640 and what they

00:22:58.340 actually did

00:22:58.840 is they reversed

00:22:59.540 the chronology

00:23:00.700 of how these

00:23:01.640 hostilities began.

00:23:03.700 And,

00:23:03.800 you know,

00:23:04.520 in the CBC's mind,

00:23:06.280 and mind you,

00:23:06.800 it was on CBC The National,

00:23:08.300 which is its flagship program,

00:23:10.600 you know,

00:23:11.260 and largely the source

00:23:12.940 where a lot of people

00:23:13.800 get information.

00:23:15.460 The story

00:23:16.400 and the narrative

00:23:16.980 that was told

00:23:17.600 was that Israel

00:23:18.680 initiated the violence

00:23:20.460 by shooting rockets 0.96

00:23:21.880 and the Palestinian terrorists 0.97

00:23:23.620 like Hamas 0.98

00:23:24.100 and Islamic Jihad

00:23:24.960 merely responded.

00:23:27.200 And that's just,

00:23:28.160 it's morally obtuse,

00:23:29.540 it's morally repugnant,

00:23:30.820 and it's just

00:23:31.300 flat out wrong.

00:23:32.860 And it's my job

00:23:34.880 to make sure

00:23:36.060 that the media

00:23:36.660 gets out the narrative

00:23:37.480 correctly

00:23:38.020 as it actually happened.

00:23:39.420 And we encourage

00:23:40.180 our members,

00:23:40.680 we have about 50,000 subscribers,

00:23:42.480 to complain directly

00:23:43.780 to the media

00:23:44.860 to voice their concerns.

00:23:47.420 Yeah,

00:23:47.980 and I'm glad you do that

00:23:49.040 because I do think

00:23:50.000 there is a,

00:23:50.580 the way you said about,

00:23:51.740 you know,

00:23:52.260 two war crimes

00:23:53.260 basically taking place

00:23:54.440 is incredibly valid.

00:23:55.640 Israel does what 0.92

00:23:56.300 it can

00:23:56.720 to minimize

00:23:57.660 collateral damage,

00:23:58.920 civilian casualties,

00:23:59.960 where Hamas does 0.80

00:24:00.680 what it can

00:24:01.240 to increase them

00:24:02.540 on both sides.

00:24:03.720 And that's the

00:24:04.380 particular evil here

00:24:05.420 is that,

00:24:06.160 yes, 0.99

00:24:06.340 they want to kill 1.00

00:24:06.960 Jewish lives, 1.00

00:24:08.020 but they also

00:24:08.840 are completely fine 0.98

00:24:10.180 killing their own citizens 0.99

00:24:11.420 if it helps them 1.00

00:24:12.480 in their PR battle

00:24:13.420 against Israel.

00:24:14.120 And I think it's incumbent

00:24:15.060 on Western media

00:24:16.420 to not go along

00:24:17.560 with that.

00:24:18.780 Oh, absolutely.

00:24:19.780 And I'll give you

00:24:20.340 a particular example.

00:24:21.180 even a Palestinian

00:24:22.740 human rights group

00:24:23.720 reported,

00:24:25.100 I believe,

00:24:25.360 yesterday or the day

00:24:26.080 before,

00:24:26.960 that eight Palestinians,

00:24:28.440 two children,

00:24:29.600 were killed

00:24:30.000 by errant

00:24:30.720 Palestinian rockets.

00:24:32.500 And what's interesting

00:24:33.140 to note is that

00:24:34.180 Israel speculates 0.56

00:24:36.040 that about

00:24:37.740 a third

00:24:38.580 of the 2,000 rockets

00:24:40.220 that have been fired

00:24:40.860 at Israeli cities

00:24:41.960 prematurely

00:24:43.220 exploded

00:24:44.100 or landed

00:24:44.940 errantly

00:24:45.380 within Gaza.

00:24:46.180 So when you hear

00:24:47.400 about the casualties

00:24:48.640 within the

00:24:50.760 Palestinian territories,

00:24:51.700 within Gaza,

00:24:52.500 which,

00:24:52.860 mind you,

00:24:53.660 are told by the

00:24:54.680 Gaza Ministry of Health,

00:24:56.380 which is an arm

00:24:57.060 of the Hamas terror group,

00:24:58.520 so you've got to question

00:24:59.200 the combatant

00:25:00.480 and civilian casualty

00:25:01.760 counts right there,

00:25:03.440 you're not really

00:25:05.000 hearing that,

00:25:06.140 well,

00:25:06.460 how many of these people

00:25:07.340 were killed

00:25:07.800 by Palestinian munitions?

00:25:09.920 And,

00:25:10.580 you know,

00:25:10.880 Israel suspects

00:25:11.560 that about 30 of,

00:25:12.880 I think,

00:25:13.460 at this point,

00:25:14.360 given,

00:25:14.800 you know,

00:25:15.060 where we are right now,

00:25:15.980 about 60-some-odd

00:25:16.920 Palestinians who've died 1.00

00:25:18.000 are actually terrorists. 0.98

00:25:20.580 But you don't hear

00:25:21.620 those numbers,

00:25:22.080 you just hear

00:25:22.540 the total number.

00:25:24.060 And that really paints

00:25:26.000 a misleading picture

00:25:26.960 that what's depicted

00:25:27.960 is that Israel is,

00:25:29.120 you know,

00:25:29.700 de facto and implicitly

00:25:30.960 targeting innocents.

00:25:32.400 And that's just not

00:25:32.940 the case.

00:25:33.560 They're,

00:25:34.180 with pinpoint precision,

00:25:36.200 targeting terrorists.

00:25:37.580 And they're doing it

00:25:38.240 in a way that minimizes

00:25:39.480 civilian casualties,

00:25:41.040 doing things like,

00:25:42.240 that are really untold,

00:25:43.580 to warn your combatant

00:25:45.080 that you're even

00:25:46.600 going to carry out

00:25:47.160 an attack.

00:25:47.720 So they'll,

00:25:48.700 you mentioned the buildings

00:25:50.420 that were destroyed,

00:25:51.320 which,

00:25:51.540 mind you,

00:25:51.840 were Hamas 0.60

00:25:52.680 terror infrastructure

00:25:54.700 they were using.

00:25:56.160 They warn them

00:25:57.240 with cell phone calls,

00:25:58.960 with text messages,

00:26:01.340 leaflets,

00:26:02.000 thousands of leaflets

00:26:02.900 that are dropped.

00:26:04.300 And then they use

00:26:04.840 a technique called

00:26:05.800 the roof-knocking technique,

00:26:06.780 where they drop

00:26:08.000 miniature munitions,

00:26:10.860 non-lethal munitions,

00:26:12.240 on the top of the roof,

00:26:12.980 to tell people

00:26:14.020 if they didn't heed

00:26:15.340 their warnings

00:26:15.840 to get out of the area.

00:26:16.980 There's no other army

00:26:18.080 in the history

00:26:19.340 of modern warfare

00:26:20.240 who would ever do this.

00:26:21.980 And that's why Israel 0.96

00:26:22.980 can proudly say

00:26:23.880 it's the most moral

00:26:24.520 military in the world.

00:26:26.440 Very well said.

00:26:27.700 And I appreciate

00:26:28.220 all your work

00:26:29.020 having to keep glued

00:26:30.260 to the mainstream media

00:26:31.180 day in,

00:26:31.680 day out

00:26:32.040 to call these things out.

00:26:33.720 But it is important

00:26:34.400 because when facts are gone,

00:26:36.000 you lose a whole bunch

00:26:37.320 in the way of any ability

00:26:38.540 of having an honest discussion.

00:26:40.000 Mike Fegelman,

00:26:41.040 Executive Director

00:26:41.880 of Honest Reporting Canada.

00:26:43.700 His great work

00:26:44.320 is updated pretty much

00:26:45.760 in real time these days.

00:26:47.140 And that's at

00:26:47.560 honestreporting.ca.

00:26:49.100 Mike, always a pleasure.

00:26:50.280 Thanks for coming on.

00:26:52.040 My pleasure.

00:26:52.940 Andrew, thank you.

00:26:54.080 Honest Reporting Canada.

00:26:55.400 They do absolutely

00:26:56.560 tremendous work

00:26:57.400 and so important to do.

00:26:59.020 And a lot of people

00:26:59.600 are going to say,

00:27:00.120 well, you know what?

00:27:00.780 That's a pro-Israel outlet.

00:27:02.540 Why are they the authority

00:27:04.580 on this?

00:27:05.180 And I'll say two things on that.

00:27:06.860 Number one,

00:27:07.760 they put everything

00:27:08.900 out front and center

00:27:10.040 completely with the facts

00:27:11.380 to let you decide

00:27:12.220 for yourselves.

00:27:13.040 But more importantly,

00:27:14.440 not everything

00:27:15.320 is morally neutral.

00:27:16.960 In fact,

00:27:17.320 a lot of things aren't.

00:27:18.720 And I would say

00:27:19.520 that we could all look

00:27:20.580 to the Jewish people

00:27:21.700 and the Palestinian people

00:27:22.860 and say, yes,

00:27:23.400 it's not fair

00:27:24.020 that they end up

00:27:24.820 as individual people

00:27:26.260 in the front lines

00:27:27.800 or in the crosshairs

00:27:28.700 of these conflicts.

00:27:30.460 But if you are stacking up

00:27:32.060 Israel and Hamas, 0.93

00:27:34.020 100% full stop,

00:27:36.240 Israel's the good guy,

00:27:37.200 Hamas is the bad guy. 0.98

00:27:38.420 There is zero justification

00:27:39.780 for any other position.

00:27:43.160 And it doesn't have to be

00:27:44.220 a 100% full-throated defense

00:27:46.460 of every single domestic decision

00:27:48.120 made by the Israeli government,

00:27:49.520 but it's talking about

00:27:50.960 rule of law

00:27:51.900 versus law of the jungle,

00:27:53.560 respect for life

00:27:54.560 versus destruction of life.

00:27:56.680 And this is something that,

00:27:58.380 again,

00:27:58.800 Canadian politicians

00:27:59.800 would be well-suited

00:28:01.080 to realize

00:28:02.340 that not everything

00:28:03.360 has to become

00:28:04.360 this morally neutral pablum,

00:28:06.880 which is what

00:28:07.500 Mark Garneau's statement

00:28:08.700 about this,

00:28:09.520 which came out yesterday,

00:28:11.020 was.

00:28:11.320 He said,

00:28:11.640 Canada was gravely concerned

00:28:13.080 by the situation,

00:28:14.420 urges all parties

00:28:15.320 to take immediate steps

00:28:16.460 to end the violence.

00:28:17.580 He says,

00:28:18.180 yes,

00:28:18.420 the indiscriminate barrage

00:28:19.540 of rocket attacks

00:28:20.380 fired by Hamas

00:28:21.360 is unacceptable

00:28:22.520 and must cease.

00:28:24.180 But then he goes on

00:28:24.980 and says,

00:28:25.440 ah,

00:28:25.480 but Canada is gravely concerned

00:28:26.860 by the continued expansion

00:28:28.360 of settlements

00:28:29.000 and by the demolitions

00:28:30.440 and evictions,

00:28:31.360 including the ongoing cases

00:28:32.920 in Sheikh Jarrah

00:28:33.720 and Silwan.

00:28:34.900 He says,

00:28:35.360 these actions impact families

00:28:37.020 and livelihoods

00:28:38.100 and do not serve peace

00:28:39.800 or international law,

00:28:41.260 even though it's a case

00:28:42.720 going before the Supreme Court

00:28:44.360 that is just a real estate dispute.

00:28:46.220 But Mark Garneau

00:28:47.080 didn't get into that.

00:28:48.360 And then he said,

00:28:49.200 Canada wants a two-state solution

00:28:50.820 with Palestinians

00:28:51.720 living side-by-side

00:28:53.120 with an Israel state

00:28:54.760 and Canada reiterates

00:28:56.340 its call

00:28:56.860 for immediate de-escalation.

00:28:59.120 Now,

00:28:59.620 Candace Malcolm,

00:29:00.560 my colleague,

00:29:01.140 made a brilliant point on this.

00:29:02.540 She said,

00:29:02.940 the statement is equivocal nonsense.

00:29:05.120 It's like they took

00:29:05.820 a conservative news release

00:29:07.160 condemning Hamas terrorism,

00:29:08.700 then found an NDP news release

00:29:10.500 demonizing Israel

00:29:11.540 and stapled them together.

00:29:13.460 And I still chuckle

00:29:14.280 when I see that

00:29:15.120 because I think

00:29:15.600 she captures it well,

00:29:17.080 whereas they didn't want

00:29:17.800 to actually take a position.

00:29:18.840 So they figured,

00:29:19.480 all right,

00:29:19.960 let's criticize both sides.

00:29:22.100 And maybe everyone

00:29:23.340 will love us.

00:29:24.820 And if you look at the response

00:29:25.740 to Mark Garneau's tweet,

00:29:27.160 all of the Israel lovers

00:29:28.840 are saying,

00:29:29.880 well, you know,

00:29:30.280 this is terrible.

00:29:30.880 And all the Palestinian lovers

00:29:32.680 are saying,

00:29:33.140 well, this is all terrible.

00:29:34.300 So they did that whole thing

00:29:35.500 of trying to walk the line

00:29:36.580 and keep both sides happy

00:29:37.700 and ending up alienating both,

00:29:39.960 which is why you need

00:29:41.180 to stand up for truth.

00:29:43.260 Canada should never shy away

00:29:44.820 from being an ally of Israel.

00:29:46.560 And I lament

00:29:47.600 that we have lost

00:29:48.920 that strong bond

00:29:50.360 that we had

00:29:50.960 under Stephen Harper,

00:29:52.200 who put out

00:29:52.940 a fantastic statement

00:29:54.100 on this.

00:29:55.140 Clear and concise.

00:29:56.360 Horrific scenes

00:29:57.100 out of Israel

00:29:57.680 over the last 24 hours

00:29:59.020 as civilians shelter

00:30:00.100 from a barrage

00:30:00.960 of terrorist escalation.

00:30:03.060 Attacks on the state

00:30:04.120 of Israel

00:30:04.660 are attacks on us all

00:30:05.820 and must be immediately

00:30:07.260 condemned

00:30:07.820 by international leaders.

00:30:09.300 I pray for the safety

00:30:10.540 of everyone in the region.

00:30:12.500 There's respect for life,

00:30:13.580 but a clear

00:30:14.340 and unequivocal stand

00:30:15.460 that Israel

00:30:16.540 is the one

00:30:17.520 being attacked.

00:30:18.600 Israel is not 1.00

00:30:20.080 the aggressor.

00:30:21.760 And when people point

00:30:22.680 to the sophistication

00:30:23.840 of Israeli weaponry,

00:30:25.340 Israel is better at this. 1.00

00:30:27.060 But that does not

00:30:28.000 make them the bad guys.

00:30:29.420 And Mike Fegelman

00:30:30.180 pointed this out

00:30:30.940 quite clearly.

00:30:32.040 Israel goes through 0.99

00:30:32.880 painstaking efforts

00:30:33.920 to minimize

00:30:34.540 Palestinian casualties.

00:30:37.240 Yet Hamas 0.91

00:30:38.040 goes to every effort

00:30:39.700 possible to maximize

00:30:41.000 casualties

00:30:41.740 on both sides

00:30:43.200 of the Gaza wall.

00:30:44.780 their own people

00:30:45.640 and those of Israel.

00:30:47.840 So when you get people

00:30:48.580 like NDP leader

00:30:49.580 Jagmeet Singh

00:30:50.180 calling for a halt

00:30:51.240 on Canadian arms sales

00:30:52.420 to Israel

00:30:53.040 as violence escalates,

00:30:54.980 what the NDP is saying

00:30:56.100 is that Israel

00:30:56.660 does not have the right

00:30:57.960 to defend itself.

00:30:59.740 He says,

00:31:00.220 by arming one side

00:31:01.360 of the conflict,

00:31:02.120 it is undermining

00:31:02.780 the peace process

00:31:03.600 and it is supporting

00:31:04.840 illegal occupation.

00:31:06.920 Illegal occupation

00:31:07.820 of whom?

00:31:08.700 Gaza is not occupied.

00:31:11.200 There are no settlements

00:31:12.420 in Gaza.

00:31:13.040 Israel unilaterally

00:31:14.860 left Gaza

00:31:15.780 and said,

00:31:16.480 fine,

00:31:16.980 we will take

00:31:17.800 the first step

00:31:18.440 and what has Gaza done?

00:31:19.840 It has replaced

00:31:20.640 a government

00:31:21.160 that it had

00:31:21.780 that was not

00:31:22.240 particularly great

00:31:23.080 with one that's

00:31:23.620 even worse

00:31:24.160 which continues

00:31:25.300 to seek

00:31:25.920 the complete

00:31:26.680 destruction 0.68

00:31:27.520 of the Jewish state, 0.80

00:31:29.140 the complete 0.98

00:31:29.640 elimination 1.00

00:31:30.180 of the Jewish people 0.83

00:31:32.360 and they're the ones

00:31:34.020 who are somehow

00:31:34.720 painted in Canadian media

00:31:36.580 and by the leader

00:31:37.840 of the NDP

00:31:38.440 as being the victims.

00:31:40.240 And interestingly enough,

00:31:42.740 I mentioned to Mike

00:31:43.580 a few moments ago

00:31:44.680 how fraught

00:31:45.380 a lot of discourse

00:31:46.320 about Israel is.

00:31:47.320 Things that you're

00:31:47.800 not allowed to say,

00:31:49.020 things that are

00:31:49.620 very loaded terms

00:31:50.700 and ways in which

00:31:51.620 you could accidentally

00:31:52.700 do it.

00:31:53.140 One of them,

00:31:53.860 which is very deliberate,

00:31:55.220 is where you recognize

00:31:56.960 Israel's capital

00:31:58.060 as being.

00:31:59.340 Now the reality

00:32:00.140 is functionally,

00:32:01.620 Jerusalem is the 0.98

00:32:02.800 capital of Israel.

00:32:04.100 Israel has had 0.99

00:32:05.000 control of West Jerusalem 0.58

00:32:06.580 since Israel existed 0.95

00:32:07.840 for the first time

00:32:08.780 and Israel has had

00:32:10.180 control of East Jerusalem

00:32:11.460 since the end

00:32:12.840 of the Six-Day War.

00:32:14.040 But functionally speaking,

00:32:15.760 Jerusalem is Israel's capital.

00:32:18.340 Historically speaking,

00:32:19.700 Jerusalem is Israel's capital.

00:32:22.360 Yet countries around

00:32:23.440 the world are terrified

00:32:24.640 of realizing that.

00:32:25.940 Just three countries

00:32:26.840 of I believe

00:32:27.460 the 90 countries

00:32:28.640 that have embassies

00:32:29.380 in Israel

00:32:29.880 have them in Jerusalem.

00:32:31.820 The most notable

00:32:32.480 of those

00:32:33.040 is the United States

00:32:34.460 which moved its there

00:32:35.540 in 2018

00:32:36.540 at the behest

00:32:37.320 of Donald Trump.

00:32:39.160 Aaron O'Toole

00:32:39.780 has said that

00:32:40.820 Canada's conservatives,

00:32:42.200 if they form government,

00:32:43.140 will move Canada's embassy

00:32:44.700 in Israel to Jerusalem.

00:32:46.280 But interestingly enough,

00:32:47.480 I stumbled on

00:32:48.160 a pretty significant story

00:32:49.800 that Global Affairs

00:32:51.220 Canada staff

00:32:52.180 actually prepared

00:32:53.620 for a move

00:32:54.840 of Canada's embassy

00:32:56.120 to Jerusalem.

00:32:56.960 A tremendously

00:32:57.580 important step,

00:32:58.820 although it never

00:32:59.780 actually happened.

00:33:00.800 The reason being

00:33:01.540 there was no buy-in

00:33:03.100 from Justin Trudeau's liberals.

00:33:04.740 But how I found this

00:33:06.700 is I reached out

00:33:07.740 to Global Affairs

00:33:08.600 with what's called

00:33:09.240 an access to information request.

00:33:10.800 So trying to get a hold

00:33:11.620 of internal government documents.

00:33:13.960 I did it in 2019

00:33:15.440 and I've only just gotten

00:33:16.580 a non-response now.

00:33:18.340 But I actually did it

00:33:19.600 after former

00:33:20.440 Conservative leader

00:33:21.440 Andrew Scheer

00:33:22.160 had pledged

00:33:23.340 if he was elected

00:33:24.120 that he would move

00:33:24.940 the embassy to Jerusalem.

00:33:26.640 And I said,

00:33:27.260 well, I wonder

00:33:27.660 what Global Affairs staff

00:33:28.820 are saying about this.

00:33:29.920 So I put in the request

00:33:31.180 for May 2019

00:33:32.300 when Scheer made the pledge

00:33:33.720 to December

00:33:34.700 when I put in

00:33:35.560 the access to information request.

00:33:37.560 So pretty much

00:33:38.520 a seven-month period or so

00:33:40.440 or six-and-a-half-month period.

00:33:42.040 I just last week

00:33:43.420 got a response

00:33:44.260 that said the following.

00:33:45.920 I have looked

00:33:46.460 through the documents

00:33:47.440 received from

00:33:48.140 our respective program area

00:33:49.640 and although the department

00:33:50.980 did in fact prepare

00:33:52.500 for a possible move

00:33:53.780 of the Canadian embassy

00:33:55.000 to Jerusalem,

00:33:55.920 the move did not happen.

00:33:57.820 Since the relocation

00:33:59.100 of the embassy

00:33:59.640 did not happen,

00:34:00.660 many of the documents

00:34:01.580 contain information

00:34:02.680 for the preparation

00:34:03.720 of the move

00:34:04.440 and therefore

00:34:05.300 all contain references

00:34:06.980 to cabinet.

00:34:08.220 Cabinet documents

00:34:09.000 are confidential.

00:34:10.240 They are not subject

00:34:10.960 to access to information laws

00:34:12.760 which means that

00:34:13.740 any document

00:34:14.360 that was destined

00:34:15.080 for cabinet,

00:34:16.120 the government

00:34:16.560 doesn't have to disclose.

00:34:18.320 But the non-response

00:34:19.960 of these documents,

00:34:21.040 the non-production

00:34:21.800 of them tells me

00:34:22.600 that there was

00:34:23.040 a very serious,

00:34:24.420 although it's not clear

00:34:25.220 how serious,

00:34:26.540 push towards

00:34:27.740 moving the embassy

00:34:28.820 or at the very least

00:34:29.720 something that would

00:34:30.860 have been given

00:34:31.400 to a cabinet member

00:34:32.400 for sign-off

00:34:33.300 but it did not happen.

00:34:35.680 Now on background,

00:34:36.840 a Global Affairs Canada

00:34:37.920 source told me

00:34:38.660 there was no formal

00:34:39.620 memorandum to cabinet

00:34:41.180 which would have been

00:34:41.760 a document that

00:34:42.520 the foreign minister

00:34:43.300 at the time

00:34:43.820 would have brought

00:34:44.620 to his colleagues.

00:34:45.500 That didn't happen.

00:34:46.820 So we know that

00:34:47.760 Justin Trudeau's position

00:34:48.880 on this has not changed

00:34:50.140 which is absolutely not.

00:34:51.920 As Global Affairs

00:34:52.680 told me,

00:34:53.760 Canada will not be

00:34:54.940 moving its embassy

00:34:55.620 from Tel Aviv

00:34:56.320 to Jerusalem

00:34:56.960 and the long-standing

00:34:58.120 position is that

00:34:59.040 the status of Jerusalem

00:34:59.980 can only be resolved

00:35:01.160 as part of a general

00:35:02.600 settlement of the

00:35:03.640 Israeli-Palestinian

00:35:04.980 dispute.

00:35:06.040 So again,

00:35:06.760 not taking a clear

00:35:07.680 position but it's not

00:35:09.000 like the equivocation

00:35:09.920 is dismantling

00:35:11.460 any of the conflict.

00:35:12.740 It's not like the

00:35:13.300 equivocation is

00:35:14.580 contributing towards

00:35:15.520 de-escalation.

00:35:16.420 It just means that

00:35:17.480 there's no moral grounding

00:35:19.060 in Canada's position

00:35:20.680 on this at this time.

00:35:22.040 We've got to wrap

00:35:22.840 things up but my thanks

00:35:23.740 to you all for tuning

00:35:24.900 in to the program today.

00:35:26.360 We'll talk to you

00:35:27.040 next week with more

00:35:27.960 of Canada's

00:35:28.680 most irreverent talk show.

00:35:30.340 Thank you,

00:35:30.880 God bless,

00:35:31.440 and good day.

00:35:32.120 Thanks for listening

00:35:32.760 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:35:34.180 Support the program

00:35:35.000 by donating to True North

00:35:36.240 at www.tnc.news.

Juno News - May 13, 2021

The Zero-Sense, One-Dose Summer

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