Off the Record - Leftists up in arms over Alberta parental rights policy

00:00:00.000 No, I don't know. I mean, even, like, the most left-wing comedians are now doing, like, right-wing things because they've just been, like, forced to the fringes.

00:00:07.840 Yeah, no, I think the right is having, like, a cultural moment right now. It's, like, it's a counterculture. It's cool. Like, being manly is now, like, considered being conservative, which I think is good for the movement.

00:00:19.940 I think comedy is the only industry that's kind of moving in this direction, though, that's moving in the direction away from political correctness, the radical far left. Like, if you're on that side, you've missed the boat, and you're just not on the side of the majority anymore.

00:00:37.280 Yeah, there's a correction happening for sure. All right, guys, let's get this started.

00:00:40.440 Everyone, welcome to the podcast. We're starting a new program here at True North. It's called Off the Record. We thought we would bring it to you every Friday, and the concept of the show is that we just talk about the news, we talk about the stories, and, you know, you get our full honest opinions and perceptions on our individual shows.

00:01:03.320 So I'm joined by Andrew Lawton, who hosts The Andrew Lawton Show, Harrison Faulkner, host of Race Show, and I host my own show, Candace Malcolm Show.

00:01:09.900 And you're going to hear our opinions and our real thoughts on issues during those shows.

00:01:13.720 But we thought it'd be fun to get together and just talk about what happened in the week that was, and give you sort of a more relaxed and honest interpretation of the events that were.

00:01:25.320 So pleased to be here with you, Andrews, enjoying a nice glass of, what is that?

00:01:31.900 You said relaxed and honest. It's a Cabernet Sauvignon.

00:01:35.940 Good for you, man. So yeah, so let's get to it, guys. I want to start by talking about what I think is the biggest story of the week, maybe the biggest story of the year so far, which is the Alberta Premier, Danielle Smith, unveiling a new, really a new chapter when it comes to parental rights in Canada.

00:01:55.060 I think that this is long overdue. This is something that is completely in line with what almost every parent I know and talk to believes.

00:02:03.660 And so, of course, you know, the liberal powers and liberal establishment is losing their mind. It cannot happen.

00:02:09.520 So here we have Alberta Premier. I'll just play a bit of what Danielle Smith had to say when she was announcing that reassignment, gender reassignment surgeries, castrations, basically, will not be permitted on children in the province of Alberta.

00:02:23.440 So here's what this looks like.

00:02:24.840 After much discussion, the government caucus and I have therefore decided to implement the following policies and guidelines as it relates to transgender minors and athletes, including additional supports to assist transgender adults to secure the health care they need and the counselling support for youth identifying as transgender to ensure they can successfully work their way through their complex feelings and emotions as they grow to adulthood.

00:02:48.440 First, on the issue of gender reassignment treatments for minors, for minors age 17 and under, top and bottom gender reassignment surgeries will not be permitted for children age 15 and under, puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the purpose of gender reassignment or affirmation will also not be permitted, with the exception of those who've already commenced their treatment at this time.

00:03:12.860 So, Andrew, I'll go to you. So, Andrew, I'll go to you. What was your initial thoughts on this and how do you think the Premier handled it?

00:03:19.700 So, from a political comms perspective, she did phenomenally well because she tried to preemptively deal with all of the standard criticisms that she knew she was going to face.

00:03:31.160 I mean, the first part of the video, and we had a little bit of it there, the whole thing is seven minutes long, she's talking about how much she loves transgender people and supports them and she's always talked to them and advocated for them and all of that.

00:03:41.620 And then when she gets to the policies, I mean, it sounds like, I mean, she doesn't have children, but it sounds like she is being a mother in that capacity.

00:03:50.400 I mean, it sounds like she's being really caring and compassionate, but saying we need to draw a firm line on what we do on this issue.

00:03:56.660 And I think she went far beyond how the players that have done similar policies, she went far beyond them in terms of how she presented this.

00:04:09.460 And I find it interesting, though, and we'll get to a bit of the criticism of it, none of that matters because the people that dislike the policy don't care about that compassion.

00:04:20.900 They don't care how nice it sounds. They don't care about that.

00:04:23.820 You know, it was as though she was just going out into the street and executing trans people. 0.52

00:04:27.580 That's basically the reaction that she was getting on this. 0.84

00:04:32.000 Right. Which is which is why I think in some ways conservatives try too hard to appeal to the left and the left is never going to agree with you.

00:04:39.360 Like the left is going to put a target on your back and call you a bigot pretty much no matter what you do.

00:04:43.760 And so in this in this instance, you know, this is this is solid policy.

00:04:48.340 This is long overdue. Again, I think this is in line with what almost every parent that I talk to that I know that I interact with at my kids schools.

00:04:55.620 This is what people believe. This is people are like paranoid and terrified of the gender ideological like steamrolling is happening in schools.

00:05:04.200 And there's always stories and always whispering like parents do not like this stuff. Right.

00:05:07.400 And that the policy is sound. It's I loved how Danielle Smith went out to the media afterwards and just took all their questions.

00:05:15.260 And she's feeling like the craziest, most deranged reactions.

00:05:19.220 And she's like, you know, this is in line with what's happening in Denmark, what's happening in Norway, what's happening in all these, you know, progressive, liberal Scandinavian countries.

00:05:27.720 And it's true. It's like it's like, no, no, you are the outlier progressive left in Canada.

00:05:32.160 You are the ones that are absolutely out of step with the rest of the world and public opinion.

00:05:39.460 And if anything, I think that Danielle conceded too much on the ideological ground by to your point, Andrew, talking so much about how we love transgender people and being transgender is just a OK and it's great.

00:05:52.540 It's like, well, that's not exactly true. And and I don't think that most Canadians agree with that.

00:05:57.980 I don't know. What do you think, Harrison?

00:05:59.100 Well, when I heard the original video, I kind of had the same reaction to Andrew, which was, wow, this was actually very well done.

00:06:07.560 This was professional and it was smart politically to try and show that compassion.

00:06:12.580 I didn't think that the reaction from the left was going to be as deranged as it was.

00:06:16.600 I probably should have, but I didn't actually think they were going to be this way.

00:06:20.000 It's unbelievable that they're talking about how this is horrific and this is this is the worst possible thing to happen when all that actually was really announced was men can't compete against women in high school sports.

00:06:32.880 We're going to stop that from happening.

00:06:34.240 And people who are and kids who are aged 17 and under can't mutilate their own bodies.

00:06:39.160 It's it's unbelievable that the reaction to a decision like that is frightening, horrifying, the worst possible thing ever.

00:06:47.360 It's it's unbelievable.

00:06:48.920 I can't believe it because you don't see people saying that 17 year olds should be should be allowed to drink and get behind, you know, drive on their own.

00:06:57.400 But this is the exact same thing, but it's a it's a life altering permanent decision.

00:07:01.620 So why why is this why is this so controversial?

00:07:05.760 It's actually unbelievable that the federal government and everybody else in the left is reacting this way.

00:07:10.660 It's kind of kind of frightening.

00:07:12.680 Well, I should say that this was like the invasion of Poland, I believe.

00:07:18.340 If we go to Randy Wosano, let's roll that clip here.

00:07:22.140 I'm not I'm not exaggerating.

00:07:23.620 Let's roll that clip. 0.89

00:07:24.520 This is our NATO moment as an LGBTQ community, an attack on one of our communities is an attack on us all. 1.00

00:07:31.140 And I need allies and champions to stand up.

00:07:34.780 We already have the Social Workers Association of Alberta, the Alberta Teachers Association, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and a gal who's already mentioned that they will start a court challenge on board.

00:07:45.320 There will be a rally at the legislature in Edmonton on Sunday.

00:07:49.040 I will be there. And if there's ever been a time in this century for people to stand up for the kind of Canada and the kind of Alberta we want.

00:07:58.360 I just love that. You know, it's a you know, someone steamrolls into Belgium or Poland or Greece and we invoke NATO collective defense.

00:08:09.460 That's the same as a policy supporting parental rights.

00:08:12.840 Our NATO moment. We should use that, by the way, whenever like, you know, Bill C-18 comes out.

00:08:18.140 It's like this is our NATO moment as independent media. 0.80

00:08:20.440 I mean, it's so silly to think. And he emphasizes that again, right?

00:08:25.520 Like this is like our once in a generation moment to fight against the right or whatever.

00:08:31.660 And it's like, really, liberals, this is the issue?

00:08:34.360 Like, you think you're going to run the next election on this issue?

00:08:37.800 Like, like it's interesting because there are some other criticism.

00:08:41.100 We have a clip we'll play in a second from another Trudeau minister where she's talking about how she doesn't think that Danielle Smith did enough consultations.

00:08:46.440 And she didn't talk to enough trans kids, I guess, to introduce this policy.

00:08:52.500 It's like, you know, here at True North and through our journals, we talked to a lot of Canadians.

00:08:56.680 They see a lot of public reaction.

00:08:58.560 And I would say that this is one of those issues that the left is just wrong on.

00:09:02.280 They're out of touch.

00:09:03.120 And if if the Trudeau government really wants to fight an election and make this their like issue to die on, like, good luck, man.

00:09:10.380 Good luck with that.

00:09:12.400 Parenting transcends politics on that.

00:09:14.200 And that's what I mean, to the left, this is just a left versus right thing.

00:09:17.880 You know, exactly.

00:09:18.760 And this is one of those issues where I just think that they they don't they're not in line with public opinion.

00:09:24.380 That most parents, even maybe they won't say it aloud to a pollster or someone calling up.

00:09:28.600 I think deep down when it comes to like your children and the fact that they go to school and someone might be telling them that they're born into the wrong body, that there's something wrong with their body and that they have to start taking like chemicals and life altering drugs that will prevent them from being able to like have a normal sex life or potentially have children in the future.

00:09:49.700 Like you're telling little kids that I mean, it's just it's just so preposterous.

00:09:53.640 And again, good on Danielle. 0.76

00:09:55.160 I want to play this clip from this is Trudeau's minister of women and gender equality and youth, which is apparently one ministry now.

00:10:03.000 Her name is Marcian.

00:10:04.120 And so here's here's what she had to say.

00:10:06.760 Randy, Randy and I spent last night and into this morning consoling kids, talking to advocates and then saying we will make sure and go back to our cabinet colleagues that everything is on the table.

00:10:27.440 Well, anything that we can do, but the consultation with community and this will be happening across the country.

00:10:35.940 I mean, it has been happening, but I'm going to be heading on the road and bringing forward, you know, the opinions and the life experiences of those this impacts.

00:10:46.800 So what I wouldn't do is put out a statement without proper consultation and othering people before, you know, I want to say blowing up people's lives.

00:11:00.200 Othering people and blowing up people's lives.

00:11:02.460 Harrison, over to you.

00:11:03.660 Well, I find it kind of strange that the minister, both of those ministers were talking late at night on the phone with trans kids and consoling them over the decision.

00:11:12.780 It is a weird thing to be bragging about, but yeah, you know, why don't they can you just leave the kids alone, please, and let them make their own decisions when they're adults.

00:11:22.220 I want to bring this point up, though, as well, because this has been getting lost in all the leftist reaction.

00:11:27.380 Danielle Smith's announcement, what people are not talking about is the fact that she's actually making life for transgender people in Alberta who are adults easier.

00:11:35.680 She's trying to actually get a doctor who specializes in surgeries and transgender aftercare into Alberta. 0.99

00:11:42.120 So she's actually trying to make their lives easier while protecting children, allowing them to make their own decisions and not ruin their lives. 0.97

00:11:49.900 I don't know why Marcy Ian was on the verge of tears over the fact that children will no longer be able to mutilate themselves without their parents' consent.

00:11:59.420 It's a very strange thing to fight on.

00:12:01.420 And I guess if this is the hill they're going to die on, go for it.

00:12:04.640 I don't think you're going to win with the immigrant vote, and I don't think you're going to win with the majority vote either. 1.00

00:12:08.140 Well, let me just let me bring in Chanel Pfaff, who's a former teacher.

00:12:13.300 She's a prominent commentator because I agree with what she has to say here.

00:12:17.160 She says, I'll preface this by saying that I like Danielle Smith and I support her efforts to address this.

00:12:21.440 Unfortunately, though, she is currently seeking to find a middle ground with a cult. 0.56

00:12:24.840 She's playing their game and using their language.

00:12:26.940 Gender identity is not a real thing.

00:12:28.700 It's a made up term for something that does not exist.

00:12:31.000 Biological sex, i.e. sex simply cannot be altered.

00:12:34.520 It is an immutable trait.

00:12:35.760 I don't know how we are to fight this ideology when even our most based politicians refuse to discuss the issue truthfully without ideologically written language.

00:12:46.000 I think, Andrew, you and I are going to disagree a little bit on this.

00:12:48.760 But part of the announcement was bringing in all these resources to accommodate and facilitate more gender reassignment surgery for adults, as Harrison just mentioned.

00:12:57.820 And to me, I mean, sure, I guess it's better that they don't have to travel all the way to Quebec in order to get these services.

00:13:04.360 But why are we as a society facilitating this?

00:13:07.360 Presumably, this is government funded as well.

00:13:09.180 It's like, really, is this where we are in a society where we are saying, you know what, as long as you're an adult, you can pretend to be a woman. 0.97

00:13:16.160 You can castrate yourself. 0.99

00:13:18.120 You can remove your sexual biological organs if you want to. 1.00

00:13:22.020 Go ahead. 0.93

00:13:22.580 I mean, it's a free society.

00:13:23.540 Not only that, we'll pay for it, too.

00:13:25.440 Like, what kind of message is this sending?

00:13:26.960 Where are we as a culture in 2024 where this is like a hardcore conservative thing to do?

00:13:33.080 Well, I mean, look, the paying for it, I think we can all on this call agree on.

00:13:36.920 I mean, there's a libertarian argument against paying for it and a social conservative argument against paying for it and so on.

00:13:42.760 Listen, I mean, we let people make decisions that are not in their best interest.

00:13:48.020 We let adults smoke.

00:13:49.080 We let people do extreme sports.

00:13:50.700 I have seen people that have had more plastic surgery than I think the Lego factory has managed to do when you see them walking around with lips that are the size of hot air balloons and, you know, other organs that have been inflated.

00:14:05.200 Well, not organs, but, you know, anyway, it's off the record.

00:14:07.500 You guys know what I mean.

00:14:08.120 So I've seen all of that, and, you know, I don't want the state saying you can't do that because it's not in your best interest.

00:14:15.320 So there is a libertarian argument for it, which is why I actually think Danielle Smith made the politically wise decision here, which is to focus on children, focus on the area where there is a protective role for the state. 0.99

00:14:28.040 And even the most civil liberties-minded people and individual freedom-minded people tend to agree that, that you protect the vulnerable.

00:14:34.800 So, yeah, should the government be bending over backwards to go out of its way to bring all of these resources in?

00:14:41.940 I don't think it's a priority.

00:14:43.680 And I'd be interested in seeing, to Chanel Fall's point, was Danielle Smith doing that because she believes in that and she believes that's important?

00:14:51.120 Or was she doing it because she wanted that as a shield so that when people criticized her for being transphobic for the kids' stuff, she could say, well, no, we're actually doing all of this.

00:15:00.480 If she believes it, look, that's her government's position, fine.

00:15:04.840 If she's just doing it because she's trying to make this concession, then I have a significant problem with that.

00:15:11.560 But ultimately, what's going to happen here is we're going to see jurisdictions shopping anyway.

00:15:17.580 And I think the problem that we were already going to see in Canada is that people from the United States were going to be coming up north because you had provinces that are far more permissive with this.

00:15:27.020 And I think that when provinces start to take this seriously, it's actually a good thing, not just for Canadians, but arguably for some Americans as well.

00:15:35.060 Well, so according to your logic, then, this next story shouldn't bother you at all.

00:15:39.020 So David Menzies over at The Rebel.

00:15:40.680 I regret doing this show.

00:15:41.680 I'm out.

00:15:42.160 I quit.

00:15:43.800 David Menzies, our friend over at The Rebel, broke this story, this incredible, like, real-life Lady Ballers, the Daily Wire movie that just came out.

00:15:53.320 He went down to Seneca College, which is, you know, adults over the age of 18, right, Andrew?

00:15:58.880 And here we have five men playing on a women's volleyball team.

00:16:06.380 So, hey, you know, they're adults.

00:16:08.840 They can do as they wish.

00:16:10.600 Let's play David Menzies' clip here because it's really, really something.

00:16:15.960 David Menzies for Rebel News here at Centennial College in Toronto.

00:16:20.960 And we have the latest example of trans-sanity to the power of five, quite literally. 0.99

00:16:28.700 We were tipped off that this female volleyball game that we witnessed earlier featured not one, not two, not three, not four, but five men pretending to be females.

00:16:41.920 Three were on Seneca.

00:16:43.720 Two were on Centennial.

00:16:45.580 Gee, can you imagine which side won?

00:16:48.100 Not only that, the male players were always on the court.

00:16:53.560 So you had biological female substitutes just sitting on the bench for the entire game. 1.00

00:17:01.680 So, Andrew, I'll let you respond.

00:17:03.740 Well, you've grossly mischaracterized my position on this.

00:17:07.100 I think you should have the right as an individual to live your life the way you want.

00:17:11.420 I do not believe that you have the right to impose that on others.

00:17:15.200 So here we have an example where those five men are imposing their choice on others who I don't know for a fact.

00:17:23.620 I would assume didn't have a say in the matter.

00:17:26.100 And I think on athletics, absolutely.

00:17:28.180 You are imposing.

00:17:29.720 I think there should be the ability for people to create leagues that are open to people of all or multiple or no genders whatsoever.

00:17:38.420 I don't know all the categories now.

00:17:39.880 I think it was like Facebook where when you choose your gender, you've got like, you know, 97 options.

00:17:44.140 So, you know, if someone wants to start a league that will take the pangender, the agender, the transgender, the non-gender, the male, the female, all of that, fine.

00:17:51.320 I don't really care.

00:17:52.660 So I think that is where my libertarianism is there.

00:17:56.800 It is not the ability to inject yourself into spaces that are supposed to be single sex.

00:18:02.320 And that's where I don't think there's any disagreement from anyone on this call.

00:18:07.920 Well, I mean, to me, it just makes my blood boil.

00:18:09.920 That moment where you see all of the female athletes who, like, don't forget the sacrifice, the commitment, the dedication it takes to become an athlete at that level.

00:18:19.020 Like, it's not, you know, we're not talking about a beer league here.

00:18:21.420 We're talking about a college team.

00:18:23.800 And to see them totally, you know, wasting their efforts sitting on the sidelines, they're kind of almost acting like cheerleaders.

00:18:31.320 There's nothing more infuriating.

00:18:34.340 And then interestingly, the longer clip, which we didn't play, you can see that the people around the team get, like, really angry and really defensive. 0.99

00:18:42.380 And they start yelling at Menzies and calling them a transphobe and saying F off and talking about vaginas. 0.98

00:18:47.220 Like, it gets really deranged and weird. 0.99

00:18:50.580 But it's weird to see how people react.

00:18:53.640 It's like, they don't stop and think, like, what is right here?

00:18:56.140 What is correct?

00:18:56.960 All they think is, here's someone who's trying to, like, disrupt what we've already agreed that we're going to do.

00:19:02.520 How dare he?

00:19:03.720 What do you think, Harrison?

00:19:05.220 Well, remember, David Menzies is going after the star athletes on these teams, guys.

00:19:10.260 These teams want to win.

00:19:11.320 And so he's exposing the people who are, you know, carrying the team.

00:19:16.100 So the will to win clearly has trumped any actual sane thinking for the volleyball athletes, the volleyball coaches.

00:19:22.580 Just don't forget, remember, he did this whole story on a rugby player, a man who was just injuring women on the field.

00:19:29.080 Clearly the star player of that rugby team as well.

00:19:33.020 I laugh at the beginning where it looks like someone's trying to hit David Menzies with the volleyball when he first starts his video.

00:19:39.820 Anyway, I find the whole thing ridiculous, obviously.

00:19:43.240 And the reaction is very strange.

00:19:45.900 They don't want to expose their secret weapon, so to speak, on their teams.

00:19:53.160 And this is the kind of thing that proves Daniel Smith's point about why the province has to stop this from happening.

00:19:59.580 You have to protect the sanctity of competition and sportsmanship in sports.

00:20:03.220 Otherwise, the whole thing is just a joke.

00:20:05.700 It's just this sneaky, strange, you know, feel to try and get an advantage.

00:20:11.620 It's very strange.

00:20:12.900 No, it's terrible.

00:20:14.500 Yeah.

00:20:15.240 No, I was just going to – I can't remember when this came out.

00:20:18.100 I don't know if you guys saw it.

00:20:18.980 There was some video that circulated.

00:20:20.480 I probably saw it on Jonathan.

00:20:21.500 Gaming or Females in Gaming PSA, and it was this video of, like, all of these younger girls, young women that were talking about being in the gaming world.

00:20:35.500 And there was probably in the video only one female. 0.98

00:20:39.060 That was, like – so you had, like, you know, this montage of nine people talking.

00:20:42.280 And, like, it might have been all were male, but there was one that I think was the most compelling example.

00:20:48.060 And that's, again, that's going to be the future of sports.

00:20:51.020 And you and Candace have, like, compared this to that Daily Wire movie that either just – has it come out yet?

00:20:55.600 I haven't actually seen it.

00:20:56.980 Oh, you've got to see it.

00:20:57.680 It's hilarious.

00:20:58.220 Is it good?

00:20:58.660 Okay.

00:20:58.960 Lady Ballers, was it? 0.98

00:21:00.600 Yeah, Lady Ballers. 1.00

00:21:04.480 Yeah, no.

00:21:05.240 So, I mean, Lady Ballers is – I mean, it's a pretty cheesy, like, low-budget movie or whatever, independent movie.

00:21:11.080 But the concept is, like, a bunch of washed-up high school basketball players decide to, like, reunite for their glory days.

00:21:19.060 And they're obviously, like, too old and out of shape to play for, like, a competition against men.

00:21:25.240 So they, like, you know, realize that they can game the system and they go play against women and they dominate them. 0.99

00:21:30.760 And it's satire, but it happens, right?

00:21:33.760 It's, like, this is literally what we're watching.

00:21:35.700 And so when you go back and you watch Lady Ballers, you realize that it's not this, like, absurd scenario that they've just, like, created to mock the left.

00:21:43.820 It's, like, this is literally happening every day, especially in countries like Canada where everybody is just so polite.

00:21:51.380 And, you know, they want to be seen as progressive.

00:21:53.600 They want to be seen as good little liberals.

00:21:55.080 And so they don't want to rock the boat.

00:21:56.840 They don't want to say anything, even though, like, deep down I think you have to realize, especially if you have a daughter or if you're a woman.

00:22:02.540 I mean, look, I told a story before, but I grew up playing hockey when I was younger.

00:22:06.800 I played with the boys because I was pretty good.

00:22:08.820 And it got to a certain point where, biologically, I was just different and I couldn't fight against my biology as much as I tried.

00:22:15.660 And it was just not really safe for me to play with the boys anymore.

00:22:19.240 So I moved over to the Girls League.

00:22:20.980 And at first I didn't like it because it wasn't challenging enough.

00:22:23.300 But over time it's, like, this is a space where I can excel and I can get opportunities and I can play and this is my sport.

00:22:29.320 And, you know, the idea that they would start inserting boys into that scenario, it totally erases the whole idea of having women's sports.

00:22:39.020 And it is absurd.

00:22:40.260 But I commend the guys over at The Daily Wire for having the courage to point this stuff out and really for playing an active role in the culture, right?

00:22:48.320 Like, we're journalists, we're nerds, we sit on the sideline and we watch it all unfold and we comment on it.

00:22:53.160 Whereas The Daily Wire, they're actually, like, in the culture now and they're, like, fighting a ground war.

00:22:59.480 So I know you guys are both going to cringe at this next clip.

00:23:02.980 But here we have it.

00:23:04.060 We live in a world where Ben Shapiro, you know, the fast-talking, nerdy Jewish guy that hosts the most popular podcast, he is now America's number one rapper.

00:23:14.940 I think he might be the number one rapper in the entire world with his song, Facts.

00:23:19.300 It came out last week.

00:23:21.380 He's collaborating, by the way, with a Canadian rapper who's actually a rapper, this guy, Tom McDonald, who's quite good and quite popular.

00:23:28.680 He has a large following in the independent world.

00:23:30.600 But here it is.

00:23:32.200 Here is Ben Shapiro rapping a song that people are actually downloading and paying for.

00:23:37.420 So let's play that clip.

00:23:38.260 I've got the facts.

00:23:40.560 My money, like Liz, and my pockets are fat.

00:23:42.320 Homie, I'm epic. 0.97

00:23:43.120 Don't be a whap. 1.00

00:23:43.960 Dog, it's a yarmulke.

00:23:44.780 Homie, no cap.

00:23:45.620 Look at the graphs.

00:23:46.480 Look at my charts.

00:23:47.280 You're blowing money on strippers and cars. 1.00

00:23:48.820 You going to prison.

00:23:49.640 I'm on television.

00:23:50.580 Dog, no one knows who you are.

00:23:52.440 Keep hating on me on the internet.

00:23:54.020 My comment section are woke parents.

00:23:55.940 And I make racks off compound interest.

00:23:57.700 Y'all live with your parents.

00:23:59.340 Nikki, take some notes.

00:24:00.500 I just did this for fun.

00:24:02.200 All my people, download this.

00:24:03.620 Let's get a billboard number one.

00:24:05.440 And I think they did it.

00:24:08.340 I think they got the billboard number one.

00:24:10.300 I love the lyrics.

00:24:11.640 I love that Ben embraces the fact that he is this nerdy guy that talks fast.

00:24:17.440 And here they are actually having a voice.

00:24:19.260 This is to my point.

00:24:20.160 I think that the conservatives, conservatism is having a cultural moment right now where people are going and downloading this song, not necessarily because they like it or because they think Ben Shapiro is a talented rapper, which he isn't.

00:24:32.740 But because it's like fighting against the establishment.

00:24:36.020 It's like a big middle finger to the music industry, to the powers that be that we know manipulate everything.

00:24:42.320 We know that they have their hands on the scale.

00:24:43.840 We know that the last thing that they want is for a conservative pundit to become the top, especially someone who's been so critical of rap over the years.

00:24:52.240 And I think there's quotes of him saying that rap isn't real music and all that stuff.

00:24:56.680 So the fact that it's almost like a game-stop moment.

00:25:00.000 It's like, let's take down the big guys.

00:25:02.160 Let's take down the establishment. 0.96

00:25:03.940 And I think that, I mean, I think it's awesome.

00:25:07.380 Candice, does this rap song call this Canadian content?

00:25:11.040 Is this Canadian content here?

00:25:12.460 Because Tom McDonald is sort of the actual guy who actually made this.

00:25:16.260 Look, maybe C11 actually helped them out.

00:25:18.280 Maybe it bumped up the algorithm on Apple and Spotify to get it going.

00:25:23.140 I think it's great, but we should not be just, you know, praising Ben Shapiro.

00:25:27.160 We have another Canadian rapper who's now the number one rapper, Unseated Drake.

00:25:30.900 This is like, this should be a big Canadian moment.

00:25:33.720 Call it a heritage moment.

00:25:34.800 Maybe if he wins a Grammy, he can thank Justin Trudeau for fixing the algorithms for him.

00:25:40.060 Bumped up the song a little bit.

00:25:41.300 No, we should get them to do like the theme song for Off the Record.

00:25:45.980 It'll be wonderful.

00:25:47.580 Shapiro's got to be the only guy who, when he raps, ends up talking more slowly than when he's speaking.

00:25:53.140 That's like the weirdest thing about that is that it's easier to understand him rapping than when he's going off on the show, I think.

00:25:59.760 Oh, yeah, at times.

00:26:01.300 You know, usually I listen to podcasts at like 1.25 or 1.5 just to, you know, get to the point fast.

00:26:07.600 When I listen to Ben, I have to listen to it at 1.

00:26:10.000 And sometimes I have to like go back.

00:26:11.240 0.75 even.

00:26:12.340 Yeah, 0.75 just to understand what he's saying.

00:26:15.000 But the thing I like about it is that other like rappers, like legitimate rappers are actually giving props to Ben and saying that, you know, we have Nicki Minaj saying, you know, go listen to it and congratulating him for his success.

00:26:29.780 And, you know, of course, I think Ben knows that his music is kind of cringy, but that's the point of it, right?

00:26:36.480 And I think that he's making like multiple points at the same time by actually saying like, anyone can do this.

00:26:42.380 See, look, I'm doing it.

00:26:43.780 And there he is.

00:26:45.580 By the way, it wasn't, I mean, he wasn't just number one in rappers.

00:26:49.280 I saw that screenshot we put up of the iTunes charts.

00:26:52.000 He beat Billy Joel.

00:26:53.380 Now, like that's, now I don't know how old that's, turn the lights back on.

00:26:56.960 Let me look up how old that is.

00:26:58.120 Turn the lights back on by Billy Joel.

00:27:00.960 That's, oh, that came out.

00:27:03.320 That's a new.

00:27:03.740 So he beat Billy Joel even.

00:27:05.360 Like Ben Shapiro beat Billy Joel on the iTunes charts.

00:27:07.920 Impressive, man.

00:27:10.380 These guys, they don't mess around.

00:27:12.240 And like I said, people, people like it.

00:27:15.420 I don't know if it's irony or.

00:27:18.460 Yeah, we'll put up the Nicki Minaj tweet.

00:27:20.160 You referenced this.

00:27:20.740 She says, wait till they wake up and listen to what Ben Shapiro is saying in facts.

00:27:25.620 The outrage on this one will be a tad bit delayed.

00:27:28.860 And then he had retweeted that to say, yo, Nicki Minaj, bestseller rapper in the world.

00:27:33.800 Can't get an invitation to the Grammys.

00:27:35.520 Can you hook a homie up? 1.00

00:27:37.080 So I don't know if, if he gets invited to the Grammys, that'll be fantastic.

00:27:41.520 But I can't think of, I can't think of anything more embarrassing for the music industry than

00:27:47.120 seeing this pop up on the top charts of the songs in the world.

00:27:52.220 Okay.

00:27:52.640 Ben Shapiro just beat everybody.

00:27:54.180 You guys like all your professionals with all your record labels.

00:27:57.020 Like how absolutely embarrassing must that be to be by Ben Shapiro?

00:28:01.060 I hope he goes to the Grammy.

00:28:02.420 Like he won't be invited, but I hope he like has his own little thing in front of the Grammys

00:28:05.700 at least.

00:28:07.120 Totally.

00:28:07.400 I want to see him show up with his glasses and everything.

00:28:09.660 It kind of reminds me of what we're doing right now at True North in the publishing world,

00:28:13.160 because basically, you know, we published Grave Error and it was number one on Amazon.

00:28:18.060 It was like selling thousands of copies over Christmas and doing really well.

00:28:22.640 You had The Rebel published Tamara Litch's biography.

00:28:26.900 And this was mentioned in a newsletter put out by Ken White, who's a publisher and very

00:28:32.600 established person in Toronto.

00:28:34.220 And basically, he noted that Mark Messier got a million dollar deal to write a biography.

00:28:39.540 Tamara Lynch basically self-published through The Rebel and her book has four times as many

00:28:46.760 like reviews and comments, like probably way more read than what the big industry people are

00:28:53.040 willing to pay millions of dollars for.

00:28:54.760 Right. And it's like this is kind of just a wake up call.

00:28:57.980 It's like, yeah, sure.

00:28:58.560 You can spend millions and millions of dollars and create like a hyper produced, terrible song

00:29:03.040 that no one's going to like in six months.

00:29:04.320 And imagine how much money these these rap stars and rock stars. 1.00

00:29:07.480 I mean, like you said, and you're outselling Billy Joel, outselling Justin Timberlake's

00:29:11.520 new song, like all of these really, really probably expensive to produce songs.

00:29:16.700 And, you know, you have Tom McDonald, who is independent.

00:29:19.240 He's not he doesn't have a record label.

00:29:20.540 He puts it out himself.

00:29:21.760 Probably didn't spend that much money on it.

00:29:23.380 I mean, it was really well done, well edited, but didn't spend much money.

00:29:26.660 And here they are running circles around everybody else.

00:29:30.120 So I think I think it shows, again, that the establishment is kind of running out of juice

00:29:35.000 and you can you can apply that to any, you know, media publishing, book publishing, music

00:29:40.540 industry, maybe even like movies.

00:29:43.340 I don't know.

00:29:44.120 But but again, I think that this is this is this is all a good sign.

00:29:49.680 Yeah, the one thing I'll point out on this is that people on the right are prepared to

00:29:54.460 do something they weren't always prepared to do, which is put their money forward when

00:29:57.980 this happens.

00:29:59.040 Conservatives have always bought books, like especially in the US, conservative authors

00:30:02.740 have always done tremendously well, like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, like

00:30:06.740 in that kind of the heyday of the, you know, 2010s.

00:30:10.020 These people were putting out a book a year and every one of them was New York Times bestseller

00:30:13.620 for years.

00:30:14.680 And I think conservatives, it took a little bit of time for that sort of Andrew Breitbart

00:30:18.600 approach of politics being downstream of culture to really be realized.

00:30:22.560 But they're producing good quality stuff and people on the right are buying it.

00:30:25.660 I mean, it's not they're not just like spinning is the old radio term I was about to use,

00:30:30.060 but they're not just, you know, watching the Ben Shapiro clip on YouTube.

00:30:33.020 They're actually buying it on iTunes.

00:30:35.960 Yeah, I mean, I did it.

00:30:37.000 It was like a buck.

00:30:37.560 I'm like, yeah, I'll do it.

00:30:38.360 I want these guys to hit number one.

00:30:40.280 Like, why not?

00:30:42.280 All right.

00:30:42.720 Andrew, I know you wanted to talk about the trucker convoy.

00:30:46.640 I know that we've had some justice here with the court striking down Justin Trudeau's actions,

00:30:52.720 but the liberals are still trying.

00:30:54.180 They're still trying to justify it.

00:30:55.380 They're still trying to say that everything they did was a-okay and just fine.

00:30:59.940 So I'll let you set up this clip here.

00:31:02.360 Yeah, I talked about it a little bit on my show earlier, but I thought it kind of was

00:31:05.820 important to revisit on this show because for starters, it was two years ago from this

00:31:11.660 exact day that the convoy was in Ottawa.

00:31:14.340 It got there on kind of January 28th, 29th, depending on which leg of it.

00:31:18.400 So there's a bit of an anniversary there.

00:31:20.480 But Jody Thomas, who up until a few days ago was Justin Trudeau's national security advisor,

00:31:25.020 she was the national security advisor throughout the course of the convoy's time in Ottawa,

00:31:29.780 was doing the rounds on media.

00:31:31.820 But like, by the way, national security people, I don't think should probably do the rounds

00:31:35.120 on media.

00:31:36.040 But this was what she said in her parting interview on CTV.

00:31:39.660 I think, as I said in my POG testimony, what we were seeing in terms of activity on the

00:31:44.960 ground and intelligence was very clear.

00:31:48.400 There was a huge, huge occupation here in Ottawa.

00:31:52.380 It was increasingly violent.

00:31:55.200 We were starting to hear language about weapons being in the trucks.

00:31:59.000 We had the arrest in Coutts, which was a significant weapons cache and very concerning.

00:32:05.380 The charges that have been laid there are indicative of what was going on.

00:32:11.160 Increasingly violent.

00:32:12.280 There was no evidence at all presented before the Public Order Emergency Commission that there

00:32:17.740 was an increase in violence.

00:32:19.300 There was no evidence to support the language that she alluded.

00:32:23.580 You can't, my air quotes were too wide.

00:32:25.060 The language that she alluded.

00:32:28.380 Somehow I got like some, wait, can I do that again?

00:32:31.740 The confetti effect?

00:32:32.860 I know what happens.

00:32:33.400 I think if you put like a thumbs up, okay, no.

00:32:36.200 What is happening?

00:32:37.420 I did it the other day on a podcast.

00:32:39.600 You put a thumbs up and like little thumbs up popped up.

00:32:42.320 Yeah, because it's, yeah, it happened on a Zoom call anyway.

00:32:45.820 Whatever.

00:32:47.740 These small things amuse small minds, as they say.

00:32:50.260 So, yeah, where was I?

00:32:52.560 So before the confetti rained down upon me, yeah, she was basically saying things that

00:32:57.740 were not supported by any evidence.

00:32:59.100 I mean, there were rumors going around that there were weapons in trucks, but police seized those

00:33:02.740 trucks.

00:33:03.080 They impounded them.

00:33:04.040 There were, to my knowledge, zero weapons charges that were laid in connection with the

00:33:09.660 Freedom Convoy.

00:33:10.420 So this idea that they were either acting on incredibly bad advice or just making things

00:33:15.560 up is what I take away from that interview.

00:33:17.680 But she was doing that to justify the use of the Emergencies Act, which is unconstitutional.

00:33:22.180 But as you mentioned, government doubling down on this.

00:33:24.740 I mean, Harrison, you spent some time in Ottawa.

00:33:26.380 Did you find any weapons caches while you were there?

00:33:28.420 No, I didn't.

00:33:30.160 I can't say I was necessarily looking for weapons, but I didn't see them, didn't hear

00:33:33.660 about them.

00:33:34.600 And of course, throughout testimonies that took place months after the Freedom Convoy and

00:33:39.380 before the Emergencies Act inquiry, the police even testified to that, saying there were no

00:33:44.240 weapons found in Ottawa.

00:33:45.740 Notice, she gets away saying, she gets away by saying this on CTV News and CBC because the

00:33:52.140 media won't push back on her claims.

00:33:53.900 They'll just allow it to be put out there as justification to unconstitutionally violate

00:33:58.160 the rights of Canadians.

00:33:59.600 But if this were in any other media, if Jody Thomas tried to say this to alternative media,

00:34:05.300 which she never would, she'd get pushback for it.

00:34:08.160 It's blatantly just trying to justify, obviously, the wrong decision.

00:34:13.280 And they're still not telling the truth about this.

00:34:16.200 After all this time, they still refuse to admit the truth.

00:34:19.740 Well, Andrew, maybe you can answer this question.

00:34:21.460 Is a national security advisor a partisan liberal appointee, or is it a civil service

00:34:26.480 role?

00:34:27.160 No, it's a civil service role.

00:34:28.820 I mean, she is the national security and intelligence advisor to the prime minister,

00:34:32.780 but she's a career bureaucrat. 1.00

00:34:34.660 I mean, like, because when I, I mean, look, I don't want to besmirch her approach to work

00:34:39.020 and her qualifications.

00:34:39.840 But when you look at her resume, like her first line item on her resume in the public service

00:34:45.260 was working for Passport Canada.

00:34:46.860 And then she eventually moved from there, I think, to being in the Coast Guard division.

00:34:54.220 And she winds up in this position.

00:34:56.460 So she's not someone who had a career at CSIS.

00:34:59.140 She's not someone who had a career in defense.

00:35:01.380 She's not someone, her degree was in commerce.

00:35:03.120 So it's not even like she's someone who's particularly well versed from an educational

00:35:07.520 perspective in security and intelligence.

00:35:09.060 She's a career bureaucrat who became the national security and intelligence advisor. 0.97

00:35:12.560 But even though it's supposed to be a nonpartisan role, it's astonishing to me how she has been

00:35:18.580 deployed to use government talking points, both at the Public Order Emergency Commission

00:35:23.100 and in that interview.

00:35:25.260 Well, the deep state is real, boys.

00:35:27.000 Yeah.

00:35:27.620 So, I mean, the fact that, you know, she comes out talking like a liberal, she called it

00:35:31.040 an occupation, which was, you know, when it's the left, when it's, you know, pro-Hamas

00:35:36.480 people, they just call them peaceful protesters, guys, peaceful.

00:35:39.360 Well, yeah, ignore the threats, ignore the masks, ignore the graffiti and the property

00:35:44.460 dam.

00:35:44.980 They're just peaceful protesters.

00:35:46.420 When it comes to truckers being peacefully or demonstrating their constitutional rights,

00:35:52.240 God-given rights to protest, to peaceful assembly, it's an occupation, right?

00:35:56.140 She says increasingly violent.

00:35:57.300 I know I broke a story the first weekend after the trucker convoy that they arrived in Ottawa

00:36:05.100 and every media journalist was pulling their hair out, losing their mind.

00:36:08.840 Justin Ling was obsessed with the fact that these were like violent MAGA Republicans or

00:36:13.280 that they were Russian agents or something like that.

00:36:15.720 I went through all the police scans.

00:36:17.580 I went through all the police reports.

00:36:19.200 There was not a single incident of violence.

00:36:22.380 Nothing.

00:36:22.960 Nothing.

00:36:23.200 When you consider the fact that there were tens of thousands of people out, basically became

00:36:27.600 like a giant street party, the fact that there was nothing, like there were no, there weren't

00:36:31.780 even, there were no arrests.

00:36:33.400 There were, there was nothing.

00:36:34.640 There was nothing.

00:36:35.340 It was an incredibly peaceful operation.

00:36:37.920 It could have, it could have gone wrong.

00:36:39.380 And I know that there were provocateurs and people trying to, to make the truckers look

00:36:43.920 bad, but they, they showed incredible restraint.

00:36:47.380 They were very orderly.

00:36:48.700 They were very law abiding.

00:36:50.020 They were cleaning up their garbage.

00:36:51.560 They were sweeping the streets.

00:36:52.620 They were upstanding citizens.

00:36:53.920 And you know, what do we get from the civil servant?

00:36:58.060 We get liberal talking points, the exact same thing.

00:37:00.200 They were violent.

00:37:01.120 We heard rumors of guns.

00:37:03.180 They were occupying.

00:37:04.660 It's like, no one takes you seriously.

00:37:06.700 Like you, you watch someone like that on TV and you just think this person is, has a

00:37:11.460 political agenda.

00:37:12.040 That's it.

00:37:12.520 They have a political agenda and nothing else matters.

00:37:16.940 And yeah.

00:37:17.400 And you go ahead, Harrison.

00:37:18.600 Sorry.

00:37:18.760 I was going to say that the people who are protesting in Ottawa during the freedom convoy

00:37:23.280 were fully aware of the fact that there were people in the crowd trying to make them look

00:37:27.720 bad.

00:37:28.040 They knew that there were provocateurs there that were going to try and disparage the image

00:37:32.620 of the freedom convoy and make everybody look as though they were evil and criminal.

00:37:36.660 When I talked to them, they were well aware of that.

00:37:38.780 And that's why they went out of their way to do the good, to do, to do good things, to

00:37:43.760 clean up after themselves, to be respectful, to treat people with respect.

00:37:48.760 Now, we didn't see that on the other side.

00:37:50.640 We saw Ottawa residents cursing at them, yelling at them, calling them, you know, terrorists

00:37:55.460 and all of that sort of thing.

00:37:56.660 But people were fully aware of what, what the effort was, which was to try and make them

00:38:00.840 look bad.

00:38:01.260 And they never fell for it.

00:38:02.460 Doesn't, it doesn't seem to matter for the politicians though.

00:38:05.000 They just keep going on about these, these government talking points. 0.98

00:38:08.540 It's ridiculous.

00:38:09.020 And what better contrast to this post from Harsha Walia on X, formerly Twitter, Port of

00:38:17.360 Vancouver blockade calls for immediate arms embargo on Israel.

00:38:21.700 We are completely blockading the Port of Vancouver at all entrances to refuse business as the 1.00

00:38:26.260 usual during an ongoing genocide in Palestine.

00:38:30.000 Canada must stop arming genocide. 0.84

00:38:32.700 Now, just for context here, Harsha Walia is the, you may remember her, she's a bit of 0.90

00:38:38.140 a true North celebrity.

00:38:39.040 She's the former head of the BC Civil Liberties Association, which is a radical far left group.

00:38:43.640 But she was fired for being too radical for the BCCLA because she was the infamous burn 1.00

00:38:49.620 it all down lady when people were burning down churches.

00:38:52.560 And she just took the rhetorical match and kerosene to it all. 0.94

00:38:56.620 So she's now saying we need to block critical infrastructure.

00:38:59.320 And I've been waiting since that, put that tweet up for a second again, Sean.

00:39:03.520 I just want to look at the date here.

00:39:05.280 So what's that?

00:39:06.280 That's February 1st.

00:39:07.520 So that was yesterday that that came out.

00:39:10.800 No emergencies act yet, despite the blocking of critical infrastructure.

00:39:16.000 Very strange.

00:39:18.000 Yeah.

00:39:18.400 Yeah.

00:39:18.700 It's almost as if the laws are applied differently in Canada, that the left can do things and

00:39:24.100 get away with it.

00:39:24.860 And when working class people try it, not so fast, not so fast. 0.99

00:39:29.460 I mean, it's interesting just even seeing Justin Trudeau and how he gets harassed.

00:39:33.600 I mean, look, the guy gets harassed wherever he goes.

00:39:35.620 He gets he gets called off and yelled at.

00:39:37.720 But but recently, the people that you see with the most amount of pressure calling out the

00:39:42.980 prime minister, intimidating him are these far left pro Hamas protesters.

00:39:47.420 We saw a clip at the end of last year of him getting accosted in a restaurant, which was

00:39:51.440 actually quite terrifying if you think about the fact that our prime minister was like in

00:39:54.760 a restaurant with a bunch of deranged people kind of surrounding him.

00:39:58.300 You know, there's a clip of him earlier this week.

00:40:00.600 And, you know, again, a huge crowd of pro pro Palestine, pro Hamas protesters harassing

00:40:05.960 him.

00:40:06.200 It's not a good look for the prime minister.

00:40:08.420 But of course, you know, when when it was before, when it was sort of right, when people

00:40:12.080 angry about the vaccine mandate or angry about his covid policies, it was like the biggest

00:40:18.060 story in the country.

00:40:18.900 Everyone wanted to talk about the fact that these these right wing people were harassing

00:40:23.060 a prime minister as a threat to our democracy.

00:40:25.080 And then and then meanwhile, these Hamas nicks are out there intimidating him, you know, 1.00

00:40:31.040 doing crazy stuff, blocking the port of Vancouver, openly bragging about it, you know, calling

00:40:34.920 for crazy things.

00:40:35.840 And it's like, OK, all right.

00:40:38.520 Good job, guys.

00:40:39.400 Go ahead.

00:40:40.780 Yeah.

00:40:41.520 We've been informed by our producer that the port of Vancouver is not actually closed.

00:40:46.620 It's it's not been blockaded.

00:40:48.180 But even if it were, of course, the federal government wouldn't do anything about it.

00:40:52.280 These are.

00:40:52.740 No, it was blockaded.

00:40:53.800 It was blockaded.

00:40:54.580 They just restored it.

00:40:55.780 Oh, OK.

00:40:56.380 So they dealt with it.

00:40:58.460 But without the Emergencies Act.

00:41:00.120 Without the Emergencies Act.

00:41:01.420 Isn't that interesting?

00:41:02.640 Exactly.

00:41:03.540 But of course, these are voters for the Liberal Party.

00:41:05.740 They see these people as potential voters for them, and they see that they saw the truckers

00:41:10.660 as as what did Andrew Coyne call them?

00:41:14.000 Anti-social yawks. 0.96

00:41:15.940 They look down at the truckers because they are they are predominantly conservative voters.

00:41:22.020 That wasn't all of them, but that's how they view them.

00:41:24.700 They view the these rural working class people as people to look down at.

00:41:29.520 And they view the people who are out in the streets protecting, protesting against Israel

00:41:33.960 and and promoting Hamas as potential liberal voters.

00:41:36.860 So, of course, the rules aren't applied the same way at all.

00:41:39.740 And I don't think they froze her bank account either.

00:41:42.300 What a coalition.

00:41:43.460 This is this is what the liberals are running on these days, like pro-terrorism, pro-transing 0.99

00:41:48.240 the kids like this.

00:41:50.260 By the way, the number of Palestinian flags I've seen in Twitter accounts outraged about

00:41:55.400 Danielle Smith's announcement on trans stuff makes me really, really wonder about, you

00:42:01.320 know, trans rights in Gaza.

00:42:02.800 But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

00:42:04.980 Yeah, it's it's a Venn diagram.

00:42:06.520 It's like perfect overlap.

00:42:07.660 Or I guess we'll close that bridge when we get to it should be the expression now.

00:42:10.960 And that's in this case.

00:42:12.340 All right, guys.

00:42:12.820 Well, thanks so much for tuning in.

00:42:14.200 It's been fun.

00:42:14.780 We're going to come back and do it again next Friday.

00:42:17.140 So thanks to you for tuning in.

00:42:19.120 Have a great weekend and remember everything you just heard was off the record.

00:42:29.180 It's like when you're at a movie and you like wait past the credits to see if there's

00:42:32.280 a blooper or a deleted scene.

00:42:33.600 Marvel post credits.

00:42:34.700 Yeah.

00:42:36.820 And it's always like the worst thing.

00:42:38.520 It's like not funny at all.

00:42:39.480 And you're like, I can't believe I waited 10 minutes.

00:42:40.720 Yeah, I wasted like eight minutes sitting in the theater waiting for that.

00:42:44.160 I went through the lighting guy.

Off the Record - February 02, 2024

Leftists up in arms over Alberta parental rights policy

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