Rebel News Podcast - July 17, 2021


Elections commissioner convicts Ezra Levant a second time, Trudeau's RCMP manhandle Drea Humphrey


Episode Stats


Length

37 minutes

Words per minute

154.29456

Word count

5,779

Sentence count

455

Harmful content

Misogyny

10

sentences flagged

Toxicity

15

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Rebel News Commander Ezra Levent is convicted for a second time for writing a book that was critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey went to a Justin Trudeau press conference recently and got the silent treatment.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, ladies and gentlemen, and the rest of you, in which we look back
00:00:19.740 at some of the very best commentaries of the week by your favourite rebels.
00:00:23.960 I'm your host, David Menzies.
00:00:25.620 Oh, not again!
00:00:27.000 And Trudeau's elections commissioner convicts Rebel News Commander Ezra Levent for a second time?
00:00:34.600 All for the egregious crime of writing a book that was gasped critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau?
00:00:43.660 Well, the Rebel News Commander will drop by to shed light on all the sordid details.
00:00:49.900 And Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey went to a Justin Trudeau press conference recently.
00:00:54.620 Not only did the PM give her the silent treatment, but Drea got manhandled by one of Justin's goons. 0.99
00:01:03.680 Drea will join me to weigh in on this outrage. 0.63
00:01:07.820 And letters, we get your letters. We get them every minute of every day.
00:01:11.000 And you had plenty to say about my story on a merchant being evicted from a Toronto-owned market.
00:01:17.300 Her sin? Well, she complained about a busker with addiction issues
00:01:22.860 who was performing in front of her shop and scaring off her customers. 0.70
00:01:27.640 And apparently, because she had the temerity to complain,
00:01:31.220 this offended a City of Toronto bureaucrat who was motivated into carrying out a vendetta,
00:01:37.840 namely getting rid of the tenant.
00:01:39.720 Unbelievable.
00:01:41.020 Those are your rebels. Now let's round them up.
00:01:43.280 I don't think you're going to believe what I'm about to tell you.
00:01:50.800 I just received another conviction letter from Justin Trudeau's elections commissioner.
00:01:57.040 He's personally found me guilty for a second time of writing an illegal book about Trudeau back in 2019
00:02:04.360 called The Libranos, What the Media Won't Tell You About Justin Trudeau's Corruption.
00:02:09.960 And the book, it's front cover, my tweets about it, our promotion of the book across the country.
00:02:17.660 Trudeau's elections commissioner had senior officers investigating me,
00:02:23.040 tracking me, tracking our staff, creeping through our social media.
00:02:27.340 And they say it's illegal.
00:02:28.860 And they now demand that I pay thousands of dollars in fines.
00:02:33.240 You probably think I'm exaggerating or even just making it up.
00:02:36.120 So I've put the police state-style letter online at thelibranos.com for you to see for yourself.
00:02:44.820 This 14-page letter convicting me is there, including the thousands of dollars in fines.
00:02:52.460 I've also put their past convictions to me online at the same website.
00:02:57.420 And my lawyer's submissions too.
00:02:59.400 I think the craziest thing on that website is a hidden camera video I recorded of my one-hour interrogation
00:03:06.720 at the hands of two senior ex-RCMP officers who are now on censorship patrol.
00:03:14.260 I mean, it's like that book, Fahrenheit 451, about the government's official book burners.
00:03:20.220 By the way, if you don't realize this is all a test drive for their plan to censor the internet,
00:03:24.340 I think you're missing their point.
00:03:25.740 I'm the test case, you're next.
00:03:29.160 So go to thelibranos.com for that.
00:03:31.560 If you're new to this story, you probably don't know how nuts it is
00:03:34.740 to have two 30-year ex-RCMP veterans who used to be on the counterterrorism beat
00:03:41.580 ask you questions like,
00:03:44.180 why didn't you register your book with the government before criticizing the prime minister?
00:03:50.020 The knowledge that you would have or not have of the election act, the Canada Elections Act.
00:03:55.740 When you are planning the book and you, the new third party rules,
00:04:03.260 because I believe there's some comments on your stuff as well about that,
00:04:06.720 did you give any consideration of saying,
00:04:09.220 maybe I should register as a third party for this circumstance,
00:04:13.140 or maybe I shouldn't, because of my interpretation of what I'm going to do,
00:04:18.920 or did you not make that determination?
00:04:22.740 How crazy is it to be told that you can't even see the complaint against you,
00:04:27.720 let alone know who complains?
00:04:30.140 Can I see the complaint against me?
00:04:32.560 The letter that you received?
00:04:35.840 No.
00:04:36.440 I presume that you're investigating me based on a complaint.
00:04:40.000 Oh, this is still part of the investigation, so we'll have to,
00:04:42.660 once the investigation's been completed,
00:04:47.400 the commissioner will have to make a decision,
00:04:49.160 and at that point, she'll have to decide if that is releasable or not.
00:04:53.000 It's not something that usually is released, no.
00:04:54.880 So it's a secret complaint?
00:04:56.980 It's not a secret complaint.
00:04:58.120 It's just a complaint that's part of the investigation,
00:05:00.540 and to keep the integrity of the investigation right now,
00:05:05.060 you'll understand that we can't share everything that we have.
00:05:08.200 Oh, I don't want everything that you have.
00:05:09.500 I just, if I'm here to meet a complaint,
00:05:12.800 but you won't show me the complaint,
00:05:15.840 how can I possibly meet the complaint?
00:05:18.300 How can I possibly respond to something that you won't show me?
00:05:23.000 Well, I think the letter was quite clear on what the infraction is alleged,
00:05:29.420 and this is what we want to clarify with you.
00:05:32.520 Well, did you generate the complaint, or was it from an outside party?
00:05:36.800 No, we didn't generate the complaint.
00:05:38.360 Okay, so someone external to your office generated the complaint?
00:05:44.260 That is usually the case.
00:05:45.740 Is that the case in this case?
00:05:47.180 Yeah.
00:05:47.920 Yeah, we did not generate the complaint.
00:05:49.280 Okay, was it the Liberal Party that generated the complaint?
00:05:51.680 We can't go into that, sir.
00:05:53.000 So you won't tell me who the complaint is?
00:05:57.260 The complainant is.
00:05:58.440 Is that the secret?
00:05:58.860 Yeah, no, not at this point.
00:06:00.800 So at what point do you tell me who the secret is?
00:06:02.920 The commissioner is the ultimate responsible person for the investigation,
00:06:08.820 and how this is decided.
00:06:11.180 So how do I know what conduct has been complained about if you won't tell me?
00:06:16.520 And talk about creepy, those cops wanted to know who we hire at Rebel News and why.
00:06:23.160 Wow, what a sordid tale of censorship and intimidation.
00:06:27.480 It's like Ray Bradbury teamed up with George Orwell and collectively wrote a book entitled Fahrenheit 451 1984.
00:06:34.940 But since when has it been against the law to write a book in our great dominion?
00:06:40.800 Well, apparently, ever since Justin Trudeau became prime minister, that's when...
00:06:46.520 Oh, by way of clarification, as an author, you will not be raked over the coals by a government goon squad if you pen a positive book about the PM.
00:06:56.320 However, if you have the chutzpah to be critical of Justin, well, then you've got some explaining to do.
00:07:03.960 And joining me now is Rebel Commander Ezra Levent.
00:07:06.500 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, Ezra.
00:07:08.940 This stuff, you being charged again for the Libranos, this is Banana Republic stuff, isn't it?
00:07:15.080 Yeah, I wrote the book almost two years ago.
00:07:17.160 It's called The Libranos.
00:07:18.480 I've actually had that idea as far back as when I was with the Western Standard Magazine more than 10 years ago.
00:07:25.320 I mean, it's a takeoff of The Sopranos, which was a hit show, I don't know, almost 20 years ago or so, probably.
00:07:33.540 And, you know, the book was about Trudeau's corruption.
00:07:37.640 There's over 200 footnotes in it.
00:07:39.940 No one's ever said I got a fact wrong.
00:07:42.120 I think it's my best-selling book ever, over 1,000 five-star reviews on Amazon, so it's a good book.
00:07:49.060 And I think maybe that's why Trudeau's so mad about it.
00:07:51.720 If no one was reading it or if it was ridiculed as being full of errors, I don't think he'd be worried.
00:07:57.740 But I think he's really upset by it because his elections commissioner,
00:08:02.360 instead of ensuring election integrity against Chinese influence or people voting without ID,
00:08:08.940 they have put so many lawyers and investigators and prosecutors on my book.
00:08:15.320 But the thing is, books are specifically exempt from election finance law.
00:08:21.800 There's a book exemption.
00:08:23.880 And because you could say, well, that book supports Trump, that book opposes Trump.
00:08:29.360 That book supports Stephen Harper, that opposes Harper.
00:08:32.820 Well, no, it's a book, and you don't have to register it as a campaigner.
00:08:36.680 You know, books are protected speech.
00:08:38.660 And 24 books were written about Trudeau at the same time as mine.
00:08:44.140 Mine was one of 24 Trudeau books in the campaign.
00:08:47.260 And they were all timed for the campaign.
00:08:49.640 You don't publish a book about an election right after the election unless it's sort of retrospective.
00:08:56.640 I was convicted and fined thousands of dollars, I think it was in January.
00:09:02.040 We appealed.
00:09:05.840 The chief election commissioner himself had issued a new ruling from,
00:09:13.060 it was not really an appeal, it was from scratch.
00:09:16.160 And he convicted me again, gave me the same fines again.
00:09:21.520 But the difference is, this time, he was replying to my lawyer's written briefings.
00:09:27.860 So my lawyers filed some arguments.
00:09:30.780 And I just want to focus on one of them.
00:09:33.600 And for folks who want to see the complete conviction letter, I think it's 14 pages long,
00:09:39.760 you can get that at thelibranos.com.
00:09:43.360 My lawyer said, you only prosecuted the one book that was critical of Trudeau.
00:09:49.980 You let the 23 pro-Trudeau books go.
00:09:52.840 That's right.
00:09:53.620 That shows that this is picking and choosing.
00:09:57.200 So what was the chief commissioner's reply to that?
00:09:59.600 He said, yeah, you're right.
00:10:02.480 And I have that power.
00:10:04.500 I have that discretion.
00:10:06.200 I don't have to prosecute them all.
00:10:08.660 I can choose which one to prosecute.
00:10:10.760 You're right.
00:10:11.860 And that does, and I have that right.
00:10:14.180 So he doesn't deny there were 24 books written.
00:10:17.880 The other 23 get the exemption.
00:10:20.940 He says he's allowed to only prosecute mine.
00:10:25.160 Well, I mean, what else is there to say?
00:10:27.520 There is more to say.
00:10:28.500 By the way, the book exemption, I know by heart now, books are exempt.
00:10:35.640 Here, I've got a copy of the book right here.
00:10:37.440 Books are exempt if they are sold for a commercial.
00:10:40.820 Like if this book was given out for free, I guess maybe that's campaign propaganda.
00:10:44.980 But this book is $15, which, you know, I think it's fair.
00:10:48.780 Like I didn't give this out for free.
00:10:52.240 We sold it.
00:10:53.160 Yeah.
00:10:53.560 And it also applies to the promotion of books.
00:10:57.000 That's important because we had, we promoted this with videos, with internet ads, and even
00:11:04.680 with lawn signs, which are fun.
00:11:06.720 We had lawn signs with the cover, and it had three words on it.
00:11:10.800 Buy the book.
00:11:11.660 It didn't say vote Trudeau or don't vote Trudeau.
00:11:14.400 It just said buy the book.
00:11:15.580 But Ezra, this, what's making my...
00:11:18.520 And he said that was illegal.
00:11:20.160 But this is what I don't understand.
00:11:22.360 Under the book exemption, if you've read the legal nitty gritty, looked at the regulations,
00:11:28.500 this is legit.
00:11:29.760 And also those, all those other books as well.
00:11:32.960 How can this be...
00:11:34.580 You know, it was really funny.
00:11:35.940 Again, I refer people to, you can see it for yourself if you think I'm fibbing.
00:11:41.140 That's at thelebranos.com.
00:11:42.700 And so the lawn sign I'm talking about that had three words on it, buy the book, it has
00:11:47.340 this picture on it.
00:11:49.440 It was in red instead of in black.
00:11:51.940 And I think that's, I think it's sort of a dramatic picture, but it's...
00:11:56.860 I think it's flattering.
00:11:57.700 I think, you know, they look handsome.
00:11:59.300 They look serious.
00:12:00.240 Yes.
00:12:00.600 They look serious.
00:12:02.180 But those aren't, I wouldn't call those doctored.
00:12:04.820 I wouldn't call those, like, they're not exaggerated.
00:12:08.580 It's just, it's the lighting.
00:12:10.200 It looks dark and somber.
00:12:13.680 All the investigators at Election Canada, the deputy commissioner, the chief commissioner,
00:12:18.480 they're obsessed with this photo.
00:12:20.960 It's part of their reason for convicting me.
00:12:23.660 They say this photo is designed to make them look bad.
00:12:27.840 Well, listen, let me make a little confession.
00:12:29.420 But that's so subjective.
00:12:31.840 Let me, just for the sake of argument, concede that point.
00:12:36.180 Okay.
00:12:36.360 So it makes them look bad.
00:12:37.920 So what?
00:12:38.580 So I can't write a book that makes...
00:12:40.880 In fact, if that's their problem with it, which it seems to be, that explains a lot.
00:12:45.780 That explains why the 23 books were allowed and this one wasn't.
00:12:49.800 So let me concede.
00:12:50.820 Yeah, this book, you may have guessed by calling it The Libranos.
00:12:54.160 I am a tiny bit critical about Trudeau.
00:12:56.720 So let's grant, for the sake of debate, that the purpose of this is to change people's minds
00:13:01.560 about Trudeau.
00:13:02.380 Of course, that's why I'm a journalist.
00:13:03.580 I'm not a journalist because I like the craft of writing.
00:13:06.120 I'm like a journalist because I have something to say.
00:13:07.880 I have a message. 0.95
00:13:08.780 And my message is that Trudeau, as you can see in the subtitle, is corrupt.
00:13:13.080 And I don't just make empty accusations.
00:13:15.320 I have 289 footnotes.
00:13:16.820 Right.
00:13:17.040 And so if they're saying, hey, your book is designed to make people change their mind
00:13:21.880 about Trudeau.
00:13:23.220 And yeah, free country.
00:13:25.600 It's a book.
00:13:26.600 Your point.
00:13:27.740 No, no, no.
00:13:28.240 That is their point.
00:13:29.160 They're obsessed with the fact that these pictures, they think, I think they're handsome.
00:13:34.040 You know, I think they're handsome and the women look pretty and the guys look serious.
00:13:39.980 But if this photo is why they're saying this book is illegal, we got ourselves a free speech
00:13:44.480 problem.
00:13:45.080 But Ezra, surely the elections Canada officials, surely Justin Trudeau himself, are they really
00:13:52.300 that thin-skinned?
00:13:53.940 Oh, absolutely.
00:13:55.060 And that's the thing.
00:13:56.560 When, if he was buffeted by criticism every day, he wouldn't care.
00:14:03.120 Like, remember Donald Trump?
00:14:04.640 He would have press conferences so frequently.
00:14:07.160 And they would often go on for an hour.
00:14:10.400 And he would take endless questions.
00:14:12.640 And I don't know why, but every single time, he would call on his most furious critics.
00:14:18.380 Like, he would call on Jim Acosta.
00:14:20.440 That's a perfect example.
00:14:22.300 Every time.
00:14:23.360 It was like he enjoyed the banter.
00:14:25.480 And Jim Acosta, I don't like him.
00:14:27.720 I think he was a liberal hack.
00:14:28.960 But, I mean, I guess he was effective in, you know, his company thought so.
00:14:33.480 CNN thought so.
00:14:34.980 Donald Trump is so used to criticism.
00:14:37.140 Yeah.
00:14:37.980 He got it everywhere, on TV, on radio, on the internet.
00:14:41.560 I mean, the media were so mean.
00:14:43.740 And I mean mean.
00:14:44.780 They didn't, Melania Trump, supermodel, first supermodel, first lady, never on the front
00:14:49.560 page of any fashion magazine or women's magazine.
00:14:51.860 But it is grace.
00:14:52.860 Yeah.
00:14:53.060 I mean, so that's so petty.
00:14:54.640 But Michelle Obama on all of them, because she's so beautiful.
00:14:58.660 My point is, there's a guy whose skin is so thick, he's like an armadillo.
00:15:03.900 Because everyone hated Trump, and he didn't care.
00:15:07.460 It was like he was in a suit of armor with like 200 arrows in it.
00:15:11.200 But compare that to Justin Trudeau.
00:15:13.400 Oh, yeah.
00:15:14.640 Kicks out Rebel News from any press conference he sees us.
00:15:18.160 Turns off the mic.
00:15:19.500 Last week had RCMP manhandle our reporter, Drea Humphrey.
00:15:23.540 Today kicked out our two reporters in Montreal.
00:15:27.680 He owns the CBC.
00:15:29.560 He rents all the newspapers through his bailout.
00:15:31.880 So he's got like 99% of the media.
00:15:35.340 And the rest is a safe space for him.
00:15:37.380 He's like a bubble boy.
00:15:38.340 So when he encounters one thing that's not on board, it focuses his mind.
00:15:46.100 He's obsessed.
00:15:47.500 If he were to allow criticism all the time, he'd laugh at this book if he even noticed it.
00:15:53.540 But because he's so obsessed on total submissive obedience from the media political intellectual class,
00:16:01.540 the one, and I mean, listen, this book was a bestseller.
00:16:04.160 I'm not playing it down.
00:16:05.420 But this book is not a dominant force in Canadian politics.
00:16:09.800 It's not.
00:16:10.460 This book is not going to win or lose the election.
00:16:12.820 It didn't.
00:16:13.860 The fact that he's obsessed by it, and it's not even that big a book.
00:16:16.980 You know, it's a book lit.
00:16:18.640 The fact that he was so furious with it tells me more about him than about the book.
00:16:23.860 He can't handle anyone.
00:16:25.680 We know that.
00:16:26.640 He kicked out Jody Wilson-Raybould because she disagreed.
00:16:29.420 He kicked out Jane Philbot.
00:16:31.000 Because she disagreed.
00:16:31.920 He kicked out Salina Cesar Chavent because he couldn't handle her. 1.00
00:16:35.100 Anyone who disagrees with him gets the axe.
00:16:38.380 Well, what do you do when it's an author?
00:16:40.000 How are you going to stop that?
00:16:41.220 Well, you sick the election commissioner on him.
00:16:43.000 Well, we're going to fight.
00:16:43.820 We're going to appeal.
00:16:44.720 If you're wondering, I'm going to appeal all the way.
00:16:46.440 That was my wrap-up question, Ezra.
00:16:48.880 Where do we go from here?
00:16:50.380 And by the way, since we've had two strikes against us from the elections candidate people,
00:16:55.820 what is your hope that we can get justice on this file?
00:16:59.860 Well, I mean, these days, it's hard to have hope in the courts.
00:17:05.360 Every single court challenge against the lockdowns failed.
00:17:09.240 And there were a lot of challenges across this country.
00:17:12.000 So the courts seem to be defending this government, and I find it worrying.
00:17:16.120 This is a pure issue of free speech and the interpretation of the law.
00:17:20.440 The law specifically exempts books and the promotion of books.
00:17:23.960 They don't like the lawn signs we use.
00:17:25.820 They have three words, buy the book.
00:17:28.040 It's explicitly permitted under the law.
00:17:31.300 I think a federal court judge looking at the law would say, it's exempt.
00:17:36.520 It's right there in the statute.
00:17:37.880 And if you're not applying the statute in the spirit of the charter, we're going to fix it.
00:17:44.500 So I think we have a really good chance to win.
00:17:48.100 But why wouldn't I take this all the way to the Supreme Court?
00:17:51.740 I totally agree.
00:17:52.420 I mean, why not?
00:17:53.680 And you know what?
00:17:54.580 If the Supreme Court of Canada says, yeah, you can ban a book, well, it's good to know.
00:17:59.560 Ezra, thanks so much.
00:18:00.520 Great report.
00:18:01.440 I wish you all the best.
00:18:02.600 And, well, what can I tell you, folks?
00:18:04.480 You know, the only thing is that in yesterdecade, you would see other media outlets coming together,
00:18:11.940 fighting this on the principle of freedom of the press, free speech, free expression.
00:18:16.940 But now, as the boss himself says, the watchdogs have become the Justin Trudeau lapdogs. 0.65
00:18:22.860 What a disgrace. 0.90
00:18:23.880 Keep it here.
00:18:24.600 More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
00:18:32.600 I'm not going to go too close.
00:18:41.040 You talked about Canada's last wrongs, the past things they haven't done right.
00:18:45.220 When will you speak out about the 20 vandalized churches?
00:18:48.400 They're burning churches and vandalizing them, and you're not calling it a hate crime.
00:18:53.860 This is Canada, folks.
00:18:55.520 The Prime Minister won't ask the tough questions.
00:18:57.820 They're acknowledging past wrongs Canada has allowed to happen in this country,
00:19:02.720 but they won't speak out about 20 churches being burnt or vandalized in the last three weeks,
00:19:09.480 by the way, which puts everybody at risk for fires as well, just like we saw in Lytton, B.C.
00:19:15.560 So this is the Prime Minister looking to be re-elected,
00:19:20.160 but not speaking out against the terrorist actions against Christian places of worship.
00:19:27.820 What should life look like for the citizens who don't want to get vaccinated 0.99
00:19:38.300 with a vaccine that's not fully approved by FDA?
00:19:44.780 All right, guys, you saw that.
00:19:46.700 He wouldn't answer the question.
00:19:48.100 That's how much care and thought he wants to put into what's happening,
00:19:53.620 the persecution against Christians right now in Canada.
00:19:57.000 He also said that 100%, basically, all of us need to be vaccinated.
00:20:02.680 Everyone's got to get vaccinated if we're going to get through this as a community, as a country.
00:20:07.600 So I tried to get a question in there about, you know,
00:20:11.560 what does life look like for the people who don't want to take a vaccine
00:20:14.760 or want to delay taking a vaccine that isn't fully approved by FDA yet?
00:20:20.700 And by the way, the vaccinated people can, in fact, catch and spread COVID-19.
00:20:28.800 What about the indigenous Christians who feel unsafe on their own reserve
00:20:33.240 because their place of worship has been burnt down?
00:20:37.480 Do they not matter?
00:20:39.140 Just ignoring, just ignoring the hate crimes in Canada.
00:20:52.100 Wow.
00:20:52.880 You know, I'd love to hop into a DeLorean equipped with a flux capacitor
00:20:57.320 and go back in time to, oh, I don't know, 2015,
00:21:01.240 when Justin Trudeau was first elected prime minister.
00:21:03.720 Remember his promise regarding how his Liberals were going to make
00:21:08.780 for the most transparent government in Canadian history?
00:21:13.500 Well, they're about as transparent as a granite wall.
00:21:17.180 And Justin's latest photo op demonstrated his lack of transparency
00:21:22.000 when he refused to take questions from our own Drea Humphrey.
00:21:26.820 Oh, well, let's look on the bright side.
00:21:29.320 At least this time, the PM wasn't donning blackface.
00:21:34.160 And as for groping female reporters, well, looks like this time around, 1.00
00:21:39.160 Justin outsourced that task to one of the members of his personal goon squad.
00:21:45.120 Oh, man.
00:21:46.380 And joining me now to discuss this further is Drea Humphrey herself.
00:21:50.620 Welcome to Rebel Roundup, Drea.
00:21:52.620 Hi, David. Thanks for having me.
00:21:54.640 It's always a pleasure.
00:21:55.640 Drea, you know, I've been manhandled on this job plenty of times,
00:22:00.840 and I basically take it all in stride.
00:22:03.060 But, you know, when I see my colleagues getting pushed around,
00:22:06.940 like you and Sheila Gunn-Reed, I just get outraged.
00:22:10.860 What the hell was that security thug thinking when he physically moved you away?
00:22:16.500 I mean, you weren't impeding the prime minister. 0.97
00:22:19.120 You were just asking, oh, I guess, impolite questions.
00:22:22.260 Or is asking insensitive questions not allowed in Canada anymore?
00:22:28.460 Well, I think when it comes to Justin Trudeau, that's the real threat, isn't it?
00:22:32.740 And if you look at the video closely, I'm at a reasonable distance from him.
00:22:37.680 It's actually Justin Trudeau who breaks that distance and puts his hands towards me.
00:22:42.900 And I go like this to stop that from happening.
00:22:47.020 And then clearly I maintain my space.
00:22:49.700 And then out of nowhere, this goon, as he said, just picks me up and tosses me to the side just for asking a question.
00:22:56.500 But the reason why I say that's the real threat there is because of the security detail when I first arrived,
00:23:04.880 who came up there and basically screamed if I'm going to be asking a hard question or not.
00:23:10.620 Yeah, I saw that.
00:23:14.360 I can't ever remember this in all the politicians I've ever covered, this pre-screening.
00:23:20.620 Are you going to ask the prime minister something other than what brand of shampoo he uses while in quarantine?
00:23:27.680 It's baffling.
00:23:28.700 But getting back to that goon, Jerea, I think there's a case here for an assault charge. 1.00
00:23:35.540 You were not under arrest, so he had no right to put his clammy hands on you.
00:23:42.200 So, you know, I don't know if it's worth pursuing legal action on that.
00:23:46.760 But to me, that was just outrageous and unnecessary.
00:23:50.980 And given that he's probably RCMP, he should know the law when it comes to getting handsy with people.
00:23:57.620 Well, exactly.
00:23:59.300 And there's, you know, reasonable courses of action you can take.
00:24:02.980 He could have, you know, stood in between me and the prime minister.
00:24:07.300 He didn't take that approach.
00:24:08.340 He just pulled me from the back.
00:24:10.240 So I know we have counsel who has looked at and drafted and is going to be sending the complaint.
00:24:16.320 But we're not done looking into this.
00:24:18.940 You know, I don't know if it's a little different if it's the prime minister, but it certainly seems like assault to me.
00:24:24.160 I wasn't doing anything wrong.
00:24:25.340 I wasn't a threat to the prime minister, and I didn't deserve to be treated like that for practicing journalism.
00:24:31.440 No, 100 percent, Drea.
00:24:32.580 And, you know, getting to the question you were asking, and he certainly heard it.
00:24:39.340 Why is it, Drea, that this prime minister won't address these now dozens of churches that have been burnt down or vandalized or spray painted?
00:24:51.360 Why won't he talk about the hate crime angle here, the anti-Christian mandate of the vandals and the arsonists doing this?
00:24:59.480 Why is that off limits for this prime minister?
00:25:02.620 Well, as hard as it to believe, I'm going to first say it's not a dozen churches.
00:25:07.300 It's not 20 anymore.
00:25:08.720 There's actually 45 churches burnt or vandalized in less than a month in Canada.
00:25:17.320 Our prime minister took over, took eight churches, burnt churches for him to say 18 seconds of this isn't the way to go.
00:25:26.220 So no acknowledgment of persecution against Christians, and, of course, one of his favorite words, hate and intolerance or any such thing like that.
00:25:35.660 So that's what I was trying to ask him.
00:25:37.160 Why is there this difference?
00:25:38.280 And I think it's just not politically advantageous.
00:25:41.800 So he thinks for him to shed light on that.
00:25:45.280 Can you imagine how weak do you have to be to say something as insipid as, hey, man, this isn't the way to go?
00:25:53.820 And, of course, his best buddy, Gerald Butts, didn't like the idea of churches being burnt down, but he understood it.
00:26:01.220 I think that is outrageous.
00:26:03.320 And I, you know, pose you the question, Drea, had this been even a single mosque torched or vandalized, I think there'd be a different narrative at play here by the PM, don't you think?
00:26:17.300 Oh, yeah, for sure.
00:26:18.180 A mosque, a temple, a synagogue. 0.98
00:26:21.200 It's clearly the Christians who don't matter. 1.00
00:26:24.140 We saw the pastors get thrown in prison for preaching in person.
00:26:28.140 So this seems to be a very frightening trend that's happening, in my opinion.
00:26:34.520 And to be honest, there's not a whole lot of outrage from what I'm seeing, even from the Catholic community.
00:26:40.220 There are people speaking up, even people from the First Nation ban land speaking out against this.
00:26:46.780 But where's the uproar?
00:26:48.460 Where are the protests?
00:26:50.360 Where is the outrage for this?
00:26:53.260 Yeah, no, I don't understand it either.
00:26:55.300 And, Drea, we should point out that after that event, you went to a Premier Horgan event and you ran into a security detail.
00:27:03.580 I think it was Justin Trudeau's security detail person.
00:27:06.680 And it was Matt, actually, pardon me.
00:27:09.720 And he recorded him with his cell phone.
00:27:14.080 And it was the most bizarre kind of conversation, I thought.
00:27:19.560 But he kept talking about, are you going to go overboard again this time, i.e., yelling out questions from the sidelines.
00:27:31.320 And Matt quite rightly said to him that, listen, if you let us in the building and you let us pose a question,
00:27:39.700 yeah, we're going to play by the rules, but we can't get on the playing field.
00:27:45.760 What was your take hearing that?
00:27:48.260 And also this idea of, you know, the media like to get together ahead of time and discuss what they're going to ask and whatnot.
00:27:55.840 I just found it incredulous.
00:27:58.620 Yeah, it left me speechless for a little bit.
00:28:03.240 I learned that that was that particular person is the media liaison of sorts.
00:28:09.340 So not the security detail.
00:28:11.780 The security detail did stop Matt, you know, in the underground parking lot before that.
00:28:16.740 But basically, we got a firsthand account of the monopoly that you have to try to get in order to ask a question.
00:28:27.780 He literally told us that you have to earn the respect of state media.
00:28:33.900 CTV, he mentioned, CTV, and that they get to choose who gets to ask the questions.
00:28:40.540 It's like, are you kidding me?
00:28:42.300 This is a joke.
00:28:43.320 And I know Ezra made a good point about Trump, love him or hate him.
00:28:49.220 He always let, you know, the media that wasn't favorable to him ask a question.
00:28:54.580 Whether he called them fake news or not, he let them ask the question and he answered the question. 0.98
00:28:59.860 But Trudeau, Morgan, they're just cowards, I guess. 0.99
00:29:02.820 A hundred percent. 0.97
00:29:03.560 I think actually President Trump enjoyed it when he would call upon somebody like Jim Acosta of CNN
00:29:09.280 and they'd get into this verbal brouhaha and it was absolutely fascinating. 0.90
00:29:14.960 But you're right, the people who are leaders today in Canada, Drea, they are cowards 0.76
00:29:21.640 and they want to keep any kind of prickly, insensitive questions at bay. 0.96
00:29:27.120 And that's why we have goons manhandling you in such a disgraceful fashion.
00:29:31.780 Listen, Drea, we've got to wrap it here.
00:29:34.180 I know you'll continue to cover these politicians and hopefully in the words of Justin Trudeau's security detail,
00:29:41.380 you will behave in a normal and responsible fashion.
00:29:48.080 Whatever the heck that means.
00:29:50.260 But Drea, it was a great report and keep on trucking, my friend.
00:29:55.020 Thank you.
00:29:55.560 All right.
00:29:56.760 And folks, that was Drea Humphrey in Vancouver. 0.99
00:30:00.060 Keep it here.
00:30:00.840 More of Rebel Roundup to come right after this.
00:30:10.280 Ignore, right?
00:30:11.640 And then when I have no choice, then I wrote a letter to the manager's boss in the city.
00:30:22.080 But the letter was come back to the manager, right?
00:30:25.940 And the manager very mad.
00:30:28.500 And he even threatened me in the face, say, like, you know, I can kick you, I can move you to the back or to the basement, you know.
00:30:38.280 So I...
00:30:39.240 Or move your shop, that is, right?
00:30:40.660 I'll move your shop because I'm here complaining, you know.
00:30:43.760 So if I, if they put me on the basement, maybe I'm not complaining anymore, you know.
00:30:50.540 So, so that's why I think, because at that time I still have a long lease, like from 2015 to 2019.
00:30:59.880 So I guess I was protected by the lease.
00:31:02.740 So when my lease was finished at 2019, you know, I think they found a reason, like excuse.
00:31:10.120 Now it's like you have too many souvenirs.
00:31:12.500 So they kicked me now.
00:31:15.220 I've seen our friend Joe Warmington in the Toronto Sun.
00:31:19.180 He did some stories chronicling your plight.
00:31:21.380 And sure enough, he quotes Brad Ross, the city spokesman, as saying there were too many souvenir shops.
00:31:27.760 I understand there's five, but you were the first one here.
00:31:32.640 So why do you have to leave and the other four don't?
00:31:36.600 I have no idea.
00:31:38.440 That's why I'm very confused.
00:31:41.080 Yeah, because I'm the first one open the souvenir shop and other people copy my souvenir items.
00:31:50.500 Yes.
00:31:50.920 Now they become a souvenir shop.
00:31:53.460 Actually, they just like have to add on, you know.
00:31:56.620 But when you see their lease, they are not allowed to sell in souvenirs, you know.
00:32:03.360 So I think this is an excuse, you know, to try to kick me out.
00:32:08.740 And it's an excuse because when we talked about this off camera,
00:32:13.100 you had some incidents where there was somebody with, I guess we can call it addiction issues.
00:32:19.960 He was busking, you know, for change in the front door or near your store.
00:32:25.560 He was scaring customers away.
00:32:28.560 And you, as a rent-paying tenant, you did the logical thing.
00:32:32.880 You complained to management.
00:32:34.340 But it looks like management didn't like you complaining.
00:32:38.600 Amazing.
00:32:39.460 So let's get this straight.
00:32:40.740 If you are a rent-paying tenant at the city-owned St. Lawrence Market for 18 years,
00:32:45.680 but you have the utter temerity to complain about a person with addiction issues that is hurting your business,
00:32:53.420 it appears that city policy is to turf the complainer rather than to deal with the problem.
00:33:00.660 And so it is that a vendetta was launched against Jenny Wang to get her ousted. 0.92
00:33:05.860 What else can you call it, folks?
00:33:07.320 The city says the market has too many souvenir shops.
00:33:11.940 Okay, but Jenny's store was there first.
00:33:15.140 It makes no sense that she would be the first to go.
00:33:18.700 But then again, welcome to John Tory's Toronto,
00:33:21.740 where the unofficial slogan would seem to be
00:33:24.120 rewarding the takers, penalizing the makers.
00:33:28.680 In any event, you had plenty to say about Jenny going up against City Hall
00:33:32.980 and losing her livelihood in the process.
00:33:36.800 Janine Kennedy writes,
00:33:38.540 The government has done so much harm to the people.
00:33:42.680 Oh, you're not kidding, Janine.
00:33:44.180 Toronto remains the most locked-down jurisdiction in the world.
00:33:47.640 It's all in the name of protecting us from a virus.
00:33:50.400 But I would argue the curse has been worse than the cure.
00:33:54.160 The depression rates, the unemployed masses,
00:33:57.080 the massive number of bankruptcies, etc.
00:33:59.780 Not that any of the politicians or bureaucrats
00:34:03.140 have been adversely affected these past two years, mind you.
00:34:07.220 Indeed, I think they all gave themselves raises.
00:34:11.140 Ted Breyer writes,
00:34:13.740 You want something screwed up?
00:34:15.280 Give it to the government.
00:34:16.660 Well, you know, couldn't agree with you more, Ted.
00:34:18.340 Government can't even operate monopolies properly,
00:34:21.960 be it the gambling or the booze businesses,
00:34:24.480 much less a retail environment such as the St. Lawrence Market.
00:34:28.160 You know, they say the biggest lie in the world is
00:34:31.240 the check is in the mail.
00:34:32.960 I disagree.
00:34:33.920 I think the biggest falsehood is,
00:34:35.980 Hi, I'm from the government.
00:34:37.920 I'm here to help you.
00:34:39.540 Oh, and also, these days,
00:34:41.940 we're all in this together.
00:34:44.940 J.R. writes,
00:34:46.300 You have it wrong. 1.00
00:34:47.480 It's Tory as he has enabled his idiot lackeys 1.00
00:34:51.420 to abuse their power for profit. 1.00
00:34:53.800 She's honest and believes in the rule of law.
00:34:56.120 I bet she doesn't understand that the management
00:34:59.260 slash city rep wants kickbacks,
00:35:02.360 and so they push her out.
00:35:04.140 Someone else will pay,
00:35:05.520 and that's all they care about.
00:35:07.980 Tory's Toronto in action.
00:35:10.000 Well, J.R., I have no proof to support allegations
00:35:13.200 that any sort of kickbacks are involved in this story,
00:35:16.220 but I can say this.
00:35:18.020 We did reach out to the bureaucrat
00:35:19.680 that Jenny says is harboring a grudge against her,
00:35:22.280 and his only comment to all our queries was,
00:35:25.920 No comment, no comment, no comment.
00:35:28.660 I think that's very telling, actually.
00:35:31.480 The great Canadian guy writes,
00:35:32.860 Bureaucrats run the show. 0.96
00:35:35.280 Politicians are just in place to lie for their mistakes.
00:35:39.240 Oh, ain't that the truth, great Canadian guy?
00:35:41.260 As I mentioned, I truly believe that Jenny is being squeezed out
00:35:44.480 by a petty and vindictive bureaucrat
00:35:46.540 with a score to settle.
00:35:48.720 But in the bigger picture,
00:35:49.660 just look at how her lives have been made miserable 0.53
00:35:51.580 for almost two years
00:35:52.720 by unelected, non-accountable health bureaucrats.
00:35:56.340 And then there's the education bureaucracy in Ontario
00:35:59.120 deciding the math curriculum must be rewritten
00:36:02.160 because somehow math is racist?
00:36:06.380 And where is the mayor, the premier,
00:36:08.660 the minister of education?
00:36:10.480 All missing in action.
00:36:12.420 Wow, talk about an appalling lack of leadership.
00:36:16.240 And Sean Callender writes,
00:36:18.120 I'm going to visit her store and buy some items.
00:36:20.580 Well, that's very kind of you, Sean,
00:36:22.040 but you better get cracking
00:36:23.680 unless Jenny's lawyer can manufacture a miracle 0.92
00:36:27.280 or the city does the right thing
00:36:29.860 and reverses its odious decision.
00:36:33.800 Well, Jenny's last day in business will be July 31st.
00:36:37.920 It's so sad.
00:36:40.060 Shame on you, Mayor Tory.
00:36:42.200 Well, that wraps up another edition of Rebel Roundup.
00:36:45.180 Thanks so much for joining us.
00:36:46.500 See you next week.
00:36:47.400 And hey, folks, never forget,
00:36:49.160 without risk, there can be no glory.
00:36:50.880 Good night.
00:36:57.280 We'll be right back.