Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Canada is in the world news again, and that's not a good thing

00:00:00.000 Hello, my friends. It's great to be back in Canada. Big show today. I'm going to give you

00:00:03.460 my thoughts on my journeys and what's going on this weekend at the Conservative Party Convention

00:00:08.140 in Calgary. But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. That's

00:00:12.740 the video version of this podcast. Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe. It's eight

00:00:17.300 bucks a month. And not only do you get our video content, you support Rebel News. I mean,

00:00:22.240 we don't take any government money and it shows.

00:00:30.000 Tonight, Canada is in the world news again. And that's not a good thing. It's January

00:00:45.400 29th, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:50.380 Shame on you, you censorious bug.

00:01:00.000 Oh, hi, everybody. It is great to be back in Canada. As you know, I've been away for 0.81

00:01:06.540 a bit. I went with Abiy Amini and two of our videographers to Davos, Switzerland. It's a

00:01:11.820 very long journey. It's hard to get there. And that's on purpose, as you know. Their goal

00:01:16.340 is to keep away independent journalists who ask prickly questions. It keeps blowing me

00:01:22.160 away that I was able to interview or ask questions of four senior liberals in the course of 24 hours,

00:01:30.840 which is more than I've been able to do in an entire five year or maybe even since the birth

00:01:36.780 of our company. And that's because in Switzerland, they're normal. They don't have police arresting

00:01:42.660 journalists for asking questions of politicians. It's so crazy. And it makes you realize how abnormal

00:01:48.100 Canada is, how unhealthy it is. And yet our regime media go along with it. They go along with it

00:01:53.400 because they have all the access they want. I don't think I got a lot of great answers from

00:01:59.580 these four politicians. My interview with Justin Trudeau, it reminded me of what a liar and a gaslighter 0.98

00:02:06.300 he is when he says, oh, Ezra, I haven't heard of you. You never call. Don't lie. You spent millions 0.97

00:02:11.200 in court trying to stop us from asking you questions. To her credit, Chrystia Freeland did give a few 0.90

00:02:16.400 answers to my questions, but I think they raised more questions themselves about her ethical

00:02:20.800 conduct. My interviews with Francois-Philippe Champagne and Melanie Jolie were very shallow, but I give

00:02:26.680 them credit. They actually did treat me with a drop of respect. Maybe the fact that they're from Quebec,

00:02:31.380 they haven't been taught to hate Rebel News as much as the Ottawa-Toronto circuit has. I thought Davos was

00:02:37.200 useful and will continue to go. That's something Rebel News has been doing for years and it's sort of a

00:02:41.840 signature item for us. And I think it's a kind of accountability journalism that you can only do

00:02:49.120 if you are not owned by a corporate media or a government media because either of them would say,

00:02:53.740 no, no, don't embarrass our friends. So when we were finished in Davos, we could have come straight

00:02:58.740 home, but actually Avi and I were invited to Israel for an anti-Semitism conference. And I'm interested in

00:03:05.920 that because I don't understand what's happened on parts of the online right my entire life. And I grew

00:03:11.840 up in Calgary and I spent a lot of time in rural Alberta and in the conservative party and conservative

00:03:17.680 movements. And I have to say there just was no anti-Semitism for 50 years in small towns, big cities,

00:03:25.200 you know, people of all walks of life. Right-wing anti-Semitism wasn't a thing in Canada nor in the

00:03:32.820 United States. And suddenly I see it. And it's obviously a lot of it is fake and ginned up and

00:03:38.200 bought and paid for. And I was trying to wrap my head around it a little bit. And I was glad that we

00:03:42.780 were invited to Israel to learn a little bit more about it. And I was grateful that I had a chance

00:03:47.880 to interview the cabinet minister who's sort of the point person on that, Amichai Chickley. So again,

00:03:53.880 it was great to talk to a senior cabinet minister and to be invited there. I should tell you, and this is

00:03:59.220 something you know about Rebel News is we did not take a free trip. We didn't take a free flight or

00:04:04.040 free hotel. We actually stayed in an Airbnb in Jerusalem. And actually the cost of the flight

00:04:09.640 to get to Israel was pretty low because we were already in Switzerland. So it was a fairly quick

00:04:13.760 flight. But I just want to let you know that we're independent. And I'm not saying that there's

00:04:18.900 anything immoral about taking government money per se to go to a trip in a country. But for Rebel News,

00:04:26.000 our independence is very important. And I want people to know that if we talk about any country,

00:04:30.460 we're doing so based on our own conscience, not based on any freebie or a giveaway. In fact,

00:04:35.920 that's my concern about anti-Semitism is that the people who are expressing it so weirdly are doing

00:04:41.720 so most likely on the payroll of Qatar or Iran. Anyways, I was glad we went there. We're back. And

00:04:49.060 actually, in just a couple hours, I'm going to hop on a plane again, this time to go to Calgary

00:04:54.440 for the Conservative Party Convention. I'm looking forward to it very much. I want to reconnect with

00:04:59.340 Canadian conservatives, listen and hear what they think are the most important issues and share our

00:05:03.540 point of view. We're going to have a good sized team there, including our chief reporter, Sheila

00:05:08.080 Gunn-Reed, our Alberta team, including Sidney Fouzard and Angelica Toy. And I'm so happy about this.

00:05:14.660 Tamara Leach will be there too. As you know, we found a way to hire Tamara Leach that complies with 1.00

00:05:20.380 her sentence. You know the story. I won't go through it in detail again, but she was sentenced 0.99

00:05:25.060 to a year of house arrest, but there is an exemption for a job. So working with her probation 0.73

00:05:30.060 officer, we offered her a job that requires her to attend political events around the country. 0.99

00:05:35.060 She's been in Toronto a few times. It'll be a delight to have her in Calgary. And I think so many

00:05:39.740 people at the Conservative Party Convention are going to love saying hi to her. I mean, she's just as a

00:05:44.600 human being so friendly and welcoming. And I know she was such an inspiration for so many people. So

00:05:50.880 we're absolutely chuffed and proud to be affiliated with her. And if you're going to be there at the

00:05:56.320 Conservative Convention, we're going to have sort of a reception on Saturday night. And I think there's

00:06:01.020 still some tickets available. You can find out on our website, rebelnews.com. That's going to be

00:06:04.900 Saturday night, our reception. I have in mind two other special projects that I'm aching to tell you,

00:06:10.800 but I'm not quite ready to do so yet because we want the element of surprise on one or two of them.

00:06:15.740 But we should be in a position to tell you about an amazing international investigation

00:06:20.900 that our team did recently. And we're just putting the final touches on it. I think you're going to

00:06:26.560 be impressed that Little Rebel News from Canada was able to do something so globally important. And

00:06:32.560 I know I'm being a bit of a tease by telling you that, but it is on my mind when I think of what

00:06:37.300 Rebel News does. We cover Canada. It's the most important story to us. That's where 90% of our

00:06:42.260 staff are. But every once in a while, we travel the world because what happened in Davos affects

00:06:48.380 our country. I mean, if you believe the regime media, the most important thing that happened 0.98

00:06:52.980 at Davos was Mark Carney's speech. No, it wasn't. I mean, that's the most important thing to Mark Carney

00:06:58.320 and to his applauders in the regime media. The most important thing was the Davos and NATO trying to

00:07:04.740 come to terms with Donald Trump and his demands not only for tariffs, but also for NATO to step up.

00:07:13.220 And, you know, they did resolve the Greenland matter. But that was obviously the focus of Davos.

00:07:19.940 But to the Canadian regime media, no, no, no. It was all about Mark Carney. And you know that they

00:07:25.340 were sensitive about it because the government comedians at the CBC just went nuts on it. I think

00:07:32.600 I have admitted to you before that I am on TikTok. There's a number of reasons for that. I want to

00:07:36.860 see what the bad guys are pumping out, although the transition to an American-owned company just

00:07:41.020 happened. It'll be interesting to see how that algorithm changes. I used to be on TikTok because I

00:07:46.680 wanted to see the Russian, Iranian, and Chinese propaganda, which was like a fire hose. I just wanted

00:07:52.720 to see it and hear it and see what it looked like. But I also see on TikTok the CBC puts a lot of

00:08:00.640 content they don't put on their other channels. Here's an example of them just full-out praising

00:08:06.020 Mark Carney's speech like it was the most amazing thing they ever heard. There's no jokes here. There's

00:08:11.720 no laugh track. It's just the government comedians at the CBC State Broadcaster bowing down to their

00:08:17.540 master. It's super gross. Take a look. 0.93

00:08:19.580 Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum was incredible.

00:08:22.920 It made me proud to be Canadian.

00:08:24.980 Made me glad I voted for him. Before, I was like, who even is this guy? But watching that speech,

00:08:32.340 I got it. I finally got it.

00:08:34.640 I finally understood Mark Carney.

00:08:36.980 Every single word. Words like hegemony, which, you know, I say a lot because I absolutely know

00:08:45.500 what it means.

00:08:46.540 When he mentioned the trade bloc called Mercosur, I was 100% Mercosur what the hell he was talking

00:08:53.560 about. And when he spoke about the aphorism of Thucydides, I was like, girl, same.

00:08:59.780 Who doesn't quote Czech dissident Václav Havel? I like to do it in the morning before my coffee.

00:09:05.240 Carney said everyone in that room knew the principles of risk management, but do they

00:09:09.120 love them the way I do? I just get him. Mark and I are in total hegemony.

00:09:15.740 He could have said multilateral trade, but he went with plurilateral trade because he knew

00:09:21.380 they're definitely different. And I knew that too.

00:09:24.800 Or was it aphorism of dooduses?

00:09:27.880 I have a rash on my hegemony.

00:09:30.700 Doododities? Doododities.

00:09:32.820 It's like we share the same brain. 0.93

00:09:35.500 Get out of my head, Carney. Or as you'd say, withdraw your intrusive presence from my mental 0.81

00:09:41.060 locus.

00:09:41.580 You did a good job up there, Mark.

00:09:43.740 Hegemony!

00:09:44.880 Bless you.

00:09:46.800 Doodidoodie?

00:09:48.040 Just today I saw another video from this hour's 22 minutes, which is supposed to be a comedy

00:09:52.000 show. Just mocking Pierre Polyev as uncool and weird. And again, no real policy here.

00:10:00.580 Just trying to denormalize and mock the opponent of the regime. And, you know, I know a little

00:10:06.920 bit about comedy and I like to laugh. In fact, I think I like to laugh at comedians that are

00:10:11.820 a little bit rough around the edges. And, you know, my taste in comedy is probably a little

00:10:16.540 bit rambunctious. But that's sort of the thing about comedy. You mock the powerful.

00:10:21.000 We've spoken before about the position of the court jester or the court fool. That was 0.97

00:10:27.100 an actual office in the royal court. And it was very powerful and very political. The

00:10:34.560 court fool was the only one allowed to mock the king to his face with impunity. So everyone 0.99

00:10:42.600 else was so afraid of what the king would say and I don't want to offend the king. The court

00:10:46.540 fool would just say would basically be a kind of one man official opposition, couching everything 0.98

00:10:52.880 as if it was just a joke or a rhyme or a song. An incredibly powerful position, because if 0.94

00:11:00.920 you could get the court fool to raise an issue, perhaps the king would reconsider. That was the 0.96

00:11:06.980 historic role of comedy. Isn't that interesting? Comedians today play that same role when they're

00:11:15.580 at their best. They mock power, because nothing is more effective at undoing power than ridiculing

00:11:21.300 it, than laughing at it. That's why Ayatollah Khomeini once said, there is no comedy in Islam. 1.00

00:11:28.160 Because who are you mocking? If you're mocking, you're mocking the order of Allah. When you are

00:11:34.980 laughing at a tyrant, you are taking away much of their psychological power. Most tyranny relies on

00:11:41.220 everyone obeying at the same time. Take a look at this CBC clip and tell me, are they mocking power

00:11:47.820 or are they mocking the opposition and supporting power? Super gross CBC. Take a look.

00:11:56.520 Oh my God, this is Pierre's worst New Year's party yet.

00:12:00.000 You think so? Remember 2021?

00:12:02.060 We had to help him put his contacts in. This one's worse.

00:12:05.020 Look around. We're at a loser party. Maybe we should go to the liberal party. 0.98

00:12:09.580 Hey, hey, hey. Isn't this party something, team? No music. Fully lit. Hard chairs. I love it.

00:12:16.260 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:12:17.780 Too bad some of the group left for the liberal party. Traitorous scum. 1.00

00:12:21.540 Yeah, I hate traitorous scum. 1.00

00:12:23.340 Plus, I heard the party sucks anyway. You know, open bar. Can you imagine enjoying a drink 1.00

00:12:28.380 you didn't earn?

00:12:29.800 Yeah.

00:12:30.360 Plus, new year, new Pierre. I'm nice and I'm fun now.

00:12:35.980 You guys want to play my favorite party game? Eye test.

00:12:39.860 Yeah, maybe in a bit.

00:12:41.060 Okay, you're missing out.

00:12:44.800 Don Tremont just texted me and they are currently doing body shots off of Mark Carney's abs.

00:12:49.500 And whoever leaves now gets to be Minister of Transportation.

00:12:52.440 Oh, that's one of the easy ones.

00:12:53.800 Hey, we are true blue conservatives. We're not going to have fun at the liberal party.

00:12:57.460 It'll be too woke.

00:12:58.520 No, they've changed, okay?

00:13:00.080 Apparently, every drink comes with a plastic straw.

00:13:03.300 Oh.

00:13:04.540 But he'll notice.

00:13:05.900 P-E-Z-O-L-C-F-T-D. 1.00

00:13:10.140 Nice. Yes. Nailed it.

00:13:12.660 You know what? I spent all of 2025 being a loser. 0.99

00:13:15.360 And I will not go into 2026 a loser. I'm switching parties. 0.89

00:13:18.720 What? No.

00:13:19.960 I knew it. Still nearsighted. You guys want to check? Oh, did she leave?

00:13:23.760 That's fine. Good riddance.

00:13:25.480 It's fine. We'll turn it up.

00:13:27.240 We can have some fun. Tequila shots.

00:13:29.540 Sure. Sure.

00:13:30.480 I don't have tequila. I never bought it. Never had it.

00:13:33.280 But we can lick salt.

00:13:36.140 Put your hands out.

00:13:37.220 Come on. Lick them. Come on. Here we go. 1.00

00:13:38.960 Let's lick it up.

00:13:39.880 Oh.

00:13:40.620 Cheers. Eye contact. Eye contact.

00:13:43.600 Whoa. Oh, wow. Yeah.

00:13:46.060 Okay. Who needs a lime? 0.97

00:13:47.960 Oh.

00:13:48.740 You guys have got to switch parties.

00:13:51.440 Okay? It's so much fun.

00:13:52.860 The rule is you take a shot every time you say the name of a company.

00:13:56.080 Carney has financial interest in.

00:13:58.240 We're wasted.

00:13:59.700 Oh.

00:14:03.300 All right.

00:14:04.760 You guys can go. Go on.

00:14:07.180 New Pierre can also admit when he's lost.

00:14:09.580 Thank you.

00:14:10.360 Yeah. Have fun.

00:14:11.880 Maybe I can join.

00:14:13.400 Oh.

00:14:14.460 It might be like a little weird.

00:14:16.440 Upward?

00:14:17.080 Yeah. Next year.

00:14:18.280 Oh, next year.

00:14:19.000 Yeah.

00:14:19.420 Yeah. I like that. Next year.

00:14:20.800 Cool.

00:14:21.460 Bye.

00:14:22.000 Bye.

00:14:22.220 Bye. Yeah.

00:14:23.420 All right.

00:14:24.380 Counting down a woman's biological clock. 0.99

00:14:26.660 Ten.

00:14:27.540 Nine.

00:14:28.280 And that's not it.

00:14:29.100 CBC went to Greenland with their whole team at this hour's 22 minutes and did the same

00:14:34.260 thing.

00:14:35.000 They just, it wasn't a lot, it wasn't very funny other than they had Mark Critch do his impersonation.

00:14:41.840 The rest of it was just bashing Trump.

00:14:44.200 Let me play a moment of that.

00:14:45.300 I'm not going to play the whole thing.

00:14:46.680 You know how expensive it is to go to Greenland?

00:14:48.960 You might recall in Trump's first term, Rebel News actually sent a journalist to Greenland.

00:14:52.840 It was so expensive.

00:14:53.960 It was so hard to get there because there's no direct flights to Greenland.

00:14:57.740 You have to go to Iceland first, et cetera.

00:14:59.380 And the CBC thought nothing of spending, I don't know, a quarter million dollars taking

00:15:03.680 their whole production crew to Greenland just to mock Trump.

00:15:07.660 And the funny thing is, by the time they got their comedy produced, Trump had already resolved

00:15:11.780 the Greenland thing.

00:15:12.660 Here's a little bit from the CBC's expensive visit there.

00:15:15.760 If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself.

00:15:20.220 I'm in Greenland because I need it for security and to overcompensate for my tiny cheesy.

00:15:26.620 I'm President Trump and I'm here to make Greenland the 51st state.

00:15:31.440 I really am.

00:15:32.500 I really am.

00:15:39.720 So cold, so icy, so distant.

00:15:42.800 I love Greenland, but it doesn't love me back.

00:15:45.180 It reminds me so much of Melania.

00:15:54.240 Well, I started off by saying that Canada's in the news again around the world, and that's

00:15:57.680 not a good thing.

00:15:58.560 In a way, it reminds me a little bit of the lockdowns and the truckers.

00:16:02.720 That was, I think, the last time that Canada was in the news top story, the massive trucker

00:16:07.900 convoy that was embarrassing Justin Trudeau and his panicked, illegal, unconstitutional

00:16:12.780 response of bringing in martial law.

00:16:14.360 That's one of the things I asked him about in Davos.

00:16:17.400 Canada's back in the news because of the spitting contest we're having with Donald Trump.

00:16:23.320 And by the way, I think Donald Trump is poking at us full tilt too.

00:16:28.480 And I guess what you have to do when you're dealing with someone who's 10 times bigger

00:16:34.560 and 100 times more powerful is you have to say, do I want to win the argument or do I

00:16:41.040 want to win the trade deal?

00:16:43.200 And, you know, a lot of thoughtful people have said, well, what Donald Trump is saying is

00:16:47.120 outrageous and his demands are appalling and they're not what a good neighbor says.

00:16:52.760 And I think the first thing to say is that I think those people are perhaps taking Trump

00:16:55.620 too literally.

00:16:57.660 Remember, he's got an audacious style and remember his book, The Art of the Deal, as he talks about

00:17:01.800 making outrageous demands so that when he moves back from those outrageous demands, what he

00:17:07.720 really wants looks very moderate.

00:17:09.420 And I think that's what he was doing on Greenland.

00:17:12.660 But if your goal as prime minister or as a diplomat is to secure the best trade deal possible

00:17:21.260 for Canada, including protecting the steel and auto industry, which is important to Ontario,

00:17:27.140 if your goal is getting the best trade deal for Canada possible, then you don't shoot at

00:17:33.880 Trump publicly because you know he'll shoot back.

00:17:36.180 You don't give speeches where you basically say we're siding with communist China now in

00:17:41.580 a new world order.

00:17:42.760 And the speech that Mark Carney gave at Davos that was so wildly applauded by every leftist

00:17:48.140 in the world, that's an example of what I mean about winning the argument or winning

00:17:52.240 the debate, but losing the goal.

00:17:55.240 You know, an old saying about diplomacy is a diplomat is a man who lies abroad for his country.

00:18:01.300 Now, there's a triple entendre there about lying and abroad, being a battleship, giving

00:18:06.920 the broadside.

00:18:07.700 It's an old quote of over 100 years old.

00:18:09.820 But diplomats, their job is to pursue the national interest, not to make friends, not

00:18:19.380 to win debates.

00:18:20.680 But what is in Canada's national interest?

00:18:23.200 Well, I can take a guess.

00:18:25.380 Renewing the Canada-U.S. 0.97

00:18:26.580 Free Trade Agreement on terms that allow our industries to continue to export.

00:18:29.660 The auto industry in Canada is overwhelmingly focused on building American cars.

00:18:35.300 Here's the head of the Canadian Auto Manufacturers Association, giving a very powerful speech.

00:18:41.280 And by the way, Donald Trump actually retweeted this.

00:18:43.900 Did you see this?

00:18:44.460 I won't play the whole thing, but take a look.

00:18:46.080 Auto's importance to Canada and Ontario specifically cannot be overstated.

00:18:50.800 The industry directly employs more than 125,000 people in vehicle assembly, parts, research

00:18:57.060 and development.

00:18:57.760 An additional 370,000 people are employed in the aftermarket services and dealership networks.

00:19:05.680 With over 90% of Canadian production destined for the United States, there is no industry

00:19:12.160 without U.S. access and North American integration.

00:19:16.800 Diversification is not an option for automotive, as markets in Europe and Asia are better served

00:19:22.700 by assembly plants in those regions.

00:19:25.860 Canada's market alone is too small to justify large-scale manufacturing.

00:19:31.580 The future of Canada's auto industry and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that it supports

00:19:36.180 depends on securing our trade relationship with the United States.

00:19:41.620 This means the removal of the Section 232 tariffs and the renewal of KUSMA, our trilateral trade agreement.

00:19:48.340 So if your goal is securing thousands of high-paying auto and steel jobs, you keep your grievances

00:19:56.380 and your grouchiness and your insults quiet.

00:19:59.360 You either tell them to the cabinet, tell them to your friends, tell them to your priest at confession,

00:20:04.480 or talk to Donald Trump about them one-on-one.

00:20:07.860 Donald Trump's actually sort of famous for having private phone calls or private face-to-face

00:20:12.360 meetings with people he's sparring with and coming out saying, I loved it.

00:20:16.020 Remember when Zoran Mamdani, the communist mayor of New York City, went to meet Trump?

00:20:22.140 They had a private meeting and they got along famously.

00:20:24.960 Carlos Slim, the owner of the New York Times.

00:20:28.480 Trump and the New York Times would bash each other around.

00:20:31.960 Carlos Slim went and met Donald Trump for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, and the two got along famously.

00:20:36.300 Of course they did.

00:20:37.080 Trump, whether you like it or not, reacts to people who criticize him publicly.

00:20:42.380 He reacts by overwhelming retribution and retaliation.

00:20:47.780 So if your goal is you want that war of the words, you want the retribution and retaliation,

00:20:53.020 then by all means continue to upstage him, insult him, talk about new world order,

00:20:57.660 talk about strategic partnership with China.

00:20:59.220 And that may be Carney's goal.

00:21:02.540 Anti-Americanism won him the last election.

00:21:05.000 Maybe it'll win him a new majority.

00:21:07.160 There's a lot of people thinking there'll be an election this spring.

00:21:09.560 But if your goal instead of winning an argument, winning a debate,

00:21:12.780 is actually winning the safety of Canada's auto sector and steel sector,

00:21:16.800 you wouldn't be engaging this.

00:21:18.200 And maybe that's not fair, that you have to bite your lip while Trump lips off at you.

00:21:22.420 But that's the world we're in.

00:21:23.500 And if you're serving Canada, that's what you would do.

00:21:27.460 One last point.

00:21:29.080 Alberta, and I've been, even though I've been abroad for 10 days,

00:21:33.680 I can tell the energy in that province.

00:21:35.900 I'm really looking forward to being there tonight on the independence issue.

00:21:39.440 And I think it's been there for months.

00:21:43.760 Actually, since Mark Carney surprised everyone by winning the election,

00:21:48.540 I think a lot of Albertans realized, oh, here we go again.

00:21:51.300 It never ends.

00:21:52.140 I think the fact that the proposed pipeline tanker issue is so murky

00:21:57.540 and obviously isn't going anywhere.

00:21:59.740 I think a lot of Albertans were frustrated with that.

00:22:01.640 But more than that, I think Albertans are watching Mark Carney

00:22:05.200 talk about China and strategic partnerships and fighting with America.

00:22:10.400 And Albertans are saying, you know what?

00:22:13.100 What, you know, Mark Carney, who hates Alberta

00:22:15.700 and has spent less time in Alberta than he has at the UN

00:22:18.960 and the World Economic Forum.

00:22:20.000 Think about that.

00:22:20.480 Mark Carney, and he's announced he's going to continue his international jet setting.

00:22:25.580 Albertans are saying, you know what?

00:22:27.060 Why don't you and your Toronto liberal base,

00:22:30.060 you keep having a spitting match with Donald Trump.

00:22:32.960 You keep doing that.

00:22:33.840 And we'll just sort of consider independence on our own.

00:22:37.540 And by the way, Alberta exports more than 80% of its stuff to the U.S.

00:22:41.940 Alberta is the source of most of the oil and gas exports to the States.

00:22:46.560 So why would you want to hit your wagon to Mark Carney,

00:22:50.020 who's torching the relationship there? 0.97

00:22:52.200 Look at how Daniel Smith has done it.

00:22:53.860 She obviously isn't pleased with everything America is doing,

00:22:56.760 but she's managed to keep her insults off her lips. 0.97

00:23:00.200 And she goes down there in a respectful way and she's met with Donald Trump.

00:23:04.460 And I think so far she's succeeded in keeping Alberta out of this back and forth flame war

00:23:11.040 that Carney and Trump are having.

00:23:13.660 So we'll be taking a look at Alberta independence.

00:23:16.800 And Tamara Leach, that's one of the things that she's been covering 1.00

00:23:19.160 is these big rallies around the province.

00:23:21.580 Anyways, it's a lot of different things all at once.

00:23:23.700 But as I started off today's show,

00:23:26.160 Canada is back in the news because we are fighting with Donald Trump.

00:23:29.620 I don't think that ends well.

00:23:32.320 Mark Carney talked about middle powers and, hey, we got to stick together.

00:23:35.700 It just doesn't work that way when your focus is,

00:23:39.540 how do I keep a car factory in Ontario open?

00:23:42.640 How do I keep the oil sands going full tilt?

00:23:45.580 If your goal is the real things that ordinary Canadians value,

00:23:49.180 then winning a debate is not how you do it.

00:23:52.800 You do it by just having a negotiation and getting it done the best you can.

00:23:57.900 And I think that Mark Carney's failure,

00:24:00.160 it was his campaign, his central campaign promise,

00:24:02.860 was he was the Trump whisperer.

00:24:04.880 He knew how things worked and he would get it done.

00:24:07.500 One year later, he hasn't got it done.

00:24:10.000 In fact, things are looking worse than ever.

00:24:12.240 If you Eastern liberals who were spooked by Trump think that's a success,

00:24:17.240 maybe Alberta doesn't want to be a part of that. 1.00

00:24:20.640 It's just an idea.

00:24:21.460 We'll keep you posted.

00:24:22.860 Stay with us.

00:24:24.160 Next, Franco Teresano of the Taxpayers Federation.

00:24:35.920 Well, hello, everybody.

00:24:37.060 It is so good to be back on Terra Firma in Canada.

00:24:40.120 Been journeying around for a while,

00:24:42.460 but one of my guys I talk to at least once a month,

00:24:45.900 sometimes more often,

00:24:47.000 just to put my finger on the pulse of what's really happening in our country.

00:24:50.420 Well, he's the boss of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:24:53.340 His name is Franco Teresano.

00:24:55.000 And he always says an interesting tidbit

00:24:57.520 that is a reflection of the larger financial crisis in our country.

00:25:02.040 And he's got a couple of new publications out here

00:25:04.880 written by Jen Hodgson of the Taxpayers Team.

00:25:08.840 And the one that really got me going is this one.

00:25:11.800 Executive bonuses cost taxpayers $200 million last year.

00:25:18.800 But the crazy thing is 90% of government executives got a bonus.

00:25:25.000 98%, excuse me.

00:25:26.640 Like almost all of them did.

00:25:28.200 You had to be an atrociously bad bottom 2% executive not to get a bonus.

00:25:35.160 And the thing is half of their performance targets were not met.

00:25:38.840 It's so crazy.

00:25:39.880 And I just read you the first sentence in the piece.

00:25:42.080 There's a lot more sentences to come.

00:25:43.700 Joining us now from Ottawa to talk about this

00:25:45.600 is our friend Franco Teresano.

00:25:47.820 Franco, bonuses are supposed to be just that.

00:25:49.660 A bonus for going above and beyond,

00:25:51.320 for doing something really super.

00:25:53.040 In the sales world, a bonus is when you sell a huge deal,

00:25:56.480 you get a recognition that you really help the company.

00:25:59.680 When 98% of executives are getting a bonus,

00:26:02.900 it's just a pay raise.

00:26:05.100 Like it's not even a bonus anymore.

00:26:06.540 What's your take on it?

00:26:07.420 No, that's exactly it, Ezra.

00:26:09.240 Let me tell you.

00:26:10.000 I might get a little spicy here today

00:26:11.620 because I'm so fed up with this culture of government entitlement in Ottawa

00:26:16.880 where they think just because they're on the taxpayer payroll,

00:26:20.120 they deserve to take more money from you each and every single year.

00:26:23.520 And you're exactly right.

00:26:24.620 Like this isn't even a bonus anymore, right?

00:26:27.380 Come on.

00:26:28.220 Like this is just a sneaky way to give these government bureaucrats more money, right?

00:26:32.160 98% of government executives take a bonus.

00:26:35.880 Like what are those other 2% do, Ezra, right?

00:26:38.880 Because like think about it this way, right?

00:26:40.220 Like look, departments met just under 54% of their own performance targets, okay?

00:26:46.520 So they made the test.

00:26:48.280 They wrote their tests.

00:26:49.680 They barely got a D minus.

00:26:51.240 And instead of getting fired, they got a big fat bonus check.

00:26:55.100 That's so crazy.

00:26:56.000 I want to come back to the sales analogy

00:26:57.580 because most people in the real world, to get a bonus, you got it.

00:27:00.660 Like there might be a little Christmas bonus, which is more like a Christmas gift.

00:27:04.380 But in the real world, to get a bonus, you have to meet a stretch goal.

00:27:09.640 You have to, you know, have a new high watermark.

00:27:13.260 What you're saying, let me read that line here.

00:27:16.120 Federal departments met just 54% of their performance targets.

00:27:20.280 You gave them a D minus, a D plus.

00:27:22.800 You gave them a terrible mark.

00:27:24.780 So they were failing.

00:27:26.280 They weren't excelling.

00:27:27.320 You give a bonus to the rock star on the team.

00:27:29.680 I mean, I don't know if you remember that old show,

00:27:31.040 Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, when Alec Baldwin is,

00:27:33.380 says first prize, a new Cadillac.

00:27:35.780 Second prize, pair of steak knives.

00:27:38.480 Third prize, you're fired.

00:27:39.900 I don't know if you remember that old movie.

00:27:41.220 It was a play, Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross was the name of it,

00:27:46.180 that was turned into a great movie.

00:27:48.140 That's how you give bonuses for amazing outcome.

00:27:51.600 When 54% of people fail in the real world, they would be fired, Franco. 0.55

00:27:58.180 They would be fired, not bonused.

00:28:00.320 And Ezra, 54% was their best year.

00:28:05.700 Oh my God.

00:28:06.180 Okay?

00:28:07.040 So the government is handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses every single year.

00:28:12.600 And guess what?

00:28:13.440 The government also publishes its performance targets data online for the last five years.

00:28:18.680 Okay?

00:28:19.200 54% of their performance targets was their best year.

00:28:22.900 In two of those five years, Ezra, they failed to meet half of their own targets.

00:28:28.820 Okay?

00:28:29.660 It's like you're a waiter.

00:28:31.020 You go try to hand this guy a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

00:28:34.080 You throw it all over them.

00:28:35.740 And then you expect a bonus.

00:28:37.440 I mean, this is what's going on.

00:28:38.780 And folks, let me just impress upon you this most important point.

00:28:42.400 This is your money.

00:28:44.420 The government is taking money from your pocket and it's rewarding its own failure with the taxpayer funded bonuses.

00:28:52.920 Okay?

00:28:53.820 Money taken from your family, from your budget, to reward these completely incompetent government bureaucrats in Ottawa.

00:29:00.400 You know, I'm just trying to think of the way an ordinary person could measure the success of the government.

00:29:07.440 I mean, there's big picture things like what's the deficit?

00:29:10.300 What's the taxes?

00:29:11.500 I would call that a macro level thing.

00:29:13.560 But how about just in your ordinary life?

00:29:15.300 In dealing with Canada Post, that's a federal government agency.

00:29:19.320 Or getting a passport.

00:29:21.560 Or like just little things.

00:29:22.700 I mean, I'm always shocked when I hear that the majority of federal public servants still work from home at least several days a week.

00:29:31.840 Like that's so insane in the real world.

00:29:34.860 I mean, think about public safety.

00:29:36.380 Think about handling immigration both fake and legitimate. 0.98

00:29:41.500 Just think of all the little business services government is supposed to do. 0.94

00:29:46.060 Are any of them better today than they were five or ten years ago?

00:29:50.480 What about the CRA, Ezra?

00:29:53.220 Sorry.

00:29:53.980 Let me just jump in with the CRA.

00:29:55.680 Because that's the best example.

00:29:56.960 Oh, yeah.

00:29:57.340 Right?

00:29:57.740 The CRA can barely pick up a phone.

00:30:00.820 When they do pick up the phone, they're probably giving you the wrong information.

00:30:03.780 Right.

00:30:04.100 Okay?

00:30:04.420 And don't take my word for it.

00:30:05.500 Look at the Auditor General report.

00:30:07.180 Right?

00:30:07.420 The CRA gives the correct answer to personal tax questions just 17% of the time.

00:30:14.080 Oh, my God.

00:30:15.360 Ezra, it would be bad if they gave the wrong answer 17% of the time.

00:30:19.220 They're only getting it right 17% of the time.

00:30:21.960 I mean, let me give you an example.

00:30:23.300 Banking.

00:30:23.760 Now, none of us like banks.

00:30:25.280 But I think everyone would acknowledge the banking app, which wasn't really a big thing

00:30:31.440 10 years ago.

00:30:32.360 It makes our lives a little easier.

00:30:33.960 You could do banking on the go.

00:30:35.800 You don't have to go to the branch.

00:30:37.300 I mean, that's just a tiny example of how they're actually improving customer service.

00:30:42.600 And I'm not in love with the banks.

00:30:43.760 I'm just saying, okay, I can give the banks credit for making my life a tiny bit easier

00:30:48.300 in that regard.

00:30:48.960 What has the federal government done to improve services to Canadians?

00:30:54.740 And don't say the Arrive Can app.

00:30:56.980 That's an atrocious piece of spyware and malware.

00:31:00.040 I'm just saying literally anything they touch is worse.

00:31:03.940 And I'm not even talking about just the money they blow.

00:31:07.740 If they were in the private sector, they would be, I'm not going to say they would all be fired,

00:31:13.780 but I think most of them would.

00:31:15.240 I mean, remember when Elon Musk took over Twitter, he fired 80% of the staff because

00:31:19.820 he said they just weren't doing anything to improve the product.

00:31:22.780 And the product got better.

00:31:24.280 I hate to say it.

00:31:26.100 You could probably get rid of 80% of the people working for the Canadian government.

00:31:30.120 And people either wouldn't know or would say, oh, things are a little better now.

00:31:32.720 Well, I'm glad you brought up Arrive Scam.

00:31:35.760 Folks, if you're having some coffee, put it down, okay?

00:31:39.060 The government executives working on Arrive Scam took $340,000 in bonuses, okay?

00:31:46.880 Your money for a complete failure, a national scandal.

00:31:50.860 And Ezra, look, we have way too many bureaucrats.

00:31:53.640 Look, the government added 100,000 bureaucrats in 10 years.

00:31:57.380 The cost of the bureaucracy went up 80%.

00:31:59.540 Meanwhile, half of Canadians say federal services have gotten worse since 2016, right?

00:32:05.040 Not better, not the same.

00:32:07.020 Half say services have gotten worse.

00:32:08.780 Look, you have all these government union bosses now running around,

00:32:12.720 pretending they're chicken little, claiming the sky's going to fall if bureaucrats get fired.

00:32:16.800 Wah, wah, wah.

00:32:17.700 Government bureaucrats do need, there are a lot of government bureaucrats in Ottawa

00:32:21.460 that do need to get fired, right? 1.00

00:32:23.320 Just to be blunt, with the deficit ballooning to $80 billion this year,

00:32:27.300 like we have to shrink the bureaucracy.

00:32:28.920 But can I say one thing?

00:32:30.720 You know what the first thing should be on the chopping block?

00:32:33.340 Is to go after the fat cats and these taxpayer funded bonuses.

00:32:37.460 That should be the first thing on the chopping block. 0.50

00:32:40.040 You got to go after the fat cats first.

00:32:42.180 You know what?

00:32:42.860 Good point.

00:32:43.360 That's a good point.

00:32:44.020 I'm glad you made it.

00:32:44.900 Hey, speaking of fat cats, I want to touch on one more thing.

00:32:47.840 And I tell you, you guys do great work.

00:32:51.260 And I'm delighted that Jen Hodgson is working for you. 0.55

00:32:54.140 I know Jen. 0.97

00:32:54.840 And she's a very freedom-oriented writer.

00:32:56.800 And I'm delighted she's on your team.

00:32:58.340 And I think I did know that.

00:32:59.440 But it's great to see she's involved with this.

00:33:01.920 She has a story on your website called Governor General Salary,

00:33:05.980 spiced to nearly $400,000.

00:33:08.880 But it's the details that are crazy.

00:33:12.720 I mean, when I first saw this one, I thought, that's got to be a typo.

00:33:18.380 Simon, that's the name of Mary Simon.

00:33:21.140 That's her last name.

00:33:21.880 She's the Governor General. 0.72

00:33:23.540 Sparked multiple controversies for spending millions on travel.

00:33:27.220 Now, it's one thing to travel.

00:33:28.360 But get this.

00:33:28.940 Her extravagant trips include a $100,000 bill for in-flight catering during a week-long trip to the Middle East.

00:33:40.900 And a $71,000 bill for limo services during a four-day trip to Iceland.

00:33:47.520 And I don't even know how you can do that.

00:33:49.880 I mean, you could buy a restaurant for $100,000.

00:33:53.380 Just a week's worth of catering?

00:33:55.280 What are they eating?

00:33:56.320 Like, caviar and champagne?

00:34:00.380 I don't know.

00:34:00.900 How do you spend $71,000 in four days on cars?

00:34:08.240 Again, did you buy the limo?

00:34:10.620 This is—and the thing is, Mary Simon is not royalty.

00:34:14.500 She is the delegate of the king.

00:34:17.220 She's his representative.

00:34:18.640 She's not her royal highness.

00:34:20.240 She's living like she thinks she's a princess. 0.96

00:34:22.720 Look, I'm just going to start with the salary first, Ezra, and I'll get into the details.

00:34:28.140 Her salary this year, $393,800.

00:34:32.240 Okay?

00:34:33.020 $400,000 as a taxpayer-funded salary for a largely symbolic role is disgusting.

00:34:42.180 Okay?

00:34:43.080 And let's talk about the perks.

00:34:44.460 $100,000, folks, on airplane food.

00:34:47.760 It was $100,000, folks, on airplane food.

00:34:49.860 How?

00:34:50.240 Ezra, they don't have the same airplane food that you and I would have, right?

00:34:53.620 A chicken wrap here, a chicken wrap there.

00:34:55.480 No.

00:34:55.900 They were having stuff like beef wellington with rajoo.

00:34:59.140 Sounds yummy.

00:35:00.180 I'm sure it was delicious.

00:35:01.260 It costs a lot.

00:35:02.300 Ezra, on the $71,000 on limos in Iceland during a four-day trip, the governor general's hotel was a 10-minute walk away from the main conference center.

00:35:10.620 Okay, it would have been cheaper, less expensive for them to have bought a brand-new BMW, drove it around the island for four days, then left the key in the car before they got back on the plane.

00:35:21.780 Right?

00:35:23.080 Let me tell you another one, Ezra, and cut me off if I'm going too long, but this one's crazy, okay?

00:35:27.360 A governor general, over their five-year mandate, can bill you up to $130,000 for their clothes.

00:35:35.560 Like, their salary is $400,000.

00:35:37.560 They can pay for their own clothes.

00:35:38.820 And that's not even the craziest stuff.

00:35:40.720 Yeah.

00:35:41.080 You know, I am a monarchist.

00:35:42.720 I would rather have a monarchy than a republic, but this kind of behavior brings the monarchy into disrepute.

00:35:50.240 And I think it goes to the head.

00:35:53.660 It goes to their heads.

00:35:54.840 There's been a number of governors general who suddenly think they're the center of it.

00:35:59.740 They don't realize they are an agent, a delegate of royalty here.

00:36:04.380 They are not royalty themselves, and they're ceremonial.

00:36:07.700 They are not the main player, so to speak.

00:36:10.640 They're not the main character.

00:36:12.600 And I tell you, what Mary Simon is doing is destroying the reputation of the monarchy. 1.00

00:36:18.120 Her misconduct will hurt the institution she claims to serve.

00:36:23.060 I tell you, Frank, it's great to catch up with you.

00:36:25.020 You're invigorating me.

00:36:26.720 And I know you're on the front lines of this battle every single day.

00:36:30.160 What's the best website for people to sign up so they can get your news directly?

00:36:34.880 Hey, everyone.

00:36:35.520 Go over to taxpayer.com.

00:36:37.540 That's the place to go to, taxpayer.com.

00:36:39.980 It's such a great website, taxpayer.com.

00:36:43.400 All right, Franco, keep up the work.

00:36:44.800 We'll talk to you soon.

00:36:46.340 Hey, thank you so much.

00:36:47.320 There he is, Franco Terzano, the boss of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:36:51.380 Stay with us more ahead.

00:36:52.180 Hey, welcome back.

00:37:02.180 Your letters to me.

00:37:03.560 On my interview with James Lindsay and Dinesh D'Souza, Tracy Root says,

00:37:08.080 the hateful racists use the internet to indoctrinate, especially young people,

00:37:11.760 and spread their lives in propaganda.

00:37:13.260 I've never seen hate like this spread so fast.

00:37:15.580 I'm shocked by it.

00:37:16.460 I mean, I tell you that I've never seen this kind of racism on the right in my whole life.

00:37:21.480 And I've been to tiny, small towns where, you know, just there were no Jews or blacks.

00:37:27.160 And no one is racist.

00:37:29.120 Like, there's no authentic conservative Canadians.

00:37:33.960 I just have never seen it.

00:37:35.640 But it is obviously an online phenomenon that is being spurred by new forces.

00:37:40.520 And I put it to you, a lot of it is bought and paid for.

00:37:44.780 Newsly 7 says, it's a sellable conventional narrative.

00:37:47.800 But the fact is, we are all being reset for the new world order.

00:37:50.340 Eastern and Western powers are uneasy bedfellows in the agenda.

00:37:54.540 Well, it's very interesting.

00:37:56.000 And new world order is a phrase that Mark Carney used very specifically when he was talking about

00:38:00.940 his proposed strategic partnership with China.

00:38:05.060 Long 111 says, you guys talk about the Republican Party like it's a good thing.

00:38:09.240 A lot of us, including Tucker, have come to realize the enemy is our ruling class, not the left.

00:38:13.740 Well, one of the things I worry about with Tucker, besides his anti-Semitism, is that he's now cheering for every enemy of the West.

00:38:21.840 He's cheering for Islamic theocracies. 1.00

00:38:24.720 He's cheering for Maduro.

00:38:26.380 He's cheering for basically every anti-American bulwark.

00:38:31.120 I mean, I just don't know how you call that conservative.

00:38:37.400 And I think that Tucker's end result could be changing the reputation of the Republican Party to make it less palatable to American voters.

00:38:47.820 It's such an extreme position that he and the so-called Groypers take. 0.97

00:38:51.420 You know, saying that Churchill was the enemy of World War II, saying that Heil Hitler was cool. 0.93

00:38:57.000 If that becomes part of the Republican Party brand, I'm worried about what's going to happen in America.

00:39:02.400 And I say this as an America lover up here in Canada.

00:39:06.940 Well, that's our show for the day.

00:39:08.880 Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night.

00:39:13.920 And keep fighting for freedom.

00:39:21.420 We'll see you next time.

Rebel News Podcast - January 29, 2026

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Canada is in the world news again, and that's not a good thing

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