Rebel News Podcast - January 29, 2026


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


Episode Stats


Length

39 minutes

Words per minute

172.01639

Word count

6,856

Sentence count

611

Harmful content

Misogyny

18

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode, I talk about my recent trip to Davos, Switzerland, and my trip to the Conservative Party Convention in Calgary, Alberta. I also talk about our trip to Israel and the anti-Semitism conference we attended in Tel Aviv.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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
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
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
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.
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.
00:09:35.500 Get out of my head, Carney. Or as you'd say, withdraw your intrusive presence from my mental
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
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
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
00:10:52.880 as if it was just a joke or a rhyme or a song. An incredibly powerful position, because if
00:11:00.920 you could get the court fool to raise an issue, perhaps the king would reconsider. That was the
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.
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.
00:12:21.540 Yeah, I hate traitorous scum.
00:12:23.340 Plus, I heard the party sucks anyway. You know, open bar. Can you imagine enjoying a drink
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.
00:13:15.360 And I will not go into 2026 a loser. I'm switching parties.
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.
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.