Rebel News Podcast - April 02, 2025


EZRA LEVANT ｜ Could the Keystone XL pipeline save Canada？


Episode Stats


Length

45 minutes

Words per minute

166.41139

Word count

7,569

Sentence count

526

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

12

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Could the Keystone XL pipeline finally get the go-ahead from the Trudeau government to get built? And will it be enough to get Canada a reprieve from the Trump administration on some of their most unpopular trade issues?

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. I went to a Conservative Party press conference this morning, but
00:00:03.560 unfortunately, for the fifth time in a row, Rebel News was not allowed to ask a question,
00:00:08.180 which concerns me. Are the Conservatives becoming a little bit afraid of us? Now,
00:00:11.920 they didn't keep us outside in the cold like Mark Carney did. And maybe it's just,
00:00:16.380 I don't know, coincidence, like flipping a coin five times and coming up heads every time. But
00:00:21.240 I'll tell you the question I would have asked, Paulie. I mean, you tell me
00:00:24.920 if it's as good a question as I think it is, because I might try and ask him again.
00:00:30.000 Hey, before I get to that, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
00:00:33.940 It's the video version of this podcast. I want you to see a few clips. I play about four clips
00:00:38.860 in today's podcast. I want you to see them with your eyes, not just hear them with your ears. So
00:00:44.060 go to rebelnewsplus.com. Click subscribe, eight bucks a month. And by the way, that money is how
00:00:48.680 we pay the bills here is because we do not take any government money. And it shows.
00:01:00.000 Tonight, could the Keystone XL pipeline save Canada? It's April 2nd, and this is the Ezra
00:01:14.420 LeVant Show. Shame on you, you censorious bug.
00:01:21.420 Today, I went to a press conference this morning with Pierre Paglia. Well, I didn't go with him. I
00:01:35.560 went to see him. He was in downtown Toronto talking about the Trump tariff announcement,
00:01:41.020 which had not happened as of the morning when he gave his speech. In fact, I'm recording this before
00:01:47.160 the announcement. So I don't know what will come. If I had to bet, which is a crazy thing to do,
00:01:51.680 given that the results of that bet will be out before this video is, it's that Canada will be
00:01:55.760 given a general reprieve, as Trump has done several times before. By the way, I note that two days ago,
00:02:02.620 the Israeli prime minister announced he was unilaterally removing all tariffs on anything from
00:02:10.000 America, which is quite a bold statement of solidarity and cooperation. But frankly, it's also
00:02:16.940 in Israel's interests in a number of ways, including politically, but economically, free market
00:02:22.160 economists like the Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman say that the best approach for a country
00:02:27.840 to take is to unilaterally declare free trade with the entire world, even for nations that have tariffs
00:02:34.560 on you. The economic theory, which places like Hong Kong proved over the decades to be true,
00:02:41.260 is that your economy will grow and your citizens will get the most affordable goods
00:02:45.320 from around the world. Because remember, a tariff is an import tax paid by your own people. So you're
00:02:51.980 really punishing your own people to get back at the other guys. Now, obviously, the most ideal outcome
00:02:57.200 is all countries eliminating tariffs. But Friedman says, even if no one else does it, you're still a winner
00:03:03.040 if you do. Here's a clip of Friedman trying to explain it. I just chose a short clip.
00:03:07.980 President Reagan put this very well once in a speech he gave in San Francisco, in which he said,
00:03:12.380 you know, let's suppose three of us are out in a boat in the ocean. And one of the fellows in there
00:03:17.580 takes out a gun and shoots holes in the bottom of the boat. Is it the sensible thing for the others
00:03:22.480 of us to do to take out our guns and shoot more holes in the bottom of the boat? That's kind of a
00:03:27.560 silly notion, isn't it? But yet that is exactly the notion of protection and retaliation. Suppose Japan 0.75
00:03:35.820 and Europe do, and they do, no question, impose protectionist tariffs. That hurts them, it hurts us.
00:03:44.260 If we turn around and impose protectionist tariffs on them in retaliation, all we do is to hurt ourselves
00:03:51.720 some more and to hurt them some more. We're just shooting additional holes in the bottom of the
00:03:56.140 boat. It doesn't make any sense. The best thing in the world would be for all countries to engage in
00:04:01.780 free trade. But even if other countries don't, then the sensible, rational thing for us to do, all by
00:04:10.080 ourselves, after all, we're the great leader of the free world. We're not simply a camp follower. The idea of
00:04:16.140 our going around and imposing quotas on imports from Hong Kong and from Singapore and from all those other
00:04:22.340 terribly threatening countries, it seems to me it's just demeaning and degrading for a great power to engage in
00:04:28.520 acts like that. So, in my opinion, the right course of action for the United States would be unilaterally to get
00:04:35.100 rid of its restrictions and say to the world, come and sell your goods here. We're delighted to sell to you. We're
00:04:42.860 delighted to buy from you. We're delighted to sell to you. Now, of course, if you buy, if you sell to us, you're going to
00:04:48.180 get dollars. And what are you going to do with those dollars? Are you going to eat them? If you would like to stack them up in a nice
00:04:53.520 pile and set fire to them, we'd be delighted. We can print all the pieces of paper you want. But nobody's
00:04:59.300 going to do that. If they sell things to us for dollars, they are going to spend the dollars back
00:05:04.100 here. There's no doubt about that. And what will produce that result is that the price of the dollar
00:05:10.000 in terms of their currencies, the number of yen it takes to buy a dollar, the number of marks it takes
00:05:16.480 to buy a dollar, and so on, will adjust up and down so that the total flows of dollars in both directions
00:05:22.100 will be the same. There's a lot more clips of Milton Friedman talking about pure free market
00:05:27.060 economics. Now, I acknowledge there are non-tariff barriers, too. Restraints of trade, subsidies.
00:05:34.360 So you can't just remove tariffs. You have to remove other things. But it is true what Milton
00:05:38.620 Friedman says is the fewer barriers you have to imports, the better off your own citizens will be.
00:05:44.120 Now, I think what Trump would say in response to Friedman, if he were, if Friedman were still alive,
00:05:49.560 if they were debating, Trump would say that America, by virtue of being the biggest, can pressure other
00:05:55.220 countries to dropping their tariffs. So while a little place like Israel or Hong Kong would
00:05:59.980 unilaterally have free trade for imports to benefit its own citizens and just merely suffer the pain of
00:06:06.120 foreign tariffs, Trump would say America can use its dominant economic power to force other countries
00:06:12.940 to remove tariffs and other trade barriers. So tariffs, according to Trump, are a temporary weapon
00:06:19.480 to get both sides to disarm, as Friedman has called for. That's what Trump talks a lot about. He talks
00:06:25.780 about reciprocal tariffs, as in, if you've got tariffs on our stuff, we're taking it, you know, in response
00:06:31.700 to you. In the case of Canada, Trump has said he wants access for Canadian goods like dairy and poultry
00:06:38.320 and banks. And as Milton Friedman would say, every single Canadian consumer would benefit from that,
00:06:45.440 not just U.S. dairy and chicken farmers and banks. I mean, who cares about them?
00:06:51.000 What's the benefit to Canadians? I mean, even if you never, as a Canadian, took a mortgage from an
00:06:56.280 American bank, don't you think that having Bank of America and Citibank right on your main street,
00:07:02.320 offering mortgages right next to Canadian banks, don't you think that would make Canadian banks give
00:07:06.760 you better service? If you could have a checking account with Wells Fargo, don't you think that
00:07:11.380 the Royal Bank and Scotiabank and the others would lower their fees to keep you? Even if you never
00:07:17.540 bought an American product in your life, that's competition. That's Milton Friedman's point.
00:07:21.900 Israel was savvy to unilaterally abandon tariffs. At the very least, it shows political cooperation
00:07:27.280 with Trump, which is what Trump wants. It's a psychological aspect of America first, getting
00:07:33.380 respect from other countries. Frankly, it's the opposite of the style of relationship chosen by,
00:07:39.040 say, Vladimir Zelensky, who argued in public with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
00:07:45.900 Anyways, back to today. So I got up early to make my way through Toronto traffic to a conservative
00:07:49.820 event featuring Pierre Polyev, and he announced his counter-tariff plan. Obviously, there was no
00:07:56.300 Milton Friedman in the air. It was all retaliation and plans to fight back, which is politically
00:08:01.680 necessary, I suppose, when the political establishment in Canada absolutely demands
00:08:06.060 that, and the media is asking you to perform more and more anti-American statements. No matter what
00:08:11.740 Polyev says, by the way, the liberals will accuse him of being a crypto-traitor booster of Trump,
00:08:18.960 even though it was Mark Carney that Trump effectively endorsed. And I don't think Polyev and Trump and
00:08:25.400 his team have even spoken ever, not even once. I think the hope, the hope is that once the election
00:08:32.420 is over, these war of words will simmer down. Now, Mark Carney's right-hand man is a New York lobbyist
00:08:40.000 named Ian Bremmer. He runs a lobby group in New York City called the Eurasia Group. And if you recall,
00:08:46.200 that's where Gerald Butts, Trudeau's disgraced right-hand man, fled after his ethics scandal. Remember
00:08:52.320 with Jody Wilson-Raybould, how Gerald Butts tried to force her to do a favor for a friend of Trudeau?
00:08:58.740 Anyways, that's where Gerald Butts landed, in New York City, working for the Eurasia Group.
00:09:02.620 That's where Mark Carney's wife works. That's where Evan Solomon, another liberal star candidate,
00:09:08.020 works. They're all, they're the campaign team from New York City. Anyway, Ian Bremmer, who runs the
00:09:13.740 lobby group, I don't know if he saw this, he gave his opinion the other day that what Mark Carney was
00:09:18.480 saying now about getting tough with Trump was just a show, was just to get through the election,
00:09:24.720 and that Carney will likely collapse on everything as soon as the election is done. It's quite
00:09:28.940 something hearing that from Mark Carney's boss, Ian Bremmer, that Carney's just doing the whole
00:09:33.720 nationalistic, patriotic thing as a campaign trick, which is what I've been arguing from the beginning.
00:09:39.780 How can you take patriotism lessons from the party that, you know, violated the charter to throw
00:09:45.780 peaceful protesters in jail, that stripped Johnny McDonald off the $10 bill, that reworded our
00:09:51.700 anthem, that took the historical pictures out of our passport, that calls us genociders, that
00:09:57.240 says the Canadian flag is a right-wing symbol? How do you take patriotism lessons from Mark Carney
00:10:03.360 with three passports, who hasn't lived in Canada a decade? I've said all along, this whole Team
00:10:07.700 Canada patriotism thing is a fake by the liberals. Anyways, so I went to the Polly of speech this
00:10:14.800 morning. I had heard most of it before at his big rally in Ottawa a few weeks ago. Here's an extract
00:10:20.980 from today. If elected, at the end of this month, we'll launch a Keeping Canadians Working Fund,
00:10:26.680 targeted temporary loan program for businesses that are directly hit, helping them keep workers
00:10:32.680 on the job. Very similar to the type of program that John Barrett initiated when we were in the
00:10:38.480 Harper government during the Great Global Recession. Binding people to their jobs, keeping their paychecks
00:10:44.300 going, while we can get through this trade dispute, will help keep the horizon bright and keep our
00:10:52.300 economy stable. But where do we go from there? The second part of the plan is we have to try to end
00:11:00.900 this trade dispute. On day one, as Prime Minister, I will propose to the President to accelerate
00:11:07.020 renegotiations of CUSMA, bringing in a new deal on trade and security. CUSMA must be renegotiated
00:11:14.020 anyway, next year. Why wait? Why not get it done now? Why not end the uncertainty that is paralyzing
00:11:23.020 both sides of the border and that is also costing us jobs today? We should set a firm date to finalize a new
00:11:31.020 deal. And I will propose that both countries pause tariffs while we hammer out that deal.
00:11:40.020 Well, I had reached out in advance looking to ask a question of Polyev because he was in the same city
00:11:45.020 I was. But alas, Rebel News was snubbed. Four regime journalists had questions, none for Rebel News.
00:11:52.020 I think that's five Polyev events in a row where Rebel News reporters went there. We even flew, as you may have
00:11:58.020 seen, we flew David Menzies out to New Brunswick to go to a conservative event. Our new reporter,
00:12:05.020 Katrina Panova, went out in Nanaimo and they were snubbed as well. Now, I'm actually not taking this
00:12:12.020 personally, but I do observe that the Conservative Party of Canada now has the same media approach as
00:12:19.020 the Liberal Party of Canada towards Rebel News. Except that I guess the Conservatives don't shoo us out of
00:12:25.020 the building and into the cold. You might have seen, I attended a Mark Carney event a couple of days
00:12:30.020 ago in Georgetown, Ontario. Police wouldn't let us too close to Carney or in the building.
00:12:38.020 But we were outside talking to people, doing streeters, as they say. And I talked to Alex
00:12:43.020 Van Coverden is his name, a Liberal MP. At the Polyev event in Toronto today, same sort of thing.
00:12:49.020 They had velvet ropes. We weren't allowed too close to Polyev. We weren't out in the cold. 1.00
00:12:54.020 I'll get mad. I'm grateful for that. But we had the exact same access to Pierre Polyev that we had
00:12:59.020 with Mark Carney, which is zero. And the purpose of this is not to complain. Many politicians have been
00:13:05.020 afraid of our questions before, including Aaron O'Toole and Andrew Scheer, and we survived. But to me,
00:13:11.020 not being, not taking a question from Rebel News has a larger meaning. That has nothing to do with
00:13:17.020 our feelings. To me, if you are a Conservative politician who is afraid to talk to Rebel News,
00:13:23.020 I think it casts doubts on your Conservative courage. Are you worried about what the mean girls in the 1.00
00:13:29.020 press gallery will say about you if you are seen talking to us? Are you worried that some left-wing
00:13:34.020 panel on the CBC will say, yuck, they're hanging out with the likes of Ezra LeVant or David Menzies?
00:13:39.020 I've said a dozen times that my favourite thing about Pierre Polyev has been,
00:13:43.020 the thing that makes me trust him the most is that he doesn't care what the media party,
00:13:47.020 the regime media, the media, political, industrial complex, the mean girls,
00:13:51.020 think about him. This is my favourite Pierre Polyev moment.
00:13:55.020 You know what I'm talking about.
00:13:57.020 On the topic, I mean, in terms of your sort of strategy currently,
00:14:02.020 you're obviously taking the populist pathway.
00:14:05.020 What does that mean?
00:14:07.020 Well, appealing to people's more emotional levels, I would guess.
00:14:13.020 What do you mean by that? Too many examples?
00:14:15.020 Certainly you tap very strong ideological language quite frequently.
00:14:19.020 Like what?
00:14:21.020 Left wing, you know, this and that, right wing,
00:14:25.020 I mean, that type of ideological thing.
00:14:27.020 I never really talk about left or right.
00:14:29.020 I don't really believe in that.
00:14:31.020 Okay. A lot of people would say that you're simply taking a page out of the Donald Trump book.
00:14:37.020 Probably like which people would say that.
00:14:39.020 Well, I'm sure a great many Canadians, but…
00:14:43.020 Like who?
00:14:45.020 I don't know who, but…
00:14:46.020 Well, you're the one who asked the question.
00:14:47.020 So you must know somebody.
00:14:49.020 Okay.
00:14:50.020 I'm sure there's some out there.
00:14:51.020 But anyways, the point of this question is, I mean, why should Canadians trust you with their vote?
00:14:59.020 Given, you know, not just the sort of ideological inclination in terms of taking the page out of Donald Trump's book, but also…
00:15:08.020 What are you talking about?
00:15:09.020 What page? What page?
00:15:10.020 Can you give me a page?
00:15:11.020 Okay.
00:15:12.020 Give me the page.
00:15:13.020 You keep saying that.
00:15:14.020 In terms of turning things quite dramatically in terms of Trudeau and the left wing and all of this.
00:15:19.020 I mean, you make quite a, you know, it's quite a play that you make on it.
00:15:23.020 So I'm just wondering…
00:15:24.020 I'm not sure.
00:15:25.020 I don't know what your question is.
00:15:26.020 Okay.
00:15:27.020 Then forget that.
00:15:28.020 Why should Canadians trust you with their vote?
00:15:31.020 Common sense.
00:15:32.020 Okay.
00:15:33.020 Common sense for a change.
00:15:36.020 I love that because it's funny, but I love it because it lets me know that if Pierre Polyev isn't afraid to quarrel with a journalist like that in real time,
00:15:46.020 he's certainly not going to be afraid of ignoring that journalist if that journalist demands that Polyev, you know, reneges on a campaign promise.
00:15:54.020 My point is, the power relationship there was Pierre Polyev does what he wants and that whiner journalist is ignored or corrected. 0.77
00:16:03.020 Now, is Pierre Polyev taking notes from those whiner journalists? 1.00
00:16:09.020 I mean, is that why he won't talk to Rebel News?
00:16:12.020 And if so, will he sell out other conservative values if the whining media demand he do?
00:16:17.020 I hope I'm wrong.
00:16:19.020 What if the Polyev campaign suddenly has a new approach though?
00:16:22.020 One that indulges the regime media journalists and avoids independent journalists five or six times in a row?
00:16:26.020 I'm starting to think it's not random.
00:16:28.020 Again, we are who we are.
00:16:29.020 Look, we were born during Stephen Harper's prime ministership.
00:16:33.020 We survived Andrew Scheer.
00:16:35.020 We survived Erin O'Toole.
00:16:36.020 And we will survive Pierre Polyev.
00:16:38.020 We're not going anywhere.
00:16:39.020 We're not going anywhere.
00:16:40.020 We'll be fine.
00:16:41.020 It's just sort of sad to me to think that perhaps the conservative party is vanilla-fying.
00:16:46.020 Anyways, but here is what I would have asked about.
00:16:49.020 Which frankly is a better question than anything else that was asked today by the four mainstream journalists.
00:16:54.020 Donald Trump has objected to Canada's trade surplus again, something that Milton Friedman would say is a good thing because it's better to consume than to produce, Milton Friedman would say.
00:17:04.020 And Americans are buying things from Canada that are obviously preferential in some way as compared to another place or being made at home.
00:17:11.020 Of course, that's true for the oil sands, by far the biggest import that America buys from Canada.
00:17:17.020 And Canada's auto sector is really just U.S. companies located right across the border from Detroit.
00:17:22.020 I mean, Ford and GM plants are basically sprawling on both sides of the border.
00:17:27.020 So it doesn't make sense to put tariffs on one part of the auto industry since it's making the same vehicle, literally the same car's parts, cross the border several times before it's finished.
00:17:37.020 Trump has confused many Canadians, especially conservatives, by calling Canadians nasty and calling for our annexation.
00:17:46.020 Those are emotionally charged words and they prick the pride of many people, but they're abstract, aren't they?
00:17:51.020 His one tangible complaint besides our ban on American dairy and poultry and eggs and banks is our trade surplus.
00:17:58.020 But I say again, that's just largely from oil, which has to be bought from somewhere until America can close the gap, which will take years.
00:18:06.020 So Trump has confused many Canadians with his complaints when the complaints are abstract and even personal.
00:18:12.020 But I wanted to ask, Paulie, about the one tangible positive business like America first thing that Trump has said that's enormously important.
00:18:21.020 And I think we should focus on more.
00:18:23.020 I don't know if you saw a couple of weeks ago, Trump mused out loud about restarting the Keystone XL pipeline.
00:18:29.020 Did you see it? Keystone XL is a multi-billion dollar pipeline project.
00:18:34.020 They would take oil from Alberta, pass through Saskatchewan, pick up oil there and take it all down to the U.S.
00:18:39.020 all the way down to the Gulf to be refined, to be re-exported, whatever, about 800,000 barrels a day.
00:18:45.020 If you do the math, that works out to about 20 billion U.S. dollars a year as of current prices.
00:18:53.020 That's almost $30 billion Canadian.
00:18:55.020 Literally, that one pipeline could add 1% to our entire national GDP.
00:19:02.020 That is how big and important it is.
00:19:04.020 Now, Trump knows it's smart.
00:19:06.020 That oil would displace conflict oil imports from OPEC.
00:19:10.020 It's an economic project just to build the thing and to maintain it.
00:19:15.020 It would be the largest property taxpayer in many of the counties through which it passes.
00:19:18.020 It would employ a lot of steel workers and welders and the like.
00:19:21.020 And it would bring in oil made from American-owned or American-invested companies in the oil sense.
00:19:27.020 Win, win, win.
00:19:28.020 It's ethical oil versus OPEC conflict oil.
00:19:31.020 That's how America should think and talk.
00:19:33.020 That's the America first way. 0.97
00:19:35.020 I just wrote a whole little book about it.
00:19:37.020 I mean, shouldn't that be the way through the fog of this trade war?
00:19:41.020 Revive the Keystone XL pipeline.
00:19:43.020 Boost Alberta oil production.
00:19:45.020 Get the two countries talking about something positive and mutually beneficial.
00:19:48.020 Danielle Smith is making friends south of the border.
00:19:51.020 She could certainly help.
00:19:53.020 And put Carney on the back foot.
00:19:55.020 Just this week, Carney said he's going to support Bill C-69.
00:19:59.020 Pretty much an anti-oil, anti-pipeline ban that Trudeau passed.
00:20:03.020 We do not plan to repeal Bill C-69 to answer your question directly.
00:20:08.020 What we have said and made very clear 10 days ago, formally with the first minister's meeting,
00:20:15.020 is that we will move for projects of national interest to remove duplication in terms of environmental assessments and other approvals.
00:20:24.020 And we will follow, as the federal government, the principle of one project, one approval to move forward from that.
00:20:32.020 And so what's essential is to work at this time of crisis to come together as a nation, all levels of government,
00:20:41.020 to focus on those projects that are going to make material differences to our country, to Canadian workers and to our future.
00:20:49.020 I don't know if you remember, but Trudeau actually used to say when he was pressed on it that he supported the Keystone XL pipeline.
00:20:55.020 I think he did because he knew the U.S. would kill it, either under Barack Obama or under Joe Biden.
00:21:01.020 And indeed, both of them did kill it, by the way.
00:21:03.020 Trump revived it in the interim.
00:21:05.020 But Trudeau said he supported it.
00:21:07.020 That's official liberal policy.
00:21:08.020 And the Canadian government actually signed off on it once.
00:21:11.020 Would Mark Carney support a revived Keystone XL pipeline too?
00:21:15.020 Just like Trudeau did.
00:21:17.020 Remember, the Keystone XL pipeline did pass every single regulatory test.
00:21:22.020 It received every single permission.
00:21:24.020 And I say again, it would add 1% to our GDP.
00:21:27.020 It's so huge.
00:21:29.020 Would Mark Carney support and approve of the Keystone XL pipeline being revived or not?
00:21:34.020 Or would he spite Alberta, snub America, and put his World Economic Forum ideology first?
00:21:41.020 That's what I wanted to ask Paulie about this morning.
00:21:44.020 But unfortunately, the party preferred questions from the mainstream media.
00:21:48.020 Too bad.
00:21:49.020 Because I actually think this is the kind of thing that could get Americans excited and snap them out of their anti-Canada fever.
00:21:57.020 By the way, here's a sizzle reel of me suggesting the idea to various Trump-friendly pundits in the States. Take a look.
00:22:03.020 What a brilliant idea this is.
00:22:05.020 Canadians have the oil.
00:22:06.020 The Americans need oil.
00:22:08.020 Was this the oil that we were going to get from the Keystone pipeline?
00:22:12.020 Yes, you can move the factory.
00:22:15.020 But you can't move the oil sense.
00:22:17.020 It's where it is.
00:22:18.020 What do you think is the way, what's the off-ramp here?
00:22:21.020 If you replace all your OPEC conflict oil imports with Canadian Ethical Oil,
00:22:27.020 you don't have to spend $50 billion a year patrolling the Persian Gulf sea lanes
00:22:32.020 because it's not your business anymore.
00:22:33.020 Would Canada be willing to sell?
00:22:35.020 I mean, is Canada, are they open to a deal?
00:22:41.020 They already signed it under Donald Trump in the USMCA.
00:22:44.020 Under the USMCA, there's a special sort of side letter that guarantees America preferential access to that oil.
00:22:51.020 We certainly could double our production of oil and gas, especially if we're building pipelines east, west, north and south.
00:22:59.020 That's 50 years worth of oil if you double it.
00:23:03.020 And what you're saying is that this is a way for America and Canada to do a reciprocal deal
00:23:09.020 that is very much in the spirit of MAGA.
00:23:14.020 Don't give up on Canada.
00:23:15.020 We won't give up on you, OK?
00:23:17.020 OK.
00:23:18.020 OK, Ezra, so here, I agree with all of that.
00:23:21.020 Love the oil deal.
00:23:22.020 That's fantastic.
00:23:23.020 No, I totally love that idea.
00:23:25.020 It's a great idea.
00:23:27.020 That's what's brilliant about this book is that that's exactly what Donald Trump needs to hear.
00:23:32.020 So what do you think?
00:23:34.020 Should I try to ask Polyev that question again?
00:23:37.020 Stay with us for more.
00:23:39.020 Hey, welcome back.
00:23:51.020 Now, you know me.
00:23:52.020 I'm a fan of freedom of speech.
00:23:54.020 And that includes the freedom to make jokes that are sometimes offensive.
00:23:58.020 You've probably heard the phrase gallows humor.
00:24:00.020 It's a way of coping with stressful things.
00:24:03.020 But that doesn't mean that it's appropriate in all circumstances, especially if the joke is on you.
00:24:10.020 Here's what I mean.
00:24:12.020 Just over a week ago, one of Mark Carney's liberal MPs, who's running as a candidate in the Markham area in the greater Toronto area, was speaking to a group of Chinese Canadian reporters.
00:24:25.020 And he started making jokes about having his conservative rival seized, kidnapped unlawfully, taken to the Chinese consulate where there's a bounty for his scalp of one million Hong Kong dollars, almost 200,000 Canadian dollars.
00:24:45.020 Now, I've finally seen the video.
00:24:47.020 I'm going to show it to you in a moment.
00:24:49.020 And there's some nervous laughter and some chuckles in there.
00:24:53.020 But watch as Paul Chang, the liberal candidate in question, repeatedly says, if you were to grab this guy, you'd get a million bucks.
00:25:01.020 If you were to grab him, if you were to grab him.
00:25:03.020 And remember, the whole time, he was a police officer for 25 years.
00:25:08.020 Some people have tried to say this as a joke.
00:25:11.020 If it was a joke, it was disastrously poor ethics and had poor judgment.
00:25:17.020 But I do not believe it was a joke.
00:25:20.020 I believe that for 25 years, Paul Chang has been loyal to the Communist Party of China.
00:25:26.020 And he regards pro-democracy dissidents in Canada as enemies.
00:25:31.020 Judge for yourself.
00:25:32.020 Take a look at the video.
00:25:33.020 The other person that's running most probably is, you know, the Chinese community.
00:25:38.020 He's looking for the nomination.
00:25:45.020 The Chinese media knows him.
00:25:47.020 He was in the media business in Hong Kong.
00:25:51.020 And here in Canada, he's a radio host or, I don't know, for Sintou Media.
00:25:57.020 So their child, he was a media person.
00:26:00.020 So that's all he did, all he's like.
00:26:02.020 But also right now, he is wanted by the Chinese government.
00:26:06.020 And there's a $1 million reward on his head.
00:26:09.020 So they want, if you guys want to pick him up and take him to the Chinese consulate,
00:26:14.020 you make him a million dollars.
00:26:16.020 I'm just joking.
00:26:17.020 But there is a arrest warrant out for him from the government of China.
00:26:21.020 And there is a reward for him.
00:26:23.020 But apart from that, I can't say more than that.
00:26:25.020 He can't say more than that.
00:26:27.020 He can't say that it's wrong.
00:26:28.020 He can't say that it's outrageous that the Chinese government would seek to effectively
00:26:33.020 kidnap a Canadian citizen. 0.82
00:26:35.020 And he was fine saying it three times.
00:26:38.020 This is an ex-cop, mind you.
00:26:40.020 Well, the man who actually recorded this video and publicized it,
00:26:44.020 I'm delighted to say he joins us now.
00:26:46.020 His name is Terence Shen.
00:26:47.020 He's a YouTuber, an influencer.
00:26:49.020 He does a talk show in Mandarin, and we're delighted to have him on the show.
00:26:54.020 Terence, what a pleasure to have you.
00:26:55.020 Thank you for joining us.
00:26:57.020 Thank you for having me, Ezra.
00:26:59.020 By the way, I'm not the one who recorded it.
00:27:02.020 I just found out from a Chinese social media called Red Note.
00:27:07.020 Someone recorded it.
00:27:09.020 I know who he is.
00:27:11.020 He's also a reporter in the local Chinese media.
00:27:15.020 I'm not going to say who he is, but yeah, I know him.
00:27:19.020 Thank you for clarifying that.
00:27:21.020 But you were there, is that correct?
00:27:22.020 Or did you just hear about this event?
00:27:24.020 I wasn't there.
00:27:25.020 I wasn't there.
00:27:26.020 Okay.
00:27:27.020 But I thank you for those corrections.
00:27:29.020 I guess the important thing is what he said was captured on tape.
00:27:33.020 Now, for almost a week, Mark Carney said,
00:27:36.020 Oh, I know this man.
00:27:38.020 He's of good character.
00:27:40.020 The words were deplorable, but he's fine.
00:27:42.020 Why do you think Mark Carney stood by this guy for nearly a week?
00:27:48.020 In fact, you could say he stands with him now.
00:27:50.020 He didn't fire this guy.
00:27:52.020 This guy resigned after it became such a national scandal.
00:27:56.020 Why was Mark Carney so afraid of firing this man as a candidate?
00:28:02.020 The Liberal Party didn't take it seriously because people don't understand it.
00:28:08.020 The poll chain may deliver it as a joke.
00:28:11.020 They say it's just a joke, but we are not stupid.
00:28:14.020 Everybody understood exactly what message Paul was trying to send.
00:28:20.020 So what happened is that Paul Chan essentially suggested people could collect a bounty from a foreign dictatorship on his Canadian political opponent right in front of a group of reporters.
00:28:32.020 Clearly, his intention was to portray his opponent as a criminal.
00:28:37.020 So voters in the community wouldn't support him.
00:28:40.020 To me, that's a textbook case of foreign interference. 0.98
00:28:44.020 Just look at the timeline.
00:28:46.020 The Chinese government placed a bounty on Zhou Tei after learning he was going to be nominated by the Conservative Party.
00:28:54.020 That tells us the bounty wasn't random.
00:28:57.020 It was designed to benefit Paul Chan and help him defeat Zhou Tei.
00:29:02.020 So, Paul Chan, of course, he knew that.
00:29:07.020 That's why he brought it up in front of reporters on purpose, hoping the message from China would influence voters in the Chinese community.
00:29:16.020 So, I definitely believe this should trigger an investigation under Bill C70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, passed just last year.
00:29:26.020 It's a perfect opportunity to prove that this law has teeth and that Canada is serious about protecting its democracy.
00:29:33.020 Of course, when the Prime Minister called this a teachable moment while defending Chen's candidacy, you know, refused to fire Chen, I definitely disagree.
00:29:47.020 A teachable moment means nothing without consequences.
00:29:52.020 So, but now that Paul Chan's political career is over and the case is under investigation, now we can see this is a real teachable moment for the Liberal Party, for the whole Canada.
00:30:06.020 Yeah, I mean, Mark Carney thought, oh, that's just a gaffe, a joke in poor taste.
00:30:13.020 It actually, on the face of it, is a criminal offense.
00:30:16.020 Like you say, it's a violation of the new foreign interference rules.
00:30:20.020 But it's also when you say to people, catch someone for a bounty, if they're not actually, like maybe in China that's lawful, but that is not lawful in Canada.
00:30:31.020 It, I mean, I do not know what this guy was like for 25 years as a police officer.
00:30:37.020 I'm worried, based on what I just saw with him, and what I've learned about him in the last week, I'm worried that during his time as a police officer in the Greater Toronto Area, he may have done favors for the Chinese Communist Party.
00:30:52.020 He may have been harsh on Chinese democracy activists.
00:30:56.020 I don't know.
00:30:57.020 It sort of scares me that we gave that guy a badge and a gun, and for 25 years we don't know what he did, because he showed who his allegiance is to.
00:31:06.020 Yeah, right now we are facing serious challenges in acting, actually enforcing the Bill 70.
00:31:13.020 As far as I know, not a single individual or organization has registered as a foreign agent under the law.
00:31:22.020 Not Paul Chen, not nobody.
00:31:25.020 Here's the thing, I could give you a full list of organizations and individuals that are actually, actively working on behalf of the Chinese Communist government, right here in Canada.
00:31:38.020 It's not a secret within the Chinese community.
00:31:41.020 Right.
00:31:42.020 Everybody knows who they are, and everybody knows Paul Chen has very close relationships with the Chinese consulate.
00:31:49.020 We have seen those pictures.
00:31:51.020 So the real question is, when will the government act?
00:31:55.020 Right.
00:31:56.020 So it doesn't matter which party politician belongs to.
00:31:59.020 Defending Canada's democracy, liberty, and national security must come first.
00:32:04.020 So I think the Liberal Party failed us.
00:32:08.020 Right.
00:32:09.020 So that's the lesson from the Paul Chen case.
00:32:12.020 And we expect the next government to step up and take that responsibility.
00:32:17.020 Well, I hope it happens.
00:32:19.020 Now, I was looking at your Twitter account, and I want to show a picture that you posted.
00:32:24.020 It's at the entrance to Markham.
00:32:25.020 Markham is part of the greater Toronto area for folks who don't know.
00:32:29.020 So it really is, I mean, it is a separate place, but it's sort of conjoined to the rest of the big blog called Toronto.
00:32:37.020 And at the sign marking that you're entering Markham, someone has put a homemade sign that says Paul Chen and a bunch of Chinese lettering.
00:32:47.020 And you wrote, some members of the Chinese community in Markham, Ontario, put up signs near Pacific Mall to protest Paul Chen and mock him as someone serving the interests of the Chinese Communist regime.
00:32:59.020 And, I mean, that's a lot of Chinese text for people driving by, but I guess traffic in Toronto is so slow that maybe you go by slow enough to read it.
00:33:08.020 What does that say?
00:33:09.020 What do those words in those homemade signs say about Paul Chen?
00:33:14.020 It just says that Paul Chen is serving the people.
00:33:20.020 You know, serving the people is a slogan of Communist Party.
00:33:24.020 So they are mocking him.
00:33:27.020 So because people, you know, in the Chinese community, some of them already started to realize that the CCP's United Front operation in Canada really hurt the reputation of Chinese community.
00:33:42.020 So the CCP's United Front operations lasted like decades, and they are trying to build ties with people and groups who can help push Beijing's agenda.
00:33:56.020 So that could mean organizing cultural events, setting up also associations or working through diaspora communities to influence the public opinions and even the local politics.
00:34:08.020 So on the surface, it might look like a harmless cultural exchange.
00:34:14.020 It's like the Paul Chen and other some pro-CCP members of parliament are doing.
00:34:23.020 But when you dig deeper, a lot of it is really political influence work.
00:34:29.020 So I want to give you one example.
00:34:32.020 Okay.
00:34:33.020 So there is a woman called Lily Pang from Vancouver.
00:34:38.020 She has been identified as a consultant for the Chinese CCP's organization.
00:34:45.020 is a major United Front agency.
00:34:48.020 And her son, David Wang, has tried to get into politics for this election.
00:34:54.020 He tried to be nominated as a conservative candidate for Richmond in Vancouver.
00:35:02.020 So based on open source information, including the Chinese state media, their connection to the top CCP United Front officials are pretty clear.
00:35:13.020 So it raises a serious question about whether foreign influence is creeping into our political system.
00:35:19.020 And I put together everything I found from the public sources and send it to the Conservative Party, CSIS, Canadian Intelligence Service, and even FBI.
00:35:31.020 And now we've learned that David Wang didn't get a nomination.
00:35:35.020 Wow.
00:35:36.020 Terence, you're not just a reporter.
00:35:38.020 You're a freedom fighter.
00:35:39.020 I'd love to hear what you did.
00:35:41.020 Hey, can I ask you a question?
00:35:42.020 By the way, just really quickly, you mentioned United Front.
00:35:44.020 Sure.
00:35:45.020 That's the Chinese Communist Party's global influence operation.
00:35:49.020 Is that what United Front is?
00:35:51.020 Yeah.
00:35:52.020 Actually, FBI already arrested some of the Chinese community leaders who were secretly working for the CCP.
00:35:59.020 But my question is, what stopped Canada from doing this?
00:36:03.020 Right, right.
00:36:04.020 Taking the same actions.
00:36:06.020 Yeah.
00:36:07.020 Hey, can I ask you a question?
00:36:09.020 Before China allowed mass immigration outward bound, the Chinese Canadians were either folks who came over a long time ago to help.
00:36:20.020 I mean, for example, there was Chinese Canadian laborers who helped build the railway.
00:36:24.020 So that's 140 years ago.
00:36:26.020 There has always been Chinese Canadians. 0.98
00:36:29.020 And there were also people from Hong Kong.
00:36:32.020 And I would say that, by my own assessment, until about 30 years ago, I would say a majority of Chinese Canadians were either dissidents or on the freedom side, or really weren't connected to Communist China, because they were sort of sealed off.
00:36:47.020 But in recent years, China has been one of the largest sources of immigration to Canada.
00:36:52.020 And again, some of those people are critics of totalitarianism.
00:36:56.020 Some of those people are just regular folks who aren't very political.
00:36:59.020 Can you give me the estimate, or at least for Toronto, which is a very large Chinese community now, what percentage are for the CCP and the United Front?
00:37:12.020 What percentage are democracy activists like yourself?
00:37:15.020 And what percentage are just regular folks who don't really have a strong opinion, they're just living their lives and going about their regular business?
00:37:23.020 Would you say that half? Or what's the statistic?
00:37:27.020 Because I'm worried that freedom fighters like you are being overwhelmed by the sheer power of the CCP migrants. 1.00
00:37:37.020 What do you think?
00:37:38.020 I believe that the majority of the Chinese population in Toronto, Vancouver, or anywhere in Canada are not related to the Chinese politics or the Chinese CCP organizations.
00:37:52.020 Majority people are just living their lives.
00:37:56.020 And the problem is the few of these CCP agents working for the CCP, trying to influence them, and trying to sway the public opinions.
00:38:08.020 That's the problem.
00:38:09.020 And like for us, we are a minority of people who are trying to defend the reputation of Chinese population, Chinese immigrants in Canada.
00:38:21.020 So I think probably just a few percent of us and maybe 10% of CCP's agents, maybe a majority of people are not really political.
00:38:38.020 Right.
00:38:39.020 I think it's probably the same with the Persian community.
00:38:41.020 I meet a lot of Persian people, people from Iran.
00:38:44.020 And frankly, most of them that I meet are for freedom.
00:38:48.020 They're against the Ayatollahs. 0.82
00:38:50.020 But those who work for Iran are very vocal, very well funded, very organized.
00:38:55.020 It's quite an interesting battle.
00:38:57.020 Hey, I've got a question for you.
00:38:59.020 Paul Chang has quit.
00:39:01.020 But are there other candidates of any party that worry you in the same way?
00:39:10.020 Is there someone you can't believe is allowed to run again?
00:39:13.020 I noticed that Han Dong, who was – I understand he's not running this time.
00:39:19.020 Is there someone out there you're worried about?
00:39:21.020 Or is there someone out there you're excited about?
00:39:23.020 Is there someone running for parliament who you think, wow, that person could do a lot of good?
00:39:28.020 What do you think, Terrence?
00:39:30.020 There are a few of these people who have close ties with CCP.
00:39:38.020 I don't want to name them, but simply the one who's takeover, Han Dong, is questionable to me.
00:39:47.020 Okay.
00:39:48.020 We'll look into that.
00:39:49.020 We'll look into that for sure.
00:39:51.020 Terrence, I've got to tell you, it's so great to have you on the show.
00:39:53.020 You have so much information.
00:39:55.020 And obviously, you're fluent in Chinese, so you can read the Chinese language media.
00:40:00.020 Give us one minute on WeChat, because I don't think a lot of white Canadians know what that is.
00:40:09.020 You know, we use Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, I suppose.
00:40:13.020 What is WeChat, and is it a powerful vector for the Chinese Communist Party to spread its mission in Canada?
00:40:22.020 People don't realize that WeChat has much powerful function than TikTok.
00:40:29.020 It's even more influential among the Chinese, because everybody has a WeChat account.
00:40:36.020 And they are communicating on WeChat, not TikTok.
00:40:40.020 TikTok is just a platform.
00:40:41.020 You know, people record videos, but WeChat is the communication tools.
00:40:47.020 And I found out that there are a lot of groups, people in those WeChat groups, talking about politics.
00:40:56.020 And it's heavily influenced by the Chinese narratives.
00:41:00.020 So that really concerned me.
00:41:02.020 Wow.
00:41:03.020 Well, Terrence, what's the best way for people to follow you?
00:41:05.020 Is all your work in Chinese?
00:41:07.020 Do you do any videos in English, or is it mainly in Chinese?
00:41:10.020 A few of them are in English, and most of them are in Mandarin.
00:41:14.020 And I have a YouTube account called Mr. Shen.
00:41:17.020 And everybody can follow me on X account, Terrence Shen.
00:41:22.020 Excellent.
00:41:23.020 Well, I am following you now.
00:41:25.020 And so is a lot of our team, because we are very interested in what you have to say.
00:41:30.020 You're very courageous to stand up, because we know that the authoritarian regime in China, it has long reach.
00:41:37.020 And I thank you for being an early warning for us.
00:41:42.020 So Terrence, pleasure to meet you and keep up the fight and stay safe.
00:41:45.020 Thank you very much.
00:41:46.020 It's my pleasure.
00:41:47.020 Thank you.
00:41:48.020 There you have it.
00:41:49.020 Terrence Shen.
00:41:50.020 Very interesting.
00:41:51.020 We'll have to talk to him again.
00:41:53.020 Stay with us.
00:41:54.020 More ahead.
00:42:00.020 Hey, welcome back.
00:42:07.020 Your letters to me.
00:42:09.020 Deborah Summer says, conservative boomer here. 0.96
00:42:11.020 I love my children and grandchildren.
00:42:13.020 Too much to vote liberal.
00:42:14.020 Yeah, listen, I got a few emails like that.
00:42:16.020 I'm not being mean to boomers.
00:42:17.020 I mean, I'm almost a boomer myself.
00:42:19.020 I guess what I mean is, if you've paid everything off in life, and you just, you don't have to deal with a lot of these challenges, it is easy to vote liberal.
00:42:27.020 And I just saw some of that at the Carney thing.
00:42:30.020 Of course, I'm not anti-Boomer. 0.99
00:42:32.020 I just look at the polls and I see that is where Carney is strongest.
00:42:37.020 Next letter from Ron Voss, who says, well, I recall her mandate being to strengthen Alberta's sovereignty.
00:42:42.020 I don't recall her getting a mandate to try to fix Canada.
00:42:45.020 Hey, Ron, that's a good point.
00:42:47.020 But the job of the Alberta Premier always seems to be to push back against Canada.
00:42:52.020 But how many times, against Ottawa, excuse me.
00:42:55.020 But how many times can you go to war against Ottawa before you say, you know what?
00:42:58.020 This is tiring.
00:42:59.020 The Supreme Court has validated and confirmed a process of getting out of here.
00:43:05.020 And if Quebec can do it, so can we.
00:43:06.020 Like, after a certain point in time.
00:43:08.020 And that's the thing about this Donald Trump indecent proposal.
00:43:12.020 If you're a lucky, happy person in Montreal or Toronto, and Donald Trump says, come join us, you might find it very offensive.
00:43:20.020 But if you are an unhappy person in Alberta, and Trump says, come join us and be a cherished 51st state, it sounds a lot different in Alberta than it does in Toronto or Montreal.
00:43:31.020 William Murphy says, I don't think your poll results are authentic.
00:43:36.020 Virtually everyone I know is down with leaving Canuck Azuela.
00:43:40.020 William, we hired Leger Marketing, which is a pretty old and pretty reputable polling company.
00:43:47.020 And I was surprised that the numbers were as small as they were too.
00:43:50.020 And I think it's because of the question we asked.
00:43:52.020 We didn't say, would you like to be independent?
00:43:54.020 We didn't say, would you like a better deal?
00:43:56.020 We didn't ask any sort of easy to answer.
00:43:59.020 We said, would you join the 51st state as a 51st state?
00:44:03.020 So it's a very specific, very concrete ask.
00:44:06.020 And what that tells me is that had we asked a more general question, would you like to have a different sovereignty situation, maybe be independent?
00:44:16.020 I'm guessing the number would have been a bit higher.
00:44:19.020 Last letter from Doug Heal, who says, I will gladly kick in some good bucks for a Tamara Freedom Award.
00:44:26.020 She truly needs to be honored.
00:44:28.020 Well, you're talking about Tamara Leach. 0.76
00:44:30.020 You know, I'm recording this a little bit early because I got to run to the airport because I'm going to Ottawa tonight.
00:44:36.020 I'm going to see Tamara Leach tonight. 0.70
00:44:38.020 And then tomorrow morning is the big day where we go to the Ottawa courthouse and we will learn her fate.
00:44:44.020 And I know I've been too optimistic before, but I really have a good feeling about this one.
00:44:49.020 I think that the reason the trial was so long is this is how the government is going to punish Tamara Leach by the trial itself. 0.54
00:44:56.020 Because I just think and I shouldn't jinx it, but boy, I'm optimistic she's going to be acquitted.
00:45:01.020 By the way, the legal team, Lawrence Greenspan and his two deputies did a great job.
00:45:08.020 And I said to Lawrence just yesterday, I said, you know, if I'm ever in deep trouble as opposed to the shallow trouble I always find myself, I would go to him as a lawyer.
00:45:18.020 I think he's done a great job for Tamara.
00:45:20.020 Anyways, wish her luck. 0.99
00:45:21.020 That's tomorrow.
00:45:22.020 Until then, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night.
00:45:27.020 And keep fighting for freedom.