Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Ezra Levant speaks on Western independence at Rebel News Live

00:00:00.000 Tonight, you'll hear what Ezra had to say from our town hall on Western separation in Red Deer over the weekend.

00:00:21.420 And then journalist Sue Ann Levy takes down Netflix's unfair and one-sided documentary about troubled Toronto mayor, the dearly departed Rob Ford.

00:00:34.440 It is June 19th, 2025.

00:00:38.680 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed.

00:00:39.980 But yes, you are watching The Ezra Levant Show.

00:00:42.460 You're fighting for freedom! 0.95

00:00:45.660 Shame on you, you censorious bug!

00:00:51.420 You're fighting for freedom!

00:01:21.500 But while Ezra's working the starboard side of the free speech fight, I'm here at the helm with a stacked show.

00:01:28.740 First, we're going to take you back to Red Deer for a powerful clip from Ezra's address at our Rebel News Live Western Independence Town Hall.

00:01:37.500 It was a nearly sold-out crowd in some places, I think, standing room only.

00:01:43.120 And Ezra delivered a message about the future of the West and why it is time to stand up to Ottawa now.

00:01:49.300 Then I'll be joined by journalist and author Sue Ann Levy to break down Netflix's so-called documentary about former Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

00:01:57.700 Let's be honest, it's less about telling the truth and more about dragging his name through the mud one more time.

00:02:04.820 But Sue Ann knew Rob, she covered his career, and tonight she's setting the record straight.

00:02:10.340 All that and more coming up right here on The Ezra Levant Show.

00:02:14.440 My name is Ezra Levant, and I'm the founder of the Rebel News Network, which is a team of more than 30 people dedicated to telling the other side of the story.

00:02:31.320 And that's what we're here to do today.

00:02:38.740 You know, I grew up in Alberta.

00:02:40.820 I went to school in Calgary and then to law school in Edmonton.

00:02:45.100 And I grew up when Preston Manning was trying to fix Canada from within.

00:02:50.040 He named the party the Reform Party, and his motto was the West wants in.

00:02:56.200 And he had a thesis, which was instead of trying to leave, can we fix it and put that same energy into adjusting the structures and fixing the problems that was pushing Alberta out?

00:03:12.540 And he gave his life to that project, and millions of people followed him.

00:03:18.440 I was the head of the Reform Party Student Society at the University of Calgary more than 30 years ago.

00:03:27.120 And here we are today, and did we move the ball forward?

00:03:31.160 Did we fix anything, or have all those essential problems remained the same despite his good faith efforts?

00:03:40.220 And despite, for example, the nine years that an Albertan, Stephen Harper, was the prime minister?

00:03:46.480 Are things fundamentally different with how Alberta and the West are represented, not just politically, but culturally and financially?

00:03:56.960 Is anything actually different, or are things the same or worse?

00:04:03.160 Well, we're going to talk about those things today.

00:04:05.400 We've got a great day set up.

00:04:07.560 If you've seen the agenda, we have excellent speakers.

00:04:10.440 We have panels.

00:04:11.700 And to me, the highlight of the day is going to be a featured debate between two Albertans who love this place very much.

00:04:19.920 I'll introduce them more properly later.

00:04:22.880 On the one hand, Keith Wilson, the lawyer for the Freedom Convoy.

00:04:27.760 And on the other hand, David Legge, the man who was deputized to go out to the world's financial markets after Rachel Notley was kicked out to tell them that Alberta is back.

00:04:45.680 Come and invest again.

00:04:47.160 That's David Legge.

00:04:48.140 These two men, who I've known for more than 30 years, love this province very much, and have two very different strategies for how to achieve Alberta's goals.

00:05:00.000 Keith Wilson will be making the case for independence.

00:05:02.940 David Legge will be making the case for fixing the country from within.

00:05:06.400 And I really think that's going to be an illuminating debate.

00:05:10.080 And I can't think of two better people evenly matched in their love of this place and their smarts.

00:05:16.580 That's going to be, to me, an amazing debate.

00:05:19.180 So thank you for coming.

00:05:21.240 You know, last week I was in County Cork, Ireland, and I was wearing my shirt that said Rebel.

00:05:28.520 Rebel, and I didn't really know that when you wear the word Rebel in Ireland, it's got a little bit of a different meaning.

00:05:37.400 And County Cork, their motto is the Rebel County. 0.99

00:05:42.660 I tell you, I had a lot of conversations, and people were so disappointed to learn that, no, I'm not Irish.

00:05:48.940 But I learned things in Ireland.

00:05:51.740 I try and learn things from wherever I travel for Rebel about how other battles are fought and won and lost, and can we learn from them here at home?

00:06:03.180 And one of the things that I think I've learned is that you don't get what you don't ask for.

00:06:11.860 And power is rarely given.

00:06:14.220 It's almost always taken.

00:06:16.180 And I think that, from my own point of view, having grown up in Alberta, went to school west of Calgary, and then, you know, spent the first third of my life in this province, the first half of my life, is that I think that Albertans generally love Canada.

00:06:34.700 Canada's our home.

00:06:35.520 We grew up in Canada, and the Canada that we loved was the Canada that respected the things that we loved.

00:06:41.300 And patriotism, standing up to tyranny, freedom, the pioneer spirit.

00:06:48.560 And so, if I were to compare any independence movement in Alberta to those around the world, I would say ours in Alberta in the West is not motivated by rage or anger,

00:07:04.060 so much as disappointment and resignation, and the realization that we tried so hard, and we sent our best, and we went with an open hand, and we were slapped away, and we were mocked.

00:07:17.060 I was Preston Manning's assistant, and I'll never forget the way he was derided.

00:07:22.660 Personally, he was mocked.

00:07:24.360 Of course he was called a racist.

00:07:26.440 That's just the standard playbook of the mainstream media and the mainstream political media industrial complex.

00:07:35.000 But I think what I'm sensing is it's like that movie Groundhog Day, just over and over and over again.

00:07:43.140 And how many times, how many generations of Albertans would say, it's not fair, can we fix it, before people say, it ain't fixing.

00:07:52.100 We're knocking on the door so much, but our knuckles are bloody.

00:07:56.460 It's a different spirit of rebellion than, let's say, a violent rebellion that you might have seen in Cork a hundred-odd years ago.

00:08:04.920 It's a rebellion of steely determination, I think.

00:08:09.660 And our job as Rebel News is to tell the story honestly.

00:08:12.960 Because what I'm seeing already is that central Canada and the voices of the media industrial complex will be condescending, will be abusive, will be accusatory, will be contemptuous of Alberta's goals and ambitions in a way that they have not been for Quebec's demands.

00:08:37.600 Whenever Quebec asks for something, there's a good cop, bad cop dynamic with a Quebecer in Quebec negotiating with a Quebecer in Ottawa how best to handle Quebec.

00:08:50.540 And it's an inside job. It's a stitch-up.

00:08:53.660 And that's just how it is.

00:08:55.440 Quebec has three out of nine seats on the Supreme Court, which is disproportionate.

00:08:59.900 Quebec has different constitutional deals.

00:09:02.460 Quebec has different financial deals.

00:09:04.880 And all of that is with the approval of the central Canadian elite, because it's all paid for by Alberta.

00:09:11.500 Why wouldn't it have the approval of Toronto and Ottawa?

00:09:15.700 We're going to cover this referendum campaign more honestly and more fairly than any other media, certainly based in eastern Canada.

00:09:26.180 Because that's our style.

00:09:28.220 We tell the other side of the story.

00:09:29.740 We tell the other side of the story.

00:09:34.880 There are some other independent media in Canada, and I'm delighted that friendly competitors of Rebel News have joined us today.

00:09:43.900 My friends at Juno and Counter-Signal and Western Standard are all here today.

00:09:49.040 And I trust them.

00:09:50.400 Because the media organizations I've just listed have a few things in common.

00:09:59.960 But the most important, I put it to you, is that none of us are funded by the government.

00:10:06.500 And how can you possibly be free to speak freely if you are a news organization whose primary source of funding is the government?

00:10:17.980 Now, by the way, I should tell you, if you remember when you signed up on our ticket page, there were several different prices.

00:10:24.600 There was an early bird price, and I think there was a student price.

00:10:28.640 And I don't know if you saw it, but we had a mainstream media price.

00:10:32.200 Did you see that?

00:10:35.440 It was $1,000.

00:10:36.760 Now, a reporter from the Daily Telegraph in London emailed me and said, can I get a ticket?

00:10:50.640 And I said, the Daily Telegraph?

00:10:52.360 I love you guys.

00:10:54.560 I'm going to give you a 10% discount.

00:10:59.320 But don't tell anyone.

00:11:00.880 It's just for friends.

00:11:03.340 He said, oh, that's nice.

00:11:04.660 And then he wrote back, and he said, and he was shocked by it.

00:11:08.420 And I said, look, you're the Daily Telegraph.

00:11:10.840 Your owner literally lives in a castle on a private island.

00:11:17.180 He can chip in.

00:11:20.660 I don't think he's here.

00:11:22.160 If he's here, he's undercover.

00:11:24.660 The Washington Post, which is owned by the world's second richest man, Jeffrey Bezos,

00:11:29.800 I think they just sneaked in under a regular ticket price.

00:11:34.640 But that's okay.

00:11:36.120 Hopefully they'll report honestly and accurately what they see here today.

00:11:40.260 But the fact that the Daily Telegraph of London and that the Washington Post of Washington

00:11:45.640 have come here to this modest gathering of severely normal people, I think tells you

00:11:52.380 something that even if other parts of Canada have their head in the sand, the world realizes

00:12:00.760 that what's cooking in Alberta is enormously important.

00:12:05.540 And I'm not sure if the rest of Canada has wrapped their mind around what's coming yet.

00:12:11.080 It is a fact that there will be a sovereignty referendum next year.

00:12:16.880 That is going to happen.

00:12:26.840 Premier Daniel Smith has used Jason Kenney's Potemkin Law.

00:12:32.820 Jason Kenney brought in fake legislation to permit referendums and citizens' initiatives

00:12:38.940 and recalls.

00:12:39.780 I call them fake because the level of signatures required was so enormously high.

00:12:46.240 In some cases, it would be higher than the number of people who actually voted.

00:12:50.560 It was designed as a placebo, a trick.

00:12:54.520 Throw some red meat to those rural folks. 1.00

00:12:57.100 They'll love this.

00:12:58.720 And if you read the fine print, you'll realize it was a trick.

00:13:02.540 But Daniel Smith took that legislation and said, oh, well, the legislation's already passed.

00:13:07.060 We'll just adjust these insane numbers.

00:13:09.900 Now, all that's needed is 177,000 signatures to be collected over a 120-day period.

00:13:19.080 That's one-tenth of the number who actually voted, not of who could vote.

00:13:24.300 177,000 names in 120 days?

00:13:28.240 Absolutely doable.

00:13:31.060 This referendum will happen.

00:13:33.120 And I think it's going to catch a lot of people unprepared.

00:13:38.660 I think there's a real chance that the referendum could pass.

00:13:45.380 And suddenly there's going to be a panic.

00:13:53.920 You know, I thought a lot about Donald Trump's attempt to woo Canada by tweeting, we cherish you.

00:14:04.900 He used that word cherish, didn't he?

00:14:07.900 And I thought it was sort of funny.

00:14:11.400 But I immediately thought, when was the last time any Canadian prime minister actually said to Alberta, we cherish you?

00:14:17.460 I mean, I don't know if Donald Trump means it, but he said it, which is more than anything Mark Carney or Justin Trudeau or the rest of them have ever said.

00:14:29.720 And Donald Trump's comments, which I think unfortunately scared a million Ontario centrists into the loving arms of Mark Carney,

00:14:38.920 Donald Trump's comments, which I think helped install a liberal prime minister,

00:14:43.080 I think they hit people's ears a different way depending on where they were in their minds and their hearts.

00:14:52.360 Here's what I mean.

00:14:53.980 And those of you who were in our, who here was in our Calgary rally or Edmonton rally last month?

00:14:59.060 Some folks here.

00:15:00.020 So I use this analogy there.

00:15:01.720 Forgive me for saying it again, but I think it fits.

00:15:06.560 Saying to another country, hey, come join us as the 51st state.

00:15:11.200 See, it's like saying to someone who's married already, ditch that guy and come with me.

00:15:20.200 Like it's sort of shocking in a way.

00:15:24.020 It's like that old movie from 30 years ago, Indecent Proposal, where Woody Harrelson was offered a million dollars or whatever,

00:15:33.740 if his wife slept with a rich businessman.

00:15:35.880 An indecent proposal to be sure.

00:15:38.240 How dare you offer to a proposal of marriage?

00:15:42.100 I'm happily married.

00:15:43.400 Okay, stop right there.

00:15:44.340 Hang on a second.

00:15:44.920 You said happily married.

00:15:46.940 And that's the difference, isn't it?

00:15:49.580 For all of those people in Canada who are happily married to Canada,

00:15:54.260 who find Canada the way it is, great.

00:15:58.360 They find it emotionally fulfilling.

00:16:01.700 Who find it a source of respect and it would have come across as an indecent proposal.

00:16:10.220 But what if you were so unhappy in your current relationship that you were looking for a way out?

00:16:16.900 Maybe you were even contemplating a divorce.

00:16:19.860 And some swaggering guy said, hey, want to join me?

00:16:26.220 I think it lands on the ear a little bit differently if you loved Canada deeply and emotionally,

00:16:31.680 or if those ties that bind have been frayed with abuse over the last generation.

00:16:37.140 If you look at the people in Canada who told pollsters they were most open to Donald Trump's indecent proposal,

00:16:45.180 they were people in the West more than in the East.

00:16:47.760 They were young more than old.

00:16:49.720 They were men more than women.

00:16:51.700 They were people who realized they can't get a fair shake.

00:16:54.100 They were people who can't buy a home, can't afford a home,

00:16:57.200 who maybe would have got a six-figure job in the oil patch,

00:17:01.060 but now they have someone as prime minister who talks about transitioning off oil,

00:17:06.080 who for a decade before he became prime minister

00:17:10.320 was the chairman of something called the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero.

00:17:17.000 Basically, his full-time lobbying job was to disparage the oil sands

00:17:22.380 and to attack carbon as if some element on the periodic table was some sort of moral enemy.

00:17:28.360 So now what do we have?

00:17:31.480 Another four years of this?

00:17:32.780 Another four years where he'll play games with,

00:17:34.940 if there's a national consensus, we'll allow you to build a pipeline?

00:17:39.060 That's not what the Constitution says.

00:17:41.080 The Constitution doesn't talk about a national consensus.

00:17:43.960 The Constitution doesn't allow the prime minister to pick and choose.

00:17:48.120 Either it's lawful or if it's not.

00:17:49.560 How many more years do you propose to go around this merry-go-round?

00:17:53.700 I was Preston Manning's youth guy at U of C 30-plus years ago.

00:18:00.000 Will my own kids or grandkids be saying the same things the West wants in?

00:18:05.180 I don't know.

00:18:07.200 What I learned from Ted Byfield, the first news outlet that I worked for,

00:18:14.180 is to respect Albertans who are working through these issues,

00:18:19.580 to treat them as people who are trying to find the way forward in good faith.

00:18:26.320 Don't be contemptuous.

00:18:27.820 Don't be condescending.

00:18:29.380 Do not mock.

00:18:30.580 Do not talk down.

00:18:31.960 Do not deride.

00:18:33.660 I think that was the number one thing Ted Byfield's Alberta report did for the Reform Party.

00:18:39.100 He showed it respect, even if it was amateurish, even if it was not as intellectual,

00:18:46.580 he didn't have the same pedigree as PhDs from some Montreal university.

00:18:52.300 If people in Alberta felt a sense of alienation, give them respect, the respect of listening to them.

00:18:59.440 Report on what they say accurately.

00:19:02.340 Platform those people, even if they don't, they're not part of your clique,

00:19:07.480 if they're not part of your club.

00:19:10.020 From time to time, I watch CBC's At Issue panel,

00:19:13.700 which is all the political diversity from A to B.

00:19:18.160 You know, I mean, it's got Chantal Ibert, Althea Raj, and Andrew Coyne,

00:19:22.260 who, by the way, every year start to physically resemble each other more and more.

00:19:29.520 I mean, Rosemary Barton is in Ottawa.

00:19:33.220 Chantal Ibert is in Montreal.

00:19:34.640 So is Althea Raj, Andrew Coyne's in Toronto.

00:19:39.780 They're all related either by marriage or Althea wrote the biography for Trudeau.

00:19:45.380 Like, it's just so incestuous.

00:19:47.040 And it's just this little group of people who all know each other.

00:19:51.160 None of them who, you know, to go west of Toronto,

00:19:54.520 it would be like an old-timey map that said, here be dragons.

00:19:57.900 Like, they don't even know what's west of Toronto.

00:20:02.360 That is, they call that a political debate.

00:20:06.360 Rebel News, our point of view, and I learned this from Ted,

00:20:10.180 was listen to people even if they're a little bit rough around the edges.

00:20:14.740 If they're speaking from the heart, give them the perspective of reporting what's going on.

00:20:17.960 If we can, this is about 600 plus people who have come in, thank you, spent about 50 bucks,

00:20:26.620 coming to set aside an entire day to talk about an issue.

00:20:30.840 And I tell you, there have been thousands of Albertans who have had meetings.

00:20:35.440 And we were in Regina a few weeks ago.

00:20:39.480 500 people came out in Regina, Saskatchewan.

00:20:45.000 There is something going on that maybe they don't detect at the CBC headquarters.

00:20:51.140 And Rebel News will host this debate, and we will do it fairly.

00:20:56.400 I'm very excited about the day ahead.

00:20:58.480 We've got speeches.

00:21:00.020 We've got panels, including a media panel.

00:21:02.620 I told you about the great debate.

00:21:04.760 We have a little bit of a kind of trade show at the back.

00:21:07.620 Please make sure you check out the vendors here today.

00:21:12.240 And I think the further you can look into the future,

00:21:19.560 the sharper your decisions today will be.

00:21:24.500 Realize that the referendum is coming.

00:21:26.680 It's a fact, even if Andrew Coyne doesn't like it.

00:21:29.220 Realize that when central Canada finally wakes up to the fact that the milk cow of confederation might find Donald Trump's offer enticing,

00:21:40.640 or if not Donald Trump, maybe just wants to be single for a bit.

00:21:44.140 And one of the things I think our panelists will discuss are the differences between being independent, between having some sort of sovereignty association, becoming a 51st state.

00:21:58.620 There's different ways this can go.

00:22:00.740 And by the way, why is it okay for Quebec to figure these things out?

00:22:06.160 Sovereignty association, have a passport and a currency.

00:22:11.260 There's so many questions that can be debated.

00:22:13.800 Why is Quebec allowed to debate that?

00:22:16.240 But no one in Alberta is.

00:22:18.060 If I were to look ahead...

00:22:19.940 If I were to look ahead, I would say that central Canada is going to wake up startled one day and realize that that referendum is coming.

00:22:36.440 And they're going to realize that they're late to the game.

00:22:40.980 And they're going to reach into their bag of tricks for what they normally do.

00:22:43.960 They're going to try and cancel and defame and deplatform and demonize and denormalize and defund and alienate and smear anyone who says we can do better than this current arrangement.

00:23:00.240 It's going to be like the Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom just over a decade ago.

00:23:06.200 I don't know if you know this, but the establishment campaign against Brexit, which was a referendum separating from the European Union, everyone was for the European Union.

00:23:18.420 Everyone was for Remain except the people.

00:23:21.820 So the official campaign to Remain, they literally internally used the name Project Fear.

00:23:31.680 Project Fear.

00:23:32.880 Do you doubt that they will be weaponized against the referendum?

00:24:02.880 Just as they were weaponized short years ago in the COVID propaganda.

00:24:10.660 Do you remember how uniform the regime media was during the lockdowns?

00:24:17.620 Not a peep of dissent.

00:24:21.380 That's what money does.

00:24:23.420 And imagine the amount of money that will be spent by the government stopping the goose that lays the golden eggs from leaving.

00:24:33.500 So understand what's coming and look at how it's being done in other jurisdictions.

00:24:40.120 Learn from those places.

00:24:41.640 That's what I want to do today.

00:24:42.760 That's what I want to do today.

00:24:44.740 I want to learn.

00:24:45.780 I want to listen to the different points of view.

00:24:48.140 I want to go straight to the horse's mouth.

00:24:50.860 I want to hear it from the horse himself.

00:24:52.820 I don't want to get my news through the CBC.

00:24:55.420 I don't want to figure things out with the coaching of that regime panel of Andrew Coyne and all those.

00:25:03.640 I want to get to know the people directly.

00:25:07.320 And I want our team of journalists, led by Sheila Gunn-Reed, our chief reporter.

00:25:12.200 And we have several other of our reporters here today, including Sidney Fazzard and Angelica Toyne.

00:25:28.080 I pledge to you that we will cover these events.

00:25:32.340 We'll cover them fairly.

00:25:34.200 We'll cover them in a spirit of good faith.

00:25:36.720 We will not mock or deride.

00:25:38.840 And it is my goal that in a year's time, when the referendum is happening, when this whole movement is moving,

00:25:50.300 that you will regard Rebel News as a trustworthy source of information and advice on how to proceed.

00:25:57.380 Welcome to our day-long conference.

00:25:59.780 Thank you for being here.

00:26:08.840 Have you folks seen the new Netflix documentary on former Toronto mayor Rob Ford?

00:26:17.880 If you consume the mainstream media in Toronto, it's described as worth a watch.

00:26:23.080 They say a Rob Ford documentary just dropped on Netflix.

00:26:26.420 Here's what people are saying.

00:26:28.800 Now, someone I know and trust does not describe it as worth a watch. 0.88

00:26:35.920 She describes it as Netflix trash that made her want to cry. 0.86

00:26:40.880 And it sourced the vipers who drove Rob Ford into an early grave. 0.93

00:26:47.340 Joining me now to discuss Netflix trashy documentary and her recent op-ed in Juneau News is Sue Ann Levy.

00:26:56.220 Sue Ann, thanks for coming on the show as I fill in for Ezra over the next few days.

00:27:00.780 Please tell us, you watched the documentary so we don't have to break it down for us.

00:27:07.740 Well, I forced myself to because I knew it was coming and then I saw it on my own Netflix screen being promoted.

00:27:15.820 And I forced myself to watch it last night and it was every bit as bad as I expected it would be.

00:27:21.860 The director slash producer, who is from England, basically pulled all the most sensational clips of his time in office and interviewed all the people who, like you said, drove him, helped drive him to an early grave.

00:27:41.820 And there was actually no attempt made from the looks of it to talk to people who actually thought he'd done a good job for the time he was, you know, before all the, I guess the wheels fell off the bus.

00:28:04.800 And to talk to people who had some empathy and compassion for him.

00:28:10.940 And I don't mean necessarily myself, but anybody who was right of center, who had been with him and watched him for year upon years upon years, would have a slightly different view.

00:28:24.400 Yeah, they sourced a bunch of journalists who mocked him regularly, Katie Simpson, and even people who stabbed him in the back, like Mark Toey.

00:28:36.380 It was just the most bizarre bunch of nonsense.

00:28:40.220 And they never once told the story of the redemption arc, because really, he had a bit of a redemption arc.

00:28:48.040 Like, he swept into City Hall, caused a bunch of chaos, his scandals broke, in the end, he owned them, and then he did his best to get clean and live out the rest of his days as best he could.

00:29:04.140 But that part is left right out of it.

00:29:06.400 Totally. And the part before he became mayor, because I knew him from the mid-2000s, and the efforts he made as councillor to expose the rot and waste at City Hall was never, ever brought up.

00:29:22.440 He just didn't walk into the mayor's chair.

00:29:26.740 He had had a history, a track record, of trying to deal with the gravy train.

00:29:32.760 And he thought that by becoming mayor, he, of course, would have far more influence.

00:29:39.020 And, you know, he had a good year, and he had really good people surrounding him.

00:29:44.100 I saw a clip of, for example, Doug Holliday, and they never, I don't know if they ever attempted to talk to him, because he helped try to keep the wheels on the bus.

00:29:57.760 And, you know, like I say in my piece, his heart was in the right place.

00:30:03.720 Yeah.

00:30:04.200 He had demons. Who doesn't in this life?

00:30:07.060 And I will also add that these are the very people, the people who are quoted in this trashy documentary, who would be the first to wring their hands about allowing drug addicts, crack addicts in particular, to roam the streets of Toronto to get shot up or allowed to smoke at safe injection sites, who have fought reciferously to keep these drug enabling sites going in Toronto.

00:30:34.620 And these are the very same people who speak out constantly about bullying.

00:30:40.080 They should all look in the mirror.

00:30:41.860 They should all be ashamed of themselves for what they said on this documentary.

00:30:46.100 You know, that's an excellent point.

00:30:47.880 One I was going to make to you is, you know, these are the same people who advocate for supervised injection sites, supervised inhalation sites, compassion for the addict.

00:30:57.100 And actually, I believe in compassion for the addict.

00:30:59.440 I don't want to compassion them right into the grave.

00:31:01.960 And it seems as though, in the absence of all of this, whatever their personal beefs were, political beefs were, with Rob Ford, there's zero respect or compassion shown for the family he left behind in any of this.

00:31:15.720 No, and I was watching the documentary last night.

00:31:21.280 I thought, well, you know, it's nine years ago.

00:31:24.200 His daughter must be in her late teens.

00:31:27.220 His son must be a teenager as well.

00:31:30.680 You know, I've kind of, I've really lost touch with the family.

00:31:33.740 But, you know, I do know that Doug Ford was approached about speaking.

00:31:38.560 And he said, no, thankfully, he begged off.

00:31:42.120 But, you know, why, what was the purpose of all of this?

00:31:46.340 The man is deceased.

00:31:48.600 Let him rest in peace.

00:31:51.220 Yeah, I, you know, one of the most heartbreaking things for me in all of this was, I think, little Doug Ford, Rob's son, on his lawn.

00:32:02.440 I think he was in his pajamas, talking to reporters, I think, after his father passed.

00:32:09.080 And I thought, what are you doing at this kid's house?

00:32:12.560 You know, get out of there.

00:32:14.140 But they never had any appropriate boundaries with Rob's family whatsoever.

00:32:19.900 I'll never forget.

00:32:21.060 I think it was Daniel Dale peeping over the back fence like an absolute total weirdo.

00:32:26.700 In a normal country, that would have ended somebody's career.

00:32:29.800 Instead, he's gone on to even bigger and better voyeuristic things.

00:32:34.400 Yes, exactly.

00:32:35.880 Working for CNN and, you know, doing his fact finding, which is the biggest joke ever, but in the States.

00:32:45.800 But Katie Simpson as well. 0.97

00:32:48.020 Her reward for mocking and harassing this guy and treating him like dirt was to get a plum appointment in the U.S. 0.94

00:32:57.240 So, you know, there is no justice.

00:33:01.620 And yes, they were very, very intrusive.

00:33:05.420 I can only imagine, Sheila, if I, during my journalism career, had shown up in somebody's backyard.

00:33:11.980 My God, people would have been going crazy.

00:33:14.900 Yeah.

00:33:15.500 In the left-wing media, of course.

00:33:16.860 These people really did make a career on Rob Ford and exploiting Rob Ford's troubles and the troubles of his family to make their career.

00:33:29.340 Robin Doolittle wrote a book, as you rightly point out in your piece.

00:33:32.960 Right.

00:33:33.380 Right.

00:33:34.240 To line her pockets on the misery of the Ford family.

00:33:37.620 Katie Simpson, as you said.

00:33:39.160 And I think Mark Toohey, Mark Toohey wrote a book, too.

00:33:44.380 The narcissistic opus about how he tried to help him. 0.94

00:33:48.660 I mean, these people are shameless. 0.99

00:33:52.240 Absolutely shameless.

00:33:53.540 Now, when I did my book Underdog in 2016, I felt it really important to do a chapter to set the record straight.

00:34:01.160 And my publisher said it was one of the best chapters ever written about Rob Ford because I showed some empathy and compassion towards him.

00:34:10.280 And that's the only reason I say that.

00:34:12.620 So, who's missing from this documentary?

00:34:16.500 You knew Rob Ford back then.

00:34:18.720 Mm-hmm.

00:34:18.940 Who could have provided at least the remotest sense of balance in all of this?

00:34:24.340 Anyone that I worked with at The Sun who covered City Hall and not, like I said, it could have been me.

00:34:31.480 It could have been others who were at the City Hall Bureau during Rob Ford's time.

00:34:36.020 I even saw some of them on the videos.

00:34:39.880 It could have been somebody who was on council who supported him.

00:34:45.240 His closest allies, like Doug Holliday, like KSOTS. 0.61

00:34:51.020 I mean, these people did experience the craziness, but they also knew that, like I said, his heart was in the right place.

00:35:02.300 And when you look at Toronto now, post Rob Ford, it's a mess.

00:35:09.400 It's a train wreck.

00:35:10.880 I don't think Olivia Chow could do worse if she tried. 1.00

00:35:14.340 I saw a clip of her today where she's bragging about Toronto being the fastest-growing city in North America.

00:35:21.500 That's a problem, sister, that everybody is landing at Pearson and claiming refugee status, 1.00

00:35:27.400 and then you don't have a place to put them, and you don't have roads for them to drive on,

00:35:32.180 and houses and hospitals for them to have.

00:35:35.780 I mean, I just look at the mess since Rob Ford.

00:35:40.200 Sure, he had his problems, but he did his best to keep the city of Toronto be the best that it could possibly be.

00:35:48.640 I think he, as you say, his heart was in the right place.

00:35:51.860 Well, he tried to stop the waste and mismanagement and the corruption at City Hall,

00:35:57.280 and the left, of course, did not like that one bit.

00:36:00.720 And he had an affinity, as they say in my column, to the common man.

00:36:08.200 And he had no problem going and knocking on people's doors and trying to help them.

00:36:13.120 You know, sometimes we said, well, you're a mayor.

00:36:15.720 You shouldn't be doing that.

00:36:17.140 There are other people to do it.

00:36:18.680 But frankly, a number of the councillors did not respond, were not retail politicians,

00:36:27.100 didn't care about their constituents, just cared about getting re-elected.

00:36:31.440 And, you know, it was just a totally different person.

00:36:36.120 I think they were very jealous of him, very upset that he was upsetting the apple cart.

00:36:41.380 Does it sound a little bit like what's going on south at the border?

00:36:44.480 Because it reminds me very much.

00:36:48.180 Me too.

00:36:48.400 But I'm telling you, Sheila, when I watched that video last night, I was sickened.

00:36:53.260 It reminded me of all the awful, awful things that happened over his time in office.

00:37:00.420 I remember them being so, I don't know what the right word is, thrilled, I guess maybe it is, that he was dying.

00:37:07.700 I remember that, just the grave dancing before he was in it.

00:37:11.260 Adam Vaughn was the most despicable character.

00:37:15.400 And, you know, thankfully he wasn't in this video.

00:37:17.900 But he, I mean, he used to mock Rob Ford and he was vicious.

00:37:23.400 And then the day of his funeral, he walked into the church and walked up to the front row like he was his best friend. 0.95

00:37:30.820 Sick.

00:37:31.040 And I wrote a scathing column about that. 0.91

00:37:33.680 And he was forced to go on radio and defend himself.

00:37:36.340 I mean, it was just disgusting.

00:37:39.460 It was disgusting the way they all treated him.

00:37:41.740 I have two favorite Rob Ford memories and none of them are of his drama.

00:37:49.880 It was Rob Ford, once he got to City Hall in the mayor's chair, going through the list of things like the cards and the freebies that all the politicians get around there.

00:38:01.360 And laying it bare, this is what they're getting while they want more money, while they want more raises, while they want to pad their expense accounts.

00:38:10.260 And I thought, you know, I've never seen this before.

00:38:13.100 They're all getting it.

00:38:14.160 They all have access to the same camera that Rob Ford has.

00:38:18.200 Nobody's ever told the truth about what they were getting.

00:38:24.100 And then my second one is, CBC Radio called him when he was coaching football.

00:38:32.260 And he took the phone call, like the interview from CBC Radio.

00:38:37.180 And then one of the hosts said, you know, you sound like you're distracted, like you don't want to have this interview.

00:38:42.880 And he said, I'm coaching football, like right now.

00:38:45.660 And they were sort of taking it back.

00:38:47.680 But for me, that embodies who Rob Ford really was.

00:38:51.560 Constantly giving back to the community, trying to do as many things and talk to as many people as possible while exposing the rot.

00:38:59.400 My favorite was the night he won.

00:39:01.840 I was commenting on CBC Radio, which quickly ended as everybody in the media got more woke.

00:39:08.840 But in 2010, I was asked to comment.

00:39:11.520 I was in the studio, and I literally, literally, the hosts and the other commenters who were all, you know, left-wing legacy media turned white.

00:39:22.300 And I'm sitting there going, you're pretty.

00:39:24.340 I mean, not knowing what was to come.

00:39:29.560 Because they were not, they were not going to let him govern, like, you know, allow him to pursue his morality.

00:39:42.240 They were not going to let him.

00:39:43.700 And even though he had those addictions, they broke him down.

00:39:48.620 They really, really broke him down.

00:39:50.520 Like, yeah, just imagine the stress that he was under every single day.

00:39:56.660 I know how they would treat me.

00:39:58.620 Oh, for sure.

00:39:59.460 They were always watching.

00:40:00.920 But I'm a strong person.

00:40:02.080 I don't have addictions.

00:40:03.000 So I was able to handle.

00:40:04.620 But I know somebody has an addictive personality.

00:40:07.280 And they, you know, and they really cared, like, not that I didn't care, but, you know, he, they knew.

00:40:15.880 They knew they were targeting somebody who was vulnerable.

00:40:18.820 And they were just waiting like a bunch of vultures to get him.

00:40:23.160 And, you know, one of the worst people works for Olivia Chow now, Adam Chayla Freudenthaler. 1.00

00:40:29.140 That guy was a vile, vile person.

00:40:32.840 He took him to court, and now he's one of her advisors.

00:40:37.100 So you can see where they all end up.

00:40:42.300 If you could describe Rob Ford to someone who had never met him in a sentence, Sue Ann, how would you?

00:40:53.220 Well, it wouldn't be like Katie Simpson or Robin Doolittle in the film.

00:40:56.900 I would say that he was a bearer of a man who cared tremendously about the little guy.

00:41:02.540 And he wasn't the least bit homophobic.

00:41:05.300 He was so kind to my wife and I.

00:41:07.640 And I met her during the time he, just before he came into office.

00:41:13.200 And he was so kind to us.

00:41:16.560 So, you know, the left-wing media did a real number on him about that as well.

00:41:22.080 So, you know, curse to them.

00:41:25.680 I hope karma, you know, I hope there is some karma in this life at some point.

00:41:32.780 As long as they remain awful, you and I have job security.

00:41:38.020 And so I try to look at the glass being half full.

00:41:43.120 That's very true, Sheila.

00:41:44.960 But they're ruining a lot of lives along the way.

00:41:48.000 Sue Ann, how do people find the very important journalism that you do, which serves as a

00:41:53.920 counterbalance to the vitriol, nonsense and misinformation of the mainstream?

00:41:59.980 Go on Juneau News.

00:42:02.000 And I'm featured on there.

00:42:04.100 My columns are featured on there.

00:42:05.940 Might have to sign up for a subscription.

00:42:08.240 But, Sheila, it's well worth it.

00:42:10.000 Just like Rebel is, well worth it.

00:42:11.900 Absolutely.

00:42:12.980 Sue Ann, thanks so much.

00:42:14.180 Thanks for coming on the show.

00:42:15.080 And thank you so much for doing your best to set the record straight on Rob Ford.

00:42:19.760 Thank you.

00:42:20.480 Thank you very much.

00:42:28.280 Now, normally we close the show on your letters to Ezra, but I'm not Ezra and I don't have

00:42:33.200 any letters to him today.

00:42:35.060 But I thought I would close the show out on some of our independent journalism from on

00:42:40.040 the ground in and around Kananaskis and Banff for the G7.

00:42:45.300 You can see all of our coverage at g7reports.com.

00:42:49.580 And you can also see our legal battle and support our legal battle to get accredited officially

00:42:56.380 through the Global Affairs Department of the Government of Canada, who were definitely

00:43:02.620 ragging the puck, as they say, to run out the clock to see if they had to accredit us at

00:43:08.360 all at letusreport.com.

00:43:12.720 Now, not all of the action was in Banff or Kananaskis.

00:43:17.220 In fact, very little of the action at all was at the media center in Banff.

00:43:22.100 And I think that's how Global Affairs wanted it.

00:43:23.980 But that doesn't mean that we weren't doing journalism.

00:43:28.080 So I want to show you this report from my friends and colleagues, Sid Fizard and Angelica

00:43:37.220 Toy, where they were at the airport to watch the president and leader of the free world,

00:43:45.320 Donald Trump, land in Calgary on his way to the G7.

00:43:49.660 So we'll close the show with that.

00:43:51.780 And as my friend Ezra Levant always says, keep fighting for freedom.

00:43:59.220 Sidney Fizard for Rebel News here in Calgary, Alberta, at Calgary's International Airport.

00:44:03.780 Now, President Donald Trump, you saw landed last night here in Alberta, greeted by Premier

00:44:08.140 Daniel Smith before making his way to the Kananaskis Summit.

00:44:11.540 Now, we got word that today President Donald Trump is actually going to be making an early

00:44:14.960 departure from the Kananaskis Summit.

00:44:16.980 He's expected to be back here tonight.

00:44:18.760 And just like yesterday, there's a crowd of supporters and fans and people who are just

00:44:23.220 generally interested in super heavy powered aircraft that have come here to take a look

00:44:27.660 at President Donald Trump's departure.

00:44:29.380 What's brought you to the airport today?

00:44:31.040 To see Trump.

00:44:32.600 I just want to see the Modi right now.

00:44:34.760 Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:44:35.340 Modi, he's on the other side, eh?

00:44:36.920 I know they are not allowing us to go over there, but then we really love to see him.

00:44:42.020 Yeah, yeah.

00:44:42.300 And definitely we want to see all over there.

00:44:44.400 I never saw the jet like that, so I'm happy.

00:44:47.900 I'm lucky I'm here to see all of them.

00:44:50.180 So basically, I just got the news that the Prime Minister of India is landing right now

00:44:54.860 and probably he's going to take off from here.

00:44:56.800 So I just came here to watch him.

00:44:58.080 It's going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch him.

00:45:01.800 So, yeah.

00:45:02.360 We're just taking a look at all of the equipment and Air Force One.

00:45:06.140 And, yeah, it's a beautiful evening.

00:45:08.240 Why not?

00:45:08.860 Just to see what's going on.

00:45:10.800 It's a big day for Calgary.

00:45:13.580 And hopefully get a glimpse in an hour or two of Mr. Trump.

00:45:18.360 Actually, come to check out STARS for one and obviously the Marine Corps Ospreys.

00:45:24.400 So there's a pretty impressive machines, eh?

00:45:26.820 Yeah, very.

00:45:27.580 I'm a low-hour commercial helicopter pilot.

00:45:30.040 So that's my dream right there, STARS.

00:45:32.560 So I love seeing them out.

00:45:35.720 Absolutely.

00:45:36.160 And then, again, with the Marines and the U.S. military stuff, you can't beat that.

00:45:42.500 Oh, to come and see Trump.

00:45:44.420 Yeah, yeah.

00:45:44.980 You're a big fan of Trump, eh?

00:45:46.160 Oh, yes.

00:45:46.920 I wish we had in Canada Trump.

00:45:49.700 What do you make of President Trump's visit to Canada, first visit since he became president again?

00:45:56.060 He's been quiet.

00:45:57.740 Yeah, yeah.

00:45:58.100 Haven't heard any bad things.

00:45:59.740 Fine.

00:46:00.380 That's really amazing, actually.

00:46:02.600 We never thought that he would be coming to Calgary, actually.

00:46:04.760 And the G7 summit happening in Calgary as well, like in Alberta.

00:46:09.660 It's an honour, I think.

00:46:10.720 So, yeah.

00:46:11.120 Well, it seemed to go well today based on the reports.

00:46:14.560 So hopefully they're going to get along and pull together a deal.

00:46:17.520 But time will tell.

00:46:18.720 Well, and you also heard, I imagine, there's the Calistani protests that have been happening.

00:46:22.320 What do you make of that?

00:46:26.100 I can't say anything, any words about them.

00:46:29.280 So what can I say?

00:46:30.940 I can say one thing that, you know, separatist protests happen in every country.

00:46:36.640 But they're part of our country, you know.

00:46:40.280 In our country, they're known as the warriors.

00:46:43.460 So I believe that everyone should be together and not causing separation.

00:46:47.200 That's the only thing we can say.

00:46:48.320 All together, right?

00:46:49.520 We don't want any separation or anything else.

00:46:51.620 We want to leave it united.

00:46:53.720 I don't have any comments on that, actually.

00:46:55.100 But then they have to protest, they have to protest.

00:46:58.280 Like, there are headers for Trump as well and there are headers for Modi as well.

00:47:01.300 So we can't help it.

00:47:02.320 I'll be honest.

00:47:03.340 No nationalist has an issue with our Prime Minister.

00:47:06.840 I mean, hence that's why Mark Carney invited him, too.

00:47:09.720 I know he's the one of the best Prime Minister.

00:47:11.520 And that's why Mark Carney is also inviting him, right?

00:47:15.140 And I want a better relationship between Canada and India.

00:47:18.800 Because what we need right now, I'm not focusing on anything else.

00:47:23.960 Like, what they are doing, what they want to do.

00:47:26.540 Country to country, you know.

00:47:27.440 Country to country.

00:47:27.960 We want a good relationship.

00:47:29.680 And what do you make of the relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Carney?

00:47:33.380 Before, during his campaign, you know, our relationship with the states is over.

00:47:37.200 Now they've basically taken over the Calgary airport.

00:47:39.440 Yeah.

00:47:40.280 I'm not sure. 1.00

00:47:41.740 I think Carney's kind of an idiot. 1.00

00:47:44.440 And, I mean, maybe the relationship can be good. 1.00

00:47:47.240 I don't know.

00:47:49.400 We'll see.

00:47:50.080 Well, there's probably more to it than them having a good time.

00:47:53.740 I would think that they might not be best of friends.

00:47:56.540 And who knows why he left.

00:47:58.820 We'll see.

00:47:59.800 Well, and speaking of which, we saw that when he arrived, Premier Daniel Smith was on the

00:48:03.440 tarmac to greet him.

00:48:04.680 Prime Minister Carney wasn't there.

00:48:06.140 Do you think that's the right move?

00:48:07.880 It certainly is for Daniel.

00:48:09.680 And good for Alberta.

00:48:11.160 So what's the most beneficial thing that you think that President Trump has done?

00:48:14.880 Well, he's a business leader, right?

00:48:17.240 And every good country needs a good business leader, you know?

00:48:21.860 He may not have the greatest reputation, so, and, you know, I would agree with that.

00:48:26.300 But he's a businessman.

00:48:27.960 He's doing the right thing.

00:48:29.700 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:48:30.640 Number one.

00:48:31.660 Number one.

00:48:32.200 We need in Canada Trump.

00:48:33.580 Let me know in the comments what you think about President Donald Trump's attendance here

00:48:37.000 at the Canada-askis G7 Summit.

00:48:38.660 For Rebel News, I'm Sidney Fazzard.

00:48:47.240 Be welcome.

00:48:47.820 We need help.

00:48:48.220 A hundred people.

00:48:48.820 We need help.

00:48:49.500 We need help.

00:48:52.540 It's sweeping the kä beaches. 0.70

00:48:53.080 And we need to help.

00:48:53.660 We need help.

00:48:55.980 In the world.

00:48:56.480 You need help.

00:49:00.500 We need help.

00:49:01.680 We need help.

00:49:03.160 We need help.

00:49:04.000 We need help.

00:49:05.260 We need help.

00:49:05.800 We need help.

00:49:06.440 We need help.

00:49:08.940 We need help.

00:49:10.140 We need help.

00:49:10.260 We need help.

00:49:11.380 We need help.

00:49:12.280 We need help.

Rebel News Podcast - June 20, 2025

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Ezra Levant speaks on Western independence at Rebel News Live

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