00:01:25.920Hi, guys. A shocking thing happened to me. I received an email from the home office of the0.64
00:01:33.820United Kingdom banning me from entering the country using what's called a UK ETA,
00:01:40.840Electronic Travel Authorization. I think that's what it stands for. It's like a mini visa
00:01:45.000that lets you into the country. They've rescinded mine. I'll tell you the whole story a little bit
00:01:50.060later in the show. It's sort of shocking. I love the UK. I've traveled there probably two dozen,
00:01:55.100three dozen times over the last 10 years doing journalism about Tommy Robinson, freedom of
00:02:00.460speech, mass immigration, covering the rise of the reform UK. Of course, Canada is where our base is,
00:02:06.520but we're interested in the UK because that's our mother country in many ways. It's where our law
00:02:12.720comes from. That's where our traditions come from. And I like to say it's like visiting the future
00:02:17.740because they're five years further down the road and some trends than we are. Well, the government
00:02:22.340didn't like me going over there, and I'll show you everything, including their official rationale
00:02:27.300for banning me. That's coming up a bit later, but I wanted to start today's show
00:02:31.500with what I think is a momentous event. Yesterday, in fact, just as we were finishing taping
00:02:37.540yesterday's show, a Trudeau-appointed judge in Alberta decided that having a Democratic
00:02:45.380referendum on independence was illegal if at this stage the petition gathering stage
00:02:53.020local first nations were not consulted just made it up the two quebec referendums never had that
00:03:00.540obligation other referendums that are going on this fall in alberta don't have that obligation
00:03:05.480the judge just making up a way to stop alberta from having a vote just absolutely incredible
00:03:12.080I have my strong thoughts on it, but I thought let's check in with Keith Wilson, King's Counsel,
00:03:18.040senior lawyer who follows these things very closely. So what you're about to see was recorded
00:03:23.360slightly earlier today. It's a one-on-one interview with Keith Wilson going through the legalities of
00:03:28.600this court ruling, but come right back because I want to talk to you about what happened with me
00:03:32.560and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I'll see you in a minute.
00:03:35.900Well, over 300,000 Albertans signed a petition asking for a referendum to be called on independence.
00:03:44.880And believe it or not, 400,000 other Albertans earlier this year signed a petition saying they love Canada and want to stay.
00:03:52.640You could say that 700,000 people want a referendum one way or the other on Alberta's future.
00:03:59.960By the way, that's not the only referendum.
00:04:02.800Corb Lund has a referendum petition that was accepted challenging coal mining in the province.
00:04:10.500And then there's referendums that the government itself have proposed, including several on immigration.
00:04:14.680In other words, Alberta is moving towards democracy, direct democracy, including tackling subjects that politicians sometimes are afraid to sink their teeth into directly.
00:04:24.900But yesterday, in a shocking decision, a Trudeau appointed judge originally from New Brunswick, and I say all those things because I think they're relevant, ruled against just one of these petitions, just against the 300,000 person independence petition, saying to have this petition for referendum without meaningful discussions with indigenous groups is illegal.
00:04:53.160The province said they were startled by this.
00:04:55.940Here's Danielle Smith yesterday saying she disagrees, she thinks it's wrong in law, and she'll be appealing.
00:05:01.300Well, although our government does support Alberta remaining in Canada,
00:05:06.080we think that today's decision by the court will deny opportunity to well over 300,000 Albertans to have their petition verified by Elections Alberta.
00:05:15.200We think that this decision is incorrect in law and anti-democratic.
00:05:20.480And we will be appealing it as a result.
00:05:23.760Our cabinet and caucus will, of course, be meeting in the next couple of days to discuss the full context and make some decisions after we've had a chance to talk it through.
00:05:32.560Well, I'm stunned by this whole thing, but not surprised.
00:05:35.960You know, the saying shock, but not surprised joining us now to talk about this and possible ways forward is our favorite lawyer, Keith Wilson, King's counsel.
00:05:43.340He was a lawyer for the Trucker Convoy, and he has been the, I think, the most interesting and authoritative lawyer commenting on Alberta independence.
00:06:23.400Well, that's how it reads to me as well.
00:06:25.480And I think it's a reflection, Ezra, of the broader state of our society where those on
00:06:34.540the left think we're just not allowed to talk about certain things.
00:06:38.200And this is a results focused decision, in my view, that is unfortunate because, you know, one of the questions for the court to look at was whether or not it was the intention of the legislature to allow Albertans to have a petition calling for a referendum on independence.
00:07:02.480and the court somehow found a way to say,
00:07:05.900well, no, that's not really what the legislature meant.
00:07:09.240And then the more profound issue that you're seeing
00:07:11.900a lot of other legal commentators, law professors,
00:07:15.680experts comment on today is the far-reaching impact
00:07:19.100of the court's decision purporting to enlarge
00:07:22.480to a very significant degree the duty to consult First Nations
00:07:27.360and slipping into the kind of situation we see in British Columbia
00:07:32.380where the elected government, the elected legislature under their parliamentary system
00:07:37.920is co-governing and has to go and get permission from First Nations before they make any decision.
00:07:48.720And the fact of the matter is it's always been the case that the decision as to whether
00:07:53.840or not to hold a referendum on independence, as clarified by the Supreme Court of Canada
00:07:58.920in 1998 rests with the provincial cabinet so the smith government can go ahead with a referendum
00:08:04.480on independence at any time they choose yeah you know um we've been following the the goings on in
00:08:11.580bc and ordinary british colombians have been shocked to learn that many of them may not own
00:08:18.740the land under their homes they've been investing in their homes for decades and suddenly
00:08:24.340in court cases and secret treaty deals, they may not own their own home. And talk about setting
00:08:32.040back indigenous white relations. I mean, the whole idea of reconciliation is that we get along and
00:08:38.120move forward together. This is setting it back. It's shocking. And I think it's going to be a
00:08:42.720reason why the NDP in British Columbia is thrown out because they are so closely wed to this new0.97
00:08:48.340indigenous title. Well, Alberta doesn't have indigenous title in the same way they do in BC
00:08:53.700because every single acre of Alberta has been surrendered under a treaty.
00:08:58.320And I use the word surrender, even though it sounds harsh.
00:09:01.380That is literally a word in every treaty in Alberta.
00:09:04.940The Indian band surrendered, ceded forever the land.
00:09:08.880Now, they have certain benefits, an Indian reserve and certain payments.
00:09:12.940But I think we have a judge here who is saying, I really want to stop this referendum.0.84
00:09:17.420I'm going to get super creative and say there's now an indigenous veto even to this.1.00
00:09:22.720I think you're so right. And I think I think it behooves the premier to say we're appealing, but we can't wait six months, a year, two years.0.99
00:09:33.540We're going to fight the legal battle because we need clarity. But in the meantime, as the premier of Alberta, I'm going to have our cabinet issue in order.
00:09:40.860We're going to have a vote. That's what I think should happen. The premier should say we're not going to obey the court party.
00:09:47.360We'll fight the court party on their own terms, but we're going to proceed on our terms. That's my view.
00:09:53.520Well, and it's not even a matter of the premier or the Alberta government deciding not to follow the court decision.
00:10:02.720They can accept the court decision even though they believe it's wrong and they can appeal it because it needs to be appealed to clarify this enlargement of the law of duty to consult
00:10:16.520and pushing down and diminishing the role of our elected parliaments,
00:10:24.100So it needs to be appealed for that reason.
00:10:26.480But what's absolutely clear, and I've said this many times in many interviews,
00:10:31.200is that I anticipated there would be legal challenges against the petition
00:10:35.280because there's forces that want to stop Alberta from becoming independent.
00:10:40.480But the critical thing that I would emphasize is that at no time has the premier,
00:10:45.660the government of Alberta ever needed a citizen initiative petition in order to hold a referendum
00:10:51.540on independence. In the same way that the premier didn't need a citizen initiative petition to
00:10:57.900announce, as she has, that there will be a referendum on questions relating to the Senate,
00:11:03.440to judge appointments and immigration in a referendum. That's inherent authority that
00:11:08.580the Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed. That's not disturbed in any way by this decision.
00:11:13.160So it remains wide open for the Smith government and her cabinet and her caucus to decide to be responsive to over 700,000 Albertans who've gone out of their way to sign various petitions saying, we want to have a referendum on this.
00:11:29.720So I'm optimistic that's exactly what will happen.
00:11:32.480You know, one of the themes of Alberta resentment is that Alberta has a certain amount of population, a certain amount of GDP, and yet it's treated poorly and given less respect, less attention than, let's say, for example, Atlantic Canada.
00:11:50.240And by the way, I love Atlantic Canada. I'm not hostile to them. I just note that tiny Prince Edward Island with 140,000 people has, I think, four MPs and four senators. So they have eight people in parliament for 140,000 people. Compare that to Alberta or, you know, Supreme Court seat. Where's Alberta's Supreme Court seat? Quebec has three.
00:12:11.860My point is, every time the will of Alberta is undermined, it's with someone who has like a super priority, like a super pass in Canada.
00:12:40.420And I think to have I know that courts are not elected, but to be so brazen and just saying that we're going to concoct a reason this can't proceed, that's going to inflame other issues, too.
00:12:56.420I think this is going to I think this is going to make more people see that this system isn't working.
00:13:02.640There's jubilation at the Globe and Mail and the CBC.
00:13:05.920They're thrilled about it, but it feels like a lawfare against the Alberta people to me.
00:13:11.440Well, one of the things that happened when I was on the ground in Ottawa in 2022 during the Freedom Convoy protest was I watched how the federal government continually overplayed their hand.
00:13:27.520And each one of these things, and including the MOU, it's an overplaying of Carney's hand.
00:13:33.940Because what it does, this decision yesterday, the MOU decision or announcement coming tomorrow, they provide evidence, illustrations, examples of why Canada doesn't work for Alberta and why Alberta needs to go alone and become independent and redefine its relationship with the rest of Canada.
00:13:56.840I think this just comes to be yet another example of that.
00:14:02.200And each one of these things, while they have a momentary effect of discouraging people in the independence movement, at the end of the day, they end up being a motivating factor.
00:14:13.840They strengthen the resolve, cause people to strengthen the resolve.
00:14:17.220And equally important is they cause people to move over because even someone who's on the fence on the issue goes, wait a minute, this is wrong. If this is actually the direction that First Nations get to rule over duly elected, democratically elected MLAs is not a future that bodes well for their kids and grandkids.
00:14:42.220Yeah. You know, Act for Alberta, the third party group we registered with Elections Alberta, sponsored a poll by Main Street. And I went through the poll with viewers the other day. But one detail I didn't go into, but our friend Sheila Gunn-Reed did, is believe it or not, grassroots indigenous people in Alberta, according to our poll from Main Street, are more supportive of independence than white folks.
00:15:05.920Now, the sample size was small, and it's probably worth doing more research.
00:15:09.220But that doesn't even surprise me when you think about it, because, of course, the chiefs love their current arrangement.
00:16:10.180And I was encouraged by her calling out the decision is undemocratic, because it is.
00:16:15.440And what's remarkable is each, you know, first of all, what I've heard from many First Nations members is that the chiefs, the few chiefs who've launched this legal challenge did not consult with their communities.
00:18:05.060Well, that's the news of the day on the referendum.
00:18:08.460I hope the Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, does the right thing and allows that referendum to go ahead by just making a government referendum rather than a petition driven one.
00:18:17.740I just don't think Albertans are in a mood to be dictated to by a Trudeau judge making things up on the fly.
00:18:24.720Anyhow, earlier I mentioned I've been banned from the United Kingdom.
00:18:27.280Let me show you now a video that I released a few hours ago.
00:18:31.420And it's, we call it Let Us Report, because that's what I do when I'm in the UK.