Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Justin Trudeau calls another mainstream premier 'far right' and it's getting pitiful at this point

00:00:00.220 Hello, my Rebels. Today I'm going to talk about Trudeau versus the New Brunswick Premier, Mr. Higgs,

00:00:06.740 who says parents should be able to know if their kids are transitioning or whatnot, 0.91

00:00:11.260 and Trudeau says, oh no, you far-right racist.

00:00:15.120 Well, the people have an opinion on that too.

00:00:18.520 I'll tell you what it is.

00:00:20.680 But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.

00:00:23.260 That's the video version of this podcast.

00:00:25.980 Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe, it's eight bucks a month,

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00:00:48.300 All right, here's today's podcast.

00:00:54.120 You're listening to Rebel News Podcast.

00:00:59.140 Tonight, Justin Trudeau calls another mainstream premier far-right.

00:01:09.940 It's actually getting quite pitiful.

00:01:11.820 It's June 15th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.

00:01:14.120 You're fighting for freedom!

00:01:17.440 Shame on you, you censorious bug!

00:01:20.640 You know, I think maybe something has changed. 0.80

00:01:32.360 Look at this.

00:01:32.880 This is Marco Mendocino, the Minister of Public Safety in the Trudeau government.

00:01:37.160 In eight years of Trudeau government,

00:01:39.840 I have never seen the mainstream media scrum a liberal cabinet minister in this way.

00:01:46.200 Never.

00:01:46.780 Have you?

00:01:47.480 Just watch.

00:01:48.280 How is it credible that all of the most senior staff who are paid for by taxpayers in government

00:02:04.260 and the PCO and the Prime Minister's office and your office knew,

00:02:07.040 but somehow you and the Prime Minister were only told after the fact,

00:02:09.680 how is that in any way credible to the average person who goes to their job and does their job every day?

00:02:14.800 Okay. First of all, let's all take a breath, and I want to be responsive to your questions.

00:02:20.060 What I said was that I would be coming down to take more questions this afternoon.

00:02:24.740 You said yesterday, and then you didn't cut your off-state.

00:02:26.800 We waited for five hours for you yesterday.

00:02:28.640 Well, I'm here right now, and I will be here again, absolument, tout à fait.

00:02:33.900 But I agree with you that there is a challenge there,

00:02:36.980 which is why we have taken steps to address that through corrective actions internally,

00:02:40.940 as well as by making sure that the CSE works very closely with victims' families going forward.

00:02:46.580 Is it standard operating procedure at your office that you are kept in the dark,

00:02:53.160 and will you let anyone go in response to the handling of this?

00:02:55.780 Of course not.

00:02:56.680 And my job as the Minister of Public Safety is to make sure that we are identifying issues

00:03:01.720 where there are challenges on information flow.

00:03:04.760 And so what I have done in each and every one of these cases

00:03:07.540 is to be responsive to those challenges by issuing ministerial directives

00:03:11.980 to clarify so that we are strengthening our ability to get the information that we need.

00:03:16.960 So that has been done, certainly in the case of Bernardo,

00:03:19.960 through the issuing of a new ministerial directive.

00:03:22.840 As far as internal matters, I've dealt with it.

00:03:26.320 What does that mean for you?

00:03:28.420 Why can you just answer it?

00:03:30.580 Minister, Minister, what is the explanation?

00:03:32.140 If it's not to keep you in the dark, what's the explanation?

00:03:35.020 So, again, I cannot answer all of the questions when they're coming at the same time.

00:03:40.100 So why didn't your staff tell you?

00:03:41.980 What's the explanation?

00:03:43.400 What was the explanation from your staff as to why they didn't tell you?

00:03:45.900 So, look, the short answer is it is unacceptable.

00:03:48.560 And my job is to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

00:03:52.120 That's not answering the question.

00:03:53.340 Why did it happen in the first place?

00:03:55.060 It's not your first day into Cabinet, right?

00:03:57.220 You're many years into Cabinet.

00:03:58.700 It's not a new...

00:03:59.700 Is Bernardo going back to maximum security or not?

00:04:01.280 So, I'm going to come back to that question.

00:04:05.580 But first, what's important is that these issues are identified and they're corrected.

00:04:11.060 And so that is what I have done with my team to be sure that there is no further breakdown in information flow.

00:04:17.220 It is important that I get those briefings in a timely manner.

00:04:20.540 That is made abundantly clear.

00:04:22.240 More importantly than that, back to the question that was posed,

00:04:25.700 I believe that the decision to transfer Paul Bernardo to a medium security institution does not sit well with Canadians

00:04:33.600 because it is an affront to the victims, in particular, of Leslie Mahaffey and Kristen French.

00:04:39.260 And that is why we are going to support them.

00:04:42.020 We're going to make sure that victims' rights are at the centre of these decisions

00:04:45.500 and that, going forward, victims are notified in a timely manner before those decisions are taken.

00:04:51.900 So, will he be exact?

00:04:53.840 Have you ever seen that before?

00:04:55.140 I mean, running and shouting? 0.64

00:04:57.600 I mean, Mendocino is particularly goofy.

00:05:00.460 He skipped a press briefing yesterday, so the press were hungry. 0.92

00:05:03.860 He's been caught in so many lies.

00:05:06.060 He's become a bit of a joke and a bit of a scapegoat for Trudeau, to be honest.

00:05:10.280 But still, have you ever seen the regime media, the media party,

00:05:14.920 act this way with anyone in Trudeau's government in the eight years since Trudeau took office?

00:05:19.920 I have not.

00:05:20.800 Maybe that's what it's like when literally 81% of the population thinks the government has overstayed its welcome.

00:05:28.420 Oh, don't get me wrong.

00:05:30.480 Every single one of those journalists is still going to vote Liberal on election day.

00:05:33.840 Of course, they would never bring themselves to vote for the Conservatives.

00:05:36.900 Never.

00:05:37.120 It's a matter of taste and class and tribe for them.

00:05:40.940 But by the same token, they're done pretending that everything's fine with Trudeau.

00:05:45.280 So what do Liberals do when they're in trouble, as they are?

00:05:51.140 Well, one thing is to talk about abortion and about how the evil Conservatives are going to force every woman in Canada to get pregnant

00:05:58.780 and go back into the kitchen and barefoot and whatever.

00:06:02.420 You know the drill.

00:06:03.560 Here's the latest example from yesterday.

00:06:05.860 Later today, our House of Commons will vote on the Conservatives' latest attempt to reopen the abortion debate in Canada.

00:06:12.480 Pierre Polyev's decision to fast-track this bill shows where his priorities lie.

00:06:17.700 Okay, take a look at the video.

00:06:19.380 The Conservatives are accelerating their efforts to reopen the abortion debate here in Canada.

00:06:25.260 While we were originally scheduled to debate a Conservative private member's bill proposing a tax credit for medical treatment this evening,

00:06:34.220 the Conservatives made a last-minute change.

00:06:36.100 Apparently, discussing abortion was of a greater priority to them.

00:06:40.180 And so we will be debating Bill C-311 this evening.

00:06:46.120 One of two things.

00:06:47.680 Either Pierre Polyev is pushing to have this debate, which reopens the question of abortion here in Canada, this evening,

00:06:57.300 or he has no control over his caucus members.

00:06:59.900 Perhaps it is because he has an interest in supporting his self-described 100% pro-life candidate in Portage-Lisgar.

00:07:14.060 I know that the by-election date of Monday is coming up quickly

00:07:18.680 and that the Conservatives are making all attempts in order to attract their anti-choice voters there.

00:07:25.780 One thing is certainly clear, Bill C-311 proposed by the Conservatives is yet another in a series of transparent attempts

00:07:34.640 in order to give legal status to a fetus here in Canada.

00:07:40.320 But look at this new feature on Twitter that I really like.

00:07:43.580 Ordinary people can correct liars on Twitter.

00:07:47.020 It's called a community note.

00:07:49.980 And look at this.

00:07:51.460 Bill C-311 is an act to amend the criminal code, violence against pregnant women.

00:07:57.520 Abortion is not mentioned or implied anywhere in Bill C-311.

00:08:03.240 So it's a weird lie.

00:08:04.820 But again, anything to frighten people back into voting liberal.

00:08:07.780 And that works a bit, to be sure.

00:08:10.980 Don't kid yourself.

00:08:11.740 But the go-to for the liberals is really to call names in general. 0.95

00:08:15.340 Far-right, racist. 0.98

00:08:17.300 The new one is transphobe. 0.98

00:08:20.000 It's what they did to the truckers.

00:08:21.200 It's the default for conservatives.

00:08:23.300 But usually, I think I'm right here.

00:08:26.480 Usually Trudeau saves that insult for people who aren't actually in power, in the center of power, in the establishment.

00:08:33.400 And he says it about journalists he doesn't like or opposition politicians he doesn't like.

00:08:38.660 But he generally, for example, wouldn't say it about sitting provincial premiers.

00:08:43.360 Even Danielle Smith, who is quite libertarian and freedom-oriented, because Trudeau knows he has to work with those premiers fairly collegially.

00:08:52.780 And he will want their cooperation on some matters at some point in time.

00:08:57.640 He doesn't want premiers whipping up their own provinces and others against him.

00:09:02.920 Politically, in the media, or even in court.

00:09:06.840 He wants pacified premiers.

00:09:09.700 Maybe I missed it, but I don't think Trudeau has actually shot any rhetorical cannonballs against Albertus' Danielle Smith.

00:09:17.400 Do you recall any?

00:09:18.140 I can't without really doing a deep search.

00:09:20.140 In fact, I think he sort of absorbed her criticisms without replying in kind.

00:09:26.680 As in, she threw some shots at him and he didn't shoot back.

00:09:30.320 Which, by the way, is smart, because if Trudeau had attacked her, she would have immediately got an extra 5% on election day.

00:09:38.220 I'm sure of it.

00:09:39.500 Trudeau attacking an Alberta politician is a guarantee for that politician to win.

00:09:44.240 But look at this.

00:09:46.200 Blaine Higgs is the premier of New Brunswick.

00:09:49.160 I'm going to read now from the Toronto Star, but this is actually written by a Canadian press.

00:09:55.460 It's a wire story that was published in many places.

00:09:58.800 Here it is in the Star's version, but like I say, it's the same everywhere.

00:10:01.280 Higgs is pushing changes to sexual orientation policy in schools, known as Policy 713,

00:10:08.080 that would force children under 16 to get parental consent to change their names or pronouns at school.

00:10:15.020 The previous version of the three-year-old policy required teachers to get a student's informed consent

00:10:20.120 before discussing names and their pronouns with their parents

00:10:23.960 and was meant to make schools inclusive and safe for LGBTQ children.

00:10:29.880 I love the language there.

00:10:31.380 It would force young children to get parental consent.

00:10:36.180 A child's informed consent.

00:10:38.380 That's the thing, though.

00:10:39.460 A child can't consent to many things in life.

00:10:42.320 That's why children can't get tattoos. 0.71

00:10:46.460 That's why they can't be bound by many contracts.

00:10:50.080 That's why we have a law called statutory rape or age of consent. 0.99

00:10:54.720 You cannot have sex with a minor. 0.93

00:10:56.540 Even if they say they consent, they can't. 0.97

00:10:59.880 That's the source of the old saying, taking candy from a baby.

00:11:04.300 Because children of tender years cannot consent, and they're easy to manipulate.

00:11:07.600 And if they say they consent, well, they're just being manipulated.

00:11:10.420 That's why we protect children.

00:11:12.760 That's what's going on here.

00:11:14.240 If parents are not shaping their own young children, then someone else is shaping them,

00:11:21.180 and whoever is telling students to keep secrets from their own parents is likely the manipulator.

00:11:26.660 Duh.

00:11:28.220 It's fascinating to watch this showdown.

00:11:30.040 And of course, the left-wing opposition is appalled by the idea of putting parents in charge of their children.

00:11:36.300 They support the communist idea, shared by Stalin and Mao, that children are the property of the state.

00:11:43.180 On Thursday, eight progressive conservative members, including six cabinet ministers,

00:11:48.020 sat out question period and other legislative business to protest the changes, which are set to come into effect July 1.

00:11:54.540 Hmm.

00:11:54.800 Wow.

00:11:55.800 So even some of Higgs' own cabinet.

00:11:58.100 In a statement, they expressed, quote, extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency in the policies review.

00:12:04.880 Got it.

00:12:05.420 So they want process and they want transparency, but parents can't ask for process and certainly not for transparency.

00:12:13.320 And of course, Justin Trudeau jumped in, demonizing Higgs, a sitting premier, as far right.

00:12:18.740 What a laugh.

00:12:19.420 Later that evening, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at a fundraiser for the LGBTQ charity Rainbow Railroad in Toronto, saying, quote,

00:12:27.940 trans kids need to feel safe, not targeted by politicians.

00:12:32.300 We're seeing that angry, hateful rhetoric rise on our continent, particularly targeting trans people, he said.

00:12:38.960 Far right political actors are trying to outdo themselves with the types of cruelty and isolation they can inflict on these already vulnerable people.

00:12:46.520 Right now, trans kids in New Brunswick are being told they don't have the right to be their true selves, that they need to ask permission.

00:12:54.560 Children cannot decide things for themselves.

00:12:56.880 That's why we call them children.

00:12:59.000 And teachers are legally, the word is in Latin, in loco parentis, in the place of parents.

00:13:06.060 They're parents' agents.

00:13:08.320 They're not the actual parents.

00:13:09.800 They must do what the parents would want them to do, would allow them to do.

00:13:12.620 That's the contract.

00:13:13.680 That's the agreement.

00:13:14.540 They are not the deciders.

00:13:16.580 They are the agents, the temporary agents for the parents who remain the deciders.

00:13:21.940 They are not the property of the state.

00:13:26.260 Well, this is turning into a showdown, isn't it?

00:13:29.060 Except it turns out that quite a few Canadians are far right.

00:13:34.300 Here's a poll.

00:13:35.240 It's published a lot of places in the National Post.

00:13:37.320 Majority side with New Brunswick Premier on gender identity, source, poll.

00:13:41.920 57% agree schools should have to tell parents about their child's desire to change their gender or pronouns.

00:13:50.480 Oh, and their name, too, by the way.

00:13:53.800 Imagine telling parents that their kids can change their name.

00:13:56.600 Ottawa, a national poll suggests that 57% agree with schools, that schools should have to tell parents about their children's desire to change their gender or pronouns.

00:14:07.000 Meanwhile, less than a fifth, 18%, feel schools shouldn't tell parents.

00:14:12.660 So even most liberals, most progressives think it's really creepy to keep sexual matters a secret from the parents of young children.

00:14:20.460 Trudeau is on the wrong side of this.

00:14:22.200 No wonder he's so sensitive to questions about why he left that Vancouver school where he was teaching.

00:14:29.120 Remember, he left suddenly mid-semester so many years ago.

00:14:33.640 Trudeau's pretty sensitive to this.

00:14:35.200 Here's Pierre Polyev.

00:14:36.160 Yes, Mr. Speaker, I was a high school teacher before getting into politics.

00:14:40.780 And I'm having a little trouble remembering what exactly the job that the leader of the opposition had before getting into politics.

00:14:48.120 Mr. Speaker, we have a plan to fight climate change.

00:14:52.700 We have a plan to continue to move forward on supporting Canadians with a grocery rebate, with a growing economy, with great middle-class jobs.

00:15:02.340 We're delivering health care supports for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

00:15:07.220 Delivering dental care that has helped 300,000 kids access dental care over the past number of months, including 1,100 in his own riding.

00:15:16.280 Mr. Speaker, we will continue to be there for Canadians.

00:15:18.440 Honourable Leader of the Opposition.

00:15:20.600 Yes, and he left right in the middle of the semester, and I'm having trouble remembering why.

00:15:26.640 Oh! 0.60

00:15:28.000 Now, Mr. Speaker.

00:15:30.300 Mr. Speaker.

00:15:32.340 But he certainly wasn't a math teacher.

00:15:40.800 He certainly was not a math teacher.

00:15:42.940 Yeah, the media hated that, and they never asked Trudeau why he left school mid-semester that year as teacher.

00:15:51.160 Higgs doesn't seem to be backing down, which is a miracle, and I wonder how long he'll hold out.

00:15:58.140 Well, look at him tweeting, Susan Holt, that's the liberal leader there, and Justin Trudeau, don't believe parents need to be involved in such critical discussions as gender identity.

00:16:06.880 Even in children as young as four, in New Brunswick, we'll have a safe learning environment and better mental health supports while still respecting the parents' role.

00:16:15.660 Well, that sounds pretty balanced to me.

00:16:17.900 Oh, but the media is furious with him.

00:16:23.180 Here's global news.

00:16:25.820 New Brunswick Premier doubling down on LGBTQ2 policy changes in Trudeau's social media attack, and the CBC can't believe it.

00:16:34.900 He can't actually mean this.

00:16:36.360 Who wrote his tweet?

00:16:38.480 This is not normal.

00:16:40.600 Look at this strange story in the CBC.

00:16:45.000 Higgs' attack on Trudeau and Holt bear hallmark of NB Premier's new social media guru.

00:16:52.680 Oh, really?

00:16:53.180 So it's not him.

00:16:54.160 Derek Robinson worked on 2019 campaign to unseat prairie liberals, citing threat of Western separatism.

00:17:00.560 Yeah, if you support New Brunswick parents, you must be a Western separatist secret agent, desperate much, CBC?

00:17:07.780 But here's what's interesting.

00:17:09.240 There are lots of skirmishes going on in the legislature in New Brunswick.

00:17:12.560 I think they're even voting on various amendments as recently as today.

00:17:17.400 But would the Liberal Party of New Brunswick, and would those dissident, mutiny PCs, including the six cabinet ministers,

00:17:25.220 would they actually vote no confidence on this?

00:17:28.720 Would they actually want to have an election in New Brunswick, a fairly conservative place, at least socially speaking,

00:17:36.840 on whether this kind of gender extremism at school can exist without a heads up to parents?

00:17:43.160 Would you really go to the polls on this?

00:17:46.360 Well, the media and the liberals are a little bit nervous.

00:17:50.580 Let me quote another CBC story.

00:17:51.980 I got a kick out of this one.

00:17:53.480 P.C. rebels, liberal opposition, seem unsure how to push Higgs on Policy 713.

00:17:59.620 Ministers who broke ranks won't force the issue.

00:18:02.360 Holt, that's the liberal, uncertain if non-confidence vote would have any effect.

00:18:05.980 Oh, it would have an effect, sister.

00:18:07.900 You'd bring down the government.

00:18:09.020 Don't you care?

00:18:10.160 I really like this story.

00:18:11.360 Let me quote.

00:18:11.920 I'm going to read a few paragraphs.

00:18:12.780 The uprising against Premier Blaine Higgs last week over Policy 713 was a very New Brunswick rebellion.

00:18:20.280 There was that remarkable expression of extreme disappointment by eight progressive conservative MLAs,

00:18:24.840 including six cabinet ministers who refused to take their seats Thursday morning.

00:18:29.140 But there was no firm sustained pressure to force the Premier to back down or quit.

00:18:33.540 The opposition liberals, meanwhile, seemed unsure how to leverage the turmoil to inflict maximum damage on Higgs

00:18:39.300 or compel him to reverse course.

00:18:41.000 It's probably a symptom of decades of top-down, leader-driven party-line governance that elected members of the legislature

00:18:47.080 are so uncertain of the powers they have and the best way to use them.

00:18:50.540 Really?

00:18:50.920 You think that's what it is?

00:18:51.900 Or really, do you think that they know that they will be crushed by voters if they get their way?

00:18:56.660 Quote,

00:18:57.000 Obviously, it was certainly breaking the conventions of the British parliamentary system,

00:19:01.680 Higgs said last week in question period of the statement by six ministers and two backbench MLAs.

00:19:06.840 Ministers Dorothy Shepard, Trevor Holder, Daniel Land, Arlene Dunn, Jeff Carr, Jill Green,

00:19:13.460 and backbenchers Ross Wetmore and Andrea Anderson Mason said in a statement last Thursday morning,

00:19:18.200 they refrained from participating in routine business in question period as a way to express their extreme disappointment

00:19:22.980 in a lack of process and transparency.

00:19:25.060 The premier was right.

00:19:29.460 Normally, ministers who disagree with the government policy resign.

00:19:33.460 But the six ministers breaking ranks last week identified themselves as members of caucus,

00:19:38.320 trying to distinguish between the cabinet jobs and their roles as MLAs,

00:19:42.180 who have more leeway to disagree.

00:19:45.040 Really? 0.96

00:19:45.360 I think they're just cowards who know that they don't represent the people of New Brunswick. 0.90

00:19:51.040 I mean, of course they don't want to quit as cabinet ministers. 0.97

00:19:54.240 They like the money.

00:19:55.240 They like the power and the prestige.

00:19:58.260 But if they quit, it's likely they will trigger an election.

00:20:02.320 Do you really think that any province in this country would vote in a general election where this was the central issue,

00:20:09.880 would vote for the kind of gender extremism we've seen in schools lately? 0.98

00:20:14.180 And by that I mean the extremism targeting the children, saying change your sex, get surgery, get puberty blockers,

00:20:20.980 that crazy stuff that's exploded in the public square in only recent years that none of us voted for.

00:20:27.980 You know, I really wish they would quit and force an election.

00:20:31.260 Or maybe the premier himself should call their bluff and go to an emergency election on this subject,

00:20:39.640 get a record majority.

00:20:41.280 Let's put it to the people in a public campaign.

00:20:43.920 Let's have Justin Trudeau come to town to campaign in New Brunswick.

00:20:48.860 Let's have the party say what their views are clearly.

00:20:52.860 And then let's vote.

00:20:54.180 Or maybe Higgs isn't far right.

00:20:57.900 Maybe he's just right.

00:21:00.680 And maybe Trudeau and the Higgs mutineers know it. 1.00

00:21:05.560 Stay with us for more.

00:21:06.620 Gone, gone, gone, she's been gone so long, she's been gone, gone, gone, so long.

00:21:22.040 Gone, gone, gone, she's been gone, so long, she's been gone, gone, gone, gone, so long.

00:21:26.200 Gone, gone, gone, she's been gone so long.

00:21:28.960 Gone, gone, gone, so long.

00:21:29.840 Well, that's an oldie but a goodie.

00:21:31.340 That is Gone So Long by Chilliwack, a cover by a funny band from SCTV.

00:21:37.960 I don't know if you can recognize those faces.

00:21:40.160 That's got to be 40 years ago.

00:21:41.840 Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, and the late John Candy singing Gone So Long.

00:21:46.240 And as I drive around Toronto, Canada's largest city,

00:21:49.860 which is in the middle of an unscheduled mayor's election

00:21:53.940 because John Tory was caught philandering with an aide half his age

00:22:00.220 and so the city's leadership was thrown into turmoil,

00:22:03.520 there are more than 100 candidates for mayor.

00:22:08.680 How do you even know who's who and who to vote for?

00:22:11.860 Well, Mr. Gong, Gong Xiaohua is his Chinese name.

00:22:17.400 He goes by Edward Gong, has signs everywhere.

00:22:20.880 Now, polls suggest that another Chinese-Canadian, Olivia Chow, is set to win.

00:22:26.680 She is a double-digit lead over her next competitor. 0.55

00:22:30.360 And again, when you have over 100 candidates,

00:22:32.560 really it's divided up into small segments.

00:22:35.320 But there is no doubt that everyone in this city knows that Edward Gong is running.

00:22:43.680 There must be 100,000 signs up, expensive ads, huge billboards.

00:22:50.880 So the question has to be asked, who is Edward Gong?

00:22:57.240 Where does he get his money from?

00:22:59.120 And are there any interesting political connections?

00:23:02.900 Well, joining us now to talk about this is our Chinese affairs correspondent,

00:23:06.580 our friend Andy Lee, who has written a new article for Rebel News.

00:23:10.460 The headline is,

00:23:11.800 In a heated mayoral race, one Chinese candidate with mysterious background

00:23:15.660 and ties to Justin Trudeau is being overlooked.

00:23:18.920 Andy, great to see you.

00:23:20.480 Another very well-researched article.

00:23:23.440 What a delight to have you on our website.

00:23:26.440 Andy, who is Edward Gong?

00:23:29.280 That's a loaded question.

00:23:32.500 He's fascinating as a character.

00:23:35.180 So Edward Gong is a Chinese-Canadian.

00:23:38.520 You know, he emigrated here in 2002.

00:23:40.320 He set up two media stations.

00:23:44.020 One's called CNTV.

00:23:45.680 That's Canada National Television.

00:23:49.760 And then there's another network called the Canadian National Chinese Television Network.

00:23:53.680 So Edward Gong, he's just fascinating, his story.

00:23:57.680 So he was best known for, of course, attending these pay-for-play fundraisers with Justin Trudeau back in 2016.

00:24:08.020 He's a heavy liberal donor.

00:24:09.720 I believe he's donated almost $7,000 plus attending these pay-for-play fundraisers.

00:24:14.580 So that's sort of when he came into the spotlight.

00:24:18.660 But, and, you know, we were sort of led to believe that these pay-for-play fundraisers were a passing relationship, right?

00:24:25.800 Like these people just happened to show up at a fundraiser with Justin Trudeau.

00:24:28.800 So, but when you do have to dig into the backstory, it looks like there was deeper connections.

00:24:33.340 And I did dig into the backstory a little bit.

00:24:35.820 And so I found, you know, that Edward Gong has been hosting these festivals.

00:24:39.860 And, you know, his guest of honor was Justin Trudeau one year.

00:24:45.440 And he's also got, you know, a website.

00:24:48.760 And Justin Trudeau has featured prominently on it.

00:24:51.680 And also has connections to, or has plugged at least, Gang Tan.

00:24:56.500 And so Edward ran afoul of law agencies shortly after, you know, these meetings with liberal MPs and Justin Trudeau.

00:25:09.120 And he ended up being charged with some very serious allegations, fraud, money laundering, etc.

00:25:15.780 He was also had assets forfeited in New Zealand.

00:25:19.960 And so he was accused of running a massive pyramid scheme and defrauding investors in Canada and China and elsewhere out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

00:25:30.200 So this was New Zealand's biggest ever bust and seizure of the proceeds of crime.

00:25:36.220 It was over $60 million that he forfeited to the New Zealand government.

00:25:39.600 But the story doesn't end there because, for whatever reason, Gang Tan, and we know that Gang Tan has been, you know, tied to Chinese diplomats and things like that.

00:25:53.100 Gang Tan, for whatever reason, before these charges, went to Beijing and apparently hand-delivered a document, you know, to the embassy there,

00:26:05.280 vouching for Edward and saying that Edward was aware that, you know, there were some issues and he wanted to cooperate with authorities.

00:26:13.220 Well, that letter ended up getting forwarded to the RCMP.

00:26:16.480 But there's really no good explanation as to why Gang Tan was acting as his intermediary.

00:26:23.280 Now, Gang Tan, that's a liberal MP, right?

00:26:26.400 Yes, he's a liberal MP.

00:26:27.620 So a Trudeau MP is going to bat for Edward Gong, including delivering messages to the Chinese embassy.

00:26:37.300 I mean, they raise a good point.

00:26:39.400 What's that got to do with anything?

00:26:41.180 If he's in trouble for securities fraud in New Zealand or in the United States or even in Canada,

00:26:47.020 why does the Chinese government need to get involved?

00:26:49.960 That's weird.

00:26:50.620 Well, I mean, you know, like I said, we have an embassy in Ottawa and the letter ended up being forwarded to the RCMP.

00:26:58.400 So and it's very, very murky as to why Gang was involved at all.

00:27:03.000 But it does speak to the fact that obviously, you know, these politicians had deeper ties to this controversial mayor or candidate than they let on.

00:27:11.240 And they have attended other events.

00:27:14.260 And, you know, Edward has got very, very close ties, too.

00:27:17.480 So, I mean, this was all covered, maybe not as thoroughly as it should have been before.

00:27:22.940 But things that are new that I did find, you know, looking into his website and these media stations that he ran.

00:27:29.880 So, you know, he featured Justin Trudeau and and, you know, did the liberal plugs and things like that at his galas, you know,

00:27:37.580 and sort of showcase these these candidates in the Liberal Party of Canada.

00:27:41.240 But this was done in direct collaboration with with Chinese officials.

00:27:46.980 So his his media station was actually, you know, visited by sort of the Chinese equivalent, we can say, of the CRTC.

00:27:56.140 And so he did visit his media station, inspected it, you know, you know, endorsed it, if you will.

00:28:04.700 So, you know, this media station was set up in direct collaboration with with the Chinese government.

00:28:09.980 And so, I mean, these are the kind of activities that you have to say, geez, is this really on board?

00:28:15.300 You know, we've we've got Chinese state government officials.

00:28:19.100 And that's not the only, you know, ministry that was involved.

00:28:23.000 There were many, many ministries.

00:28:24.500 The Ministry of Culture used to run these spring galas, these overseas spring galas.

00:28:31.540 It's now a dissolved.

00:28:35.080 Sorry, institution.

00:28:36.920 But so there was 13 different ministries involved, you know, in these these these events where liberal candidates were showcased and broadcast, you know, to people who largely consume Chinese language media.

00:28:54.020 So, I mean, you know, this is just the kind of things where you're like, hmm.

00:28:58.540 Yeah.

00:28:58.800 You know, all of a sudden I see this name on every street like he must have an army volunteer or paid.

00:29:05.880 I don't know which.

00:29:07.140 But of course, you know, lawn signs aren't free.

00:29:09.340 He's I don't know if there are campaign spending limits.

00:29:11.580 There's got to be.

00:29:12.800 But there's no way he's not into the millions.

00:29:16.080 Look, I don't think he's going to win.

00:29:17.440 Like I say, there's over 100 candidates.

00:29:20.580 And Olivia Chow, by the way, is looks like she's going to run away with the thing. 1.00

00:29:24.940 There are a couple of conservatives on the ballot.

00:29:26.960 But I don't think that you can pour five million bucks into a mayor's race and win it if you're not well known in the community.

00:29:35.700 But I suppose.

00:29:37.540 If he's got a couple of Chinese language TV stations, maybe he's got some base of support that I simply don't know about it because I'm not watching his TV stations.

00:29:47.380 And if he has the official green light from communist China, I mean, I didn't know that his TV stations were vetted by China's regulator.

00:29:56.840 That's just really weird.

00:29:57.900 It feels a little bit like those Chinese police stations here.

00:30:01.600 We have Canadian police stations.

00:30:03.120 We don't need Chinese police. 1.00

00:30:04.360 We have a Canadian CRTC.

00:30:06.680 What's the Chinese CRTC doing, reviewing him?

00:30:10.100 So I, you know, and I know that you reached out to him for comment.

00:30:14.020 I'm really glad you did.

00:30:14.920 I understand he hasn't gotten back to us yet.

00:30:16.620 I doubt he will.

00:30:18.560 I think he feels like part of the Chinese influence machine. 0.72

00:30:23.200 Friends with Trudeau.

00:30:25.080 Friends with other liberal MPs.

00:30:28.040 Connections back in China.

00:30:29.520 Messages going back and forth to China.

00:30:31.940 Tons of cash sloshing around.

00:30:34.320 Tens of millions of dollars in fines and forfeitures.

00:30:36.980 Close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.

00:30:40.420 And now he wants to be mayor of Toronto.

00:30:42.600 It seems to fit a pattern.

00:30:45.420 Yeah, I mean, you know, I call these media sort of satellite stations.

00:30:49.880 I look at them as an extension of, you know, the PRC's Ministry of Propaganda.

00:30:54.920 And, you know, that was one of the ministries that sort of visited his, you know, his station and how to look at it and helped organize these spring festivals where Justin Trudeau was the guest of honor.

00:31:05.080 So, yeah, I mean, I do consider them an extension of foreign incidents operations, you know, and we know that Justin Trudeau was very, very keen to have those sort of, you know, those sort of outlets to, you know, gain favor in the community.

00:31:22.340 It was also during a time when he was looking at free trade agreements.

00:31:25.260 This is when we signed on to the now disastrous AAIB.

00:31:28.320 Actually, I should correct myself.

00:31:29.560 It was always disastrous.

00:31:31.240 I don't want to do a show on that.

00:31:32.780 But it's become even more disastrous than what we formerly knew.

00:31:36.860 So, you know, he was very, very happy to tap all of these things.

00:31:40.280 And these are the sort of things that we have to go back and start scrutinizing.

00:31:43.300 So, yeah, I'm going to look more into this station.

00:31:45.960 But, yeah, it's just it's a very, very curious.

00:31:49.400 I mean, only in Canada can, you know, you have millions and tens of millions of assets seized, you know, by other governments, by the government of New Zealand and run for Canada.

00:32:00.640 I mean, we really are the land of unlimited opportunity.

00:32:03.460 And so it is interesting, though, because, you know, although it seems like he had a very cozy relationship prior with, you know, several, you know, high ranking officials and things like that within various Chinese ministries.

00:32:18.520 Now he's come out and well, after Gangtian delivered this this letter, for whatever reason, even though those assets were seized as and declared proceeds of crime, he actually had all the charges against him in Canada dropped.

00:32:32.720 Which is really weird.

00:32:34.660 Very interesting.

00:32:35.920 Because, I mean, that's an awful lot of smoke for there to be absolutely no fire at all.

00:32:41.520 Yeah.

00:32:42.040 We have to wonder if Gangtan was, you know, running off to Beijing saying, hey, can we maybe smooth things out for this guy?

00:32:49.060 He's our he's our pal.

00:32:50.500 Right.

00:32:52.380 Very, very curious, because his counterparts, people who were involved in this pyramid scheme, were charged both in China.

00:33:00.760 And we can't give a huge amount of, you know, weight, I think, to criminal proceedings that go on in China.

00:33:07.300 We do have to, you know, view them with a little bit of skepticism.

00:33:10.480 Sometimes people do run afoul of the regime for whatever reason and, you know, find themselves under some very suspicious prosecution charges and things like that.

00:33:18.700 But his counterparts in New Zealand were charged.

00:33:22.080 So but he managed to get off pretty much scot-free.

00:33:26.040 And in an interesting turn of events, you know, he's now suing the Ontario Securities Commission for collaborating with Chinese state authorities on this massive investigation.

00:33:39.140 So his confession was coerced.

00:33:43.980 And he's now accusing, you know, the Ontario Security Commission of collaborating with a known human rights abuser, how he put it, to, you know, incorrectly prosecute him.

00:33:55.780 So fascinating and very interesting verbiage from somebody who is a known and did collaborate with that very same human rights abuser.

00:34:04.300 Isn't that such a tangled web? Incredible.

00:34:08.440 Well, I state again that Edward Gong is welcome to have a platform here if he wants to explain some of these intrigues.

00:34:19.000 I'm really curious why he would have his TV stations here vetted by the Chinese broadcast regulator.

00:34:24.580 I do like his signs, you know, vote Gong. 1.00

00:34:28.560 He says he's here to rescue Toronto, which is maybe a little bit of a messiah complex.

00:34:33.260 We need rescuing, Andy.

00:34:35.160 I don't know if he's the guy to do it.

00:34:36.860 I just got to say, Andy, it's been such a delight to read your deeply researched reports.

00:34:44.100 And, you know, you and I have strong opinions on these things.

00:34:46.840 But at the end of the day, it's the facts underneath it that are important.

00:34:51.780 And your research, I just want to recommend to all our viewers, read these stories and all the important links.

00:34:58.960 You can click on them to see the underlying document.

00:35:02.300 And that's just great journalism.

00:35:04.980 And he's nice to see you again.

00:35:06.280 I can hardly wait till your next installment on The China Files.

00:35:09.860 Yeah, thanks.

00:35:10.700 I'll probably look more at this AAIB saga.

00:35:13.800 But like I said, this is just, you know, we're just at the, you know, scratching the surface of what's going on.

00:35:19.140 I'm really, really glad that this has been brought to the forefront by some great reporting done.

00:35:23.620 And like I said, a lot of this, some of this was already, you know, ground that was laid out before me.

00:35:30.400 But I do think it's worth, in light of all the recent allegations, going back and reexamining.

00:35:35.280 Because like I said, I'm able to find new information, right?

00:35:38.100 Like this wasn't just a passing relationship between Edward and Justin Trudeau, right?

00:35:42.820 They're on video partying together.

00:35:45.660 So, you know, and, you know, Justin Trudeau said that he wasn't aware of Gangtan's activities and why Gangtan was in Beijing.

00:35:54.320 And, you know, so, you know, worth, and I'm going to, and then, you know, I go and I look on Edward's website.

00:36:00.320 And, well, there's, you know, stuff that's sort of plugging Gangtan.

00:36:03.660 So, obviously, they're, you know, they had a relationship.

00:36:06.120 And it was a little bit deeper than, I think, what we've been led to believe.

00:36:10.140 So, I'm trying to go back and paw through and comb through some of the stuff and bring new interesting details to light that might be useful.

00:36:18.240 Well, you're doing a great job.

00:36:19.680 And what you mentioned a moment ago, the AIIB, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, oh, there's scandals to come.

00:36:27.440 They're over $100 million of Canadian taxpayers' money given to a Chinese development bank.

00:36:33.760 And Canada just couldn't have been happier to shovel our dough to China. 0.93

00:36:38.240 Canada, a modest economy shoveling dough to the world's largest economy.

00:36:43.800 Just incredible.

00:36:44.500 So much to come on that.

00:36:45.680 Andy, great to see you.

00:36:46.500 Keep up the great work.

00:36:47.300 Yeah, until next time, I'm going to get writing.

00:36:51.100 And I do think I have some new information or stuff that hasn't been brought up before about our, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and how that all went down and why we signed on.

00:37:03.180 I have a feeling that there was some serious lobbying going on behind the scenes.

00:37:07.320 And some pressure was put on to Freeland to execute that deal.

00:37:13.680 So, yeah, so I'm going to work on getting that out.

00:37:16.480 And until next time.

00:37:18.020 Right on.

00:37:18.540 Thanks for your great work.

00:37:19.580 There you have it.

00:37:20.120 Andy Lee, she writes the China Files for us on covering Chinese affairs.

00:37:25.360 Stay with us, Moorhead.

00:37:26.880 Hey, welcome back.

00:37:39.360 Your letters.

00:37:40.540 Citizen Jerry says, greetings from America's flyover country.

00:37:44.340 I enjoyed your recent interview with Ben Weingarten.

00:37:47.080 Sadly, America currently has a government that hates the country as it was founded and also hates any conservative.

00:37:51.680 That is the audacity to challenge their impossible socialist utopia.

00:37:55.080 Trump is right in saying the left isn't going after him.

00:37:58.460 They're going after us.

00:37:59.300 And he just got in the way.

00:38:00.240 Any other Republican presidential candidate will get the same treatment.

00:38:04.080 You know, you're right.

00:38:04.840 I remember when Mitt Romney was the Republican candidate.

00:38:09.240 And Mitt Romney is the most milquetoast, easy peasy, inoffensive candidate imaginable.

00:38:16.340 He's such a goody two shoes.

00:38:18.060 There's nothing offensive about him.

00:38:20.320 But that didn't stop.

00:38:21.480 They made things up.

00:38:22.580 They made up stories.

00:38:23.460 They exaggerated things.

00:38:25.080 They hated him and destroyed him, not because he was a bad person.

00:38:29.060 He was probably the most saintly candidate that Republicans have ever fielded, just in terms of his moral character and his personal life.

00:38:35.280 I think his politics are wrong, but put that aside.

00:38:37.700 They destroyed him anyways.

00:38:39.560 They'll find something to destroy you.

00:38:41.720 That's what they do.

00:38:42.740 You may be right.

00:38:44.800 You may be right.

00:38:45.440 Trump, for all his flaws, may be the only candidate brutal enough to fight back and win. 0.99

00:38:51.620 Peter Story says, a Canadian would have to be an idiot to vote for a liberal or NDP next federal election, considering what has happened over the last three years in Canada. 0.97

00:38:58.760 Well, you saw that poll, one, take it with a grain of salt, but some people are ready to vote for anyone but Trudeau, but others are a little bit nervous. 0.98

00:39:09.600 And I think you'll see the absolute demonization of Pierre Pauly have to try and scare those voters back.

00:39:14.920 D-Tech22 says, thank you for this interview, Ezra, and thanks to Lawrence for all he does.

00:39:21.300 You're talking about Lawrence Fox.

00:39:22.660 He's an interesting character.

00:39:24.000 I like his style.

00:39:25.240 I don't think he's going to win the by-election in Uxbridge, but he's a plain-talking guy, isn't he?

00:39:30.400 And he's well-known in the UK.

00:39:32.740 He comes from an acting family.

00:39:34.980 He's a bit of journalism, a bit of activism, a bit of politicking.

00:39:37.760 I like the guy.

00:39:39.260 That's our show for today.

00:39:40.200 Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night, and keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - June 16, 2023

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Justin Trudeau calls another mainstream premier 'far right' and it's getting pitiful at this point

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