EZRA LEVANT ｜ Rebel News exposes gov't-sanctioned kill pen for ostriches
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 4 minutes
Words per Minute
161.66052
Summary
Shame on you, you censorious bug! I'm out here at the Edgewood Ostrich Farm, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show. I'm standing on a hill about a mile away from where the ostriches are, and if you see when I turn slowly, you can see some people along the road, looking sort of like I'm trying to get a better vantage to see the massacre that's about to happen.
Transcript
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Tonight, feathers up everybody. I'm out here at the Edgewood Ostrich Farm.
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It's October 6th and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.
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Hi everybody, I've climbed up a hill that's about a mile away from where the ostriches are
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and if you see when I turn slowly you can see some people along the road looking sort of like I am
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trying to get a better vantage and over there you can see this sort of like a prison really
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different rings of security the ostriches have no idea what they're in for they just think they're
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out there having a lark but you can see the tents set up by the CFIA and the whole point of the high
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hay bales there's no scientific reason for it there's no health reason for it it's precisely
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so you have to go to great lengths to see the massacre that's about to happen that's why the
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police put in a no-fly zone overhead banning any drones I don't know why the police would do
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political errands like that I understand police wanting to keep the peace but in this case you
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have the RCMP providing a protective ring around the CFIA and they're not building a protective ring
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they're building an optical ring so you can't see through it as soon as the courts approve there will
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be hundreds of birds killed very quickly and the CFIA wants that to be done in secret that's why
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they illegally blurred and cut the surveillance cameras that's why they brought in those massive
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bales of hay and that's why they're building an optical solution not a medical solution a political
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solution I'm gonna head on back down hi everybody Ezra Levant here I'm standing above the ostrich farm
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on a bit of a hill zooming in on my camera and you might be saying what are all those things it looks
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like sort of a castle made of bales of hay and then there's a black fence and you can see those little
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dots are the ostriches you can see some police vehicles those tents are from the Canada food
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inspection agency and what we're looking at here you can see some people have stopped on the road
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okay so this is the back section of the farm here that we where we have the ostriches so basically from
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this pole right here where the tent is going this way we have access to that we can see the birds
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that are in here once you go past that white tent you can't see anything at all the other concern that
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we had like on the other side of there is the camp that we're set up at one of the concerns we had is
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one of the ostriches turned around and laid an egg three days ago oh yeah and they haven't even so much
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as went and picked it up they're saying that this is a biohazard but yet at the same time they're doing
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nothing to to actually keep the biohazard under control like why would you leave an egg um you
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know out in the open if it was that much of a concern there is a freezer in the barn from what
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i've understood that they are supposed to collect the eggs and put them into so again they're not
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following protocol or safety standards on that standpoint as well and we have the police
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hang on if you can get a ticket for that just to let you know okay
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that um has been working with the farm so because of everything that happened with katie
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and karen and them being arrested the way that it works now is jeff or dave has to bring the
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the electrolytes down handed off to the liaison rcmp the rcmp then turn around and take it down to the
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cfia they administer the liquids um and then they turn around and bring the bag up and then it gets
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passed off to jeff again and then jeff has to bring it up to the house so that it's cleaned and started
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all over so this is part of the farm here where you can see this is some of the rcmp set up out in
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the field over here um so they turn around and go in this way they can there's a little entrance up at
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the top where they can make their way in through the back so there's a field entrance here so they
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can go straight up the crop the tree line here and go through the back of the ostrich farm is the way
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that it works and then we were over on the other side so it goes right over to the other road where
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we did the u-turn out which is quite a ways over so there's a lot of room here like i said for the
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birds right um and again you know if if it was all about safety and protocol um they could turn
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around and say okay this is what you have to do to keep your birds like i said they could turn around
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and put go up like 15 foot we do this for elk anyway right where we have 18 foot fences and stuff
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so we could turn around and put an 18 foot fence up and then put net over top or whatever needs to be
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done so that we don't have wild birds coming in and and that would turn around and alleviate them
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saying well you know it's passed through birds wild birds and such so this is the liaison if you focus
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over here they are actually meeting you can see karen and katie talking to them at this point
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so let's move up a little bit further into where jim is okay well i am here with brenda belanger who
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is coming from well you're originally from ontario but you're in alberta now i'm in alberta now
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you know a lot of people have come in from across the country i want to ask you what does ostrich
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sheriffs mean what's an ostrich sheriff the ostrich sheriffs means that we are out here doing filming
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and sending information directly to the family as well as we have our eyes open for any type of
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infiltration that's coming through um you know again we're standing in unity and we are being
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proactive so we do have people that's coming through and in order to get there's also um
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an auction going on for stockings as well and you get one of these stickers but in order to get the
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stickers and that in the actual pins you actually have to turn around and get a hug you have to
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turn around and get hugs so i've been hugged quite a lot and it's not just because i'm sort of squishy
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i've there's been a lot of hugs going around today we're joking around and you just sort of i think
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that's sort of way of saying you're you're sort of a deputy volunteer is that right sure yeah yeah
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but let me show you there's some real law in order i already showed folks some of the police but
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apparently there's a 200 000 fine and six months in jail if they draw blood isn't that crazy if they
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test their own birds and here's another sign zero of 399 um ostriches have been tested in eight months
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and that's the crazy thing is that these bureaucrats have come in from ottawa they want to kill all the
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birds because they say they're a menace the farm says test them the government says no testing allowed
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or you'll get a fight the ironic part is i'm a farmer as well and what i'm seeing from a farm
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standpoint is the fact that they're cherry picking they are honestly cherry picking we have animals
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like sheep and goats and horses that actually have disease that is transmittable to humans but we don't
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mass call okay you just take out the animals that are infected well what we have to do is we quarantine
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the whole farm okay um i'll use the horses as an example with strangles um we turn around and we
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have to basically disinfect our farm daily every water bucket every feed bucket um until it's till
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it's cured so it's but they're not killed but they're not killed and then we have to turn around
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after we've had all the animals healthy or what seems healthy um they have to pin for three months and
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test these animals to make sure that there is no other cases before the animals can even leave our
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farm well would you look at that a couple of frisky ostriches isn't that fun but what's all this
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what's all that well that's police line do not cross because if we turn around a little bit there's one
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two three four police cars a whole bunch of cops not letting us get any closer to the ostrich
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and those ostriches have no idea what's coming for them if the court system does what i fear it might do
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every single bird in this farm is going to be killed the rcmp won't do the bird killing they're here to
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stop the hundreds of citizens that have come out in support of the birds from interfering with the
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cull which is being done at the hands of the canadian food inspection agency an ottawa-run bureaucracy
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the cops are here basically to stop the people from tearing the ottawa bureaucrats to shreds
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bizarrely though the cops seem to abide law breaking from the food inspection agency themselves
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including disabling the surveillance cameras that the farmers put up and astonishingly the food
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inspectors have set up huge barricades so that when they do the killing of these hundreds of birds it
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will evade the cameras of these citizen journalists it's a bad faith exercise all around but for at least now
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those birds are frolicking hi everybody ezra levant here at the ostrich farm in central bc
00:09:27.680
that is under siege by i would estimate 50 rcmp officers and a smaller contingent of agricultural
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bureaucrats who are the actual kill force that have come to well massacre if you want a hostile word
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hundreds of birds because almost a year ago a couple of them had the sniffles they got better
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though and all the birds have what's called herd immunity literally but still the government seeks
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to kill every one of them even though the farmer says they're all healthy we're happy to test them
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that's part of the madness here but i want to show you the popular response because it really does remind
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me of the trucker convoy the i don't know if you can see i'll hold the camera up there and this isn't
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even a full turnout this is who we have right now but the number waxes and wanes every day lots of
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homemade signs and t-shirts and stickers discovery over destruction ostriches or hostages of the cfia
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herb herd immediately ignored there's lots of artwork as well that's actually quite well done
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there's funny t-shirts too messages of all sorts i'm gonna i mean this is truly a grassroots reaction
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love wins beyond the divide unity ostrich lives matter you will regret what you're doing freedom
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save ostriches save ourselves only evil comes after the innocent please come join us save the ostrich
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science the cure feathers need freedom if your child got sick in your family would you kill the
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whole family that's pretty brutal but that's what we're talking about here no farmers no food cfia
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prepares for call protect our farmers the whole world is watching that i can tell you is true facts
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not fear we are healthy we are strong we are beautiful we demand testing we demand the truth and that's
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the thing the farmers have said look these birds are fine look at them here's a few of them going for a bit
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of a run look at that they have no idea what's coming for them i hate to say it and you know people
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here have uh been camping out our friend tamara leach was here the other day uh with a concert it really
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has a peaceful earthy vibe here's some more every child matters um and these are the names of different ostriches
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i'm told that the ostriches have names why not your pets have names farmers sometimes give their cows
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names save the ostriches these are different names of hostages you can see of hostages excuse me
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look at them here's one going back and forth they're funny critters and because they're so big
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they've got a personality and you can see why people have grown attached to them now one of the reasons
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for these tall structures if you can see this scaffolding here and then there's a scissor lift
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i think that's what they call that orange device there is because like i mentioned earlier the
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government has set up these very tall line of sight barricades have nothing to do with health nothing to
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do with science or safety have everything to do with stopping people from filming the massacre of the
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birds they've even put in place a no-fly zone to stop people from sending drones or helicopters
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that's got nothing to do with health and safety it's got everything to do with this
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is a political exercise and everybody knows it here the only difference between this is your enemies
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across coming align you so they actually look at you in the eye the canadian food inspection agency
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will not come to the fence will not look at us in the eye and that is cowardice look at us in the eye
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you tell us that that animal is doing well you look at us in the eye i got one more question if you
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don't mind me asking what is what is this device here i think i know i think i know but help me out
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alberta okay so they cut our surveillance out here at the farm as you probably are aware they went in
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they use tree trimmers those big long tree trimmers they used so the company out of alberta called alberta
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portable surveillance solutions has provided us surveillance
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as well as the internet they blocked us so this is all run off of starling
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and this is just one of the companies that has supported the farm we also have the porta potties
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that are absolutely everywhere um they're they've been donated to us they're coming in and cleaning
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my course for free as well well that's good it is absolutely amazing considering there's probably
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a good 12 to 15 of them here on the farm okay you don't want those things no and they're coming in
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for free and they're jumping in for us because they're supporting their local farmers supporting
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farmers sunbelt was another one that was absolutely amazing they turned around and they
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had a contract they decided that they did not want any part of the contract they were looking at
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the future and the fact that this is their community wow all right alberta portable surveillance yeah
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for sure this has been amazing we have two of them we have this one here we have another one down at
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the end wow you can see the white on it i do oh look can you see the eggs in here they're not an egg yet
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As you can see, leave it clean, sanitize, take you up for a few in our kitchen.
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These are our wonderful ladies that do the cooking for us.
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I'm with Staff Sergeant Chris Clark of the RCMP, who I really appreciate you coming down to give me some information.
00:16:37.740
I know you've spoken to my colleague, Drea Humphrey.
00:16:41.900
Rebel News Armado is telling the other side of the story, and we're sympathetic to the Ostrich Farm and even the ostriches.
00:16:48.520
But it behooves us to get your side of the story, if the police indeed have a side.
00:16:53.740
Maybe you could start by telling us who's here on behalf of the RCMP and what your mandate is.
00:16:59.860
Yes, well, so in any situation where there's protest, we are an impartial party.
00:17:07.720
So in this particular case, we're on site at the request of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
00:17:13.680
And our role here specifically is public safety, to keep the peace, and to enforce the law if necessary.
00:17:28.520
Are you at liberty to disclose how many RCMP are involved?
00:17:32.020
We don't speak to numbers specifically for operational security reasons.
00:17:35.100
What I can tell you is there are a number of different support units under the critical response unit here.
00:17:43.040
So overall operations is conducted by critical response unit, which responds to such things as wildfires, floods, things of that nature, as well as protests.
00:17:54.480
Those support services that you may have seen over the last couple of weeks, we have remote pilot aircraft system, obviously.
00:18:05.720
So to ensure that we don't compromise public safety in any one community, we bring in officers from across the province.
00:18:14.700
One officer said more than 30, and you just described other, you know, the ambulance, which I think I saw drive by.
00:18:22.200
How long have you guys been out here? Is it being a couple weeks down?
00:18:24.480
So we arrived early morning on September 22nd, and we will remain on site until CFIA concludes their business.
00:18:34.560
Can I ask, and maybe you don't know the answer, who's paying for that?
00:18:37.940
Because you guys, I'm guessing there's some overtime, I'm guessing there's some hotels and restaurants.
00:18:42.320
And even if it is just 30, and I suspect there's probably more, that's a pretty big operation.
00:18:48.940
I don't have the specific, where the funding model is.
00:18:53.580
With the CFIA, would they have contacted you or would, like, who said, hey, bring all the RCMP down?
00:19:01.920
Or was that a decision by the Solicitor General, maybe?
00:19:04.540
So to be clear, this is a CFIA operation, and so it's a search warrant that they've executed, and we're here at their request.
00:19:15.200
Now, this police line that says, you know, across the yellow tape there, can I ask why that tape is there, and by what authority?
00:19:24.680
So the property north of Langeal Road here is subject to a search warrant under the Health of Animals Act.
00:19:32.580
It'd be true, you've searched it in the last two weeks now.
00:19:35.660
Okay, with any search warrant, we secure the property, search, or, sorry, quote-unquote search.
00:19:53.220
When we usually conduct a search warrant on, say, a residence for, you know, a drug investigation or a homicide,
00:20:01.020
we will secure that property and only release it once we're completed what we need to do inside.
00:20:10.440
Like, I mean, really, it's just whether or not these several hundred birds will be culled.
00:20:16.160
There's no, it's not like you're protecting evidence in a crime scene, is it?
00:20:21.080
I mean, I just feel like it's a turf grab that, I mean, I understand the power of the search warrant.
00:20:28.600
It just seems odd that it's being used to keep people out from a vast area when there's no sort of searching going on.
00:20:34.860
So, again, to be clear, this is a CFIA search warrant that they've executed.
00:20:40.900
And we're here to secure the property until the conclusion of CFIA business.
00:20:48.160
It sounds like you're pretty resolved on the matter.
00:20:50.280
Now, there's an enormous number of people here, and I understand it grows and waxes and wanes.
00:20:54.100
Obviously, you guys want to make sure there is zero injuries, zero conflict and confrontation.
00:21:02.880
I'm guessing maintain peace and order is your top goal.
00:21:08.040
Do you feel like you're going to be able to accomplish that?
00:21:10.700
Because there's some people who here are very passionate about the animals and might try some civil disobedience.
00:21:16.600
Some of these people here are very emotionally moved by these birds, and they feel there's a grave injustice.
00:21:24.100
What is your strategy for assisting the CFIA in a manner that does not cause human casualties?
00:21:35.300
So, as I mentioned earlier, our rule here is public safety, keep the peace, and enforce the law if necessary.
00:21:49.260
So, we're here to secure that property from intrusion or what have you.
00:21:55.140
Certainly, our goal is to have no conflict, no confrontation, no violence with respect to the protesters here.
00:22:08.120
I can't say if there will be, you know, based on what people are saying.
00:22:15.200
We're prepared to make arrests if necessary, to enforce the law if necessary.
00:22:19.800
However, ultimately, we would rather make no arrests.
00:22:23.240
A week or two ago, a farmer nearby let two Rebel News reporters get in a helicopter and take some images from above, which showed, I think, some interesting developments on the police side.
00:22:38.380
I understand that there's now a ban on drones and airplanes.
00:22:43.980
So, there was actually what's called a NOTAM, or a NOTICED airman, at the time that the helicopter was up last week.
00:22:56.780
So, it only goes to a certain elevation, and its radius is only so big.
00:23:05.200
Okay, so for clarity, a helicopter could still observe if it was of a sufficient height.
00:23:18.200
Would that allow certain drones to be used as well?
00:23:27.940
The reason I'm asking is because it doesn't seem like a safety issue.
00:23:32.540
It seems like a, you know, to be pejorative, a sneakiness issue.
00:23:37.400
I saw some of the CFIA cops in full hazmat suits blocking the farm's surveillance cameras,
00:23:43.920
and I thought, what's that got to do with the health and safety of the birds?
00:23:47.360
And if they're bringing in these NOTAM rules against drones, I'm thinking,
00:23:50.940
maybe a drone buzzing near a bird would upset it,
00:23:54.840
but it seems to me like the Food Inspection Agency are trying to do something in the dark
00:24:09.040
And a NOTAM is put in place for a police operation like this
00:24:13.080
because we need to be allowed to have unfettered airspace.
00:24:18.840
So, we will put drones in the air, we will have potentially helicopters in the air,
00:24:24.580
So, that's strictly why the NOTAM is put in place.
00:24:31.980
So, whatever business they're doing, that's questions for them.
00:24:40.960
I don't believe they're here, but they're answering questions through their portal.
00:24:44.700
In a way, you're sort of in a pickle because you're not the guys doing the dirty deed,
00:24:49.880
but you're the buffer and you're the ones most visible.
00:24:53.680
I haven't, I've only been here briefly, but I haven't seen any CFIA.
00:25:00.880
Well, they're operating within the search zone.
00:25:12.360
So, it's important to understand that this is a CFIA operation.
00:25:15.520
And we're here simply to keep the peace, public safety, and if necessary, enforce the law.
00:25:23.400
If the owners of the farm tried to restart the surveillance cameras, would that be something that you would impede?
00:25:32.040
And, again, I haven't spoken to them about this.
00:25:34.820
I'm just thinking, protecting people from intruding in the zone, I understand the search warrant.
00:25:41.720
It would be like a house that was a crime scene.
00:25:46.040
But when you deliberately take down security cameras, it's got nothing to do with a search warrant.
00:25:53.720
Would you, as a police officer, stop the landowner from fixing those security cams?
00:26:03.960
So, this is all under, the property is secured now.
00:26:13.960
So, for example, one of the owners was allowed on the other day because there's one of the ostriches that's injured.
00:26:26.840
Do you follow what the CFIA is doing to see if there's anything that might be on its own illegal?
00:26:38.220
Or are you just sort of, like you say, it's a CFIA operation and you don't really get involved?
00:26:42.840
Like, because that seems to me that that is mischief.
00:26:52.320
And, I mean, I don't know if the RCMP would abide that.
00:26:58.540
Are you making sure that they don't take liberties or is that just not part of your mandate here?
00:27:03.880
Well, I think you need to look at the contents of the search warrant because that may very well be part of it.
00:27:15.360
You know, as indicated, we're here to enforce the law.
00:27:20.840
So, certainly if we were to witness an offense, then we would need to take action.
00:27:31.540
Because, like you said, this is not your fight.
00:27:46.960
You're the one butting up against these upset locals while the CFIA goes in incognito, has mats, covering license plates, etc.
00:28:08.020
It's not the crappiest job you've had, but it's not the best.
00:28:10.780
So, over the past couple weeks, as you mentioned, the crowd has ebbed and flow.
00:28:18.800
There's been, you know, overall, mostly a peaceful crowd.
00:28:24.180
Has there been any moments when it wasn't peaceful?
00:28:35.980
So, but we've built relationships over those two weeks.
00:28:41.640
I think PLT, the police liaison team, was down here earlier.
00:28:45.680
It has been engaging with the protesters for months.
00:28:48.160
So, from what I've seen overall, the morale is quite good.
00:28:54.400
And certainly, there's a lot of emotions here, as you said.
00:29:01.960
So, anytime animals are involved, there's always going to be an audience.
00:29:04.380
It feels a little bit to me like the trucker convoy.
00:29:08.000
I was in Ottawa briefly, and there was a festival feeling.
00:29:11.080
There was a grassroots feeling, a dissident feeling.
00:29:13.880
And I remember there was a con before the storm.
00:29:16.020
The police were there, and it was pretty chummy until things changed.
00:29:25.260
Well, again, I can't really speak to what may or may not happen, right?
00:29:33.880
To keep the peace and enforce the law if necessary.
00:29:37.800
So, the CFI can continue to conduct our business.
00:29:42.020
Once that's completed, we will no longer be required.
00:29:52.540
Staff Sergeant Clark, thanks for taking some time with me today.
00:31:55.120
Well, we're going up on the scissor lift, which is like a movable elevator, and it's
00:32:18.980
You know, I may not be a country boy anymore, but I know a scissor lift.
00:32:22.360
By the way, so when I used to come here, you could see tons of ostriches that would come here, they would visit with the people, they'd play, they'd mate, and now it's just so scarce.
00:32:37.780
So they're not even with each other, they're not even with each other, they're not with their farmers anymore, they're separated from each other.
00:32:43.160
But this is supposed to be a humane operation, and it just doesn't look like that at all.
00:32:50.620
And the thing is, we don't even know what's going on because the CFIA's main exercise has been deception to hide their activities, either by cutting off surveillance cameras or by building giant barriers out of straw and hay.
00:33:10.000
That's what makes this so weird, and I tell you, there's different theories about what's going on.
00:33:17.160
Some of them, I think, might even be called conspiracy theories.
00:33:20.080
And it doesn't help when the government refuses to be transparent and does super weird things like cutting off surveillance cameras.
00:33:31.100
When they came in with their hazmat suits from top to bottom, when nothing's sick, and it was just for theater,
00:33:40.500
We've already lived through COVID, we've lived through the BS and the deception.
00:33:44.520
It's like this government has learned nothing from the last five years.
00:33:47.860
Well, not only that, when they actually first came on day one, they weren't even wearing the hazmat suits, and people saw that.
00:33:54.080
People went online, wait, I thought they were sick, and then they're all head from toe.
00:33:58.880
But you're right, what is the average Canadian thinking when, number one, everybody knows if an animal had a flu 10 months ago,
00:34:08.560
But number two, like you mentioned, the state is blocking the farm's cameras so that they can't see.
00:34:27.100
Like, I think the police are in a pickle because the police are here to protect the bureaucrats.
00:34:33.080
And I can't imagine the police are happy about that.
00:34:35.660
Well, Andrea, you've been covering this story really for months.
00:34:42.900
People were saying, what's up with those ostriches?
00:34:44.920
It's not as big as the trucker story was in 2022, but it feels like it's getting out there.
00:34:53.380
Why do you think this story has the legs that it does?
00:34:57.480
It's reached, apparently, Holland, China, and, of course, the U.S. have been big speakers to this issue.
00:35:04.160
You know, they've been speaking out before many of the politicians who are in recent weeks.
00:35:09.440
And I think what really at the core is everybody loves animals.
00:35:14.320
Like, most people actually just genuinely like animals.
00:35:19.880
You can't see their far-right extremists like they did with the trucker convoy or their anti-mass or whatever sort of rhetoric you want to use against them.
00:35:29.880
And I think everybody has respect for farmers, too, for the most part.
00:35:36.140
And then it's just fascinating what's been entangled in this story, and it keeps increasingly so.
00:35:42.040
So you have the grassroots, a lot of them the freedom sort of member.
00:35:46.220
But then you have just regular people because of that issue.
00:35:49.220
And then you have the trade issue coming in and the science.
00:35:58.040
If they can kill a farmer's ostrich for no good reason, can they kill your pet?
00:36:04.040
And there's all sorts of, your pet is not good for climate change.
00:36:08.680
Like, there's all sorts of anti-pet stuff out there.
00:36:11.700
And I just don't understand what is it that's so burning in the heart of these bureaucrats that they won't retest these animals.
00:36:23.180
And that's what I think baffles a lot of people.
00:36:25.200
Hey, tell me about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s role, because I think that surprised a lot of people.
00:36:31.880
The House Secretary of the United States, RFK Jr., as well as head of Medicare and the NIH, they've all come out and said that these birds are worth more alive than dead.
00:36:44.200
Of course, they're seeing the opportunity in the science.
00:36:47.200
So, after 2020, the farm switched from selling them for food.
00:36:52.180
And by the way, it's the Canadian Food Inspection Agency coming to kill their flock.
00:36:59.280
And their eggs were being used for antibody viral therapeutic research, which even before it was on RFK Jr.'s radar, he had already said,
00:37:10.980
we want to move away from the leaky vaccines, was the word he used, for mRNA technology, which is what Moderna's trying to work on.
00:37:23.040
They are for testing an alternative to the mRNA vaccine.
00:37:26.460
Therapeutics, which is exactly what RFK Jr. said they want to shift into for looking at things for the avian flu.
00:37:32.620
It would not surprise me if that was the motivation here.
00:37:35.880
So, that was the U.S.'s motivation for getting involved.
00:37:38.780
And then, well, what is Canada's motivation for not saving this research?
00:37:45.220
And that's why the overlap with the Trekker Coinboy is there, too, because it's about this big pharma loyalty, it seems.
00:37:52.440
Now, you've been here, and I feel like walking around here, you're like the mayor of this place.
00:38:04.480
I think you've really helped spread the word internationally.
00:38:15.340
For nine months, I've been covering this story.
00:38:19.040
Just like Rebel News was the champion of the truckers, and we helped tell the world the story.
00:38:26.960
Though it was funny, because at one point, Ezra put the story in slack, and he was like,
00:38:33.060
And I, yeah, I've been covering it for months, Ezra.
00:38:36.700
I try and, we've got so much journalism going on, but you were having such an impact and having some fun.
00:38:42.680
I thought, I've got to come and check it out with my own eyes.
00:38:45.840
And Rebel News is beloved here, because they're not getting a fair shake from the CDC.
00:38:51.100
They're not getting a fair shake from a lot of institutions.
00:38:53.920
And so it is Rebel News that is getting their side of the story.
00:38:57.240
That's our motto, telling the other side of the story.
00:39:00.460
And what I love is that there's so many just everyday people, which I feel like that's who I am.
00:39:07.060
And I'm seeing other people here, too, and everybody's got their cameras out.
00:39:10.360
And what's happening with this almost non-partisan issue we're seeing here is people are finding everybody.
00:39:18.360
They're finding Rebel News for the first time because they want to know the other side of the story to these ostriches.
00:39:23.540
And I think it was CTE made the fatal error of saying that Katie was live streaming.
00:39:31.100
And then, sure enough, her live stream went way up the next day.
00:39:35.740
So I think that these birds have the power to break through the echo chamber, too.
00:39:41.320
Which is something we've been, you know, that has been the key to get other people to go, hey, you know, Rebels talk about things the mainstream media isn't.
00:39:50.160
And mainstream media let me think they found a sick bird here the other day, which is what was out.
00:39:55.460
Well, you know, because a bird was injured, because the RCMP flew a drone, spooked the bird, it got in trouble.
00:40:02.460
And the way I saw that headline, it was phrased as if the bird was sick instead of injured by the cops.
00:40:08.240
The CFIA, intentionally it seems, would just say it's injured.
00:40:13.520
And the mainstream media, which should know, the background, should know that the farmers already said there was an injured bird.
00:40:19.540
So, you know, the value of people finding, everyday people talking about this, showing what's really happening, and Rebel News, I think we don't even know how measurable that is.
00:40:33.460
Part of me wants to hope that it will have a happy ending.
00:40:36.880
But I've lived through COVID-19, and I know that so many attempts at compromise or reason have failed.
00:40:45.140
So many lawsuits were thrown out by the courts, and I don't want to be pessimistic, because where there's life, there's hope.
00:40:52.040
But, and it's a miracle that these birds have survived so long, because, and the cops have been here for weeks already.
00:41:04.560
I mean, I just don't know why a judge doesn't say, just test them.
00:41:10.300
And if they're not, okay, now we have a new fact.
00:41:12.120
But we believe, we understand all these birds are healthy, have been for almost 10 months.
00:41:19.220
These birds are over 260 days, healthy and asymptomatic.
00:41:24.580
So the journalist in me is, yeah, it's pretty grim.
00:41:27.140
But I keep coming here, and every time I come here, it's because you think the birds are going to die, and they're alive.
00:41:35.420
I think the biggest red flag is the fact that the CFIA hasn't made it yet.
00:41:39.840
The fact that they've had, you know, even David Eby at one point saying something.
00:41:43.740
We have the Green Party saying, you know, why aren't you testing?
00:41:46.460
The fact that they know everybody is looking at this agency and saying, why won't you test them, and they still have it, is very concerning.
00:41:53.860
What is your official stance on the ostriches in British Columbia and the culling order that they are facing?
00:42:16.060
Really incredible that the Liberals have caused so much, because of the Liberal incompetence, we're in this mess.
00:42:24.420
And when you have an incompetent government, you have messes like the inflation crisis, like the crime crisis, like the border crisis, like the investment crisis, like the fastest shrinking economy in the entire G7.
00:42:39.340
When you have an incompetent government, you get lots of these messes.
00:42:44.460
Sir, you didn't say what your stance is on the ostriches.
00:42:46.780
Why won't you answer your stance on the ostriches?
00:42:51.420
As a BC MP, I'm just curious what your take is on the ostrich situation at Universal Ostrich Farms.
00:43:00.040
I wrote the Minister of Health, well, so long ago now, a very different Minister of Health.
00:43:04.680
It was January 2025 that I wrote to say, look, can't we get the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to redo the tests?
00:43:13.240
That will remove a lot of the either anxiety divisions.
00:43:26.120
So I think CFIA could help themselves, potentially, by doing independent testing.
00:43:38.580
I must say most of my constituents who write me want that ostrich cull not to happen.
00:43:46.540
I'm not saying whether it should or shouldn't happen.
00:43:49.860
Why not, and this is our position as a party, why not redo the testing and verify the health of that flock of ostriches before engaging in what many see as animal cruelty?
00:44:04.420
And I can't imagine, this is absolutely astonishing to me, that an animal welfare issue in Canada has garnered the attention of MAGA-type billionaires in the United States,
00:44:18.320
which makes me sympathize with the ostriches less.
00:44:24.300
And we don't have all the facts because CFIA has refused to do the testing.
00:44:32.820
That's why I think there's some shenanigans afoot.
00:44:37.040
But the explanations we have just do not add up.
00:44:44.320
I actually have to go back to Toronto very shortly, but I wanted to see with my own eyes what's going on.
00:44:52.480
And through the grace of our viewers, we have been able to crowdfund a little camper and a Starlink internet connection.
00:45:03.460
How long are you, like, you've got obligations back at home, but you've been here cumulatively for quite a long time.
00:45:15.620
The bottom line is we're invested in this story.
00:45:17.840
We see the threat to Canadians when you have, like I said, the state covering up cameras, arresting farmers for wanting to feed their animals,
00:45:28.060
and just not bending to the public, to international trade offers, to anything.
00:45:33.700
Rebel has to be here and we have to tell the story right.
00:45:38.920
And I'm happy that, you know, now I'm going to have help from my colleagues.
00:45:41.940
It's been a massive operation, just like the massive operation with the police, the CFI, and who else knows, except it's not on the tax dollars.
00:45:51.080
Instead, it's from people like you, great people who are here like this, who want us to be able to broadcast what's really going on.
00:45:59.280
And so people have been helping and there are more, there are a lot more costs as my colleagues come.
00:46:04.720
And so if you want to be a part of helping us do those stories, please go to SaveTheOstriches.com.
00:46:11.560
That's where you can ship in and that's where you can find the 60 reports.
00:46:15.720
And I should point out, of course, we always threw to the GoFundMe they have for their legal fees, which are a lot.
00:46:21.440
It wasn't until I physically started traveling here that we did ask for help with our journalism because this is the only way we survive.
00:46:29.300
We needed, now we've been facing the birds while we're talking, but the camera's been facing away.
00:46:33.320
I'm just going to rotate here just so people can see the incredible view that we've had.
00:46:37.420
We probably, I should have probably done the interview like this.
00:46:39.660
So you can see we're up high in the scissor lift and looking down at the birds.
00:46:45.460
They have obscured, they have built 10 foot high haystacks to block the view.
00:46:54.100
Thank you for, I mean, it's a bit of a stress on anyone's family to be away from home.
00:46:58.720
And I know that too, because I travel a fair bit.
00:47:05.900
And it really is fun to be a rebel, wear this rebel shirt here, because everyone loves rebel news because of your 60 outstanding journalistic exposés.
00:47:16.700
And I mentioned I was in Texas and people were asking me about it.
00:47:19.940
You've done more journalism on this than anyone else.
00:47:22.540
And it's that repetition and following the ins and outs of the story that has made this bloom.
00:47:28.180
And so if there is a public pushback that saves the ostriches in the end, I think some of the credit goes to you.
00:47:36.880
Now, obviously the farm itself, very courageous.
00:47:40.360
I really enjoyed meeting some of the folks here.
00:47:44.840
And the whistleblowers that have been helping me inform the farmers and the public of what's going on.
00:47:49.780
And I mean, that's how a lot of people got here this time around is because I was able to say this is when it's going down and this is not a drill.
00:47:57.940
Well, let me just turn the camera one more time to look at the parking lot.
00:48:14.140
Those solar-powered or diesel-powered surveillance towers to counteract the fact that the CFIA tried to destroy the surveillance.
00:48:24.020
It really is a fascinating cultural moment, political moment.
00:48:27.960
I use the word festival feeling because it really is like the Woodstock for freedom.
00:48:33.180
I mentioned it feels a little bit like the trucker convoy, and that's true.
00:48:37.680
Anyways, I'm up here on the scissor lift, and I think I should probably go back down to see.
00:48:46.880
No, but thank you very much for operating the scissor lift for us.
00:48:51.380
And we probably should have been wearing the harness, but we were just having fun.
00:48:58.420
So let's bring her on down to sea level, and thank you, boss, for helping us.
00:49:17.820
And if you want to support Drea's journalism and the fact that she's out here in an RV with a Starlink,
00:49:23.500
because there's no hotels close by, I should tell you that.
00:49:26.420
There's one, and it gets booked pretty fast when you have the support that they're getting.
00:49:33.100
Because as you can see from our coverage, a lot happens like this.
00:49:37.100
And it can happen at night, including at 4.30 in the morning.
00:49:39.740
It's a good catch-up with our friend Drea Humphrey, who has carried this story for the whole world.
00:49:53.280
At an ostrich farm, the one that's been in the news of late.
00:49:59.860
And I don't know if you can quite catch a glimpse of ostriches in the far background.
00:50:04.880
Of course, between me and the ostriches is this yellow police tape.
00:50:14.900
Almost a year ago, about 10 months ago, several of the birds got the flu, the sniffles, as I call it.
00:50:20.960
But they got better, and the entire herd got herd immunity.
00:50:26.760
And yet the government, in the form of the CFIA, Canadian Food Inspection Agency,
00:50:32.100
has ordered that every single one of the hundreds of birds here be killed.
00:50:40.760
We'll even pay for the testing to show you that.
00:50:44.940
In fact, bizarrely, the farm is not allowed to test their birds.
00:50:51.440
To do so could yield a jail sentence, if you can believe it, and certainly a fine.
00:50:58.040
There's been a standoff here because those Ottawa bureaucrats,
00:51:00.800
I don't even know why the Food Inspection Agency is involved.
00:51:03.480
These ostriches are not being raised for meat or for leather or for some of the uses of ostrich.
00:51:09.420
They're actually used to test therapies, not mRNA vaccines, but alternatives to that.
00:51:15.860
These birds may contain a therapy for different diseases.
00:51:21.020
And so some people think, well, maybe that's the reason that the government wants to wipe them out.
00:51:26.620
And maybe that's the reason why RFK Jr., the cabinet minister in Trump's administration responsible for health,
00:51:33.420
has actually said he is uncomfortable with the proposed mass killing of the birds.
00:51:39.460
Anyways, that's my attempt at summarizing what's going on here.
00:51:42.820
Our reporter, Drea Humphrey, has been out here.
00:51:45.660
She's actually done 60 news stories about this,
00:51:48.560
and I believe that she is one of the reasons why this story has such international prominence.
00:51:53.820
Now, I've been standing with my back towards various police cars.
00:51:57.000
One officer told me that there's at least 30 cops on site.
00:52:02.260
There's a staging area where other more heavily armed police are based.
00:52:06.820
I talked to one cop for about a 10-minute conversation today.
00:52:11.320
And the thing is, the RCMP themselves are not the ones going in for the kill.
00:52:16.480
They're the ones being brought in to cause all these people,
00:52:19.760
who have camped out here at the farm to keep them away from the health bureaucrats, the food bureaucrats.
00:52:27.360
In other words, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is here to do the dirty work,
00:52:33.680
Here's my conversation with a spokesman for the RCMP.
00:52:39.900
Well, I don't know if those answers were sufficient.
00:52:45.680
Like I say, you can't really see the ostriches from here.
00:52:51.100
They have been moved, and the CFII has created artificial barriers.
00:52:57.120
Let me just move out of the way so I don't get driven over.
00:53:00.380
There's a lot going on on the ostrich farm here, let me tell you that much.
00:53:06.060
The CFII has created barriers with giant haystacks,
00:53:10.440
and they've built fences with black plastic barriers.
00:53:16.240
There's no health reason to build a 10-foot hay bale fence.
00:53:22.700
So the people who are here, and other journalists,
00:53:32.220
Now, I was invited to go up a hill overlooking,
00:53:37.600
but I couldn't get my cell phone to work with the telescope.
00:53:40.900
Here's some footage of what we could see from across the road on higher ground.
00:53:58.180
There's so much theater involved with the CFIA.
00:54:03.740
while everyone else here, including the RCMP, are dressed normally.
00:54:17.440
But it's also to hide the identity of these disgraced bureaucrats
00:54:20.820
who have come in from Ottawa to do something deeply unpopular.
00:54:25.420
It's so unpopular that the RCMP have had to bring in 50 cops,
00:54:31.320
There's not 50 cops in this part of British Columbia.
00:54:36.240
Canada is in the middle of a crime wave right now.
00:54:39.400
And imagine taking 50 RCMP officers off more important work
00:54:43.600
to come and be the personal escort for the CFIA.
00:54:49.500
Yeah, so if they're not building hay bale barricades,
00:54:53.660
if they're not doing hazmat suit public health theater,
00:55:01.780
There's nothing in the law that gives them that power.
00:55:09.380
They did that because they don't want their dirty deeds to be observed.
00:55:23.900
I have no idea where they're even getting these.
00:55:27.220
I mean, does the CFIA have tens of thousands of dollars
00:55:34.800
Or is this borrowed from the Canadian military?
00:55:39.340
that there's this massive paramilitary operation,
00:55:43.460
oh, you can see some of the birds behind me now,
00:56:02.820
because my friend Draya Humphrey has been covering it
00:56:30.220
and we actually got a camper for her to stay in,
00:56:47.120
it reminds me a little bit of the truckers in 2022.
00:56:49.900
Here's my little walk down the alley of signs earlier today.
00:57:00.240
I had a lot of chats with a lot of great people
00:57:04.520
simply because we're telling the other side of the story.
00:57:17.480
Here's my conversation with the boss of the farm earlier today.
00:57:22.800
By the way, that's a reference to a conversation I had with her.
00:57:41.820
because I've got to get back to our world headquarters.
00:57:49.640
And then Sheila Gunn-Reed will be coming down early next week.
00:57:52.640
So we intend to follow this story to its conclusion.
00:58:23.820
There's something super weird about this whole thing.
00:58:46.200
My friend Drea Humphrey will lead our coverage.
00:58:48.160
Others in the Rebel team will circulate through.
00:59:00.800
All right, I'm going to go back to Toronto now,
00:59:30.660
We're just going to get PLT down for a good time.
01:02:12.840
In suits that don't even follow their own policy.
01:02:15.220
We know exactly what's going on behind those lines.
01:02:31.420
Please just tell them we just want to be with her.