Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Rumble, Rebel News fight for freedom with latest lawsuit

00:00:00.000 Oh, hi, everybody. We're suing the government. I know we do that from time to time, but we've

00:00:05.180 been working on this case for almost a year. It's when they illegally tried to de-platform us

00:00:10.380 at our Rebel Live Rumble Live conference in Toronto last year. I'll have all the details,

00:00:15.700 including the lawsuit itself. I think this is an important one. I'll take you through the lawsuit

00:00:21.260 and you'll see why. But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to what we call Rebel News

00:00:25.320 Plus. That's the video version of this podcast. Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe.

00:00:30.800 It's eight bucks a month. You get the video version of this podcast, but just as importantly,

00:00:35.180 you get the satisfaction of keeping Rebel News strong and independent because we take no

00:00:39.520 government money and it shows.

00:00:55.320 Tonight, after nearly a year of planning, we're suing the Liberal government and Ya'ara

00:01:02.740 Sachs. It's April 7th, and this is the Ezra LeVance Show.

00:01:09.100 Shame on you, you censorious bug.

00:01:12.180 Remember last year when Rebel News held a two-day conference in Toronto? Hundreds of people came,

00:01:26.340 including many who drove for hours just to be there. We teamed up with Rumble, the free speech

00:01:31.520 competitor to YouTube, who brought some of their biggest content creators, including Viva Fry,

00:01:36.420 the Canadian live streamer, Glenn Greenwald, the free speech advocate, and Donald Trump Jr. It was

00:01:43.140 actually a great event, but it almost didn't happen because the Liberal government tried to

00:01:48.160 cancel it. They tried to de-platform it. You see, the conference venue was located at Downsview Park.

00:01:55.300 That's a former Canadian military base in the Toronto area. So the underlying real estate is still the

00:02:01.740 property of the federal government and the Liberals, including the local member of parliament,

00:02:06.240 Ya'ara Sachs, tried to use that fact to pressure the conference venue into ripping up their contract 0.80

00:02:13.760 with us. That's obviously illegal. That's a kind of extortion. We had a signed contract with the venue

00:02:21.520 operator, and we paid the rent in advance. But at the last minute, the government threatened that

00:02:26.880 venue operator and demanded that we spend tens of thousands of dollars on unnecessary security fees,

00:02:33.660 or they would shut us down. They assumed we couldn't pay that much, and they were right. They induced a breach

00:02:40.480 of contract, but they didn't count on Rumble paying the ransom and calling their bluff. So the last minute

00:02:47.660 the conference went ahead, and all Ya'ara Sachs could do was rage against it on Twitter. Well, that was last

00:02:55.280 spring. And we've spent months meticulously researching what the Liberals did behind the scenes, including

00:03:03.280 by filing access to information requests and interviewing key people. So here's my news. Earlier

00:03:11.280 today, we filed a whopping $287,000 lawsuit against the federal government, including against Ya'ara Sachs herself,

00:03:21.120 for illegally interfering with our civil rights. You can find the lawsuit in full at

00:03:27.680 StopDeplatforming.com. I really encourage you to read it. It's 21 pages long, but it's in plain English,

00:03:34.960 and it tells an outrageous story. In addition to Ya'ara Sachs, we found six different government

00:03:40.880 officials who tried illegally to interfere with our conference, like Robert Ng, who said, quote,

00:03:47.120 quote, we might attract an undesirable crowd. Who are you to say that? Or Andrea Thompson,

00:03:53.360 who said, quote, I suppose we can't stop these undesirable events. Really? And Roxanne Krause,

00:04:00.720 who said, quote, I love a new challenge talking about stopping us. Thompson wrote, quote, I'm wondering

00:04:07.920 if you think there's any language within the lease agreement that would permit us to stop this event

00:04:12.080 from happening. She knew our conference was legal. She knew what she was trying to do was illegal. She 0.99

00:04:18.480 didn't care. She was going to find a way to stop us. As you can see, we've got their emails plotting to

00:04:24.960 violate our civil rights. Imagine how brazen you have to be to put it in writing. I wonder how often

00:04:30.720 they've done this to other people on their enemies list, too. You really ought to read the lawsuit for

00:04:36.000 yourself at StopDeplatforming.com. That's what they tried to do to us, deplatform us. And if you can,

00:04:43.360 while you're at that website, chip in a few dollars to help us crowdfund our lawsuit. I'm excited to

00:04:47.920 say that Rumble is joining us in this lawsuit because they were illegally extorted, too. They've

00:04:53.680 agreed to cover half the lawsuit, but we have to cover the other half. If you can help, please go to

00:04:59.920 StopDeplatforming.com. And I promise I'll post the government's defense at that same website, too,

00:05:07.040 when they find it. I'd like to see how they try and justify what they did. I mean, one of the things

00:05:12.960 they told us last year was that the Toronto police were warning them that there was going to be protests

00:05:18.960 against us, so we needed to pay for that extra security. But in fact, we have written proof that

00:05:24.480 the police told them there was no evidence of a counter protest to our event at all. None. They

00:05:31.200 lied. Yeah, I know. Big shock, right? I'd really like you to read our lawsuit to see what the liberals

00:05:36.880 and the government tried to do to us and to imagine what they'll do if they win again. They'll go even

00:05:42.880 harder after their political opponents. Remember, they weren't just coming for me and Rumble and

00:05:47.280 Rebel News. They were targeting a private sector event venue operator, too, simply because he let

00:05:52.800 conservatives use his facility. They terrified him. They terrorized him. That's what they do to anyone

00:05:58.640 who gets in their way. Read the lawsuit at StopDeplatforming.com. Paragraph 57 of the lawsuit

00:06:05.680 is where we outline how they violated our charter rights, including freedom of expression. Paragraph 61

00:06:12.560 talks about misfeasance in public office. That's where you misuse the powers of the government for your

00:06:18.880 own improper purposes. There's a breach of fiduciary duty and negligence and conspiracy. You can actually

00:06:26.240 see the conspiracy at work. Inducing breach of contract, obviously, and intentional interference

00:06:32.720 with economic relations. Now, no normal person could afford to fight back. I mean, the event venue

00:06:39.280 operator is just glad to be out of the hostage situation that he was in because the liberals didn't

00:06:44.400 like us. You can be sure he'll never let us rent from him again. He didn't sign up to be bullied by

00:06:49.760 the government. But we're built a little bit differently. And so is Rumble. They joined the

00:06:54.400 lawsuit because they're about freedom of speech. And they're appalled that the Canadian government

00:06:59.040 acted a bit more like the North Korean government. They're covering half the bill. But we're on the hook

00:07:05.920 for the other half. Now, the smart thing would be to walk away and lick our wounds. I mean, after all,

00:07:11.760 the conference did proceed and it was a great success, thanks to Rumble paying the ransom. But

00:07:17.360 we can't let these malicious bullies get away with this. Not against us, not against Rubble,

00:07:22.000 not against the venue operator they blackmailed, and not against the countless other people the

00:07:26.720 government surely bullies and cancels and de-platforms all the time now. This is about

00:07:32.480 setting a precedent. This lawsuit is setting a precedent and sending a message that you cannot

00:07:37.440 use the neutral, non-partisan government to attack your personal political enemies. You're not allowed

00:07:43.600 to do that. If you agree with our decision to fight back, go to StopDeplatforming.com. Read the

00:07:49.680 lawsuit. And if you agree with it, help us to cover our half of the legal fees. I know the government is

00:07:55.680 going to hire the most expensive law firm in Canada to fight back. That's what they always do. But when you

00:08:01.520 see the outrageous things these bullies actually put in writing, you'll know we have a real chance to

00:08:07.040 win and to set a precedent for freedom for every Canadian. Go to StopDeplatforming.com. Thanks.

00:08:14.800 One of the largest issues for me, and I think for a large number of Canadians last year, was Bill C-63,

00:08:34.960 otherwise known as the Online Harms Act. And it had been a project of the Liberal government for

00:08:39.840 actually many years. It was Stephen Gilboa when he was heritage minister the first time

00:08:45.680 who proposed it. And then it went through various ministers and it never really got off the ground,

00:08:50.400 but it was moving through parliament. And the NDP and the Bloc Habakkuk said they were going to support

00:08:56.240 it. This would have created three new censorship bureaucracies. It would have empowered the Canadian

00:09:01.440 Human Rights Commission to go after hurt words the same way that they did to me some 20 odd years ago.

00:09:06.720 So we were lucky when Justin Trudeau dissolved parliament, proroguing it, that immediately

00:09:14.800 canceled all pending legislation. So C-63 right now is dead. It does not exist anymore. But

00:09:23.200 I'm increasingly worried that if Mark Carney wins the election, he will reintroduce that. And I base that

00:09:30.800 on his statements that he supports wokeism. Remember this? There's a fever gripping America. And while

00:09:38.400 it rages, Canadians will remain resolute and true to our values. While America engages in a war on woke,

00:09:47.920 Canadians will continue to value inclusiveness. And his treatment of reporters. And I'm not just whining

00:09:55.120 about the fact that, for example, they kicked David Menzies out of a parking lot. Did you see that?

00:10:00.640 Sir, did they tell you why we are persona non grata?

00:10:05.040 They just told me you cannot be here. And no reason given. Security.

00:10:11.040 Okay. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. So, yes, I did.

00:10:14.000 Okay, but sir. All right. We're done with this.

00:10:15.840 Okay. So, where do you want me to go? Just on the other side of the fence.

00:10:19.600 You just cannot be here. Before we continue. What about that way?

00:10:22.080 Sir, before we continue. I need him to interview Karima for a second.

00:10:25.840 You cannot interview anybody on this property, sir. Okay.

00:10:28.880 Lee, I'm afraid I can't because... Oh, Karima is... 0.92

00:10:32.160 You have a registration and you're on this property.

00:10:34.400 Okay. All right.

00:10:35.280 And I really don't want to do that. I'm not that kind of guy.

00:10:37.760 No, I... I'm not that kind of guy.

00:10:39.600 Oh, no, sir. I'm not trying to cause trouble for you. But is it not a fair question to ask,

00:10:43.440 why am I not here? I mean no one any harm.

00:10:46.000 I'm here for a job. I have one job. Okay.

00:10:48.400 If there's people on a list of undesirables that are not supposed to be in there,

00:10:52.080 they don't come in. Okay.

00:10:53.440 That's it. Well, it's never going to go in the building, sir.

00:10:55.440 They can't be on here. This is owned by the building.

00:10:59.360 All right. Everybody in this line has to be permitted to be here by the building.

00:11:03.120 All right, then. If you don't have a registration...

00:11:04.800 Well, we're going to leave. You show me your license.

00:11:07.360 I showed you my license.

00:11:08.480 The Gestapo is on standby. Don't want to get into trouble with them.

00:11:12.080 Have a good day. But also very neutral,

00:11:14.640 just the facts reporters like Karima Sad. She was kicked out too. 1.00

00:11:18.400 You know who I'm talking about?

00:11:19.520 What did they say to you about why you didn't get into Oxford?

00:11:22.400 So, before I had a chance to speak with anyone or show anyone any documentation,

00:11:27.520 I was told that I wasn't getting it.

00:11:28.640 Because I saw you on the top six there.

00:11:31.200 Well, I was really trying to assert my right to speak to someone,

00:11:35.680 to understand why I'm on a list, because I am on a list.

00:11:39.120 We were told... I was told by the security that I was an undesirable...

00:11:44.000 Did they use that word?

00:11:44.880 Yeah. Did they call you an undesirable?

00:11:47.040 You know what? They spared me that particular indignity.

00:11:50.720 But I certainly got that impression.

00:11:53.120 I am worried, and I know that there are more acute and urgent things to worry about.

00:11:57.760 Bread and butter issues, pocketbook issues, the tariffs, the cost of living, of course.

00:12:02.560 But I'm also deeply worried about the state of freedom of speech in Canada,

00:12:05.840 but not just in Canada, around the world.

00:12:07.280 I just saw a news story out of the United Kingdom,

00:12:09.520 by the Times of London, perhaps the most reputable broadsheet in that city,

00:12:13.520 that on average, the United Kingdom arrests 30 people every day for saying something on social media.

00:12:23.680 30 people a day.

00:12:26.080 I don't even think that Vladimir Putin's Russia keeps up that pace, and they're twice as large.

00:12:32.560 Joining us now to talk about this very issue is the author of a new article in the National Post called

00:12:38.000 Free Speech is Backsliding Across Europe.

00:12:40.400 It must be an election issue here.

00:12:42.080 I'm talking about Christine van Gaen.

00:12:44.160 She's the litigation director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation,

00:12:48.080 and the author of a new book called Free Speech in Canada.

00:12:50.160 What a pleasure to have Christine back on the show. 1.00

00:12:52.400 Good to see you again.

00:12:54.560 Boy, you're in the fight.

00:12:56.240 Give me an update on what the CCF...

00:12:58.560 That's different from the JCCF we sometimes talk to.

00:13:01.920 Tell me about the CCF, the Canadian Constitution Foundation,

00:13:05.440 and what you guys are doing to fight for free speech.

00:13:08.000 Yeah, thanks so much for having me on, Nazra.

00:13:10.000 The Canadian Constitution Foundation is a nonpartisan legal charity.

00:13:14.160 We're a national charity.

00:13:15.680 We have done a lot of public interest litigation on the issue of free speech,

00:13:20.960 and on broadly issues of constitutional law and fundamental freedoms in Canada.

00:13:25.840 Some of your viewers might know us because we're one of the organizations

00:13:29.040 that brought the legal challenge to Justin Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act against the 2022 Freedom Convoy.

00:13:38.240 When he used that piece of legislation, it shut down protests that were nonviolent and largely peaceful,

00:13:45.360 although highly disruptive.

00:13:47.520 That is, in its core, an act of censorship.

00:13:52.160 We also have been challenging what are referred to as bubble zone laws across Canada.

00:13:58.640 These are laws that prohibit protests in specific areas.

00:14:02.560 So I just got back from Calgary recently where we were challenging a bubble zone law in that city

00:14:09.520 that prohibits not just protests near libraries and recreation centers and community centers.

00:14:16.400 Generally, it prohibits them on the basis of the content of the protests.

00:14:20.240 So this is a law that says you can protest the climate extinction or you can have a labor strike

00:14:27.200 in front of a library, but you cannot protest something like drag story hour.

00:14:32.400 The law would actually also probably prohibit protests about foreign conflicts,

00:14:37.520 about supervised injection sites and all kinds of things that are on this government prohibited list

00:14:43.680 of topics to protest. And once the government's deciding what you can and cannot protest,

00:14:48.720 you don't have a right to protest at all.

00:14:50.480 That's a great point. It's a content-based restriction.

00:14:54.640 Can I ask, because we helped crowdfund for a pastor named Derek Reimer,

00:14:59.840 who was kicked out of a drag queen story hour. He was protesting.

00:15:03.920 It sounds like it's the same law that you're challenging. Is that right?

00:15:08.240 It is. I believe it's the same law, but it's a separate lawsuit.

00:15:12.000 So there is a case that's still proceeding at the Court of Appeal now called Heather and Calgary.

00:15:18.960 That involves a man named Larry Heather, who was also charged under this same law.

00:15:23.920 Ours was a judicial review, so it actually would be a broader precedent if it was decided as a judicial

00:15:32.160 review. But only part of the judicial review proceeded, and we will likely be intervening

00:15:38.160 in Mr. Heather's appeal. So lots of moving parts, lots of technical litigation stuff I don't want to bore

00:15:44.000 your viewers with. But at its core, these are laws that prohibit the ability of regular citizens

00:15:50.480 to protest the action of their government, which is fundamental to democracy.

00:15:56.640 Right. Wow. You know, thank you. I mean, I think I understand the detail you referred to.

00:16:02.240 There's a lot of different ways you can fight a different law, but challenging its constitutionality

00:16:07.200 is perhaps the most important. Let me get back to your article in the National Post.

00:16:11.280 First, I look at Europe, and I think that free speech is in retreat in just about every country

00:16:18.640 there. I really can't think of one where it's getting stronger. I think the UK is appalling.

00:16:25.680 I have some skin in the game there. I'm friends with Tommy Robinson, who is a journalist activist,

00:16:33.440 who's serving 18 months in prison. He'll be let out in nine, but nine months is solitary

00:16:39.760 for violating a don't publish order on one of his videos. I find that astonishing. I see in Ireland 0.70

00:16:46.080 and Scotland, they're either bringing in or have brought in their version of the Online Harms Act.

00:16:52.560 France, you know, I think they actually were banning Rumble, the whole platform.

00:16:59.200 Anyway, I won't go on, but I really see free speeches in retreat across Europe. I think it

00:17:05.680 was retreating in America too. Maybe it's coming back a bit. What's your analysis of the state of

00:17:11.120 freedom in the world? So I actually don't agree that free speech is in a good situation in the

00:17:19.280 United States either. I think it's actually backsliding everywhere. The reason I say it's not great in

00:17:24.720 America is the recent decisions by the Trump administration to issue these executive orders,

00:17:30.560 targeting some law firms. I also don't agree with some of the action on some of the deportations

00:17:38.960 of college students on the basis of the content of their speech alone. Now, there are some details that

00:17:44.960 we don't have. But Ezra, I think your viewers might be familiar with one particular case of a student

00:17:52.160 from Colombia who has a green card. It seems like there's a lot going on in his particular case.

00:17:58.800 His name's Mahmoud. And, you know, if he's being deported as a green card holder on the content of his

00:18:05.120 speech alone, that would be a violation of America's very strong protections for freedom of expression.

00:18:12.320 Now, I'm not defending the content of his speech. I think the content of Mahmoud Khalil's speech is

00:18:18.240 actually abhorrent and disgusting. But that's how you know someone is a real defender of freedom of

00:18:24.880 expression, if they're willing to defend the right of someone to express speech that they disagree with.

00:18:30.080 So I think that free speech is backsliding across the world. And we're sort of at this inflection point

00:18:37.680 globally, where I think Canada has a decision to make. Are we going to be a country that is a beacon,

00:18:46.000 an example to the world of protections of freedom of speech, freedom of expression? Or are we going to be yet another

00:18:53.440 cautionary tale to the world? I would like to become an example of how allowing for robust debate about all kinds of different

00:19:03.120 issues, including issues that we might disagree on, allows for the flourishing of society, that we

00:19:09.680 allow for freedom of expression. I'd like to have a government that keeps that really precious, vital

00:19:17.360 right that has been core to Western democracies for so long, that protects that instead of backslides like

00:19:26.400 the rest of the world has. And I think that that's something that Canadians should think about when they vote for

00:19:31.520 their next government. I hear what you're saying about Mahmoud Khalil. I have a, I guess the one

00:19:37.600 asterisk I'd put there, and I just, I hear what you're saying, but I think if you're a foreign, 1.00

00:19:42.800 a foreigner who's in Canada or the United States as a guest, a privilege, not a right. So you're not, 0.86

00:19:50.160 you're not a citizen. You weren't born here. You haven't naturalized here. You came here under a specific 0.98

00:19:55.040 invitation. You're allowed to come and study at our university. You're allowed to be a temporary foreign 1.00

00:19:59.440 worker. And instead you go to these Hamas hate marches. And in the case of Khalil, I think

00:20:04.640 there's some information that perhaps he. Yeah. So what I'd say, what I'd say about Khalil's case

00:20:10.080 is that he, there's things that are still unknown. What we, what it's, I mean, if he is, um, if he

00:20:17.760 lied on his application to obtain that green card, totally different story. I think it also depends on

00:20:24.720 exactly what his activities were. It does seem like he was distributing Hamas propaganda. I think

00:20:31.200 the question is what is the actual rationale for the, the, the deportation and based on reporting

00:20:39.440 from the free press, what the free press, Barry Weiss's outlet has said is that it seems to be on

00:20:46.560 the content of the speech alone. If that's the only reason that's not acceptable for a green card holder,

00:20:53.200 for someone with different immigration status, perhaps a different result for a green card

00:20:57.760 holder. If it's just the content, not good enough, but there might be more to the case that we don't

00:21:03.040 know yet. And as I said, disagree with his speech. Right. I, you know, I don't know the intricacies

00:21:08.720 of U S immigration law. I guess all I'm saying is foreigners in my view have no rights, um, in our 0.99

00:21:14.800 country. It's all privileges, but I, I'm not an expert in U S immigration, but you know, I, I understand the

00:21:19.680 point you're making and I think you're right. You have to take those hard cases. I mean, I know from

00:21:23.760 personal experience, I think of myself, I think of Mark Stein, I think of other people in Canada

00:21:28.320 who've been put through the human rights commission and they're not going after the

00:21:31.520 friendliest people. They're going after the prickly ones, the cactuses, the ones who say offensive

00:21:36.000 things by definition, that's, who's going to be the cases. So you have to be able to put up with some

00:21:42.000 rough and tumble. If you're in the free speech defending business, I absolutely accept what you're

00:21:47.200 saying. Hey, tell me a little bit about your book called free speech in Canada. And I'd like to,

00:21:52.320 we'll show it on the screen here. And you tell me it's available on Amazon. Give me a little bit of

00:21:56.960 info. What is that book about? Um, was it a diagnosis? It was a prescription. Tell me about

00:22:04.720 free speech in Canada. Yeah. So this is the book free speech in Canada. It came out in November.

00:22:09.520 It's about the origins of the right to freedom of expression, the ancient roots dating back to

00:22:15.680 Socrates and the Magna Carta, the invention of the printing press, but then going through

00:22:20.960 all of the modern issues with freedom of speech, including things like hate speech, including

00:22:26.560 legislation like C 63, uh, the return of the civil remedy for hate speech. We talk about how

00:22:33.680 municipalities can actually be one of the greatest offenders of our right to freedom of expression.

00:22:39.840 A lot of us don't think about our municipal politicians a lot, but it's actually these

00:22:44.480 local busy bodies who interfere with our right to free speech quite a bit. Uh, we talk about free

00:22:49.840 speech in the digital age, and we talk about an interesting intersection between property rights

00:22:55.840 and freedom of expression. And, uh, it's, it's just a fascinating look at the right and its origins and how

00:23:03.440 it applies in Canada. It's a short read, sort of an introduction to the right for Canadians. And

00:23:09.680 I really want to emphasize just how important this right is, how important it is for us to defend the

00:23:15.520 rights of expression, even if the people who are expressing ideas that they, even if we don't agree

00:23:23.120 with them, because if you don't have the right to say something people disagree with, you don't have the

00:23:29.600 right at all. I mean, no one is going to try to shut down unobjectionable speech. It's only

00:23:35.920 speech that is, uh, you know, controversial or objectionable that people will, uh, will try to

00:23:42.320 silence and censor. You know, I remember, uh, when the hate speech law went to the Supreme Court of

00:23:48.720 Canada the first time, I think it was in 1990, if I'm not mistaken. Um, and it was upheld, uh, again,

00:23:56.160 some old crank who was handing out leaflets and, you know, this was in the pre-internet age. And I

00:24:01.520 think it was a 5-4 ruling. And, um, you know, the Supreme Court justice, Beverly McLaughlin at the time,

00:24:08.320 if I'm, I don't know if she was chief back then, she said, oh, this won't go further. Um, only in the

00:24:14.400 most extreme cases, we have a lot of protections. Yeah, right. Here we are 35 years later.

00:24:19.040 And I think that the concept of hate speech and hate speech isn't free speech and that's toxic

00:24:28.480 speech. And that's like, I just think this whole industry has muddied the waters. And I think if

00:24:35.000 that case, um, I, I think the courts have moved towards censorship. I think academia has moved hard

00:24:43.200 towards censorship. Can you give me a little twinkle of hope? Is there a court ruling you can

00:24:49.440 point to? Is there a judge you can point to? Is there a development you can point to in Canada

00:24:54.880 that that's a source of some optimism? Because I'm, I mean, I, I grant you the, um, finding that

00:25:02.560 the Emergencies Act invocation was illegal. That was very important. That, that is sort of a free

00:25:07.200 speechy thing a little bit, but is there actually a pure speech ruling where freedom of speech pushed

00:25:14.640 back censorship that we can hang on to for hope? So I think the cases that you're referring to,

00:25:21.120 uh, the, the older ones are, you're either referring to Zundel or to Keekstra. Zundel was a notorious

00:25:27.600 Holocaust denier, uh, and, uh, Keekstra was a notorious anti-Semite. In that decision, uh,

00:25:34.880 Justice McLaughlin was actually in the, in the dissent, uh, and she at the time was quite the big

00:25:40.320 proponent for, uh, freedom of expression. And Canada has upheld these hate speech prohibitions,

00:25:47.040 criminal prohibitions on hate speech. And this is different from the United States. Now I was

00:25:52.800 critical of the United States for backsliding, but the United States actually has, uh, no criminal

00:25:58.160 prohibitions on hate speech. And I think that that is a better situation, uh, because

00:26:04.640 we should counter hateful rhetoric and hateful speech with better speech to explain why these

00:26:11.680 concepts are wrong. Um, there's an excellent book about this by Nadine Strawson. She's the

00:26:17.600 former executive director of the ACLU in the United States, uh, an organization that itself has done

00:26:24.160 some backsliding, but when Nadine was in charge, really staunch experts and defenders of free speech

00:26:30.800 in that country. Now in Canada, I don't know that I have a good case for you that should, uh, is,

00:26:37.680 is a beacon of hope. The emergencies act was a good outcome, uh, because that case is a free speech case.

00:26:43.840 It's about the right to protest. Uh, so that was a positive outcome. The problem is our constitution

00:26:51.520 guarantees the right to freedom of expression, but subject to reasonable limits. This is section one of

00:26:57.360 the charter. And it seems like increasingly judges are willing to impose those limits and take at face

00:27:04.960 value, whatever rationale the government wants to put forward for limiting speech, uh, without

00:27:11.600 really considering the larger consequences of eroding this core foundational right.

00:27:19.760 You know, I remember, I just remembered the name of that case from 1990 was, uh, John Ross Taylor.

00:27:24.640 And he was, oh, I'm sorry. Yep. A different case. No, it was my mistake. I didn't remember the name

00:27:29.120 till now. And, you know, I just think of, and it was Chief Justice Dixon. It was a four, three ruling.

00:27:36.560 And, you know, they say, oh, we're just taking a baby step into censorship. This will never be abused.

00:27:43.200 This will never be common. And, uh, I'm just really worried about that, but I'm really glad you guys at

00:27:48.160 the CCF are fighting back. Tell me your website, uh, for our viewers who want to learn more. What's the best way to

00:27:53.360 learn to go to your website and poke around? So our website is theccf.ca. Uh, we're a charity,

00:28:01.120 so we issue tax receipts for any donations. And we also have a YouTube channel. If you search the

00:28:06.400 CCF or the Canadian constitution foundation on YouTube, I provide regular video updates about

00:28:12.000 all of our ongoing cases and about other interesting developments in constitutional law in Canada. So

00:28:17.440 check us out. We have a lot to offer and, uh, a lot of takes on freedom of expression,

00:28:22.400 expression, as well as other constitutional issues like division of power, freedom of religion,

00:28:27.360 things like that. Well, I'm really glad you're out there fighting and, uh, we need far more. I just

00:28:31.920 talked to Lisa Bildy the other day who created the Free Speech Union of Canada. I'm really glad she set

00:28:37.440 that up. Um, it's great to know that the JCC, sorry, the CCF is doing good work, the democracy

00:28:43.920 fund, the JCCF. We're starting to get a little bit of a community, which is good because I think

00:28:48.560 some of the traditional defenders of freedom of speech have been lacking. I, I feel like the, uh,

00:28:53.440 Canadian Civil Liberties Union, uh, association rather has basically taken a, uh, a 10 year holiday.

00:29:00.000 They haven't been at the leading edge. I'm glad you guys are amongst us filling the gap. We've been

00:29:03.840 talking with Christine Van Gein, the litigation director of the CCF. Her book is called Free

00:29:08.160 Speech in Canada, and I'll be sure to pick that up on Amazon. Thanks for taking the time, Christine.

00:29:13.120 Thank you. All right. There you have it. Stay with us. More ahead.

00:29:28.160 Hey, welcome back. Your letters to me about Alberta separatism. Frank 5D says,

00:29:33.360 notice how the older people want to leave the most. They know that Alberta and Ottawa's relationship

00:29:38.640 will never get better. You know, it's interesting. Uh, I've seen polls showing the opposite actually,

00:29:43.520 that young people are the most open to leaving. I, I suppose it depends. Um, but what I would say in

00:29:49.680 general is that the mainstream media is not doing a good job covering this story because most media

00:29:54.400 are based in Toronto or Ottawa or Montreal. They don't understand the West. They don't really like the 0.71

00:29:59.920 West. They don't listen to the West. I think of CTV's at issue, sorry, CBC's at issue panel.

00:30:05.760 That's got Rosemary Barton based in Ottawa, Andrew Coyne from Toronto, Althea Raj from, uh, Ottawa and

00:30:12.800 Chantal Ibert from Montreal. So no voices outside that little triangle, the entire political spectrum

00:30:18.720 from A to B, you know, they just, it's the stalest, most boring conventional wisdom of the so-called

00:30:25.280 Laurentian elite. I'm not saying that people in Toronto should become Western separatists,

00:30:30.160 but they should have some source of news that at least treats Albertans with enough respect

00:30:35.600 to hear them out. Ed Bernier says, I want a divorce. Even if we get a conservative government,

00:30:41.760 we can expect the same abuse in eight years. We can be our own captain, chart our own destiny

00:30:46.640 and be so wealthy and successful. I think you're right. I think that's what Alberta would be like

00:30:52.080 if it were independent. And I think Saskatchewan would probably join pretty quickly. And if you had

00:30:57.280 seven million people in a new country, that's a respectable country, especially with the amount 0.97

00:31:02.000 of oil and uranium and other things like that in there. Um, I just think that getting there

00:31:10.720 would be an astonishingly difficult thing to do because every single establishment enterprise

00:31:16.560 from the media to the banks, to the lawyers, to the courts would be against it. But it's possible.

00:31:22.800 I mean, Quebec came within half a percent of winning. Gil Schiller says, I live in BC retired,

00:31:30.400 and I absolutely see the need for not only Alberta, but all the Western provinces need to go our own way.

00:31:35.520 This Quebec and Ontario ruling Canada has to end. China truly is ruling Canada with the help of the 1.00

00:31:40.640 Liberal Party. You know, again, it's very different in the West. And, um, I don't know. I, the earlier

00:31:48.800 letter about Pierre Pauly of granting a reprieve, there's some truth to that. I mean, Stephen Harper

00:31:53.600 was, I think, a pretty good prime minister, and he was quite good for the West. But as soon as he was gone,

00:31:58.080 in came the problems. Well, that's our show for today. Until next time, on behalf of all of us here

00:32:03.600 at Rebel World Highquarters, to you at home, good night. Keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - April 07, 2025

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Rumble, Rebel News fight for freedom with latest lawsuit

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