Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Senator Denise Batters kicked out for supporting democracy within Erin O'Toole's Conservatives

00:00:00.000 Hello, my Rebels. Today, I take you through Senator Denise Batter's attempt to get some

00:00:05.240 party democracy in the Conservative Party of Canada. Obviously, Erin O'Toole doesn't like 1.00

00:00:10.320 it one bit. He threw her out of the party. But I don't think that's going to end the problem,

00:00:15.500 and I don't think it should. I think party members need to have a vote on his future,

00:00:20.280 and it makes sense to have that vote earlier rather than later. I'll give you my reasons

00:00:23.440 and my explanations. That's ahead in today's show. But before I get to that, let me invite

00:00:28.260 you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. It's $8 a month. You get the video version of the

00:00:32.440 show. I want to show you this great video that Senator Batters put out. You can hear it in the

00:00:37.160 podcast, but I really want you to see it. Go to Rebel News Plus, click subscribe, and you get the

00:00:41.680 video version. All right. Here's to the show.

00:00:58.260 Tonight, Erin O'Toole de-platforms another party rival. It's November 17th, and this is the Ezra

00:01:06.880 LeVant Show.

00:01:09.740 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:01:13.480 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer. The only thing I have to say to the

00:01:19.080 government about why I publish it is because it's my bloody right to do so.

00:01:23.400 How do you feel about the direction that Canada is going in? I think it's going in the wrong

00:01:32.160 direction. I think it's not just Canada. A lot of the countries in the world are going the wrong

00:01:37.160 direction. Most of the countries in Europe are, and the polling numbers for the American

00:01:42.620 president, Joe Biden, are appalling, and the polling numbers for Kamala Harris, the vice

00:01:48.960 president, are the lowest ever recorded. I think that's a sign that people think the world is going

00:01:54.900 in the wrong direction. Here in Canada, we just had an election a few weeks ago, and the question is,

00:02:00.740 where is the official opposition? On any of the core issues of the day, to me, the most shocking are the

00:02:07.440 abridgements of our civil rights in the name of a pandemic. We have national vaccination rates,

00:02:12.540 80, 90 percent, and yet the restrictions are getting harsher, not more lenient, including

00:02:19.720 vaccine passports and banning the unvaccinated from even national airlines and railways. That's 1.00

00:02:26.560 not a provincial decision. That's a Justin Trudeau decision. And yet, have you heard Aaron O'Toole

00:02:32.360 express any doubts, even in the gentlest language about that? I have not. What about the lockdowns?

00:02:39.720 What about the carbon tax? It's jacking up the price of everything. We talk about inflation and

00:02:45.180 how the price of food is going up. That's in part related to the carbon tax. We don't import much of

00:02:51.920 our food from China. Certain goods are, and that's where the supply chain can be snarled, waiting to

00:02:57.780 get into the port of Vancouver, for example. But food, we grow a lot of that here. Why is the price of

00:03:06.140 Canadian food going up? One reason is the carbon tax. Agriculture is carbon intensive. Anything that's

00:03:12.700 shipped by rail or car or truck, it's carbon intensive, and the carbon tax keeps going up.

00:03:18.300 Where's Aaron O'Toole on that? It's a bit tough for him to argue against inflation caused by a carbon

00:03:24.120 tax when he supports that same carbon tax. One of the issues that concerns me is censorship.

00:03:29.600 Although the liberals shuffled Stephen Gilbeau out of the censorship portfolio, the liberals say that

00:03:36.140 they intend to bring it in. Have you heard Aaron O'Toole fight back against that? I have not. I think

00:03:42.700 our leader, the opposition, is absent, and he's certainly not conservative. Maybe it's a good thing

00:03:48.800 that he's absent because when he says something, he quickly flip-flops on the carbon tax, on defunding

00:03:55.280 the CBC, just for example. I think we've seen some bad signs lately. For example, in the new shadow

00:04:02.040 cabinet shuffle, Leslyn Lewis, who is a strong and powerful candidate, who won a seat in parliament,

00:04:10.000 who placed very well in the leadership, she was left out completely. Just in terms of the Ottawa game

00:04:17.020 of politically correct optics, that alone you would think she would be seated, let alone the fact that

00:04:21.420 she has a powerful base in the party. Why was Leslyn Lewis sidelined by Aaron O'Toole? In fact,

00:04:28.280 every leadership rival has been sidelined by him. Have you noticed that? Derek Sloan kicked out of the

00:04:35.700 party. Jim Karajalios kicked out of the party even before the leadership was over. Rebel News itself

00:04:43.040 marginalized. We're not part of the party, but it's quite odd that the most conservative-leaning media

00:04:48.320 outfit has been canceled and deplatformed. Aaron O'Toole doesn't play well with others on his own

00:04:54.180 team. I always wonder, can we have even just 10% of his rage and his turf war mindset directed at the

00:05:02.840 Liberal Party of Canada instead of against others with his own party? But the fact is, Aaron O'Toole had

00:05:10.640 his chance and he underperformed. He lost seats. He lost votes. And his great gamble, which was to

00:05:19.780 make the party more liberal in return for winning seats in urban areas in Ontario, didn't pay off.

00:05:28.020 They lost seats in the cities. So being a echo of the Liberals, a knockoff of the Liberals, did not

00:05:35.580 actually work. That was his grand plan. So what should happen? Should Aaron O'Toole, after losing

00:05:43.740 the election, be given another chance? Obviously, he thinks so since he hasn't resigned. Party members

00:05:50.820 want to have a say in it. And the party constitution says after every election loss, they do get a say.

00:05:56.680 But the question is, will that say happen now or years from now? It's in Aaron O'Toole's interest to

00:06:02.860 have that pushed off as far into the future as possible to make it impractical to have a leadership

00:06:07.740 review. However, if he is going to go, if he is going to lose the next election too, shouldn't he

00:06:13.940 be weeded out now? That's a question that many people in the party are thinking, but not that many

00:06:19.400 are saying until yesterday. Here's Denise Batters, a senator. Take a look. I'm Senator Denise Batters,

00:06:26.640 and I'm launching a petition so that our party members can have their say on the leadership of the

00:06:31.120 Conservative Party of Canada. I've been a Conservative my whole life. I came from the

00:06:35.860 PC side of the party, and like so many others, I worked hard to help merge the Canadian Alliance

00:06:40.800 and PC parties into our winning Conservative Party movement. On behalf of Conservative activists

00:06:46.760 and members from coast to coast, we started this petition because we don't want to see this party

00:06:51.700 ripped apart again. When we're divided, the Liberals win. Under Aaron O'Toole's leadership,

00:06:57.440 the rift in our party is growing. He told us, this is not your grandfather's Conservative Party,

00:07:03.180 and warned campaigning MPs they must agree 100% with his new direction, which constantly changes,

00:07:09.800 or get out of caucus. As leader, Mr. O'Toole has watered down and even entirely reversed our policy

00:07:16.520 positions without the input of party or caucus members. On carbon tax, on guns, on conscience rights,

00:07:23.040 he flip-flopped on our policies within the same week, the same day, and even within the same

00:07:28.760 sentence. He won the leadership claiming to be true blue, but ran an election campaign nearly

00:07:34.620 indistinguishable from Trudeau's Liberals. We can't afford more of the same. Aaron O'Toole lost this

00:07:41.300 election by every measure. Our party lost half a million votes, claimed fewer seats, and a lower popular

00:07:47.960 vote than in 2019. We lost diverse seats and MPs in the GTA, Alberta, and in Vancouver suburbs.

00:07:55.560 Mr. O'Toole's inability to communicate or connect with female voters left us with an even wider gender 0.92

00:08:01.520 gap. Aaron O'Toole lost a trust election to Justin Trudeau, of all people. This campaign was not lost

00:08:09.060 because of Mr. O'Toole's mistakes or inexperience. It was lost because of what Canadian voters perceive as

00:08:15.920 his character flaw, that he is not trustworthy. You can't come back from that. Aaron O'Toole lectured

00:08:22.480 our party members on election night, telling us we need to have the courage to change into what he

00:08:28.560 hasn't yet said. But members deserve to have a say on this change and the future direction of this

00:08:34.340 party, including our leadership. Fellow Conservative Party members, join me in signing this petition and make

00:08:41.540 your voice heard. She's a conservative senator and one of the more outspoken bafflers of the liberals. 1.00

00:08:48.900 A lot of senators of every party just sort of snooze on the job. Not Senator Batter. She's a fighter and I 1.00

00:08:56.600 think she's sick of a liberal in conservative clothing. She was critical, no doubt about it, but what she was 1.00

00:09:02.040 saying fits. She was inviting party members to sign a referendum to have that vote earlier rather than

00:09:10.300 later. Oh my god, did she step on a landmine? I think maybe she knew what she was doing. And because

00:09:18.460 she's a senator, she can't really be fired by Aaron O'Toole like, for example, an MP could be. I think a lot

00:09:25.520 of MPs are scared to stand up to Aaron O'Toole because, as I mentioned, he throws out MPs who criticize him,

00:09:31.600 even gently. Well, you can't fire a senator and if you say she's not allowed to call herself a

00:09:36.700 conservative anymore, that's no big deal. Party labels don't mean much in the Senate anymore

00:09:41.220 and she'll still be who she is. But you saw the lieutenants of Aaron O'Toole chime in in his

00:09:49.820 support. And I want to read to you from Michelle Rempel, who you would think would have been a critic

00:09:55.760 of Aaron O'Toole because of his support for the carbon tax. But here's what she said in a Twitter rant.

00:10:01.600 A multi-part tweet. She said,

00:10:04.600 I'm so profoundly disappointed in this, this being Senator Batters. Every Canadian will be focused on

00:10:11.800 this for the next month instead of anything we do in the House. I asked my colleague to withdraw this

00:10:17.760 petition, have it out in caucus instead, and for the good of Canada, let us MPs get back to work.

00:10:24.660 I disagree with a lot of that. For one thing, I don't think that the conservative opposition

00:10:29.640 was fighting the good fight. Certainly not Michelle Rempel-Garner, who was a health critic

00:10:35.920 during much of the pandemic and really objected to nothing. There's nothing to stop the conservative

00:10:42.540 party from fighting against the issues like inflation and the carbon tax, other than they're

00:10:47.600 choosing not to do it. How can you when you yourself supported the carbon tax? I do agree in one way,

00:10:53.560 though. Michelle Rempel-Garner is accurate. This will be something that distracts the public, or at least

00:11:00.440 the media. I honestly don't think most Canadians care about internal conservative party issues.

00:11:06.440 I honestly don't think most Canadians even know who Aaron O'Toole is. If you show them a picture or

00:11:11.680 even mention the name out of context, they just don't know. But it is true that there are leadership

00:11:17.420 questions. And the question is, will those be allowed to linger for two years, as O'Toole prefers,

00:11:25.900 or will they be brought to a head soon, as Denise Batter prefers? If you're actually trying to remove

00:11:32.260 the distraction, isn't it best to do so sooner rather than later? Isn't it best to do so earlier,

00:11:38.640 so that whatever happens, the result can happen with enough lead time to prepare for the next election?

00:11:43.740 I mean, seriously, would you really want a leadership review just a few months before an

00:11:48.780 election rather than a few years before? Well, it won't surprise you that Aaron O'Toole did not take

00:11:55.000 lightly to the criticism. And he lashed out. I suppose it's fair enough. I mean, tip for tap. And he fired

00:12:02.660 Senator Batters in a voicemail. Now, again, I don't know. Maybe Senator Batters was not answering her

00:12:10.880 calls. And maybe a voicemail is better than email. But it is sort of funny how eagerly he wanted to

00:12:16.440 fire her. Let me read to you from the press release that Aaron O'Toole put out. I think it's classic.

00:12:23.260 I'll just quote.

00:12:25.200 As the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, I will not tolerate an individual discrediting

00:12:31.000 and showing a clear lack of respect towards the efforts of the entire Conservative Caucus,

00:12:36.040 who are holding the corrupt and disastrous Trudeau government to account.

00:12:41.380 Yeah, boss, I don't think that's what she was doing. I don't think she criticized anyone else

00:12:46.180 other than you. I don't think she criticized her colleagues. And I don't think she really had

00:12:50.900 anything to say about whether or not you are indeed holding Trudeau to account. I just think

00:12:56.100 you're trying to switch the subject and you're actually hiding behind the human shields

00:13:01.860 of your fellow Conservative MPs. I don't think Senator Batters is critical of them. I think

00:13:07.660 she's critical of you. Don't say you fired her because she hobbled your teammates. Why don't 0.94

00:13:15.200 you just for once be authentic and say you fired her because you're the leader and she wasn't

00:13:19.880 following? I'll read some more. Eight weeks ago, Canadians elected Conservatives to hold Justin

00:13:27.020 Trudeau accountable. That's just such a fun turn of phrase. That's a very odd way of saying eight

00:13:32.940 weeks ago, we lost an election that we thought we can win and should have won. It's a very nice way

00:13:38.900 of saying we're losers. Canadians didn't elect the Conservative MPs to be opposition. When you run, 0.86

00:13:45.720 you run to form government. That's why it's called a shadow cabinet, a government in waiting.

00:13:49.820 Erin O'Toole failed. Of course, the party bosses have piled on, but so too have other MPs who are

00:13:58.240 complaining off the record to reporters, including to the CBC. Look at all these CBC reporters who are

00:14:05.260 having the time of their lives, as I suppose Michelle Gardner-Rempel said they would, delighting

00:14:10.140 in the civil war within the party. And wouldn't you, if you're part of Trudeau's CBC state broadcaster

00:14:17.220 and you had a Conservative MP bad-mouthing the leader off the record, that would be a delight

00:14:23.400 to report on that. You can't really criticize Justin Trudeau if you work for the CBC. You're

00:14:28.580 not really allowed to. So it is true what Michelle Rempel-Garner said. This provides a distraction,

00:14:34.400 at least for the CBC and the rest of the media party. But that's my point. Why have this distraction

00:14:41.600 in the shadows, a game of cat and mouse for months or even years? Why not put the question? Why not

00:14:48.220 ask people to put up or shut up? You know, there's a saying in politics, you can't beat someone with no

00:14:53.540 one. All right. Erin O'Toole, I agree, is a weak candidate who failed. Okay. So who should be the

00:15:01.520 leader instead? If there is someone, have a leadership race and let them stand. But if no one has that

00:15:07.800 courage, then let Erin O'Toole lead. I do not like Erin O'Toole much. But if no one is willing to step

00:15:12.640 forward and challenge him, let him be. That's why an early leadership vote makes sense.

00:15:19.240 I saw the typical Conservative partisans closing ranks behind Erin O'Toole, and I can understand

00:15:25.480 that. Part of being a party in the system we have is party discipline. There's less party discipline in

00:15:31.480 the United States, for example, when parties routinely vote along their own lines, especially

00:15:37.400 U.S. senators. They really vote how they want, no matter what the president says of either party.

00:15:43.540 And so in Canada, you are expected to be loyal. Party discipline may mean something in a parliamentary

00:15:50.240 system where without it, the government could fail. But as my colleague Sheila Gunn-Reed points out,

00:15:55.920 it's a bit much for Conservatives who went to bat for Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott and

00:16:02.180 Selina Shazer-Shavan. It's a bit much for those Conservatives standing up for strong women who were 0.99

00:16:08.480 thrown away by Justin Trudeau to now throw away their own woman of valor who stands up to an out-of-control

00:16:16.500 leader. I note that another senator criticized Erin O'Toole in much the same way. His name is Senator

00:16:22.740 Mike McDonald. And for some reason, he wasn't fired like Senator Batters was. Why is that?

00:16:30.900 I end by quoting something that Senator Batters says, which is, did Erin O'Toole lose because he

00:16:38.720 was just finding his feet? It was just his first try that if Canadians get to know him, they'll really

00:16:45.060 love him. Because that would be a reason to keep someone around for a second chance, like Stephen

00:16:51.540 Harper had. But Erin O'Toole is not a newcomer. He's been in politics for decades. He was a senior

00:16:58.220 cabinet minister. Everyone knows him in the political game. And I acknowledge that regular

00:17:04.260 people don't know him. But what they know about him is authentic. He's not going to develop anymore.

00:17:10.580 He is who he is. And I don't think he hasn't. When Stéphane Dion lost about 15 years ago to Stephen

00:17:18.980 Harper, he wasn't going to suddenly become a different person if they let him run again. He

00:17:24.100 wasn't simply going to suddenly become charming or authentic or have a winning personality or develop

00:17:30.320 an EQ, an emotional quotient, or a social IQ. Those things were not going to happen. And the Liberal

00:17:36.320 Party doesn't care about anything other than winning. That's really its chief job. They threw Stéphane

00:17:42.260 Dion overboard because he was a loser. And another chance wouldn't change that. Same thing with the 0.99

00:17:48.880 Green Party. Annemie Paul. Whether or not she chose to quit or was fired, I think it was a bit of both.

00:17:54.260 She was not going to win if she had another chance. You could even say that about Hillary Clinton. 1.00

00:18:00.640 There was just simply no way that Hillary Clinton was going to win in 2020 after losing in 2016. 0.97

00:18:07.140 People already had an opinion about her. She wasn't going to change or evolve or be more likable.

00:18:13.020 Her scandals weren't going to go away. I put it to you that another election for Erin O'Toole 1.00

00:18:18.220 will not suddenly transform. The Liberals will not suddenly be weaker. In fact, I think in the last

00:18:25.760 two elections there have been scandals and fiascos that the Conservatives should have been able to

00:18:30.460 capitalize on but didn't. Whether Jody Wilson-Raybould or the Kielberger scandals or anything else,

00:18:37.220 blackface photos. If you can't beat Justin Trudeau with the wind at your back, you're not going to 1.00

00:18:43.260 beat him next time either. I say have the leadership review early. And may the best man or woman win. 0.54

00:18:51.200 If no one challenges Erin O'Toole, if no one wants that job, then let the man keep it and maybe he can

00:18:56.780 have it. But by throwing aboard anyone else in the party who disagrees with him, he shows a

00:19:01.640 brittleness that I think shows why he's so weak. You know, he may be able to bully the remaining

00:19:07.680 people in caucus by saying, if you don't support me publicly, I'll throw you out too. And he does

00:19:12.560 have that power in our system. But hundreds of thousands of grassroots Conservatives in this

00:19:17.220 country, well, he can't bully all of them. In fact, they're his boss, which is why I think he's so

00:19:23.740 terrified of letting them have a vote. I salute Senator Batters. I'm glad she's using her relative

00:19:30.240 immunity to his punishments to say what so many people are saying. Erin O'Toole is no conservative

00:19:36.660 and he's no opposition leader. He just won't oppose. Stay with us for more.

00:19:53.740 Last night, I removed Senator Batters from our national caucus. Our national caucus is about to

00:20:00.460 have meetings to prepare for the return of Parliament. We're going to return to hold the

00:20:05.240 government to account for the inflation crisis we're facing month after month, national unity

00:20:10.300 crisis we're facing, and to make sure we show a professional approach to the pandemic and the

00:20:15.740 return of Parliament. We have to have all members of the team focused at that. And it was a necessary

00:20:21.640 decision to make for the well-being of our caucus, of our Parliament, and of the country.

00:20:26.800 Well, how do you make the Conservative Party more conservative? Well, I think one of the ways

00:20:30.760 is to get the decision-making and the discussion about the future of the Conservative Party away from

00:20:36.780 the leader and those close to him and down to the party members, of which there were or are

00:20:43.760 hundreds of thousands across the country. I think that's what Senator Denise Batters is trying

00:20:49.360 to accomplish. Joining us now via Skype is our Alberta Bureau Chief and Chief Reporter,

00:20:55.240 Sheila Gunn-Reed. Sheila, great to see you again. I referred to one of your tweets earlier today.

00:21:00.640 Conservatives loved to champion Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott and Selena Cesar-Cevan when they

00:21:08.260 spoke truth to power against Justin Trudeau. Well, this is the analogy in the Conservative Party.

00:21:14.760 I think what's good for the goose is good for the gander. What do you think?

00:21:19.620 Well, that's exactly it. And it's especially appalling to see this happen to Denise Batters. 1.00

00:21:24.140 If I recall correctly, she's a Harper appointee. She's been a loyal soldier. She's been out there

00:21:29.000 campaigning for whoever has been in charge. She's one of those people that when I think,

00:21:34.720 you know what, maybe we should abolish the Senate, she does something that reminds me that they 1.00

00:21:38.820 actually do things over in there. And, you know, I almost said Justin Trudeau, but it's Aaron O'Toole.

00:21:46.400 He has done the exact thing that proves Denise's point. Denise said, you're acting like a liberal.

00:21:54.980 You are really indistinguishable from Justin Trudeau. You flip-flopped on guns. You flip-flopped

00:22:01.840 on the carbon tax. You flip-flopped on free speech. And the members deserve a say. And what

00:22:07.080 does he do? He goes out and does the Trudeau thing. And that's firing the one woman who stood

00:22:13.300 up to him. He, I mean, all he did was prove Denise's exact point. Yeah. And firing her by

00:22:18.840 voicemail. And I suppose if you can't really get through to someone, I mean, his voicemail or email

00:22:22.700 or something like that or a letter, but it, it, I just wish he was as tough with the liberals as he

00:22:28.500 is on true conservatives. You know, you're right about Senator Batters. I mean, I'm not sure how

00:22:33.500 many conservative senators are left. It's probably not very many, but if you asked me to name five of

00:22:39.460 them, I think I'd have a tough time because most of them are pretty somnolent, pretty quiet. They live

00:22:48.920 down to the Senate's expectation. Senator Batters is not one of those. She's actually a fighter and 1.00

00:22:56.100 it's just so in keeping with his character for Erin O'Toole to get rid of the best people. Like

00:23:02.880 he wouldn't appoint Leslie Lewis to the shadow cabinet. She's such an obvious person to appoint.

00:23:09.180 I mean, forget about the liberal math of gender and ethnicity, but she has a following. She has a

00:23:14.960 base within the party. And traditionally you heal. You, when, when Jean Chrétien beat Paul Martin,

00:23:22.260 he made Paul Martin his finance minister, pulled him into the center. Stephen Harper beat Peter

00:23:27.460 McKay, pulled him into cabinet, pulled Tony Clement into cabinet. So like part of leading is to expand,

00:23:35.640 especially if you're in opposition to expand. But Erin O'Toole seems to be an expert at reducing 0.98

00:23:41.440 the size of the party. It ain't working. No, I mean, Jason Kenney even did the same thing.

00:23:47.900 He put his leadership opponents into positions of power, even turning one of them into a cabinet

00:23:53.560 minister, even though he was a red Tory here in Alberta. But you pointed out Stephen Harper doing

00:23:58.520 the same thing. And instead of reflecting on the conservative successes and doing those things,

00:24:05.740 Erin O'Toole has done the things that were the greatest failures that Andrew Scheer did. For example,

00:24:10.680 you know, not putting Lesley and Lewis in the shadow cabinet, that's a great example.

00:24:17.140 Scheer did the same thing with Max Bernier. Max Bernier very nearly won the leadership. And instead

00:24:23.260 of healing the rift within 50% of the party, Scheer tossed him out. And O'Toole, instead of learning

00:24:31.860 something from it, he does the exact same thing. And to get back to Denise, she isn't even doing anything

00:24:38.240 all that outrageous. The Conservatives keep telling us they're a party that listens to the grassroots.

00:24:43.900 All she was trying to do was give the grassroots a voice from a safe place because she's in the 0.85

00:24:50.440 Senate and she's not a sitting MP. 1.00

00:24:52.400 Well, that's the thing. I mean, it's not very persuasive to me to see Erin O'Toole's newly

00:24:58.360 appointed shadow cabinet picks defend Erin O'Toole because it's pretty clear they're doing that

00:25:03.980 because they don't want to be thrown out either. So you have to have some sort of immunity, to borrow

00:25:09.820 a word, to criticize him. A senator has that immunity and the grassroots people in the party do.

00:25:15.840 I don't know. I think that it is true that any disharmony or civil war in a party hurts because

00:25:22.960 people say, if you can't govern your own party, how are you going to govern the country? There's a lot

00:25:27.040 of truth to that. But the fact is, Erin O'Toole lost an election that someone else could have won.

00:25:33.700 And there needs to be a party reflection on that. And as I said in my monologue,

00:25:37.660 if no one else steps forward to challenge him, if he wins that leadership review, if he beats a

00:25:44.700 challenger, great. Okay. So then that is the will of the party. Losing an election wasn't enough to

00:25:49.820 have him lose his job. And Stephen Harper lost his first election too. But the distraction is not

00:25:56.560 because the leadership vote is being called. It will be called no matter what. The question is, do it

00:26:00.720 now or do it in three years. And I think it's obvious that Erin O'Toole knows he's not really on

00:26:08.720 side with party members. He disparages them all the time. He tells them they have to change. He

00:26:14.340 basically says, I'm going to throw out true conservatives and Westerners in the hopes of wooing 1.00

00:26:18.820 Ontario liberals, except for it didn't work. Like, you know what? I got to tell you, Sheila, I didn't like

00:26:23.740 that strategy, which he telegraphed so clearly. Embrace the carbon tax. Embrace open borders

00:26:29.060 migration. Shut up about lockdowns. And in return, for the 10 seats they might lose in the West, 0.93

00:26:34.880 they'd pick up 40 seats in Ontario in the East. That's the theory. That was the strategy. And you

00:26:39.940 know what? If it would have worked, he could have said, well, you could be a perfect loser or a pretty 0.99

00:26:44.980 good winner, and we chose to win. Okay. And he would have a case to make. But it didn't work at all.

00:26:50.140 So not only did he destroy the conservative brand and renege on his promise of voters,

00:26:55.700 it did not even work. So what's even the point? Well, and that's the thing. Like,

00:27:01.100 you rightly point out, the reason he doesn't want to test the will of the people is because he knows

00:27:06.240 he will lose. And, you know, he will no longer be the leader. But he's hoping to reg the puck long

00:27:12.760 enough so that he can hang on to the leadership and go into the next election as the leader of the

00:27:22.000 party. But ultimately, he must know that people have already rejected him and his ideas once.

00:27:28.860 So for me, outside looking in, I see this as someone who wants to hold on to the power in the

00:27:36.120 party at all costs, but also to the detriment of the entire country. Justin Trudeau's plans for net

00:27:44.420 zero, all the things he promised at the UN climate change conference, that will cost 500,000 jobs in

00:27:52.180 the West. And that is the same goal that Erin O'Toole has committed to. So I guess, you know,

00:27:59.780 Erin O'Toole, he wants to hold on to power in the Conservative Party of Canada. But what's it going to cost?

00:28:05.760 It's going to cost 500,000 jobs in the West and more economic devastation, because Justin Trudeau

00:28:11.860 will surely win again. He will be Prime Minister as long as he wants to be, unless the Conservatives

00:28:18.220 get their act together and have someone who will put the country over his own ambitions.

00:28:23.500 Yeah, you know, both Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole assumed that Justin Trudeau would crumble,

00:28:29.540 that they didn't have to win, Trudeau just had to lose. But the thing is,

00:28:34.860 Trudeau is cannier and slier and a better campaigner than that. Plus, he has the entire 0.91

00:28:42.080 media party at his disposal and many other institutions. And you know what? He also has,

00:28:47.460 he's a household name and face. I put it to you, and we've done this before. We've shown

00:28:51.340 Erin O'Toole's picture on the street in, you know, just in, for example, in Toronto,

00:28:56.360 there's something called Young and Dundas Square. It's like a little Times Square of Toronto.

00:28:59.620 You show the picture, no one knows who he is. So just expecting that a handsome-ish,

00:29:06.740 young-ish, household name, last name, media-supported emoter and selfie-taker

00:29:14.960 is going to lose and it's going to fall into your lap, that's not going to happen.

00:29:21.020 You've got to stand for something. And you know what? I look to the United States because at least

00:29:25.780 they have some diversity. They've got 50 states and they have a diversity of approaches by Democrats

00:29:31.760 and Republicans. They have some true opposition. Here in Canada, we have 10 provinces, three

00:29:35.640 territories, all the governments, all the opposition are all in agreement on everything.

00:29:40.560 So I think, well, can't we have, like, I looked at this Virginia race. You had a Republican named

00:29:46.500 Glenn Youngkin. And he started talking about conservative issues like leave our schools

00:29:51.940 alone, don't teach trans extremism, don't teach critical race theory extremism. And he said things

00:29:59.100 with some courage, parents' rights. He was much more moderate on lockdowns. And boy, did the media

00:30:05.040 kill him. But instead of bending the knee, he held firm. His right-hand woman running for lieutenant 0.97

00:30:09.980 governor, Winsome Sears, a Jamaican immigrant to America, joined the Marines, wonderful patriot.

00:30:17.720 So just, he campaigned with confidence and he bloody well won. And he didn't bend the knee the first

00:30:24.020 time that CBC complained to him. Same with Ron DeSantis. And yes, Florida and Virginia are different

00:30:31.440 than Canada, but there's something about a conservative leader who speaks plainly on behalf of the people,

00:30:37.020 who doesn't buckle. I just, can we not try that for once? Can we just try that? People say,

00:30:44.020 well, the lockdowns are very popular in the opinion polls. Here's the Angus Reid poll here.

00:30:49.760 Lockdowns and forced vaccines are very, I hate to say it, they're very popular. Well, you know,

00:30:54.620 the reason for that, Sheila, is because every bloody voice calls for that in the media, in politics,

00:31:01.340 in culture, in law, every, well, how about if there was just one leader who said, you know what,

00:31:07.140 I'm actually going to look at what the word leader means. I'm going to try and lead opinion,

00:31:10.960 not follow it. I'm going to marshal the arguments the best I can. Day after day, I'm going to debate

00:31:15.560 this thing in the national discourse. I'm going to try to move numbers. If we actually tried,

00:31:20.160 maybe we'd have a Glenn Youngkin or a Ron DeSantis.

00:31:22.240 Well, yeah. And I mean, when the regular public, the regular news consuming public are constantly

00:31:29.260 inundated with how great lockdowns are, it's like gaslighting or brainwashing entire population.

00:31:36.320 If you express an opinion that you're like, maybe I don't think these lockdowns are so great,

00:31:41.020 but I don't want to sound like the crazy one. So you find yourself adopting these ideas that are

00:31:45.760 being shoved down your throat. And really in the case of, um, Youngkin and, and the, uh, election

00:31:54.640 there, what happened was somebody identified a single issue voter and said, I don't care if those

00:32:01.680 people are Democrat. I don't care if they're Republican. They have concerns. Their concerns

00:32:06.780 are valid and I'm going to fight for them. And that's what created this coalition of voters

00:32:10.720 that showed up at the polls, Democrats and Republicans alike voting for the same guy

00:32:15.420 because he identified a single issue that nobody else was offering an alternative viewpoint on.

00:32:21.580 And we saw polling the other day in a story that came out in Blacklock saying

00:32:26.380 that decision of Justin Trudeau to hit the campaign trail and demonize people who were

00:32:32.820 anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine passport, and just want to get left alone to go about their lives and

00:32:38.320 run their business and have whomever they want in their house. That decision for Justin Trudeau to

00:32:42.680 take to the campaign trail and demonize and marginalize and scapegoat them, that was a

00:32:48.440 conscious campaign choice based on polling. And Erin O'Toole at some point, actually not just Erin

00:32:55.480 O'Toole, anybody in that party could have come out and said, you know what, whatever you feel about

00:33:01.720 lockdowns, even if you think they work, I reject Justin Trudeau's politics of division and marginalization

00:33:09.800 of our fellow Canadians. But the Conservative Party of Canada under Erin O'Toole didn't even have the

00:33:15.480 guts to do that. Because I don't think Canadians even realized, at least some of them didn't realize

00:33:21.080 what Justin Trudeau was doing to them by scapegoating those people for the reason your freedoms were

00:33:26.880 taken away. The Conservatives could have said, no, it is Justin Trudeau who is taking your freedoms away

00:33:32.600 and your neighbors should not be blamed for it. But even that easy message wasn't coming out of the

00:33:38.160 Conservative Party. Yeah. Well, I have lost a lot of respect for so-called Conservative politicians.

00:33:47.560 I remember I used to be quite close to Jason Kenney, the Premier of Alberta. I was a friendly

00:33:52.560 enough acquaintance with the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford. I was on good terms with many Conservative

00:33:57.920 MPs. I still am. Some on the lowdown talk to me privately because they disagree with Erin O'Toole,

00:34:04.980 but they know if they say it, they'll be fired immediately from the party. But I no longer,

00:34:10.780 as the Bible says, put my trust in princes. They'll let you down every time. And I believe

00:34:17.920 that we have a mission here at Rebel News, Sheila. Our primary mission is, you can see it right in our

00:34:22.880 motto, telling the other side of the story. That's one thing that we can do well. And I think,

00:34:27.900 I mean, we've never had more reporters in Canada, Sheila. I don't know if you've ever stopped to

00:34:32.460 count, but there's, there are, I mean, some people sort of are halftime reporters, halftime editors,

00:34:38.420 but I think we're close to 20 people now who actually produce news in Canada. That's a significant

00:34:46.320 newsroom. Literally today, I just signed a contract with a young woman from Calgary to add to our team

00:34:52.520 there. I literally signed another, I signed two contracts today, one with another cameraman in

00:34:57.760 Quebec to help tell the story there. We have never been bigger. And why? Because that's one thing I

00:35:04.340 know we can do. We can tell the other side of the story. So to break the, to break the unanimity.

00:35:10.220 And then our friends of the democracy fund with whom we work closely, they can try to make a difference

00:35:15.140 in the courts. So that's where I'm putting my efforts because I'm so disappointed in the partisan

00:35:21.100 political system. Hopefully a leader will come that we can feel confident championing. But right

00:35:26.920 now the work has to happen in the nonpartisan sector, at least in my life. Sure. And I think

00:35:33.140 that's why I was so annoyed with what happened to Denise, besides the fact that even Justin Trudeau

00:35:38.120 had the gumption to yell at the women to their face. Erin O'Toole had to do it in a, in a phone call. 1.00

00:35:46.320 But because she was trying to do, I think part of what we do here every day, and that's give a

00:35:50.860 voice to the normals of the world, who are the ones that are told to shut up by the politicians,

00:35:55.520 that they can't say this, and that are treated as radicals by the mainstream media, when they're

00:36:02.940 just your friends, your neighbors, your family, people that you work with. That's what Denise

00:36:07.320 was trying to do. She was trying to give them a voice in their own party, and she was canceled 1.00

00:36:11.860 for it. Lucky thing for us, though, is nobody can cancel us. We seem pretty cancel-proof these days.

00:36:17.460 Well, that's right. I love being independent for that reason. Well, Sheila, it's great to

00:36:22.320 see you again. Thanks for fighting the fight every day, journalistically. And it'll be interesting

00:36:27.520 to see how the story plays out. I don't think that firing Senator Batters, who's sort of a fan

00:36:33.000 favorite, a party favorite, I don't think that's going to stop the problem. We already see other MPs

00:36:38.980 griping privately to reporters who are loving it. I think this problem is going to get worse for Erin 0.65

00:36:45.000 O'Toole. I hope he is shown the door. I have my picks for who I'd prefer to lead the party,

00:36:50.760 but I know one thing. Erin O'Toole is not going to get better with age. You know, some people,

00:36:56.520 they're green. Circumstances were against them. They need a second shot to prove who they really

00:37:03.500 are. I think we know who Erin O'Toole really is. He's an inauthentic flip-flopper who no one trusts.

00:37:08.600 Neither friends nor enemies trust him. He's not green. He's not a greenhorn. He's just someone

00:37:17.160 who didn't win. And I think he should move on and move aside. But I'm not a party member,

00:37:22.360 so I don't have anything to say. Sheila, it's great to see you. Keep up the fight.

00:37:25.380 I will. Thanks, boss.

00:37:26.400 All right. There you have it. Sheila Gunn-Reed, chief reporter of Rebel News. Stay with us. More ahead.

00:37:30.440 Your viewer feedback. Here's a note from Paul McCullough. Paul, it's great to hear from you

00:37:46.500 again. To put it simply, Trudeau's a beta male or lower, and Corporal Daniel Balford is an alpha

00:37:52.880 male. Think Cain and Abel. Well, that's a whole analogy right there, isn't it? I think

00:38:00.280 that Trudeau comes across as a beta male. He comes across as sensitive, and I think it's like a trick.

00:38:05.240 I think that's that male feminist move. I actually think that it's just a false front. Just the same 0.96

00:38:11.400 way he pretends to be anti-racist, but he's a blackface dresser-upper. The same way he pretends 0.90

00:38:16.820 to be a feminist, but he sexually assaulted Rose Knight. The same way he claims to care about, I don't

00:38:22.420 know, indigenous reconciliation, but he goes surfing in Tofino instead. I think the beta male thing,

00:38:28.500 the more I think about it, it's actually just an act to woo soft voters. I think he's very cunning,

00:38:35.760 and I think he's in league with some deadly people who are alpha males. I think the sniper spotter,

00:38:43.260 the corporal we spoke with, is an outstanding man, and he made a tough choice, a choice to sacrifice

00:38:49.360 his career for his principles, the choice Justin Trudeau would never make.

00:38:52.800 Brian 22 has a comment, sort of a trick comment. He says, comment deleted due to lack of proof of

00:39:03.160 vaccination. It's a joke. You're saying it as a joke now, but seriously, how long before you're

00:39:09.780 denied access to your bank account? Do you're denied access to your email account if you haven't

00:39:15.500 got your 23rd booster? Revelator 2 says, when I read some healthy, active top drawer in the community

00:39:22.760 person, died in his sleep, reason unknown, my BS detector keeps beeping and won't reset for hours.

00:39:28.980 Oh yeah. You know what? Someone showed me this the other day. Go to Google and type in died suddenly,

00:39:37.700 suddenly, and then click the news tab. You will be shocked at how many young, healthy people

00:39:45.320 are dying suddenly, people who were perfectly healthy until just a moment ago. Gee, I wonder

00:39:52.160 what that's all about. It's incredible. The efforts to pump up the numbers of people who died from COVID,

00:39:58.460 but to suppress the number of people who are having vaccine injuries. I don't know if we'll ever know

00:40:02.600 the truth. Well, that's our show for today. Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel

00:40:07.960 World Headquarters, to you at home, good night and keep fighting for freedom. And let me leave you

00:40:12.780 with a video from Melbourne, Australia of our dear friend Avi Amini, who went to a protest that's all

00:40:19.040 night, 24-hour protest. They're sleeping outside their legislature in Melbourne to protest the lack

00:40:24.920 of freedom. They were obviously called alt-right. Well, here's Avi talking to some of those white 0.60

00:40:30.560 supremacists. Get a load of this. See you later. Next week, campaign against racism and fascism

00:40:36.800 are rallying against this group. They're rallying against you. They're calling you a fascist,

00:40:42.920 far-right-wing extremist. What would you say to them? I say, why don't you just stop all the

00:40:50.320 segregation, come together for the common purpose, so that we can actually heal this country and heal

00:40:56.320 ourselves as people, so we can heal each other, so we can walk to a brighter day for once and for all.

00:41:05.440 For many months now, probably even coming up close to two years, we've been told by the mainstream

00:41:10.660 media, union leaders, politicians and far-left-wing activists that these freedom protesters are just a

00:41:17.680 bunch of far-right, QAnon, white supremacists. To the point where a group who call themselves

00:41:22.720 campaign against racism and fascism has organised a counter-protest for this Saturday at Victoria State

00:41:30.120 Library from 12pm, rallying in a COVID-safe way, I'm sure, against the evil far-right fascists. So,

00:41:37.800 as a responsible journalist that you know me to be, I decided to go deep undercover at last week's

00:41:42.740 protest to expose these dangerous supremacists. Watch and share what happened and then make sure,

00:41:48.000 if you haven't done so already, to head over and sign the petition at killthebill.com.au.

00:41:55.400 Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I was told that this protest was white supremacists. Are you the

00:42:01.600 leader? Yes, can't you tell? All of the minority parties that apparently care about minorities 0.99

00:42:07.680 are not standing up for us. It's absolutely, it's a shame, it's something to be ashamed of.

00:42:13.360 They're anti-fascists, yet they're protesting for the fascists. Like, the mental gymnastics you have 0.99

00:42:19.300 to do to try and draw that line of logic is just obscene. Delusional. Everyone's here. This is

00:42:25.160 Australia, mate. We've been past racism a long time ago, mate. We're the most multicultural country in

00:42:30.620 the world. Spoken like a true white supremacist. Be honest, are you a white supremacist? No, and I don't

00:42:37.600 think anyone is. Some people use it for their own interests, you know what I mean? I don't think

00:42:42.340 anyone is. I'm here on behalf of Victoria Police. These colours are way too happy. We're going to 0.99

00:42:47.480 send you a fine in the mail. The crowd now chanting to kill Bill. I don't know, who's Bill? Who's Bill? 1.00

00:42:56.540 I don't know. It's about Daniel's legislation bill. We don't want it. Oh, so they're not trying to kill

00:43:01.420 Bill. Not trying to kill Bill. Fuck it. I just thought maybe your white supremacist little thingos 0.99

00:43:08.500 were starting to get violent. It's all about peace. It's all about love. It's all about people coming

00:43:12.560 together and looking after our children. Are you guys white supremacists? No. You look like one.

00:43:20.560 Where are all those activists that every year march down the street saying abolish Australia Day and all

00:43:27.680 this other stuff? Where are they today? Why are they not standing for the indigenous Australians here

00:43:33.560 today that are crying out for help? Well, I don't know. I honestly don't know, but that's why I'm here.

00:43:41.020 Are you a white supremacist? Oh, you're going to have to figure that out yourself. Not at all, man. Not at all. 0.96

00:43:47.060 Not at all. This is for us. This guy definitely is. Come here. You've got to know her. We're all so. We do know. We're all brothers and sisters. She definitely looks like that far right wing fascist they were talking about. 1.00

00:44:00.440 I'll be honest. They're not known for the IQ or showers. I think it's fair to say we're not dealing with the pains of Britain. 0.92

00:44:09.160 They need to be with us now saying my body, my choice. So that's the time.

00:44:13.460 You're saying if they're against racism, they should be standing with you. Yes. To protect your body.

00:44:19.720 100%. White supremacist. Assyrian. Assyrian. Same. I know Assyria. Yes. Some of the most action people in the world. 0.99

00:44:28.820 All right. We have people here praying for our leaders. Our leaders have abandoned us. Yes. They've mistreated us.

00:44:37.160 And they're still praying for them. And they're still praying for them. Can you point them out? I'm going to kick them out of this party.

00:44:42.460 This is white privilege. This is white privilege. That's right. You obviously didn't get the memo. This is a white supremacist event. 1.00

00:44:51.700 It looks bigger on TV, doesn't it? White, black, silver, black, grey. We all are human beings.

00:44:58.220 We're fighting here for the rights of man, for the rights of humanity, whatever it is, mate.

00:45:03.100 This is like everyone fight. It's not about colour. It's not about, you know, where you come from. It's all about human.

00:45:09.660 God bless Australia all the way.

00:45:11.980 We are all on the same boat. If the boat sink, we all sink. All human rights will sink.

00:45:18.220 Can't you see I'm white? 0.99

00:45:19.560 Yeah, white supremacist. 0.96

00:45:20.720 I'm a white supremacist myself. 0.98

00:45:22.060 You guys are not the blackest white supremacist I've seen in this group today. 0.55

00:45:27.560 Yeah, yeah, I know, my brother. 0.93

00:45:29.480 We're here for the good cause for the people, brother.

00:45:32.660 You know, stand up, Australia. 0.94

00:45:34.480 It's time we all stand there before we don't get to stand.

00:45:37.400 Do you feel this crowd is white supremacist?

00:45:39.160 No way, no way, no way, no way.

00:45:40.760 I reckon Asian.

00:45:41.600 She's Asian.

00:45:42.140 But that's what it is here.

00:45:46.100 This is the most diverse group I've ever seen,

00:45:49.800 and those using that to campaign against this group, basing it on racism,

00:45:54.720 well, I'd say they're the fascists. 0.98

00:45:57.480 They're the ones that are full of hate. 0.97

00:45:59.180 They're the ones trying to divide.

00:46:01.260 Other you, mini in Melbourne, Australia for Rebel News.

00:46:03.720 Like, comment and share to let the world know that this group

00:46:07.720 is far more tolerant than the one you're going to see next week. 1.00

00:46:11.320 They're imbeciles. 1.00

00:46:12.580 That's not nice. 1.00

00:46:13.140 That's something a white supremacist would say. 0.87

00:46:14.920 Would that?

00:46:16.800 New Zealand's starting to stand.

00:46:18.920 Yeah, well, that's why I'm here too.

00:46:21.300 Cause, uh, for the Anzacs too, brother.

00:46:23.600 You know, they all fought for our freedom.

00:46:25.800 It's our time to stand for our kids' freedoms, bro.

00:46:28.700 So, yeah, stand up, Aussie, New Zealand, let's go. 0.99

00:46:31.500 Well, let's be honest.

00:46:32.560 Yeah.

00:46:33.400 Short people of colour are the best.

00:46:37.480 No, everyone is the best, no.

00:46:39.780 They're second best.

00:46:40.640 We are the best.

00:46:41.960 Everyone is the best.

00:46:43.020 Good on you guys.

00:46:46.680 As you can see, this crowd was diverse.

00:46:50.760 No matter what the mainstream media portray,

00:46:53.480 no matter what campaign against fascism and racism tell you,

00:46:58.020 this is some of the most diverse group of people

00:47:01.540 that come together to stand,

00:47:03.560 not for the white race, not for the black race, 0.98

00:47:05.860 but for the human race.

00:47:07.440 Ooh.

00:47:08.020 But for the human race.

00:47:10.380 I love you.

00:47:12.300 Love me.

00:47:14.560 Increase.

00:47:15.480 Maybe.

00:47:17.480 Love you.

00:47:17.960 Love you.

00:47:19.000 Love you.

00:47:19.660 You're my favorite.

00:47:20.240 Bye.

00:47:20.500 Bye.

00:47:20.860 Bye.

00:47:21.040 Bye.

00:47:21.260 Bye.

00:47:21.640 Bye.

00:47:22.160 Bye.

00:47:23.060 Bye.

00:47:23.200 Bye.

00:47:23.240 Bye.

00:47:23.260 Bye.

00:47:25.560 Bye.

Rebel News Podcast - November 18, 2021

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Senator Denise Batters kicked out for supporting democracy within Erin O'Toole's Conservatives

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