Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Wab Kinew risks alienating Canadians over Indigenous veto in Alberta referendum process

00:00:00.000 hello my friends uh what do you think of wab canoe that's the indigenous premier of manitoba

00:00:05.920 i like certain things about him i won't lie i think he's funny and can even be fun sometimes

00:00:10.700 rare for a politician but he can also be childish and i think he can be a bit racist in his own way

00:00:16.900 i'll take you through it and let you see but first let me invite you to become a subscriber

00:00:20.720 to rebel news plus that's the video version of this podcast just go to rebelnewsplus.com click

00:00:26.460 subscribe. And not only will you get great video content, I've got a ton of video clips I want to

00:00:31.060 show you, but you'll support Rebel News because we take no money from the government and it shows.

00:00:36.020 tonight i've got some thoughts on wab canoe the premier of manitoba it's may 27th and this is the

00:00:57.960 Ezra Levant show. Shame on you, you censorious bug. You know, the LGBTQ2SL plus movement, I think

00:01:19.580 they made a strategic mistake probably about 10 years ago when they really had total victory. I 1.00

00:01:25.520 I mean, gay marriage, gay adoption, gay pride month, every last wall fell. 0.71

00:01:31.720 I mean, a lot of it was done through the courts, so there was no democratic consent.

00:01:35.620 But I think public opinion sort of shifted towards it, and they really won the cultural battle.

00:01:42.420 But instead of declaring victory, the massive gay rights movement said,

00:01:46.740 well, let's focus on the next frontier, not just the LG and the B, but the T.

00:01:51.960 Let's get all our energy behind transgenderism. 0.89

00:01:57.160 And not just someone who in their private life dresses up as the other gender, 0.99

00:02:01.860 but someone who wants to inject it in schooling, into girls' sports, 1.00

00:02:06.820 someone who's a real activist.

00:02:09.080 And I think they went too far.

00:02:11.200 In fact, even in the United States, you can see support for LGBT movements are falling. 0.90

00:02:17.820 And it's not because of the L and the G and the B. 0.99

00:02:19.860 It's because of the T.

00:02:21.220 I think there's other movements that play their hand too far, go too far. 0.75

00:02:26.960 And one of them in Canada, I fear, is that of Indigenous rights.

00:02:32.560 I think every Canadian believes that there is some moral debt we have to First Nations. 1.00

00:02:38.140 At least I think so. 1.00

00:02:40.140 And at the very least, we should attend to the social ills and the dysfunction of our own Indigenous population, 1.00

00:02:46.540 perhaps before we bring in other newcomers or perhaps before we give foreign aid to strange 1.00

00:02:52.260 countries. There are some problems we need to deal with. And I think Canadians are generally okay with

00:02:58.220 that. But like the L, the G and the B, when they go for the T, maybe they overplay their hand. And

00:03:04.780 I think that's happening in British Columbia, where land acknowledgments that were started off

00:03:09.020 as a feel-good way to show respect to First Nations is being taken literally. And they want

00:03:16.140 their land back. And a combination of radical politicians and radical judges are making

00:03:22.040 indigenous title a real thing. Recent cases in British Columbia have thrown into doubt

00:03:27.420 whether or not homeowners actually own the land upon which their houses are. And this could

00:03:33.620 cause tremendous dislocation. Many people, the home is their only investment. It's their retirement

00:03:39.900 savings. It's what they want to bequeath to their kids. And now Canadians who've done nothing wrong

00:03:45.820 to indigenous people are at risk of losing their homes to people who had nothing done

00:03:51.020 wrong to them. It's part of a race-based system. And I'm worried that reconciliation has gone too 0.64

00:03:58.200 far. That was the phrase a decade ago, truth and reconciliation. Who could be against those things?

00:04:04.280 But you don't reconcile with someone by saying, I want your house. And I think that they're making

00:04:09.400 the transgenderism mistake of pushing it too far. And I think of Wab Kanu, the premier of Manitoba,

00:04:15.520 and in some ways it's wonderful and he's got that big smile and he's got a jovial personality and

00:04:21.160 he says he loves Canada and there's a lot of things to like about him. One of my favorite

00:04:26.500 clips was early in the trade spat with Donald Trump. He said, we'll never be your 51st straight

00:04:32.980 but we'll be your number one best friend. Here's a little clip of that. I thought that was a great

00:04:37.000 line and he delivered it well. Canada will never be the 51st state. Well, we could be your number

00:04:42.300 one friend. We fought in world wars together. We defeated fascism and communism. We stand up for

00:04:48.420 democracy. We have answered the call on fentanyl and on the border. We don't want tariffs. Because

00:04:55.060 we're so close together, it'll only raise prices for all of us. We're a nation of hockey players.

00:05:01.440 We know how to stand up for ourselves. At the same time, we know how to go for a beer together

00:05:06.160 once the game is over. The winds of change can blow through politics, but they'll never change

00:05:11.520 geography we will always be neighbors and we should always be friends i think wab canoe when

00:05:17.760 he's at his best can come across as really likable and he actually can be some proof

00:05:23.980 of reconciliation but i saw another side to him lately that made me wonder if i was right about

00:05:30.000 that um you know in recent weeks he's been going a little bit extreme calling donald trump

00:05:35.580 a pedophile now where's the friendly jovial where your number one best friend wav canoe i want him

00:05:42.060 back and i want a little bit less of this conspiracy theorist take a look let me be

00:05:46.960 absolutely clear when i say the epstein clash should fight the epstein war i'm attacking donald

00:05:53.000 trump you're not talking about i'm attacking jeff bezos i'm attacking mark zuckerberg i'm

00:05:58.460 attacking Jeffrey Epstein. I'm attacking Sam Altman. I'm attacking all of these folks who

00:06:06.540 have articulated progressive views and yet bow down in the face of extraordinarily damaging

00:06:13.560 politics today. Not a single Canadian should ever be put in harm's way to try and defend

00:06:20.780 Donald Trump's foolish Iranian war.

00:06:25.780 I'll go a step further, and I'll say no American either. 0.98

00:06:30.780 No American child from the blue collar 0.99

00:06:33.780 or the middle class should have to die in Iran. 0.93

00:06:38.780 Let the Epstein class fight the Epstein war. 0.94

00:06:42.780 I hope this war in Iran ends. 0.80

00:06:44.780 These gas prices are too high, 0.99

00:06:46.780 and kids are being killed for no reason.

00:06:48.780 Even the Trump administration cannot explain why they're at war in Iran right now. 0.50

00:06:53.540 And I mean, like the Epstein file seems to be as good of a reason as anyone else can figure out. 0.60

00:06:58.420 So stop the war. 0.81

00:06:59.660 Yeah, I don't think you're helping things.

00:07:01.720 I don't think you're helping to have cooler minds prevail.

00:07:05.960 I think you're whipping things up and making it viciously personal.

00:07:09.680 And frankly, if you know anything about Wab Kanu's own personal history, he shouldn't be digging into personal problems of the president.

00:07:17.200 Let me just leave it that way.

00:07:18.780 Wapkanu does certain things that are fun and friendly, but other things that are just weird and childish. 1.00

00:07:24.040 The other day, the leader of the opposition in Manitoba was speaking, who, by the way, is a Muslim man. 1.00

00:07:29.800 And I think he's doing a good job as an opposition leader.

00:07:32.560 He's very sober minded, very thoughtful.

00:07:34.480 He was making a thoughtful point in the provincial legislature. 0.95

00:07:38.140 And Wapkanu just started barking at him. 0.66

00:07:42.040 Here's a clip of that.

00:07:42.920 um again you know it's uh i asked the premier in humus times to please be respectful uh while

00:07:51.560 i asked a question for my tobins this is unbecoming of the premier it is it is it is

00:08:00.040 unfortunate i'm just asking to be respectful i'm asking questions

00:08:06.680 and this is the behavior we're getting from him it's uh it's unfortunate so uh

00:08:12.920 The premier knows he can do it and pass it.

00:08:15.060 So the simple question is, will the premier stop laughing?

00:08:18.860 No.

00:08:19.640 Nobody else?

00:08:20.820 No.

00:08:21.520 I'm asking about the budget bill.

00:08:23.200 And the answer is no. 0.94

00:08:24.720 Yeah, can I get the fun, jovial, positive, constructive Wob Canoe back?

00:08:29.620 Not the childish, name-calling, barking Wob Canoe, please.

00:08:35.200 Anyways, the other day, the premiers had to get together, the Western premiers.

00:08:38.820 And one of the issues raised was the Alberta referendum, of course.

00:08:43.840 It was on everyone's mind.

00:08:45.660 And Danielle Smith was asked about the court ruling.

00:08:48.220 And I think she answered in a very mature, grown-up kind of way.

00:08:51.580 But Wab Kanu thought he would correct her and attempt to embarrass her.

00:08:56.360 And I think he got his facts deadly wrong. 0.54

00:08:59.160 But when you're taunting and tormenting,

00:09:02.380 I'm not sure if you're getting towards truth and reconciliation.

00:09:05.180 Watch the exchange and judge for yourself.

00:09:07.060 No, I mean, the way we're going to seek clarity is through the court.

00:09:10.600 We think that the duty to consult is meant to be looked at through a lens of major projects,

00:09:16.700 and we take that very seriously.

00:09:18.680 We had an Indigenous roundtable yesterday where I shared with the premiers

00:09:22.540 how we're using our Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation

00:09:25.040 to help underwrite major project participation,

00:09:28.640 to give revenues to Indigenous nations,

00:09:31.880 and how we want to continue engaging with Indigenous nations on that.

00:09:35.960 But the issue, I think, in the court is whether that duty to consult should apply to citizen-initiated petitions.

00:09:44.060 And that's where I think that the court erred in judgment, and I think it's also anti-democratic, the decision that they made.

00:09:50.100 But we'll make the arguments in court about what the limits to duty to consult ought to be, and we'll see how that conversation goes.

00:09:57.060 There's a couple of rounds that we have to go through, obviously, to the Court of Appeal, probably also to the Supreme Court of Canada.

00:10:02.260 But we want to make sure that we have a very clear understanding of what the duty to consult really means and what it doesn't mean.

00:10:08.520 And I think at the moment, there's a lack of clarity on that.

00:10:12.300 Sorry, I'd like to respond.

00:10:15.380 So I think we know that that is not correct.

00:10:18.220 A lot of what you just said there, Premier Smith, specifically, and we spoke about this, so I don't mind repeating this.

00:10:26.920 It is not up to the petition gatherers to fulfill the duty to consult.

00:10:30.540 it is up to you as the Alberta government to fulfill the duty to consult. And in this case,

00:10:37.360 when there is clearly going to be an impact on well-established existing hunting and fishing

00:10:42.320 rights by putting up an international border, if some would have their way, the judge ruled,

00:10:48.560 and I would agree with the judge's ruling, that that is going to infringe on rights.

00:10:52.740 And so there is a duty to consult. Now, to take a step further, for the Albertan who's been

00:10:58.920 frustrated over the lack of progress on pipelines. You've got the premier of BC

00:11:05.640 announcing LNG, we're working on Churchill, we're working on northern

00:11:09.540 trade corridors. This is a moment to get big things built in Manitoba and I would

00:11:15.180 say now is the time to work together. Why don't we hold off on this referendum

00:11:20.540 talk for a year or two and see if we get these pipelines under construction

00:11:24.600 because at the end of the day we want Canada to succeed we're all very proud

00:11:30.180 of this place I myself am very very patriotic and what I think it's

00:11:34.600 important for us to say when we hear this sorts of discussion happening here

00:11:38.920 in Alberta is for us to say okay thank you First Nations in Alberta for hitting

00:11:43.500 the pause button on this now the rest of Canada let's work together and show

00:11:47.880 Alberta just how appreciated they are in the rest of this country and this is why

00:11:52.380 we have the courts because you can have politicians disagree and that's why you take it through the

00:11:56.880 court and you take it through the appeals and you go to the supreme court and ultimately though i

00:12:00.960 know respect the difference of opinion that premier canoe has raised i i think we'll we'll

00:12:06.300 wait to see how our court of appeals process goes and see what the courts have to say in the end

00:12:10.820 that's what i mean if you're celebrating the fact that a trudeau appointed judge has invented a new

00:12:18.860 right that you can't even petition your government if you're a white man until indigenous people have

00:12:24.800 consulted and you can throw out the will of 700,000 people who have signed petitions. That's 0.88

00:12:30.260 how many it is. It's not just the 300,000 for the independence petition. There's 400,000 for

00:12:36.420 another petition. If you're smirking and rubbing it in and doing a kind of triumphalism because

00:12:44.060 as some newly concocted made-up right was just discovered, that you can't do anything without

00:12:50.100 indigenous participation. Do you see how corrosive that can be to the friendly reconciliation,

00:12:56.480 moving together as equals goal? If you can stop a referendum in the name of democracy,

00:13:04.300 at a certain point in time, I think that you will start to take on water the same way that 0.92

00:13:11.040 transgenderism has done for the gay rights movement. And I like the fact that Wab Kanu is 0.80

00:13:15.800 premier. I hate the fact that he's an NDP socialist. I hate the fact that he sometimes

00:13:20.200 loses his grown-up-ness and becomes childish. But I think he has the opportunity to be a great

00:13:26.780 healer of race relations in this country, like Obama had the opportunity. Obama squandered it.

00:13:33.360 Instead, he leaned into the Black Lives Matter racial theories of Marxism applied to race. I 0.75

00:13:40.760 think under barack obama race relations reached an all-time low even though his own election was

00:13:47.060 proof that america had become post-racial i'm worried that wab canoe could do the same thing

00:13:52.180 if he continues to endorse indigenous vetoes over democratic wishes i think he's going to

00:13:58.620 turn a lot of friends into enemies like transgenderism does and you know those are

00:14:03.040 some of my thoughts today and i we've got a great interview with franco teresano the tax 0.98

00:14:07.600 base federation coming up but let me show you an outtake from the live stream i participated in

00:14:13.620 today where we talked about wab canoe daniel smith and other things stockwell day was our special

00:14:18.900 guest and of course sheila gunreed and lise morrow here take a look at this recording from earlier

00:14:23.180 today what do you think first of all of referendums the last big referendum canada had if i'm not

00:14:30.200 forgetting anything was the charlatan accord which was oh i mean that was if i'm not mistaken 1992

00:14:37.080 So, you know, a whole generation ago, the entire establishment was for, yes, this was a constitutional reform. All the big parties supported it, all the media. This was in the pre-internet era. So I remember big full-page ads were taken out in newspaper by every fancy person saying, I support this, therefore you should because I say so. But it failed 60-40, which I thought was wonderful. What do you think of referendums in general, Stock?

00:15:05.240 well there should be a place for them it's uh things can be accomplished through a referendum

00:15:11.080 that maybe can't be accomplished in other ways one of the main things it does it's it's it's like a

00:15:16.200 pressure valve and it allows people to at least ask a question anytime you say to i'm talking

00:15:23.120 with you're talking about raising your kids and you say you can't ask that question or if you get

00:15:27.660 to university and the prop says you can't ask that question which actually happens quite a bit today

00:15:32.340 anytime you tell somebody who's really burning up to ask a question to shut up and you can't ask the

00:15:39.680 question you're just going to create huge problems there has to be a way for questions to be put

00:15:45.360 referenda are a valid way of doing that structured along certain guidelines and they should be

00:15:50.620 permitted you know i think sometimes politicians throw prickly questions to the courts precisely

00:15:57.400 so they can avoid having to make a decision now the courts always tilt one way so it's something

00:16:03.660 liberals love to do but in a way a referendum is the same get off the hook for a politician they

00:16:10.060 could say i'm gonna this is a tough one this is a big momentous thing i'm not going to arrogate

00:16:14.800 unto myself the decision i'm going to let ordinary people do it and uh i i think the reason why so

00:16:21.980 many in the elite commentariat in canada like i just think of andrew coin and shut up he explained

00:16:28.640 like that that's what you're talking about stock just telling people to shut up and and calling

00:16:32.880 names it's it's not going to persuade people i think if anything it's a safety valve for prickly

00:16:38.680 issues i mean remember it's not just uh independence that's on the ballot danielle smith is putting

00:16:43.840 immigration questions on the ballot and that's something that every single pollster for 10 years

00:16:50.560 or more has said people want lower numbers but no politician in office has seemed to done it

00:16:56.320 what a great way to air out that question so politicians don't have to be the bad guy

00:17:01.660 i i don't know are there any other does anyone know are there other provinces that have

00:17:07.100 referendum or citizen initiative laws on the books i think bc might but i could be wrong on

00:17:13.420 that do you guys know well i know yeah go ahead sir go ahead no i was just gonna say i know for

00:17:18.800 sure saskatchewan does however unlike alberta theirs is non-binding so and the bar to get your

00:17:25.340 referendum question on the ballot is very high almost insurmountable the last one they had

00:17:30.480 lisa correct me if i'm wrong i think it was on debt yes yes on debt and debt spending and of

00:17:40.280 course naturally uh that did pass but then they continued debt spending because it's non-binding

00:17:46.120 So if the people of Saskatchewan want a voice in their future, our friend Scott Moe in Saskatchewan should consider making a referendum non-binding and also lowering the bar so that putting a ballot question to the people is not so onerous the way it is there now.

00:18:04.900 Sorry.

00:18:05.020 No, and there's really, there's no good argument for it, Sheila Gunn-Reed.

00:18:08.240 There's no good, sorry, Stockwell Day, you go ahead.

00:18:10.780 I'm going to defer to you.

00:18:12.180 No, no, you've got better insights on this more recent than I.

00:18:15.540 I just want to reflect something Ezra said.

00:18:18.540 Also, it's really important here on the judiciary.

00:18:21.600 The original intent in constitutional democracies like Canada, like the U.S., is to have a balance of powers.

00:18:29.920 So you've got an executive branch, which is basically your cabinet.

00:18:33.240 You've got the elected group, which is basically your legislatures or house of commons.

00:18:37.760 And you've got the judiciary.

00:18:39.500 and that's that's actually done on the premise that people will not always make the right thing

00:18:46.860 people will not always do the right thing you cannot trust one level of government that is a

00:18:51.980 very good healthy perspective to have and that's why there's a balance of powers but it gets

00:18:57.220 imbalanced when you have the judiciary that completely abandons the original intent of the

00:19:03.160 balance of powers is when all at the end of the line the question whatever it might be would go to

00:19:08.880 judges who would make a decision based on what was the original intent now i realize a lot of

00:19:15.900 people and uh ezra quite rightly mentioned uh these pontificators who roll their eyes you know

00:19:21.400 when we the uh the mere masses discuss these things like original intent but that was the

00:19:27.440 purpose of it a judge or judges would then decide well based on the whether they like it or not

00:19:32.960 Based on the original intent, this law can stand or it can't.

00:19:37.140 And when you have judges define that as the recent judicial decision in Alberta or as the one just recently in Ontario, which says it's actually a constitutional right for you to have an encampment in a downtown city and not be moved.

00:19:52.820 When we get insane rulings that have nothing to do with original intent, you get a lot of unrest and it brings even more into light the need for referenda.

00:20:01.880 You know, you're so right. I mean, this one lone judge in Alberta, and it is relevant that that judge was appointed by Justin Trudeau. And it is relevant that that judge is originally from New Brunswick. I've got nothing against New Brunswick. And I think there's a place for liberals in society, believe it or not.

00:20:18.100 But just simply to have 700,000 petition signers – remember 300,000 who signed the independence petition led by Mitch Sylvester and 400,000 who signed a pro-Albert – I mean there's pro-Canada one.

00:20:30.680 So 700,000 people want a referendum, at least that many, more who didn't sign it for sure.

00:20:38.120 And one judge says, no, I've invented, I've discovered a new indigenous veto on – I mean these people hadn't even done anything other than say, hey, I'd like a discussion.

00:20:47.760 No, shut up, she explained. You're not allowed. And and by the way, this goes, this feeds the underlying grievance of Alberta, which suggests that there's a two tier system in Canada because Quebec has had two independence referendums and none of this was was thrown at them. 0.96

00:21:05.540 To his credit, the Parti Quebecois, that's the Provincial Separatist Party in Quebec, had a comment about this.

00:21:13.660 And I think it's a good time to play that clip, Olivia.

00:21:16.760 And by the way, our Alexa Lavoie had a one-hour sit-down with the Parti Quebecois leader.

00:21:22.340 So I appreciate him giving us the time of talking to us.

00:21:25.780 I think it was an excellent interview.

00:21:26.900 Without further ado, here's a clip of Mr. Plamont-Long.

00:21:29.820 I don't think we heard your reaction since Daniel Smith announced that she'll start the process for a future and potential referendum.

00:21:40.620 How do you react about this? What's happening in Alberta?

00:21:44.860 I'm surprised at what Carney said. Mark Carney seemed to be willing to give many things to Alberta in exchange for some peace.

00:21:56.300 And I think the premier of Alberta, Daniel Smith, is just doing her job as a premier, saying that, of course, they are free to consult their population.

00:22:08.320 And, of course, they're a parliament free of making any laws that they deem fit for their objectives.

00:22:17.520 So for Mark Carney to all of a sudden start saying that it's a bluff, it's dangerous, I think it's really out of line.

00:22:25.960 And I'm not sure where that is heading, but let me make clear that in the case of Quebec, our laws are clear.

00:22:34.540 The history of the two referendums are very clear.

00:22:38.860 We are free to consult our population at any time.

00:22:42.460 And there's no blackmail or any comment that will change that principle.

00:22:47.020 And I'm pretty sure that it's the same reasoning in Alberta right now.

00:22:50.940 I mean, again, he's just saying, I can talk to my people.

00:22:53.840 they can petition me and no judge is going to stop it and i think that's that would be called

00:22:58.160 normal democracy he was referring to a few comments by mark carney and let me just play

00:23:03.360 a couple more vids and then we'll go back to our super duper panel olivia can you play the first

00:23:07.560 one there where carney says the referendum about a referendum is not binding and i am frustrated

00:23:15.600 that danielle smith watered it down to two referendums in a row i don't think that makes

00:23:19.540 any sense i don't i don't think he was justified but she did it here's mark carney saying the

00:23:24.420 whole thing's a joke take a listen i gave i gave a very i gave a sorry just to be clear um the

00:23:33.640 because it is a question about a question i mean it's uh it it it doesn't it's not a by it's

00:23:39.440 explicit in the question that it's not a binding referendum this is what i expected but i uh you

00:23:44.520 know as I said in French that as Prime Minister and issues particularly issues

00:23:49.680 of a constitutional nature I like to make sure I have the official advice

00:23:54.300 before so which is why yesterday I was careful in terms of my no it is not it

00:23:59.640 is not for under a clarity act it is absolutely not and I would just

00:24:03.720 recommend that you read the clarity acted very clear not surprisingly clarity

00:24:07.200 act is very clear and a determination and there's a series of conditions which

00:24:11.340 I responded in the house for the record. So a big win from Mark Carney. I don't know what

00:24:17.340 Danielle Smith got in return. And just one more. Mark Carney had a hot mic incident where it sounds

00:24:24.380 like he was calling Danielle Smith stupid, or at least her ideas stupid. And I mean, listen, 1.00

00:24:30.660 we know he sneers at the West. We know he sneers at democracy. I mean, it's quite something to take

00:24:35.160 lectures on democracy from someone who did not get a majority government. Voters deemed he should

00:24:40.840 only have a minority government, but he undermined that election by bribing and giving gifts and

00:24:46.640 promises to MPs to make them cross the floor. So I don't really think that we should take lessons

00:24:52.600 from Carney on democracy, but here he is referring to a moment captured by, I think it was CTV, 0.99

00:24:59.680 where he was saying, Danielle Smith is stupid for not letting the judge kill this thing. Take a 0.99

00:25:04.500 listen. Yeah, Prime Minister, I'm hoping you can clarify some remarks that you made after the

00:25:09.320 scrum on Monday. When you were leaving the press conference, you spoke with Minister Robertson,

00:25:14.360 and I want to read what you set out. What are you doing? This is stupid. You've got an offer

00:25:18.740 and take it. That to me sounds like you're talking about Daniel Smith and the Alberta

00:25:22.680 referendum question. I'm just talking to Minister Robertson. Can you clarify what you were discussing

00:25:27.780 in that point in time, because the scrum was about what Smith had done.

00:25:30.440 No, it was about Mr. Robinson.

00:25:33.160 Look, I have, I think, I'm going to take your question about the relationship with Canada

00:25:43.700 and Alberta, Canada and the federal government and the provinces.

00:25:47.660 And we've practiced cooperative federalism.

00:25:50.240 We work together.

00:25:51.280 What we're focused on is making the federation work.

00:25:54.340 We're doing that with Alberta with respect to a variety of aspects of energy.

00:25:59.820 It's much more than a pipeline. It's nuclear. It interconnects with British Columbia.

00:26:04.100 It's a new industry of carbon capture. It's restarting the renewable market.

00:26:08.020 It's getting a carbon market that actually works, that other provinces can be able to join

00:26:12.620 so we can broaden out a national carbon market. That's what we're doing there.

00:26:15.960 We're here talking about defense industrial strategy, the benefits of the announcement we just made

00:26:21.980 around the negotiations led by Secretary of State.

00:26:26.660 Yeah, okay, we don't need any more of this baffle gab.

00:26:29.140 His real answer was laughing for about 30 seconds straight.

00:26:33.380 And then he just pivoted to talking about the new carbon capture industry

00:26:38.580 and a carbon market that really works.

00:26:41.380 Those are not real things, by the way.

00:26:43.520 That's exactly what Enron got in trouble for,

00:26:46.520 just trading BS, trading hot air.

00:26:49.520 there is no such thing as a market for carbon i'm exhaling it right now plants inhale it it's

00:26:54.980 naturally occurring there's there's there makes no economic sense to pipe to spend 10 billion

00:26:59.960 dollars pumping co2 into the ground it's just it's a made-up thing um so it's sort of weird

00:27:05.420 that he pivots from let me laugh at danielle smith for a solid 30 seconds and then tell you

00:27:10.740 the ways i'm undermining alberta it's just just tremendously disrespectful stock day i'm wondering

00:27:17.000 is mark carney's tone um the right one to convince albertans i mean listen right now the polls say

00:27:25.440 albertans would not vote for independence but there's a big chunk between 30 and 40 percent

00:27:31.020 right now who say they would um mark carney i think is an elitist who hasn't really spent any

00:27:37.640 time in canada for 20 years and he naturally scoffs at questions he doesn't like people he

00:27:45.320 doesn't like especially doesn't do well with women he doesn't like what do you make of his tone

00:27:49.740 towards daniel smith yeah he was clearly caught off guard it was he was his parliamentary pants

00:27:55.780 were down there he was clearly exposed as thinking that daniel smith and the approach he's taking is

00:28:01.360 a joke he couldn't stop his nervous laughter as you said for 30 seconds and then just a stream

00:28:06.440 of totally extraneous items that had nothing to do with the question the fact is 1995 we know

00:28:12.080 there was a vote in quebec and it was 50.6 percent decided of quebecers decided to stay by the way

00:28:19.540 that clip you just played from the quebec minister is brilliant that's 100 the position provinces has

00:28:26.100 the right to decide these after the 95 then a reference was sent to the supreme court in 98

00:28:32.320 that was called the quebec reference and the quebec reference didn't say uh whether a province

00:28:37.980 could ask a question they said if a province is going to ask a question here's some things they

00:28:42.700 should take into consideration that made resulted in the clarity act in 2000 the clarity act lays

00:28:48.920 out some things that says here's what parliament will have to consider after a vote has been taken

00:28:54.800 there is no suggestion a vote cannot be taken there's no suggestion that whether it's first

00:29:00.540 nations or any other nation can stop a vote provinces have the right to ask questions

00:29:06.920 Parliament may decide on those questions if they like them or not,

00:29:10.020 but the provinces have the right to put those questions in a referendum.

00:29:20.040 You know, I travel a lot around Canada and even occasionally overseas,

00:29:23.840 so I'm on planes a lot.

00:29:25.560 Sometimes I'm even bumped up.

00:29:27.200 I get an upgrade to the front of the plane, which is pretty nice.

00:29:30.340 And they have better food up there, but the food is still commercially affordable.

00:29:35.940 So they don't serve you something really weird and exotic, and they don't serve things that

00:29:41.220 are hard to make on a plane.

00:29:42.340 I mean, just think about it for a second.

00:29:43.600 If you're on a seven-hour flight, or sometimes flights are even more than 10 hours, how do

00:29:49.260 you get a hot meal 10 hours from now that's not overcooked or dried out?

00:29:54.140 There's a whole science behind it.

00:29:56.320 And the good news is that science has been figured out by the world's commercial airlines.

00:30:00.660 So they are able to serve a meal to you, whether you're in economy class or business class, that is pretty tasty.

00:30:08.740 I mean, there's a joke about airline food, but it's not even that bad, especially considering it has to be done affordably.

00:30:14.500 And it has to, you know, stay in the in the galley of the plane for up to 12 hours.

00:30:22.020 The reason I tell you this is because there is an established science and art to airplane food.

00:30:28.620 It's just a fact.

00:30:29.620 So why is it that when Canadian officials fly on those private jets that the Canadian government makes affordable to them, make not affordable, makes available to them, why do they spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on meals that are so weird and so exotic that no airline, not even the fanciest first airline, first class airline would ever do?

00:30:59.160 Why are they not satisfiable with merely business class or first class food?

00:31:05.840 Even some of the most fancy airlines in the world, like Emirates Airlines.

00:31:09.980 If the ticket you're buying costs you $10,000, obviously the super fancy meal you get is less than $10,000.

00:31:20.000 So how is it that Mark Carney recently spent nearly $200,000 on food and wine?

00:31:29.920 Here to take us through these statistics is our friend Franco Terrizano, the boss of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:31:36.540 You know, Franco, this is a subject close to my heart because I fly a lot.

00:31:39.620 And I think about the meals I get.

00:31:41.780 And listen, it's not the most gourmet meals in the world.

00:31:45.000 Everyone jokes about airline food, but it's pretty good.

00:31:47.880 And it's obviously commercially affordable.

00:31:49.640 But why, what, why, who, what, where, why, when, how do we get to $200,000 for meals on airlines?

00:31:56.300 Give me the answer to that.

00:31:58.060 Well, the price gets higher for taxpayers when the meals that you're getting on the airline are slow simmered beef with red wine reduction sauce or sauteed beef with, quote, world famous creamy sauce or Scottish salmon filet beef tenderloin with Bordelais sauce.

00:32:15.900 You know, Ezra, some of these food choices are so exotic.

00:32:19.960 I'm not even sure I'm pronouncing them right.

00:32:22.020 And also, don't forget about dessert, right?

00:32:24.020 There was some luxury Normandy buttercups.

00:32:27.240 You had blueberry cheesecake, creme brulee, chocolate mousse, and so much more.

00:32:32.500 And Ezra, here's the thing, right?

00:32:34.300 Carney and his entourage racked up a taxpayer tab of about $195,000 on airplane food.

00:32:40.980 Ezra, that was just for three of Carney's international trips.

00:32:45.340 Three trips, $195,000 billed to taxpayers for airplane food.

00:32:50.460 I've got your press release in front of me here.

00:32:52.920 I'm just going to read one line, and just help me out.

00:32:56.460 Carney and his entourage spent $93,780 on in-flight catering during a trip to Rome, Italy.

00:33:06.740 So that's one trip.

00:33:08.420 Now, I don't know how many people would have flown with him.

00:33:10.640 Let's say it's 20.

00:33:12.620 Heck, let's say it's 50.

00:33:13.980 i don't think he in fact i know he doesn't travel with that let's say 20 20 people for a hundred

00:33:20.840 thousand dollars for an or 93 000 so that's five is my math right that's five thousand dollars

00:33:30.160 per person for did they do my math right yeah it's almost it's more than four thousand right

00:33:35.380 somewhere between four thousand and five thousand they had 20 50 or 20 but like like okay let's say

00:33:41.180 to how see that's my point is even on the fanciest gourmet airline there's some airlines that their

00:33:47.640 first class is considered amazing they're not spending five thousand bucks per person on meals

00:33:54.380 i just i don't know how you even do that other than if you have really weird exotic demands

00:34:00.080 or if you're drinking like super expensive wine i just don't even get that's how much it costs to

00:34:06.860 charter a whole jet let alone give you food that something deeply wrong there like i i maybe they're

00:34:14.660 ordering something that's just not meant to be served on an airline and the airline says well

00:34:19.400 that's crazy it doesn't work but if you're willing to pay an extra 50 grand we'll give it to you i i

00:34:25.100 just it doesn't even make sense to me like if you said this with first class travel i'd say

00:34:29.960 okay that's a little bit rich but this is insane 100 grand for food in one flight

00:34:36.200 Well, Ezra, obviously I've never been on one of these flights, right?

00:34:39.960 However, we do have the receipts, right?

00:34:43.000 These documents were from access to information requests.

00:34:46.120 They contain the invoices and they contain the menu options.

00:34:49.860 You ask how does it, you know, come into the tens of thousands of dollars on airplane food in flight catering.

00:34:55.720 It's because you are getting gourmet multi-meal menu options, right?

00:35:01.320 For lunch, for dinner, even breakfast.

00:35:03.260 Like some of these breakfast expenses, I mean, they're crazy,

00:35:06.980 but that's how the tab goes up so high.

00:35:09.240 But, you know, Ezra, let me hone in on this Italian trip.

00:35:12.960 $93,000 spent on airplane food on a trip to Italy, okay?

00:35:17.880 Number one, that's more than what many Canadian workers make

00:35:22.160 in an entire year's salary, 93 grand.

00:35:25.180 Let's not forget about that.

00:35:26.560 Number two, Carney just outspent Trudeau, okay?

00:35:30.100 So in 2024, Trudeau goes to Italy.

00:35:33.780 Trudeau and his entourage spent $43,000 on airplane food.

00:35:37.640 Carney spent twice as much on airplane food just one year later.

00:35:41.900 Okay, so the guy who keeps promising to spend less

00:35:45.240 just spent more than the guy who is famous for spending too much.

00:35:50.620 You know, let's say, I see in your report here,

00:35:53.900 Carney and his delegation spent $52,610 on airplane food doing a trip to London.

00:36:01.380 So I've taken that trip before.

00:36:03.640 It's seven hours.

00:36:04.540 So basically there's one meal and one snack.

00:36:07.980 So let's say the meal is a hundred bucks

00:36:10.240 because it's a really nice meal

00:36:12.540 and the snack is 25 bucks and it's a really nice snack.

00:36:16.560 And let's say there's 20 bucks for soft drinks

00:36:19.340 and let's say 50, let's just throw in another 50 bucks.

00:36:22.160 So you're at $300 for a really classy first class meal

00:36:27.380 on this flight, 300 bucks.

00:36:29.560 how do they get from there to 52 000 because this is not an entire airline commercial airline with

00:36:36.840 300 people in seats i like i just it feels like someone's being ripped off and i know that someone

00:36:42.940 is taxpayers but i just i don't know like there's no airline in the world that does this frankly

00:36:49.200 that's what i'm saying no airline in the world not even the fanciest fanciest airlines are 5 000

00:36:57.220 bucks per customer in food you can't i don't even know how you would eat five thousand even if you

00:37:01.600 had five thousand bucks worth of caviar you couldn't consume it all i don't get it i don't

00:37:06.540 get what they're doing here so so ezred you said the trip was what about seven hours auto to london

00:37:11.460 yeah all right so you're talking about thousands of dollars an hour is what they're chomping through

00:37:16.840 when it comes yeah thousands of dollars an hour i mean it's just complete disdain from from for

00:37:22.700 for the canadian taxpayers who are paying these bills right and you know let me just really nail

00:37:27.840 that home okay so three trips alone 195 000 on airplane food okay so in in three trips

00:37:34.400 carney spend more on airplane food than what the average canadian family will spend on groceries

00:37:39.600 in a decade more like could you be out of touch right ezra as a prime minister as anyone you

00:37:46.140 shouldn't need a focus group to tell you to maybe maybe ease up on the airplane food when you're

00:37:51.260 billing taxpayers, what, tens of thousands of dollars per these trips, especially when we hear

00:37:57.540 story after story about grocery price inflation, you know, food bank lineups. Like, what is going

00:38:03.560 on within the prime minister's office right now? You know, I can see why Doug Ford, the Ontario

00:38:08.200 premier, had an idea of getting a private jet of his own. He wants to keep up with Mark Carney.

00:38:13.080 Now, in the end, there was a miraculous reaction. The entire province at once said,

00:38:17.120 that is the dumbest thing we've ever heard and he was really grouchy about it but he blinked 0.98

00:38:23.320 and he was complaining about how small-minded Ontarians were that they didn't allow their 0.99

00:38:28.180 premier to be in the big leagues but it was at least I mean at least there was a public reaction

00:38:33.960 why is it that this insanity like what you're describing here I don't even know if if a private

00:38:42.000 I don't know how you could get 50 grand worth of food on a private jet like I'm just trying to

00:38:45.940 figure out what the heck is that like even the fanciest wagyu steak from japan you know what

00:38:52.420 wagyu that's that the cows that they gently massage like i don't know how you spend 50

00:38:58.580 grand on a flat i just like i just don't even understand it i can condemn it i can criticize

00:39:02.560 that you guys are doing a great job i don't even fathom it like i it's a gold leaf or something

00:39:08.600 i don't know how they can even spend that and i don't know how they can spend that with a straight

00:39:12.940 face like how can they say that they are stewards or like this is the kind of thing an auditor

00:39:19.040 general should look at you guys are like a like an independent citizens auditor general but i'm

00:39:24.800 serious i think the auditor general audits well how the heck do you spend this much on

00:39:29.140 i don't even know like i i know i'm repeating myself but i just don't know how you spend 50

00:39:34.680 grand 100 grand on food in one flight just don't know how i mean look on one of these flights they

00:39:39.740 spent hundreds of dollars on bread rolls right just just bread rolls hundreds of dollars right

00:39:45.640 on bread rolls it's just hey it's other people's money you know party on man like on some of these

00:39:51.280 trips too they had four different wines uh that they could choose from as well like it was just

00:39:57.660 it's it's almost like at every corner uh you have these government bureaucrats who are stocking

00:40:03.200 these airplanes you obviously the real accountability has to stop or or end with

00:40:07.600 prime minister mark carney uh but it almost seems like at every opportunity they're just looking

00:40:12.280 for ways to go out of their way to spend taxpayers money on the most lavish stuff that they can get

00:40:18.460 their hands on that's what it feels like to me reading this the fact that you compared him to

00:40:23.000 justin trudeau and he's spending twice as much as trudeau is shocking you know mark carney used to

00:40:28.400 be the chairman of brookfield asset management which is a very large company but at least when

00:40:32.740 traveled ultra fancy he was using their money and if you didn't like it as a brookfield shareholder

00:40:39.000 you could sell i think he's bringing that absolute luxury that he's used to at brookfield and just

00:40:46.020 he thinks he's the king or something instead of a prime minister i think it's really gross

00:40:50.620 um i'm not begrudging a guy uh you know a big seat if he's flying seven hours you know i'm not

00:40:57.780 saying that the prime minister should be in a in a squishy economy class seat when he has to get

00:41:02.560 off the plane to do important business i'm not saying that but how you get from that to a hundred

00:41:07.500 thousand dollars for for steaks and wine is something i really think like it's almost a

00:41:13.980 police matter because i just don't believe it's possible to do that uh in a fair business way i

00:41:20.100 maybe i just don't know what they're eating but it sounds crazy to me um frank what else you guys

00:41:24.780 working on in the taxpayers federation these days well a couple other things okay so the cbc

00:41:30.100 is spending tens of thousands of dollars, $59,000 going to court to keep its gem subscriber numbers

00:41:38.500 hidden from the public, even after the information commissioner ordered the CBC to release the

00:41:43.980 documents, right? So get this folks, the CBC takes more than a billion dollars from taxpayers like

00:41:48.880 you every single year, right? At the very least they owe you transparency, but the CBC is now

00:41:53.980 wasting tens of thousands of dollars going to court to keep you in the dark, to keep those records

00:41:59.540 hidden from you Ezra one other uh great story that we dug up here uh the finance minister spent 12

00:42:06.380 grand contracting out speech writing for his own budget speech now hear me out okay if Winston

00:42:14.280 Churchill could find some time to write his own speeches when he was fighting the Nazis

00:42:18.840 I'm pretty sure Champagne can write his own speech without billing taxpayers an extra 12 grand and

00:42:24.500 why does he have to contract out there are so many civil servants so many people he's got probably

00:42:29.300 20 communication staff and when i say 20 i'm not exaggerating i mean between communication director

00:42:34.860 and writers and editors and like why he has i think that's just throwing a bone throwing some

00:42:41.700 cash to a liberal supporter because there's no way that there is not enough bureaucrats to write that

00:42:47.880 and especially it's not a partisan thing a budget speech is the kind of thing that the department

00:42:52.240 would write why he needed to pay an outsider i do we know who got that twelve thousand dollar

00:42:57.680 contract oh sorry ezra i don't have it but let me say one other thing now i'm starting to think

00:43:02.340 the finance minister doesn't even know what is in his own budget okay because in the budget

00:43:07.120 the government promises to cut costs on consultants yeah right the civil service has never been bigger

00:43:14.880 and yet he's still throwing a bone to his but i'm sure that's what that is i think he's throwing

00:43:19.760 a bone to his friend now let me just tell our viewers you used a word earlier that i think

00:43:23.760 most of our viewers don't know you said gem g-e-m we all know what a gem is but it relates to a very

00:43:30.840 obscure project by the cbc that's their attempt at like a streaming system right that's their answer

00:43:36.240 to hulu or uh amazon prime or netflix right is i because so few people even know what that is and

00:43:43.700 that's sort of the point they want to hide how tiny their audience is because they would be

00:43:49.380 embarrassed that's why you do it you don't if if it was huge they would be boasting about it it's

00:43:54.560 a total failure they just don't want people to know right well and ezra you know what's uh really

00:43:59.300 infuriating about all this right the former ceo of the cbc catherine tate when she was in committee

00:44:04.300 getting grilled she was bragging about jem right okay well if you're bragging about it you know

00:44:10.040 release the numbers right show us if you're saying that this is what is providing taxpayers with

00:44:14.880 service then we have at the very least the right to see what type of numbers you're talking about

00:44:20.500 here and Ezra let me just say when I got some good news to share I like to brag I don't spend

00:44:25.680 tens of thousands of dollars going to court to keep that hidden yeah it's all about the secrecy

00:44:30.560 at the CBC when it comes to things they're embarrassed about which is quite a lot Franco

00:44:34.520 Teresano the taxpayer is great to catch up with you I you puzzled me so bad with this airline

00:44:39.760 stuff i'm i just i just keep thinking there's got to be a typo there but i know there's not i

00:44:45.360 it's a mystery how to spend 100 grand and food on a flight and um you know we we need agatha

00:44:51.380 christie or something or hercule poirot we need an old-fashioned detective to find out how you

00:44:57.120 can blow 100 grand on food great to see you my friend keep up the fight thanks ezra all right

00:45:02.200 stay with us your letters to me next

00:45:09.760 Hey, welcome back. Your letters to me. These are from the live stream earlier today. We call it

00:45:17.320 the Buffalo. The first is from R.W. Coco, who says, Wob Canoe is very ignorant. How did he ever get

00:45:24.120 elected to government? So sad. Well, you know, the pendulum swings back and forth and the

00:45:28.440 conservatives have been in office for quite a long time. And I think that he actually was a figure

00:45:33.240 of some hope, but I think he has to govern himself a little bit more maturely. I hope he does.

00:45:39.760 P. Buttercup says, the liberals promised electoral reform on Trudeau's first platform.

00:45:44.340 Anyone else remember? We never got that reform, Carney.

00:45:48.100 Imagine saying that a democratic exercise like a referendum is anti-democratic.

00:45:53.580 You're sort of showing your authoritarianism, don't you think?

00:45:56.940 Prairie Prospecting says, Mitch Sylvester's question passed the Clarity Act in court.

00:46:01.940 Danielle was given the keys to the car, then claimed that she didn't know how to drive.

00:46:05.940 I don't understand Danielle Smith's approach.

00:46:08.280 I know that from a poll that Act for Alberta did about a month ago, and I did a monologue

00:46:12.820 on this, more than half of UCP members, that's the ruling party, the conservative party in

00:46:18.760 Alberta, more than half of them are independence oriented.

00:46:21.300 And I think the premier was taking a really thoughtful line of saying, well, I'm not going

00:46:24.760 to campaign for independence, I'm for a strong Alberta within Canada, but I'm going to allow

00:46:29.360 that democratic exercise because I'm not going to tell a million Albertans they're wrong.

00:46:32.920 I thought, wow, that is a really thoughtful path and I think it's fair to everybody.

00:46:38.280 But I don't know why she just decided to euthanize the referendum rather than to fight.

00:46:44.300 I think she caved in, not just in an anti-democratic way, 0.58

00:46:47.520 but I think she gave strength to the kind of indigenous veto we were talking about earlier today. 0.89

00:46:52.480 We'll see.

00:46:53.060 Listen, I like Danielle Smith, and I think that she can do good things, even great things.

00:46:59.080 But I think this was a misstep.

00:47:02.040 That's our show for the day.

00:47:03.560 Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night.

00:47:08.280 and keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - May 28, 2026

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Wab Kinew risks alienating Canadians over Indigenous veto in Alberta referendum process

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