Rebel News is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders such as Donald Trump, Larry Fink and Chrystia Freeland are attending the annual gathering of the world's most powerful people.
00:07:06.760Who's got a quarter of a million dollars that they're willing to pay Klaus Schwab for the honor of being a moderator of a panel involving three world leaders?
00:07:16.920Like, that's one of the ways that influence and connection and closeness to power has been monetized by Klaus Schwab over the years.
00:07:25.460I hear he makes hundreds of millions of dollars every one of these get-togethers in Davos, and you can see it.
00:07:32.900Everyone wants to be the center of the action, center of the power, and center of the money.
00:07:37.640But who's there to represent ordinary people?
00:07:40.200Now, that question is partly answered in a regular democracy with checks and balances.
00:07:46.660We have House of Commons, and we have a Senate, which can slow down, at least, the House of Commons.
00:07:52.120We have checks and balances in the form of the court system.
00:07:55.900We have transparency, whether it's a lobbyist registry or even just the fact that debates are publicized and there's a record of them and then there's committee hearings.
00:08:05.180There's all sorts of ways we try to democratize our system of power in Canada.
00:08:31.480And it wouldn't surprise me if in closed doors, behind closed doors, in smoky rooms, all sorts of deals were being hatched, especially when it comes to these wars that are afoot.
00:08:42.980Anyways, we did, like I said, we spent most of our time traveling, but we did manage to get a visit into the private jet airfield that we attend every year.
00:09:54.520We come here every year because it's so incredible to watch the masters of the universe, that's what I call them, who fly in private jets only.
00:10:02.220And some of them fly in a jet here and then take a helicopter for the last part of the journey to Davos to tell the rest of us, reduce your carbon footprint, don't eat so much meat, turn down your thermostat in the winter.
00:10:14.300Now, it's super foggy here now, so I don't know if they've temporarily paused landing the aircraft.
00:10:20.260On our way in, we saw about six aircraft parked here.
00:10:23.060One of the things that aircraft do is they land here, disgorge their VVIPs, take off again, and park at another airport where there's more room.
00:10:43.100Then they take a flight back to pick up their VVIPs and go.
00:10:46.560I can't imagine a more carbon-intensive lifestyle, but that's how the rulers of the universe operate.
00:10:51.740Over the last five years that we've been here, we've recorded their carbon footprint.
00:10:55.840We've asked them about how is this worth it, especially after the era of COVID, where we learned how efficient Zoom is in comparison.
00:11:05.160And, you know, I was wondering on the way up here, will this be the year that they finally practice what they preach?
00:11:11.800And as we're driving in, the reaction you were having to seeing that many private jets parked here, showing us that this year, in fact, if anything, it possibly has more jets than ever.
00:11:24.800You know, it's sort of fun to be a plane spotter, and I don't know if we can pick it up on the camera.
00:11:29.140However, this plastic window, this private airport is so media-friendly.
00:11:33.880I've got to give them a big thank you.
00:11:35.800I don't know if Air Force One is going to land here, if this is not high security enough.
00:12:07.440They have sort of a welcome Davos delegates with some free snacks, as if they're not having free snacks on the private jets.
00:12:13.640So the fact that there are, I think, three or four black limos at the front either tells me they're just hanging out here because they have nowhere else to go,
00:12:21.560or they are waiting for a jet that is about to arrive in the next, I don't know, half an hour.
00:12:27.560I saw a statistic that one out of four delegates at Davos flies private.
00:13:14.120But wefreports.com, you can catch all our reports all week and help fund our economy class tickets to get here.
00:13:22.420And our economy Airbnb, which, if you looked at the price tag, doesn't feel economy.
00:13:27.860It's very expensive just to be in and amongst these, the rich and famous here that are shaping and delegating to the world how we have to live.
00:25:14.240In the past, Pfizer has paid $2.3 billion in fines for deceptive marketing.
00:25:20.740Have you engaged in that same conduct again?
00:25:23.300Yeah, I think that part of the problem of being so high up in the mountains here, so hard to get to, is that it really looks and starts to resemble what it is, which is a club.
00:25:34.840This is a very fancy club, and you're not part of it.
00:25:37.800And if a citizen journalist manages to sneak in and get a question to a prince, well, they're more offended than anything.
00:25:46.180We've done it every year, and I think people really associate covering Davos with Rebel News, and we're proud to do that.
00:25:53.900I want to say we are crowdfunding our trip, as always.
00:25:56.560This is a very humble Airbnb, the kind of place that all four of us are staying here, the kind of place it would probably cost, I don't know, $300 a night in any normal season.
00:26:39.120In fact, last year, the local homeowner said only one week a year does he Airbnb his place, just the one week of Davos, and that practically pays his mortgage for the whole year.
00:26:51.720And I know that sounds insane, but there's simply no other way to get.
00:26:54.700But we're not even in Davos, I remind you.
00:26:57.080We're in clusters and train ride away.
00:26:59.260So it's so hard to get there that when we get there, it's almost like we stumble upon this sort of paradise for VIPs.
00:27:06.860Like they walk around without security, without assistance, because they think they're in this protected getaway.
00:27:13.900And they pretty much are until we show up.
00:27:17.140If you can help me cover the cost of our journey in this outrageously priced Airbnb, please do.