Rebel News Podcast - REVEALED： Calgary Mayor Nenshi is “taking favours and funding from the Rockefeller Foundation” (Guest host： Sheila Gunn Reid)

00:00:00.440 You're listening to a Rebel Media Podcast.

00:00:03.860 Tonight, the City of Medicine Hat Alberta is boycotting a conference in Quebec.

00:00:09.260 And Calgary's Mayor Nahid Nenshi, well, he doesn't like it one bit.

00:00:13.460 Although, is it really any wonder that a mayor who's cozied up to the Rockefeller Foundation

00:00:17.680 is now looking down his smug nose at another city that's making a stand for Alberta's oil and gas jobs?

00:00:24.900 It's May 14th, 2019. I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Ezra Levant Show.

00:00:33.320 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:37.160 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:41.220 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it is because it's my bloody right to do so.

00:00:47.080 Medicine Hat Alberta is a city of about 65,000 people located about three hours southwest of Calgary,

00:00:59.680 but it's also located directly inside my heart this week.

00:01:03.820 Medicine Hat City Council has voted unanimously to boycott the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference

00:01:10.680 in Quebec City to be held later on in the month, on the 30th of May.

00:01:15.980 Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Clugston told Post Media, and I quote,

00:01:20.240 In Medicine Hat, we just didn't feel like we could spend our taxpayers' money in a province that didn't welcome us.

00:01:28.300 We're cutting and cutting and cutting and telling our employees that they take 0% wage increases.

00:01:35.500 We're cutting how often we water the parks.

00:01:37.880 And then, all of a sudden, for our citizens to see seven of us are flying to Quebec,

00:01:44.280 well, the optics of that perhaps aren't the best either.

00:01:48.640 Now, this defense of the oil and gas industry by Medicine Hat

00:01:52.520 should not be shocking to anyone paying attention to history or the last 150 years.

00:01:58.900 Oil and gas have been a part of Medicine Hat since before Alberta was even Alberta in 1883

00:02:04.380 when railroad crews were drilling for water near Medicine Hat.

00:02:07.160 They discovered shallow pools of natural gas just sitting barely below the surface of the soil.

00:02:13.400 When British journalist and author Rudyard Kipling, you know, the author of The Jungle Book,

00:02:18.660 visited Medicine Hat, he noted that in some places it seemed like natural gas was just leaking out of the ground.

00:02:26.060 And he remarked,

00:02:27.560 This part of the country seems to have all hell for a basement and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat.

00:02:35.240 Now, that's a fun little bit of history.

00:02:37.720 But in modern times, Medicine Hat actually owns a company called Natural Gas and Petroleum Resources,

00:02:44.360 which operates over 4,000 active wells.

00:02:47.720 They manage another 1,500 wells, has 18 active compressor stations and four active oil batteries.

00:02:54.820 And those are both in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

00:02:57.540 And that's just the short list, folks.

00:03:00.120 The city also partners in other gas projects.

00:03:02.920 These assets and business partnerships have resulted in a half a billion dollars in benefit

00:03:08.420 to the city and people of Medicine Hat over the last 15 years.

00:03:12.600 If I were in Medicine Hat, I would be taking every single attack on the resource sector as an attack on my town.

00:03:20.300 But the first mayor to scold Medicine Hat for not going to this conference,

00:03:25.920 even faster than the mayor of Quebec City, was the mayor of Calgary, Nahid Nenshi.

00:03:33.360 Nenshi said, and I quote,

00:03:35.320 I always think a dialogue is better than taking your puck and going home.

00:03:40.640 Mayor Nenshi should really be embarrassed that a much smaller city like Medicine Hat

00:03:46.240 is taking a much bolder stand for Alberta against Quebec than Calgary ever has.

00:03:52.380 One third of the retail space in Calgary's downtown core is vacant due to the downturn in oil and gas.

00:03:58.940 The carbon tax exacerbated man-made recession,

00:04:01.800 made even worse by the landlocking of Alberta oil and gas by our so-called partners in Confederation,

00:04:08.980 those governments in British Columbia and Quebec.

00:04:12.280 But Calgary's mayor, well, he has a bit of a habit of talking down to those who are standing up for the oil and gas sector.

00:04:19.760 It's a very weird habit for a mayor of a city like Calgary,

00:04:23.340 but once you hear what I'm about to tell you, it'll all make a bunch of sense.

00:04:28.800 While trying to show off how progressive Calgary is to the rest of Canada under his enlightened leadership,

00:04:36.220 Nenshi managed to attack blue-collar people for their vehicle choices.

00:04:40.480 Just watch.

00:04:42.280 You know, yeah, people can talk about cruise ships, people can talk about water treatment plants.

00:04:45.720 You know, look, everybody's got skeletons in their closet.

00:04:48.080 I'm not interested in having that discussion.

00:04:50.140 What I am interested in is just helping everyone in Canada understand

00:04:54.100 that we here in Alberta are not a bunch of, you know, F-350 driving cavemen.

00:04:59.660 And Nenshi has been quoted by the Calgary Sun as saying that the anger and resentment in Alberta

00:05:06.660 are actually making it much harder to get companies to invest here.

00:05:12.560 Hold on a second.

00:05:14.320 Nenshi thinks that our unpleasant attitudes from being mistreated by the Trudeau government

00:05:19.860 and the Notley government for the past four years

00:05:23.120 and then treated as the whipping boy within Confederation are not only unjustified,

00:05:28.780 but it's a bit of a bad look and we should just be a little bit more dignified

00:05:33.060 in our desperation and unemployment.

00:05:35.920 You know what I think?

00:05:38.120 If people aren't investing in Calgary, it might have something to do with the near constant

00:05:43.980 property tax hikes and a mayor that takes funding and favours from the Rockefeller Foundation.

00:05:51.180 If I were an oil company, that would be enough to scare me away for good.

00:05:55.300 Yeah, I know, it might be hard to believe that the mayor of Canada's oil and gas capital

00:06:01.040 is taking favours and funding from the Rockefeller Foundation,

00:06:05.060 whose Tar Stands campaign has played a major part in the downturn in oil and gas here in Alberta

00:06:11.580 and the landlocking of Canada's resources, but Nenshi is.

00:06:16.060 Now at The Rebel, we know through Freedom of Information requests that we filed into the city of Calgary

00:06:22.280 that the Rockefeller Foundation is providing direct funding to the city of Calgary,

00:06:27.940 or at least they were for two years beginning in 2016 to fund a resiliency officer,

00:06:34.280 whatever that is, as part of Calgary joining the Resilient Cities program

00:06:38.780 organized and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

00:06:42.320 So we do know that the Rockefeller Foundation is funding someone to administer

00:06:46.860 Rockefeller Foundation programming and ideas within the city of Calgary.

00:06:53.200 Here it is on page 28.

00:06:54.960 It's what Calgary has to do for the Rockefellers, 1.00

00:06:58.760 including that Rockefeller gets a say in who Calgary will hire for their chief resiliency officer

00:07:05.000 with the money Rockefeller is giving them.

00:07:07.860 They must commit to hiring a CRO, a resiliency officer, at a senior level within municipal government

00:07:14.200 and collaborate with the IORC, that's Rockefeller's Resilient Cities program,

00:07:20.680 around the selection of a candidate, placement within the government, and reporting structures.

00:07:26.200 Then in May 2018, it was announced that Nenshi was going to Italy

00:07:33.160 to be part of the Rockefeller Foundation's City X Change Summit at the Rockefeller's Bellagio Center.

00:07:41.500 It's a 50-acre property on Lake Como, just up the road from George Clooney, Madonna,

00:07:46.880 Donatella Versace, and Richard Branson.

00:07:49.800 And according to our friends at Safe Calgary, Calgary's taxpayer watchdog organization,

00:07:54.020 Nenshi admitted that the Rockefeller Foundation paid for his luxury trip to Europe.

00:08:01.100 And speaking of Rockefeller funding, in 2013, the City of Calgary contracted the Pembina Institute.

00:08:08.200 Now, that's another organization that is cited in the Rockefeller Foundation's Tar Sands campaign.

00:08:14.520 Pembina was paid $340,000 from taxpayer coffers for professional fees for communications

00:08:21.140 and, quote-unquote, preparing reports.

00:08:25.020 So knowing all of that, does that put into a little better perspective

00:08:29.100 of just why Nenshi was so peeved at Medicine Hat for doing the right thing for Alberta jobs?

00:08:35.540 You know, I'm starting to think the only Albertan Mayor Nenshi actually likes is himself.

00:08:41.900 Stay with us.

00:08:43.020 My guest joins me up next after the break.

00:08:45.580 You know, it's my opinion that, like Alison Redford to some extent before him

00:09:07.360 and definitely Rachel Notley,

00:09:09.880 I think Mayor Nenshi is happy to be in charge of Calgary,

00:09:13.760 but I don't think he particularly likes the ethos of Calgary.

00:09:18.260 And I think Calgary is one of those great, rare places

00:09:21.620 where there really is no snobbery among people over the work that they do.

00:09:28.600 I think in Calgary, people understand that, you know,

00:09:31.240 whether you drive a welding truck or work in an office tower,

00:09:34.460 your work is no more better than the next person's. 0.53

00:09:37.520 And for a great deal of Albertans, blue-collar work earns them that upper-middle-class lifestyle.

00:09:46.100 To talk more about what's going on with Nenshi,

00:09:49.940 I mean, and there's just so much,

00:09:53.220 is my friend William Macbeth from Save Calgary

00:09:55.820 and also from Canadians for Democracy and Prosperity.

00:09:59.420 Hey, William, thanks for joining me.

00:10:01.840 Oh, well, thanks for having me again, Sheila.

00:10:03.260 I wanted to talk to you first about, you know,

00:10:07.320 I don't know about you,

00:10:09.180 but I think recycling is one of the most expensive virtue-signaling projects

00:10:14.760 that I think people don't even realize just how bad it is.

00:10:19.800 And Calgary is no better.

00:10:21.180 I mean, Edmonton, they famously bought a recycling plant that then went bankrupt.

00:10:25.920 And Calgary really is no better.

00:10:29.620 I mean, from what I understand, 0.84

00:10:31.780 Calgary is paying a lot of money to keep garbage safe and warm right now.

00:10:36.980 You're absolutely right, Sheila.

00:10:38.620 It's amazing.

00:10:39.640 We pay $300,000 a year,

00:10:42.300 and that price is going up every month

00:10:44.600 in order to keep plastic safe and warm

00:10:47.200 because we can't recycle it.

00:10:49.240 And yet, we keep insisting that not only do people not just throw it out,

00:10:54.900 but they put it in their blue bins.

00:10:57.400 And then instead of the city putting it in a landfill and disposing of it,

00:11:02.060 we're just keeping it in perpetuity,

00:11:04.460 paying a monthly rent for it so that we can, I don't know,

00:11:07.880 avoid having to deal with the problem once and for all

00:11:11.680 and also to feel better about ourselves.

00:11:13.360 And that's the reason why I think a lot of city council does what it does.

00:11:16.400 It makes me feel good about itself,

00:11:17.860 even if it isn't actually achieving anything.

00:11:20.900 Yeah, I mean, Calgary likes to pride itself.

00:11:25.540 And like every municipality, I'm not singling out Calgary here,

00:11:28.840 but Calgary likes to pride itself on this, you know,

00:11:30.880 being a green, progressive city.

00:11:33.200 But, I mean, when people are paying to recycle stuff

00:11:36.480 and it's not getting recycled,

00:11:37.560 it's just stored like regular garbage

00:11:39.920 and not even dealt with like regular garbage. 0.94

00:11:42.820 Other garbage, you know, it gets dealt with. 0.73

00:11:45.240 It gets put somewhere, it gets handled.

00:11:46.860 But this is actually just stored away somewhere like,

00:11:50.360 you know, old furniture.

00:11:51.800 It's very strange.

00:11:53.420 Well, you think about it.

00:11:54.900 You pay your monthly recycling fee,

00:11:58.380 which comes to more than $100 a year

00:12:00.620 for the average Calgary household.

00:12:04.180 And then you pay through your tax dollars,

00:12:05.720 again, to not recycle the same garbage.

00:12:09.520 So you think to yourself, first of all,

00:12:11.680 in many cities, garbage and recycling

00:12:14.400 are core city responsibilities.

00:12:17.060 It's why we pay property taxes.

00:12:19.340 And in Calgary, boy, do we like to pay property taxes.

00:12:22.020 They're going up again by more than 3% this year.

00:12:25.380 And so you're paying your property taxes.

00:12:27.860 On top of that, you pay your special garbage pickup fees.

00:12:31.480 And there's multiple ones

00:12:32.860 because we have a black bin.

00:12:34.120 We have a green bin.

00:12:35.320 We have a blue bin.

00:12:36.580 They're picked up on different days,

00:12:38.180 sometimes weekly, sometimes every other week.

00:12:40.300 And if you happen to get a bit wrong, 0.96

00:12:42.220 you put the wrong piece of garbage in the wrong bin,

00:12:44.820 the city gives you a little no-no note

00:12:46.820 that says you've done this wrong

00:12:48.560 and refuses to pick it up.

00:12:50.200 And so after finally picking up your garbage

00:12:53.140 and you've paid for it,

00:12:54.360 they then take it to be stored

00:12:56.060 in more than 100 trailer trucks

00:12:58.020 to keep it safe and warm and not recycle it

00:13:00.740 because they don't know how to recycle this plastic.

00:13:04.580 And to me, what's really offensive

00:13:06.540 is we couldn't help the people

00:13:09.160 of the Midfield Mobile Home Park keep their homes,

00:13:12.900 but we can provide safe, affordable, 0.95

00:13:15.580 taxpayer-funded homes for plastic garbage. 0.93

00:13:17.640 You know, it's offensive, really, 0.96

00:13:21.920 to the sensibilities of Calgarians

00:13:23.640 when they're paying money, like you say,

00:13:25.400 to deal with this issue.

00:13:27.080 Now, I was reading today

00:13:28.060 that Nenshi's really robbing Peter to pay Paul.

00:13:32.180 He's clearing out the Rainy Day Fund

00:13:33.760 to pay for major projects.

00:13:35.220 So even as Calgary taxes are going up in Calgary,

00:13:40.160 he's also sort of moving money from here to there

00:13:43.880 to make it look like they're coming close

00:13:46.960 to on budget for some of these major projects,

00:13:49.580 but really he's just basically clearing out

00:13:51.840 what we would call at the provincial level,

00:13:53.400 the contingency fund.

00:13:55.720 You're absolutely right.

00:13:56.840 And I think there's so many issues about this

00:13:58.920 that are bothersome, I think, to taxpayers.

00:14:01.380 The first one is we actually have no idea

00:14:04.380 how much money Calgary has saved up.

00:14:07.160 The city publicly admits to having a few billion dollars

00:14:12.420 in savings across various funds and contingencies,

00:14:16.320 but since it's really never been audited before,

00:14:19.000 and since there's no independent

00:14:20.840 outside financial look at it,

00:14:23.100 we really don't have any idea

00:14:25.400 how much money Calgary has socked away

00:14:28.220 in different funds.

00:14:29.980 Second of all, we asked,

00:14:32.200 Save Calgary asked,

00:14:32.940 about the possibility of reducing city employees' salaries,

00:14:37.360 wages, benefits, and pensions.

00:14:39.560 And we're told, point blank,

00:14:41.560 in fact, one of our city councillors asked the admin,

00:14:43.680 and the response back from the administration was,

00:14:46.040 it would be virtually impossible

00:14:47.300 to do any of that

00:14:48.320 without the provincial government's approval.

00:14:50.400 And yet the city of Calgary

00:14:51.160 has never asked the provincial government

00:14:52.460 for permission for the ability to cut salaries.

00:14:56.040 And for anybody who's been paying attention to Calgary,

00:14:59.200 it's been really tough in this city.

00:15:01.480 We've seen scores of layoffs,

00:15:03.940 and people all across the board took salary cuts.

00:15:07.380 I myself took a salary cut before being laid off.

00:15:11.220 And the reason you do that, of course,

00:15:12.560 is so that you can try and keep the company going.

00:15:14.920 You have to make some tough decisions.

00:15:16.480 But why are we exempting municipal employees

00:15:19.480 who get incredibly generous benefits and pensions

00:15:23.760 from the same economic pain

00:15:25.900 that the rest of us have had to shoulder?

00:15:27.820 So there's something else

00:15:29.020 that the city hasn't taken seriously.

00:15:31.140 The idea that we're spending too much money

00:15:33.660 on our municipal government.

00:15:35.780 And I hope it's something

00:15:36.460 that the new Kenney government

00:15:37.860 and the United Conservative Party

00:15:39.240 take a good, hard look at

00:15:40.740 the next time Calgary comes banging on their door,

00:15:43.680 asking for yet another batch of taxpayer dollars.

00:15:47.300 You know, and you mentioned the salary

00:15:49.380 and pension issue.

00:15:52.220 I mean, when the couple,

00:15:55.940 Conservative councillors,

00:15:57.340 Sean Chu and Jeremy Farkas,

00:15:58.640 try to bring this issue up,

00:15:59.880 they're basically accused of showboating

00:16:02.080 when they're saying this is a serious issue

00:16:04.880 that is really crippling the taxpayer

00:16:08.160 because there really is one taxpayer.

00:16:10.540 And then she just looks down his nose at them

00:16:13.240 when they're advocating for their constituents.

00:16:15.620 Oh, the response from the mayor on this

00:16:20.000 was truly objectionable.

00:16:23.020 I mean, first of all,

00:16:24.380 Calgary city councillors

00:16:26.180 get the most generous pension

00:16:28.740 for any city council in the country.

00:16:32.180 In fact, the cost of pension payout

00:16:34.360 just for city of Calgary retired councillors

00:16:37.920 is more than the cost to Vancouver,

00:16:40.800 Edmonton and Ottawa combined

00:16:42.800 for their city council.

00:16:44.620 No, it's a ludicrous amount of money.

00:16:47.360 And so when someone says,

00:16:49.300 maybe this is too generous,

00:16:51.260 maybe in these tough times,

00:16:52.900 giving politicians

00:16:53.900 these platinum pension packages

00:16:55.800 is too generous.

00:16:57.380 The mayor has the nerve

00:16:59.340 to say that this isn't something

00:17:01.240 that council should talk about.

00:17:02.360 And he cites that there's

00:17:03.220 an independent committee,

00:17:04.680 a citizen committee

00:17:05.740 that looks at city council compensation.

00:17:08.800 Well, this would be

00:17:09.380 the very same citizen committee

00:17:11.220 whose chair bitterly complained

00:17:13.860 about the mayor

00:17:15.060 not listening to what

00:17:16.500 they were recommending

00:17:17.220 for substituting their own judgment

00:17:19.340 for that of this

00:17:20.600 volunteer citizen committee

00:17:21.840 and for even insulting them

00:17:23.500 publicly on several occasions.

00:17:24.960 So which way is it, Mayor Nenshi?

00:17:26.900 Is this committee worth listening to

00:17:28.660 or are they worth insulting?

00:17:30.500 Because you seem to want

00:17:31.300 to have it both ways.

00:17:32.460 And I think people are starting to see

00:17:34.460 that the mayor himself

00:17:36.360 doesn't like to talk about pensions

00:17:38.380 because, of course,

00:17:39.120 he doesn't get just

00:17:39.900 one taxpayer-funded pension.

00:17:42.820 We in Calgary have decided

00:17:43.820 to give him two

00:17:44.820 taxpayer-funded pensions.

00:17:47.060 So, you know,

00:17:48.160 how many taxpayer-funded pensions

00:17:49.740 does one mayor, you know,

00:17:51.140 need or deserve?

00:17:52.460 And I think it's, you know,

00:17:54.060 at least one too many,

00:17:55.800 if not two too many

00:17:56.900 in this case.

00:17:58.240 You know, it's so disconnected

00:17:59.440 from the reality in Calgary.

00:18:01.760 I mean, I think the numbers are

00:18:03.680 that one-third of the office towers

00:18:05.640 are empty,

00:18:06.500 like one in three office spaces

00:18:08.120 are empty in Calgary.

00:18:10.400 And that takes a lot

00:18:11.580 from boots on the ground,

00:18:13.600 guys on a drilling rig

00:18:14.740 to trickle up

00:18:15.940 to the people in the office.

00:18:17.680 So that just speaks

00:18:19.040 to what's happening

00:18:20.020 in the greater Calgary area.

00:18:22.080 But Nenshi's going out of his way

00:18:23.900 with taxpayer dollars

00:18:25.540 to insulate himself,

00:18:28.500 councillors,

00:18:29.300 and government bureaucrats

00:18:30.640 from the reality

00:18:31.580 everybody else in Calgary is facing.

00:18:33.680 Their employers,

00:18:34.760 the reality their employers

00:18:36.360 are facing every single day.

00:18:38.280 I think it's atrocious

00:18:39.300 and unaccountable.

00:18:41.520 And what a good segue,

00:18:43.500 because speaking of unaccountable,

00:18:45.700 the Olympic report

00:18:47.480 is delayed until June.

00:18:51.140 So we still have no idea

00:18:52.920 what the city of Calgary

00:18:56.260 spent on Nenshi's

00:18:57.700 very nearly multi-billion dollar

00:19:00.800 vanity project.

00:19:02.080 Boy, that's a bullet.

00:19:03.420 But I'm glad

00:19:04.140 that taxpayers dodged.

00:19:07.640 Well, no, you're correct

00:19:08.780 that they have delayed it

00:19:09.880 once again by several months.

00:19:11.380 But it wasn't just

00:19:12.100 Calgary taxpayers

00:19:12.920 who had to pay

00:19:13.740 for this Olympic big.

00:19:15.260 You, as an Albertan,

00:19:16.780 put in money towards it.

00:19:18.400 And you, as a Canadian,

00:19:19.820 put in money towards this as well.

00:19:21.920 And then, of course,

00:19:23.520 Mayor Nenshi

00:19:24.720 and his cronies

00:19:26.120 said that

00:19:26.700 they didn't want to give

00:19:27.980 any of the excess money back.

00:19:29.280 that if there was anything left over,

00:19:31.060 that that should just go back

00:19:32.700 to Calgarians.

00:19:33.460 And again,

00:19:34.940 despite her unenviable record,

00:19:37.240 I credit our former NDP premier

00:19:39.660 with being the only person

00:19:41.740 who had any modicum of common sense

00:19:43.260 when it came to keeping a lid

00:19:44.580 on costs for this Olympic.

00:19:46.440 Because if it was up to the mayor,

00:19:48.500 we would have blown the bank,

00:19:50.120 absolutely blown the bank on it.

00:19:51.560 And even without the Olympics,

00:19:52.960 we're still paying

00:19:53.800 more than a 3% increase

00:19:56.060 in property taxes.

00:19:56.820 You can only imagine

00:19:57.800 what that increase would have been

00:19:59.080 without,

00:20:00.480 if we had to pay

00:20:01.280 for an Olympics as well.

00:20:02.680 But why they don't want

00:20:04.140 to tell Calgarians

00:20:05.180 how the money was spent

00:20:06.820 to us is just an,

00:20:09.640 it sums up the Olympics process

00:20:11.700 perfectly.

00:20:12.900 Because we used to joke

00:20:14.180 that when it came to BigCo,

00:20:16.200 the company that we created

00:20:17.420 to bid for the Olympics,

00:20:18.720 their slogan was,

00:20:19.780 well, that's just none

00:20:20.560 of your business.

00:20:21.560 When we would ask them questions,

00:20:23.160 they didn't think we should know.

00:20:25.340 And we not being Save Calgary,

00:20:27.080 we being taxpayers,

00:20:28.500 the people who would end up

00:20:29.400 putting the bill,

00:20:30.340 they didn't think

00:20:31.100 that we really should know

00:20:32.260 how the money was being spent,

00:20:33.800 what it was being spent on.

00:20:35.660 And these are important questions

00:20:37.040 because when you're dealing

00:20:38.180 with the International

00:20:39.180 Olympic Committee,

00:20:40.900 a body who I will never be asked

00:20:42.740 to serve on

00:20:43.400 subsequent to these,

00:20:44.740 to these Olympics bids,

00:20:46.700 these are not people

00:20:47.720 who have a great track record

00:20:49.220 for fiscal responsibility

00:20:50.800 and using taxpayer dollars wisely.

00:20:53.840 These are people who say,

00:20:55.580 I don't want to stay

00:20:56.380 in the four-star hotel,

00:20:57.680 I want to stay

00:20:58.400 in the five-star hotel.

00:20:59.780 If you don't have

00:21:00.400 a five-star hotel,

00:21:01.360 well, could you please build one

00:21:02.680 before the Olympics happen?

00:21:04.520 Or when I'm greeted

00:21:05.840 at the private terminal

00:21:07.340 at Calgary Airport,

00:21:09.140 everybody I run into

00:21:10.380 on my way to the hotel

00:21:11.620 has to smile at me.

00:21:13.460 That's actually one of the rules

00:21:14.700 that the IOC had.

00:21:16.040 So to me,

00:21:17.280 I'd like to know

00:21:18.280 what exactly we spent

00:21:19.920 on things like gifts

00:21:21.900 for IOC members,

00:21:23.760 hospitality for various bigwigs,

00:21:26.420 how many parties were held

00:21:28.060 using taxpayer dollars,

00:21:29.520 how much alcohol and food

00:21:31.380 did we end up buying

00:21:32.860 for these bigwigs?

00:21:34.780 I mean, Sheila,

00:21:35.560 we've talked about this before,

00:21:36.960 but one of the reasons

00:21:38.320 why so many elites

00:21:40.300 were upset about the Olympics

00:21:42.480 was because it was really

00:21:43.860 a party for them.

00:21:45.300 It was, you know,

00:21:46.680 caviar and champagne

00:21:48.680 for the elites

00:21:50.120 and the rest of us

00:21:51.020 picked up the tab.

00:21:52.520 So to me,

00:21:53.520 that's what I want to see

00:21:54.880 is how much did we spend

00:21:56.680 on this, you know,

00:21:57.820 vanity exercise for the mayor

00:21:59.300 and how much of it went to,

00:22:01.380 you know,

00:22:01.880 lining the pockets

00:22:02.680 or buying the perks

00:22:03.980 for IOC members.

00:22:06.200 I'm also curious to see

00:22:08.840 just how outspent

00:22:11.240 what the no side was

00:22:13.420 and just how effective

00:22:15.100 the no side was

00:22:16.960 with what little bit of money

00:22:18.480 that the no side had

00:22:19.840 because not only

00:22:21.280 on the yes side

00:22:22.140 did you have the city,

00:22:23.580 but you also had

00:22:24.800 major people

00:22:26.260 who were lined up

00:22:27.240 with their hands out

00:22:28.060 for government contracts

00:22:29.220 from the Chamber of Commerce.

00:22:30.960 And I'm normally

00:22:32.100 very, very pro-business

00:22:33.880 and I like to say

00:22:34.640 that I still am,

00:22:35.640 but I am against

00:22:37.280 crony capitalism,

00:22:38.780 especially when it's

00:22:39.540 on the backs of taxpayers

00:22:40.800 during one of the worst

00:22:42.220 recessions we've seen

00:22:43.460 in recent history

00:22:44.460 in Calgary.

00:22:45.700 And yet a lot

00:22:46.880 of these construction firms

00:22:48.340 and business associations,

00:22:50.080 they were cheering

00:22:50.980 for Calgary

00:22:51.760 to go ahead

00:22:52.500 with the Olympics

00:22:53.420 because money

00:22:54.820 would come directly

00:22:55.760 from the taxpayer

00:22:56.600 into their struggling businesses

00:22:58.900 to basically put

00:23:00.980 on the Olympics.

00:23:01.680 So I would like to see,

00:23:03.100 I bet you,

00:23:04.500 the no side

00:23:05.420 was outspent

00:23:06.480 at least five

00:23:08.020 over six to one.

00:23:10.700 You know,

00:23:11.440 it's interesting.

00:23:12.420 We may never know

00:23:13.600 exactly how much money

00:23:15.340 ended up being spent

00:23:16.380 in support

00:23:17.120 of the Olympic bid.

00:23:18.700 We'll find out

00:23:19.580 what, you know,

00:23:20.160 eventually,

00:23:20.880 whenever they deem

00:23:22.120 it appropriate

00:23:23.660 for us to read the report,

00:23:25.340 what the official

00:23:27.200 big code spend was

00:23:29.140 because, of course,

00:23:29.940 the same people

00:23:30.720 who were giving us,

00:23:32.320 you know,

00:23:32.580 the choice

00:23:33.100 of whether or not

00:23:33.620 to have an Olympics

00:23:34.160 were officially for it

00:23:35.360 and were campaigning

00:23:37.160 aggressively for it.

00:23:38.300 And then there was

00:23:38.800 the yes committee,

00:23:40.100 which had deep pockets

00:23:41.520 funded by all sorts

00:23:43.600 of organizations

00:23:44.300 and companies

00:23:44.980 and wealthy people.

00:23:46.320 But we'll never know

00:23:47.500 what the spend

00:23:48.380 by them was.

00:23:49.380 That's not ever

00:23:50.360 going to be released.

00:23:51.320 I can tell you

00:23:52.220 on behalf of the no side,

00:23:54.100 our spending

00:23:55.280 was measured

00:23:56.580 in the thousands

00:23:58.560 of dollars,

00:23:59.380 not in the millions

00:24:00.720 of dollars.

00:24:01.680 So I five to six to one,

00:24:04.760 maybe 50 to 60 to one.

00:24:07.620 But, you know,

00:24:08.820 I think they actually

00:24:10.080 deserve a little bit

00:24:11.480 of credit

00:24:12.140 for having spent

00:24:13.900 so much

00:24:14.480 to achieve so little

00:24:15.600 in their campaign.

00:24:17.480 You know,

00:24:17.640 despite outspending

00:24:18.600 the little no side

00:24:19.960 by an unbelievable margin,

00:24:22.560 they really couldn't

00:24:23.740 convince Calgarians

00:24:24.480 there was any merit

00:24:25.460 to holding these Olympics.

00:24:27.220 And I actually think

00:24:28.460 it reflects really quite well

00:24:29.940 that Calgarians

00:24:31.020 weren't fooled

00:24:32.200 by the massive

00:24:33.880 high spending tactics

00:24:35.400 of either the big committee

00:24:36.940 or the yes campaign

00:24:37.960 because they clearly

00:24:39.580 saw the dangers

00:24:41.040 associated with

00:24:41.940 hosting these games.

00:24:43.900 Do you think

00:24:45.540 the failure

00:24:46.560 of the Olympics

00:24:47.480 has hurt

00:24:49.000 Nenshi's popularity

00:24:50.020 in Calgary?

00:24:50.680 I mean,

00:24:51.320 outsider looking in,

00:24:53.920 I don't understand

00:24:55.760 how Nenshi

00:24:56.400 keeps getting elected

00:24:57.260 in Calgary.

00:24:58.420 I understand

00:24:59.080 how Mayor Don Iverson

00:25:00.340 keeps getting elected

00:25:01.320 in Edmonton.

00:25:02.140 Edmonton is a

00:25:03.200 progressive government city.

00:25:04.960 It's full of unions

00:25:05.880 and people

00:25:07.140 who make a living

00:25:08.260 up to the government trough.

00:25:09.860 But I don't get

00:25:10.740 how Nenshi stays

00:25:12.280 relatively popular

00:25:13.700 in Calgary.

00:25:15.500 Is it that he's,

00:25:17.160 is it that

00:25:17.680 the conservative side

00:25:18.760 isn't fielding

00:25:19.660 great people

00:25:21.760 or they don't have

00:25:22.400 like a well-known

00:25:23.400 person up against him?

00:25:24.780 What happened last time?

00:25:25.840 Well,

00:25:28.560 I definitely think

00:25:29.800 some of the shine

00:25:30.740 has come off

00:25:31.700 of our mayor.

00:25:32.900 If you think back

00:25:34.020 to when Calgary

00:25:35.380 had those devastating

00:25:36.100 floods in 2013,

00:25:38.260 the mayor's approval

00:25:39.400 rating was

00:25:40.500 above 90%.

00:25:41.840 People,

00:25:42.580 people in this city

00:25:43.580 adored him.

00:25:44.480 He was a rock star.

00:25:45.640 I don't think

00:25:46.460 that's the case anymore.

00:25:47.780 I think there are

00:25:48.860 people who have now

00:25:49.620 seen Mayor Nenshi

00:25:50.840 for who he really is.

00:25:52.080 And that's someone

00:25:52.960 who is,

00:25:54.360 you know,

00:25:54.860 there is no smarter

00:25:55.900 person in his mind

00:25:57.120 than himself.

00:25:59.160 And,

00:25:59.580 you know,

00:26:01.040 he isn't particularly

00:26:02.320 concerned about

00:26:03.900 the opinions of other

00:26:04.820 people or of

00:26:05.780 working together.

00:26:06.980 He just likes to tell

00:26:08.040 you how smart he is

00:26:08.880 or to insult you

00:26:10.560 if you,

00:26:11.160 if you disagree

00:26:11.720 with them.

00:26:12.120 I think the mistake

00:26:13.560 that,

00:26:14.080 that happened last

00:26:15.380 time was

00:26:16.200 the conservatives

00:26:18.000 haven't taken

00:26:18.860 municipal politics

00:26:19.980 as seriously

00:26:21.340 as they should.

00:26:23.320 I think they focus

00:26:24.100 a lot on

00:26:24.960 federal politics

00:26:25.840 and I think they focus

00:26:26.740 on,

00:26:27.200 on provincial politics,

00:26:28.820 but oftentimes

00:26:29.600 they've,

00:26:30.460 they've ignored

00:26:31.240 municipal politics.

00:26:32.360 They've ignored

00:26:32.900 school board elections

00:26:34.020 and things like that

00:26:35.000 to their detriment

00:26:36.000 because of course

00:26:36.620 this is where

00:26:37.160 the left,

00:26:38.140 the Democrats

00:26:38.540 and others,

00:26:39.200 this is their

00:26:39.620 training ground

00:26:40.300 for people

00:26:40.880 they then bring up

00:26:41.920 into the majors

00:26:42.840 to contest

00:26:43.760 provincial and

00:26:44.820 federal elections.

00:26:46.120 Look at Sohi.

00:26:47.260 Sohi walked

00:26:48.000 straight off

00:26:48.720 Edmonton City Council

00:26:49.800 and into a cabinet

00:26:51.080 minister position

00:26:52.020 in Trudeau's government.

00:26:53.480 It is really

00:26:54.100 the farm team

00:26:54.960 for the progressive

00:26:55.880 movement where

00:26:56.840 they cut their teeth.

00:26:58.160 Sarah Hoffman,

00:26:59.300 likewise,

00:27:00.000 she was on the school

00:27:00.740 board,

00:27:01.020 I think,

00:27:01.320 school board trustee,

00:27:02.120 does that sound right?

00:27:02.700 She was.

00:27:03.120 Anyway,

00:27:03.540 yeah,

00:27:04.380 I mean,

00:27:05.100 so sorry to interrupt

00:27:06.320 you while you were

00:27:06.940 trying to make a very

00:27:07.540 poignant point there,

00:27:08.800 but yeah,

00:27:09.460 you are absolutely

00:27:10.520 100% right

00:27:12.000 that we're not

00:27:13.100 paying close enough

00:27:13.780 attention to what

00:27:14.420 happens at the

00:27:15.000 municipal level.

00:27:16.820 And so I think

00:27:17.740 there's a few

00:27:18.120 things we can do.

00:27:18.720 One of them is

00:27:19.660 to really take

00:27:20.980 seriously municipal

00:27:21.960 politics as

00:27:22.660 something that

00:27:23.100 conservatives should

00:27:23.740 care about.

00:27:24.580 Why should

00:27:24.960 conservatives care

00:27:25.640 about it?

00:27:26.080 Well,

00:27:26.580 because a lot

00:27:27.860 of the other

00:27:28.220 orders of government

00:27:28.940 have decided

00:27:29.980 they can't raise

00:27:30.800 taxes anymore,

00:27:31.620 that they have

00:27:32.060 to look for

00:27:32.740 opportunities to

00:27:34.100 reduce spending

00:27:34.720 or to spend

00:27:35.780 more wisely.

00:27:37.140 So we've had

00:27:38.380 some success

00:27:39.240 in holding the line

00:27:40.700 on tax increases

00:27:41.520 at the provincial

00:27:42.460 and federal levels.

00:27:43.820 And I have

00:27:45.040 absolute confidence

00:27:45.940 that under

00:27:47.100 the leadership

00:27:48.520 of Premier

00:27:49.080 Jason Kenney,

00:27:50.260 Alberta will

00:27:51.100 start to get

00:27:51.680 its fiscal house

00:27:52.420 back in order.

00:27:53.160 So that's good news.

00:27:54.400 Secondly,

00:27:54.960 it looks like

00:27:55.480 Andrew Scheer

00:27:56.340 has a decent

00:27:56.980 chance at unseating

00:27:58.000 the less than

00:28:00.300 beloved Justin

00:28:01.840 Trudeau

00:28:02.320 in this fall.

00:28:03.760 But where

00:28:04.260 taxes are still

00:28:04.960 going up year

00:28:05.660 after year,

00:28:06.300 it's at the

00:28:06.900 city level.

00:28:07.620 You are paying

00:28:08.160 more every

00:28:09.320 single year

00:28:09.920 for municipal

00:28:10.760 taxes.

00:28:11.080 You get

00:28:11.540 terrible

00:28:12.160 municipal service

00:28:13.100 in return.

00:28:14.880 And you're

00:28:15.520 paying a 0.67

00:28:16.380 ridiculous amount

00:28:17.300 of money for

00:28:17.960 pensions and

00:28:18.660 for benefits and

00:28:19.420 for salaries for

00:28:21.100 city employees.

00:28:21.900 So step one,

00:28:23.160 conservatives have

00:28:23.740 to take it

00:28:24.100 seriously.

00:28:24.500 I think step

00:28:24.940 two is we

00:28:26.040 have to find

00:28:26.960 a team of

00:28:28.440 great candidates

00:28:29.380 who will start

00:28:30.580 campaigning not

00:28:31.620 two months

00:28:32.500 before the

00:28:33.020 election, but

00:28:33.980 two years

00:28:34.640 before the

00:28:35.140 election in

00:28:36.160 order to show

00:28:37.020 Calgarians that

00:28:37.900 they really do

00:28:38.440 have a choice,

00:28:39.200 that there is

00:28:39.960 an alternative

00:28:40.560 to Mayor

00:28:42.020 Nengshi and

00:28:43.060 to his

00:28:43.380 bullying and

00:28:44.240 his arrogance,

00:28:45.100 that there is

00:28:45.580 an alternative

00:28:46.160 to people like

00:28:48.000 Councillor Drew

00:28:48.740 Farrell or

00:28:49.480 Councillor Giancarlo

00:28:50.480 Carra, people

00:28:51.120 who have never

00:28:52.060 seen a tax

00:28:53.020 increase they

00:28:53.580 haven't liked

00:28:54.080 and who believe

00:28:55.700 that more

00:28:56.560 government is

00:28:57.180 always better.

00:28:58.100 These are

00:28:58.660 people who I

00:28:59.420 think can be

00:28:59.980 defeated, who

00:29:00.520 win with less

00:29:01.180 than 30% of

00:29:01.920 the vote, but

00:29:02.980 we just haven't

00:29:03.800 gotten ourselves

00:29:04.320 organized.

00:29:05.000 So I do think

00:29:05.700 that that's what

00:29:06.700 it's going to

00:29:07.160 take to see

00:29:07.720 some real change

00:29:08.660 at the municipal

00:29:09.680 level is getting

00:29:10.880 organized early

00:29:12.120 for municipal

00:29:12.940 politics.

00:29:15.080 Now, William,

00:29:16.640 I think you

00:29:17.660 guys at

00:29:18.100 Save Calgary

00:29:18.660 and Canadians

00:29:19.240 for Democracy

00:29:20.200 and Prosperity

00:29:21.260 do great work

00:29:22.340 in that you,

00:29:23.560 especially Save

00:29:24.440 Calgary, you

00:29:24.920 guys focus

00:29:25.520 exclusively on

00:29:26.780 municipal issues

00:29:27.840 with a laser

00:29:28.900 beam-like focus

00:29:29.980 and through the

00:29:31.580 lens of

00:29:32.020 conservatives,

00:29:32.640 there are always

00:29:33.220 better ways to

00:29:34.100 spend money,

00:29:35.160 there's always

00:29:35.800 some other

00:29:36.560 answer other

00:29:37.300 than a tax

00:29:38.100 hike.

00:29:38.460 And I think

00:29:40.420 that's really

00:29:40.820 lacking across

00:29:41.840 the country.

00:29:42.600 To be honest

00:29:43.040 with you,

00:29:43.320 there's really

00:29:44.000 nothing like

00:29:44.760 Save Calgary

00:29:45.320 that exists

00:29:46.160 in Edmonton

00:29:47.060 and the

00:29:48.960 battlefield is

00:29:49.880 ripe for

00:29:50.940 just somebody.

00:29:51.820 I mean, it

00:29:52.180 doesn't even

00:29:52.520 have to be

00:29:52.900 from a

00:29:53.200 conservative

00:29:53.540 perspective,

00:29:54.060 just quit

00:29:54.540 wasting our

00:29:55.100 money on

00:29:55.960 recycling plants

00:29:57.420 that go

00:29:58.200 broke.

00:29:59.240 But there's

00:30:00.400 really nothing

00:30:01.220 like that.

00:30:02.080 And I think

00:30:02.960 with the success

00:30:04.200 of the

00:30:04.780 Olympics or

00:30:06.320 rather the

00:30:07.400 success of

00:30:08.780 the no side

00:30:09.720 during the

00:30:11.020 Olympic bit,

00:30:11.740 I really do

00:30:12.360 hope that it

00:30:13.000 inspires these

00:30:14.000 other pop-up

00:30:15.780 groups all

00:30:16.380 across the

00:30:16.860 country to

00:30:17.360 realize you

00:30:17.800 don't need

00:30:18.800 money, you

00:30:20.080 just need

00:30:20.860 really political

00:30:22.800 will and

00:30:23.600 grassroots

00:30:24.100 activism to

00:30:25.360 make some

00:30:25.860 change and

00:30:26.440 to bring.

00:30:27.640 What you guys

00:30:28.500 faced at the

00:30:29.120 Olympic level,

00:30:30.160 millions and

00:30:31.240 millions and

00:30:31.820 millions of

00:30:32.420 dollars, and

00:30:33.480 you basically

00:30:34.160 overcame that

00:30:35.180 by telling

00:30:35.920 taxpayers the

00:30:36.940 truth.

00:30:38.280 So I guess

00:30:39.360 after that long

00:30:40.160 soliloquy, patting

00:30:41.140 you on the

00:30:41.500 back, how do

00:30:42.440 people help

00:30:43.740 you bring a

00:30:45.700 little bit of

00:30:46.120 accountability back

00:30:47.080 to City Hall?

00:30:48.960 Well, I would

00:30:50.200 love to see a

00:30:51.260 Save Edmonton

00:30:52.160 and a Save

00:30:53.020 Vancouver and a

00:30:54.280 Save Toronto,

00:30:55.420 all of these

00:30:56.180 groups, because

00:30:56.820 if you look at

00:30:58.260 how much money

00:30:59.060 is getting

00:30:59.620 raised and

00:31:00.340 spent, you

00:31:01.600 know, it's

00:31:02.240 it's in the

00:31:03.480 tens of

00:31:04.020 billions of

00:31:04.480 dollars that

00:31:04.980 we spend on

00:31:06.180 municipal

00:31:06.560 government, and

00:31:08.000 it doesn't get

00:31:08.660 the kind of

00:31:10.400 attention and

00:31:10.980 oversight that

00:31:11.580 other levels of

00:31:12.720 government do.

00:31:13.660 So if you

00:31:14.580 believe that

00:31:15.000 taxpayers are

00:31:15.480 being poorly

00:31:15.920 represented at

00:31:16.860 the municipal

00:31:17.360 level, and

00:31:17.860 if you think

00:31:18.320 maybe wouldn't

00:31:19.280 it be nice to

00:31:19.920 not have your

00:31:20.500 property taxes go

00:31:21.340 up every single

00:31:22.360 year, then

00:31:23.380 supporting a

00:31:23.900 group like

00:31:24.240 Save Calgary or

00:31:25.100 even, you

00:31:25.580 know, getting

00:31:25.900 active in your

00:31:26.700 local community

00:31:27.600 and caring about

00:31:29.700 who's being

00:31:30.180 elected to

00:31:30.600 City Council,

00:31:31.180 who's being

00:31:31.500 elected to

00:31:31.880 your school

00:31:32.200 board, these

00:31:32.980 are all really

00:31:33.480 great things.

00:31:34.300 I mean, Canadians

00:31:34.900 for Democracy and

00:31:35.720 Prosperity was

00:31:36.800 started because

00:31:37.800 we believe that

00:31:39.600 the two things

00:31:40.280 that are best

00:31:41.440 for every

00:31:42.100 government, every

00:31:42.760 order of

00:31:43.220 government, municipal,

00:31:44.280 provincial, and

00:31:44.720 federal, is

00:31:45.740 democracy.

00:31:47.540 So, you know,

00:31:48.100 choices, hard-fought

00:31:49.560 elections, understanding

00:31:50.680 that there are

00:31:51.700 always two sides to

00:31:53.380 look at on any

00:31:54.180 issue, that, you

00:31:55.200 know, the

00:31:55.880 alternative to

00:31:56.500 spending more is

00:31:57.340 spending less, and

00:31:58.340 that the alternative

00:31:59.040 to raising taxes is

00:32:01.200 to cutting taxes.

00:32:02.060 And then, what do

00:32:02.640 we think that

00:32:03.060 leads to?

00:32:03.480 We think better

00:32:04.080 choices lead to

00:32:04.840 prosperity.

00:32:05.820 More jobs, more

00:32:07.220 money in your

00:32:07.760 pocket, less

00:32:08.940 expensive, less

00:32:09.880 intrusive government,

00:32:10.900 all of these things

00:32:11.800 that I think if you

00:32:12.880 ask everyday Canadians,

00:32:14.060 they really would

00:32:14.800 support.

00:32:15.400 So, for Save

00:32:16.280 Calgary, you can

00:32:17.300 sign up to our

00:32:18.420 weekly email

00:32:19.360 newsletter, you

00:32:20.100 can, you know,

00:32:21.320 give us a follow

00:32:22.140 on Facebook, you

00:32:23.060 can follow us on

00:32:23.820 Twitter, our

00:32:24.960 website,

00:32:25.420 safecalgary.com.

00:32:26.260 For Democracy and

00:32:27.040 Prosperity, again,

00:32:27.940 we're online,

00:32:28.940 democracyandprosperity.ca,

00:32:30.560 and then through our

00:32:31.840 Facebook and Twitter

00:32:32.740 accounts.

00:32:33.300 But I think simply

00:32:35.340 even talking to your

00:32:36.280 friends, your

00:32:36.940 families, your

00:32:37.600 neighbors about

00:32:38.680 municipal issues is a

00:32:39.840 great beginning.

00:32:40.820 And I hope more

00:32:41.980 people who believe in

00:32:43.180 common sense and

00:32:44.420 fiscal responsibility

00:32:45.260 choose to take the

00:32:46.520 plunge to run for

00:32:47.500 municipal office.

00:32:48.880 You know, lots of

00:32:49.840 people want to be

00:32:50.340 MLAs, and lots of

00:32:51.360 people want to be

00:32:52.060 MPs, but a lot of

00:32:53.980 the heavy lifting has

00:32:54.780 to be done right here

00:32:55.480 in our cities.

00:32:56.140 So I would really

00:32:57.300 encourage everyone

00:32:58.040 who's ever thought

00:32:58.660 about running for

00:32:59.160 office to look

00:33:00.020 seriously at running

00:33:01.480 for municipal office.

00:33:02.340 And of course, the

00:33:03.180 daily commute is a

00:33:03.960 lot easier than

00:33:04.820 having to go to a

00:33:06.460 difficult city in

00:33:07.220 either, you know,

00:33:08.040 Evans, or Ottawa,

00:33:09.000 if you're looking to

00:33:10.020 run for council,

00:33:10.700 you know, right in

00:33:11.500 your backyard.

00:33:12.860 William, I want to

00:33:13.600 thank you so much for

00:33:14.340 being so generous with

00:33:16.000 your time, as always,

00:33:17.360 and I want to thank

00:33:18.080 you for fighting for

00:33:19.600 taxpayers, because I

00:33:22.500 don't think a lot of

00:33:23.280 people really know the

00:33:24.480 good work that save

00:33:25.400 Calgary is doing

00:33:26.140 behind the scenes to

00:33:27.540 hold the government

00:33:28.260 to account.

00:33:29.700 Well, thank you so

00:33:30.620 much for having us on.

00:33:31.500 I know that we've had

00:33:32.720 a couple of

00:33:33.220 councillors say how

00:33:34.200 much less fun it's

00:33:35.180 been, you know, being

00:33:36.900 a city councillor,

00:33:37.700 because they can't see

00:33:39.200 the kind of councillors

00:33:40.120 they once were, which

00:33:41.300 I think is probably a

00:33:42.840 good thing if we've

00:33:43.640 made it a little bit

00:33:44.420 harder to just spend

00:33:45.620 taxpayer money on pet

00:33:46.580 projects without any

00:33:47.920 accountability at all.

00:33:49.180 So thank you very much,

00:33:49.920 and thank you for

00:33:50.300 giving us, you know,

00:33:51.080 the attention that

00:33:52.380 municipal politics

00:33:52.960 deserves on your show,

00:33:53.940 Sheila.

00:33:54.060 Great.

00:33:55.140 Thanks, William.

00:33:56.520 Sure, thanks.

00:33:58.160 Stay with us more up

00:33:59.580 next after the break.

00:34:00.840 Hey, welcome back,

00:34:13.580 everyone.

00:34:14.100 Now, normally, this is

00:34:14.980 the part of the show

00:34:15.740 where Ezra reads

00:34:16.800 viewer feedback,

00:34:18.080 comments, congratulations,

00:34:19.540 suggestions, and even

00:34:21.040 his hate mail.

00:34:22.160 But since I'm running

00:34:22.840 the show tonight, I think

00:34:23.600 we should maybe do

00:34:24.220 something just a little

00:34:25.880 different.

00:34:26.360 You see, I'm running

00:34:27.240 the show because Ezra

00:34:28.640 is over in the UK where

00:34:30.840 Tommy Robinson is being

00:34:32.220 retried for contempt of

00:34:34.220 court for the dangerous

00:34:35.840 crime of doing journalism.

00:34:38.000 It's something Tommy was

00:34:39.220 already wrongfully

00:34:40.480 imprisoned for.

00:34:41.960 Ezra is in the UK right

00:34:43.080 now with several other

00:34:44.520 journalists that Ezra took

00:34:46.360 with him because, as you

00:34:47.800 know, you just can't trust

00:34:49.260 the UK media to tell us

00:34:50.900 the straight truth.

00:34:52.060 So I thought we would have

00:34:53.360 Ezra give our viewers

00:34:54.460 tonight an update from on

00:34:56.500 the ground at the

00:34:57.660 courthouse here.

00:34:59.020 For the Rebel.media,

00:34:59.980 I'm Ezra Levant.

00:35:00.720 I am standing amidst a

00:35:01.960 boisterous crowd outside

00:35:03.660 the Old Bailey Central

00:35:04.940 Criminal Courts in

00:35:06.020 Central London.

00:35:07.660 I'd say there's about

00:35:08.740 500 people on the

00:35:10.540 pro-Tommy side.

00:35:11.860 And looking up the

00:35:12.940 street, I see about two

00:35:14.540 dozen Antifa and

00:35:17.200 Jeremy Corbyn labor rights

00:35:19.160 all with their prefab

00:35:20.620 signs.

00:35:21.300 On this side, a much more

00:35:22.860 organic grassroots

00:35:24.200 protest.

00:35:24.760 Those are the professional

00:35:26.140 protesters.

00:35:27.160 But of course, the real

00:35:27.940 problem is not the banter

00:35:29.540 or the debate on the

00:35:30.880 streets.

00:35:31.560 I don't think it's going

00:35:32.320 to get violent, although

00:35:33.320 it has in the past.

00:35:34.940 Antifa's tactics is

00:35:36.680 de-platforming and

00:35:37.800 violence where possible.

00:35:39.520 There's a lot of police.

00:35:40.560 You can see the police in

00:35:41.540 the yellow vest here.

00:35:43.060 I think there'll be

00:35:44.100 excellent order.

00:35:45.180 You don't want to riot

00:35:46.040 outside the central

00:35:47.000 criminal courts.

00:35:47.920 I think the main problem

00:35:49.180 is inside the courts

00:35:50.980 itself.

00:35:52.260 Because why are we here

00:35:53.660 today?

00:35:55.100 We're here because

00:35:55.840 Theresa May's attorney

00:35:57.120 general has chosen to

00:35:59.280 re-prosecute Tommy

00:36:01.220 Robinson again for the

00:36:03.420 same incident for which

00:36:04.580 he was held in contempt a

00:36:06.600 year ago outside the

00:36:08.620 county court in Leeds, UK.

00:36:10.820 Just a quick reminder,

00:36:12.300 Tommy was live streaming

00:36:13.460 from his phone on

00:36:15.300 Facebook about a rape

00:36:17.200 gang trial of more than

00:36:18.420 two dozen men.

00:36:19.960 The jury had finished

00:36:21.120 their deliberations.

00:36:22.040 It was judgment day.

00:36:23.600 Tommy was outside the

00:36:24.720 court, didn't talk about

00:36:25.580 any details inside the

00:36:27.200 court.

00:36:27.420 All he did was read the

00:36:28.300 names of the accused and

00:36:29.860 he read them from the BBC

00:36:31.180 state broadcaster website.

00:36:32.880 But for that offense or

00:36:34.220 some other offense, we're

00:36:35.000 not quite sure, a squad of

00:36:36.880 police swooped him.

00:36:37.980 You've seen the footage.

00:36:39.160 Grabbed him, put him in the

00:36:40.100 back of the truck, took him

00:36:41.460 to a police station, took him

00:36:42.600 to court in a less than 10

00:36:44.300 minute trial in which Tommy

00:36:45.820 himself didn't have a word to

00:36:47.300 speak.

00:36:48.060 He was sentenced to 13 months

00:36:49.520 in prison, packed off to prison

00:36:51.460 that day, and was shortly

00:36:52.940 thereafter transferred to a

00:36:54.440 high-risk prison dominated by

00:36:57.200 Muslim gangs itself. 0.95

00:36:59.360 Tommy had to be put in 0.89

00:37:00.520 solitary confinement for his

00:37:02.400 own safety, said the warden

00:37:04.180 of the prison, where he was

00:37:05.580 starved because, of course, 0.85

00:37:06.920 the Muslim gangs also ran the 0.97

00:37:08.740 kitchens.

00:37:10.240 As you know, Rebel viewers

00:37:11.500 crowdfunded the legal appeal.

00:37:13.860 The court of appeal led by no

00:37:15.940 one less than the Lord Chief

00:37:16.900 Justice of England and Wales

00:37:18.600 himself issued a scathing

00:37:20.660 rebuke of that decision to

00:37:22.660 imprison Tommy, and he was

00:37:24.360 freed thanks to Rebel viewers.

00:37:26.500 You would think that that

00:37:28.640 would be enough.

00:37:29.380 You would think that that

00:37:30.100 would have humiliated the

00:37:32.160 establishment enough to have

00:37:33.640 been exposed as be so abusive,

00:37:35.560 but no.

00:37:36.400 Jeffrey Cox, Theresa Mays,

00:37:37.860 new Attorney General, has

00:37:39.020 made the positive decision to

00:37:40.960 re-prosecute Tommy for that

00:37:43.620 original offense.

00:37:44.500 Now, my American friends must be

00:37:46.100 saying, what are you talking

00:37:46.860 about?

00:37:47.060 That's called Double Jeopardy.

00:37:48.300 Well, welcome to the United

00:37:49.300 Kingdom in 2019.

00:37:51.140 It should be called 1984, I

00:37:53.140 think.

00:37:54.240 So we'll be going inside the

00:37:56.120 court to give you a report.

00:37:58.120 Now, of course, I can't take

00:37:58.980 my cameras inside the court,

00:38:00.600 so I'll be live tweeting, if

00:38:02.200 you know what I mean by that.

00:38:03.520 If you go to twitter.com slash

00:38:05.320 Ezra Levant, you can get my

00:38:06.960 minute-by-minute updates inside

00:38:08.680 there, and then when the court

00:38:10.140 is on break, we'll come out

00:38:11.400 here.

00:38:11.940 There's another thing I should

00:38:12.980 point out.

00:38:13.460 You can't really see it here

00:38:14.480 because it's off, but there's a

00:38:15.980 billboard truck behind me.

00:38:17.360 That's from Tommy's campaign.

00:38:19.020 He's running to be a member of

00:38:20.400 the European Parliament.

00:38:21.940 Of course, the United Kingdom

00:38:22.720 was not supposed to be in the

00:38:24.040 EU anymore.

00:38:25.100 It was supposed to have left

00:38:25.920 after the Brexit referendum was

00:38:28.060 supposed to kick in on March

00:38:29.060 29th.

00:38:29.740 That was also scuppered by the

00:38:31.680 same Theresa May.

00:38:32.680 So there's an enemy.

00:38:34.160 There's a restlessness here that

00:38:36.380 is higher than anything I think

00:38:37.840 we know in Canada or the United

00:38:39.560 States.

00:38:39.880 It's imagine a referendum, the

00:38:41.920 largest voter turnout in history.

00:38:44.080 17.4 million Brits say, let's get

00:38:46.200 out of here.

00:38:47.560 And Theresa May says, yeah, we're

00:38:48.960 just going to ignore that.

00:38:50.480 Add that to all the problems in

00:38:52.000 this country, and you get a

00:38:53.080 feeling for the sense of betrayal

00:38:55.120 here.

00:38:55.820 I think the prosecution in the

00:38:57.140 court is just a piece of that.

00:38:58.600 Anyway, Tommy is running to be a

00:39:00.320 member of the European Parliament in

00:39:01.660 Northwest England, and given the

00:39:03.420 unique vote counting system, he

00:39:05.760 could win one of the eight seats

00:39:07.400 there with as few as 10 percent of

00:39:09.860 the votes.

00:39:10.740 So that's coming up on May 23rd.

00:39:12.820 Today, May 14th, is Tommy's

00:39:14.960 trial.

00:39:15.720 It's a mess over here, but I'm

00:39:17.220 delighted to represent the

00:39:18.960 rebel.

00:39:19.320 We have a student journalist with

00:39:20.500 us, Jessica, and we've helped

00:39:21.880 crowdfund other journalists to be

00:39:23.700 here today.

00:39:24.880 Avi Amini from Melbourne,

00:39:26.100 Australia, Andrew Lawton from

00:39:27.860 London, Ontario, Canada, Cassandra

00:39:29.820 Fairbanks and Pardes Saler from

00:39:31.820 Washington, D.C.

00:39:33.760 Jordan James, we brought him down

00:39:36.440 from Manchester, two cameramen, so

00:39:39.580 we have a total of nine real

00:39:41.460 reporters, and the reason I call

00:39:43.080 them real reporters is because

00:39:44.540 unlike the British media, they

00:39:45.720 don't, they're not Tommy haters.

00:39:47.600 I find the media in this country

00:39:49.180 to be appalling.

00:39:51.080 That's why we had to bring in

00:39:52.280 foreigners like myself.

00:39:53.480 You can hear a Tommy chant in the

00:39:54.700 background.

00:39:55.400 On that note, I'll bid you adieu for

00:39:56.940 now.

00:39:57.520 I'll have more reports from after

00:39:59.020 the court's hearings.

00:40:00.260 Until then, on behalf of all of us

00:40:02.020 here at The Rebel, we'll keep you

00:40:03.740 updated at realreporters.uk.

00:40:05.520 Now, to see all of Ezra's reports,

00:40:07.720 go to realreporters.uk.

00:40:10.320 And if you are so inclined, if you

00:40:11.640 feel like Ezra and his hand-selected

00:40:13.420 team of real journalists who are

00:40:15.600 neither censored nor self-censored

00:40:17.560 are doing valuable work, you can

00:40:19.960 help cover the cost to send them to

00:40:22.460 the UK at realreporters.uk.

00:40:26.140 Well, everybody, that's the show

00:40:27.600 tonight.

00:40:28.180 Thank you so much for tuning in as I

00:40:30.340 hold down the fort here in Alberta

00:40:32.040 while our team produces the show in

00:40:34.960 Toronto, while Ezra is reporting from

00:40:37.500 the UK.

00:40:38.220 Yes, The Rebel is really a transcontinental

00:40:41.540 operation tonight.

00:40:43.460 Now, remember, don't let the government

00:40:45.480 tell you that you've had too much to

00:40:47.460 think.

00:40:47.800 Well, let's go back.

00:41:00.400 .

00:41:01.580 Amen.

Rebel News Podcast - May 15, 2019

REVEALED： Calgary Mayor Nenshi is “taking favours and funding from the Rockefeller Foundation” (Guest host： Sheila Gunn Reid)

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