Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Alberta posts a 10.3 billion-dollar budgetary surplus and the NDP are the hardest hit

00:00:00.000 Alberta has just posted a $10.3 billion budgetary surplus, and wouldn't you know it,

00:00:05.040 the official opposition, the NDP, are the hardest hit.

00:00:08.180 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:10.540 I've lived in Alberta my entire life, and friends, everything is cyclical.

00:00:34.100 Everything repeats itself.

00:00:35.940 Boom, bust, boom, bust.

00:00:38.020 And as it turns out, boom in Alberta again.

00:00:41.320 The oil patch is picked right up, and it is showing on the province's bottom line with a $10.3 billion budget surplus.

00:00:49.020 Half of that is committed to paying down the debt, which reminds me of what it was like under the leadership of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein.

00:00:59.120 But also, all things repeating themselves, and there being nothing new under the sun, wouldn't you know it,

00:01:05.740 we got another gun grab from the federal government, another Trudeau, another Liberal government, which always leads to another gun grab,

00:01:14.660 and another fight back by the province of Alberta against the Liberal government's attempts to grab the lawfully acquired firearms of law-abiding Canadian gun owners through Bill 8 here in Alberta.

00:01:29.280 So joining me today to talk about these issues, the budget, the gun grab, and also another boondoggle on the horizon that I don't think enough of us are paying attention to is my friend Chris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:01:44.140 So joining me now is my fellow mid-century modernism enthusiast, Chris Sims, from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:02:00.620 And there's so much to talk about.

00:02:01.660 I haven't had you on since Alberta posted an enormous budgetary surplus,

00:02:06.180 and there are some safeguards built into that budgetary surplus for Alberta taxpayers, which is exciting.

00:02:13.100 It seems to be a return to how things used to be here in Alberta.

00:02:17.860 Then we can talk about the gun grab and how politicians have made me dislike minor sports competitions altogether by being just absolutely money-grubbing.

00:02:27.520 But Chris, thanks so much for coming on the show.

00:02:30.280 Tell me about the Alberta budget.

00:02:32.820 Like I said, I haven't had you on since we posted a $10 billion plus budget surplus.

00:02:40.940 What does that mean?

00:02:42.200 How did we get it?

00:02:43.040 And what are we going to do with it?

00:02:44.960 It was pretty great.

00:02:46.420 So as folks know, I like to call myself an economic and many other reasons refugee from British Columbia.

00:02:51.500 This is the first time I remember, as in the advocacy world, being happy about a budget.

00:02:56.560 I was like covering going, well, great.

00:02:58.980 Great. So we got the surplus. Alberta got the surplus largely because of our oil and gas revenue.

00:03:05.140 So there's a structure that's set up within the province of Alberta where some of those profits and that revenue goes directly to the people.

00:03:12.960 So that's really nice to see.

00:03:14.260 So you're right. We had billions of dollars.

00:03:16.520 Now, our concern at the Taxpayers Federation is that, OK, folks, you've won the lottery.

00:03:22.780 Don't blow it.

00:03:24.440 So there's this bumper sticker that is so rare.

00:03:27.460 It's almost mythical, but it does exist in time and space because I've seen a picture of it.

00:03:31.680 It gives something like this.

00:03:32.980 Please, God, let there be another oil boom. 0.54

00:03:35.860 We promise not to piss it away all again.

00:03:39.300 Pardon my language, but the saltiness is good seasoning, right?

00:03:42.240 So that's kind of our tack on that.

00:03:45.260 OK, folks, we know you have a big surplus.

00:03:47.720 Please don't blow all of it and save it for a rainy day.

00:03:51.540 Turns around, the Daniel Smith government did just that.

00:03:55.120 So they put in some major budget reforms.

00:03:58.340 Number one, they're going to table legislation to create balanced budget law.

00:04:03.000 What that means is, is that the province will have to return a balanced budget outside of emergencies.

00:04:10.200 Now, what do they mean by emergencies?

00:04:12.240 We don't know.

00:04:13.280 We're going to have to wait and see what they say in the law.

00:04:15.420 It could be, you know, aliens invading.

00:04:17.900 It could be a tsunami that reaches all the way over the Rockies.

00:04:20.740 Who knows?

00:04:21.200 Or it could just be a blip.

00:04:22.680 We're going to try to make sure that it's going to have to be a really serious emergency

00:04:26.220 for them to have to break their balanced budget promise.

00:04:29.320 So that's a big one.

00:04:30.040 Balanced budget legislation.

00:04:30.980 Number two, they've also said that debt repayment is going to be a huge dedication going forward.

00:04:38.620 So anytime they have surplus cash, so not including the actual, you know, physical objects that we have

00:04:44.880 in the ownership of government, 50% of surplus cash must go down onto the debt.

00:04:49.860 Plunk.

00:04:50.620 The other 50%, and this is what's pretty cool, either has to also go into debt repayment,

00:04:55.420 or it has to go into the Alberta Heritage Savings Fund, which is basically our rainy day fund for

00:05:01.420 the future, or it has to go to one-time spending that doesn't increase year-to-year spending.

00:05:07.840 That was a really big dedication.

00:05:10.240 This is the third and key one, and it's super nerdy, and we love it.

00:05:15.180 Future spending.

00:05:16.860 Any future spending increases must be tied to inflation and population growth from the year

00:05:23.460 previous.

00:05:23.920 We've been asking for that since the 90s, like since before the internet was a thing.

00:05:29.820 So to have Premier Smith promise that was really encouraging.

00:05:34.460 So all in all, a very good budget.

00:05:37.580 And, you know, frankly, it's not all that unusual here in Alberta to see something like

00:05:42.380 this, if you've been around for a long time, and unfortunately I have been.

00:05:45.860 This goes back to the day, like 19, I think 1995, when Alberta first brought in our Balanced

00:05:52.100 Budget and Debt Repayment Act under former Premier Ralph Klein, and it took nine years to pay off

00:05:59.340 the debt.

00:05:59.740 I think it was July 2004 when Ralph Klein is pictured holding up that famous paid in full.

00:06:05.920 That's how long it took for us to eliminate our debt.

00:06:08.400 This is a return to that.

00:06:10.320 And it should be noted that it was subsequent progressive conservative governments who ignored

00:06:18.660 the previous legislation and then started debt spending.

00:06:21.340 So this is just a return to Kleinism, I think, I hope.

00:06:26.260 It really is.

00:06:27.240 The language that was being used in the presentation and in the budget itself is very much keeping

00:06:34.660 with the late, great Premier Ralph Klein.

00:06:37.100 And I know I heard Premier Smith say very nice things about the late Premier Klein.

00:06:44.180 You know, she really admires him.

00:06:45.760 I've heard her talk personally about him lots of times.

00:06:48.180 And so I know that's what she was aiming for.

00:06:50.360 And you're right.

00:06:51.440 Premier Klein had said that 75% of the surplus cash had to go on to paying down the debt.

00:06:59.000 So this time it's 50.

00:07:00.480 But what's interesting is that the other 50% also has strings attached.

00:07:04.800 Whereas before, it was 75% all on the debt and the other 25% had no strings.

00:07:11.560 What's better?

00:07:12.340 Who knows?

00:07:12.960 It probably comes out in the wash either way.

00:07:15.500 But to hear serious dedication and language put into paying down the debt is really heartening

00:07:20.920 because, of course, we all pay the interest.

00:07:24.560 It's just like a big, nasty credit card bill.

00:07:27.700 And so here's a point.

00:07:29.440 So before this big debt repayment and stuff during the budget presentation,

00:07:33.640 the debt was around, you know, mid-90s, mid-90s billion dollars.

00:07:38.980 Now that they've put a whole bunch of money down on the debt, it's in the mid-70s.

00:07:42.640 So I think it's around 73, 74 billion.

00:07:45.920 That's a big difference.

00:07:47.840 But what's interesting is that unfortunately, because the interest rate has gone up,

00:07:51.980 thanks so much, Prime Minister Trudeau,

00:07:53.680 our debt payments, our interest payments are still about the same.

00:07:57.500 So that's a big flashing light of, hey, bucko, make sure you're putting down on the principle

00:08:03.620 as fast and hard as you can, because you're still out money.

00:08:07.720 So it's really good to see them take this very seriously.

00:08:11.280 We're just now recovering from having the NDP in power here in Alberta.

00:08:14.460 They acted as a scarecrow to oil field investment, just standing in the field being scary and

00:08:18.880 chasing investors to West Texas and North Dakota.

00:08:22.760 But they also dropped the credit rating here in Alberta multiple times.

00:08:28.760 I think it was six times, which caused the cost of repaying their already out-of-control spending

00:08:34.320 to be that much higher.

00:08:35.780 And we're just now seeing a recovery in Alberta's credit rating.

00:08:38.740 So eventually those costs will come down, but we're paying more than we should

00:08:43.240 because of that overspending back then.

00:08:45.940 Yeah, it's true.

00:08:46.740 And what you just said there is a great point, because this is bearing fruit.

00:08:50.340 So Moody's, which is this big, fancy international investment and financial group,

00:08:56.380 before the budget, I think it was about six weeks out, they upgraded Alberta's credit rating.

00:09:02.760 And why did they upgrade it?

00:09:04.220 Well, they mentioned many reasons, but three of the main reasons were exactly what we were

00:09:08.180 just saying.

00:09:09.000 Because they were saving for a rainy day, they were putting money down on the debt big time,

00:09:14.280 and we don't have a sales tax.

00:09:16.300 They mentioned that specifically, which I was quite impressed by, because of course,

00:09:20.780 Alberta has an advantage.

00:09:22.320 We don't have a PST.

00:09:23.820 But if you walk outside of these studios and you start talking to the pointy heads who work

00:09:28.480 in universities and mainstream media, you'd think that the PST is just a no-brainer, and

00:09:32.900 everybody goes along with it, and everybody smart has one.

00:09:35.520 That narrative, by the way, is really strong within the bureaucracy in Edmonton.

00:09:40.280 It doesn't matter that we're in Alberta.

00:09:41.580 A lot of the bureaucrats are leaning hard on ministers saying, hey, we need to get with

00:09:46.560 the cool kids and have a PST.

00:09:48.460 So it was pretty great to see Moody's say, nah-uh, you know what's great?

00:09:52.460 Paying down the debt, saving for a rainy day, and not having bloody high taxes.

00:09:56.320 They listed all of those things when they upgraded our credit rating.

00:10:00.560 And then we went into this good news budget.

00:10:02.540 So hopefully, these good times keep on rolling, but we don't blow it all at once.

00:10:07.800 And so hearing all of this discipline come out of the ministry and out of the premier's

00:10:12.420 office is really good.

00:10:13.960 Because that's like counting on winning the lottery to pay for your mortgage, right?

00:10:20.360 It's just not a good idea.

00:10:22.740 Winning the lottery is super fun, but you have to save for the future.

00:10:26.780 And so far, we're hearing a lot of prudence.

00:10:29.360 Now, of course, after the election, if these folks are still in government, if they start

00:10:33.840 wobbling on these promises, I'll chew their leg off because I have them on record now

00:10:39.060 saying that they're going to stick to all of these promises.

00:10:41.960 Well, it's even scarier, the NDP looking at this budget and saying, well, that's $10.3

00:10:47.580 billion that could have gone back into spending.

00:10:52.700 That was one of the things that I was seeing coming out of the NDP saying, oh, this budgetary

00:10:57.180 surplus is a bad thing.

00:10:58.660 Now, they said it was bad for a different reason than I would say it was bad.

00:11:01.820 I look at that and I'm like, you taxed me too much.

00:11:04.740 Yes, exactly. 0.99

00:11:05.740 You know, how'd you get all that money, damn it? 0.99

00:11:07.400 Yeah. 0.98

00:11:07.980 But for them, they're saying that's money that we should have been just dumping back

00:11:12.140 into programs that we can't afford.

00:11:15.080 Yeah.

00:11:15.400 So if you do a case-by-case comparison, I forget how my wonderful nerdy friend, our

00:11:21.260 federal director, Franco Terrazano, had put it.

00:11:23.420 I think it was Western peers or something like that.

00:11:26.320 Basically, if you compare per job spending for things like doctors, nurses, bureaucrats,

00:11:32.860 middle management of healthcare, oligopolies, compared to other provinces, Alberta's always

00:11:39.120 been higher.

00:11:39.960 Right.

00:11:40.260 We've always had a higher rate of pay for pretty much all of those different jobs.

00:11:45.780 And so they've done a little bit of work to try to pull that back into line.

00:11:49.440 So we're closer-ish to, say, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

00:11:54.360 We're still a touch higher.

00:11:56.400 And so the idea is just to continuously spray money around without any plan for the future.

00:12:02.820 We just think that would have been reckless.

00:12:04.940 It's great that they have the surplus right now.

00:12:07.300 They need to make sure that they hang on to it for leaner days in the future.

00:12:12.440 Well, and spraying money around doesn't always get you better results.

00:12:15.880 All we have to do is look at healthcare spending in Saskatchewan versus healthcare spending in

00:12:19.800 Alberta versus wait times in Saskatchewan versus wait times in Alberta.

00:12:24.000 They spend less per capita on healthcare than we do, and they see better results, better

00:12:28.480 access to specialists and surgery and wait times than we do because they allow some innovation

00:12:33.720 in their healthcare system that we are just apprehensive to do here in Alberta.

00:12:38.780 I'm looking forward to the report.

00:12:40.480 Forget the gentleman's name.

00:12:41.440 He was a longtime doctor, and he's ferreting out, hopefully, waste and redundant.

00:12:45.860 And all that jazz within Alberta Health Services, and he's been assigned to do that.

00:12:50.560 So we're really looking forward to getting those metrics from him.

00:12:54.300 Now, moving on to another topic that's near and dear to both of our hearts, yours and mine,

00:12:59.540 firearms rights.

00:13:01.660 And from a Canadian taxpayer's perspective, just how expensive Justin Trudeau's latest gun grab

00:13:08.240 is, and Alberta seems to be leading the way in Canada in standing up for firearms rights,

00:13:14.880 for property rights, and to defend taxpayers all across the country.

00:13:19.160 Because really, if you are trying to buy back guns en masse from people who didn't do anything with

00:13:24.820 them, it's going to start costing people in other parts of the country, non-gun owners.

00:13:29.880 It's going to hit them in the pocketbook, too.

00:13:31.560 So this is why they should be concerned.

00:13:33.760 And Alberta is standing up with Bill 8 and saying, no, no, you might get away with that

00:13:38.300 in Ontario, but not around here, mister.

00:13:40.880 Yeah, it was really heartening to see.

00:13:42.980 Like I said, this is the first time in a long time news releases saying taxpayers'

00:13:47.920 federation applauds and then fill in blank.

00:13:50.880 Like, it's really nice to be able to give credit where it's due.

00:13:54.540 And so what's happening is that the justice minister, Tyler Shandro, has basically, like

00:13:59.700 you said, come out with Bill 8.

00:14:01.840 And he's calling it the Alberta Firearms Act.

00:14:04.440 And so far, it's more of like a paint by numbers, but the paint isn't all filled in yet.

00:14:09.860 But the framework is there.

00:14:11.240 And so what they're trying to do is push as firmly and decisively back against Ottawa

00:14:18.360 to have our own Provincial Firearms Act and separate from the state, separate from the

00:14:24.960 state in Ottawa.

00:14:26.000 So what they're trying to do is take back some of that regulatory power.

00:14:29.880 Now, that might sound boring, but it really matters on the ground.

00:14:34.640 So what they would ideally like to do, if I could predict what I think this government

00:14:39.880 would like to do, they would like to have more authority put through our own chief firearms

00:14:45.220 officer.

00:14:46.240 And right now, that is a lady by the name of Terry Bryant. 1.00

00:14:49.160 What's good is that she knows her stuff.

00:14:52.560 Like, she's a gunny. 1.00

00:14:54.640 I can tell by the way she talks because she uses language that is even a little bit beyond

00:14:59.340 me.

00:15:00.180 I don't know if she's a collector herself or something, but she's right into it.

00:15:03.980 So she knows.

00:15:05.060 She's an enthusiast, I would say.

00:15:06.120 That's a good term.

00:15:07.020 Yeah.

00:15:07.440 Enthusiast is a better term than gunny, I'm sure.

00:15:09.880 And so right into it.

00:15:11.420 And so they want more power put into that office.

00:15:15.020 So the chief firearms officer, the CFO here in Alberta would have more authority for licensing,

00:15:22.500 regulation, and whether or not, I think in the future, they would be able to dissuade or

00:15:30.460 recommend law enforcement within the province of Alberta to carry out the wishes of the feds

00:15:38.040 to say seize a firearm from a legally licensed firearms owner who has not committed any crime.

00:15:45.680 And so what they're trying to do is explore how can we alter a relationship with municipal

00:15:52.200 police forces like Calgary police, Edmonton police?

00:15:55.780 What is that language going to look like?

00:15:57.380 Could we maybe encourage them to not act upon, you know, said orders coming from on high in

00:16:03.620 Ottawa to go to people's homes and take their property?

00:16:07.520 So it's all those big questions.

00:16:09.540 And then if you get into the cost, like you said, boy, oh boy, you know, back in the 90s,

00:16:14.280 I feel like we're having like, you know, resurgence of 1990s for like fighting the debt.

00:16:20.060 You know, we got the debt clock rolling and we've got a gun grab.

00:16:23.220 So in the night, you know, in the 90s, they had the long gun registry and the silly, you

00:16:28.900 know, government at the time said, oh, it's going to cost a couple million.

00:16:32.580 Well, no, at the end of the day, it cost around 2 billion and it didn't make anybody any safer.

00:16:38.820 And that was just a registry that was just writing them down.

00:16:42.220 That wasn't stumping out to Brooks to take Brian's guns from his house and then go to the

00:16:47.840 next guys and the next gals like the logistics of that makes my head want to fall off.

00:16:52.260 So SFU, a criminologist at SFU, guesstimated this could cost another billion, give or take.

00:17:01.560 So we don't have that to spend.

00:17:03.880 We're in negative money.

00:17:05.280 We are more than a trillion dollars in debt federally.

00:17:08.240 So we don't have that dough.

00:17:09.840 And we've been told by the police who are on the front lines, this won't make anybody any

00:17:14.420 safer.

00:17:15.340 Like criminals, newsflash, they don't register their guns and they don't go legally purchase

00:17:20.020 them from stores.

00:17:20.740 I know everybody's surprised.

00:17:22.820 So this is not going to help gang violence.

00:17:24.840 You're just going after ranchers and collectors and sports shooters.

00:17:27.980 Like, stop.

00:17:29.260 So this is where we're at.

00:17:30.760 And that's why the Taxpayers Federation is involved, because it's going to cost you a ton

00:17:34.340 of money and it won't make people any safer.

00:17:36.300 And we've seen this movie before.

00:17:38.000 So it's just not going to work.

00:17:39.700 And so that is why we're really applauding the Alberta government.

00:17:43.020 Anything they can do that trips up and pushes back on the federal government when it comes

00:17:48.980 to this stuff is a good thing to do.

00:17:50.720 And somebody like me who is also interested in local autonomy, the decisions that affect

00:17:57.820 your life are best made closer to home.

00:18:00.300 Of course, I reject the idea of some centralized bureaucrat somewhere in an office in Ottawa

00:18:05.780 telling me what's best and what's safest for my community way out here in the middle of

00:18:11.000 nowheresville.

00:18:11.560 I love the idea of a chief firearms officer that is beholden to the province in which that

00:18:18.400 person works, dealing with the unique challenges of that location.

00:18:23.720 There are different firearms issues out here in Alberta than there are in Toronto.

00:18:28.740 Toronto is dealing with gang violence, and I'm dealing with the availability of ammo

00:18:32.480 issues out here.

00:18:33.940 Completely different.

00:18:35.880 Yes, exactly.

00:18:38.280 And then like so many places are so different, right?

00:18:40.900 Like, for example, if you're a rancher and you've got long guns or whatever to keep down

00:18:45.840 pests, also known as like coyotes and things like that, where can you store your firearm

00:18:51.420 where it's closest to your livestock, right?

00:18:54.260 Does it have to be trigger locked and in a safety box?

00:18:57.080 Does it have to be near you?

00:18:58.200 Like all these different parameters that would work really well rurally, but don't work so

00:19:03.920 well if you're, you know, an urban, you know, firearms enthusiast and legally own some.

00:19:08.400 So all of those things are different.

00:19:10.180 Right. And so that's why it's always better.

00:19:12.120 You're right to go more local because the person on the scene always knows more.

00:19:17.760 And even if it can, if I can appeal to journalists watching this, you know, folks, you know that

00:19:23.020 it's the journalist in the field that always knows way more what's going on than the folks

00:19:28.800 who are back on the desk.

00:19:29.960 It's the same thing when it comes to these sorts of issues.

00:19:32.560 Now, speaking of another local issue that, you know, we just lived through this thing

00:19:39.880 coming threatened at us.

00:19:43.000 And that is one of these major international sports competitions.

00:19:46.560 We just lived through Calgary residents fighting back against a mayor who is trying to build

00:19:52.680 a legacy by having the Olympics return to Calgary.

00:19:57.400 Uh, residents push back against that, uh, taxpayers organizations push back against that, but now

00:20:04.520 they're threatening to bring the Commonwealth Games to Alberta again.

00:20:09.480 Please tell us what, what could be the potential cost for that?

00:20:14.560 You know what?

00:20:15.120 I used to love minor sports, but now I find myself watching professional sports because

00:20:19.340 at least they're honest about the hustle, but these minor sports organizations, it's

00:20:25.180 like, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme from the government.

00:20:27.580 And then, you know, everybody else's hands get involved in the middle.

00:20:30.640 Very little of it trickles down to the athlete.

00:20:32.400 At least professional sports organizations are honest that this is a money-making venture

00:20:37.960 and everybody along the way is going to get money in their pocket.

00:20:40.660 Um, these big major international amateur sport competitions, it's not like that, but

00:20:47.040 they're so darn expensive and it's us footing the bill.

00:20:51.200 Oh, I almost, there's almost a, there's almost a parallel there to like arts, right?

00:20:56.180 Like if you're going to some big budget mega movie that's put out by, you know, the latest

00:21:00.040 Marvel, right?

00:21:01.020 You know, this is a massive billion dollar thing and you're know, you're going to be forking

00:21:05.740 out money.

00:21:06.200 But if you go to the independent arts community in these little film fests, guess what?

00:21:09.820 You're still forking out money, but it's through all these layers of government.

00:21:13.360 It's like a big octopus.

00:21:14.820 I think we're back to our theme.

00:21:15.920 She loved just, you know, government should be small, like fit in a small, I'm phone booth.

00:21:23.380 There we go.

00:21:23.800 We've got a lot of moving in between us.

00:21:25.820 And so, yeah, you're, you're right.

00:21:27.320 Um, so when you mentioned the Olympics, I can't help but think if it was one of Franco 0.99

00:21:31.140 Terrazano's first things he did as Alberta director is he pushed back hard on the Olympics

00:21:36.200 and they won the no vote.

00:21:38.420 So he, he did a team Sweden because of course Sweden was in the running and he like ate meatballs

00:21:43.280 in front of Ikea and he had the Swedish flag on as a cape.

00:21:47.340 I don't know what I'm going to do for a stunt yet, but I'm going to do one.

00:21:50.860 So what's happening is the Commonwealth, of course, the Commonwealth, you know, Great Britain,

00:21:55.700 Canada, you know, New Zealand, all those folks, uh, they actually have their own little 0.64

00:22:00.160 sports circuit thing.

00:22:01.860 And so it's kind of like the Olympics, but in a much smaller scale, it's mostly track

00:22:06.260 and field events.

00:22:07.420 Okay.

00:22:08.080 They want to come to Canada for their track meet in the year 2030.

00:22:13.940 Okay.

00:22:14.180 So like seven years from now, the problem is it, like you said, costs mega bucks, like

00:22:20.800 eye-watering amounts of money.

00:22:22.820 So much so that according to the newspaper, the Hamilton Spectator, the city of Hamilton

00:22:28.320 said, you know what?

00:22:29.880 No, thanks.

00:22:30.960 We're going to pass.

00:22:32.360 We're not going to host this because it could cost around $500 million.

00:22:39.480 Like, I'm sorry, what half a billion dollars on a track meet?

00:22:44.180 No, no, no, no.

00:22:45.800 We can't do this.

00:22:47.120 And so what really got me going is that not only are Calgary, Edmonton and the province

00:22:53.660 all, oh, okay, that sounds great.

00:22:55.800 Let's explore that and think about it and spend taxpayers' money while we think about

00:22:59.260 it.

00:22:59.920 Not only are they doing that, they are wondering aloud if we need a vote.

00:23:06.220 Like, do we need to have a referendum and ask the commoners if they want to host this

00:23:12.180 track meet and pay for this track meet?

00:23:14.900 So Calgary mayor, Mayor Gondek said, well, I'm not so sure if we need to ask this in a

00:23:20.800 referendum.

00:23:21.160 Yeah, you do.

00:23:23.520 The answer is yes.

00:23:25.480 You need to hold a referendum and you have to ask us, right?

00:23:29.400 You can't just assume people's consent on this sort of thing when it comes to spending

00:23:34.580 their money.

00:23:35.480 And so they definitely need to hold a referendum.

00:23:38.160 So that's where we are right now.

00:23:39.460 We have the province, meaning provincial taxpayers.

00:23:42.240 They're kicking in $2 million.

00:23:44.360 The taxpayers of Edmonton are spending $1 million and the taxpayers of Calgary are all spending

00:23:48.780 $1 million.

00:23:49.260 This is why we've seen municipal tax rates go up, of course, from, you know, Brooks to

00:23:55.600 Edmonton.

00:23:56.620 We've seen tax rates go up property value wise.

00:24:00.440 So we need to have a referendum on whether or not we want to host these things.

00:24:04.680 And we've got it's not up yet.

00:24:06.360 It should be up in a few days.

00:24:07.340 We've got a petition going.

00:24:08.780 We're all cylinders firing saying we need a vote.

00:24:12.400 Yeah, we're $4 million into this just to talk about whether or not we're going to consider

00:24:19.160 holding this thing.

00:24:21.100 And they have the audacity to say, as you say, should we let the commenters have a say

00:24:24.800 in all of this?

00:24:25.820 You know what?

00:24:26.320 They're going to push back so hard against the giving people a say because they know they're

00:24:31.660 going to lose again.

00:24:32.960 So I say let's rumble.

00:24:35.300 Oh, yeah.

00:24:35.720 They can try.

00:24:36.760 You know, so this reminds me.

00:24:38.220 I forget what her name was.

00:24:39.500 She was a supermodel back in the 90s. 0.99

00:24:41.540 I forget which one it was.

00:24:42.580 Remember when supermodels were a big thing? 1.00

00:24:44.080 Yeah.

00:24:44.280 And she said, I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000.

00:24:47.960 Was it Naomi Campbell?

00:24:49.720 I want to say it was Naomi Campbell.

00:24:51.900 And I was just like, wow, that's got some serious flex.

00:24:54.840 Like that's, you know, I don't want to get out of bed.

00:24:56.500 It reminds me of bureaucrats.

00:24:58.660 It's like I can't sit and think about something for less than a million dollars.

00:25:02.580 Like how much does this cost?

00:25:04.580 Just thinking about it.

00:25:06.160 They're already on the hook for it, folks.

00:25:08.220 We got to, you know, fire up the trucks.

00:25:10.740 We need to vote on this thing.

00:25:12.700 Yeah.

00:25:12.860 There I forget what the city of Franco would probably know a little better.

00:25:16.440 What just the exploratory examination of whether or not the city of Calgary could host these

00:25:23.840 this thing, the Olympics or consider hosting this thing.

00:25:26.500 It was like in the tens of millions.

00:25:29.040 Yeah, it was tens.

00:25:29.980 Like when this is for just to say maybe should we were at four by the time they actually convene

00:25:36.600 panels of bureaucrats and experts to also say maybe should we.

00:25:41.440 You're looking at like twenty seven, thirty million dollars.

00:25:44.540 Yep.

00:25:45.420 And we all pay for it.

00:25:47.380 This is again, I can't believe how many times I need to explain to people the government

00:25:51.760 doesn't pay for things.

00:25:54.120 You pay for things.

00:25:55.160 There's no such thing as government funding.

00:25:57.340 It's taxpayers funding.

00:25:58.540 It reminds me, actually, there was a couple of months ago.

00:26:00.900 If you do have another second, I've got to be in my bonnet.

00:26:03.780 OK, so a couple of months ago, there is an NDP candidate provincially who's running in

00:26:09.640 the Calgary area.

00:26:10.600 His name escapes me at this moment.

00:26:12.540 But I was pointing out that Trudeau is, you know, he's canceled pipelines.

00:26:17.460 He's put through no more pipeline legislation.

00:26:19.300 He's banned West Coast tankers.

00:26:20.920 Didn't lift a finger on Kinder Morgan, all that stuff.

00:26:23.540 I was pointing it out online and he like tweeted at me and said, hey, you know, we got Prime

00:26:30.460 Minister Trudeau to build us the Trans Mountain Pipeline at government expense.

00:26:35.580 Oh, yeah.

00:26:37.160 And I'm like, I don't know if you know what that means.

00:26:41.760 So number one, no such thing as government expense.

00:26:46.200 OK, there's taxpayers expense every nickel of it.

00:26:48.740 Number two, the company, the company of Kinder Morgan wanted to actually pay their own money

00:26:56.940 around seven billion dollars in order to get folks to build and twin the pipeline from

00:27:02.500 Burnaby to Edmonton, their own money.

00:27:05.240 The government at the federal level dragged their feet so long, ragged the puck for so long

00:27:10.640 that the company just threw up their hands.

00:27:13.660 Kinder Morgan, it's like, you know what?

00:27:14.940 We have to go.

00:27:15.600 We've been getting green lights for five years and now you're all of a sudden saying red.

00:27:19.360 See you later.

00:27:20.060 Bye. 0.99

00:27:20.760 Now, taxpayers are on the hook to twin the darn thing. 0.99

00:27:24.680 They just came out with a new stat. 0.99

00:27:26.220 Bloomberg did last week.

00:27:28.140 Thirty billion dollars.

00:27:30.540 Thirty one.

00:27:31.780 Thirty one.

00:27:33.220 Thirty one is thirty one billion dollars.

00:27:35.980 It's like four times what it would cost Kinder Morgan and not even not cost the taxpayers.

00:27:42.480 All they wanted was to be able to build it.

00:27:46.160 So just say, OK, well, can we just the hippies can protest, but they can't.

00:27:50.520 They got to go over there just to have them go over there so we can.

00:27:53.480 Can we please pay people one hundred thousand dollars to, you know, twin this and they're

00:27:57.320 paying income tax and and and.

00:27:59.320 Sure.

00:28:00.360 Yeah.

00:28:00.620 No.

00:28:00.820 All they wanted was for someone to say, OK, just keep the hippies off our job site so 1.00

00:28:04.840 we'll work and it's going to be fine.

00:28:06.960 No, the government couldn't even do that.

00:28:08.760 Now we're we've taken a seven billion dollar private sector project and nationalize it to

00:28:14.120 the tune of thirty one billion dollars. 0.98

00:28:16.460 And the darn thing isn't even built yet. 0.99

00:28:19.960 No, no. 0.99

00:28:20.920 I know.

00:28:21.400 And just scuttlebutt. 0.78

00:28:22.700 So I had to go home due to a family emergency.

00:28:26.500 So I was in Hope a couple of weeks ago.

00:28:28.360 We drove along the number three.

00:28:30.340 And so I was talking to a lot of guys who were there like in Hope and Chilliwack area

00:28:33.660 where they're twinning this thing.

00:28:35.900 Apparently, they're stopping at like every foot of soil and like looking for snails and

00:28:43.520 slugs like this is coming directly from the workers that are on the ground.

00:28:47.980 Oh, I believe that.

00:28:48.640 So if if you want to know why it's taking so long, they're apparently sifting like pretty

00:28:56.040 much every scoop of ground.

00:28:59.440 And now, again, I have to stress, there's already a pipeline there.

00:29:03.060 OK, it's already right there.

00:29:05.120 They're building in the current easement for people who don't know what that means.

00:29:08.420 They didn't have to like expropriate any new land when they built the original pipeline.

00:29:13.320 It was on the promise that it would be twinned eventually.

00:29:17.600 Correct.

00:29:17.840 The existing easement.

00:29:19.860 They didn't even have to expropriate new land.

00:29:22.200 Just let them build.

00:29:23.680 It's literally in my cousin's backyard in Hope.

00:29:26.600 Like I've seen it and like thinking, oh, they showed me to like it was all part of the

00:29:29.780 plan all this time.

00:29:30.580 But yeah, 31.

00:29:32.260 I didn't know.

00:29:32.920 31.

00:29:33.320 31 billion dollars.

00:29:34.700 And so just a newsflash for anybody watching, including NDP candidates.

00:29:38.920 Forcing the taxpayer to take this big of a bath on something that should have been approved.

00:29:46.160 No questions asked after all the green lights were lit and all the environmental stuff was

00:29:51.240 done.

00:29:51.760 That is not spiking the football.

00:29:54.340 That's not a win.

00:29:55.380 More than tripling the costs for taxpayers after a private company was willing to foot

00:30:00.340 all of it is not a win.

00:30:02.660 And there's no such thing as government expense.

00:30:04.880 It's all taxpayers' expense.

00:30:06.360 It's fascinating how few people actually understand that.

00:30:11.860 Like they say, oh, Justin Trudeau bought you a pipeline.

00:30:13.900 First of all, Justin Trudeau didn't buy me anything.

00:30:18.500 And that's what we wanted.

00:30:20.880 That's not what we wanted.

00:30:22.040 We just wanted the company to be allowed to work and do a lawful thing here in Canada.

00:30:27.320 Instead, they're just building pipelines in other parts of the world instead of here

00:30:31.480 in Canada.

00:30:32.980 There's even like a silly thing here. 0.99

00:30:34.820 Silly thing. 0.92

00:30:35.260 Same pipeline in Burnaby. 0.97

00:30:37.800 Forget what the stat was.

00:30:39.060 I'm rough on either side here, but this is generally what it is.

00:30:42.480 The property taxes paid alone by Kinder Morgan at the time in Burnaby for the actual easement

00:30:48.480 and the refinery and all that stuff pays for their recycling and garbage pickup.

00:30:53.540 Oh, I believe it.

00:30:55.000 I live in Strathcona County.

00:30:59.580 So I understand because we reap the benefit of having refinery row.

00:31:04.460 And Upgrader Alley.

00:31:06.720 It keeps our property taxes abnormally low out here because we're subsidized by the refineries.

00:31:13.520 And that's why the city of Edmonton would love to expropriate them from our beautiful county.

00:31:19.480 Chris.

00:31:19.940 Oh, I didn't know that part.

00:31:21.160 See, I need to come up and visit and get more of the details up that way.

00:31:24.460 Oh, I'm shooting.

00:31:26.500 So there's always been friction between Strathcona County and the city of Fort Saskatchewan and the city of Edmonton because a lot of these major projects sit inside county limits and they help keep things abnormally low for the McMansions in Sherwood Park.

00:31:43.280 Um, no, Chris, I should I should invite you to tell people not only where they can find the work that you do at the CTF and support the work that you do at the Taxpayers Federation, but you are at an event this weekend.

00:31:57.080 Yeah.

00:31:58.620 Oh, great.

00:31:59.240 Thank you so much for that.

00:32:00.100 I wasn't sure if I should mention it.

00:32:01.260 So, yes, go to our website.

00:32:02.580 If you hey, if you're doesn't matter what your thing is, do you want to defund the CBC?

00:32:06.860 Do you want to cancel the gun grab?

00:32:08.540 Right.

00:32:08.860 Present.

00:32:09.580 All that stuff.

00:32:10.760 We have dozens of petitions on our website about all of those flavors of ice cream.

00:32:16.540 And what that does is we have your name and email.

00:32:18.720 We don't spam you.

00:32:19.780 We only ever send you like action updates of email the prime minister now or now is the time.

00:32:25.660 You know, strike while it's hot.

00:32:26.860 Contact your MLA.

00:32:28.020 It's in order to get critical mass in order to push politicians in different directions.

00:32:33.140 So any of those topics, just sign up on those petitions and you'll join our standing army.

00:32:37.660 Two.

00:32:38.420 Yeah.

00:32:38.700 Thanks for this.

00:32:39.420 I'm going to be a guest speaker at the Sean Newman podcast.

00:32:43.600 It's his kind of dinner event that he's having.

00:32:46.360 It's this Saturday.

00:32:47.940 So if folks want to go to that, they can just Google, you know, Sean Newman podcast, Edmonton,

00:32:52.520 and it should pop right up there for events.

00:32:55.420 I don't know if you can stream it or if it's just an in-house thing because I know there's

00:33:00.020 going to be dinner and then I'm going to be speaking on a panel.

00:33:02.680 The topic is media.

00:33:04.500 Why we need to defund the CBC and why it is fundamentally wrong.

00:33:09.000 For journalists to be paid by the state.

00:33:12.540 Government should not pay journalists.

00:33:14.520 We don't care if it's left wing, right wing or space alien in nature.

00:33:18.260 The government shouldn't pay for journalists because then you're just going to get propaganda.

00:33:23.060 So that's going to be the topic of conversation this Saturday in Edmonton.

00:33:27.140 I'm driving up.

00:33:28.580 Nice.

00:33:29.680 Sean invited me to come and I'm always interested to hear what other people think about state

00:33:36.660 funding of the media because I'm fundamentally opposed to it.

00:33:39.420 I think probably everybody in the room is going to be opposed to it.

00:33:42.460 But, you know, on the off chance that there's someone who says, you know, like, we can't

00:33:45.620 survive without Justin Trudeau.

00:33:47.580 I can't wait to be here to hear those arguments.

00:33:49.800 So I'll be in the room just soaking it all in.

00:33:54.180 And Sheila as independent media, she's like, really, tell me more.

00:33:57.280 Tell me more about how I don't exist.

00:33:59.460 Yeah.

00:33:59.700 Tell me how hard the hustle is for you.

00:34:02.560 Yeah.

00:34:02.820 So even when I'm not working, I I'm still deeply interested in these sort of issues.

00:34:07.400 So I'll just be there as a spectator.

00:34:08.840 But it's going to be fun.

00:34:10.440 Oh, we have to have a picture together again, because that way we can prove that we're different

00:34:13.500 people.

00:34:13.860 It happened again.

00:34:14.860 I know.

00:34:16.220 It happened on the budget.

00:34:18.520 That's so funny.

00:34:19.360 They're like, oh, can I talk to Rebel?

00:34:20.440 I'm like, I'm not sure if they're here.

00:34:21.680 Like, aren't you Sheila?

00:34:22.580 I'm like, no.

00:34:24.820 Glasses.

00:34:25.260 It's the like.

00:34:26.640 I think it's the glasses and the temperament.

00:34:29.080 The 50s glasses, the temperament, the dark hair.

00:34:33.320 Yeah, I get it.

00:34:34.420 I'm not I'm not mad about it.

00:34:35.900 I've been.

00:34:36.260 No, I think it's a compliment, but it was funny.

00:34:38.720 It happened again.

00:34:40.140 So awesome.

00:34:42.080 OK, well, thanks so much for coming on the show.

00:34:43.740 We'll have you back on again very, very soon.

00:34:45.960 I like our standing date every about five weeks.

00:34:49.060 I think the viewers appreciate it, too.

00:34:51.780 Awesome.

00:34:52.200 Thanks so much.

00:34:52.940 OK, we'll see you this weekend.

00:34:54.220 Bye.

00:34:59.080 Well, friends, we've come to the portion of the show where we invite your viewer feedback.

00:35:05.980 I say it every week and it's probably getting pretty redundant, but it remains true. 1.00

00:35:09.600 Unlike the mainstream media, we actually care about what you think about the work that we're

00:35:12.560 doing here at Rebel News, because without you, there is no Rebel News because we don't

00:35:16.320 have a sugar daddy named Justin Trudeau giving us someone else's money to produce content

00:35:21.180 that nobody cares about and that nobody wants to watch, which is exactly the diagnosis with

00:35:26.740 the mainstream media in this company.

00:35:28.300 As long as Justin Trudeau continues to give the money, they are never going to get the

00:35:31.880 market correction they so rightly deserve.

00:35:34.840 Now, I give you my email address at Sheila at Rebel News dot com.

00:35:39.440 Put gun show letters in the subject line so that it's easy for me to find because, as

00:35:44.580 you know, I probably get a couple hundred emails every single day.

00:35:47.580 But don't hesitate to leave a comment or what I would call a letter wherever you might be

00:35:54.720 watching us on the censorship platform of YouTube or even over on Rumble.

00:35:58.440 And actually, today's letter comes from the Rumble comments and it's on last week's show

00:36:04.300 with my friend Kennedy Hall.

00:36:06.260 He's a journalist over at LifeSite and we were talking about the controversy surrounding

00:36:10.380 Daily Wire's Michael Knowles saying the radical ideology of transgenderism should be rooted

00:36:17.140 out of public life.

00:36:19.280 Now, he didn't call for genocide of transgender people.

00:36:21.800 Actually, he called for compassion for them, but that didn't stop the mainstream media of

00:36:25.920 accusing him of genocide in a speech that everybody could watch for themselves, but they lied about

00:36:32.020 it anyway because they're just that confident that they're right and that you're wrong and

00:36:37.520 that you will believe them instead of your own eyes and ears.

00:36:40.940 Now, Cheryl Lell or Cheryl E.L, right? 1.00

00:36:44.200 Why do we care?

00:36:45.000 I guess she's talking about radical transgenderism because their actions affect us daily. 0.96

00:36:53.020 It's not just that drag queens read a story in the public library to kids, which is where

00:36:58.920 I have the real problem.

00:37:00.180 You want to be a drag queen? 1.00

00:37:01.340 Be a drag queen. 1.00

00:37:02.880 You want to do a drag performance, which is an adult burlesque show in a private venue where

00:37:11.280 there's no kids, great, but I don't like the idea of kids being involved and I don't like

00:37:16.320 the idea of this happening in a government funded place.

00:37:19.520 That's where I've got a real problem.

00:37:22.060 Whether or not I agree with how you're behaving or what you're consuming, it's got nothing to

00:37:26.920 do with me if little kids aren't involved and if I'm not paying for it in any way through

00:37:32.560 the use of taxpayer dollars.

00:37:34.460 Anyways, sorry, I just thought I would make that clear.

00:37:38.420 It's just not that drag queens read a story. 1.00

00:37:41.100 It's what they're reading.

00:37:41.860 Those books are all LGBTQ books that come with lessons and activities.

00:37:46.420 Instead of men and women protesting against them, set up a time for real men and women 0.97

00:37:51.260 who can read wholesome and funny books to kids with activities.

00:37:56.060 Do you think the library would let them?

00:37:57.680 I'm not sure it's worth a try.

00:38:01.500 I mean, the people who seem fine with drag queens reading LGBT books to other people's 0.96

00:38:07.960 kids would probably have a problem with me showing up to teach them how to say the rosary.

00:38:13.320 Wouldn't they?

00:38:14.200 Anyway, let's keep going.

00:38:15.500 Children are starving for attention.

00:38:17.220 Fight radicals with wholesome but radical ideas.

00:38:20.760 It's time to take actions that matter, not protest.

00:38:23.280 Now, I'm not against protests.

00:38:25.220 Actually, I think there's great value in being able to speak your mind in the public square

00:38:30.680 on a matter of public interest.

00:38:32.960 It's the measure of whether you are free or not, is can you protest in the public square?

00:38:39.580 Even if your ideas are objectionable to the majority of people, if you can't say them

00:38:46.400 in public, are you truly free?

00:38:49.340 Are any of us truly free if some of us aren't?

00:38:52.700 So I think there's value in protest.

00:38:55.360 I think there's value in raising awareness and also telling other people that it's okay

00:39:01.620 to object and that you're not alone.

00:39:03.860 That was one of the great things about the trucker convoy was that people who knew something

00:39:10.120 was wrong, who disagreed with how the government was reacting to the coronavirus pandemic, they

00:39:17.480 were in front of a TV or in front of a newspaper or social media that made them feel like they

00:39:25.040 were the only people who felt that way.

00:39:28.240 But when those trucks started rolling across the country, people started realizing, I'm not

00:39:33.360 alone.

00:39:33.660 I might be alone in my household.

00:39:35.380 I might be alone in my job place thinking this way, but I'm not alone and there are more

00:39:40.680 people like me out there.

00:39:42.380 And so that's the value in protest.

00:39:44.420 And you hear that all the time about the trucker convoy, that it was the moment where people

00:39:49.400 realized they weren't alone.

00:39:51.720 And so, you know, are these protests against drag queen story hours, that thing for some

00:39:56.640 people who realize they're not alone and thinking it is crazy, for men in cross-sex burlesque

00:40:03.220 costumes to be reading LGBT books in the public library to other people's children, maybe this

00:40:11.080 is their moment in time where they have that sort of light bulb come on.

00:40:15.200 But with regard to offering an alternative, our show last week was about The Daily Wire's

00:40:22.240 Michael Knowles, but let me talk about The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh.

00:40:27.140 He wrote a book called Johnny the Walrus, and it was about a little boy who wanted to

00:40:31.860 be a walrus.

00:40:32.980 And his mom said, yeah, okay, fine, then you're a walrus. 0.81

00:40:35.820 Let's go get surgery to turn your hands into flippers. 1.00

00:40:39.900 And it was the best selling children's book.

00:40:44.040 I think actually it sold out.

00:40:45.260 It's very difficult to get your hands on Johnny the Walrus.

00:40:48.220 And it wasn't because of cancel culture.

00:40:49.900 It was because of demand.

00:40:51.120 So I do agree with you that there is a demand for the other side of this.

00:40:57.500 But it is difficult for normal people who want to have a normal life to step in, to fill the

00:41:05.060 gap, to all of a sudden be, I guess, a best selling LGBTQ author, as Matt Walsh was initially

00:41:12.740 listed, because they will come for you.

00:41:15.140 They will cancel you.

00:41:15.920 They will ruin your life and paint you as a bigot.

00:41:18.500 So you have to be somebody who's willing to stand up for what you know is right and what

00:41:24.760 is wholesome and good and true to stand up for reality.

00:41:29.200 It's a radical thing to stand up for reality these days and not be scared.

00:41:36.400 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:41:37.840 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:41:39.220 I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week.

00:41:42.200 And remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

00:42:12.200 Keep it up.

00:42:16.100 See you next week.

00:42:18.460 Take care.

00:42:18.800 Bye.

00:42:19.200 Bye.

00:42:20.420 Bye.

00:42:23.500 Bye.

00:42:24.700 Bye.

00:42:25.180 Bye.

00:42:25.460 Bye.

00:42:26.140 Bye.

00:42:28.560 Bye.

00:42:33.200 Bye.

00:42:34.660 Bye.

00:42:35.000 Bye.

00:42:35.400 Bye.

00:42:36.960 Bye.

00:42:37.820 Bye.

00:42:38.760 Bye.

Rebel News Podcast - March 15, 2023

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Alberta posts a 10.3 billion-dollar budgetary surplus and the NDP are the hardest hit

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Transcript