Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ CBC has a Twitter tantrum but they actually need more warning labels

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, it's me, Sheila Gunn-Reed. I think you were probably expecting the melodious tunes of Ezra Levant, but he's off today and I'm filling in for him on the big show.

00:00:09.800 Now tonight my guest is Alex Dollywall. He's our Alberta-based news writer talking about how he was thrown out of the NDP press conference the other day.

00:00:19.840 Welcome to Rebel News, Alex. And then I'm discussing all the other ways that CBC gets taxpayer-funded money from you that you probably didn't know about.

00:00:31.260 It's not just the subsidy and it's not just their ad revenue. There's other ways that they reach into the pockets of Canadians, specifically this time to brainwash your kids.

00:00:39.800 Now, if you like listening to the show, and I think you do, you're probably going to love watching it, but in order to watch you need to be a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.

00:00:46.860 That's what we call our premium content here at Rebel News. You get access to Ezra's Nightly, Ezra Levant Show, my weekly gun show, as well as other premium content like our documentaries.

00:00:58.860 And you also get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, like the documentary content. There's some fun stuff.

00:01:08.900 If you want to see me chasing seagulls, make sure you become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. It's only $8 a month.

00:01:16.860 I think that's it. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Enjoy the show.

00:01:25.860 CBC has an absolute freak-out about being forced to acknowledge its funding sources while taking money from sources you may not know about.

00:01:42.320 Then-Rebel reporter Alex Dollywall joins us to talk about being thrown out of a press conference here in Alberta by the NDP.

00:01:49.860 It's April 19th, 2023. I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, but you're watching The Ezra Levant Show.

00:01:54.820 You're fighting for freedom! 0.90

00:01:58.120 Shame on you, you censorious bug!

00:02:01.260 The state broadcaster CBC is having a total meltdown about being appropriately labeled as state-funded media.

00:02:16.120 If you missed it, well, frankly, that's okay.

00:02:19.380 Because ratings indicate that it's basically a statistical rounding error of Canadians who consume CBC content on the regular.

00:02:26.020 Especially CBC's flagship news content.

00:02:30.040 No one watches the CBC.

00:02:32.280 I think maybe, maybe it's just grandparents who don't know how to change the channel after falling asleep watching Curling.

00:02:38.600 The best thing that grandkids can do for their grandparents these days is teach them how to use the remote control.

00:02:43.900 So that they can see and experience the world outside of the CBC, please, little kids.

00:02:48.400 This is the Lord's work. Listen to Auntie Sheila.

00:02:51.200 But back to the meltdown, which I think Ezra did a great job covering on Monday's show.

00:02:55.760 And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss, although, like, it kind of helps.

00:02:59.540 CBC went on a long Twitter diatribe about how they should not be considered government-funded media.

00:03:05.760 Because although they are, quite literally, government-funded media, to the tune of about 1.2, 1.3 plus billion dollars each year,

00:03:17.120 the CBC claims they should be let off on a technicality on this rule because Twitter's policy indicates that

00:03:22.780 government-funded media may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.

00:03:30.840 Not that it does, but it may.

00:03:33.240 And I think that's accurate for the CBC.

00:03:34.920 But, really, why the resistance to transparency, CBC?

00:03:40.040 You do take government money and a lot of it, and people should know that about you.

00:03:46.340 That government-funded, state-funded label should be slapped all over CBC content as though it were a cigarette warning label.

00:03:54.520 Careful before you consume.

00:03:57.020 Now, in response, the cry-bullies at CBC have decided that they are going to stop publishing content on Twitter.

00:04:02.240 To use a turn of phrase, my mom was famous for using, quit threatening me with a good time.

00:04:09.560 Now, apparently benevolent libertarian billionaire new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, continues to make Twitter a better place every single day, doesn't he?

00:04:19.760 Now, another tantrum thrown by the CBC stems from Elon Musk conceding that, okay, fine, CBC does get advertising dollars.

00:04:31.680 So, instead of just a plain government-funded label, they're going to get a label of being 69% government-funded.

00:04:40.940 It's a beautiful and epic troll of the sad sack subsidy gobblers at the state broadcaster.

00:04:47.540 It's really quite something to see.

00:04:49.840 Elon Musk is doing more to push the well-kept whiners at the CBC around and put them back in their place than the conservative opposition has ever done in this country,

00:05:01.160 even when the conservative opposition was in government.

00:05:04.600 It's gorgeous to see.

00:05:06.060 And it's good to remind the CBC that, while they're treated like some sort of national treasure by the establishment class here in Canada,

00:05:13.480 they're just some sickly little minnow swimming in somebody else's very big pond.

00:05:18.940 And in the grand scheme of things outside of Canada, they're quite inconsequential. 0.84

00:05:23.000 And it stings, it stings these people to hear it about themselves.

00:05:27.600 It's like a crucifix to a vampire to remind CBC just how nobody outside of Canada cares about them.

00:05:36.580 And the only reason we care about them in Canada is that we're forced to care about them because they keep taking all of our money.

00:05:42.820 Anyway, all of this whining and crying and gnashing of the teeth from the CBC inspired me to take a poke around

00:05:48.520 at some of the other ways that these people receive funding outside of the $1.3-ish billion in annual taxpayer subsidies

00:05:57.140 and that roughly 30 or 31% of their budget that they get in ad revenue that they scoop from private sector broadcasters.

00:06:05.900 Did you know that these absolute panhandlers at the CBC also take advantage of the Canadian media fund?

00:06:12.240 Did you even know there was a Canadian media fund?

00:06:14.860 It's just another subsidy vehicle for failing media companies.

00:06:18.960 It's normally not meant for the likes of the CBC, but that of course has not stopped the CBC from putting their grubby hands into that pot too.

00:06:27.360 And in this instance, the CBC reached into the Canadian media fund to create content to brainwash your kids.

00:06:33.780 Have you been to CBC kids lately?

00:06:35.560 Of course you're not because nobody has.

00:06:38.920 Nobody.

00:06:40.420 But if you haven't been there, let me explain it to you.

00:06:43.960 It's a cluttered feed of climate change nonsense, why Donald Trump is mean, why people should be allowed to just stroll across the border at Roxham Road,

00:06:51.460 why hockey players should wear pride jerseys, why pipelines are bad, and why you should confuse yourself with pronouns.

00:06:58.540 And it's all wrapped in kid-friendly colors.

00:07:01.040 It's targeted at other people's kids using other people's money to brainwash other people's kids into the political ideology of the liberals.

00:07:08.900 But the money CBC already receives to brainwash adults has not been quite adequate enough to brainwash the kids.

00:07:15.920 Now they need more.

00:07:17.660 This is why just last year, outside of all the subsidies that the CBC already receives and the ad dollars that they already get,

00:07:24.700 CBC received nearly a million dollars from the Canadian media fund specifically for CBC kids in two separate grants.

00:07:32.120 When for a quarter of a million dollars for what looks like video production and a second grant for $700,000 to, I guess,

00:07:41.180 maintain that very cluttered, kid-friendly social justice website.

00:07:46.780 Do you ever wonder how many hits that website gets after school hours?

00:07:50.320 You know, after social justice, brainwashing teachers are no longer on the clock directing youngsters to go to that page as some sort of credible resource.

00:07:57.700 How many kids are actually visiting that site on their own out of curiosity?

00:08:01.780 Or even better, how many parents are directing their kids to visit that site on their own?

00:08:05.740 Probably as many people watch the 6 o'clock news on the CBC, as in almost none.

00:08:11.840 Stay with us after the break.

00:08:13.060 Rebel News Alberta-based news writer Alex Dhaliwal joins us to discuss what it's like to not work for the CBC,

00:08:20.000 which means he got banned from an NDP press conference.

00:08:24.380 We'll be right back.

00:08:27.700 You know, it's tough out there for an independent journalist.

00:08:38.960 If you're not the CBC, you don't get preferential treatment.

00:08:42.280 You don't get subsidies.

00:08:43.320 You actually have to work to get access to the politicians so that you can hold them to account on behalf of the people.

00:08:49.380 And this week, when one of our Rebel News journalists was trying to do exactly that, his job, and ask politicians tough questions,

00:08:58.440 he was barred from reporting.

00:09:00.100 That happened to our journalist Alex Dhaliwal when he went to cover a Rachel Notley press conference.

00:09:07.000 Now, Rachel Notley, for those of you who don't know, and I don't know how you couldn't,

00:09:09.940 she was the former premier here in Alberta, and she's the leader of the official opposition.

00:09:16.720 She's an NDP socialist, and she doesn't like independent media.

00:09:21.860 She's got a long history of that, and she showed us that her history of barring journalists, it's being repeated in real time.

00:09:31.300 Take a look at this.

00:09:32.080 What kind of message does that send if the official opposition is telling Albertans which media can and can't ask questions?

00:09:45.860 I can't speak to that.

00:09:47.140 No, I understand you're just doing your job.

00:09:48.800 I can understand that, but I just came here to ask questions respectfully of the members opposite.

00:09:54.480 I'm not here to start trouble.

00:09:56.220 Neither is the gentleman that you were speaking to earlier.

00:09:59.100 So, I mean, what's the harm in asking questions?

00:10:04.500 I understand that.

00:10:05.540 Again, this is just, this area is what they've booked.

00:10:08.860 Yeah.

00:10:09.260 So I can't really.

00:10:10.520 Yeah.

00:10:12.860 And who exactly, who specifically said that certain members of the press can't?

00:10:18.340 I couldn't say that.

00:10:19.240 Couldn't say that?

00:10:19.980 Yeah.

00:10:21.280 Okay.

00:10:22.920 Well, that's unfortunate.

00:10:23.960 So joining me now is that journalist, Rebel News journalist, Alex Dollywall.

00:10:29.980 I guess I'm getting his initiation into being a Rebel News journalist.

00:10:36.600 Alex, how's it going?

00:10:37.500 Thanks for joining me.

00:10:38.620 Yeah.

00:10:38.800 Thank you, Sheila, for having me on the program.

00:10:40.340 It's my pleasure.

00:10:40.880 Um, and I say jokingly that that's your Rebel News initiation, but it really is.

00:10:48.380 Because back in 2016, I was thrown out of a press conference by Rachel Notley.

00:10:53.100 It was a joint press conference with her and Justin Trudeau at the legislature.

00:10:58.340 I'm a lifelong Albertan.

00:11:00.020 I'm an Alberta journalist.

00:11:01.320 I went there to ask some questions to hold these two politicians to account on behalf of the people.

00:11:06.880 And I was tossed out by an armed sheriff.

00:11:10.320 Now, at the time, most of the independent media in Alberta were actually leftists.

00:11:17.520 So I was sort of kind of new on the scene.

00:11:20.320 And, uh, they tossed me out.

00:11:22.260 Um, before I get to you, Alex, let's just show a clip of that right here.

00:11:30.280 I have my, we already spoke to Darcy Henton.

00:11:34.080 He said there should be no problem coming.

00:11:37.600 Sorry, why is that?

00:11:40.320 Sorry, why?

00:11:41.560 Now, Alex, we are, as I say, known for getting thrown out of things.

00:11:44.960 And it's not because of our bad behavior.

00:11:46.440 You couldn't have been calmer.

00:11:48.420 Um, what were you going there to do?

00:11:51.480 What was the press conference about?

00:11:53.220 So, uh, Sheila, the press conference really was about the NDP, uh, trying to make a ploy to why supporters should,

00:12:01.200 or why voters in the upcoming provincial election should vote for them versus the UCP.

00:12:06.640 Um, they intended to make some funding commitments and what they would do to address the vacancy rate in downtown Calgary.

00:12:13.380 Now, uh, one of the issues that we've seen exacerbated in recent weeks, particularly in the downtown core, is rampant crime.

00:12:22.660 Notably, we've seen a number of fatal shootings and stabbings.

00:12:26.200 Um, in, in particular, we saw a, uh, fatal shooting occur just outside of the Chinese consulate.

00:12:32.360 So, take that for what it's worth.

00:12:33.880 And my job, um, or I intended to go to the conference just to ask two simple questions.

00:12:40.760 One, what would the Alberta NDP do differently than the UCP?

00:12:44.520 Because if we're going to address the rampant wave crime that's hit, um, Canadians, uh, right across the board,

00:12:51.440 West Coast to East Coast, then surely we should be having these difficult conversations, regardless of partisan stripe.

00:12:57.580 And secondly, I was going to ask if Rachel Notley, leader of the Alberta NDP, would apologize on behalf of some of the anti-police rhetoric that some of her candidates have said in the past.

00:13:09.580 I'll give you a couple of examples here, Sheila.

00:13:11.420 So, um, NDP MLA, uh, Rod Loyola, he had made a Facebook post, um, about 2012, about a decade ago, where he said having a police badge in Edmonton is licensed to, quote-unquote, beat up people.

00:13:27.060 But here's the ticker.

00:13:29.980 Um, what we heard from Drew Farrell, a former Calgary City Councilwoman, was far worse.

00:13:35.420 What she said was that she wouldn't be surprised if suspected incidences of domestic violence within, uh, households of law enforcement, um, went underreported because, quote-unquote, police officers bring a sick rage with them to their households,

00:13:50.920 which is just mind-boggling to me why we would even attempt to demonize those who do their best to protect our communities and keep us safe.

00:14:01.540 Sure, we want to hold those who abuse the power accountable, but you can't have that honest conversation when you are demonizing an entire police force.

00:14:10.520 It's, it's just patently absurd to me, but, you know, it was unfortunate.

00:14:14.660 I never got to ask those questions because, you know, first of all, the NDP press briefer on Monday was delayed about 30 minutes.

00:14:22.580 Um, you know, myself, Kean Bexty from CounterSignal and Nigel Hannaford from Western Standard were there.

00:14:30.100 And while Nigel wasn't kicked out, um, Kean and I were.

00:14:34.080 Um, and, you know, I went quietly.

00:14:36.580 I did have a, you know, a conversation with the security guard.

00:14:40.360 Listen, hey, I'm not here to stir up trouble.

00:14:42.500 I'm here to just respectfully ask questions because as members of the free press, I think we have a right to ask those questions on behalf of not only our viewers, but on behalf of the broader public.

00:14:51.900 And it was unfortunate I didn't get to ask those questions.

00:14:54.540 And, you know, as we've seen through the video clip that I recorded, you know, it's, you know, this isn't just a one-off situation where independent journalists get booted out.

00:15:04.380 It's, you know, this has happened consistently, especially over the past five, six years where we've seen state-owned media be incentivized to essentially just propagate what the government wants them to do.

00:15:17.960 And when we, as independent journalists, want to present an alternative side of things, not necessarily a conservative spin on things, but an alternative side to the story, we're canceled for it.

00:15:28.560 And it just boggles my mind because we simply just want to add to the, we just want to add to the conversation, add those different perspectives so that we can have a more well-rounded discussion moving forward on serious issues.

00:15:41.980 But it doesn't seem like the NDP want to have that because they want to control the narrative rather than actually solve the issues at hand.

00:15:48.200 And, you know, what we saw on Monday was just evidence of that.

00:15:51.160 You know, I'm glad you mentioned the questions that you wanted to ask and the very real problems happening in the major cities here in Alberta.

00:15:59.780 And it does stem from progressive policies.

00:16:02.620 So you went there with real, clear, concise questions on issues that matter to Albertans.

00:16:09.540 We know what the UCP are doing to address crime in the downtown cores in both of our major cities.

00:16:14.780 They're deploying extra sheriffs to try to help, to try to get a handle on it.

00:16:18.980 But you wanted to know what the NDP would do and what they're going to do to address the anti-police rhetoric in their own party.

00:16:27.320 So you went there prepared with very real questions.

00:16:29.600 You weren't there to cause a scene.

00:16:31.220 We never are, actually.

00:16:33.040 Even when we're getting booted out, we're like, like, for example, when I got booted out, I think I apologized three times.

00:16:39.580 And I'm like, wait a minute, you're kicking me out.

00:16:42.400 We go there to do our jobs, to ask questions, to show that there is more than one homogenous viewpoint on all these issues.

00:16:50.980 And we weren't even given that opportunity.

00:16:53.040 You were not disruptive.

00:16:54.460 You were polite.

00:16:55.880 But the NDP didn't want to hear from you.

00:16:58.300 And I noticed Rachel Notley tweeting, I think it might have been yesterday or even early this morning, saying, oh, and here I am.

00:17:06.880 I took lots of questions from journalists.

00:17:09.580 Yeah, it's pretty easy to take lots of questions from journalists when you kick out all the prickly ones before they even get started.

00:17:15.840 And they accused the Western Standard, by the way, of being racist and sexist, I think.

00:17:22.400 I don't think they could have gotten away with accusing you of that for obvious reasons.

00:17:28.540 But, you know, they didn't even let you get in the door to ask those questions.

00:17:33.440 And you're so right to point out that, you know, we're not there to even push a conservative agenda.

00:17:39.020 We're just there to ask questions on behalf of the people who can't.

00:17:42.060 Yeah.

00:17:42.940 And, you know, I just want to state for the record that, you know, the conversation I did have with the security guard, you know,

00:17:49.140 I understand that he was just doing his job and I just want to say that I hold no grudges against him.

00:17:54.780 You know, he was just doing his job and wanted to make sure that the event that the NDP hadn't booked went smoothly.

00:18:01.080 But, you know, I did pose to him, you know, as members of the free press, why is it that we can't ask questions?

00:18:06.800 Is it because we're part of media that the NDP knows that they won't get softball questions from?

00:18:12.240 Is it media that they know they can't, you know, coerce into funneling a certain narrative?

00:18:19.140 The reason he gave to me was because the NDP had made a private booking and therefore I wasn't invited.

00:18:26.420 So naturally in a free society post-COVID, we can't ask those tough questions because we're not the right type of people,

00:18:35.840 right type of journalists to be asking questions because we can't be controlled in any which way.

00:18:41.260 You know, and I want to ask you, because obviously this happened in full view of other journalists,

00:18:48.120 or at least they were aware of what's happening.

00:18:51.260 I don't know how they couldn't be at this point.

00:18:54.000 I think it was in 2020, they had a witch trial for me and he and Bexie when he still worked for Rebel News. 1.00

00:19:00.140 The Legislature Press Gallery, they decided that we couldn't join their stupid little club and sit in their stupid little office with them and share their stupid little Wi-Fi. 0.99

00:19:11.100 So we went around them and got accredited through the Speaker's office because we don't think our competitors should control the monopoly on access to politicians at the legislature. 1.00

00:19:21.120 We don't work for them.

00:19:22.580 We work for the people of Alberta.

00:19:24.520 Yeah, I'm just curious, were, you know, like these people normally whine about mean tweets directed at them?

00:19:32.600 That's the big violence committed against them.

00:19:35.480 And they had been whining earlier about the current Premier, Daniel Smith, only taking one question and no follow-up

00:19:44.040 because how many times can people who work for the same companies ask the same questions to the same woman post-media CBC?

00:19:51.400 So they were whining.

00:19:54.180 They said there was an affront to democracy.

00:19:56.160 The NDP were whining about that, saying limiting questions is, you know, an attack on our democracy and the free press.

00:20:02.660 Any of these people have anything to say as you guys were shown the door or no? 0.99

00:20:06.640 No, not one said a goddamn thing. 0.92

00:20:10.700 And, you know, Kian and I and a – I forget the gentleman's name, but he's the reporter from – the columnist at the Calgary Sun. 0.98

00:20:21.340 Sorry, it's Rick Bell.

00:20:23.240 Rick Bell.

00:20:23.780 Yes.

00:20:24.040 I like Rick.

00:20:24.620 Rick.

00:20:25.240 Yeah, you know, he was really friendly with both Kian and I.

00:20:28.900 And it was nice that even though after everything that had happened, he was still, you know, willing to just approach us and just have a simple conversation.

00:20:37.000 You know, sometimes that's all it takes, you know, I get it.

00:20:39.860 We're all here to do a job.

00:20:41.220 And, you know, it's – you know, what really, I guess, pisses me off more than anything is not the lack of access, but the fact that a lot – many members of the press think we're not worthy of having a voice, not worthy of asking questions,

00:20:54.620 because it controls their monopoly on being able to control what information gets disseminated to the public or not.

00:21:02.000 And, you know, in light of what we're seeing with Bill C-11 being rammed through the Senate, it's alarming to see that in a secular democracy such as Canada that here we are in a post-COVID reality where certain content may be censored by the government

00:21:20.580 because it's deemed offensive or deemed as disseminating misinformation and disinformation, which Rebel News has been accused of, unfortunately, by dictator Trudeau himself.

00:21:31.540 So take that for what it's worth.

00:21:33.600 But it's – you know, it's just unfortunate that we just can't have a peaceful exchange of ideas.

00:21:37.680 That's all we want.

00:21:38.680 Yeah, that really is all we want, a civil exchange of ideas and a recognition that there is a diversity of viewpoints in this country.

00:21:49.220 These are people prattle on about diversity in the workplace and diversity of this and diversity of that.

00:21:55.660 But what they mean is checking identity boxes.

00:21:58.100 They really don't mean people holding different viewpoints peacefully in the same area as you.

00:22:03.520 You couldn't even be a conservative journalist in the room with Rachel Notley and those other journalists because Lord knows they would never take your question, as we saw with the treatment that the Western Standard received.

00:22:16.200 For you, even your mere presence was offensive to them.

00:22:20.040 And I think shame, shame on the mainstream media who really don't believe in press access at all.

00:22:26.780 They really don't.

00:22:27.600 They don't believe in the principles that they need to do their job.

00:22:32.940 They really don't.

00:22:34.160 I'm proud to say at Rebel News we believe that even the people we disagree with are entitled to human rights.

00:22:41.180 I'll give you an example of this.

00:22:43.820 There's a leftist journalist.

00:22:46.140 I guess you could call him that.

00:22:48.900 50-50 activist, 50-50 journalist.

00:22:53.280 I don't think we need to mention his name.

00:22:55.420 But he was kicked out of Jason Kenney's press conferences.

00:22:59.960 And you know what we did?

00:23:01.180 We provided to him our legal arguments that we'd submitted to what they called the Boyd Report.

00:23:09.440 That was when Rachel Notley kicked me out of the legislature in 2016. 1.00

00:23:13.700 There was an investigation and it was called the Boyd Report afterwards.

00:23:17.520 We gave him our legal arguments.

00:23:19.660 Just gave it to him. 0.98

00:23:21.500 He's an ingrate. 0.96

00:23:22.520 Didn't thank us. 0.63

00:23:23.520 Used him.

00:23:24.160 Fine and dandy.

00:23:24.860 Still is a vicious attacker of everything that we do here at Rebel News and of conservatives in general.

00:23:30.780 Fine, whatever.

00:23:32.260 But we care about freedom more than we dislike that little ingrate.

00:23:38.280 And, you know, I'm proud of that.

00:23:43.000 You know, you don't want to help your enemy all the time.

00:23:45.500 But in the interest of freedom, sometimes you do have to help your enemies.

00:23:50.620 And the other side just doesn't believe that at all.

00:23:54.480 They don't believe in freedom for people they disagree with.

00:23:57.060 Yeah, and, you know, it's a shame because I had a conversation with my buddy Terika not too long ago.

00:24:05.400 And, you know, I posed this idea to him that the only reason progressives or perhaps the far left side of that, of the progressive part of the Canadian politics,

00:24:17.580 the reason why they are so accepting of bringing so many immigrants to the country, you know, as being a son of immigrants who came from India, I say this with most compassion.

00:24:29.340 You know, the reason why they want so many people to come here is because, you know, they want to feed them all this nonsense about diversity, equity, inclusion,

00:24:37.700 which is just a bunch of left-wing puff words that really just make us feel good in the moment.

00:24:42.180 But in reality, it hides the ulterior motives that we're seeing currently, which is that they bring people over here that have faced incredible adversity in their own way

00:24:52.040 and come here and indoctrinate their kids into, you know, abandoning their faith, abandoning perhaps traditional values that many of them have,

00:25:02.260 and to push them into a corner where they have to accept and agree with in its entirety certain viewpoints.

00:25:10.620 And if they do not, then they're cancelled, they are marginalised, and in some cases, depending on your faith or your skin colour or orientation,

00:25:19.060 then you're considered a traitor to your kind, you're considered a traitor to your ethnic group.

00:25:24.980 And sort of this collectivist way of thinking is what has destroyed so many countries in the past,

00:25:31.080 and is partly the reason why my family left India as well, because of the religious and ethnic conflict there.

00:25:38.300 You know, that's unfortunately at a time where, you know, different groups weren't able to peacefully coexist.

00:25:44.600 We came to Canada thinking that would be possible, and it's unfortunate because the government here is picking winners and losers,

00:25:50.180 and even if you're part of a quote-unquote marginalised group, you're still cancelled because of your conservative viewpoints.

00:25:58.820 And, you know, just to point it out there, a lot of new immigrants are perhaps even more socially conservative than naturalised or Canadians who are born here

00:26:08.800 on many issues such as abortion, such as what they perceive as sin and what have you.

00:26:16.520 And so, not being able to have these conversations, you know, when it comes to freedom of speech and being able to practice their faith peacefully,

00:26:24.560 it's, you know, it's outrageous because that's what's going to happen when we see legislation such as Bill C-11,

00:26:30.220 when we see certain members of the press being kicked out.

00:26:33.660 You know, this is just the beginning of a downward trend to living in a quasi-authoritarian state, you know.

00:26:40.200 No, I agree with you, and it's funny because as you were speaking, I thought, you know,

00:26:44.460 sometimes these diversity quota goals are truly the bigotry of low expectations from the president.

00:26:49.740 Exactly.

00:26:50.760 You point out, rightly, that many new Canadians have overcome diversity just to get here,

00:26:56.220 and followed the rules, by the way, to get here.

00:26:58.700 And then the Liberals and Progressives think they can't integrate fully into Canadian society without special lowered expectations for them.

00:27:08.680 I think it reveals the bigotry of the other side.

00:27:12.140 Alex, thank you so much for your hard work trying to hold Rachel Notley to account.

00:27:17.440 I'm sure you'll be doing more of that on the campaign trail as we rapidly hurdle headfirst into the next election.

00:27:23.720 Please, Calgary, don't blow it for us.

00:27:26.700 And thank you for graciously undergoing your initiation into becoming a fully-fledged rebel news journalist by getting kicked out of a press conference.

00:27:37.580 Yeah, no, my pleasure, Sheila, and thank you for having me on the program.

00:27:41.560 Thanks.

00:27:42.340 Your letters to Ezra, or maybe Tamara, maybe David Menzies, up next after the break, unceremoniously read by me.

00:27:50.240 Stay with us.

00:27:50.860 You know, friends, I should have mentioned in my interview with Alex that if you want to stand with him and other independent journalists,

00:28:02.700 and if you want to send a message to Rachel Notley, I suggest you head on over to notleyisabully.com and sign the petition there,

00:28:10.640 and I promise you we're going to make sure that ends up on Rachel Notley's desk before the election.

00:28:15.040 We want to send a strong message to her that Albertans care about press freedom and holding our politicians to account, all politicians.

00:28:23.840 And let's make sure that petition is widely signed, because not only is it a message to Notley,

00:28:30.140 but it's also a message to the mainstream media that they should have done something to stand up for their competitors,

00:28:40.480 for their colleagues, for their peers, but instead they stood idly by

00:28:45.180 and let the free press in Alberta be stomped all over by a petty little hypersensitive wannabe tyrant named Rachel Notley. 1.00

00:28:57.880 Well, friends, this is also the portion of the show where we address your viewer feedback.

00:29:03.000 We read your letters.

00:29:04.740 And, you know, unlike the mainstream media, and I say it on all the shows that I host,

00:29:09.000 we actually care about what you think about the work that we do here at Rebel News,

00:29:12.100 because without you there is no Rebel News, we don't take a penny from Justin Trudeau.

00:29:16.160 So, it matters to us what our viewers think about the work that we do,

00:29:21.780 and we welcome constructive criticism, which I think is the point of the first letter.

00:29:27.540 Now, it's on Tamara Ugolini's monologue yesterday.

00:29:31.360 She talked about Justin Trudeau's ongoing attacks on free speech and the free press here in Canada.

00:29:39.520 And I think she did an excellent job, by the way.

00:29:41.560 Tamara is such a talent and such a help to me, but also to all of us here at Rebel News.

00:29:46.940 Very level-headed, very smart, very analytical.

00:29:49.780 Tyson writes, 0.97

00:29:50.500 You know me, I'm a big fan, but tonight's show sucked. 0.97

00:29:54.960 You just would not stop showing replays of Trudeau being a turd. 0.99

00:29:59.080 Yes, we get it. He sucks. 1.00

00:30:00.460 Way too much of that. 1.00

00:30:01.760 Why are you ruining my evening?

00:30:03.280 I literally turned the show off.

00:30:05.120 Just honest feedback.

00:30:05.900 Well, you know what, Tyson?

00:30:08.280 I don't know if you know, but Tamara didn't know that you would be watching.

00:30:12.780 But I appreciate your feedback, and I know that it can be a bit much watching Justin Trudeau.

00:30:18.260 I know, since it's my job to watch Justin Trudeau.

00:30:21.440 But I think it is important to always, always show how bad he is.

00:30:26.840 Because the mainstream media just won't.

00:30:29.980 If a conservative had said just a smidge of what Justin Trudeau said that you took umbrage with last night, you would never hear the end of it.

00:30:41.740 It would be on a loop on all the mainstream media outlets.

00:30:45.400 But they don't show Justin Trudeau because he is their sugar daddy.

00:30:50.100 And that's it.

00:30:50.980 So while it might be uncomfortable to hear things that you don't want to hear, it's the God's honest truth, and people deserve to see it all laid out for you in a neat, tidy little monologue like what Tamara showed you last night.

00:31:06.320 Now, on the flip side, Alan R. Wallace writes, Tamara Ugolini was an excellent host for The Ezra Levant Show.

00:31:13.060 Yeah, I know.

00:31:14.080 I agree.

00:31:14.540 Hey, she's calm, well composed, and asks pertinent questions.

00:31:17.520 All the best.

00:31:17.960 Yeah, she's excellent.

00:31:19.300 Alan, I agree with you.

00:31:20.780 I also echo Tyson's sentiment that Justin Trudeau can be a bit much.

00:31:24.380 But Alan, I think Tamara did an excellent job laying it all out for us.

00:31:29.040 Now, more letters.

00:31:30.800 This one's on Ezra's interview with Franco Teresano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:31:35.680 I believe that was Monday's show.

00:31:38.520 Matthias W. writes, two issues of correction on the interview with Franco of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:31:42.980 I'm pretty sure I heard Franco say that the PSAC, that's the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the major federal public sector union, was asking for 45%, not 4.5%, unless my audio is bad.

00:31:55.800 The second number is closer to the truth.

00:31:57.540 They're asking for 13.5% over the past three years.

00:32:01.300 That's an enormous amount of money in a very bad economy.

00:32:04.780 And we're initially counter-offered 8.2% over four years, but the final offer was 9% over three years, reportedly.

00:32:10.780 Here's where we get into the rub.

00:32:14.380 Now, as a private industry worker, I'm okay with the higher number.

00:32:19.620 I received range adjustments of 2 plus 2 plus 3.5 plus 3.5% over the past three years, plus this current year.

00:32:29.660 Okay, well, that's the thing.

00:32:31.540 Your company can bear your raise.

00:32:33.940 Canada's broke.

00:32:34.700 We're spending out of control.

00:32:37.260 And there used to be a trade-off with the public sector that they were to make a little less money than the private sector.

00:32:43.160 Not see those enormous raises that sometimes in good times you can see in the private sector.

00:32:48.600 And the trade-off was job security and benefits.

00:32:51.780 But that trade-off has long since gone.

00:32:53.800 They're getting everything now and everything that the people who pay their salaries cannot get because the people who pay their salaries live in a completely different reality.

00:33:04.700 Anyway, let's go on.

00:33:06.240 Second, even though the PBO, that's the Parliamentary Budget Office, said the average public service wage is 125,000.

00:33:13.520 That's not these 120,000 PSAC workers who average 40,000 to 65,000.

00:33:19.760 Not sure about the 35,000 CRA workers.

00:33:22.260 Holy heck, that's a lot of tax collectors.

00:33:23.960 Some of these folks in the public sector are getting a lot of money to give up that $25,000 average, but not this group.

00:33:35.780 Okay, hang on for a second here.

00:33:37.580 I'm under the impression, by the way, that PSAC is shoehorning the part-time workers' numbers into that to artificially drive down the average wage of the workers.

00:33:47.280 They're playing fast and loose with the numbers.

00:33:49.900 This small group of strikers, well, it's not a small group, is not likely to put extra inflationary pressure on areas other than in Ottawa.

00:33:58.240 What are you talking about?

00:34:00.720 And even the max demand is still behind the inflation of the past two years.

00:34:04.060 In this case, I'm on the union side.

00:34:06.580 I'm not.

00:34:06.980 Although I know there are really excellent union workers, people who do a really good job working for the government.

00:34:13.120 My friend's mom is one of them.

00:34:14.720 And she's sort of been getting screwed around by this.

00:34:17.720 There are a lot of good people who are striking because their union wants them to strike and not because they want to.

00:34:25.420 But there are a lot of union demands here.

00:34:28.000 And I read the demands.

00:34:29.180 I'm not sure if you did.

00:34:30.940 That are completely outrageous and insane.

00:34:33.400 And I don't think struggling Canadians, the average Canadian family who is maybe deciding to take Chrystia Freeland's advice and cancel their Disney Plus because they can't afford it or are struggling with the extra 10 cents a liter that the carbon tax has added to the price of fuel just to get to work.

00:34:58.160 I think it's time that the public sector faces the reality that everybody else does.

00:35:02.640 And Matthias, I don't know if you're in Alberta or not, but when the economy takes a hit, we sure feel it here in Alberta.

00:35:10.240 It's hundreds of layoffs in the oil patch and it's just life.

00:35:15.080 I don't like it.

00:35:16.080 I don't like how government policies encourage it, but it's how it goes.

00:35:20.420 When the economy takes a hit, I'm sure it would be nice if the public sector...

00:35:23.640 I don't like the idea of people getting laid off, but it would be nice if they at least would recognize that there are two different Canadas, a private sector and a public sector one.

00:35:38.520 And they both, to use Justin Trudeau's language, experience things differently.

00:35:43.020 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:35:45.660 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:35:47.400 I'll see everybody back here.

00:35:48.760 No, I won't.

00:35:49.900 Maybe?

00:35:50.300 No, I don't know who's hosting tomorrow.

00:35:51.860 I was just going to close up this show as though it were my own, but it's not.

00:35:55.400 This is Ezra's show.

00:35:56.380 I don't know who's hosting tomorrow night, but someone will be here for you.

00:36:00.540 Thanks to everybody in the office in Toronto for bearing with me as the first version of the show I sent in was a bit of a catastrophe and I had to re-film anyway.

00:36:08.520 Anyway, we saved the day or rather they did.

00:36:12.820 And as always, everybody at home, as Ezra Levant always says, keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - April 19, 2023

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ CBC has a Twitter tantrum but they actually need more warning labels

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