Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Danielle Smith restores transparency on MLA expenses

00:00:00.000 I think the swamp in Edmonton is trying to undermine Premier Daniel Smith with this latest expense scandal.

00:00:08.420 I'll explain. Today I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:30.000 Breaking news here in Alberta. Premier Danielle Smith is back from her trade mission in Mexico and she is speaking up on this issue over whether or not government officials need to post their receipts online when they spend taxpayers' money.

00:00:46.880 She was participating in the Alberta Next panel just outside of Edmonton last night and she was asked about this. Listen to this.

00:00:55.960 I just want to ask you one quick thing about taxes and transparency.

00:01:00.000 A lot of tax waste in the federal government. I just heard this week that we have removed the transparency on the internet for Alberta government for over $100. Could you please be responsible to taxpayers or explain why?

00:01:17.220 I can't because I'm confused by that too. So we're going to be discussing that memo when we go to Cabinet on Tuesday.

00:01:25.440 The issue that Cabinet discussed was that there are a number of my ministers who go to the same hotels when they're frequenting different municipalities and they just wanted the name of the hotel redacted just in case people were tracking them down.

00:01:43.560 That was what the policy was supposed to be. It turned out to be something quite different.

00:01:47.080 So we're going to see if we can maybe try to track down how that happened and do a reversal on that.

00:01:53.040 Excellent.

00:01:53.380 So there you have it straight from Premier Daniel Smith. She said that she too was confused by this result.

00:02:00.320 And frankly, that move on August 1st was super confusing.

00:02:04.700 For people who don't know, up until August 1st, Alberta has had a very strong transparency rule when it comes to the government spending taxpayers' money using basically the taxpayer credit card.

00:02:17.820 Meaning, if they pull out the taxpayer credit card and they spend more than $100, that receipt is proactively disclosed.

00:02:25.900 It is posted on the internet for everybody to see.

00:02:29.660 So that's really important because details on those receipts matter.

00:02:34.860 It matters to taxpayers if their money is being spent on a Taco Tuesday special or a lobster steak dinner.

00:02:42.660 It matters to taxpayers if their money is being used to rent a Toyota Corolla or a Corvette.

00:02:49.600 Okay, so details on receipts matter and it has been the rule, standard operating procedure since 2012 in Alberta, thanks in part to the work from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation back then.

00:03:03.980 It has been the rule since then that they have to proactively disclose it.

00:03:08.360 And then this strange, quiet change was made on August 1st, just a few weeks ago.

00:03:16.380 August 1st was the Friday before a long weekend.

00:03:19.720 And somebody went into the policy and changed it and deleted the requirement to post receipts.

00:03:27.700 That is not going to fly.

00:03:30.080 And so it's really interesting now that we have Premier Smith back in the province and she answered this question right away.

00:03:36.780 The good news is, this is going to be reversed on Tuesday.

00:03:42.500 We are going to put our stringent transparency law back in place.

00:03:48.080 You know, Alberta is a leader when it comes to things like grassroots democracy.

00:03:54.620 We have got recall legislation at the provincial, municipal and school board level here in Alberta.

00:04:03.160 Yeah, you can fire all those folks in between elections. 0.99

00:04:06.860 That's a really big deal.

00:04:08.760 We have referendums, okay?

00:04:10.880 We have the Taxpayer Protection Act, which prevents a sales tax, which prevents tax hikes.

00:04:17.900 People would need to vote for things like that.

00:04:20.380 And we also have really good government spending transparency laws.

00:04:26.080 We all have to stay vigilant to make sure it stays that way.

00:04:30.560 That right there is my friend Chris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation explaining changes to the expense reporting rules in Alberta

00:04:41.560 that happened on a strange day at a strange time and was reported by a strange news outlet.

00:04:49.100 How did that all happen?

00:04:50.360 And how did Chris, I think, single-handedly, by and large, fix this mess by raising sweet holy hell?

00:05:00.740 Now, I should point out, she didn't do it alone.

00:05:03.380 She had a lot of help.

00:05:04.640 Her tax-fighting army of friends and supporters from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation mobilized.

00:05:10.980 And, you know, in an act that might be unsettling for people in other parts of the country,

00:05:19.200 the United Conservative government in Alberta seems to be responsive to the criticism and may be adjusting course.

00:05:29.260 Now, joining me now in an interview we recorded Monday to explain all of this

00:05:35.360 and what she anticipates may happen and how it all came to be is my friend Chris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:05:42.880 Take a listen.

00:05:50.640 Joining me now is good friend of the show and my personal good friend Chris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:05:56.360 She's the Alberta director, and I got to tell you, Chris did something quite incredible last week.

00:06:02.880 She noticed something wrong.

00:06:04.940 She raised sweet holy hell. 1.00

00:06:07.560 And then she forced the government to re-examine what was happening.

00:06:12.440 Chris, I'm going to give you the floor because, well, you will explain this the way nobody else can,

00:06:18.440 but you saw a change in how the government was reporting expenses of MLAs,

00:06:24.500 and you thought, hey, that ain't right, made a lot of trouble,

00:06:28.700 and now you have the government blanking on this.

00:06:31.100 Tell us all about it.

00:06:32.380 Yeah, this is a really weird one here in Alberta.

00:06:34.820 So, for rebel viewers and gun show viewers, especially those of us here in Alberta,

00:06:39.540 you probably already know that here in Alberta,

00:06:42.220 we have got one of the strongest transparency laws when it comes to government spending your money.

00:06:47.800 Up until, like, a second ago, if a government muckety-muck,

00:06:52.400 so a cabinet minister or some high-ranking senior official, blah, blah, blah,

00:06:56.860 takes out the taxpayer credit card, spends more than $100,

00:07:00.420 they then have to post that receipt on the internet for everybody to see.

00:07:06.080 Now, they don't need to tweet it out on their personal account or anything,

00:07:09.080 but they have to take a screenshot or the actual physical receipt, give it to their staff,

00:07:13.700 their staff sends it through the process,

00:07:15.480 and every month or so, they are proactively disclosed, is the fancy term.

00:07:20.720 So, that means that you, me, all of your listeners, all of your viewers,

00:07:25.940 anybody could go look up to see what that cabinet minister spent on what kind of dinner and what date.

00:07:32.600 That is excellent transparency because it's taxpayers' money.

00:07:36.660 So, it isn't just an amount.

00:07:38.800 There's a difference between your cabinet minister renting a Corolla or a Corvette on your dime.

00:07:45.760 People might remember, do you remember a $16 glass of orange juice?

00:07:49.420 Yep.

00:07:50.080 Right?

00:07:50.640 If that had simply said breakfast, that would have been no story at all.

00:07:55.700 But because it had that detail in it that sticks in people's minds, and it's super important to have.

00:08:01.540 So, up until a second ago, anybody around the world could go find out what Alberta politicians

00:08:07.820 and their staff and bureaucrats were spending their taxpayer dollars on without having to file a Freedom of Information request,

00:08:15.980 which incurs a fee, and then you need to wait around forever for the documents.

00:08:20.100 Okay?

00:08:20.280 Then, rewind, 6 a.m. last Monday morning, who has this strange spending issue story?

00:08:30.820 The CBC out of Edmonton.

00:08:33.380 Can I just stop you right here?

00:08:34.880 Yeah.

00:08:35.300 Because since when do they care?

00:08:36.720 Since when are they fiscal hawks on the travel expenses of MLAs?

00:08:42.160 They're not, this story was leaked to them, and I'm saying this, not you, to be specifically damaging to the government.

00:08:50.900 So, the timeline and who said what when is super important.

00:08:55.080 So, thank you, Sheila.

00:08:55.840 I think your viewers and listeners are smarter than the average bear.

00:08:59.700 So, let's start digging into it.

00:09:01.700 So, I'm like, huh, that's really weird.

00:09:04.720 Why would the Alberta government suddenly change the proactive disclosure laws,

00:09:10.660 meaning they're just deleting the requirement for a receipt?

00:09:13.740 So, I wanted to make sure it was true, okay, considering the source, okay?

00:09:18.940 Right.

00:09:19.660 Plus, you should always verify.

00:09:21.320 It's always a good practice, no matter where you are in journalism, left, right, middle, whatever, robot.

00:09:26.600 Always go check and make sure that the original sources are correct, because sometimes mistakes do happen.

00:09:32.160 So, trust but verify.

00:09:33.420 Okay.

00:09:34.000 So, I went and verified it.

00:09:35.740 Yeah, sure enough, on August 1st, which is the Friday before the August long weekend,

00:09:42.360 they went into the policy and deleted the little sentence that says, you have to provide a receipt.

00:09:48.380 So, I'm like, okay, let's find out what the heck's going on here.

00:09:52.820 So, I contact all the official channels through the Alberta government, go through their media line.

00:09:57.800 I send them an email at like 8.30 a.m., okay, like before 9 a.m., saying, what the hell are you guys doing?

00:10:05.400 Is this true?

00:10:06.500 Who did this?

00:10:07.520 Why did you guys do this?

00:10:08.840 I need verification here.

00:10:10.760 Nothing.

00:10:11.920 All day.

00:10:13.100 Crickets.

00:10:13.920 Nothing back.

00:10:14.520 I even tried sending a couple text messages.

00:10:17.140 Still nothing, which was super weird.

00:10:19.960 So, I'm like, all right, saddle up.

00:10:21.600 So, we sent out a news release.

00:10:23.280 I put out a video saying, no, Alberta has got some of the strongest transparency and accountability laws for taxpayers, like in North America.

00:10:33.220 Yep.

00:10:33.700 That is not changing.

00:10:35.460 Like, nobody wants this.

00:10:37.320 Fix this crap right now.

00:10:38.760 I didn't say it quite that way, but, you know, said it nicely.

00:10:41.860 Still nothing.

00:10:42.580 Finally, Sheila, Monday evening, after 7 p.m., I get this emailed response from the media person in Alberta.

00:10:52.120 They gave me two reasons for this change, and I just needed to spring them on you because they're almost funny.

00:10:58.960 One was for safety reasons.

00:11:01.520 The other was because they don't have enough room on government computers to keep all this data anymore.

00:11:08.740 Would you buy that?

00:11:09.960 You know what?

00:11:11.620 I hate government spending, but let's spring for some hard drives.

00:11:15.000 You know, I saw some on sale at Best Buy.

00:11:17.660 I can bring them up myself next time I'm in Edmonton.

00:11:20.300 Just saying.

00:11:22.120 I'll try and fund them.

00:11:23.380 If that's the holdup, we know how to do that.

00:11:26.440 This was exactly my response.

00:11:29.400 It felt like, you know, back when my kids were little, if I asked them if they'd brush their teeth.

00:11:35.760 They have not brushed their teeth.

00:11:37.580 The toothbrush ain't wet.

00:11:39.600 Okay?

00:11:41.260 I did not just fall off the turnip truck.

00:11:43.600 This is not working.

00:11:44.980 And so I replied nicely saying, yeah, that's not going to cut it for our supporters.

00:11:49.620 Like, no, you're going to have to come up with a better reason and or get rid of this right now.

00:11:55.120 Like, right absolutely now.

00:11:56.860 So that timeline is super important.

00:11:59.980 Then we start getting messages from the government about a day or so later, around Tuesday, Wednesday, saying a few things.

00:12:09.140 One, that the premier was away when this happened.

00:12:15.020 Two, that some of her senior staff were away on vacation August 1st when this happened.

00:12:21.340 I actually know that to be a fact because I was trying to contact some of her senior staff about other issues like budget stuff.

00:12:28.460 And they were, like, out of office, out of cell phone range, etc.

00:12:31.040 And three, that there were some within the upper levels of the government food chain that were super unhappy about this.

00:12:40.920 I believe it.

00:12:42.280 I believe it, too.

00:12:43.440 The big one was, is they were going to review this, like, really quick.

00:12:48.840 And then we had Premier Danielle Smith, who, by the way, just got back from a huge trade mission to Mexico. 0.82

00:12:55.440 I mean, she has been on the road a lot.

00:12:57.540 We had her get back on Wednesday. 0.98

00:13:00.460 I think it was Wednesday evening.

00:13:02.520 Quick as a fiddle.

00:13:03.520 She was right out there on one of those Alberta Next panels, apparently getting cussed at, which I didn't know. 0.79

00:13:09.040 Oh, the abuse of her from, I mean, I watched that online and just the abuse hurled at her. 1.00

00:13:17.440 If she were a Liberal MP, there would be a national inquiry into the misogynistic abuse being hurled at her. 1.00

00:13:25.780 But she's a Conservative, so her politics are wrong. 1.00

00:13:28.320 So her skin has to be a little thicker. 0.99

00:13:30.040 And it is, to her credit.

00:13:31.680 But a lot of it came from the Lukasik petition types.

00:13:36.220 Okay.

00:13:37.160 You know, like, how dare you even hold these sorts of meetings?

00:13:40.320 You know, the ones that they're attending.

00:13:42.040 Right.

00:13:42.780 So anyway.

00:13:44.420 Carry on.

00:13:44.980 It's fine for them.

00:13:46.400 And so, thankfully, somebody did stand up and ask her a polite question.

00:13:50.620 Which, by the way, I'm just going to say, I wouldn't speak to Rachel Notley that way.

00:13:55.020 No.

00:13:55.400 Like, I wouldn't.

00:13:56.140 Like, just, guys, when you're at a panel like that, like, be polite.

00:14:01.160 Be as firm as heck, okay?

00:14:02.520 Because they are politicians.

00:14:03.440 You're spending your money.

00:14:04.420 Don't swear.

00:14:05.420 Don't get personal.

00:14:06.520 Because you sound like a complete jerk.

00:14:08.800 And normal people will tune you out.

00:14:11.180 Right.

00:14:11.380 Because they don't want to be around you either.

00:14:13.100 So just quick pro tip.

00:14:14.900 So it doesn't, and it takes away from your point.

00:14:17.600 Like, nobody listens to your point because it sounds like it's coming from a crazy person.

00:14:22.160 Yes.

00:14:22.900 You know, and I've been known to drop the odd F-bomb in my own time.

00:14:27.380 But one of the first things that Ezra taught me when I became a journalist was, it's unnecessary.

00:14:33.380 It is.

00:14:33.920 It doesn't help with your point.

00:14:35.400 It doesn't.

00:14:36.380 He's so polite, even when he's getting ganged up on with people.

00:14:39.940 Okay.

00:14:40.540 So somebody did stand up.

00:14:42.280 No, it's really pertinent.

00:14:43.380 And so somebody did stand up and say, um, hi, you know, I'm worried about taxpayer accountability.

00:14:49.340 Could you explain what is going on with your changes to this taxpayer transparency thing with the receipts, no longer posting them?

00:14:56.960 Can you explain this?

00:14:58.280 And the premier answered to paraphrase, no, I can't, because I was confused by it too.

00:15:05.180 What I meant to happen was this.

00:15:07.560 Say somebody, again, I'm paraphrasing, say a cabinet minister goes to a certain place in Alberta frequently.

00:15:12.740 I'll just pick on Red Deer, for example.

00:15:15.400 And they stay at the same physical hotel a lot.

00:15:18.760 Some people were concerned about people knowing that location.

00:15:22.460 So can we like white out like the name of the hotel?

00:15:26.300 We're spending about the same amount of money anyway.

00:15:28.900 Just white out the name of the hotel on that receipt.

00:15:31.360 Right.

00:15:31.600 And I get that.

00:15:32.640 After seeing what I saw watching the Alberta Next live stream, I'm like, there are some people who probably shouldn't know where your local conservative politician is.

00:15:42.040 Right now.

00:15:42.840 Staying.

00:15:43.420 That's totally, every decent person understands that.

00:15:47.080 I get that.

00:15:47.560 That's fine.

00:15:48.700 We still get to know how much you spent.

00:15:50.660 Okay.

00:15:51.160 And this doesn't apply when you're going overseas.

00:15:53.180 If you're staying at, you know, the London muckety-muck place, if you're going to England, we're going to find out about that.

00:15:58.120 I want to know about your $6,000 a night hotel room.

00:16:00.980 You do.

00:16:02.060 Which, of course, the prime minister stayed in, and we had to wrench it out of him using FOI, and they released it when Joe Biden was visiting in town to try to create cover fire.

00:16:11.120 Okay.

00:16:11.580 So that answer coming from the premier was excellent because she said they are going to, quote, reverse it at the cabinet meeting, which is happening tomorrow, Tuesday.

00:16:23.400 So this whole storm took up about a week.

00:16:28.460 At the end of it, people were asking me, between us girls, I don't think the premier knew about this.

00:16:34.360 No, I don't think so either.

00:16:36.180 Yeah.

00:16:36.680 Right?

00:16:36.940 So for two reasons.

00:16:38.540 One, I've been in the game for a long time, like 25 years.

00:16:42.260 First, I have noticed that the situation of when the cat's away, the mice will play definitely happens.

00:16:50.580 So premier has been out of town.

00:16:52.360 And two, the second less personal reason, because, you know, this just doesn't fit her shtick, right?

00:16:57.680 She's always been about, you know, transparency and stuff.

00:17:00.400 So that's kind of her thing, being a former Wild Rose leader.

00:17:05.020 Second is that this just doesn't work.

00:17:08.860 Right.

00:17:09.540 There's no upside to this.

00:17:10.820 It's only backfire you're going to get from this.

00:17:13.880 Like it's a dumb communications move.

00:17:17.000 Right.

00:17:17.140 So there's zero gain here.

00:17:19.360 So for those two reasons, I don't think that this was something spearheaded by the premier.

00:17:24.040 At the end of the day, though, it doesn't matter.

00:17:26.480 All taxpayers care about is that they're fixing this.

00:17:29.160 And we will always get proactive disclosure from the government.

00:17:32.340 I don't care how they fix it, how they climb out of that tree.

00:17:35.460 Could be a golden ladder.

00:17:36.540 Could be them falling on their butts.

00:17:37.840 I don't care.

00:17:38.680 But they need to fix it.

00:17:39.940 They need to reverse it.

00:17:41.560 Yeah.

00:17:41.820 And I'll give you a third reason why I think this had nothing to do with her.

00:17:45.040 And that was the leak to the CBC at six o'clock in the morning.

00:17:48.200 That was designed specifically to sabotage the premier.

00:17:52.100 And you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to think that way.

00:17:57.060 How did that information get out at 6am to unfriendly to the premier news source, except for somebody unfriendly to the premier sending it out the door?

00:18:09.480 I am a pattern recognizer.

00:18:11.360 I'll tell you a personal anecdote.

00:18:16.520 I told it to you off air, but I'll share it with the viewers.

00:18:19.600 My MLA during the dark days of the NDP years, Jessica Littlewood.

00:18:26.560 God, I wonder what she's doing these days. 1.00

00:18:28.340 No, I don't actually.

00:18:29.000 You probably don't want to know.

00:18:29.800 I don't care.

00:18:30.520 It's probably some job in the public sector where she's just continuing to live off the public purse. 1.00

00:18:38.020 But she, look, I don't live near the city, but in the grand scheme of rural Canada, I live relatively close to the city.

00:18:50.760 And she, I think, I think she lived in Fort Saskatchewan.

00:18:55.840 So it's a hop, skip and a jump if you live in the fort to get up the Manning Freeway and down to the legislature.

00:19:01.900 That woman claimed $35,000 in kilometers, $35,000 worth of kilometers. 0.56

00:19:11.960 I think the news broke in 2018.

00:19:14.160 And the only reason the taxpayer knew about this was thanks to the transparency in reporting.

00:19:21.320 Otherwise, you would have been like, where did she go?

00:19:24.380 Like to the moon and back.

00:19:26.820 Do we have business on the moon we don't know about?

00:19:29.660 Hopefully they're mining for stuff.

00:19:31.220 I don't know.

00:19:32.680 It's sort of a large riding, but not really.

00:19:36.580 Like where, you know, to veg your villain back.

00:19:38.840 I mean, again, add another half an hour into your travel time.

00:19:42.240 There's no possible way she could have run up those kilometers.

00:19:45.280 She is taking advantage of the taxpayer. 0.99

00:19:46.900 And it was only found through transparency and reporting.

00:19:50.360 And that's how important it is.

00:19:51.900 It's not just to hold the conservatives to account.

00:19:54.460 It's to hold everybody to account.

00:19:55.680 It keeps them honest.

00:19:56.560 You know, if you know that someone is going to look at everything that you write down and claim back, you'll think twice before you write it down and claim it back every time.

00:20:07.480 This is exactly it.

00:20:09.160 So interesting, especially for your viewers who know people who are in the arena, as we say.

00:20:16.020 So this all blew up back in 2012.

00:20:18.480 So we've had this level of exposure, this level of transparency for government spending, although we need to see the receipts, bring the receipts, folks, since 2012.

00:20:27.920 Back then, Derek Fildebrandt was the Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:20:34.120 And an MLA by the name of Thomas Lukasik had gone over to Europe and to Israel and somehow racked up like more than $20,000 in cell phone bills.

00:20:48.260 Right.

00:20:48.480 He did not click the Rogers Rome-like home.

00:20:51.780 That just sounds like, you know, a nightmare, right?

00:20:54.980 Yeah.

00:20:55.400 Absolute nightmare.

00:20:56.260 And it was over this huge rigmarole, okay?

00:21:00.120 Back then, he was part of the PC government, okay?

00:21:03.460 He was part of that umbrella.

00:21:05.020 He was an MLA under that party.

00:21:07.020 He's now an independent.

00:21:08.220 And it was this huge explosion.

00:21:10.200 And again, over $20,000 in cell phone, that's crazy pants. 0.99

00:21:13.340 So the Taxpayers Federation and other people were saying we need better transparency.

00:21:18.940 And so the CTF fought to have proactive disclosure of receipts.

00:21:25.360 And to see this try to slip through on a Friday before an August-long weekend, like, it's on, like, Donkey Kong.

00:21:31.540 We are not letting this happen.

00:21:33.580 So we're waiting now to see what happens on Tuesday's meeting.

00:21:38.540 Sheila, I would love to be a Vaz on the table. 1.00

00:21:41.380 Oh, yes.

00:21:42.820 Oh, for sure.

00:21:44.500 I really want to know, like, who did this?

00:21:47.940 Like, I don't have to know, but I'd really like to.

00:21:49.940 I'm sorry, but I love a good witch hunt.

00:21:51.580 I don't listen to true crime podcasts for an hour every night when I'm out running.

00:21:56.760 So that I don't use what I've learned to go on a good witch hunt for a leaker?

00:22:01.300 Come on.

00:22:02.500 You don't use it to keep running so you outpace the serial killer who's following you?

00:22:06.840 Do you know what?

00:22:07.600 That's a side effect.

00:22:08.720 It's so funny because I'll run after dinner and I'm like, oh, I'm digesting the news of the day plus my food.

00:22:15.700 You know, the horrors of the internet.

00:22:17.060 I'm trying to get that out of my mind and digest it.

00:22:19.480 And my best distraction is a serial killer because I feel like I can understand that more than what's happening in the world.

00:22:28.900 I use true crime, especially past true crime, because they can't get me anymore because the person who did it was dead or, you know, because they're in the United States. 0.86

00:22:37.760 So they're actually in jail, which is kind of novel.

00:22:40.660 So I do that, too.

00:22:42.860 I just distract myself from some of the craziness during the day with because it's all so detailed.

00:22:47.540 Anyway, sorry to get off track, but we can do a really good true crime podcast.

00:22:50.960 I think we just caused a spinoff.

00:22:52.920 Oh, my goodness.

00:22:53.620 I need to talk to somebody about the mushroom case in Australia.

00:22:57.220 And I start taking over the evening staff meetings with the Australian team, with Avi, and who helps them here?

00:23:04.940 Because I'm like, we've got to talk about this.

00:23:06.620 Why do I know more about this than you?

00:23:08.120 And it's the weird laws in Australia.

00:23:10.840 But anyways, I'm getting off track.

00:23:12.760 Sorry.

00:23:13.100 One thing.

00:23:13.660 I know that you are busy because you have to go into your very next thing.

00:23:17.000 And we'll talk about that before we let you go.

00:23:18.400 But you have, excuse me, you have movement to get Alberta carbon tax free.

00:23:26.340 Tell us about this.

00:23:27.720 Yes.

00:23:28.380 And this pains me.

00:23:30.380 Me, too.

00:23:31.480 But for some silly reason, we have got an Alberta industrial carbon tax.

00:23:37.240 Like, yeah, I know.

00:23:38.740 I'm surprised.

00:23:39.340 We can't complain about Mark Carney's industrial upstream carbon tax if we have one of our own.

00:23:45.260 Yep.

00:23:45.880 That's how this works.

00:23:47.320 So I need all of, like, the rebel team and Sheila's team and all the tax fighters who are listening to send a firm, but I mean it, polite email to the premier.

00:23:59.280 Don't be a jerk.

00:23:59.340 Don't be a jerk, please.

00:24:00.460 Because it just gives everybody a bad name.

00:24:01.760 Why? Because we know she listens.

00:24:03.440 Yeah, we do.

00:24:03.900 We just learned that right now.

00:24:06.140 If people put the pressure on her and do it in the most, you know, cheeky way that you did, because you were, like, really driving the change to get them to change back on the expense disclosures.

00:24:20.140 But you did it in a, it doesn't even have to be friendly.

00:24:24.820 It just has to be respectful.

00:24:26.480 Yeah.

00:24:26.600 And they will respond.

00:24:28.040 And I think that's why what you're doing is so great.

00:24:30.200 Yeah.

00:24:30.480 And I think, honestly, giving somebody the benefit of the doubt.

00:24:33.140 Sure.

00:24:33.820 It's underrated nowadays.

00:24:35.540 Right.

00:24:35.680 And you should do it, because it makes everybody feel better.

00:24:38.360 What we care about is the proper result.

00:24:40.480 Right.

00:24:40.540 You don't need to be a fire-breathing jerk about everything.

00:24:42.760 Yeah.

00:24:43.140 So with the carbon tax, and here, this brings me to another piece of gratitude.

00:24:47.640 We do our gas tax honesty report every single year.

00:24:51.100 This year, I'm writing up the news release to do my press conference in Calgary, which we just did last week.

00:24:57.580 I'm writing up the news release, and for consistency's sake, I use last year's template so that everything is

00:25:02.780 properly in order.

00:25:04.060 Our gas taxes and our gas prices, ergo, are so much lower this summer.

00:25:10.660 It is so much better, Sheila.

00:25:12.620 I know.

00:25:12.800 It was about 20 cents cheaper per litre than it was last year.

00:25:17.620 And that is because the carbon tax, the consumer national carbon tax, is gone.

00:25:24.560 People were right when they said it's reduced to zero, but they actually did remove it.

00:25:28.620 They went in and they removed it from the legislation.

00:25:31.100 It's gone.

00:25:31.760 Now, we know that Mark Carney's cooking up the industrial one, and it's going to be bad and

00:25:35.900 all that stuff.

00:25:36.460 But for right now, folks, take the win.

00:25:39.520 Because it was tax fighters.

00:25:41.040 It was normal listeners right now.

00:25:43.100 Think about this.

00:25:45.040 Sorry.

00:25:45.820 You stood up to the government, and you said no carbon tax for so long and so loudly.

00:25:51.600 You made the federal liberals cave on this.

00:25:54.820 Not just the federal liberals.

00:25:56.400 Mark Carney, Mr. Values, Mr. Carbon Scheme at the UN, Mr. De-Banking and De-Insuring Oil

00:26:05.400 and Gas Projects.

00:26:06.780 Thank you.

00:26:07.500 They made that guy buckle. 1.00

00:26:08.980 He was the UN special envoy on this stuff when he wrote this book.

00:26:14.300 You made him cry uncle.

00:26:16.320 So, yes, he is cooking up a big plan, which leads me to my next point.

00:26:20.200 For now, folks, you're awesome.

00:26:22.340 You got the win.

00:26:23.060 And that's why you're saving, like, $20 every time you're filling up your pickup truck.

00:26:27.840 That's why truckers, right now, this blew my mind, Sheila.

00:26:30.640 They're saving, like, $200.

00:26:33.020 Oh, not just I believe it.

00:26:35.280 I know it.

00:26:36.060 It's so good.

00:26:36.940 So, take the win, folks.

00:26:38.360 We have to celebrate our wins when we get them, because they're rarer, few, and far between.

00:26:41.860 So, right now, this is the situation.

00:26:44.840 This dude, okay, probably hasn't changed his spots entirely.

00:26:48.680 Okay, I'm just going out on a limb here.

00:26:49.980 But he's building a new industrial carbon tax, which is going to hit our fuel refineries,

00:26:54.580 our fertilizer plants, our utility companies, okay?

00:26:57.440 Which means it's just going to trickle down and make you pay for it anyway, okay?

00:27:01.560 He's just going to hide it.

00:27:02.940 Here's the problem.

00:27:04.700 Only Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has declared his province to be a carbon tax-free zone, okay?

00:27:10.800 We need to take a page out of his playbook and make Alberta a carbon tax-free zone, the same way we are a rat-free zone.

00:27:21.480 We made up a poster that was, you know, reminiscent of the old rat posters.

00:27:25.460 We've got to make Alberta a carbon tax-free zone.

00:27:28.600 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, she froze the Alberta industrial carbon tax.

00:27:34.400 That's not good enough.

00:27:35.880 She needs to excise it and throw it in the trash. 1.00

00:27:37.860 It needs to be gone, and this is why.

00:27:40.720 Because Alberta has got to be on strong war footing for when Ottawa rolls out its next big carbon tax in an industrial form.

00:27:49.660 So that's my next call.

00:27:51.460 Politely but firmly encourage the Premier to join Scott Moe and declare Alberta to be completely carbon tax-free.

00:27:59.880 Now, my hunch, Sheila, and I haven't talked about this with her or anything like that.

00:28:03.720 This is not an inside track thing.

00:28:04.920 My hunch is that she's been told that we need it for our oil and gas companies, blah, blah, blah.

00:28:12.480 They like their carbon credit trading, something, something.

00:28:15.380 We don't care.

00:28:16.660 The oil companies can go deal with it themselves.

00:28:19.060 Not our problem.

00:28:19.760 Not taxpayers' problem.

00:28:20.640 If I were to believe that, they wouldn't do business in places like, oh, I don't know the United States, Algeria, Iraq, Nigeria.

00:28:30.140 I could go on and on.

00:28:31.380 Kazakhstan, Russia.

00:28:33.840 So I don't, I don't, that's just a baloney excuse.

00:28:37.100 It is baloney and don't buy it.

00:28:39.160 So my hunch is they've been convinced by the oil companies that we need it.

00:28:44.440 We do not.

00:28:45.420 So everybody get out there and encourage Premier Smith to obliterate the Alberta industrial carbon tax.

00:28:52.040 Gone, gone, gone.

00:28:52.940 Nuke it from orbit.

00:28:53.740 It's the only way to be sure.

00:28:54.580 Great.

00:28:57.340 Chris, tell people how they can get involved in the Canadian Taxpayers Federation because you are a grassroots organization.

00:29:06.980 You don't even take preferential tax status from the federal government.

00:29:10.760 And it's a way of mobilizing people and sending a message to the powers that be.

00:29:16.080 Thank you.

00:29:16.720 And we are nonpartisan, which shows in what are we just finished doing with the Premier.

00:29:21.940 We do things with joy.

00:29:23.460 We do a little bit of prodding and poking.

00:29:26.020 Okay.

00:29:26.480 It's really important here.

00:29:28.080 We need to hold politicians and government to account because otherwise we're just going to continue paying taxes through the nose.

00:29:34.980 So if they go to our website, taxpayer.com, start with the petitions list, find one that speaks to your heart.

00:29:41.740 Okay.

00:29:42.120 It could be getting rid of all industrial carbon taxes, could be defunding all of the media.

00:29:46.980 Okay.

00:29:47.420 Could be any of those things, anti-censorship, something like that.

00:29:50.960 Sign a petition that speaks.

00:29:52.520 The gun grab.

00:29:53.840 We're fighting the gun grab big time.

00:29:55.700 We even fight things like stopping PST on used items.

00:29:59.260 Yeah, it's crazy.

00:30:00.320 It is crazy.

00:30:01.080 So here in Alberta, we're fine.

00:30:02.520 But in places like British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, they pay PST on like...

00:30:08.260 It's crazy.

00:30:08.620 It's gross.

00:30:09.560 Everything from thrift shops, which is an attack on the working poor, by the way, all the way up to used vehicles.

00:30:15.900 Like it's disgusting.

00:30:17.200 How many times do they need their tax money on these things? 0.97

00:30:20.660 Thank you.

00:30:21.140 They want their pound of flesh over and over again.

00:30:22.980 It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

00:30:24.620 And we're on the menu.

00:30:25.760 So go to taxpayer.com, sign the petition that speaks to you, and then you're in.

00:30:29.600 You're part of the tax fighter army.

00:30:31.020 The next time something pops up that you need to send an email on or make a phone call or come to a rally or come to a pub night, do something that's a fellowship, we'll let you know.

00:30:40.000 And that's how you get change.

00:30:42.240 This is how we get together, and we beat them at their own game, and we get change.

00:30:45.940 So thank you so much.

00:30:47.840 Now, Chris, I know I've got to let you go because you have something important to do next.

00:30:52.480 Tell everybody where they can find you for the rest of the summer.

00:30:55.160 Oh, wonderful.

00:30:55.920 That's really nice of you.

00:30:57.080 So I'm actually filling in for Candace Malcolm over on the Candace Malcolm Show over on Juno, which is, of course, an independent media organization from Rebel, but we always wind up at the same conferences.

00:31:07.860 And if we go back to our origin story at Sun News Network, it all kind of bloomed from there.

00:31:13.840 So on Mondays and this week, I'm filling in three times.

00:31:17.240 Mondays, I'm filling in for Candace, and we're bringing in all of your favorite cast of characters, lots of great guests.

00:31:22.400 And in fact, on tomorrow, we're going to be talking about freedom and the ability to maybe walk through the woods and especially freedom of expression, because there's a brand new kids book coming out teaching kids about freedom of expression.

00:31:33.460 And on Wednesday, we're going to do a, inspired by you, our own gun show.

00:31:38.900 And it's about guns.

00:31:39.940 Yay! 0.99

00:31:40.320 Yay! 0.99

00:31:41.980 Tracy or Rod?

00:31:43.380 It is going to be Tracy.

00:31:44.980 And I'm actually chasing, I'm actually chasing a police association.

00:31:48.940 Oh, nice.

00:31:49.240 To see if they'll come on with us to talk about who the actual baddies are when it comes to guns.

00:31:53.580 Spoiler alert, it's not the law-abiding gun owners.

00:31:56.080 So trying to get them on record.

00:31:57.660 I just think it's comical because you're chasing your own guests.

00:32:00.560 And at CBC, they have 15 people to do that per one host.

00:32:04.920 Yeah, I just DM them.

00:32:06.720 Me too.

00:32:07.920 That's how I got you.

00:32:09.260 Thanks.

00:32:10.780 Chris, thanks so much for coming on the show.

00:32:12.660 I know I've got to let you go, but I could talk to you all day.

00:32:14.600 I appreciate your time and just your advocacy on behalf of the taxpayer.

00:32:19.600 We're really lucky to have somebody like you fighting for us.

00:32:22.300 Likewise.

00:32:22.880 Thanks, Sheila.

00:32:27.160 All right.

00:32:31.180 We always dedicate the last segment of the show to our viewers at home because without you, there's no rebel news.

00:32:37.140 We won't take a penny from any level of government to do the work that we do to hold them to account.

00:32:42.080 How could we?

00:32:42.960 Our work would be politically contaminated with carny cash.

00:32:47.260 I don't want that.

00:32:48.000 I'm not going to sell out my integrity or my independence to prop up an unsustainable business model.

00:32:55.840 So thank you to all of you who help rebel news live on now for 10 plus years.

00:33:01.860 It's crazy.

00:33:02.800 It's, you know, people have predicted our death many times.

00:33:05.980 And many of those people were repeatedly laid off.

00:33:09.780 I shouldn't be laughing, but laid off in the mainstream media over and over and over again.

00:33:14.380 Did they learn anything?

00:33:17.700 Probably not.

00:33:18.300 Your viewer feedback in multiple different ways.

00:33:20.360 You can write it right on the rebel news website.

00:33:23.640 You can leave it in the rumble comments.

00:33:25.780 You can leave it in the YouTube comments, or you can speak to me directly.

00:33:29.400 I give you my email address right now.

00:33:31.480 It's Sheila at rebel news.com.

00:33:33.820 Put gun show letters in the subject line.

00:33:35.900 So I know why you're emailing me because boy, do I ever get a lot of emails like so many.

00:33:41.380 And it becomes difficult to sort them all.

00:33:44.680 So if you could help me by putting that in the subject line, it helps me get to you.

00:33:49.860 Now, today's viewer feedback comes from a regular rebel news supporter, regular writer to the mailbag, and just someone who's a feedback I appreciate very much.

00:34:04.620 He's got a very unique perspective, and that is Bruce.

00:34:08.060 Many of you may know Bruce.

00:34:09.280 Bruce Atchison from beautiful downtown Radway, Alberta.

00:34:12.480 And he writes to me, and I wanted to take Bruce's comments because I have an update to something he says here.

00:34:22.300 And he's writing to me on last week's show that I hosted with my friend and Rebel News Tuesday, Wednesday, plus election coverage, live stream co-host Lise Merle in Regina, Saskatchewan.

00:34:38.160 Now, one of Lise's focuses, as far as journalism, but also in the world, is the intersection, to use the language of the left, of transgenderism versus parents' rights versus the safety and security of children.

00:34:55.020 And we were talking about the recent court decision in Regina, in Saskatchewan, to allow the federally funded activists' challenge of the parents' bill of rights to go forward, which is insane because the law is protected by the notwithstanding clause, which shrouds it from any challenge.

00:35:21.300 It says, notwithstanding the constitution, the law remains operational, which means it is constitutional because that is in the constitution.

00:35:31.360 But it protects the law from legal challenges and overturning.

00:35:34.500 And so if you don't like it, you vote out the government that did it, but you can't overturn the law.

00:35:38.920 And yet the busybody activists want the law ruled unconstitutional but operational as an end runaround consequences for teachers who don't follow the law, which says that you just can't transition kids behind parents' backs.

00:35:55.600 So if the law is unconstitutional but operational, can you really hold a teacher to account for doing something that they would be morally objectionable to?

00:36:09.500 You know what I mean?

00:36:10.140 So they can say, oh, I didn't tell little Johnny's mom or dad that Johnny became Jane because, I mean, you can't ask me to do something unconstitutional and you can't punish me for doing something unconstitutional.

00:36:22.780 You see, this is their way of getting around the consequences of following the law in Saskatchewan and involving parents as first and best educators in their children's lives.

00:36:33.600 It's revolting, but this is what we get with our activist courts and Bruce writes in to say, hi, Sheila, I'm giving my reply to the show here because Rebel News now charges for comments.

00:36:43.600 We fix, we had a problem with the website, should be fixed, Bruce.

00:36:48.000 So you should be able to get in there and email me directly if you're still having a problem and I'll get somebody higher up in the food chain than me to help you with those things.

00:36:56.640 So we had a little problem, should be fixed, you should be good to go.

00:36:59.580 But I always like seeing your emails in my inbox anyway.

00:37:01.860 Leftists want to pervert children and turn them from their parents.

00:37:06.660 The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany did this through youth clubs and indoctrination in schools.

00:37:11.440 Yeah, now it's the, what do they call it?

00:37:15.060 I call them just, yeah, sexual clubs at school.

00:37:18.900 What do they call it?

00:37:19.920 The Gay-Straight Alliances.

00:37:21.740 Like, why are kids talking about sexuality with an unrelated adult in the room?

00:37:26.960 I'm always like, this is a recipe for disaster and grooming.

00:37:31.840 But apparently I'm crazy to think that according to the left.

00:37:36.820 But you are right.

00:37:38.120 Now the reprobate left are using sexualization as a wedge between parents and children.

00:37:43.060 It won't be long until kids will inform on their parents and get awards for doing so.

00:37:47.600 So, yeah, snitch culture.

00:37:51.880 This is why every parent must be told what's going on and rise up against it.

00:37:55.980 Thanks for raising the alarm with Lise Merle.

00:37:58.700 Sincerely, Bruce and Radway.

00:38:00.760 And I hope Delta, your cat, is doing okay.

00:38:04.020 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:38:05.460 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:38:06.780 I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next weekend.

00:38:09.560 And as always, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

Rebel News Podcast - August 21, 2025

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Danielle Smith restores transparency on MLA expenses

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