Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Journalists should not be paid by the government

00:00:00.000 Food's more expensive than ever, fueling up your vehicle is more expensive than ever,

00:00:03.760 and you may never know the dream of owning your own piece of this beautiful country.

00:00:08.820 But don't worry, because Justice Trudeau is giving more of your money than ever to failing media companies.

00:00:14.340 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:30.000 If you're like most Canadians, you think the government is doing a bad job at managing your money,

00:00:39.240 and you might think that Justice Trudeau, at least according to new Ipsos polling,

00:00:44.440 is the worst prime minister in 50 years, and quite frankly, it's nice to see my opinions reconfirmed in some polling data.

00:00:52.180 Take that for what you will.

00:00:54.060 But life is just so oppressively expensive in Canada, and it's not getting any better.

00:00:57.860 In fact, the government is doing several things to make it worse.

00:01:01.620 So, I thought I would bring on someone who watches all the ways the government finds to waste your money,

00:01:09.680 and they're getting more creative than ever.

00:01:11.740 So, joining me now is my friend, Chris Sims, from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation,

00:01:16.020 in an interview we recorded earlier today.

00:01:18.560 Take a listen.

00:01:19.020 So, joining me now is my friend, good friend of the show, Chris Sims, from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation,

00:01:31.780 somebody who is frequently mistaken for me because, you know, a couple of prairie brunettes 1.00

00:01:37.520 who hate large government and taxes and care about freedom.

00:01:41.580 I guess we're interchangeable.

00:01:43.100 I've done worse, I'm sure.

00:01:44.640 So has she.

00:01:45.580 Chris, thanks for joining me.

00:01:48.960 You have a really great op-ed about how Canadians reject the idea that government should be funding the media.

00:02:00.660 And we were just talking off air in a conversation I wish we had saved for later,

00:02:06.080 but we can sort of rehash it now.

00:02:08.200 It's destroyed the trust that Canadians have in media.

00:02:10.740 It has.

00:02:13.140 And as a long-time journalist myself, I spent the better part of 20 years as a reporter,

00:02:19.840 trained at journalism school, I went to BCIT, and I took it really seriously.

00:02:25.020 And I still do.

00:02:25.980 I think it's a calling.

00:02:27.580 I think it's a craft.

00:02:29.340 I think it's a duty, in many cases, to tell the stories of those who don't have a microphone,

00:02:35.840 to speak truth to power.

00:02:39.060 And so that's what really hit me the hardest.

00:02:42.200 So there is this long-standing survey slash study on trust.

00:02:47.580 Apparently, it's been going on for around 20 years or so in most major countries.

00:02:51.920 And they do individual countries.

00:02:53.580 And the most recent one, they have the data from 2022, said that 61% of Canadians now think

00:03:03.100 that journalists are actively trying to mislead them with statements they know to be false

00:03:09.960 or gross exaggerations.

00:03:12.720 So I just want to put a cherry on that.

00:03:15.220 Um, back in the day, and any good journalist would lose sleep over an accidental mistake.

00:03:24.700 You got a name wrong.

00:03:26.300 You mispronounced something.

00:03:28.060 The date was off.

00:03:29.280 Ugh.

00:03:29.760 Like, especially if you're covering something really specific, like committee or court.

00:03:35.340 Those sort of mistakes, you know, they haunt you.

00:03:38.320 And you're really careful.

00:03:40.260 That's not it, Sheila.

00:03:41.320 61% of Canadians now think that they're actively being misled by journalists.

00:03:48.520 So if you've got a big majority, and that's what that is, of Canadians now thinking, like,

00:03:55.180 you're not telling the truth deliberately, I don't really know where you go from here

00:04:01.220 as far as journalistic trust goes.

00:04:03.000 And, uh, speaking on the Taxpayers Federation angle, so we come at things from a monetary policy,

00:04:09.600 obviously, um, the fact that the government is paying journalists big money has got to

00:04:16.900 be affecting that trust.

00:04:19.140 You know, it's, it's hard to put into words when you see what's happening to the mainstream

00:04:27.380 media in this country.

00:04:28.560 However, if they remain terrible, I have job security for as long as I want it.

00:04:32.400 But they are being denied the market correction that you would see in other industries.

00:04:38.800 If other industries were bleeding customers and bleeding revenue simultaneously, there would

00:04:44.240 be a huge moment of introspection.

00:04:47.420 Executives would be fired, um, because they would be trying to course correct the ship.

00:04:53.020 But in media, that's not happening because along comes Justin Trudeau with a bag full of somebody

00:04:58.600 else's money to say, no, no, no, just keep doing what you're doing, guys.

00:05:02.600 What kind of money?

00:05:04.320 I don't think the average consumer understands, but once you do, you will realize the lens

00:05:11.500 through which they are reporting.

00:05:13.440 What's, what's the money being shoveled at newsrooms in this country?

00:05:18.820 So I would say that there is some attempt at course correction, but it's, it's not working.

00:05:24.820 So we saw recently, of course, the massive layoffs at Bell and radio stations being shut

00:05:29.360 down.

00:05:29.680 So we did see that.

00:05:30.840 However, it doesn't follow along with, you know, the executives or the brass or a change

00:05:34.880 in direction, right?

00:05:36.420 And so there's two things for the media, the pool of money that the media gets from the

00:05:41.260 government.

00:05:41.760 So one, there's the CBC, okay?

00:05:44.440 They get more than $1.2 billion per year, but that's been happening for a long time.

00:05:51.140 So let's set that aside for a sec.

00:05:52.620 There's the so-called media bailout.

00:05:55.560 People call it that.

00:05:57.020 It's around $595 million.

00:06:02.440 So close to $600 million has been set aside for non-CBC media.

00:06:10.720 Now, this is key.

00:06:12.600 We don't know which ones exactly have taken the money, but by and large, it is print.

00:06:19.660 Yeah.

00:06:20.400 So as of right now and so far, it has been largely print that has taken taxpayers' money,

00:06:27.100 that has taken government money.

00:06:28.940 And folks over at Canada Land, to give them credit, did the math and they broke down how

00:06:34.780 much money that is per reporter.

00:06:37.400 Now, on average, that's around $13,000 per reporter.

00:06:42.300 Yes, not $1,300, not $130, $13,000.

00:06:49.380 So this led me, like I said, being a lifelong journalist, to kind of do a little thought

00:06:54.640 experiment.

00:06:55.760 Imagine you're up on Parliament Hill and you're a reporter and you're working in the press gallery

00:07:00.580 and it's your job to, you know, speak truth to power, to hold the government to account.

00:07:07.140 How well are you going to be able to do that if you're counting on that same government for

00:07:11.740 your paycheck?

00:07:13.280 Maybe even the existence of your job, because we all know, you know, margins in private

00:07:18.300 newsrooms are pretty tight.

00:07:20.480 $13,000, your job might not exist without that $13,000.

00:07:24.820 How on earth are you supposed to call that game straight?

00:07:29.620 Like you can't, it's human nature.

00:07:32.360 Even if you tried your darndest, it is still in the back of your mind.

00:07:36.060 And even if somehow you miraculously could, say you were like, you know, data from Star

00:07:41.420 Trek or something, and you were able to do so, it's the perception of bias.

00:07:47.100 So if the Canadians watching you know that you're being paid by the government, it's the

00:07:52.960 perception of bias that destroys the trust.

00:07:55.360 It's the same as ethics, right?

00:07:57.420 It's the perception of corruption.

00:07:59.320 Once it's there, like you can't regain it.

00:08:02.360 So this is why this is a fundamental thing.

00:08:05.800 Journalists being paid by the government are in a huge conflict of interest.

00:08:10.980 It mustn't happen.

00:08:13.700 And I don't think people realize, but again, once you start paying attention for it, you'll

00:08:18.100 see it.

00:08:18.720 But the government also funds special initiative journalism in local papers.

00:08:24.960 So, for example, if I'm reading the Fort Saskatchewan record, which I'm not quite sure what the

00:08:29.740 circulation is there, but I'm sure it's fewer than 10,000.

00:08:33.280 If I'm reading that and I'm seeing a bunch of shoehorned in climate change garbage that

00:08:38.060 literally nobody in my community of farmers and industrial workers cares about, and you're

00:08:44.500 wondering why is this in the Fort Saskatchewan record?

00:08:46.600 I'm here for the hog prices and the garage sales.

00:08:51.340 You know, it's because Post Media or Glacier or whomever is running your local news outlet

00:08:57.240 is being given special funding by the government for a special initiative reporter, a climate

00:09:03.980 change reporter, usually is what it is.

00:09:06.640 And look at that disconnect.

00:09:08.580 Like, how is that possibly serving the community and the readers?

00:09:12.060 And even if you wanted to do another, you know, thought experiment, you know, to be

00:09:15.980 fair, let's imagine that there was a different government in charge and their priorities were

00:09:20.840 completely different.

00:09:21.840 And for some reason, they were funding the government, too.

00:09:25.440 Imagine if it was hog prices and I don't know when the firing range is open that day in downtown

00:09:33.600 Toronto.

00:09:34.500 Right.

00:09:34.940 They'd be like, what?

00:09:36.020 What is this?

00:09:37.060 Why am I reading about this?

00:09:38.860 Because the government is paying for that reporter to say those things.

00:09:43.820 That is not a free press, folks.

00:09:48.680 The term free press, I think some folks might have thought that it harkens back to an old

00:09:54.660 tiny era of when those rolled up newspapers were free for the taking off the newsstand.

00:09:59.300 No, no, it meant free from government.

00:10:04.760 That means money, influence, censorship, all that jazz.

00:10:08.740 So a free press needs to be a free press.

00:10:12.260 It doesn't matter whose team is in power.

00:10:14.960 A free press is essential in order to hold the government to account.

00:10:19.460 And this is why the Taxpayers Federation were flagging it.

00:10:22.180 So number one, it's just a huge waste of money.

00:10:24.760 If you add up, it's awful, but if you add up how much money we've spent,

00:10:29.280 on the CBC and this so-called media bailout and a few other emergency top-up fundings

00:10:34.880 over the last four years, it's well, yes, yes, it's well over $5 billion.

00:10:43.520 Like, you're, I think it was like 300,000 families could have groceries for a year,

00:10:49.120 something like that.

00:10:50.180 It was a really big number.

00:10:51.940 $5 billion that we have poured from the government into media.

00:10:57.340 And it has to stop.

00:10:59.060 Not one nickel should be going into journalism from the government.

00:11:03.400 And I think from a news consumer's point of view, it ends up being a huge psyop on the population

00:11:09.400 because I'm there, like I said, I'm there for the hog prices, the garage sales,

00:11:13.460 and maybe, you know, the farm equipment that are being listed on the classifieds.

00:11:17.680 I'm looking for a hay.

00:11:18.240 I love reading the letters, too.

00:11:19.420 Those are my favorite.

00:11:20.220 The grumpy letters.

00:11:21.080 I'm looking for a hay rake, to be honest with you.

00:11:23.120 And I'm reading that and I'm like, wait a minute, I don't care about climate change.

00:11:28.480 Am I supposed to care about it?

00:11:29.760 Because apparently everybody else in my community does.

00:11:32.920 And so it sort of rewires your brain in a way that normally, you know, all of a sudden

00:11:38.520 you're like, wait, do we all care about this?

00:11:41.280 Am I the strange one?

00:11:43.140 Because I don't care.

00:11:44.500 Because I see this in the newspaper every single week.

00:11:46.720 So obviously, because people are reporting on it, they must care about it.

00:11:50.820 I think it plays games with the minds of the consumer.

00:11:54.360 See, there it becomes this top-down influencing instead of this grassroots organic interest

00:11:59.940 in something that is then reflected in the local newspaper or the local media, right?

00:12:05.880 Because that would be the free and fair exchange in ideas or the market correcting itself, people

00:12:11.060 choosing to buy the newspaper, all that stuff.

00:12:13.440 Whereas if it's coming from whatever ideology from top down, you're going to be getting a

00:12:19.160 semi-artificial product right there in your newspaper.

00:12:22.680 And so this is, again, why we need to really speak up about this.

00:12:26.900 Because if we don't have a free press and if we have potential government censorship of

00:12:32.320 online news media or independent news media through C11, like that's a stranglehold on free

00:12:39.900 expression in Canada.

00:12:40.920 And the reason why we continuously flag this is because they're not done.

00:12:45.740 So C18, I know you guys have covered this, C18 in essence wants to force big tech to pay

00:12:54.400 for when news links are posted and they want them to pay into newsrooms.

00:12:59.740 So we don't have an exact dog in that fight, don't know where that's going to go, but we

00:13:04.200 can tell you what's going to happen when it all falls apart.

00:13:06.640 Taxpayers are going to be stuck holding the bill.

00:13:10.100 And the heritage minister, Pablo Rodriguez, already indicated this.

00:13:14.680 To paraphrase, he said, we need to make sure that newsrooms stay open.

00:13:20.180 By we, he meant government.

00:13:22.040 And we need to make sure they have the resources they need.

00:13:26.500 Resources, of course, is government speak for taxpayers' money.

00:13:29.640 So this is no, no, the government does not have business in the newsrooms of the nation.

00:13:37.860 Yeah, a lot of people don't understand exactly what C18 is, the Online News Act.

00:13:43.020 It's a shakedown of big tech companies for a bailout for newsrooms that if big tech doesn't

00:13:51.340 give it, we already know the government's going to backstop it. 0.99

00:13:54.140 And at the end of the day, Canadians will see less news about Canada and the government

00:14:00.760 and be able to hold their government to account in a less effective way because big tech is

00:14:07.260 big tech.

00:14:07.960 They control the internet.

00:14:09.520 And you know what they're going to do?

00:14:10.620 What they're already doing, just turn off news to Canadians because they don't want to

00:14:15.240 have to pay Justin Trudeau's bailout, which is really just blackmail.

00:14:19.280 I mean, Justin Trudeau squared off against big tech and lost.

00:14:23.680 And the law is so bad that I find myself cheering for Google and Facebook.

00:14:29.460 Like, that's the position you put me in.

00:14:32.100 I didn't have that on my bingo card.

00:14:33.660 I know.

00:14:35.360 I know.

00:14:36.480 And so, and then you combine that with C11, where you've got, like, I'm wincing saying it.

00:14:43.140 Bureaucrats then deciding how Canadian your stuff is.

00:14:46.940 Forgive me, but I've seen this story before.

00:14:50.760 So, I remember back when Sun News Network was trying to go for a mandatory carriage, which

00:14:57.440 didn't incur cost to taxpayers, just want to be clear.

00:14:59.880 But it was so that we had a good cable package offering.

00:15:03.960 And back then, the CRTC, you know, had put us through all these hoops saying, how Canadian

00:15:08.920 really are you?

00:15:09.720 I remember staying up late into the night, holding my kid, phoning all of our supporters

00:15:15.320 saying, please handwrite a letter to the CRTC if you feel this way, about how Canadian

00:15:20.160 we are.

00:15:20.960 It didn't matter.

00:15:22.140 It didn't matter.

00:15:23.640 It ultimately is always up to the personal opinion of the bureaucrat and whatever culture

00:15:29.040 the department happens to have.

00:15:30.720 And then it's in hands of bigger and bigger government, which you all pay for, by the way,

00:15:34.980 and is ever expanding.

00:15:36.600 It's up to the CRTC to decide how Canadian the online content producer is under C11.

00:15:45.700 And so now, guess what?

00:15:47.240 That's open to interpretation.

00:15:49.080 And it could eventually slide into, oh, we're going to downrig you because for whatever reason,

00:15:55.460 so that you're not seen anymore.

00:15:57.040 And what was interesting is that I saw content creators back during the hearings on C11 from

00:16:03.660 all sorts of angles of the political spectrum.

00:16:07.020 I heard all sorts of people saying, I won't be seen anymore, or this is really important

00:16:11.220 to me.

00:16:11.780 Why is this up to the government where I'm going to be showing up on somebody's algorithm?

00:16:16.020 But now it's passed.

00:16:17.860 And so we're going to have to see what happens as a result of it.

00:16:21.680 But when you combine this thing with things like C11 and things like especially the heritage

00:16:26.560 minister trotting around with the taxpayer piggy bank in his hand, you're going to be strangling

00:16:31.700 free expression in the country.

00:16:32.980 And we can't hold the government to account if we can't express ourselves.

00:16:38.320 And I think with C11, much like squaring off with big tech right now, Justin Trudeau is going

00:16:44.500 to find himself squaring off against Netflix, YouTube, Twitter, Rumble.

00:16:50.140 And guess what's going to happen?

00:16:51.540 Rumble already did it in France.

00:16:53.220 They said, OK, fine.

00:16:54.160 You want to control us here and what we can show and how we run our algorithm?

00:16:58.300 No rumble for France.

00:17:00.020 And Netflix will do the same.

00:17:01.980 YouTube will do the same.

00:17:03.460 All the other streaming services will do the same.

00:17:05.500 I don't think people understand.

00:17:07.900 Twitter will be considered a streaming service because they have a video aspect to their platform

00:17:13.240 now.

00:17:14.080 And Justin Trudeau is going to square off against them for what is considered Canadian content.

00:17:19.480 And what's Elon going to do?

00:17:20.700 Fine.

00:17:21.400 No Canadians for Twitter. 0.87

00:17:22.500 And just imagine, imagine what that does to the exchange of ideas, because, well, some

00:17:30.180 people would say that Twitter is not real life.

00:17:32.660 Granted, I understand.

00:17:33.860 Believe that.

00:17:34.380 It's also right.

00:17:35.980 And it's also a gathering place for a lot of people and not just a lot of people in general.

00:17:40.540 I'm not trying to sound like an elitist jerk, but almost every journalist, independent, government

00:17:47.900 paid, media, et cetera, international are on Twitter.

00:17:52.100 It's where citizen journalists are made, including myself.

00:17:55.620 Exactly.

00:17:56.600 All like I said, that's why I said all journalists.

00:17:59.100 Like I can't I actually don't know one personally who is not on Twitter anymore, even if they say

00:18:05.000 they've left, it's a it's a watering hole, it's a gathering place, it's a nerve center.

00:18:09.520 And so you've got journalists and politicians right up against each other and a bunch of

00:18:14.440 activists, too.

00:18:15.240 So that's why it's this big buzzing hive all the time.

00:18:19.620 Imagine cutting that off for Canadians. 1.00

00:18:21.200 And then what sort of stories and messaging will be lost.

00:18:24.900 Yeah, I mean, it's I know so many stories that have been broken by citizen journalists

00:18:31.340 who are just there on the scene.

00:18:32.860 You look at the news of the trucker convoy.

00:18:36.900 Almost all the images that people saw were coming from citizen journalists on the scene

00:18:42.960 who just flipped on their cameras in a town that is teaming with journalists who didn't

00:18:48.460 want to go just down onto the streets to talk to the truckers.

00:18:52.100 All the news basically about the trucker convoy came from citizen journalists and it was all

00:18:56.800 dumped on Twitter and TikTok.

00:18:59.420 And if Justin Trudeau has his way, he might force those platforms to cut Canadians off altogether.

00:19:07.460 Jordan Peterson has compared I think it was YouTube he was talking about, but I think the

00:19:12.020 comparison still stands where you can just grab this and suddenly you have all of the

00:19:18.160 technology that I had to book a satellite truck for like 10 years ago.

00:19:24.080 It's crazy.

00:19:25.480 And so I think Jordan Peterson compared YouTube specifically to the printing press.

00:19:30.200 I agree.

00:19:31.560 I agree.

00:19:32.180 I think it's just as much of an informational and cultural revolutionary tool.

00:19:36.240 And if that part has cut off, just imagine the stories you're not being told.

00:19:41.360 I've even done now because you can do longer form videos on Twitter.

00:19:45.580 I've done really long like walk and talks at the gas station where I'm holding up the gas

00:19:51.760 pump and I'm showing you the difference on how much it costs to fill up in BC versus Alberta.

00:19:57.540 And I've explained it all and I've got all the taxes there because my team does so much

00:20:01.840 great work on gas taxes.

00:20:03.920 That information is not being provided to you by the government.

00:20:08.420 Okay.

00:20:08.560 They're not issuing a press release telling you how much they're screwing you over in

00:20:12.880 British Columbia on filling up your pickup truck.

00:20:15.380 It's 50 bucks more per fill up, by the way, versus Alberta.

00:20:19.580 And so this is where things get really frustrating is I need to get that messaging out.

00:20:24.580 It got tens of thousands of views.

00:20:28.180 What happens then?

00:20:29.700 What happens if we're cut off there?

00:20:31.240 And I will also point out that the government itself has called, I don't know if they said

00:20:36.460 disinformation or misinformation, but they don't like the word carbon tax.

00:20:41.700 They like fee, levy, something, price on pollution, et cetera.

00:20:47.920 They don't like the word carbon tax.

00:20:50.020 And we talk about the carbon tax all the time.

00:20:54.480 And we've been around since 1990.

00:20:56.320 Are they going to deem that misinformation and then block it?

00:21:00.800 Like, it's really bad, folks.

00:21:02.960 And for folks who, if you're on the complete opposite side of things and you're a huge fan

00:21:07.280 of all this, imagine your guy is not in.

00:21:11.040 Imagine it's the other guy who's deciding what you can say and see and share.

00:21:15.560 This is the crux of free speech and free expression.

00:21:19.240 Yeah.

00:21:19.460 One of the things that sort of turned me into a citizen journalist was seeing a clip of Andrew

00:21:26.160 Breitbart.

00:21:26.960 I think he was speaking at a tea party rally and it's in the movie, Hating Breitbart.

00:21:31.320 I recommend everybody see it.

00:21:33.340 And he tells every, and I say this sometimes at our Rebel News live events, he tells everybody

00:21:39.360 in the crowd to hold up their cell phones.

00:21:41.880 And he says, there's a sea of new media to debunk the lies.

00:21:46.260 And that was like in 2010.

00:21:49.560 What an oracle that man was.

00:21:51.980 But it is the importance of new media that is prompting the censorship of new media by

00:21:59.460 the powers that be.

00:22:00.760 Because it is so instrumental in undoing the lies that they must censor it to maintain control.

00:22:08.700 It's incredibly powerful, that media.

00:22:10.680 And so this is where I think we're in this struggle right now.

00:22:14.200 This crux of, you know, how much power do the average people have?

00:22:19.300 How much information are we allowed to see?

00:22:21.680 Who should be deciding what we're allowed to see?

00:22:24.720 And so the mom in me wants to think that in the future it will calm down because I want

00:22:30.520 a nice bright future.

00:22:32.560 Right, exactly.

00:22:33.420 I want a nice bright future for my kids.

00:22:35.920 But I think fundamentally we need to be able to hold government to account.

00:22:41.360 The Canadian Taxpayers Federation was founded in 1990 for lower taxes, less waste and accountable

00:22:46.680 government.

00:22:47.700 And we can't have accountable government if we don't have these tools and we don't have

00:22:52.260 this power and we're not getting the information we need to make our own informed decisions.

00:22:56.700 So this is again why it's so incredibly important that we not pay the media.

00:23:01.880 Government funded media shouldn't exist in Canada.

00:23:05.440 And what I found really interesting is when Elon Musk labeled CBC government funded media,

00:23:12.240 how mad they got.

00:23:14.000 Yeah.

00:23:14.580 Yeah.

00:23:16.040 No, Sarah, I was truly puzzled.

00:23:18.040 Why did they get so mad?

00:23:19.800 Like they are.

00:23:21.520 I know.

00:23:21.980 They are.

00:23:23.160 Like I wouldn't get mad at somebody saying, oh, you're a grassroots organization with a

00:23:27.920 huge support base in Western Canada growing in Ontario, etc.

00:23:31.880 Like, okay.

00:23:32.960 Yeah, fair enough.

00:23:33.860 Accurate.

00:23:34.660 You know, you want small government.

00:23:36.660 Yeah, we do.

00:23:37.540 Because it's big and wasteful.

00:23:40.240 Like, if not, it gets big and wasteful and we're going to be spending more than 50% of

00:23:45.000 our paychecks on taxes.

00:23:46.700 Sure.

00:23:47.120 Guilty as charged.

00:23:48.300 So if they're literally government funded media, why are they getting mad about being called

00:23:52.560 government funded media?

00:23:54.160 And so this is what we're saying.

00:23:55.300 There's a real simple solution to that.

00:23:57.660 Like, just stop taking taxpayers' money.

00:24:00.300 I think there's an acknowledgement by the CBC right there that there is a certain stigma

00:24:04.520 attached to being on the government dime.

00:24:08.400 Now, I just want to change lanes because you just talked about it there a second ago.

00:24:12.200 And that is that it is summer driving season in Canada.

00:24:15.740 I think Western Canadians, we like to drive to wherever we're going.

00:24:19.260 I know, like, in the office, they're in Toronto.

00:24:22.080 They're like, oh, we'll get you a flight to Calgary.

00:24:23.960 And I'm like, no, I live so far from the airport.

00:24:26.080 By the time I get to the airport, go through security.

00:24:29.240 Pay for parking.

00:24:29.980 Pay for parking.

00:24:30.800 Get on the shuttle.

00:24:31.600 Get over there. 0.77

00:24:32.360 I'm in Calgary.

00:24:33.400 Like, it's four hours either there and I get to have my vehicle on the other side,

00:24:37.520 which is a bonus.

00:24:38.320 So we like to drive places, although this is a very vast part of the world.

00:24:43.320 And it is more expensive than ever, just as we're coming into summer driving season.

00:24:49.540 And luckily in Alberta, it's a little less expensive than everywhere else.

00:24:53.720 But it's still crazy expensive.

00:24:56.100 Yeah, it's hugely expensive.

00:24:58.100 So good news first.

00:25:00.280 You just pointed it out, Sheila.

00:25:01.660 We have the lowest gas prices typically in all of Canada.

00:25:06.160 That is because we have the lowest gas taxes in all of Canada.

00:25:09.720 And sneak peek, we're going to be doing a lot of press conferences and fun stuff all

00:25:16.540 on in August, mostly on this from the taxpayer's perspective.

00:25:20.140 And so we pay the lowest gas taxes in Canada here in Alberta because we don't pay any provincial

00:25:27.080 gas taxes.

00:25:28.260 None.

00:25:29.160 None.

00:25:29.700 I think it's 32 cents per liter is taxes here in Alberta.

00:25:33.800 And all of them are federal because Premier Daniel Smith has continued the suspension

00:25:39.360 of the 13 cent per liter of Alberta fuel tax.

00:25:43.660 So that saves you just that one suspension of that one tax saves you about 15 bucks every

00:25:50.660 time you're filling up a light duty pickup truck.

00:25:53.200 So I'm going to be driving one of those light duty pickup trucks to the airport in a few minutes

00:25:57.200 to go hang out with a family member.

00:25:59.160 That's saving me $15 than I would be otherwise.

00:26:02.780 Now, if we can put, if you're driving to the lower mainland in British Columbia, which

00:26:08.400 I just did to go to a family wedding.

00:26:11.560 So taxes in the lower mainland are about 77 cents a liter.

00:26:17.140 That's like half.

00:26:19.200 Yes.

00:26:20.040 It's so gross.

00:26:21.720 This is why, this is why gas prices in Vancouver are about two bucks a liter.

00:26:28.160 So, and it's, it's unnecessary.

00:26:30.280 So in why, so in BC, especially, so lower mainland, so, you know, GVRD, Greater Vancouver

00:26:36.660 Regional District, they pay the first carbon tax.

00:26:40.020 They pay the second carbon tax, which is an extra 17 cents a liter.

00:26:43.800 And they pay a Metro Vancouver TransLink tax for their transit system, which is 18 and a

00:26:49.980 half cents a liter.

00:26:52.540 Yeah, it's horrendous.

00:26:54.860 And so this is why they have the highest fuel prices in North America.

00:26:58.280 And this is why folks can, cannot afford anything.

00:27:01.180 People say, how are people making ends meet in Vancouver?

00:27:03.620 They're not.

00:27:04.500 Yeah.

00:27:06.360 They're not.

00:27:07.220 Average working people are not making ends meet in Vancouver.

00:27:09.540 And so here in Alberta, though, it is, we've got the best deal.

00:27:14.240 It's still expensive and we're bracing ourselves because now the carbon tax is going to triple

00:27:20.420 the first one in the next seven years.

00:27:23.380 And now there's a second carbon tax.

00:27:26.140 So Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, not kidding, took a look at the gas price in BC and said,

00:27:32.820 that's awesome.

00:27:34.320 I'm going to do that across the rest of the country.

00:27:37.220 And so now there is a second carbon tax in place for, you know, in the rest of Canada.

00:27:43.680 We don't know how much it's costing us out of the chutes just yet.

00:27:47.800 It's in play.

00:27:48.940 Like the bell is rung.

00:27:50.920 The horse is running down the ring.

00:27:53.360 We just don't know how much it's costing us yet because the second carbon tax is a really

00:27:58.400 complicated form of government fuel regulation where they penalize companies for the carbon

00:28:04.780 content of their fuels.

00:28:05.860 And when they can't reduce the carbon content of their fuels, the companies then have to

00:28:10.300 pay a fine and they pass that fee on down to us at the gas pump.

00:28:14.740 So in BC, typically it's 17 cents a litre up and down for gas.

00:28:20.160 It's 19 cents a litre thereabouts for diesel.

00:28:24.240 Like how truckers do it there, I don't know.

00:28:26.340 And so now we're waiting to see what happens.

00:28:30.000 We do know, though, the Parliamentary Budget Office, who does amazing work, nonpartisan

00:28:34.920 government, arms reach government organization.

00:28:38.220 They're a watchdog.

00:28:39.480 They did the math.

00:28:40.780 And by 2030, it's going to be as expensive as it is in BC.

00:28:45.100 Oh, my goodness.

00:28:46.720 So, yeah, I know it's gross.

00:28:48.020 I don't know what it is right now.

00:28:49.060 It could be five cents.

00:28:50.160 It could be eight cents.

00:28:51.020 We're going to have to wait, I think, a couple months for it to shake out to see where it

00:28:55.100 comes out.

00:28:55.600 But it's in play right now.

00:28:56.780 We have two carbon taxes now.

00:28:58.880 And that ends up being tacked on to everything.

00:29:01.480 I was saying the other day, I think it was to Drea Humphrey, that my oldest moved out of

00:29:08.900 the house a couple of years ago.

00:29:10.320 And the kid is a food furnace.

00:29:12.440 You know, he's six foot threes.

00:29:14.280 You know, he's a pipe fitter.

00:29:15.360 And my 17-year-old daughter is a high-performance athlete who is also a food furnace.

00:29:23.700 But it feels like she moved out because she works all the time.

00:29:27.160 She's training at the gym and she's playing her sport. 0.65

00:29:29.520 So she's always gone.

00:29:32.020 I know she's eating somewhere.

00:29:33.500 I'm looking at her and I'm like, no, you're eating, obviously, just not here.

00:29:37.220 But my grocery bill is still the same as a couple of years ago when both of them were

00:29:42.380 eating me out of house and home.

00:29:43.580 And it's because of stuff like this.

00:29:45.580 It's not just hitting us at the pump.

00:29:47.520 It kicks down every step of the way through all aspects of the economy, but especially

00:29:53.460 food.

00:29:55.120 Yes.

00:29:55.740 And this is something that people really need to understand.

00:29:58.940 So the pump price, the one that's still hidden, by the way, like you need to look it up to find

00:30:03.920 out how much it is.

00:30:04.560 But that's the most obvious because there's literally a price tag hanging in the sky everywhere

00:30:08.820 you drive.

00:30:09.840 Okay.

00:30:10.100 But it's the cumulative layered carbon tax on everything that is a major problem.

00:30:17.340 So even diesel.

00:30:18.860 So truckers obviously use diesel.

00:30:21.860 Filling up just, you know, one of those big rig trucks, the two tanks, the cylindrical

00:30:25.840 tanks costs about 150, 160 bucks extra just in the carbon tax.

00:30:32.160 Filling up, you know, a locomotive that uses diesel.

00:30:35.780 It's around $2,400 if you do the math on the carbon tax.

00:30:40.660 And now if you go to farmers.

00:30:42.440 So farmers do get a break on on farm fuel.

00:30:45.920 It's a really complicated thing they need to fill out.

00:30:47.880 But a lot of folks don't know that they've had to be paying the carbon tax on natural gas

00:30:53.320 and propane, not just to dry their grain product, but to heat their barns.

00:30:59.380 So, you know, spoiler alert, if it's January and it's Saskatchewan, you need to heat your

00:31:05.280 barns to keep your livestock alive.

00:31:07.480 Or to cool their barns, their chicken farms, their hog barns.

00:31:10.600 It's, you know, it's everything.

00:31:12.520 Great point.

00:31:12.880 Yeah.

00:31:13.500 Great point.

00:31:14.220 And they use the same stuff.

00:31:15.320 They use natural gas or propane, etc.

00:31:17.420 Though that's all carbon taxed.

00:31:19.500 And a lot of folks don't know that.

00:31:21.820 So now you've got, you know, on the farm, carbon tax.

00:31:24.380 On the truck, carbon tax.

00:31:26.220 In the grocery store, right?

00:31:28.560 Same thing.

00:31:29.140 Heating and cooling, right?

00:31:30.500 All day long.

00:31:31.400 All year long.

00:31:32.520 That's carbon taxed.

00:31:33.740 Now you're driving there to go get it.

00:31:35.940 See?

00:31:36.240 So this is the layer cake from hell, which is the carbon tax.

00:31:40.620 And that is what is helping.

00:31:42.240 It's not the whole problem, but that's certainly helping make your grocery bill go up.

00:31:46.720 And, you know, I just saw an article that you wrote about how Quebec, on the flip side,

00:31:52.460 is getting a very special deal on the carbon tax.

00:31:54.700 And I'm like, we're over here in Alberta, we're keeping the place running.

00:31:58.500 We're fueling everything.

00:32:00.460 We don't get a deal, but Quebec gets a special deal.

00:32:02.960 And we're supposed to just think Confederation is just working all hunky-dory.

00:32:08.140 It's like, stop me if you've heard this one.

00:32:10.640 Yeah.

00:32:11.740 Quebec's getting a special deal.

00:32:13.460 And what I think is interesting here is that it's really highlighting how special a deal they're getting.

00:32:19.380 So to be clear, we want everybody to pay zero carbon tax.

00:32:22.200 Yeah, me too.

00:32:23.000 Yeah.

00:32:23.560 Like French, English, you know, space aliens in Canada. 0.58

00:32:27.580 Nobody pays the carbon tax.

00:32:28.560 But now, is this ever getting highlighted?

00:32:31.660 Because for the first time ever, the Maritimes, Atlantic Canada, they're paying full freight on the carbon tax.

00:32:38.540 So for a long time, they didn't pay the full mandatory minimum carbon tax.

00:32:45.480 They were paying about two cents a litre on their carbon tax, where the rest of us were paying 14 cents a litre.

00:32:52.260 So, overnight, July 1st, happy Canada Day, their window ran out.

00:33:00.700 And the Trudeau government forced them onto the full mandatory minimum carbon tax.

00:33:06.260 Overnight, Sheila, filling up their minivan in Dartmouth is suddenly costing them 10 bucks more.

00:33:13.000 Like that.

00:33:14.480 Like that.

00:33:15.320 And people who sniff at 10 bucks, I can get a roast chicken for 10 bucks.

00:33:19.360 Yeah.

00:33:19.500 And then I can make soup out of it.

00:33:21.320 10 bucks is 10 bucks.

00:33:23.100 Don't assume that that belongs to the government, because it doesn't.

00:33:26.580 So, yeah, I think now people are really waking up and realizing.

00:33:30.920 I'm even getting some texts from, you know, relations that I have down that way saying,

00:33:34.760 what's this carbon tax thing?

00:33:38.300 And why is it so expensive?

00:33:39.960 And so, yeah, they're on it now.

00:33:43.780 Our team, Jay Goldberg and Franco Terrazzano, just finished doing a tour there, and people were talking about it.

00:33:49.640 They could hear it over in the coffee shops.

00:33:52.160 So, welcome to the party, pal, as John McLean would say.

00:33:55.240 Yeah.

00:33:55.600 A lot of people getting mugged by reality all of a sudden.

00:33:58.100 I forgot about that term.

00:34:01.440 It's pretty good.

00:34:02.440 Now, Chris, I could obviously talk to you all day, but I know that you have to go to the airport to meet with some family.

00:34:09.540 And I have other things to do.

00:34:10.940 Let people know how they can support the good work that you folks do at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation,

00:34:15.200 because you'll never take a penny from Justin Trudeau.

00:34:18.080 And how could you ever hold them to account if you did?

00:34:20.960 Exactly.

00:34:21.360 And for the record, we're not a charity.

00:34:24.020 We're a non-profit.

00:34:25.560 That's for many reasons.

00:34:27.020 And one of the big reasons is we don't give you a tax credit, even.

00:34:31.120 So, if you make a donation, you're just making a donation, free will, because we don't even want to give you a tax credit.

00:34:37.900 That's how seriously we take this.

00:34:40.420 So, if you go to the website, taxpayer.com, the best way to get started in our relationship is to sign petitions that you like.

00:34:48.160 So, that could be anything.

00:34:49.360 It could be defund the media, defund the CBC, it could be stop the gun grab, it could be all sorts of stop the carbon tax.

00:34:58.160 Even some really regional things, like something that really bothered me personally in British Columbia,

00:35:03.340 is that they charge PST on everything there, including used vehicles, which cost you thousands, and thrift store items.

00:35:12.000 It's crazy.

00:35:12.920 Like, just talk about attacking the poor.

00:35:16.300 It makes me so mad.

00:35:17.440 And so, there's even a very specific angry petition in British Columbia, saying get rid of the PST on used items.

00:35:23.540 So, whatever floats your boat, sign the petition on that issue, and that way we'll start having email conversations with you.

00:35:30.900 And the next time we're all doing a big blast to a minister, or speaking up at such and such a time, you'll get on the list.

00:35:36.920 So, just go to taxpayer.com and sign the petitions that tickle your fancy.

00:35:40.520 You know, sometimes people say petitions are not effective, but I will tell you, I bullied Earls into putting Canadian beef back on the menu,

00:35:48.020 and I got accused of working for Cargill by somebody in their media relations office.

00:35:52.820 I'm like, no, no, right?

00:35:53.880 It's just fun.

00:35:54.520 No, no, it helps you create a standing army of like-minded people.

00:35:58.540 Yeah.

00:35:58.800 And what is more grassroots-y than that?

00:36:00.540 It's pretty wonderful.

00:36:01.520 Yeah.

00:36:01.980 You can affect change, and it's fun.

00:36:04.600 It's fun to see these people quaking in their boots when I show up, and I'm like, here's 10,000 signatures.

00:36:09.600 Take them.

00:36:12.280 Good work.

00:36:13.620 Jess, thanks so much.

00:36:14.480 We'll have you back on again very, very soon.

00:36:16.520 Thank you.

00:36:17.560 Thank you.

00:36:17.580 Thank you.

00:36:17.640 Thank you.

00:36:19.580 Thank you.

00:36:21.580 Thank you.

00:36:23.580 Well, friends, we've come to the portion of the show where we invite your viewer feedback,

00:36:28.500 because without you, there really is no rebel news.

00:36:31.480 Unlike the mainstream media, we don't take a penny from Justin Trudeau to hold Justin Trudeau to account,

00:36:36.900 just like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and so we rely on the support of you at home.

00:36:42.160 But because we rely on your support, I also think that you should also get your say,

00:36:46.380 which is why I give out my email address.

00:36:48.780 If you want to send me feedback about the show, put gun show letters in the subject line.

00:36:54.540 Send me an email at sheila at rebelnews.com.

00:36:58.820 Sheila at rebelnews.com, and it's gun show letters, gun with two N's.

00:37:03.760 But don't hesitate to leave a question or comment wherever you're watching us.

00:37:07.580 If you're watching the free version of the show on Rumble, and you feel like sitting through a couple of ads,

00:37:12.960 leave a comment there.

00:37:13.800 I'll go looking there.

00:37:14.900 Sometimes I even go looking on the censorship platform of YouTube.

00:37:18.560 But today's comments come to us from Rumble, and they are on last week's show with my friend

00:37:24.720 and colleague and filmmaking partner, Kian Simone, about the recently wrapped up first leg of our documentary tour.

00:37:33.560 And our documentary is called Church Under Fire, Canada's War on Christianity,

00:37:37.740 and it details the treatment of the COVID resister pastors when the lockdowns came to their churches.

00:37:47.900 And we try to explain to Canadians who may not have been paying attention that what happened to these pastors didn't happen in a bubble.

00:37:56.640 It was a slow burn from Justin Trudeau and his picking away at the treatment of Christians in the public square

00:38:07.280 until it became completely reasonable and acceptable to drag pastors away in handcuffs from their crying children.

00:38:15.460 Anyway, let's get into the comments.

00:38:18.140 They're from Rumble.

00:38:18.940 First one is from D Carb 71.

00:38:22.960 Are you decarbohydrating yourself?

00:38:27.160 I'm an advocate of that.

00:38:28.840 Anyway, I don't have to be a Christian to be very angry over this.

00:38:33.400 And even in Kentucky, I was angry at the way it was here, and it wasn't as bad as Canada. 1.00

00:38:38.360 They want to end the congregations and community that comes from it.

00:38:41.700 I can't stomach even looking at Justin Trudeau.

00:38:44.440 Not that I think our leaders are any less evil.

00:38:47.960 I'm glad you could see what we were talking about in Kentucky.

00:38:52.960 Kian, through quite a brilliant vision, decided to make the documentary in a way that if you were a recently arrived space alien or even an American,

00:39:05.680 I'm joking, that if you didn't know anything about what happened here in Canada during COVID to our pastors,

00:39:12.640 and if you didn't know all that much about Justin Trudeau or what he had done in the lead up to those pastors being arrested in front of their children,

00:39:22.100 that you could take in the story and really understand the context in which it happened.

00:39:28.320 So I'm glad that that sort of came through in our conversation together.

00:39:34.260 And St. Matthew writes,

00:39:37.680 Thank you, Sheila and Kian.

00:39:40.180 It was a pleasure and privilege to meet you personally.

00:39:42.900 You must have been at one of our documentary screenings.

00:39:45.520 I just returned from the public screening of your impressive video, Church Under Fire.

00:39:49.580 The documentary will become a landmark in Canadian history,

00:39:52.920 at par with those documentary films of battles for equal rights in the U.S. during the 60s.

00:39:58.400 Well, more than anything, we wanted to make it an historical record of what happened because the other side of this is desperately trying to rewrite their own history and seek amnesty for themselves.

00:40:15.080 And perhaps there can be reconciliation one day, but before reconciliation, there must be truth and the raw truth.

00:40:23.780 And that's what we tried to present.

00:40:25.620 It reveals clearly how those twisted minded lunatics in Ottawa and the government of Justin Trudeau got carried away with their power and authority kick and seem to relish every minute of it.

00:40:38.260 And how their mindless, brainless servants, those lowerlings in government on the provincial and municipal level and in the judiciary,

00:40:46.620 and those police officers dressed in their black uniforms with those leather belts,

00:40:50.500 with their impressive paraphernalia of handcuffs and guns that seem to give them that feeling of authority over the citizens.

00:40:57.060 This reminds me of my five-year-old dressed in his Darth Vader outfit playing the bad guy.

00:41:01.520 Does this say something about their low-life mentality?

00:41:04.280 This documentary must be sent to every school, library, and church in Canada in the United States.

00:41:09.700 Well, if you were at our documentary screening, you know that we were working on distribution.

00:41:13.680 I saw that just this week, the DVDs have arrived in the head office in Toronto.

00:41:21.760 I'll have to explain to a young man like Kian exactly what a DVD is and what people do with them, 1.00

00:41:26.540 but people still use them.

00:41:28.280 It's how we used to get our videos in the olden days.

00:41:31.820 But anyway, we are working on distribution and we do want to make sure that we get this video in front of as many eyes as possible

00:41:38.260 because people must know what happened to be a part of making sure that it never happens again.

00:41:46.160 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:41:47.800 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:41:49.200 I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week.

00:41:52.460 And remember, as always, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

00:42:08.260 We'll be right back here in the same time.

Rebel News Podcast - July 26, 2023

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Journalists should not be paid by the government

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