Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ MP refuses $8,000 pay raise as food inflation hits 6% and Ottawa keeps spending

00:00:00.000 One MP in the House of Commons is doing the right thing and rejecting his April 1st pay hike.

00:00:23.640 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:30.000 Well guys, today it's a very full show.

00:00:34.780 I'm joined today by my friend Chris Sims of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and we are talking about Conservative MP.

00:00:40.040 He's a rookie, Mike Dawson.

00:00:42.060 He's from Miramichi and he's rejecting his nearly $10,000 annual tax hike on April 1st,

00:00:51.340 which is the day where the joke's on the Canadian taxpayer because all them MPs are getting a...

00:00:58.660 Well, it's about an $8,000 a year tax hike, 4.5% while the rest of us are dealing with 6% inflation thanks to government spending.

00:01:08.100 We're going to talk about that.

00:01:09.480 We're going to talk about how Carney has backed off of the electric vehicle mandate, but he hasn't necessarily backed off.

00:01:17.580 If he's just doing the thing that he does and hiding his bad ideas where you can't really see how bad they affect you.

00:01:24.960 And then we're going to talk about Canada Post and how they got a billion dollars in bailouts in 2025.

00:01:30.880 They're getting another billion in 2026 and they are nearly insolvent.

00:01:35.840 So, I guess good luck with that.

00:01:38.640 Anyway, here's my friend Chris Sims in an interview we recorded earlier.

00:01:43.000 Take a listen.

00:01:43.460 So, joining me now is my good friend and good friend of the show and good friend of taxpayers everywhere,

00:01:59.140 Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Chris Sims.

00:02:02.260 And Chris, first I want to talk to you about this announcement that happened yesterday by Conservative MP Mike Dawson.

00:02:11.240 Doing the right thing by taxpayers and rejecting his pay raise.

00:02:17.600 I think people forget that MPs get mandated pay raises no matter what they do, no matter what the economy looks like,

00:02:28.920 no matter what inflation looks like for regular people, they get a pay raise.

00:02:34.040 These are not performance raises.

00:02:35.560 It's just here.

00:02:37.260 Thank you.

00:02:38.680 Here.

00:02:39.340 You exist.

00:02:40.060 Have some more money.

00:02:40.800 Great.

00:02:41.660 So, it's April 1st.

00:02:43.460 No joke.

00:02:44.240 It's such a pain that it's April 1st because it feels like it's rubbing salt in the wound.

00:02:48.280 But yeah, they get automatic pay hikes.

00:02:50.860 I will remind folks, and this sucks, but I have to remind them, that all during the lockdowns,

00:02:56.800 all during that time that was so hellish for so many people when they were losing their jobs and their industries were shut down,

00:03:02.680 MPs never missed one pay hike.

00:03:05.300 Not one.

00:03:06.360 Not one.

00:03:06.840 It pains me to say this, but New Zealand, remember New Zealand during the lockdowns, Jacinda Ardern took a 20% pay cut.

00:03:16.220 Like, they cut their pay in New Zealand at that same time, but nope, not in Ottawa.

00:03:22.160 So, this is why my colleague and friend, Franco Terrazzano, has been pulling his hair out for years, saying,

00:03:30.300 will anyone, any member of parliament, please stand up and say no more pay hikes.

00:03:36.120 This is wrong.

00:03:37.380 We can't afford this.

00:03:38.760 It's gross, especially considering how many Canadians are struggling to pay for basics.

00:03:43.580 So, good on Mike.

00:03:47.560 Be like Mike.

00:03:49.120 Refuse the hike.

00:03:50.700 I love that he's Mike from Miramichi, because there's a little phrase that I like to use of, like, our people, like, your viewers and stuff,

00:03:59.200 who I love, they're like my family, some of them are my family, is Rick from Red Deer.

00:04:03.700 I love Rick from Red Deer.

00:04:04.780 But now we've got Mike from Miramichi, and I got a hold of him yesterday, actually, Sheila, and I talked to him.

00:04:12.020 And so, I'm going to be interviewing him later today.

00:04:14.020 I'm super stoked.

00:04:15.720 I'll try not to cry, but what got me in his letter was when he said he's a drywaller.

00:04:22.640 Yeah.

00:04:23.360 My brother's a drywaller.

00:04:25.180 I'm looking for his letter.

00:04:26.260 Maybe we can read a little bit of it.

00:04:28.080 But, yeah, he doesn't forget where he came from.

00:04:30.900 He did not.

00:04:31.880 My brother's a drywaller, lives in Arnprior.

00:04:33.840 He gets up at around 3.30, 3.45 every morning in the dark, and just to make rent, right?

00:04:41.460 He drives into Ottawa to do his joiner jobs, as they say in the drywalling world.

00:04:47.880 And to hear Mike say, because he said, call me Mike, that he doesn't want this, because when he was door knocking,

00:04:57.880 he never heard from any of his constituents saying, you know what, those politicians need a pay hike.

00:05:02.060 Like, so good on him.

00:05:04.120 Like, we're so proud of him.

00:05:06.380 Like, I feel like flying there and washing his car for him.

00:05:10.420 I'm so happy.

00:05:12.200 Yeah.

00:05:12.980 His letter is, I mean, I love that he is just a blue-collar guy who finds himself as an MP.

00:05:21.020 Yeah.

00:05:21.280 And so he didn't forget where he came from.

00:05:24.280 He said, and he sent this to the clerk of the House of Commons.

00:05:27.800 He said, I was elected as a member of the House of Parliament for Miramichi Grand Lake on April 28, 2025.

00:05:36.560 So he's a new, part of the new batch.

00:05:39.060 Yep.

00:05:39.180 It has come to my attention that all members of Parliament are set to receive a 4.2% raise on April 1, 2026.

00:05:45.880 And let's just remember, Canadians are paying 6% inflation on food alone.

00:05:51.340 That's right.

00:05:51.500 At a time when everyday Canadians are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living, I cannot, in good conscience, accept the pay raise increase of nearly $10,000.

00:06:03.120 What would your family do with $10,000?

00:06:05.100 Which every member of Parliament is set to receive.

00:06:08.100 Which points out that he's the only one to decline this.

00:06:11.960 It is frankly distasteful that Parliamentarians are set to receive a raise while the working man and woman in this country hasn't seen a decent raise in decades.

00:06:22.520 Before becoming a member of Parliament, I was a drywaller and a contractor.

00:06:25.880 So this is a topic which I know a thing or two about.

00:06:29.260 Therefore, please make the necessary arrangements with the Payroll and Benefits Administration to ensure that this is done.

00:06:35.700 Respectfully, Mike Dawson, Miramichi Grand Lake.

00:06:38.560 I don't know why I love that last part so much.

00:06:40.760 Me too.

00:06:41.960 It was like, figure out this payroll computer thingy.

00:06:45.620 Deal with it.

00:06:47.380 Because I don't want this.

00:06:49.560 And good on him.

00:06:51.300 You know, he reminds me of some of the old school reform MPs that were first getting elected back in the day.

00:07:00.020 I remember the late, God rest his soul, Chuck Cadman, would talk like this quite a bit.

00:07:05.800 So he came into Parliament for a different reason.

00:07:09.080 It was because his teenage son, Jesse, was murdered.

00:07:12.580 And so that's why he felt the call to become an MP.

00:07:16.500 And here we are hearing from Mike Dawson saying that he felt the call because he wanted to help the working man and woman, especially in his riding.

00:07:24.440 And he can't with good conscience take this pay hike.

00:07:26.760 So, like, I'm just so proud of him.

00:07:29.320 Like, yeah, we've been begging and pleading now for like five straight years for any MP of any party, frankly, to stand up and do this.

00:07:40.100 And so a little inside baseball.

00:07:42.480 Can I get into inside baseball?

00:07:43.960 Of course.

00:07:44.580 So as of tape time, while we're talking right now, they're all in the middle of we'll just be finishing their caucuses.

00:07:53.020 So what happens on Wednesday mornings, folks, in Ottawa on Parliament Hill is all of the parties get in their own little party group behind closed doors.

00:08:03.700 And all of the members of Parliament from that party, they have like a meeting and it usually lasts around three hours.

00:08:09.380 And there's a microphone in the middle of the room and they all kind of it's like the airing of grievances every Wednesday morning.

00:08:16.320 Festivus.

00:08:17.040 Exactly.

00:08:17.760 Wednesday festivus.

00:08:18.660 It's wonderful.

00:08:20.260 And so apparently they can get pretty gnarly.

00:08:23.680 Good.

00:08:24.340 And, you know, which is good.

00:08:25.820 And that's where they bring up issues related to their constituents.

00:08:29.240 So this is what my folks are saying back home.

00:08:31.500 And this is what I think we should be focusing on.

00:08:33.580 Or I think the way you answered that question and question period was stupid or whatever it is.

00:08:37.960 Yep.

00:08:39.380 So our supporters and other people outside of the Taxpayers Federation, I talked to Mike on the phone.

00:08:45.200 By the time we talked yesterday, he already had more than a thousand emails.

00:08:49.860 Oh, I'm so glad.

00:08:51.800 Thanking him.

00:08:52.580 I'm so glad.

00:08:52.680 And it's not just CTF, like regular riding folks who were hearing the news.

00:08:57.660 Like I'll cry.

00:08:58.740 But he had already gotten more than a thousand emails.

00:09:01.740 And I'm just so proud of people, of regular people, of standing up and being heard because it matters to him.

00:09:08.780 So he's going to be getting some gears, I imagine, in caucus.

00:09:13.700 Right.

00:09:14.100 Because he made everybody else look bad.

00:09:16.340 Sure did.

00:09:17.200 You know, there's a good solution for that, though, eh, Sheila?

00:09:20.480 Yeah, the rest could do it, too.

00:09:26.360 Yeah.

00:09:26.760 Yeah.

00:09:27.480 Seriously.

00:09:28.160 They could all do it, too.

00:09:29.580 All the Conservatives should stand up and do this.

00:09:31.500 Frankly, all the NDP should stand up and do this.

00:09:33.820 Sure.

00:09:34.240 Because they're the party of the working man, I thought, right? 0.98

00:09:36.580 So they say.

00:09:37.460 So they say.

00:09:38.320 They're more of the academics and the weirdos at this point.

00:09:41.500 But I'm so glad we got to talk today.

00:09:45.960 But to your point, what you were talking about earlier, seriously, a backbench member of parliament.

00:09:50.880 And by that, we mean they don't have any extra House duties.

00:09:53.900 They're not sitting on any committees.

00:09:55.420 OK, no admin stuff that they have to do.

00:09:58.040 They're already paid more than two hundred thousand dollars a year.

00:10:02.460 Yeah, I think it's two hundred.

00:10:03.680 It'll go.

00:10:04.520 It'll be two hundred and eight thousand, I believe.

00:10:07.620 Like, this is enough.

00:10:09.200 And on top of that.

00:10:09.900 Plus expenses.

00:10:10.880 Their expenses.

00:10:11.760 So many of their expenses are paid.

00:10:13.280 Again, I know people love these, like, little anecdotes from the Hill.

00:10:17.160 But even, like, during.

00:10:18.680 OK, well, the parliament is in session.

00:10:20.520 OK.

00:10:20.960 So what we see is the House of Commons with the green grass, like, representative carpet and people sitting in their chairs.

00:10:27.440 Behind them, behind those golden curtains you see in the back sometimes, that's where they're called the lobbies.

00:10:33.300 That's where they go, like, you know, go get a drink and come back in or pass notes to each other.

00:10:38.260 Their their meals are served to them in there.

00:10:40.940 Right.

00:10:41.520 It's like three hot meals a day.

00:10:43.200 And I mean, like, fancy stuff, all the juices you could imagine and steamed fish and like, you name it.

00:10:48.160 And like all their per diem lunches are covered.

00:10:50.620 All their transportation for work is covered.

00:10:52.500 Like, they're not hurting and they're paid two hundred grand a year.

00:10:56.340 So good on Mike Dawson.

00:10:59.080 We really hope that he starts a trend here.

00:11:01.300 Now, I see some naysayers saying online, well, he can't do this.

00:11:05.980 Like, he can't reject it.

00:11:07.760 I believe he just did.

00:11:09.400 Yeah.

00:11:09.700 And I believe he just did.

00:11:11.800 And even if and he asked the payroll department to deal with it, which I thought was kind of cute.

00:11:17.340 But let's say he can't.

00:11:19.440 I firmly believe that Mike, if they make him take the money, he will do something good with it.

00:11:25.660 It won't end up in his pocket.

00:11:27.240 So two things.

00:11:30.540 And I'm not talking about Mike here.

00:11:32.060 Mike's a beauty.

00:11:32.880 OK.

00:11:33.660 But when you hear more.

00:11:35.800 How do I put this nicely?

00:11:37.960 More experienced members of parliament say something cute like what you just said of, oh, what are we to do?

00:11:44.340 We can't do anything.

00:11:45.280 But I will promise Scouts Honor, donate this money to charity.

00:11:49.680 So on that, A, what that allows them to do is continue to collect their max pension afterwards.

00:11:58.580 Oh.

00:11:59.580 And get the tax credit.

00:12:01.900 Bingo.

00:12:02.260 Well, so sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but yeah, because you take the best.

00:12:08.920 I think it's the best four years or whatever it is of their earnings once they're out.

00:12:14.120 And that's how they calculate their big fat pensions.

00:12:16.960 And what you just said, they get the tax credit on top of it.

00:12:20.780 So while it is good ish for them to say, oh, well, I will donate it to charity.

00:12:26.240 OK.

00:12:27.100 But there's some catches there.

00:12:28.980 And two, this is what gets me.

00:12:31.920 And I'm talking directly to the liberals who are hate watching your show for some reason.

00:12:36.040 I don't know why.

00:12:36.700 God bless you.

00:12:38.380 I'm talking directly to the government.

00:12:42.320 I don't care.

00:12:43.580 Hi.

00:12:44.320 So I'm talking directly to you here.

00:12:46.920 OK.

00:12:47.520 Again, we gave an award to former Prime Minister Paul Martin for slaying the deficit.

00:12:52.480 OK.

00:12:52.660 We actually don't care what color jersey you're wearing.

00:12:54.820 We want good government.

00:12:56.180 So directly to the liberals who are watching this, who support Prime Minister Mark Carney,

00:13:00.740 he can stop these MP pay raises now.

00:13:05.400 Like, right now.

00:13:07.260 So when, especially when you hear a liberal member of parliament stand up on his or her

00:13:12.840 hind legs and say, well, what are we to do?

00:13:15.460 These are just automatic pay increases.

00:13:18.320 You are legislators.

00:13:22.180 Legislators.

00:13:22.980 You make laws.

00:13:24.280 You're literally standing in the house where you create law.

00:13:30.100 You're the one in charge.

00:13:32.120 You can change all of this if you want to.

00:13:35.020 And frankly, if they can't figure out how to stop their pay raises, they probably don't deserve pay raises.

00:13:41.200 Well, I mean, this is the typical liberal thing where they're like, what do you want us to do?

00:13:48.480 Well, you're in charge.

00:13:50.380 You could like you guys are the ones in charge.

00:13:53.420 You know, like you always see them say, well, you know, things are bad, but we're going to fix them.

00:13:59.780 You broke them.

00:14:00.600 Like you broke them.

00:14:02.740 They always act like they don't know who's in charge of anything.

00:14:05.040 I know.

00:14:05.580 Like pitter patter.

00:14:07.000 Like, do it.

00:14:07.720 Fix it.

00:14:08.540 Like, this is like this is like a janitor, which no janitor would do this because janitors actually do their jobs.

00:14:14.520 But this is like a janitor standing there literally in a hallway with a broom in their hand and somebody like spills over a bunch of sawdust.

00:14:22.520 And it's like, well, what am I supposed to do?

00:14:24.260 Well, maybe get sweeping.

00:14:26.660 You're right there.

00:14:29.300 Like, and again, a janitor does a way better job than most members of Parliament.

00:14:33.140 So straight up kudos to Mike.

00:14:36.320 Like, I imagine you like Mike.

00:14:39.080 Be like Mike.

00:14:39.900 Refuse the hike.

00:14:40.700 We're so happy to see this.

00:14:41.840 And for folks who are saying numerically, like this doesn't really matter compared to the massive deficit, which is close to $80 billion with a B or the debt, which is over a trillion dollars.

00:14:53.480 I understand what you're saying, but this is really important, okay, for leadership.

00:14:59.640 It's like the broken windows theory with crime, okay?

00:15:02.680 If you get leadership at the top of them saying I'm going to freeze or cut pay for me and all of my boss colleagues,

00:15:10.980 that changes the culture of entitlement.

00:15:14.080 It does in Ottawa because the fish rots from the head down.

00:15:18.160 And conversely, if they show leadership at the top, it changes the culture, man.

00:15:23.800 You'll start seeing bureaucracies reining in their spending, getting cut, reducing all their costs.

00:15:30.860 Like, all it takes is a couple people to do it.

00:15:34.880 And I'm really hoping, honestly, that the Liberal government does read the room and say, whoa, like, we should probably, like, tap her cool here.

00:15:43.600 Yeah.

00:15:43.840 I mean, what did we get from the Liberals?

00:15:47.800 Christy Freeland told us she cancelled her Disney Plus.

00:15:50.440 Like, that was the moral leadership that we got from the Liberals on inflation.

00:15:56.840 So, I'm really happy to see a rookie MP taking this moral stance.

00:16:03.360 Just switching lanes, something you wanted to talk about, and that is the EV goals for the federal government.

00:16:11.820 So, they've apparently switched and they've backed off from the EV mandate, so they say.

00:16:21.080 So, if you get all your news from the mainstream media, and I know people watching this don't,

00:16:27.760 the Canadian federal government has shifted its policy from a hard 2035 ban on new gas car sales

00:16:34.660 to a new regulatory approach aiming for 75% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035 and 90% by 2040.

00:16:45.000 And then they've built in some incentives, of course.

00:16:47.760 So, we're going to subsidize rich people to buy their hobby cars into this.

00:16:53.680 And I think even they had to admit that it was unsustainable and crazy, but it still remains unsustainable and crazy.

00:17:02.700 And as you point out, this is just shifting from hard targets into regulatory nonsense.

00:17:09.260 Exactly.

00:17:10.120 So, thank you for giving me a chance to talk about this, because so much of it got carried away and the ban is gone.

00:17:16.640 Yay, like the witch is dead.

00:17:18.720 But it's, I don't like saying this, but I think it could be worse, actually.

00:17:25.660 So, first, the good news.

00:17:27.660 The government is in retreat on this.

00:17:30.160 Okay, it's in reverse, so to speak.

00:17:31.660 Um, so they realize that this is super unpopular, stupid, and they can't really get away with it up front.

00:17:39.460 Super similar to the consumer carbon tax.

00:17:42.980 So, the consumer carbon tax win was better, though, because, you know, my gas is about 20 cents cheaper per litre here in Lethbridge,

00:17:50.300 because that consumer carbon tax is gone.

00:17:52.960 Of course, the devil's in the details, where we still have two big hidden carbon taxes.

00:17:57.020 But, straight up, the consumer carbon tax is gone, which is very good.

00:18:01.380 With this, it's like, okay, they were going to outright ban them.

00:18:05.720 So, starting in 11 months' time, they were going to make it so that two out of every 10 cars sold at a dealership had to be a battery-powered vehicle, an EV.

00:18:16.220 Now, they're like, oh, we're going to regulate it instead of mandating it instead, which is worse.

00:18:25.500 So, instead of, you know, the bad guys, metaphorically speaking, coming up over the ridge wearing red coats, they're all now hiding in the bushes.

00:18:35.160 Okay?

00:18:35.300 And there's more of them.

00:18:38.140 Exactly.

00:18:38.740 We've got to change our tactics here, because Carney's trying to hide it in regulation.

00:18:43.260 And, again, if people have not read this book yet, go read this book.

00:18:47.360 I know, like, blah, blah, blah, you don't want to spend money on it, but take it out from the library, borrow it from a friend or something.

00:18:53.460 Read this book, because Mark Carney wrote this.

00:18:56.260 All through it are things like why we need battery-powered vehicles, why carbon taxes are the best thing ever, ever, ever, why we need personal carbon accounts, which I don't understand yet.

00:19:09.620 So, this guy wrote this book, and he's got your wallet.

00:19:13.720 He's got your wallet.

00:19:15.340 Read this book.

00:19:16.020 So, if you read that book, you understand that this is all just shifting to regulation now.

00:19:21.720 And so, essentially, what's happening is not forcing you, but taking away all your other vehicle choices until you comply.

00:19:31.320 Right?

00:19:31.780 So, that's one.

00:19:32.720 Two.

00:19:33.000 Definitely not coercion.

00:19:34.440 Definitely not coercion.

00:19:36.120 So, that's one thing.

00:19:37.320 And two, from the money side of things, this is where, in the Taxpayers Federation, we were like, wait, what?

00:19:43.020 Like, this is not going to work.

00:19:44.940 Like, not going to work.

00:19:45.960 Like, even the federal government, Sheila, so Natural Resources Canada, did a huge study on this.

00:19:52.500 They're estimating that the transition to electric is going to cost more than $300 billion with a B.

00:20:03.020 That's the feds estimating that.

00:20:05.020 Like, tack more money onto that one, because they always underestimate.

00:20:08.660 And so, his announcement didn't solve for that problem.

00:20:13.560 Right.

00:20:13.960 Like, okay, but you still want all of us driving battery-powered vehicles.

00:20:20.800 Where is the energy going to come from?

00:20:24.360 And where is the money going to come from to build the infrastructure?

00:20:29.540 Because when we all started driving gas-powered vehicles, and when we want to stop at a local gas station, the government didn't build the gas station.

00:20:38.740 Right.

00:20:39.300 The economy and the market created it due to demand, convenience, and affordability.

00:20:47.020 Like, we're really worried that this is just shifting it so that it's camouflaged.

00:20:54.240 Right.

00:20:54.460 So, again, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but folks really have to keep paying attention to this,

00:20:59.880 because they're still going to try to dictate what kind of vehicle you can purchase and drive.

00:21:04.460 And essentially, from the taxpayers' perspective, like, we have un-money.

00:21:08.340 Yeah.

00:21:08.560 Like, the government can't afford this because taxpayers can't afford this.

00:21:13.900 Right.

00:21:14.240 And they shouldn't be doing this.

00:21:15.880 They shouldn't be meddling in the market this way.

00:21:18.000 And this is what liberals do.

00:21:22.300 They, particularly this batch of them, Mark Carney himself, they remove the consumer carbon tax, which we love,

00:21:30.720 but then they move to hide it upstream in an industrial carbon tax that doesn't show up as a line item that enrages you on your gas bill.

00:21:40.100 And they're doing the same thing here.

00:21:43.440 It's exactly the same play.

00:21:45.400 So, we're still going to be poorer because of it and have fewer choices and have government up in our grill dictating what kind of vehicles and stuff.

00:21:56.560 But, again, like, we don't have the money.

00:22:00.160 Like, I'm starting to, in fact, I'm not going to say I'm starting to worry.

00:22:03.360 I think that a lot of humanities grads have gone into government and they've actually infected, like, econ now.

00:22:13.500 And I think they think math is a social construct.

00:22:16.960 Yeah.

00:22:17.240 Or, like, money is a social construct.

00:22:19.740 It's not.

00:22:20.840 But I think that's what they're thinking.

00:22:23.340 And, like, we can't keep this up, my friend.

00:22:25.860 No.

00:22:26.360 No.

00:22:26.780 I think we're all going to get mugged by reality real quick.

00:22:29.520 That's a good way to put it.

00:22:30.280 So, speaking of companies that should be mugged by reality or agencies that should be mugged by reality but just aren't, let us talk about Canada Post because they have consumed another $1 billion in bailouts just recently.

00:22:52.360 And I think they lost already $1 billion in 2025.

00:22:55.300 So, and then over the course of seven straight years, they've lost a combined total of nearly $4 billion.

00:23:06.900 I think even last year, their, like, Canada Post itself was saying, we might be insolvent.

00:23:15.760 But in a real, like, in a real economy, they would just be closed.

00:23:22.180 Yes.

00:23:22.780 And their persistent strikes and blackmail have caused people to move away from them because they are unreliable.

00:23:31.560 Like, you can't go on strike, as they did, during the Christmas season when businesses rely on you and then think those businesses are going to come back.

00:23:41.700 No.

00:23:41.880 And they didn't.

00:23:42.980 No, they won't because they'll opt for a business that doesn't delay them doing business.

00:23:47.620 Right.

00:23:48.180 It doesn't hamstring them.

00:23:50.400 So, I know people are bruised right now and it's not really a nice time and they don't like thinking about, like, losing an institution.

00:23:58.700 So, I just wanted to preface that.

00:24:00.520 I get that.

00:24:01.660 I'm not nostalgic for Canada Post.

00:24:03.480 Are there people nostalgic for Canada Post out there?

00:24:05.680 There are.

00:24:07.160 You'd be surprised at the mail.

00:24:09.320 So, I understand.

00:24:12.020 Look, and I like the people who work for Canada Post.

00:24:14.180 The Ardrossen Post Office ladies, if you're watching, you're delightful.

00:24:18.960 My mother-in-law and the lady who works at the Canada Post Office, they share banana bread recipes, okay?

00:24:25.420 Like, I know.

00:24:25.920 This isn't about you.

00:24:27.320 No.

00:24:27.460 This is about the big, the organization as a whole.

00:24:30.460 And this is not about my auntie who is a postmistress in a tiny town in Maritimes.

00:24:35.020 I get all of that.

00:24:36.340 So, that said, a company whose job it is to deliver stuff needs to be able to deliver stuff while turning a profit.

00:24:46.800 Yeah.

00:24:48.160 That's really the end of the sentence.

00:24:49.940 Yes.

00:24:50.620 It shouldn't be up to the taxpayer, okay, to try to subsidize and squeak it out and back you up and all this other stuff.

00:24:58.240 Like, Canada Post needs to figure out how to make money delivering things.

00:25:04.800 There are other countries, Western countries, that have figured this out.

00:25:09.040 Now, my data is a couple of years old, so if it's changed, please forgive me.

00:25:12.800 But the Royal Mail, okay, in the UK, again, an iconic symbol, they apparently figured this out.

00:25:19.260 They figured out a way to keep their branding and keep their name and revitalize and change the way they do stuff and turn a profit so that they aren't tapping the UK taxpayer.

00:25:29.120 Now, again, something could have turned into a dumpster fire in the last couple of years.

00:25:32.560 But last I looked, they were able to figure it out.

00:25:35.580 At least they tried.

00:25:37.060 These people aren't even trying.

00:25:38.620 They can't, and while they've always got daddy government or mommy taxpayer to go to, they're never going to get out of the basement.

00:25:48.100 So, like, again, if we were flush with cash, like, if we were just swimming in, like, an oil and gas fund like Norway or had big surpluses or something, okay, we could at least entertain a conversation about having, like, a hobby of having a government-run postal service for some reason.

00:26:06.020 But we don't.

00:26:08.200 We are more than a trillion dollars in debt.

00:26:10.620 The interest on our debt alone is costing us a billion dollars a week.

00:26:15.980 So, we are in, like, the triage moment right now of they need to stop all excess spending.

00:26:24.600 So, we need to stop trying to run a delivery company that can't deliver things.

00:26:29.800 We need to stop trying to run a train company, like with Via.

00:26:33.120 They need to get rid of all of their hemorrhaging crown corporations, including the CBC, and severely cut spending.

00:26:42.160 Canada Post is another example of this.

00:26:44.660 Yeah.

00:26:44.940 I mean, I guess if we existed in a world where there was nobody else who could move your parcels and letters, maybe.

00:26:52.320 But there are other companies that seem to do it successfully and on time.

00:26:56.820 Likewise, with the news and television, there are other companies that do it without, you know, the taxpayer backstopping everything.

00:27:07.040 But I guess there's some portion of the population that might be a little bit older that remembers a Canada that just really doesn't exist anymore.

00:27:17.120 I know, and I'm sorry.

00:27:18.440 I am.

00:27:18.880 Yes.

00:27:19.400 As a student of history, I'm sorry.

00:27:21.360 But that doesn't exist anymore.

00:27:22.940 And it used to be back in the day in Ontario, they had to, like, write a little note and hand it to the person behind the counter that would then, like, quietly hand you your alcohol in, like, brown box.

00:27:36.560 Like, that was the case right up and through the 60s and stuff.

00:27:39.680 So, like, we used to have government telecoms.

00:27:43.060 Okay.

00:27:43.380 We used to have, you know.

00:27:44.060 Yeah.

00:27:44.080 AGT.

00:27:45.080 AGT in Alberta.

00:27:46.240 Alberta government telephones.

00:27:47.360 We had BC Tel in British Columbia.

00:27:49.760 Like, I get it.

00:27:50.940 I get it.

00:27:51.880 But we cannot afford nostalgia on the backs of taxpayers, especially when it's run by the government, which is terrible at doing things.

00:28:02.180 Like, the last thing we should ever want is the government trying to run something or the government trying to backstop something because they're awful at it.

00:28:11.300 Like, again, they have already spent, I think at last I looked, I couldn't believe it, Sheila.

00:28:15.740 I think it was $5 billion trying to fix the Phoenix payroll system.

00:28:21.100 Yeah.

00:28:22.020 Which is their own government payroll software.

00:28:25.760 Right.

00:28:26.360 And they haven't figured that out.

00:28:28.200 So, yeah, this is, again, we've got kids, you and I have got kids, like, they can't afford this.

00:28:35.040 Like, it's already going to be tough enough to pay for the basics that we expect, like border security and military and stuff.

00:28:40.400 Like, government backed up, post it.

00:28:42.960 No, sorry.

00:28:43.940 Yeah.

00:28:44.120 It's got to go.

00:28:45.020 It's just good money after bad over and over and over again.

00:28:49.200 It is.

00:28:50.260 Chris, tell people how they can support the incredible work that you guys do over at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:28:56.520 You're really working hard to hold the government to account on so many of their bad ideas from the gun grab to carbon taxes and even conservative politicians.

00:29:07.400 You're calling out Tony Wakeham for spending.

00:29:11.360 So, you take no prisoners.

00:29:13.720 You play no favorites.

00:29:15.240 No, we don't.

00:29:16.120 I just really want to thank you, Sheila, for having us on your show.

00:29:19.840 Thank you to all the viewers and listeners of Rebel.

00:29:22.840 Rebel is independent journalism.

00:29:25.500 And I've been a journalist my whole life.

00:29:27.900 And if you're government funded, you're not a journalist.

00:29:31.660 And so Rebel is independent journalism.

00:29:34.000 Thank you for watching this show.

00:29:36.280 Please go to our website, taxpayer.com.

00:29:38.900 You don't need to spend a dollar, okay?

00:29:41.080 Sign the petitions that speak to you, that matter to you.

00:29:44.700 Things like defunding the CBC.

00:29:46.740 Things like taking the sales tax off of thrift share items.

00:29:49.640 Yes.

00:29:50.040 You know, let's stop attacking poor people.

00:29:53.040 Sign those ones.

00:29:54.220 And then when it's time for us all to say, excuse me, email a politician or take action,

00:30:01.720 like cutting the MP pay hike.

00:30:03.540 Or thanking Mike.

00:30:05.060 Thanking Mike Dawson, okay?

00:30:07.340 Like, he's got more than a thousand emails.

00:30:09.680 When it's time for us all to act at once, now you're part of the team.

00:30:14.780 And in the meantime, you get updates from our newsletters and stuff.

00:30:17.860 It's really a form of fellowship.

00:30:19.100 And you feel less alone in this fight.

00:30:21.920 So yeah, thank you, Sheila and to Rebel for including us.

00:30:25.200 And for folks who are listening out there, I just want to remind people, like, you're

00:30:28.840 not alone.

00:30:29.920 No.

00:30:30.400 Okay, you're not alone.

00:30:31.240 We're all in this fight together.

00:30:32.260 So just sign up to our different organizations' emails and stuff with Rebel and CTF.

00:30:37.600 And you're part of the team.

00:30:39.280 Yeah, there's a government being bad issue for everybody over at the CTF.

00:30:44.300 There's, you know, they're all for me.

00:30:46.260 But whatever your problem is with the government, the CTF is fighting for you.

00:30:52.120 Amen.

00:30:53.080 Yes.

00:30:53.540 Chris, thanks so much for coming on the show.

00:30:55.200 Thanks so much for taking the time.

00:30:58.280 The world is ugly.

00:30:59.460 But I think wake up every day and just try to straighten out the chaos in front of you

00:31:04.580 is the best that we can do.

00:31:06.080 God love you, Sheila.

00:31:06.960 Thank you.

00:31:07.740 Thanks.

00:31:13.880 All right, friends.

00:31:15.360 As always, the last portion of the show belongs to you, which means you get to have your say

00:31:19.520 about the work that we do here at Rebel News.

00:31:21.200 If you want to send me an email directly, as was the case with today's viewer feedback,

00:31:26.320 it's Sheila at RebelNews.com.

00:31:28.500 Put gun show letters in the subject line so I know exactly why you're emailing me.

00:31:32.760 Or leave a comment on any of the clips of the show wherever you find them.

00:31:37.760 Leave a comment on our website.

00:31:40.780 I also go looking over there and that engagement with our content on other platforms helps us

00:31:47.920 in the algorithms.

00:31:49.060 It serves our work up in front of more eyeballs when it's more engaged with the platforms like 0.63

00:31:55.980 that.

00:31:56.420 So you react to our stuff, they show it to more people, which I guess works good for us.

00:32:02.320 But if you want to talk to me directly, it's Sheila at RebelNews.com.

00:32:05.760 Now, today's gun show letter comes to me from someone who had written to me previously.

00:32:12.100 And I read their email.

00:32:13.400 I just didn't respond to it.

00:32:15.380 If I responded to it on air, it might have got me in a little bit of trouble that I care

00:32:20.220 all that much.

00:32:20.900 But we did get re-monetized on YouTube and I sort of don't want to damage that.

00:32:25.360 But it comes to me from Terrence.

00:32:27.280 And Terrence says,

00:32:27.920 While that exercise allowed me an opportunity to vent and hopefully offered you some mild

00:32:42.480 amusement, I now withdraw those comments and offer you a much more sanitized version as

00:32:47.200 follows.

00:32:47.880 And I'm going to share that with all of you.

00:32:49.340 This Albertans take on liberals.

00:32:54.480 I lived my early childhood years in the 1950s and my teens in the 1960s.

00:32:59.060 What I remember of those formative years was that Canada as a country came closer than any

00:33:03.180 other in history to being an idyllic paradise.

00:33:06.860 Fathers worked and mothers stayed home to raise the children. 0.94

00:33:09.000 A single income was sufficient for all of life's needs.

00:33:12.360 We all seemed happy and were deeply patriotic.

00:33:14.820 We were proud of our country.

00:33:15.940 Our armed forces were highly respected and state-of-the-art.

00:33:20.880 Then came the first Trudeau and things started to collapse.

00:33:23.360 By the end of Justin Trudeau's rule, Canada was no longer the country I grew up in.

00:33:27.560 We had been indoctrinated into hating ourselves and our country.

00:33:30.880 Then came Carney, who was determined to turn Canada into a satellite of communist China.

00:33:36.380 The Canada I once knew is dead and gone.

00:33:38.820 But we can get it back.

00:33:40.440 Now Albertans have an opportunity to restore that original spirit of Canada.

00:33:44.780 But it can only exist within the boundaries of a free and separate Alberta.

00:33:49.120 Then my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be able to experience the paradise of my youth.

00:33:54.840 The good Lord willing.

00:33:55.880 Best regards.

00:33:56.820 Terrence in beautiful Lacombe, Alberta.

00:33:59.640 Terrence, I'm telling you.

00:34:01.020 Lots of separatists, many of whom are reluctant, feel the same way.

00:34:06.240 They feel that the Canada they once knew doesn't exist anymore.

00:34:12.220 But they do feel the potential for it to regain ground within the confines of Alberta.

00:34:24.040 So, while many separatists still feel nostalgic for Canada,

00:34:30.700 they feel that the only hope to regain what Canada once was is to do it from outside of Canada.

00:34:41.580 That's a great letter.

00:34:43.240 Okay guys, that's the show for today.

00:34:44.660 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:34:45.920 I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week, maybe.

00:34:49.340 And as always, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

00:35:19.340 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - February 12, 2026

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ MP refuses $8,000 pay raise as food inflation hits 6% and Ottawa keeps spending

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