00:01:42.560However, compliance under the Act will not be voluntary
00:01:47.220as of October 31st when the current Order on Council is set to expire.
00:01:53.900so with that I want to just thank everyone who has already taken their
00:01:59.600civic duty seriously and and enrolled in the program and we look forward to
00:02:05.060others doing the same this is a critical part of the work that our government is
00:02:11.000doing in addition to the number of legislation that's before the house to
00:02:14.860ensure the safety and security of Canadians and we believe that removing
00:02:18.920these prohibited firearms is one additional step in that measure. But now we know something
00:02:24.880extraordinary. The federal government cannot produce a single shred of internal analysis
00:02:31.100proving that their scheme will reduce crime whatsoever. Not one study, not a single briefing
00:02:37.500note, not one departmental analysis. Nothing, not even an email. We know this because the Canadian
00:02:44.240Taxpayers Federation filed an access to information request asking Public Safety Canada
00:02:48.540response all analysis from the department on the efficacy of the assault style firearms
00:02:54.240compensation program and its effect on crime rates slash public safety and the government's
00:03:00.600response was stunning in its honesty i guess the reply was please be advised that no information
00:03:10.460related to your request exists within public safety canada that's the direct quote no information
00:03:17.040exists, yet taxpayers are already committed to spending at least $742 million on this scheme,
00:03:24.200according to Budget 2025. Meanwhile, Fraser Institute researchers warn the total cost
00:03:29.680could balloon past $6 billion once collection, compensation, storage, destruction, staffing,
00:03:35.380consultants, of course, inventory losses, and administration are fully accounted for.
00:03:40.860Think about how insane that is. Six billion dollars. Ottawa is preparing the largest confiscation program in Canadian history and apparently nobody inside Public Safety Canada bothered to produce evidence showing it would actually make Canadians safer.
00:03:58.040That alone should nuke this entire program, because if the government cannot justify a multi-billion dollar policy with evidence, then what are Canadians paying for exactly?
00:04:11.280And the cost estimates just keep getting worse.
00:04:14.680Back in 2020, the Liberals tried to frame this as a relatively modest program, you know, like every government program that gets out of control, because they all do.
00:04:24.220But like every liberal registry database confiscation scheme, or pipeline for that matter, the price tag explodes the moment reality sets in.
00:04:33.640According to Fraser Institute senior fellow Gary Mauser, the parliamentary budget officer estimated compensation, just paying people for the things the government is taking from them alone, from $47 million to $756 million, depending on compliance rates and the number of firearms actually confiscated.
00:04:55.320And that's a key point here, because the government doesn't really know how many of these newly prohibited firearms are just floating around out there, because many of them moved from the non-restricted, so non-registered list, directly to prohibited.
00:05:17.700So there's no record of them out there.
00:05:20.980The real costs besides that come afterwards. That's just the guns. There's collection, transportation, storage, destruction, administration, as I said, consultants, there's always consultants, government advertising of the program, and compensation for retailers stuck with unsellable inventory.
00:05:40.440Mauser estimates the collection phase alone could cost between $1.6 billion and $5 billion, pushing total taxpayer exposure to somewhere between $2.6 billion and $6.7 billion.
00:05:54.420Think about the number of cops or hospitals you could have for nearly $7 billion.
00:06:02.380And remember, the Liberals have already burned through $67.2 million before collecting a single firearm.
00:06:10.440That money largely disappeared into, where, you know, it always does, the bureaucracy, staffing, planning, again, consultants, and administrative overhead.
00:06:20.120Sound familiar? It should, because this is starting to look exactly like the long gun registry fiasco over again.
00:06:26.320Canadians were promised that registry would cost around $85 million and basically pay for itself.
00:06:32.860Instead, it spiraled into a nearly $2 billion boondoggle.
00:06:36.440now history is repeating itself except this time the numbers could be even worse and for what
00:06:42.260that's the question the liberals still cannot answer because public safety admits it has no
00:06:48.400evidence the confiscation scheme will reduce crime or improve public safety none zero evidence
00:06:55.160meanwhile the violent firearm crime rate has continued increasing since the liberals introduced
00:07:00.420the ban in 2020. Firearm-related violent crime climbed from more than 12,600 incidents in 2020
00:07:07.460to nearly 14,000 in 2022, the highest level since comparable records began. Organized crime
00:07:14.960offenses have surged too, by more than 170% since 2016, from 4,800 to 13,000 crimes. Gang violence
00:07:25.300is rising. Random attacks are rising. Carjackings are rising. Repeat violent offending is rising.
00:07:32.680And yet the liberals are focused on confiscating legally owned firearms from licensed owners who
00:07:38.760already comply with some of the strictest firearms laws in the world. Why? Well, I think the answer
00:07:44.820is simple. This is the path of least resistance for the liberals. Go after the people already
00:07:51.260following the law because it's easier than confronting the people who actually drive
00:07:54.980violent crime or for that matter the liberals policies that drive violent crime. It's easier
00:08:00.620to confiscate firearms from licensed owners with fixed addresses, background checks, registration
00:08:06.160records and spotless compliant histories than it is to reform a broken bail system. It's easier than
00:08:11.600tightening border security to stop the flood of illegal handguns coming across the border from
00:08:15.700the United States. It's easier than locking up repeat offenders who cycle through the courts
00:08:20.420over and over again while Canadians watch the same names rack up the same charges. It's easier
00:08:25.720than taking on organized crime or transnational repression. It's easier than dismantling gang
00:08:31.860networks. It's easier than dealing with the consequences of soft-on-crime policies that
00:08:36.760turn to catch-and-release justice into the default setting of the Canadian legal system.
00:08:41.540So instead, the Liberals are targeting hunters, farmers, sport shooters, collectors, and lawful
00:08:46.640firearms owners because those people comply. They fill out paperwork, they renew licenses,
00:08:52.480they store their firearms safely, they follow transport laws, they submit themselves to daily
00:08:57.200background screening. They're easy to find, easy to regulate, and politically easy to demonize.
00:09:03.800Meanwhile, the criminals don't care. The gang member carrying a smuggled handgun in Toronto
00:09:09.660is not worried about a confiscation letter from Public Safety Canada. The fentanyl trafficker
00:09:14.460running guns across the border is not checking the RCMP prohibited firearms list before committing
00:09:19.000crimes. The repeat violent offender released on bail for the fifth time is not suddenly going
00:09:24.240to reform because Ottawa sees somebody's locked up target rifle in rural Alberta.
00:09:30.560Even Statistics Canada acknowledges that firearms used in homicides are
00:09:34.040rarely legal firearms used by their legal owners. That's devastating for the liberal narrative,
00:09:40.140except they don't care because it confirms what lawful firearms owners and police have
00:09:45.100been saying for years. This program does not target the source of violent crime and police
00:09:49.540know it. Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association, said the buyback
00:09:53.740program would have, quote, essentially zero impact on the crime in Toronto and, quote,
00:09:58.760zero impact. The RCMP Labour Union called the confiscation scheme a misdirected effort when
00:10:04.680it comes to public safety. Dozens of police departments across Canada have refused participation
00:10:10.380Most provincial governments have also refused to participate in the confiscation scheme.
00:10:16.060May have heard we will also not participate in the federal government's gun grab program.
00:10:23.280Yeah, we've instructed our police services and our Crown prosecutors that this is just not our law enforcement priority.
00:10:30.120We want them going after real bad guys.
00:10:31.920In fact, if anyone is trying to take away Albertans' guns, who is not licensed as a seizure agent by Alberta's chief firearms officer, they could actually be arrested.
00:10:43.440Firearms retailers want nothing to do with any of this.
00:10:46.500Even Canada Post backed away from any sort of involvement.
00:10:50.260And honestly, why would they be involved?
00:10:52.520Nobody wants ownership of a failing program that cannot achieve its stated goal.
00:10:57.300Because this was never really about public safety.
00:11:00.460It's about creating the appearance of action after tragedies.
00:11:04.880It's about demonizing a politically unfashionable minority, hunters, farmers, sport shooters, collectors, indigenous hunters, rural Canadians, people who already obey the law, people who already pass extensive background checks, people who already continuously are screened by the RCMP every single day.
00:11:23.960Meanwhile, repeat violent offenders get bail
00:11:26.760Gang members just run the circle through the courts
00:11:49.780Not internally, not statistically, not operationally
00:11:53.140No evidence exists inside Public Safety Canada showing the scheme will reduce crime.
00:11:58.580In a normal country, that would be the end of it.
00:12:01.420Because in any rational country, a government admitting it has no evidence for a multi-billion dollar program would be immediately forced to shut it down.
00:12:12.020Instead, Ottawa just keeps spending and taxpayers just keep paying.
00:12:18.960Independent journalist Sam Cooper is with us up after the break.
00:12:23.140so joining us now is independent journalist sam cooper who has been following the foreign
00:12:35.740interference beat for well years and he's got an incredible expose on his sub stack at the bureau
00:12:43.520the op-ed is the enemy is already inside the gates and mark carney just opened them wider
00:12:49.500you say the alliance does not change in ottawa former secretary of state mike pompeo delivered
00:12:58.880a warning that underlines themes the bureau has been reporting for years and that's really that
00:13:03.540canada is completely vulnerable to foreign interference and the government has done
00:13:09.320nothing tangible to fix this and our democracy is truly at risk yeah exactly i was picking up
00:13:17.740themes raised by the former State Department head and CIA Director Pompeo, as well as a man
00:13:24.720named Michael Lucci, who runs State Armor in the United States. And that's an NGO that is rolled
00:13:31.780out to sort of try to implement laws at the state level to counter CCP interference. And they both
00:13:37.760were pointing, especially Pompeo, to the fact that, as he said, the enemy is inside our gates.
00:13:43.840he raised a bombshell sort of disclosure that the US government found the Houston Chinese consulate
00:13:52.200was running a massive spy operation. They shut the consulate down and hundreds of Chinese spies
00:13:59.120ran for the exits and flew out of China. And so Mr. Pompeo said, look, that showed how deep the
00:14:07.480interference in the United States is. And remember, I assert the U.S. government has
00:14:12.540laws. There are a number of prosecutions right now against Chinese agents, but Canada does not.
00:14:18.840So that was the point of my op-ed. Michael Lucci of State Armor really hammered Mark Carney for
00:14:25.960this secret MOU that Carney has signed between our RCMP and the Ministry of Public Security.
00:14:33.220I've reported in detail for the Bureau.News that the Ministry of Public Security is the same Chinese police agency that has been running these secret police stations in Canada.
00:14:46.160You know, I reported based on leaked documents for the Bureau.News from a CSIS intelligence report, the Ministry of Public Security had sent covert agents into Canada.
00:14:57.660It had tasked Chinese language journalists to track dissidents.
00:15:05.640So this is extremely, you know, egregious violations of Canada's sovereignty.
00:15:10.840And here we have Carney now making a deal with that very same Chinese police service that my reporting exposed was running wild in the fox hunt.
00:15:21.160It's called Fox Hunt Illegal Police Operations in Canada under Justin Trudeau.
00:15:38.700So that's why I say he's opening the gates wider. The U.S. government has real investigations. We can talk about some of them. The mayor of Arcadia in California just admitted this week that she was running a secret Chinese operation from her council seat.
00:15:57.560And so I say, look, Canada has a much bigger problem we know than the United States does and Canada is doing nothing. Carney, in fact, I believe is making the problem worse.
00:16:09.180Right. And it's it's not conjecture. Michael Chong testified during the Foreign Interference Commission that he was the target of an intimidation campaign coming out of the consulate in Toronto.
00:16:25.280So this is a very real problem. We held a Foreign Interference Commission that was weeks and months long.
00:16:32.000I had the displeasure of sitting through most of it, as you did to Sam. And there were tangible warnings in there every step of the way. And the federal government has really done nothing. And, you know, now we're seeing people like Nate Erskine Smith, as I said before we started recording, getting mugged by the reality of not following some of those recommendations.
00:16:56.020The Liberal government was warned that they needed to tighten up rules around political nominations because the presumed Member of Parliament or presumed MLA could be chosen by people who are non-citizens, wouldn't even need to vote in the general election if it was in a safe seat.
00:17:19.200And we just saw that happen to Nate Erskine-Smith.
00:17:22.440The parallels there are absolutely striking. So as a candidate, he has alleged significant irregularities in the nomination contest. That's the exact same language that my reporting for Global News alleged in Toronto writings, especially one for a significant candidate.
00:17:45.840Right. And the allegations that were revealed in the Hogue Commission, which, by the way, I believe pretty much whitewashed some of the more serious allegations.
00:17:56.020But look, it was non-Canadians voting for a nominee that community leaders allegedly sort of directed them to.
00:18:04.040There were allegations, you know, that people were being told, you know, here's a card, even if you don't speak or read English, you know, here's a card in your language that, you know, will tell you who to nominate.
00:18:17.220So this is exactly what Erskine Smith points to. And I'll tell you something else. I can disclose today that I have received information that a significant Muslim community leader has been involved in sort of promoting the nomination candidacy of Mr. Erskine Smith's rival.
00:18:37.000and my prior reporting for the Bureau.News revealed that this individual had a prior sexual assault
00:18:45.040conviction, you know, related to his teaching job in a Muslim community school. So, you know,
00:18:54.440I should say that others, you know, I believe have reported on that story. There's no allegations
00:19:01.060that this man is still involved in criminal activity, but he's a significant Muslim community
00:19:06.060leader that apparently was promoting Erskine Smith's rival. And now Erskine Smith is saying
00:19:12.360there's serious irregularities. And as you point out, I think the word is, if I pronounce it
00:19:17.740correctly, Schadenfreude or something, right? You're not acting on a threat for your own liberal
00:19:24.200government, Mr. Erskine Smith. And now it looks like you've been bitten by the diaspora of vote0.92
00:19:29.720banking hand that used to feed you. Yeah, that's a great way to put it. Normally, I tell people
00:19:36.000to dance with the ones that brought them but all of a sudden their dance partners have1.00
00:19:40.080chosen somebody else and it's not you know it's not ccp um it's not just uh the the ccp that's0.69
00:19:49.920infiltrated canadian politics it's not just this muslim vote banking as we saw allegedly allegedly0.67
00:19:55.940with nate erskine smith but now we have irgc radicals um within the country um some community
00:20:05.800linked people who watch this have said there's upwards of 700 the government has a much lower
00:20:11.400number naturally and they've only been able to seriously push for the deportation of one this
00:20:18.680is an ongoing problem and it's making canadian streets far less safe and the government seems
00:20:23.760to be taking a hands-off approach in fact when i watch these committee hearings they're basically
00:20:27.960saying well what do you want us to do i don't know deport them oh yeah enforce the canadian law but
00:20:35.260That's exactly the point. People may say, what is the issue if a diaspora community group promotes candidates that come from their community? There's nothing wrong with that. The real issue is, look, Iran, Pakistan, China, India, or Calistan separatist networks are promoting, this comes from CSIS, are promoting candidates that they believe will support.0.91
00:21:04.420that foreign government or foreign separatist power in Canada's parliament and the real sharp
00:21:10.840edge of the the tool here is transnational oppression so as you point out the Iranian
00:21:16.300guards and the uh you know the the Iranian clerical regime you know which is on its possibly
00:21:23.220you know its deathbed you know under the U.S. government uh overdue you know attack uh in the0.63
00:21:29.740Middle East, they are seeking to not only attack the Jewish community, I believe they are, CSIS
00:21:35.620has acknowledged, they are targeting Iranian Canadian journalists who are critics of the
00:21:41.020regime. So my reporting at the Bureau, you know, looked into CSIS's annual report, and it showed
00:21:47.260that CSIS acknowledges a group called Handel a Hack, which they say is connected to Iran's,
00:21:54.300intelligence ministry did target Canadian journalists with serious threats, targeted
00:22:01.600their families in Iran, is involved in major cyber operations. But the real point of my story that I
00:22:09.360broke is the FBI had already targeted Handle a Hack in Canada, you know, around the same time
00:22:16.600that CSIS released its annual report showing that this cyber operation had targeted former
00:22:23.060Doug Ford MPP Goldie Gamari, an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime. The FBI had taken down a
00:22:31.500number of websites where the Iranian regime had said they had tasked the Jalisco New Generation
00:22:39.180Cartel to behead Goldie Gamari in her home, along with another Los Angeles Iranian dissident.
00:22:47.280And they were offering a $250,000 reward to the cartel. So that points to a lot of details. But the point I don't want to lose is CSIS never reported it in its annual report.
00:23:02.520If you recall, the RCMP commissioner around the same time a few weeks ago was saying the RCMP has no evidence that any foreign government is involved in these serious transnational repression operations.
00:23:15.300So I can point to all types of problems with Canada's vulnerability and weakness to pushing back against foreign interference. But suffice to say, look, the RCMP looks wrong and CSIS isn't pointing to the most serious case of this Iranian regime targeting that the FBI, it looks like, has had to clean up Canada's mess, and it could be a lethal mess.
00:23:38.300Now, Sam, you've been on this foreign interference beat for years, to the point where I frankly worry a little bit about your own safety. But how do people find your work and support your work? Because you're doing important work that I think a lot of journalists working for larger operations are scared to do.
00:23:58.900well thank you uh they can go to the bureau.news my independent journalism investigative platform
00:24:06.260up to uh close to 40 000 subscribers now i tried i would like to get to uh some more
00:24:12.900paying subscribers converted so i could pay some of these legal bills and i'll let you know i do
00:24:18.600pay for uh some you know military veteran training for my own sort of counterintelligence
00:24:25.480our surveillance awareness and my safety. And I'll say, look, Juno has some reporters that are
00:24:30.880also exposing themselves at some of these street rallies, getting in the face with microphones of
00:24:36.320some very dangerous and apparently untouchable in Canada, people working for foreign governments,
00:24:43.180I believe. So kudos to Juno's journalists that are doing, you know, or the rebel.news
00:24:48.720journalists as well are doing that hard work. Yeah, yeah, it's a dangerous work, but I think
00:24:53.740it's vital work because it's not being done anywhere else. Sam, thanks so much for coming
00:24:59.840on the show and stay safe out there. Well, letters, letters, letters, we get your letters
00:25:12.980every single hour of every single day. I think you're some of the most engaged viewership
00:25:19.880on the internet, whether it's sending us letters directly to our email or commenting on our work
00:25:26.640wherever you might find it on any of the platforms. Today, your letters come to us on the news of
00:25:34.500301,000 signatures, nearly double the amount required to trigger an independence referendum
00:25:44.200here in Alberta on October 19, 2026. And I should tell you that these signatures were collected
00:25:52.580by some 7,000 volunteers in some of the most bitterly cold conditions in the country
00:26:01.500in Alberta winter. Okay. So for those of you out there who are skeptical and saying, well,
00:26:08.560the Forever Canada petition efforts, they, you know, collected over 400,000. Good luck finding
00:26:17.800people outside when it's minus 30. They collected their signatures, they being the Forever Canada
00:26:24.680petition collectors. They were doing that in summertime when Albertans do their best to be
00:26:32.620outside as much as possible. It's easy to collect signatures in the summer. Very easy.
00:26:38.560all right let's get into it lynn osborne writes 300 000 signatures collected by grassroots people
00:26:45.880with no big money no big media and no political backing odd in canada these facts alone are
00:26:52.000considered very undemocratic what group goes out to solicit public support without government
00:26:57.540approval nor subsidy it's just not canadian the census this year that we are required by law to
00:27:04.100complete or suffer a penalty is focused on gender issues and French language skills. Obviously,
00:27:09.460Albertans anyway, have other interests and priorities. It's true. The petition canvassers,
00:27:18.460they had zero political support. In fact, they were being demonized by the media and politicians
00:27:25.480on both sides of the political spectrum. Jason Kenney viciously from the right,
00:27:30.080and i mean mark carney and naheed nenshi here in alberta from the left silver feet comments
00:27:39.100the enemies of freedom will use all the fear-mongering tactics that exist and may
00:27:43.980even invent some new ones but the greatest fear of every alberton is the horrendous life their
00:27:49.540children will have if they remain in canada it's true that that's a excellent point the
00:27:56.060the brexit campaign the remain side did exactly that it was called project fear and it was meant
00:28:07.560to scare people away by implying that chaos would follow if the uk left the european union
00:28:17.880and chaos did not follow you know they said such crazy things as you wouldn't be able to get
00:28:23.300sandwich meat. I mean, we're going to see it during the campaign. But here's the thing about
00:28:30.720Albertans. We're not scared of hard work. And if you've ever tried to use a government service
00:28:35.240these days, when you're standing there, and I know I have frequently asked myself this,
00:28:42.060how could this possibly be worse? How could these services be any worse? I think Albertans should
00:28:49.820and will have that in mind when they're walking into the ballot box on October 19th.
00:28:55.680Look, yes, there will be some hard work on the other side.
00:29:00.120But could the current delivery of those services that are now done by the federal government
00:29:11.380Now, we can be really bad at this as Albertans and still not be as bad as the federal government.
00:29:16.460Paul Schofield writes congrats Alberta even with a 20% toss out rate that's over a quarter million
00:29:23.300patriots who appear fed the hell up good for giving people the right to choose their own path
00:29:28.840October 19th should be something and that's that's the thing a lot of people on the left
00:29:36.620and even on the right are upset with Daniel Smith not getting involved in the referendum
00:29:41.980But I think she's taking the exact right approach. This is a question for Albertans to decide for themselves. And if one in three of us are so mad that we want to leave this country, shouldn't we be able to express that in the form of a referendum?
00:30:05.400if not there's no pressure release valve for the anger that people are feeling I should tell you I
00:30:12.280was on Newsmax which is an American cable news channel over the weekend and the person on the
00:30:20.440panel with me said oh you know it's only one in three well that's a hell of a lot of people
00:30:26.680our prime minister is decided frequently by one in three people
00:30:33.140and he is apparently legitimate so why isn't one in three people like a legitimate
00:30:42.060event horizon of anger but he said oh this is just political posturing so that alberta can get more
00:30:51.320out of Ottawa. That might be the case with Quebec. But I disregard that argument completely
00:30:58.640because this is not a movement of the provincial government. This is not a movement of any
00:31:07.040political party, in fact. This is 7,000 grassroots volunteers, 301,000 people who are demonized from
00:31:17.500the left and the right. They don't want more out of Ottawa. They want less Ottawa. And so for this
00:31:26.300whole movement to have just been political posturing, it would have to have some political
00:31:32.340power. But it exists completely outside of the political structure. And I will not disregard
00:31:38.240the visceral anger and the hope and the drive of these people for something better. But that was
00:31:46.460an American commentator on the outside looking in. And so I was happy to be the Alberta commentator
00:31:53.800on the inside, looking out, I'll be the ambassador of us in the American media, if need be, so that
00:32:02.100people understand what's really happening here. This is not about political posturing. These are
00:32:06.800actually people with no political power, trying to seize their own political power. And I hope
00:32:14.440they do. Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll
00:32:19.860see everybody back here in the same time in the same place. Tomorrow, I think Ezra's back in the
00:32:25.060chair and well, I'm hosting the show. So I'll say what I always say. Don't let the government tell
00:32:29.960you that you've had too much to think.