Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ The challenge of uniting independent minds to shared goals

00:00:00.000 How do you organize a movement of people whose sole ideology is being left alone?

00:00:05.120 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:24.440 You know, I've seen polls that say as high as one in two Albertans

00:00:28.480 are expressing some form of independence sentiment.

00:00:31.920 Now, that can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people,

00:00:34.640 but I think it's probably true.

00:00:37.340 I think 50% of us are absolutely disgruntled with our role in Confederation

00:00:42.000 and our treatment by the federal government.

00:00:44.820 In fact, I think the number might even be a little bit low.

00:00:48.360 And I think it's the reason for new Premier Daniel Smith's Sovereignty Act,

00:00:52.820 where the province of Alberta is now committed by law

00:00:55.780 to fight back against federal government incursion into provincial jurisdiction.

00:01:01.200 Now, there are also a handful of sovereigntists and independence movements

00:01:04.740 and parties active here in Alberta.

00:01:07.940 And sometimes they get along, and sometimes they don't.

00:01:11.900 But that also makes perfect sense,

00:01:13.900 because these are people who consider being left alone their political ideology.

00:01:20.280 So, how do you organize these independence-minded people to evangelize

00:01:24.940 for a more free and powerful and sovereign Alberta?

00:01:28.780 Well, someone has thought about that.

00:01:30.860 Many of you know Corey Morgan as a columnist at both the Western Standard

00:01:34.620 and at the Epoch Times.

00:01:36.760 But in a former life, a long, long time ago,

00:01:39.420 he was a candidate for an independence party here in Alberta.

00:01:43.320 And since that time, Corey's given some real thought to his experience

00:01:46.900 within the independence movement.

00:01:49.700 And he's thought about how to chart a way forward.

00:01:53.040 And he's written it all down in his new book,

00:01:55.560 The Sovereignist Handbook.

00:01:57.720 So, joining me now is Corey Morgan to discuss his brand new book,

00:02:01.860 which, of course, I will link in the show notes so you can get your own copy.

00:02:05.740 I'll ask him what he thinks about Daniel Smith's prospects

00:02:08.740 for re-election with the NDP just crawling back out of the woodwork.

00:02:12.380 And I want to ask him about how progressive policies are failing big cities

00:02:17.060 all across the country.

00:02:18.600 So, check it out.

00:02:26.580 So, joining me now is author and columnist for both the Western Standard

00:02:30.700 and Epoch Times, Corey Morgan.

00:02:32.740 Corey, thanks for coming on the show.

00:02:34.020 It's been a while since I had you on, and that's to my great regret.

00:02:37.140 But I wanted to have you on, first of all, to talk about your brand new book,

00:02:42.560 The Sovereignist Handbook.

00:02:44.180 Looks like the books are already being shipped, which is fantastic.

00:02:48.540 But tell me why now you chose to write the book.

00:02:53.360 Because you have a history in the Sovereignist movement

00:02:56.100 that maybe people a little younger than me don't really know.

00:03:01.180 But sort of tell us why this book and why this book now.

00:03:03.920 Sure.

00:03:05.560 Well, I think I'd finally gotten enough experience under my belt

00:03:08.980 to be able to write something with authority and say,

00:03:11.680 here's all the screw-ups I did in the last 20 years pursuing independence.

00:03:15.340 Let's not repeat them.

00:03:16.880 So, I can lend that experience in a book.

00:03:19.800 As you said, for some who are younger who don't remember,

00:03:22.320 I founded the Alberta Independence Party way back when I was 29 years old

00:03:25.680 and ran it into the 2001 election, and Ralph Klein just mopped the floor with us.

00:03:32.780 And I've learned a lot since then about political organizing in general.

00:03:38.220 And, I mean, independent support is growing.

00:03:40.480 It's growing all the time.

00:03:41.600 It seems to be getting steadier and steadier.

00:03:43.960 But no solid movement can seem to come together.

00:03:47.580 And part of it is independence advocates aren't political advocates.

00:03:51.740 They don't know.

00:03:52.200 They run an average Albertan, Saskatchewan residents, BC.

00:03:56.660 And they haven't taken part in political parties.

00:03:58.640 They haven't done advocacy.

00:04:00.440 So, what this book is more of a guide.

00:04:02.400 I'm not trying to convert people to independence supporters.

00:04:04.900 Our government's already doing that all by themselves.

00:04:07.920 I'm just showing them, okay, you've decided it's time to go.

00:04:11.460 This is some of the steps and how we can do it and how not to do it,

00:04:15.000 which is, I think, more important almost.

00:04:17.560 Yeah, I think you've got an uphill battle organizing separatists

00:04:21.740 and independence-binding people.

00:04:23.000 Because I think your book isn't just for dyed-in-the-wool separatists.

00:04:27.180 I think it's more for people who want to sort of exert Alberta's power

00:04:31.020 within Confederation in whatever way that looks like.

00:04:33.760 But I think you have an uphill battle because you're dealing with people

00:04:36.720 who, by nature, want to be left alone by everybody.

00:04:39.780 The federal government, their neighbors, other groups.

00:04:42.640 You know, that's their mentality.

00:04:45.820 That's why they're sovereigntists.

00:04:47.460 So, it's hard to organize them.

00:04:49.620 And that's part of what the whole theme of this book is,

00:04:52.120 is it's trying to train the individual.

00:04:53.900 I've realized the futility of getting a whole bunch of independence-minded people

00:04:57.700 into one room and trying to make them walk together.

00:05:00.580 So, instead, I want to see thousands of individuals who are promoting it

00:05:04.500 at the water cooler at work or around the dinner table at home.

00:05:07.980 And I warn against being a fanatic in there as well.

00:05:11.140 Hey, you don't want to lose your job or stop getting invited to dinners.

00:05:14.820 But there's ways you can be an effective advocate and grow that support on the ground.

00:05:19.440 Because the party, an overtly independence-minded party,

00:05:23.080 and I know some of the people in the Independence Party of Alberta,

00:05:25.380 one of the other five independence-minded parties of Alberta are going,

00:05:28.600 won't work.

00:05:29.880 I mean, it helps to advocate.

00:05:31.480 The people aren't wasting their effort if they're in those parties. 0.58

00:05:33.660 But you will not win an election with that front and center.

00:05:37.740 You need to work within other parties and existing parties,

00:05:40.800 and you can build that support.

00:05:42.320 And I kind of chart that path within there.

00:05:45.360 I think you have to be a realist, too.

00:05:48.380 You know, like people who say, you know,

00:05:50.320 if we elect one independence-minded MLA, we're leaving tomorrow.

00:05:56.940 And there's a lot of stuff in between there that I feel like they might have skipped a step.

00:06:01.400 Yeah, there's a large section in there just under patience.

00:06:05.000 And just saying, I know, you won out yesterday, but we've really got to bide your time.

00:06:09.980 The tipping point isn't there.

00:06:11.620 There's people demanding we need to hold a referendum next month.

00:06:14.160 Well, if you want to set it back 10 years, we can do that.

00:06:17.340 But until there's actually that much of a support for support,

00:06:21.540 we aren't ready for a referendum.

00:06:23.080 You need that base out there.

00:06:25.100 And again, that's why we need to be a little more thoughtful with the pursuit to this.

00:06:28.080 And yes, they're probably going to be a lot grayer before the time gets here

00:06:31.800 when there's actually a lot of support for independence,

00:06:35.400 where you're looking at being on the verge of a successful referendum in any one of the provinces.

00:06:39.680 But this is the way to get there.

00:06:40.720 We've got to start building that ground support that won't go away.

00:06:43.720 Parties come and go.

00:06:44.640 Groups come and go.

00:06:45.540 But if you can keep getting those independence-minded individuals, they stay.

00:06:49.300 And that leads to things.

00:06:50.580 Eventually, the parties follow the people.

00:06:52.760 That's right.

00:06:53.100 And I think independence is part of the culture here in Alberta.

00:06:56.900 It's why people live here.

00:06:58.040 It's why people settled here.

00:06:59.760 For that being left alone mentality, I think that does translate into a political movement.

00:07:09.320 And whether the mainstream media likes it or not,

00:07:14.080 people expressing separatist and independence-minded ideas is actually pretty mainstream.

00:07:21.860 It might be the one thing we probably all can sort of agree on.

00:07:25.160 I've seen polls where, you know, and it depends on how they would determine what is independent sentiment.

00:07:32.040 But up to 50%, like one in two Albertans express some form of independent sentiment.

00:07:39.080 That's pretty mainstream.

00:07:40.780 That's more than vote for the UCP or more than vote for the NDP or, frankly, more than watch the mainstream media.

00:07:49.100 Absolutely.

00:07:49.960 That seed is there.

00:07:51.160 And the definition varies.

00:07:52.580 I mean, that can be from people saying, I just want the premier to stand up more strongly to us.

00:07:56.160 There's some people saying we want out all together and everything in between.

00:08:00.040 But to express that and make central Canada realize that this support is real, it is solid,

00:08:06.760 and it could blossom from people who just want a premier who's standing up to Ottawa

00:08:11.100 into people who really want confederation to be dissolved.

00:08:15.260 If Ottawa keeps pushing things the way they are, they can create that tipping point on their own.

00:08:20.260 So, you know, this is a warning shot at the least.

00:08:23.120 Now, I want to ask you, because I think the Sovereignty Act in Alberta might extinguish some of the separatist movement.

00:08:34.300 Not that it would extinguish separatist mentality or independence mentality, but it's, I think, could serve to absorb some of those people back into the UCP after they saw Jason Kenney as just such a staunch federalist.

00:08:50.440 And I think Danielle Smith is too, but she's at least doing something more than writing strongly worded letters to Justin Trudeau that Justin Trudeau throws in the garbage as soon as he gets them.

00:09:02.400 Well, and what we need is the fight.

00:09:04.980 The thing is, sure, some people are going to say, oh, good, the Sovereignty Act will get us there.

00:09:10.020 Well, people said that about the Alberta agenda.

00:09:12.360 I write that in the book.

00:09:13.360 And Stephen Harper and all the rest came out with all those planks in this Alberta agenda.

00:09:17.380 And that really deflated the Alberta Independence Party that I was leading at that time.

00:09:21.340 So, oh, we don't need this.

00:09:22.320 Look at this.

00:09:22.700 Stephen Harper and all these political scientists are going to fix it.

00:09:25.240 And Harper, I mean, certainly was a good prime minister in many ways, didn't implement a single thing with his majority of that.

00:09:31.960 So I think independence advocates got to realize we have to hit our head on these walls a few more times before people realize it.

00:09:39.040 So if the Sovereignty Act aspects of it work and Ottawa backs off, great.

00:09:43.620 But if it doesn't work, that's where you start getting the more permanent supporters of independence movements and things such as that.

00:09:50.060 It's when the conservatives fail that creates the long-term independent supporters, not the liberals, because we expect it to them.

00:09:57.180 Now, switching gears a little bit, I wanted to talk to you about your latest article in the Epoch Times.

00:10:01.540 Because you talk about the double standard within the judicial system and how different groups of people are treated within the legal system.

00:10:13.140 And for me, it all sort of comes down to, you know, is this in the interest, which I think is how it should be, is prosecuting this crime in the interest of the public?

00:10:24.700 And that's why I look at these COVID cases and say, well, Alberta is short, some say 50 crown prosecutors.

00:10:31.440 We don't have time to be wasting on COVID scoff laws when rapists and wife beaters and burglars are going to be walking free because they're, they sort of run out of the, they run out the clock on their prosecution.

00:10:43.520 But it's more than that, as you point out in your article with Epoch Times, that they are choosing to specifically not prosecute certain things based on a political agenda.

00:10:57.420 And very serious ones.

00:10:59.260 The one that I started with was with a video, just because it was so stark of that gentleman going bananas on an anti-lockdown demonstrator and smashing his vehicle with a bicycle and smashing the windows out of it.

00:11:10.840 And you could see the aggressor's face in clear detail.

00:11:14.960 He was detained.

00:11:16.220 And they decided, no, no, we don't think we can get a conviction.

00:11:18.780 Oh, come on, you guys.

00:11:20.120 Of course you could.

00:11:20.880 This was violent.

00:11:21.940 This was an angry man.

00:11:22.860 This is a person who could be dangerous.

00:11:24.800 We're not talking about a litter bug or something.

00:11:28.100 And they said, no, we're not, we're not going to touch that.

00:11:30.300 Or the other one was the case in the hospital with that woman who, you know, wasn't properly masked.

00:11:36.000 The security guards take her around a corner.

00:11:38.200 I mean, that was chilling.

00:11:38.960 And then the video turns away from it.

00:11:40.840 The security guard with a remote video turns the camera away.

00:11:43.460 And then you see her prone body being led away.

00:11:45.280 She was killed.

00:11:47.300 No charges.

00:11:48.400 Well, no, sorry.

00:11:49.280 They were charged and the judge dismissed it.

00:11:51.360 Said, no, we don't have something to go with this.

00:11:53.740 Meanwhile, of course, the stark example of Tamara Leach, where they just, they will not give up on this, this, you know, harmless grandmother who, again, fine, you can agree or disagree with the protest.

00:12:07.240 But, I mean, to keep her without bail for 40 days was ridiculous beyond the pale.

00:12:12.360 And, of course, they are not giving up on those charges.

00:12:14.240 They are still after her with everything they got.

00:12:17.300 That's politicization.

00:12:18.420 That's not looking out for public safety.

00:12:19.900 That's not prioritizing judicial cases based on what we need.

00:12:23.600 That's a political agenda.

00:12:24.900 That's saying you upset the balance and we're going to come after you with the full force of the law.

00:12:28.980 But people should be pretty concerned when the justice system is doing that.

00:12:32.680 Yeah.

00:12:33.200 And, you know, in Alberta, it's the same way.

00:12:36.820 You know, you hear the mainstream media and I bang the gong of being critical of the mainstream media.

00:12:42.700 But they really want to see Pastor Art Poloski behind bars.

00:12:47.780 They want to see the truckers at Coutts behind bars.

00:12:52.000 But yet they turn a blind eye to the social decay happening in our big cities.

00:12:58.560 And, in fact, they're pro-enabling it.

00:13:01.340 They're pro-supervised injection sites and not prosecuting shoplifting and burglary and car theft because it's an insurance thing.

00:13:11.580 And it doesn't make any sense.

00:13:15.100 But at the end of the day, it serves to make our communities less safe.

00:13:19.560 Well, that's it.

00:13:20.320 And if there's any, you know, I'm a libertarian-minded person.

00:13:22.760 I want the least amount of government in my life possible.

00:13:26.140 And one of the obligations, though, of having an organized state is at least public safety.

00:13:31.900 You know, sparing us from I should be able to be assaulted or robbed or threatened by people.

00:13:37.440 And we are seeing a complete collapse of that.

00:13:39.540 And in the urban centers of Calgary, Edmonton, even Lethbridge.

00:13:43.740 And as you said, the legacy media is saying, ah, don't sweat that sort of thing.

00:13:48.300 Meanwhile, the downtowns are turning almost dystopian.

00:13:50.820 I mean, and this willful blindness is almost shocking.

00:13:53.960 You look at city councils.

00:13:55.360 We don't know why there's nobody riding transit any longer.

00:13:58.460 In Calgary, they tried a karaoke bus.

00:14:00.220 There, see, you can sing karaoke on the ride.

00:14:02.280 It didn't work.

00:14:02.980 It's because nobody wants to get on transit surrounded by junkies and potentially robbed.

00:14:07.400 They're having flare gun fights in the transit stations.

00:14:10.920 And media is saying, look the other way.

00:14:13.200 Yeah.

00:14:13.960 I talk about it all the time on our live stream at Rebel News.

00:14:17.440 The great work of Arthur C. Green from the Western Standard.

00:14:21.460 And yeah, he comes from, you know, the Maritimes, Bonneville to Edmonton, downtown Edmonton.

00:14:28.660 And his Twitter feed is just a documentation of the human suffering of Edmonton's downtown core.

00:14:34.380 And you see Pierre Polyev sort of coming under fire by progressives for saying that East Hastings is hell on earth.

00:14:42.780 But that hell on earth is not confined to Vancouver.

00:14:45.520 It is spreading in the major progressive cities in this country.

00:14:50.640 I saw an article the other day and it stuck with me because it was so crazy.

00:14:55.000 The headline was something akin to the people sleeping in the TTC are concerned about their safety because of the gangs also in the TTC stations.

00:15:10.180 And I thought this is this is crazy.

00:15:13.360 This is crazy that we have a group of people who are already living in the TTC stations in Toronto feeling threatened by the gangs and everybody just thinks this is normal.

00:15:22.840 Yeah, and we can't accept this.

00:15:25.180 And again, this is these are public services in Toronto and Calgary that people want to ride on their paying.

00:15:30.480 And some people don't have a choice.

00:15:31.540 If they're low income, they got to go to work.

00:15:32.900 They've got to get onto these these hellish trains and these stations and deal with this.

00:15:37.900 There was a lot of noise over in Calgary during a cold snap.

00:15:41.980 Somebody took a video of a bunch of addicts being kicked off of a train.

00:15:46.900 Oh, the hell. 1.00

00:15:47.660 Oh, you're killing these people. 0.99

00:15:48.660 No, they actually have shuttles at every station that will bring them to a warm shelter.

00:15:53.380 The facilities are there.

00:15:54.480 Quit pretending they aren't there.

00:15:56.280 We can't let them turn our transit systems into safe injection sites and homeless shelters. 0.99

00:16:01.220 And that's what's happening.

00:16:02.680 And I wrote about that in the Epoch Times as well, actually, in a different column with the policies of enablement are failing.

00:16:09.560 And we see the numbers already.

00:16:10.940 Portland tried this.

00:16:12.380 Their overdoses went through the roof.

00:16:14.760 BC is trying this sort of thing.

00:16:16.840 Their overdoses.

00:16:17.480 I mean, that's a good measure of it.

00:16:18.800 Alberta, to give Jason Kenney credit, took a very strong treatment approach.

00:16:23.700 And we're starting to see the results of it.

00:16:25.660 Overdoses fell by almost 50% in Alberta.

00:16:28.260 And they're still dropping.

00:16:29.760 Why can't the media and these enablers look at the numbers?

00:16:32.360 Just look at the numbers.

00:16:33.080 If you care about these people, this is what's working.

00:16:35.440 Not enablement, treatment.

00:16:37.220 And they still won't accept it.

00:16:39.360 Yeah, I don't know why any politician, I'm looking at you, Rachel Notley,

00:16:42.580 would look at downtown Vancouver and think that thing that they've been doing for almost 30 years there of enabling drug addiction,

00:16:52.200 turning a blind eye and even giving out drugs and needles.

00:16:55.400 How can you look at the downtown east side and say that that is some sort of success?

00:17:01.180 Whether these people die today or tomorrow, we are enabling their slow suicide by not offering them treatment.

00:17:10.400 I think any family that's been touched by addiction, and I think most families probably are,

00:17:15.200 know that one of the things you're told is to not enable the addiction.

00:17:19.400 Let them hit rock bottom.

00:17:21.400 They will come for help.

00:17:22.620 Or they will never hit rock bottom.

00:17:25.400 But you can't intervene until they hit rock bottom.

00:17:28.780 And now we have the state making sure that nobody ever hits that place.

00:17:33.420 No, and I saw a piece on, again, one of the legacy media TV sites where they showed a young lady

00:17:40.700 who was talking about how the safe consumption sites are so important to her because she can go for her day. 0.98

00:17:45.520 She can go in, get her fix in the morning, go to work for the day, and come back and get another fix. 0.97

00:17:50.260 And you see, she could live life perfectly fine as a full-out addict to fentanyl just as long as she can safely consume and get a free supply. 0.99

00:17:57.260 That's ridiculous. 0.99

00:17:58.160 That's absurd. 0.98

00:17:58.940 It's bizarre.

00:17:59.840 This is a young woman who is on the track to death. 1.00

00:18:02.460 It doesn't matter if she has a safe consumption.

00:18:04.360 They're trying to give the impression that you can just live functionally on this.

00:18:07.680 I mean, I'll admit the candid thing.

00:18:09.200 I've had a bad relationship with alcohol.

00:18:10.940 I haven't had a drink in years now.

00:18:12.360 But it took a lot of work and a lot of efforts and a whole lot of support meetings and all that to get dry.

00:18:18.360 Yeah, and you don't go to an AA meeting and have them hand out shooters and say, well, we'll just talk about it, let you get drunk while we, you know, until you're ready.

00:18:27.320 Or that term of a functional alcoholic.

00:18:30.780 No, a functional alcoholic is just somebody who hasn't hit bottom yet.

00:18:33.820 They're going to eventually.

00:18:35.700 And it can be tragic, particularly with things like meth and fentanyl, some of the things that the addicts are stuck with right now.

00:18:42.500 And they're trying to normalize this.

00:18:44.960 I mean, we don't want to demonize it. 1.00

00:18:46.140 They are sick people. 0.99

00:18:47.060 I agree. 0.99

00:18:47.640 And they need treatment.

00:18:48.460 They need help.

00:18:49.040 And you can't force it.

00:18:49.980 You have to wait until they're ready.

00:18:51.460 But let's not pretend they can live like that because they can't.

00:18:54.020 That's just as you said.

00:18:55.000 Slow death.

00:18:55.620 That's all it is.

00:18:56.440 Yeah.

00:18:57.060 They call it safe consumption.

00:18:58.520 But there's nothing safe about doing illicit drugs.

00:19:02.000 And it is true. 0.71

00:19:03.480 They call it compassion.

00:19:04.780 But it's really not.

00:19:05.800 It's brutality, what they are allowing these people to do to themselves, but also what the state and progressives are participating in allowing them to do to themselves.

00:19:15.840 But I look at every one of these addicts and I see them as a black hole sucking everybody around them into it.

00:19:21.580 There are families, there are kids, there are parents who are saying we need to get them help.

00:19:27.260 But the state only wants to offer them more of that which they're using to kill themselves.

00:19:33.220 Yeah.

00:19:33.440 It's a catastrophe and it's unforgivable.

00:19:35.300 And I actually know now three different parents who have lost children to overdoses.

00:19:42.420 And it doesn't matter.

00:19:44.880 These are from middle class, stable families.

00:19:47.500 It can happen to anybody.

00:19:49.020 It can happen to your uncle.

00:19:50.260 It can happen to your nephew.

00:19:51.860 It can happen to your children.

00:19:52.960 I mean, I don't want to come down on the addicts.

00:19:55.340 However they got there, it's an unfortunate thing.

00:19:57.860 But we need a realistic approach to trying to help and save these people.

00:20:02.140 And enablement is failing.

00:20:03.440 It's proven to be failing.

00:20:05.300 And still our civic officials won't admit it.

00:20:09.460 You know, and on the flip side of that, where they put these supervised injection sites.

00:20:14.360 As you rightly point out, addiction touches across all social demographics.

00:20:19.980 You don't start off in East Hastings.

00:20:22.580 Often you just end up there.

00:20:24.500 You don't start off in downtown Edmonton.

00:20:26.660 You just end up there eventually.

00:20:28.440 But they like to put these supervised injection sites in neighborhoods that are trying to shake off the scourge of gangs and drugs.

00:20:40.500 Chinatown in Edmonton is a great example of this.

00:20:43.060 They are doing their best to clean up their community.

00:20:47.480 They they don't want the drug addicts or they don't want the prostitutes there. 1.00

00:20:51.340 But municipal officials keep shoehorning all these facilities into these recovering neighborhoods.

00:21:00.240 Put them in the mayor's backyard because kids in that social demographic are also susceptible to this.

00:21:06.740 Put them there.

00:21:08.520 When they get dosed with fentanyl, there will be a place for them, too.

00:21:12.840 Yeah, well, there's multiple problems with those those consumption sites.

00:21:15.800 They become hubs for the consumers, the ones who will go to them.

00:21:19.520 Yeah, if you build it, they will come, as they say.

00:21:21.620 Yeah. And the dealers will follow them and the crime associated with it comes along because you need to pay the dealer.

00:21:27.100 Well, I'm going to rob the nearest place I can.

00:21:29.760 And I mean, it becomes a social hangout.

00:21:31.680 You go to the Calgary one, the Sheldon Tumor Center, and you see them consuming a block away.

00:21:35.980 Well, they don't want to bother going in.

00:21:37.520 They've got their drugs.

00:21:38.260 This is where we like to hang out now.

00:21:40.040 Yeah.

00:21:40.740 And I spoke with Dr. Ghosh, I believe his name was on one of my shows.

00:21:45.680 And he admitted, you know, if it's beyond 500 meters, it's not effective.

00:21:51.720 Like the addicts will only travel so far to get a safe ejection.

00:21:55.000 They're not going to cross the city.

00:21:56.080 And you can't have one every 500 meters.

00:21:58.680 You just can't have it.

00:22:00.560 So, again, this stopgap at best is not a sustainable solution to anything.

00:22:07.580 And Calgary was going to move one to the East Village, the area that the City Council really wants to turn into a trendy neighborhood.

00:22:13.300 And that's really divided the community because it's kind of a lot of hipsters and folks down there.

00:22:17.720 But once they found out, well, we're going to move the safe consumption site to your area, they got to, no, no, no, no, no, not my place.

00:22:23.180 Well, hang on then.

00:22:24.420 You know, you talk one way, but again, as you said, not in the mayor's backyard, not in Notley's backyard.

00:22:30.260 But just as long as somebody else has to deal with it, we want to support these sites. 0.96

00:22:33.580 It's hypocritical.

00:22:34.980 Yeah, it's your car that can get stolen, not theirs. 0.93

00:22:37.500 Now, speaking of Notley, looking toward this spring's election, I see Notley like the round hog has poked her head up and she has seen her shadow.

00:22:50.160 And it's going to be six solid weeks of Notley trying to gaslight us on what we know about her track record when she was premier.

00:22:58.880 The one that we were talking about before we started recording was the nautical, nautical, it's the methanol plant in Grand Prairie.

00:23:09.220 And it was a $4 billion project, just fell apart.

00:23:12.900 It was going to be 5,000 construction jobs.

00:23:15.880 And the company is saying it's because of Justin Trudeau's net zero policies that we couldn't make the numbers work anymore.

00:23:21.880 And Notley's solution was, why didn't Daniel Smith just bail them out?

00:23:29.000 So I guess now she's pro-giving energy companies a bunch of money to bail them out, as long as it allows her to attack Daniel Smith. 1.00

00:23:41.620 What do you think Notley's prospects are to form the next government?

00:23:46.920 Well, I never want to underestimate them because, you know, if it had been enough years ago and somebody said the NDP are going to form government in Alberta, I would have said, well, you need treatment yourself.

00:23:57.140 You obviously have spoken something bad.

00:23:59.340 And I would have been wrong.

00:24:00.960 So, I mean, I will not say it's impossible for her to get back in.

00:24:04.400 But from what I can see right now, they are actually flailing.

00:24:07.800 I mean, as you said, they're gaslighting.

00:24:10.780 They're opposing everything, whether it makes sense or it doesn't make sense.

00:24:14.160 They're just shooting out in all directions and hoping something sticks.

00:24:18.240 And that sort of tactic, I don't think it's becoming very effective, really.

00:24:23.340 People eventually just stop taking them seriously.

00:24:25.980 They've got to start coming up with a plan.

00:24:28.600 I saw a progressive column from somebody saying, you know, saying from Notley, like, I want to vote for you, but you've got to start telling me what you're going to do, not just why Daniel Smith is bad.

00:24:39.100 So, unless they pivot and find themselves somehow, I don't think, I still think we're pretty confident that Daniel Smith could win this sprint.

00:24:47.740 Yeah.

00:24:48.280 You know, I think Jason Kenney didn't do Daniel Smith any favors.

00:24:51.840 I think he hung on too long.

00:24:53.280 And so, that shortened her runway to normalize herself as the leader because, you know, she's making a lot of changes or she's trying to make a lot of changes. 1.00

00:25:04.040 And you need to give the worried public, the people who are still on a little bit too much CBC, to realize that she can make these changes and the world doesn't end.

00:25:12.980 But I don't think Jason Kenney left her a lot of time to have people's sort of nerves settle down after they've been worried by, does CBC even have a six o'clock news in Alberta anymore?

00:25:26.240 I'm not sure.

00:25:27.540 I don't know.

00:25:28.960 I don't know.

00:25:30.360 But yeah, I don't think Jason Kenney left her enough room to really let people know who and what she is.

00:25:38.080 She's sort of currently being defined by her enemies in the mainstream media. 1.00

00:25:43.340 But it was not that long ago that Rachel Notley was in charge and she was like a scarecrow for oil patch investment.

00:25:54.120 And I think right now things are looking pretty good in the oil patch.

00:25:57.480 Things are humming along.

00:25:58.880 I guess war will do that in the oil industry.

00:26:03.380 But I don't, I'm, you know, I'm not always confident in my fellow citizens, but I think Albertans are smart enough to not do that to ourselves again.

00:26:18.500 I really think so.

00:26:20.120 And I mean, the pushing the narrative, again, the establishment desperately does not want to see Premier Smith get reelected.

00:26:28.100 They're terrified.

00:26:29.020 And because of that, she actually wants to change things.

00:26:31.780 But the public has had a recent taste of Premier Notley.

00:26:36.100 And even if they're uncomfortable with Premier Smith, when push comes to shove at voting time, particularly, again, when you look at the way the seats are laid out, they might lose a few seats.

00:26:47.500 But all she really needs is a handful in Calgary.

00:26:50.000 And I'm pretty confident they should be able to get them.

00:26:52.680 Rachel Notley is going to find herself in the opposition again.

00:26:54.760 And it's unfortunate that it was so bitter with Kenny when he left.

00:26:59.480 They kind of went with a scorched earth approach on his way out the door and hung on to the bitter end.

00:27:04.720 But as time is passing, people are realizing, despite what the legacy media is telling you, despite the shrill union calls, Smith isn't the devil.

00:27:13.400 She's not insane.

00:27:15.220 And the world won't end if she gets a four-year term as Premier. 0.99

00:27:18.940 From your lips to God's ears.

00:27:20.940 Corey, I've taken up a bunch of your time already.

00:27:23.800 Why don't you tell us how people can, A, find your work, and B, find your book?

00:27:29.180 Certainly.

00:27:29.780 Well, I mean, yes, I'm at the Western Standard.

00:27:32.480 I have a weekly show there as well on all those social media channels.

00:27:36.280 And I write regular columns as well as the Epoch Times.

00:27:39.460 I write columns typically weekly there.

00:27:42.140 I'm always on Twitter if you really want to get into it with me.

00:27:44.920 Corey B. Morgan, that's my favorite playground.

00:27:47.360 And the book, yes, The Sovereignist's Handbook.

00:27:49.660 My first publication there.

00:27:51.980 And it's at gvlbooks.com.

00:27:55.900 Or if you just search out coreymorgan.com, of course, I'll be promoting and putting links out all the time for it.

00:28:00.940 Perfect.

00:28:01.260 And I'll make sure that I put a link in the show notes so that people can click directly through and order.

00:28:06.700 You know what?

00:28:07.040 I want a hard copy.

00:28:08.480 I have the e-book.

00:28:09.420 But I think I want the hard copy.

00:28:10.900 And I'll have to track you down and get a signature.

00:28:12.280 I'll get one up your way.

00:28:13.680 Perfect.

00:28:14.760 Corey, thanks so much.

00:28:16.300 All right.

00:28:16.600 Thank you, Sheila.

00:28:24.160 Well, friends, we've come to the portion of the show, as always, where we welcome your viewer feedback.

00:28:28.920 You see, unlike the mainstream media, I actually care about what you think about the work that we do here at Rebel News.

00:28:33.140 And I want to hear from you.

00:28:34.900 Now, one of the best ways to get in touch with me is to send me an email to sheila at rebelnews.com.

00:28:42.160 That goes directly to my email inbox.

00:28:44.260 But if you could do me a favor, put gun show letters in the subject line so it's a little easier for me to find because I get dozens, sometimes hundreds of emails a day.

00:28:54.600 But also, don't hesitate to leave us a comment over on Rumble, YouTube, wherever you find us.

00:29:01.540 Sometimes I go looking over there, too, for viewer feedback as well.

00:29:05.220 Now, today's letter comes to me from Catherine, who writes,

00:29:11.960 I love your work and listen to your show all the time.

00:29:14.040 Well, thank you so much.

00:29:14.900 I work as an equipment sales consultant in Manitoba in May of 2020.

00:29:19.380 I found myself without a job, and I applied for EI benefits.

00:29:22.620 So, it sounds like Catherine didn't go the CERB route.

00:29:26.140 She figured I paid into EI.

00:29:28.140 I should draw EI.

00:29:30.060 Fair enough.

00:29:32.020 I was automatically sent CERB, even though they knew that I wouldn't be on CERB long enough to pay back the $2,000 repayment.

00:29:41.680 I wasn't consulted about this or even told that I would need to pay back what I didn't pay already.

00:29:47.560 The government is now coming after me for $1,000.

00:29:51.680 That, again, I wasn't told about.

00:29:53.260 They call me every week and sometimes twice a week, even though I have told them multiple times that I won't be paying them a single cent.

00:30:00.480 The government wants to claw back $1,000 from a hardworking woman who has done nothing wrong except go to work every day and pay my taxes. 1.00

00:30:07.780 I find this so wrong and an immoral policy that added it to the list of reasons why I don't trust the government.

00:30:13.940 Again, I love what you do and I'm happy to see a woman as strong in character as yourself fighting for the freedom of all Canadians.

00:30:19.660 Thanks for the opportunity to air my grievances.

00:30:22.860 Sincerely, Katie.

00:30:24.260 Well, you know what?

00:30:27.820 It's astounding to me that the government would go after you when they gave you a benefit you didn't apply for.

00:30:35.160 Now they want it back.

00:30:36.260 But I see reports in the media right now, and when I say the media, I actually mean credible media, like Blacklock's reporter, where the government is saying these CERB payments obtained by fraud?

00:30:49.220 And we're not going to bother chasing those down.

00:30:52.680 Or these CERB payments we sent to people who were guests of federal penitentiaries?

00:30:59.720 We're not going to try to get those back.

00:31:01.480 It's just a little bit too much work.

00:31:03.100 But they can find the time to harass someone like you over $1,000.

00:31:10.100 Talk about misplaced priorities.

00:31:12.500 It's gross.

00:31:13.680 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:31:15.360 Thank you so much for tuning in.

00:31:16.700 And I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week.

00:31:20.860 And remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

00:31:46.700 Thank you.

00:31:54.640 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - February 08, 2023

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ The challenge of uniting independent minds to shared goals

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