Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Today marks 10 days of an ongoing carbon tax protest west of Calgary

00:00:00.000 so joining me now is sometime journalist but also heavy duty behind the scenes social media

00:00:23.540 poster for us here at rebel news my friend angelica toy and she's here to talk about what

00:00:29.540 she has seen happening down at the well i think it's one of two or three remaining carbon tax

00:00:38.000 protests across the country these people uh it feels like the convoy band is getting back together

00:00:45.140 tell us uh what's going on and where the protest is so the main rally um i'd say just around calgary

00:00:52.200 is on highway 1 and 22 interchange um that's just west of the city uh the picture of canada there

00:00:58.480 and uh yeah people have been rallying i think today is day eight they started on april 1st which is the

00:01:03.620 day the carbon tax came into effect so they've been going strong so familiar faces are these you know

00:01:11.420 like there are people who are um the i don't know i i was gonna say professional but they definitely

00:01:17.800 don't get paid they're not on the left those people get paid but who's in the protest who's making up

00:01:23.620 the protest are we seeing familiar faces down there is it all new people so it was to my surprise that

00:01:28.980 there actually weren't that many people that you'd see in the regular like calgary rallies yeah it

00:01:34.240 definitely is but uh i've been speaking to all the people there and a lot of people convoyed either

00:01:39.180 from edmonton from bc there are actually a lot of people from bc from the small towns so there are a

00:01:44.980 lot of new faces yeah that's weird because you know like there are especially since the onset of

00:01:51.760 covid and with the onset of covid came the anti-lockdown protests you got to know a lot of

00:01:57.540 the people who were the local freedom fighters and they would turn up at you know to protest trudeau

00:02:03.700 if he were in town at the weekly covid lockdown protests in calgary a lot of the same faces so this

00:02:10.020 uh surprised me but also makes me very happy to see that there are new people energized in the anti

00:02:16.400 trudeau tyranny movement uh did were you did you have an opportunity to talk to some of the people

00:02:23.100 who are from out of town like i wonder why bcers are coming to alberta to protest trudeau's carbon tax

00:02:32.960 when they have one of their own and they've had their own for a very long time they were the first

00:02:37.860 people to have them so did they tell you why they came to alberta what was your general sense there

00:02:42.300 yeah so i did speak to one person on that specifically and he just said there wasn't

00:02:46.280 much going on in bc and it looks like alberta uh the people here are the ones taking the charge for

00:02:52.420 freedom and he felt really inspired by that so he drove uh from a very far from a town pretty far up

00:02:57.980 north just to be here in this location in alberta that makes me happy but also sad at the same time

00:03:05.160 right like it makes me happy that people know if you're going to stand up to tyranny the best place to

00:03:10.100 do it is in alberta um and it makes me sad that bc a province that is being absolutely crushed

00:03:17.680 by green policies and the cost of living that there isn't much of a resistance there that makes me

00:03:24.020 very very sad yeah i agree with you i know in colonna in that area the okanagan there it definitely is

00:03:30.120 a bit of a uprising to the resistance but it's still not enough i think alberta has really become

00:03:35.400 the central zone for the fight for freedom yeah i think uh not just from the people but finally from

00:03:41.200 the government too now tell me what it's like down there how many people are there are there rvs like

00:03:48.320 how are people staying there for so long are there people coming and going tell me all about it

00:03:53.380 yeah so typically the people from calendar just coming and going but the people who have come from

00:03:58.000 out of town uh they have brought their trailers and they're there for the long haul they've got tons

00:04:03.400 of firewood campfires going they've got pantries of food there's a barbecue they did a pig roast

00:04:09.720 just two days ago so uh yeah the people are there and they're there to stay so what kind of support

00:04:17.000 are they getting i mean if they're there to stay who's bringing in the supplies who's bringing in the

00:04:21.600 firewood what's the reception i i think that's right you said it's right around the petro canada

00:04:26.880 um that like on your way out to banff uh what's the reception from the people coming by

00:04:32.700 uh so i think they've got a chat going because i just speak a lady to the other day and she said

00:04:38.240 that people were asking for plates and stuff so it looks like they're uh they've got a whole chat and

00:04:42.660 people are just putting requests out there and the people are being really supportive and bringing

00:04:46.840 in what they need um so it's just been a really supportive community um for the whole entire time

00:04:52.760 now traffic wise people going by uh are they disruptive to traffic i i know that people can

00:05:02.980 get a little testy about that i actually think my son was stuck in the protest uh on the weekend um

00:05:12.380 what are they being accommodating to you know the the traffic that goes in between um calgary and

00:05:20.220 banff an area uh so on the first day they did block a lane they blocked one lane uh lane big deal

00:05:28.060 exactly so the traffic was backed up around three kilometers uh back into the city uh and then that

00:05:36.220 lasted for a few hours the next day as you guys probably saw a whole team a whole swat team of rcmp

00:05:42.880 officers with heavy duty weapons came in and they blocked them from getting onto the highway

00:05:48.220 and after that the protesters understood that if they even got near the highway they would face

00:05:53.940 consequences so for days they stayed away uh and then actually yesterday they studied through a bunch

00:06:00.740 of traffic laws and they ended up talking to the rcmp so now they're slowly kind of getting their way

00:06:05.380 on the highway the plan is or the idea is that they're allowed to walk against traffic and they're

00:06:12.440 also allowed to cross the highway now because there are two sides of protesters on station on both sides

00:06:17.280 of the highway uh now they're allowed to walk as long as there isn't any traffic uh because the

00:06:23.100 nearest overpass is pretty far i think you have to be within a certain distance so they found their

00:06:27.880 way around it oh i love that now yeah i don't want anybody run over on the highway so i i understand

00:06:34.780 if there's traffic safety reasons for the cops to show up but to have shown up with their riot control

00:06:42.720 gear uh the other day was really something else when people are just basically having a barbecue

00:06:49.160 exactly and like i uh told some others it was such an overreaction because when the swat team came in

00:06:58.720 i felt the energy of the whole place just became very dark and and rough and when those officers left

00:07:05.260 the people just became so much uh even more peaceful because they didn't have that force to fight with

00:07:11.280 anymore so the cops being there made it worse well and it's so unnecessary i mean i think the uh

00:07:18.120 relationship between so many people and so many communities and the police was so severely damaged

00:07:25.240 during covid they wouldn't come if your car was stolen or if your machine shop was broken into and your

00:07:31.840 quads were taken they wouldn't come then but if you had christmas they would show up and arrest you or if

00:07:37.420 you had a protest they would show up and arrest you and i think things had been starting to heal

00:07:45.360 themselves this last little bit and then this happens and you're like come on you guys so uh what

00:07:52.720 what's the uh reaction of the protesters to the police are they kind of like are you guys are just

00:07:59.240 doing your job we'll behave you guys behave or what's the attitude down there so when the whole

00:08:04.940 SWAT team did come in on day two it was very intense the protesters were not happy with it at

00:08:10.420 all i bet not uh no but there are two liaison officers that have been coming around and the

00:08:17.040 protesters have been working with them very well actually they speak highly of them so i think the

00:08:23.280 communication there has been very positive because obviously the protesters they do not want to cause

00:08:27.620 any real disruptions for example on the first day when uh they did block the lane there was an

00:08:33.240 ambulance emergency vehicle to have to get through and they very very quickly just pulled all their

00:08:37.260 cones back got off the highway and made way for this vehicle vehicle to come through so they're not

00:08:42.240 there to cause any uh any real problems well that's good like i'm i'm happy to hear that uh neither side

00:08:50.320 is confrontational with the other despite showing up with riot control cops and riot control devices

00:08:57.380 a riot did not break out but it's going to be frightening for peaceful protesters because the

00:09:03.240 memory of what happened in ottawa is it's fresh right like we all know how the feds overreact to peaceful

00:09:14.740 protesters now that really didn't happen in alberta thank goodness but it has happened and it is it's

00:09:23.440 scary for people yeah definitely i know some of the protesters there did go to coots as well so

00:09:29.640 they're not new in the game they know how to behave i guess um so you were there you've been

00:09:37.940 there off and on quite a bit really since it began tell me about the people why are they there i'm sure

00:09:46.100 you're hearing uh specific stories um that are beyond just like we you know the carbon tax is

00:09:53.280 costing us too much money well it's been costing us too much money here in alberta since 2015 um but

00:09:59.580 what is what are the personal stories bringing these people out to the streets so the main one is people

00:10:06.820 are struggling they're really struggling to make ends meet there is one woman i spoke to and she said

00:10:11.820 that she has lost 15 pounds just since january because she cannot afford food there are but tons

00:10:17.460 of business owners that are also just unable to keep their businesses going and there are also just

00:10:22.480 people who are overall fed up with the government and just want them gone um going back from covid

00:10:28.060 there um there's just so many different stories and everybody together collectively just want the federal

00:10:36.160 government gone because from all angles all sides they have been causing society problems and they're

00:10:43.380 desperate and some of these people they've got nothing more to lose so that's why they're still

00:10:48.800 there and they're not planning on going anywhere yeah i mean we that's why i said it feels like the

00:10:53.940 convoys back together because that was really what was going on during the convoy they said we're going

00:10:59.280 to ottawa what else can we do the government won't listen to us we're going to lose our business

00:11:04.000 we're going to lose our house we can't travel we can't see our friends and family what else have

00:11:10.120 we got to lose and i heard that when i was in lloydminster covering the carbon tax protests

00:11:15.320 out on the highway there at the exact same time there are a lot of people who said like look

00:11:18.960 uh i've got nothing left the government is not just picking my pocket but it's controlling every

00:11:26.180 aspect of my life and the government is so corrupt and facing no consequences for anything so

00:11:32.780 they can arrest me i guess they can take my bank account but you can't get blood from a stone

00:11:37.540 exactly and there are tons of people who have that exact same mindset they're willing to lose

00:11:43.220 everything because they think you know like i said they've got nothing left so the government

00:11:47.880 has driven them to such a point where it's all or nothing now you were there uh catching some

00:11:56.740 very albertan sights and sounds uh you know it's not uh i think in the other provinces we see people

00:12:06.180 out with their signs and their flags but now in alberta we bring our trucks our trailers

00:12:11.940 our tractors and our livestock tell us about some of that so there are actually three horses on site

00:12:20.460 they've been there pretty much since uh day one and the people are loving it uh tons and tons of

00:12:26.840 animals and just it's been super super family friendly uh and there are actually there's one

00:12:33.440 specific big um big truck and they got it wrapped to say axe attack so that's kind of been the highlight

00:12:41.060 of the entire place there's also a crane that says axe attack so the people sure brought in the the big

00:12:48.300 heavy stuff you know it's funny um i don't know if you're familiar with bill six but bill six was

00:12:54.240 this attempt by rachel notley and the ndp to put bankers hours and union rules on your family farm

00:13:01.240 like you couldn't have your kids working on the farm uh which i think my kids probably would have

00:13:06.520 enjoyed but i was like no i'll break the law you're throwing hay bales um and uh you know like

00:13:13.040 specific wcb rules like you couldn't put up a ladder without having it secured to something like

00:13:19.000 fall arrest like i'm gonna put a harness on my kid before i boss her up a ladder come on um and there 1.00

00:13:25.320 was a turkey that came to all the protests and it had like kill bill six and it was everywhere you went

00:13:31.540 we had a protest turkey it was the funnest thing and i'm so glad to hear that we're carrying on with

00:13:36.960 that and you know we one of the strongest visuals i think from coots um were the images of the horseback

00:13:45.160 riders uh with you know the flags behind them it was so al burton and it makes me so happy to see

00:13:54.540 heavy equipment because we are a place of heavy industry and the horses out on the the streets

00:14:00.980 are people honking as they go by are they supporting these people i have time i'd say between

00:14:06.220 80 to 90 percent of people are honking it's actually i come home and i know they were joking

00:14:10.900 about it or not joking about it but talking about it on the cbc before a phantom honking but i actually

00:14:17.960 experienced it myself um i can see i can hear honking when i come home so there's tons of support

00:14:23.700 yeah it was the like that during the uh original convoy in edmonton you would like you get in the car

00:14:31.520 afterwards and you would try to listen to the radio but it would feel like it just honks

00:14:36.500 i mean it's not enough to invoke the emergencies act on camera but um now have you been paying

00:14:44.360 attention to what the politicians are saying about what's happening uh west of calgary or are they

00:14:49.980 saying anything at all i haven't noticed one thing to be honest and i'm sorry now thinking about i'm

00:14:58.400 actually a little bit surprised i think the protesters being on the side of the highway

00:15:02.560 and not blocking a lane isn't causing enough uh for a politician to say anything but that being said

00:15:09.340 um who knows how long they're going to be there um and what plans they've got um so what i know is

00:15:19.780 that these protesters like i said they're not going to give up so if they're not getting a response they

00:15:23.960 might change their tactics yeah i think i saw one thing from danielle smith just basically telling

00:15:30.560 everybody to behave and it sounds like they are on both sides i have a question first about the

00:15:36.980 protests that are still going on on highway one um according to cochran rcmp disruptions are expected

00:15:43.040 to continue today is the province at all considering using the critical infrastructure defense act and is

00:15:49.100 there any direction being given to the protesters to move where they don't constrict some of these

00:15:52.660 economic corridors well look let me give that direction i don't support it when extinction

00:15:56.960 rebellion glues themselves to the street and stops traffic and i don't support anyone stopping traffic

00:16:02.960 as well you can protest do it at the side of the road don't interfere with the movement of goods

00:16:07.660 don't interfere with the movement of of your neighbors it's the reason why we have the critical

00:16:11.400 infrastructure act and i would just ask people to be compliant with the law

00:16:14.180 so uh that's good but i think that that's really it it's not being uh we got to get tow trucks out

00:16:22.560 there as was jason kenney's plan we have to you know we have to go through the protest encampment and

00:16:29.640 start kicking in doors as was justin trudeau's plan uh in ottawa kicking in camper doors and busting

00:16:35.960 windows we haven't seen anything like that and i think that has really uh been a testament to the

00:16:43.320 change in government here in alberta i definitely hear you a lot so what's next for these people

00:16:50.000 you said they're in it for the long haul i hope so because i'm headed down there this week

00:16:54.580 to check it out for myself you know i love a good uh protest um so what's next for them what are

00:17:03.640 they doing are they really setting up shop there so i don't know their full plans uh but probably

00:17:11.440 they probably shouldn't announce it to be honest yes exactly exactly they gotta be careful because

00:17:15.760 the rcmp are watching like hawks they've got a drone flying all the time and it's they're just

00:17:21.280 trying to be very very careful but i do know that the point is to get a response the point is to get

00:17:26.020 somewhere uh so right now obviously them being on the side of the highway isn't doing too too much

00:17:32.460 as in the honking people honking and showing us a poor driving by

00:17:35.620 so yeah i think things might start changing in the next few days i know on saturday they're planning

00:17:42.200 for a big day big protest because they're supposed to be uh sort of they're still unsure about a rally

00:17:48.060 happening in calgary they might do a bit of a convoy but that's unconfirmed information

00:17:51.880 okay uh i want to ask you because i and i addressed this on last week's show but i just want to ask your

00:18:01.120 opinion uh because you are a frequent protest attender um i think that's kind of how you

00:18:08.000 came into the rebel universe and then you started covering them journalistically

00:18:12.460 um there are people who say why protest protests do nothing the politicians don't listen to you

00:18:19.640 anyway how would you address that criticism

00:18:22.300 i would have to disagree because the protests didn't cause anything then what happened in coots

00:18:31.260 wouldn't have changed the trajectory of canada and of alberta specifically because we did see

00:18:37.520 a result kenny did give in to a certain degree so i think protests do make a difference very much so

00:18:45.400 and it's unfortunate when i hear people say you know protests aren't going to do anything it's a waste of

00:18:51.460 time but if everybody actually put in the effort if everybody actually showed up things would change

00:18:57.820 so the apathy needs to stop in my opinion you know that's a great point um that the protest at coots

00:19:06.800 not only changed the trajectory of alberta but in changing the trajectory of alberta we're changing

00:19:14.120 the trajectory of the country because look at the successes of daniel smith striking down the new

00:19:19.520 pipelines ban striking down the plastics ban so uh there are and uh you know the

00:19:29.100 provincial autonomy that we're seeing here in alberta fighting with the feds on just about every

00:19:36.600 issue um and it's empowering the other provinces to do the same you know like we stand up to the gun

00:19:42.820 ban and then yukon's like yep us too and saskatchewan says hey sign us up so it has this fun

00:19:48.560 knock-on effect that uh i think started kind of at coots because that really showed jason kenny's

00:19:56.020 weakness he went from oh we're removing the restrictions exemption program at the end of

00:20:00.280 the month and then like eight hours later he's like oh actually it's going to be at the end of

00:20:04.580 the week and then it was like okay at midnight tonight it's gone and it was like directly had to do

00:20:11.140 with the border obstruction happening at coots and then we saw in saskatchewan as the convoy was rolling

00:20:18.600 west to east and rolled through alberta and got to the saskatchewan border and scott mo was like okay

00:20:25.180 the uh vaccine passport's gone like don't convoy me bro so the um the protests do change something and

00:20:33.600 you are right if more people stand up things change faster and it's hard to ignore a bunch of people

00:20:40.160 if all the restaurants had agreed not to close instead of just a handful including chris scott at the

00:20:47.460 whistle stop the restrictions on businesses would have ended a lot quicker uh with a lot less carnage in

00:20:55.280 the uh private business aspect of our economy so i think you are right um protests do work they do change

00:21:02.880 something and if more people got involved instead of exhibiting just that winnie the pooh eeyore level

00:21:10.720 of apathy uh i think canada would be in a better place courage is contagious and unite our compliance

00:21:17.640 is what makes things change right uh angelica you are headed back out to the protest saturday yes i'm

00:21:27.360 headed out there today and then i might check in over the next few days but then saturday

00:21:32.080 um i'll definitely be back for the whole day because we are expecting a potential convoy that

00:21:37.480 day very exciting and i'll be out there thursday we're recording this on tuesday it'll air on

00:21:43.000 wednesday so if people are trying to pay attention to like when we're saying today tomorrow whatever

00:21:47.080 today is tuesday um angelica thanks so much for the hard work that you do here at rebel news and also i

00:21:53.840 want to thank you for your uh ability to jump outside of your job description and do things that

00:22:05.000 we need you to do not only as a company but because it is important for canadians and albertans to get

00:22:10.660 the other side of this story so thanks for your that's not my job uh not having that it's not my job

00:22:18.100 attitude i really appreciate that and i think that's one of the things that makes our company so great is

00:22:22.240 that we all just pitch in when needed whereas needed and you've really been a great example of

00:22:27.360 that for us thanks so much sheila yeah i think the passion that all of us have is what drives us to

00:22:32.480 just do the best job that we can great thanks angelica uh best of luck out there i can't wait

00:22:38.260 to see what you do next thank you sheila have a good day

00:22:40.580 as always to the portion of the show that's yours it's where i invite your viewer feedback

00:22:53.380 you can send me your viewer feedback in a few different ways you can send it to sheila

00:22:58.200 at rebelnews.com put gun show letters in the subject line so i know why you're emailing me or

00:23:04.660 maybe you're watching the free version of the show over on youtube or on rumble and you're sitting

00:23:09.900 through a couple of ads which i appreciate leave your comments there sometimes i go looking for

00:23:15.800 what you're saying over there but the point of this exercise is that without you there is no rebel news

00:23:23.640 so why wouldn't i let you have your say about the work that we do here at rebel news i actually

00:23:28.280 care about what you think about the work that we do here at rebel news it's the reason we leave the

00:23:34.000 comment section open it's the reason i give out my email address and it's the reason we are fiercely

00:23:38.560 independent because we don't care what justin trudeau thinks we leave that to the rest of the

00:23:43.540 media to worry about what their sugar daddy thinks about their work we only care about you guys

00:23:48.700 because as i said without you there's no rebel news if you don't like us we cease to exist that's

00:23:54.440 the free market so you send me your emails from time to time and that's exactly where today's

00:24:00.740 viewer feedback comes from sometimes it's from youtube sometimes it's from rumble

00:24:04.200 this is from the email inbox and it is from mark who writes i love rebel news for being honest and

00:24:13.440 informative about the events happening daily with this current train wreck liberal government that

00:24:18.840 is dismantling our beautiful country of canada it's worse than you think i've been sitting through

00:24:25.300 the foreign interference commission for the last week and a half it's probably why i look so tired

00:24:32.860 right now because my day starts on eastern time and finishes on western time so somehow these people

00:24:41.060 are ringing an extra two hours of work out of me every single day and just the amount of lies that

00:24:47.920 the government has told us about what they knew about foreign interference and when they knew it

00:24:53.800 it's all coming out in the wash right now you can't hide these documents even though they're trying

00:24:59.100 that's another thing that's happening happening in the foreign interference commission is the

00:25:03.520 government is dumping documents at 1 a.m the night before the witnesses are set to testify and in some

00:25:13.740 instances they're dumping documents about the witnesses after the witnesses have testified they did

00:25:20.300 this during the public order emergency commission all the time trying to kneecap the lawyers from the

00:25:25.520 other side they're doing it again um and it's just a real mess and the worst part of it all is the government

00:25:34.020 has infinite resources to produce these documents they've known for months that they've had to produce these

00:25:39.360 documents then they're just doing it at the last minute they have an infinite number of bureaucrats to go 0.99

00:25:45.460 around rounding up these documents and each ministry has their own access to information department

00:25:50.520 bureaucrats who deal specifically with document management and yet they're turning over these

00:25:56.540 documents in the middle of the night before 9 a.m testimony give me a break anyways so the corruption

00:26:04.400 in this country is worse than we have any sort of remote grasp on and I think we won't even understand

00:26:12.700 the depths of it until Justin Trudeau is unelected and living on a billionaire's island somewhere as a

00:26:20.020 professional cabana boy and I think we'll probably have two good years of inquiries and commissions

00:26:27.280 after that wherein I think some people will probably go to jail but definitely not a future cabana boy

00:26:33.760 Justin Trudeau anyway let's keep going my email is regarding your April Fool's podcast in which you discuss

00:26:43.860 the pay raises the MPs and Mr. Trudeau gave themselves on the same day they raised taxes on the rest of us

00:26:48.940 yes they gave themselves an $8,500 a year raise for doing less work than ever I mean these are not

00:26:57.600 performance raises right on the day that the carbon tax jumped from $65 a ton up to $80

00:27:04.240 so you know where your carbon tax money went literally right into the pockets of an MP

00:27:10.120 please forgive me if I have the number of MPs wrong but a quick search told me there are 650

00:27:17.720 multiply that by the lowest yearly increase of $8,500 for a grand total of $5,525,000 a year and

00:27:28.180 that's low-balling it democracy is a wonderful thing but apparently it comes at a high cost we keep

00:27:33.980 slaving away to pay for this extravagant lifestyle shame on all of us keep up the great work and let

00:27:38.380 liberty and freedom reign mark in Nova Scotia wow I don't get a lot of emails from the east coast but

00:27:46.540 I am a fan of Nova Scotia I just want to correct you there we have 338 MPs in this country not 650

00:27:55.660 although it feels like 650 because they're so expensive and generally useless there could be a

00:28:02.960 million MPs and we still wouldn't get very much done we still wouldn't get any bang for our buck

00:28:09.820 now would we but yeah just to slap in the face um at Canadians you know I know some conservative MPs

00:28:17.760 are foregoing their raise and donating it to stand in solidarity with Canadians who are just getting

00:28:22.460 slapped with taxes upon taxes um but you know the liberals aren't whatsoever well everybody that's the

00:28:29.940 show for tonight thank you so much for tuning in I'll see everybody back here in the same time in

00:28:33.600 the same place next week and as always don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to

00:28:38.240 what do you think

Rebel News Podcast - April 10, 2024

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Today marks 10 days of an ongoing carbon tax protest west of Calgary

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