Rebel News Podcast - Working with the police when you're a Rebel News journalist

00:00:00.000 Tonight, why is it that certain members of law enforcement are acting as state-appointed

00:00:21.140 agents of censorship?

00:00:23.440 It's January 17th, 2020.

00:00:25.920 I'm David Menzies, and this is the Ezra Levin Show.

00:00:30.000 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:35.500 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:39.580 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it is because it's

00:00:43.980 my bloody right to do so.

00:00:50.480 Back in the days of yore when movies were called motion pictures, the on-screen narrative was

00:00:56.460 typically kept very simplified so as not to confuse the audience.

00:01:01.720 Take the Western genre.

00:01:03.580 The bad guys wore black hats.

00:01:05.560 The good guys wore white.

00:01:07.640 Easy peasy.

00:01:09.320 But fast forward to 2020, and it very often feels like everyone's wearing shades of grey.

00:01:15.320 And I'm not talking movies here, folks, but rather real life.

00:01:18.860 I speak specifically of certain members of law enforcement here because a series of unfortunate

00:01:25.820 events in the past two weeks in this brand new decade of ours has me scratching my cranium,

00:01:32.740 and it also has me asking the question, hey, Constable, just whose side are you on anyway?

00:01:39.800 Oh, and it's not just me.

00:01:40.860 I think my colleague, Kian Bexty, is equally confused in asking the very same thing because

00:01:47.480 it seems that the guys who ought to be wearing the white hats, you know, the good guys, the

00:01:51.780 guys who should be upholding the law, well, many have apparently traded in those chapeaux

00:01:57.520 for the ebony-hued ones instead, at least when it comes to standing up for some of our most

00:02:03.820 cherished freedoms, such as freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and of course, freedom

00:02:09.600 of the press.

00:02:10.920 Simply put, folks, too many members of law enforcement have demonstrated that they are

00:02:15.760 either ignorant of the law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it comes

00:02:21.000 to what can be said or done in the public square, or maybe it's a matter of law enforcement being

00:02:28.320 infiltrated by so many woke leftists in uniforms who now side with the thugs and the creeps and

00:02:35.280 the bullies, as long as that rogues gallery is pursuing a leftist agenda.

00:02:41.600 On several occasions in the past two weeks alone, Kian and I have been shut down by the authorities.

00:02:49.880 Sometimes we were illegally assaulted by those sworn to uphold the law.

00:02:57.060 It's crazy.

00:02:58.840 Allow me to cut to the chase by way of providing examples.

00:03:01.440 For starters, earlier this month, there was a candlelight vigil held in Tehran, I mean

00:03:06.360 Toronto, for the deceased Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

00:03:11.600 This is a man with the blood of hundreds, if not thousands, on his hands.

00:03:16.460 This is a man who was, prior to his encounter with a U.S. drone, in the employ of the biggest

00:03:22.780 state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

00:03:25.360 I thought it was newsworthy, albeit appalling, that there were actually a few hundred people

00:03:32.060 living in our great dominion who believed the loss of such an individual was something

00:03:37.520 worth mourning.

00:03:39.520 But when I asked questions about the general, and keep in mind folks, this event was taking

00:03:44.660 place in the public square, they called the police to step in and shut me down from practicing

00:03:51.980 journalism.

00:03:52.760 Here, check it out.

00:03:53.600 Hi ma'am, what brings you to this candlelight vigil?

00:03:55.900 I'm sorry, I'm not answering.

00:03:57.940 Oh, okay, no problem.

00:03:59.980 Yes sir.

00:04:00.820 Hi, would you mind coming to the other side with us, please?

00:04:03.420 I'm trying to do my job of journalism, sir, by asking questions.

00:04:06.320 I'm not breaking any laws, we're in the public square.

00:04:08.480 I'm asking if you'd be kind enough to come to the other side with us, because we just

00:04:11.280 have some people...

00:04:12.180 The light's a little bright in my eyes, sir.

00:04:13.640 I'm sorry.

00:04:14.500 Yeah, we just have some people expressing concerns about some of the questions, and perhaps

00:04:18.340 you called some of them a terrorist.

00:04:20.480 No, I didn't call anyone here a terrorist.

00:04:22.280 I've got everything on film.

00:04:24.820 Yeah, no, I'll just ask you to be kind enough, just come to the other side for a few moments.

00:04:27.820 Okay, but I don't understand why I'm in a public place, sir.

00:04:30.620 Yeah, no, I'm just asking you.

00:04:32.140 Are we under Canadian law or Sharia law?

00:04:33.800 Just asking you.

00:04:34.820 Okay, and I'm politely declining, because I have no obligation to do that.

00:04:37.600 So, if I hear any more complaints about using the word terrorism, I'm going to be back

00:04:41.520 here, okay?

00:04:41.840 So, I can't call a terrorist a terrorist?

00:04:43.740 Not in this sort of environment, no, you can't, okay?

00:04:46.180 Because that's going to incite a breach of the peace, and that is Canadian law.

00:04:50.120 Am I clear?

00:04:50.520 If I was to call Osama bin Laden a terrorist, that would be against...

00:04:55.060 Am I clear?

00:04:55.820 I know you're not clear, sir.

00:04:56.800 I can't call Osama bin Laden.

00:04:59.160 And it incites a breach of the peace, you will be placed under arrest.

00:05:02.280 Terrorist?

00:05:02.940 Oh, what am I going to be arrested for?

00:05:05.140 What am I going to be arrested for, sir?

00:05:07.060 A breach of the peace.

00:05:07.540 A breach of the peace for performing journalism.

00:05:09.740 If I hear that again, I'm going to be right back.

00:05:11.360 So, I can't call Osama bin Laden a terrorist, is that what you're saying, officer?

00:05:14.740 Listen to me, okay?

00:05:16.140 Listen to me.

00:05:16.560 Where's Osama bin Laden a terrorist?

00:05:18.000 Over here?

00:05:18.600 No, I don't.

00:05:19.360 Okay, if I hear another word like that, you're coming with us.

00:05:22.440 Okay, two things.

00:05:23.520 If simple questions make certain people act violently, is it not the role of law enforcement

00:05:29.660 to crack down on those individuals defaulting to the sticks and stones mode?

00:05:35.920 Or is that maybe too much heavy lifting?

00:05:38.360 But the subtext here is that, according to the Toronto Police Service, if the mob merely

00:05:44.680 implies that it will act violently if and when it is asked certain queries, well then,

00:05:52.660 the cops must shut down the questions of a journalist, not the impending violence of the mob.

00:05:59.240 Secondly, there is the double standard at play here.

00:06:03.180 I can't call bonafide terrorists terrorists?

00:06:06.640 But look at this guy's sign.

00:06:10.000 In writing, he is falsely claiming that President Trump is a terrorist.

00:06:15.480 But that's okay somehow, right?

00:06:18.660 Now, just a week after that incident, I was hoping to scrum ex-Don Cherry sidekick,

00:06:24.100 Ron McLean, at a taping of Roger's Hometown Hockey in Vaughn, Ontario.

00:06:28.560 The newspeg for this hoped-for Q&A was that new numbers from Numeris indicate that since

00:06:35.220 Coach's Corner was axed, ratings from Hockey Night in Canada have plummeted.

00:06:40.980 So I wanted to ask the suddenly woke hockey commentator slash backstabber about that.

00:06:47.420 Well, the Uber control freaks at Rogers Communications, they don't like to see their domesticated lapdog bothered by the likes of me,

00:06:56.720 so they literally called the cops.

00:06:59.620 But just like the people on University Avenue in Toronto been moaning the loss of Iran's former terrorist-in-chief, 0.84

00:07:06.460 I was in the public square yet again.

00:07:09.080 I was committing no crime.

00:07:11.440 Even so, this is what unfolded.

00:07:14.040 Hey, Ron, how are you doing?

00:07:15.060 I'm great, how are you doing?

00:07:15.820 Good, sir.

00:07:16.340 I'm just wondering, how do you feel about the ratings for Hockey Night in Canada plummeting?

00:07:21.340 Excuse me.

00:07:21.940 No, no, no, no, sir.

00:07:22.640 Yeah, my wife.

00:07:23.280 No, no, no, no, no, sir.

00:07:24.200 Since Don Cherry was fired.

00:07:26.380 I wouldn't know, sir.

00:07:28.340 Excuse me.

00:07:29.000 I'm not...

00:07:29.560 I'm in a public place.

00:07:30.660 I don't know those questions, sir.

00:07:31.400 Ron, why did you throw Ron under the bus?

00:07:35.360 Excuse me.

00:07:35.840 I'm in a public place.

00:07:37.800 What are you...

00:07:38.980 Hey, what are you doing?

00:07:41.940 You just hit me.

00:07:42.640 You just hit me.

00:07:43.760 I'm trying to get around you.

00:07:44.640 You're holding me back.

00:07:47.140 I'm trying to do my job.

00:07:48.160 No, you're not trying to do your job.

00:07:49.460 I'm in a public place, officer.

00:07:50.660 Yes, you're not allowed to hit me like that.

00:07:51.960 I didn't hit you.

00:07:52.760 I've got it on camera, okay?

00:07:54.420 Perfect.

00:07:55.400 Are you guys kidding me?

00:07:56.480 It's called criminal harassment.

00:07:57.300 This is assault.

00:07:58.420 It's called criminal harassment.

00:07:59.340 It's what you're doing.

00:08:00.260 I'm practicing journalism.

00:08:02.000 This is not journalism.

00:08:03.620 Do you have a journalism pass to be here?

00:08:05.240 Yes, I do.

00:08:06.320 I have press credentials.

00:08:07.560 No, you don't.

00:08:08.360 See, that's a lie.

00:08:09.980 I'm in a public place.

00:08:11.540 What is this?

00:08:12.320 Are you guys kidding me?

00:08:13.380 No, we're not.

00:08:13.760 No, no, no.

00:08:14.040 This is a private event.

00:08:15.840 I'm on a public street, officer.

00:08:17.360 You're right.

00:08:17.960 That's a private event.

00:08:18.880 He has a private sector here.

00:08:22.200 This is incredible, folks.

00:08:24.140 I got three York regional cops.

00:08:27.400 Sorry.

00:08:27.760 It's a private event because we don't want it out there.

00:08:30.800 Are you kidding me?

00:08:32.120 Okay, stop, stop, stop.

00:08:33.600 Are you kidding me?

00:08:34.720 No, we're not kidding you.

00:08:35.680 Huh?

00:08:36.060 We're not kidding you.

00:08:36.920 This is forcible confinement.

00:08:38.080 No, it's not forcible confinement.

00:08:39.980 It is.

00:08:40.680 You're holding me back.

00:08:41.960 I'm on a public street.

00:08:43.380 You were in his face.

00:08:44.140 You're not allowed to be in his face.

00:08:45.040 That's harassment. 0.95

00:08:46.080 This is called freedom of the press, officer.

00:08:47.840 You were in his face.

00:08:48.600 He didn't want you to be there.

00:08:50.140 He didn't say that.

00:08:52.160 He didn't say that.

00:08:54.100 It's impossible.

00:08:55.060 Excuse me.

00:08:55.780 We are under instructions.

00:08:56.980 Let go of the microphone.

00:08:58.760 What's your problem now?

00:09:00.040 I don't have a problem.

00:09:00.720 Huh?

00:09:01.140 We're just trying to stop him.

00:09:02.560 We don't have the problem.

00:09:03.720 The problem lies with you, right?

00:09:04.940 Why?

00:09:06.180 Listen, I'm not talking into your microphone.

00:09:08.380 I can do that.

00:09:10.100 Listen, you can sit there and film me,

00:09:12.200 but you can't shove the microphone in my face.

00:09:13.800 Okay, then I'll be on my way.

00:09:14.880 No, you won't.

00:09:15.260 Not in here.

00:09:17.380 Are you kidding me?

00:09:19.000 Well, did you hear what that cop said

00:09:21.320 about potentially preventing a crime from occurring?

00:09:24.760 Shades of the 2002 Tom Cruise film,

00:09:27.680 Minority Report, eh?

00:09:29.320 You know, a film that depicted a near future

00:09:31.840 where the pre-crimes unit

00:09:34.440 arrests people based on a hunch from telepaths,

00:09:38.740 a hunch that these people might commit a crime.

00:09:41.840 Well, apparently life imitates art in York region,

00:09:44.400 given that the York Regional Police

00:09:46.160 has a pre-crimes unit of its own in 2020.

00:09:49.960 Ha, scary.

00:09:52.360 But enough about me,

00:09:53.440 because my colleague, Kian Bexte,

00:09:55.640 well, he also has been unlawfully harassed and bullied,

00:09:59.400 not merely by thugs,

00:10:01.640 but at the hands of the authorities.

00:10:03.420 Check out this footage of Kian

00:10:05.220 trying to go to a public courthouse

00:10:07.320 to cover the trial of Jonathan,

00:10:09.680 a.k.a. Jessica Yaniv.

00:10:11.740 That's the humanoid that is trying to force real women 1.00

00:10:15.500 to wax his sweaty balls. 0.94

00:10:18.320 But Yaniv stepped over the line

00:10:20.340 when he brandished a prohibited weapon online,

00:10:23.920 hence his trial.

00:10:25.560 But when Kian went to the B.C. court to cover it,

00:10:29.820 just look what unfolded.

00:10:31.100 Jonathan, will you be pleading guilty?

00:10:34.060 Leave me alone.

00:10:35.260 Will you be pleading guilty?

00:10:36.300 Go inside the courthouse, then.

00:10:38.180 Will you be pleading guilty?

00:10:39.200 Hey, don't touch my property.

00:10:40.620 Don't touch my property.

00:10:42.360 He doesn't want anything in here.

00:10:43.560 I'm not.

00:10:44.600 Will you be pleading guilty, Jonathan?

00:10:46.880 My name is not Jonathan.

00:10:48.320 You know that.

00:10:48.800 The court registry says otherwise.

00:10:50.540 Will you be pleading guilty?

00:10:53.180 Now, this individual right here

00:10:54.500 grabbed my equipment and tried to pull it down.

00:10:56.680 This individual didn't want me asking a predator questions.

00:10:59.560 I don't know why that is.

00:11:01.160 He had no right to touch me,

00:11:02.540 to touch my equipment.

00:11:03.580 We were outside of the courthouse.

00:11:04.840 I was in a public space

00:11:05.780 recording a public individual,

00:11:07.440 someone of international significance,

00:11:08.940 who's been ridiculed on the global stage,

00:11:11.340 someone who's destroyed the reputation

00:11:12.820 of the trans movement,

00:11:14.000 for better or for worse,

00:11:15.400 here in Canada.

00:11:16.660 I was asking very basic questions,

00:11:18.240 but for some reason,

00:11:18.860 the sheriffs are so keen

00:11:20.340 to protect Jonathan Yaniv.

00:11:22.700 Now, I tried to get back into the courthouse,

00:11:24.340 but they were not having it.

00:11:25.760 You, sir, are not coming inside?

00:11:27.180 Yeah, you're not coming inside.

00:11:28.560 Can you believe it?

00:11:30.060 Sheriffs preventing a journalist

00:11:31.400 from covering a trial open to the public.

00:11:34.160 But that's not their call to make.

00:11:36.860 That's the judge's call.

00:11:38.440 Oh, and it gets worse, folks.

00:11:40.320 The sheriffs said they were preventing Keehan

00:11:42.220 from entering based on a lie.

00:11:45.320 They pointed to Section 4D of the BC Sheriff's Act,

00:11:49.600 citing that Keehan posed a threat

00:11:51.600 to the occupants of the building.

00:11:53.320 Just one not-so-insignificant hitch here.

00:11:58.460 There is no such thing as Section 4D

00:12:01.300 of the BC Sheriff's Act.

00:12:03.340 They just pulled that falsehood

00:12:05.280 out of their collective asses. 0.68

00:12:07.540 It would appear.

00:12:09.280 And oh, where, oh, where is law enforcement

00:12:12.420 when Yaniv exited the courtroom

00:12:14.500 and did this to Keehan?

00:12:17.300 Yaniv, will you be pleading guilty?

00:12:19.720 What?

00:12:19.940 Go.

00:12:20.320 No, don't touch me.

00:12:21.160 Don't touch me.

00:12:22.040 Hey! 0.99

00:12:24.960 Stop! 1.00

00:12:26.480 Go away from me.

00:12:27.620 Go away.

00:12:28.220 Fucking hell.

00:12:28.820 Go away from me.

00:12:29.640 Jesus, get away from me.

00:12:30.740 Go away from me.

00:12:31.120 You fucking crazy fucking thing.

00:12:32.760 Get away from me.

00:12:34.240 Get away. 0.73

00:12:35.800 Get the fuck away from me. 0.98

00:12:37.800 Stay away from me.

00:12:38.780 Get away from me.

00:12:39.900 Now.

00:12:40.960 Right now.

00:12:42.820 You heard me?

00:12:43.540 I'm calling the police on you.

00:12:44.540 I don't give a shit.

00:12:45.480 Get away from me.

00:12:46.240 You stay away from me.

00:12:47.040 I'm back.

00:12:47.460 Yes, just like when I endured five blows

00:12:49.900 with a steel cane over my head and shoulders

00:12:51.900 by Jonathan while Mama Yaniv

00:12:53.960 repeatedly jammed her iPad

00:12:55.720 into my throat back in August.

00:12:58.740 Nothing to see here, folks,

00:13:00.300 when it comes to that particular assault,

00:13:03.260 at least when it's perpetrated

00:13:04.680 by this odious individual, 0.65

00:13:06.800 because I guess trans people are somehow special.

00:13:11.280 And even though the assaults were caught

00:13:13.320 on our cameras and security cameras,

00:13:16.440 cameras,

00:13:16.940 and he somehow automatically receives

00:13:20.700 a get-out-of-jail-free card.

00:13:23.100 Way to go, BCRCMP.

00:13:26.220 Indeed, two words come to mind

00:13:28.240 when I think of the Lotusland Mounties.

00:13:31.160 And those two words are Dudley Do-Right.

00:13:34.000 Now, in case any of you think he and I are anti-cop,

00:13:38.400 nothing could be further from the truth.

00:13:40.660 We are, however, anti-bad cop.

00:13:43.780 All of us should be anti-bad cop,

00:13:46.220 especially given that they have the right

00:13:48.340 to employ deadly force.

00:13:49.920 And as you know, folks,

00:13:52.020 like the umpire behind home plate,

00:13:54.420 I calls them as I sees them.

00:13:56.800 Here's an example of good police work

00:13:59.560 when it comes to interacting with a journalist.

00:14:01.860 It happened last week to me

00:14:03.620 in Richmond Hill, Ontario,

00:14:04.680 when I went to the constituency office

00:14:07.440 of Majid Johari.

00:14:09.220 He's the Liberal MP who actually supports

00:14:12.260 the totalitarian regime in Tehran.

00:14:15.020 It is downright despicable,

00:14:18.520 given the downing of the Ukrainian airliner

00:14:20.760 that left 57 Canadians dead,

00:14:24.480 that this person is still in caucus?

00:14:27.940 But that's how the Trudeau Liberals rolled,

00:14:30.700 it would appear.

00:14:31.960 Anyway, par for the course,

00:14:33.280 after I was kicked out of Johari's office,

00:14:35.300 I lingered in the common area of the building.

00:14:38.020 Johari's people nevertheless called the cops on me,

00:14:40.900 and this is what went down.

00:14:43.280 Hi, officer.

00:14:45.020 Um, so, are you going to film me

00:14:48.320 when we're going to do this?

00:14:49.480 Oh, yeah, what are we doing, sir?

00:14:50.840 I'm just waiting for Mr. Johari.

00:14:52.800 I'm just chatting with you right now.

00:14:54.520 Okay.

00:14:55.280 Obviously, we have a call from the office here.

00:14:59.500 Oh, the office called the police on me?

00:15:02.020 Yeah.

00:15:02.720 Oh, okay.

00:15:03.380 Is there a reason why you're here?

00:15:04.780 I just want to hear your side of the story.

00:15:06.040 Yes, sir.

00:15:06.800 I'm, my name is David Menzies with Rebel News.

00:15:09.860 Mr. Johari is the Member of Parliament

00:15:12.280 for Richmond Hill.

00:15:13.100 He is someone that allegedly has ties to the Iranian regime.

00:15:20.120 He has applauded them and supported them.

00:15:24.660 And there's been recent allegations

00:15:26.960 that he's actually an agent of Iran in Canada.

00:15:29.620 I'm just trying to get his side of the story

00:15:32.460 and find out what he has to say

00:15:34.620 about this terrible tragedy.

00:15:38.280 Three times more Canadians died on this

00:15:40.640 than in 9-11, sir.

00:15:41.700 And I came here and evidently he's hiding behind the skirt

00:15:47.180 of his office manager.

00:15:49.140 That's who she claims to be.

00:15:50.320 She won't give me her name.

00:15:51.820 And so I'm out here in the common area

00:15:54.800 waiting for him to come out so I can scrum him.

00:15:58.100 Okay, so just like, you know, he signed the office.

00:16:03.140 Obviously, we just spoke with the chief of staff.

00:16:08.380 Sure.

00:16:09.100 So in this common area, right now, we don't have the,

00:16:16.700 well, obviously, they're very emotional,

00:16:18.720 as you can expect, right, after hearing such a news.

00:16:22.140 Well, you know, that's the crux of the matter, officer.

00:16:25.660 They say that he's planning on going to a vigil.

00:16:29.320 Well, I'm not going to discuss the...

00:16:31.340 Oh, no, but I just think...

00:16:32.680 I just want to let you know why we got to call it here, right?

00:16:35.400 Okay.

00:16:35.620 So I just want you to know, like, you know,

00:16:37.860 give them the privacy, right?

00:16:39.380 It's obviously you're in the common area for now.

00:16:42.760 We don't have the permission of the landlord yet,

00:16:45.940 but I guess they're going to work something out.

00:16:48.540 And if they do, they're going to...

00:16:51.220 They might not want you to be here just because, you know...

00:16:54.220 I see.

00:16:54.540 So if the landlord tells me to vacate, I'll have to vacate.

00:16:57.160 Okay, I understand.

00:16:57.820 Okay.

00:16:58.240 So...

00:16:58.480 And...

00:16:59.080 Okay.

00:16:59.480 Yeah, so that's what I'm just telling you right now.

00:17:02.160 Okay.

00:17:02.580 You can film here and do what you got to do.

00:17:05.240 I really appreciate that, officer.

00:17:06.420 Thank you.

00:17:06.920 Now that, folks, that is good policing.

00:17:10.000 No threats of being arrested for breach of the peace.

00:17:13.020 No physical assaults.

00:17:14.920 No forcible confinement.

00:17:16.200 No making up regulations that don't exist.

00:17:20.040 A tip of the hat to Constable Young.

00:17:22.980 But moving forward, we obviously have a problem with certain members of law enforcement.

00:17:29.280 And to quote the band Twisted Sister,

00:17:32.000 we're not going to take it anymore.

00:17:34.880 So, we are fighting back with litigation.

00:17:38.700 We'll have more about that in the days and weeks ahead.

00:17:41.360 Because as it stands now, no one is above the law in Canada.

00:17:46.800 Not even the police.

00:17:49.400 And last time I checked, it is not a crime to practice journalism in this great dominion.

00:17:55.780 At least, not yet.

00:17:58.920 Stay with us for more.

00:18:00.120 Well, folks, welcome back to the Ezra Levin Show.

00:18:14.800 Well, you know, Stephen Harper has been out of politics for five years now.

00:18:19.900 Yet, the CBC just can't resist to do a drive-by smear of the ex-conservative leader.

00:18:27.880 And even when they're making things up, for which they kind of took back in sort of a lame apology,

00:18:35.960 I speak of that attack piece by the CBC in which they said Stephen Harper was advocating for regime change in Iran,

00:18:45.740 implying a military action.

00:18:47.560 Of course, Stephen Harper says no such thing.

00:18:50.360 And of course, if we are speaking about Stephen Harper,

00:18:52.740 we must talk about the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:18:55.280 A big week in terms of who announced who's in and who's out.

00:19:00.140 And I can think of no better person to pontificate on this than Andrew Lawton of True North,

00:19:06.460 whose brand new podcast show just debuted this week.

00:19:10.540 Hey, Andrew, thanks for joining me on the Ezra Levin Show.

00:19:12.840 And congratulations on your show, my friend.

00:19:15.860 Hey, thanks very much, David.

00:19:17.100 Good to talk to you and happy to be here.

00:19:18.960 Well, you know, there's been so many people that are still upset that you were taken off the airwaves in London.

00:19:23.520 So this is the next best thing.

00:19:25.800 I mean, that's what it comes down to these days.

00:19:27.580 They got rid of Don Cherry on Coach's Corner.

00:19:29.920 He just has a podcast now and he's not going to get out of the ballpark there.

00:19:34.120 So they can try to shut us up, but they will not succeed in this brave new world of social media.

00:19:40.640 Now, Andrew, what did you make of this incredible story, I thought, that, A, the CBC was literally trying to put words in Stephen Harper's mouth to make a story out of a non-story, that being regime change in Iran.

00:19:57.240 And let's be honest, who in their right mind wouldn't be happy to see regime change in Iran, especially given the most recent downing of that Ukrainian Airlines plane that took the lives of 57 Canadians?

00:20:13.260 Yeah, and I think there's an interesting point there, David, which is that most people would accept that regime change is a positive.

00:20:21.060 The question is whether you want to be the one actively pushing for it.

00:20:24.520 And in the wake of the Iraq War and other American foreign policy for the latter half of the 20th century, regime change is very much a loaded term.

00:20:35.300 People associate it with that American neoconservatism, which may or may not be fine in your eyes, but that was not the argument that Stephen Harper was making.

00:20:43.760 He was saying a point that no one could find disagreeable, except apparently CBC, which was that if Iran is going to get over all of these other problems that we're seeing come to a head, there's going to have to be a change there. 0.70

00:20:58.000 He's making an analytical point. He was not lining up the troops and saying, all right, everyone, let's go to war.

00:21:03.820 He was making a point that is not objectionable in most people's eyes, certainly not mine.

00:21:08.860 But to say that he was pushing for regime change, which is how that initial headline and tweet made it sound like, he was undercutting Canadian foreign policy, when we know from the full context of his remarks that wasn't actually happening.

00:21:21.800 Indeed, Andrew. And I mean, I think his point was that we can't expect to see tangible change in Iran until there's a more broad-based change in the Middle East.

00:21:30.800 Now, Andrew, for as long as you and I have been alive and even before then, let's face it, the Middle East is a rough neighborhood.

00:21:38.860 I mean, there's always tensions. There's always fighting and terrorism linked to the Middle East.

00:21:45.140 So what Stephen Harper said was completely reasonable, I think.

00:21:50.580 And I want to ask you, since he never said the words regime change, are the journalists at CBC incapable of reading the English language?

00:21:58.500 Or is there a more nefarious agenda at play here, Andrew?

00:22:03.220 Well, I mean, there are always two options when errors are made of this nature.

00:22:07.740 There's incompetence or malice, and then every now and then malicious incompetence.

00:22:12.180 But I think what happens here is you get someone that either doesn't understand the difference, that change and regime change mean different things, or someone who doesn't understand the baggage of the term regime change.

00:22:23.560 Or you have someone who's actually trying to cast Stephen Harper in that sinister light that they know people will draw from that term.

00:22:31.160 I don't know who's responsible for it. I don't know what the motivation was.

00:22:35.460 What I do know is that it's a very significant situation that we're seeing as far as Canada's relationship with Iran.

00:22:42.420 And a comment like that is not meaningless.

00:22:44.660 Were Stephen Harper to come out and make it, were he to come out and say,

00:22:47.940 this is what we as a Canadian government, in which he is no longer a part, needs to be doing.

00:22:52.740 So it is a big mistake. CBC walked it back.

00:22:56.180 But the very nature of errors is that, you know, the big front page headline might be wrong, and the correction is in a little tiny box on page 75.

00:23:04.460 It's very similar on Twitter, David, where a mistake will, or a malicious lie, whatever you want to call it,

00:23:10.820 but something that is factually untrue will get dozens and dozens and dozens of comments.

00:23:15.980 The correction will get just a handful.

00:23:17.680 Yeah, and as ever thus, in the newspaper world, you're smeared on the front page,

00:23:22.840 and the correction appears on C19 of the classified section, right?

00:23:28.280 Andrew, I want to ask you this.

00:23:30.320 Where is CBC, and for that matter, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail, etc., etc.,

00:23:36.020 when it comes to what I think is the number one angle in terms of the Iranian situation as it pertains to Canada?

00:23:43.940 And it's something that I've been pursuing for the last several days,

00:23:48.020 and that is trying to nail down Richmond Hill Liberal MP Majid Johari, who is actually pro-regime.

00:23:56.840 We know he's pro-regime because he has tweeted out his admiration for the mullahs in Tehran.

00:24:04.320 We know he's pro-regime too, Andrew, because I don't know if you know this or not.

00:24:07.660 But in October, ex-liberal MPPs and MPs put out a mass email urging people not to vote for Majid Johari.

00:24:19.780 I've never seen such a thing, and yet I'm the only one that's been attempting to scrum him.

00:24:24.320 I think this is an amazing story simply because he is a member of parliament in a Western democracy

00:24:31.660 who is taking the side of the thugs, the mullahs in Iran that killed 57 of our citizens, 0.97

00:24:40.440 and he's getting a free pass, whereas the CBC makes up a bunch of garbage about something Stephen Harper never said.

00:24:48.600 Can you connect the dots for me on this file?

00:24:50.800 Any time the question has ever been raised about whether a lawmaker has dual loyalties,

00:24:57.940 the immediate reaction from the left and from the media is that it's racist.

00:25:01.260 Now look, if in any case we have evidence that someone is in bed with the Chinese regime,

00:25:06.940 with radical Islamism, with the Iranian regime, I mean, these are questions that need to be explored,

00:25:11.880 and more importantly, questions that need to be asked.

00:25:14.040 You know, to go back to the leaders' debates in the election that you and he and Bexley and I had to,

00:25:19.800 by court order, get into to cover, I had asked a question of Jagmeet Singh.

00:25:25.140 I believe it was after the French debate, or yes, it was after the French debate.

00:25:29.500 And the question was, look, you've been banned from visiting India.

00:25:33.560 Is mending that relationship going to be important if you become prime minister?

00:25:37.360 And he gave an answer that I thought was a very valid answer.

00:25:40.980 This is a guy who has refused to denounce, in unequivocal terms, Calistani extremism.

00:25:46.600 So it's relevant to ask the question, and I think it's relevant to ask any leader,

00:25:51.140 any lawmaker, any elected official in Canada.

00:25:54.120 And I think the mainstream media can't be shying away from that or condemning those who want to ask those questions.

00:25:59.660 Oh, indeed, Andrew. And I say B.S. to anyone who dares play the racism card

00:26:05.800 when it comes to criticizing Majid Johari because he's Iranian.

00:26:11.460 I live in Richmond Hill. I've lived there for more than two decades, Andrew.

00:26:15.380 Every Persian I have met in Richmond Hill is anti-regime, except for the member of parliament for Richmond Hill. 0.83

00:26:23.600 Well, you raise a valid point, David, about how this isn't racial.

00:26:26.660 Because right now we are in, like, year 75, I think, of the Russia trial in the U.S., or what feels like that.

00:26:33.620 And the whole basis of this is that the Democrats think everyone under the sun has been in bed with the Russians.

00:26:39.360 And it's a shame the media in Canada, which is still following this Russian witch hunt, 0.92

00:26:44.020 is not as interested in looking at any sort of loyalties that may lie with other regimes among Canadians.

00:26:51.360 Yeah. Like I said, Andrew, it's baffling to me because if there was any other nationality on that plane,

00:26:56.280 let's say there was somebody in the Ukrainian parliament that was going to bat for the regime in Tehran,

00:27:02.900 I could imagine the live eyes camped outside of their house to get, you know,

00:27:08.880 some kind of explanation for taking such a grotesque stance.

00:27:13.360 But in Canada, oh, well, you know what?

00:27:16.140 A person of colour, different faith, nothing to see here, 1.00

00:27:20.560 even though people in his own community despise him.

00:27:24.320 So it's really a double standard.

00:27:27.080 But to change gears on you, Andrew, as I mentioned in the intro,

00:27:31.780 a big week in the world of the Conservative Party of Canada in terms of who's in,

00:27:37.840 namely Peter McKay, who's out, namely Rona Ambrose.

00:27:41.240 What is your take on those two individuals and the choices they made,

00:27:47.600 as well as other players in the Conservative race?

00:27:51.700 Well, I think Peter McKay has basically been sharpening his knives for this,

00:27:56.040 for, I mean, basically since 2004,

00:27:57.920 when Stephen Harper became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada,

00:28:01.980 or 2003 it would have been.

00:28:03.660 And I think that Rona Ambrose, who I like and respect a great deal,

00:28:07.460 I think she saw the writing on the wall and understood that a lot of her popularity

00:28:11.120 was because she was an effective and adequate interim leader.

00:28:15.880 People looked at her and saw she was someone who wouldn't rock the boat, 1.00

00:28:19.200 she'd be a stable hand, she was liked by everyone.

00:28:21.820 I'm not sure that appeal would transfer into a leadership race,

00:28:25.720 and I'm not sure that the media saying,

00:28:27.600 oh, why can't all Conservatives be like Rona Ambrose, 0.95

00:28:30.320 would transfer to if she were the leader, similar to Peter McKay.

00:28:34.500 Right now, Peter McKay is the media's favourite candidate,

00:28:37.620 the second he's the leader, he'll be the new Hitler. 0.94

00:28:40.080 This is what happens with Conservatives,

00:28:41.860 is that the media says, oh, why can't they all be like X?

00:28:44.360 And then once X is within a shot of victory,

00:28:47.120 then all of a sudden they hate them like every other Conservative.

00:28:50.540 I do think what's interesting, though,

00:28:52.260 as I look at the candidates in the race right now,

00:28:54.680 or those rumoured to enter,

00:28:56.420 is that there isn't thus far anyone who's going to be running

00:28:59.640 to the right side of the party.

00:29:02.180 I mean, Pierre Polyev is popular among a lot of red meat Conservatives, 0.97

00:29:07.140 but he made a comment, according to La Presque,

00:29:09.660 saying that not only would abortion legislation

00:29:13.420 not come up under his leadership,

00:29:15.780 he would ban his caucus from introducing

00:29:18.240 even private members' bills on abortion.

00:29:21.160 So this is now a pro-choice position

00:29:23.480 that mirrors that of Justin Trudeau,

00:29:25.960 which is that you cannot legislate on this issue,

00:29:29.120 even as a private member, even as a backbencher.

00:29:31.520 And I think this is really feeding into that idea

00:29:34.440 the media's put forward that social Conservatives are done.

00:29:37.780 Well, Brad Trost in the last leadership race

00:29:39.880 came in fourth place.

00:29:41.320 They are a big chunk of this party,

00:29:42.880 whether you like it or not.

00:29:44.240 And so far, I'm not seeing a leadership candidate

00:29:46.620 that's prepared to speak to them.

00:29:48.580 You know, Andrew, you raise a very good point,

00:29:50.620 and it's this.

00:29:51.280 Before we even start talking about

00:29:52.960 who the next leader of the Conservative Party is,

00:29:55.800 I think the discussion,

00:29:57.560 especially as we head into the convention in June in Toronto,

00:30:00.200 is to determine really what is the Conservative Party of Canada

00:30:05.880 and what does it stand for and what are its values.

00:30:08.980 I mean, I like the Conservative Party

00:30:11.860 Stephen Harper lorded over when he was prime minister.

00:30:16.340 I didn't like what I saw as the hoped-for regime

00:30:21.160 of the Conservative Party under Andrew Scheer,

00:30:24.000 which was almost liberal light.

00:30:26.040 So, you know, once the convention gets closer to fruition,

00:30:33.240 how do you see this party going,

00:30:35.780 regardless of who the leader is?

00:30:38.300 You know, I cautioned a lot of people

00:30:40.920 when the Conservative movement

00:30:44.140 or parts of the Conservative movement

00:30:45.880 were petitioning to get rid of Andrew Scheer,

00:30:48.580 that they should be careful what they wish for in some respects.

00:30:52.120 And because the social Conservative groups were saying,

00:30:55.280 we don't like Andrew Scheer

00:30:56.140 because he's not socially Conservative enough.

00:30:58.320 The red Tory groups were saying,

00:30:59.780 we don't like Andrew Scheer

00:31:00.680 because he's too far right,

00:31:02.040 he's too socially Conservative.

00:31:03.540 And I said to the SOCONs at the time,

00:31:05.920 be careful because you may align with the red Tories

00:31:09.220 that Scheer is not the guy,

00:31:10.880 but you're not going to win

00:31:12.480 when it comes to choosing what's next

00:31:14.660 if you feed into this narrative.

00:31:16.720 So the media is convinced now

00:31:18.320 that Andrew Scheer lost because he was too far right.

00:31:20.700 So the incentive for any other leadership candidate

00:31:23.320 is run to the middle, run to the left,

00:31:25.500 because that's where the party is now.

00:31:27.600 And that's a myth,

00:31:28.840 but it's only going to be reinforced

00:31:30.820 by whatever comes in the ashes of the Conservative Party

00:31:35.120 or whatever rises up.

00:31:36.600 And you look at Aaron O'Toole, Peter McKay,

00:31:39.260 these are our guys that I think are very capable,

00:31:41.720 very qualified, but they're red Tory.

00:31:44.140 They are red Tories.

00:31:45.220 And that is going to be,

00:31:46.660 I think, the flavor of the day

00:31:48.340 through this leadership campaign,

00:31:50.180 unless someone comes in and shakes this race up.

00:31:53.440 Well, these are fascinating weeks

00:31:56.520 and months ahead of us in terms of this issue.

00:31:59.720 Andrew, I will give Peter McKay this,

00:32:01.140 so that was the greatest metaphor of all time.

00:32:04.840 And a hockey one at that

00:32:06.220 when he talked about how essentially

00:32:08.400 Andrew Scheer had a breakaway on an open net and missed.

00:32:11.140 And I think Andrew Scheer might have said,

00:32:13.700 oh, but I hit the crossbar. 0.99

00:32:14.980 I got more votes than Trudeau.

00:32:16.820 So too bad it doesn't work.

00:32:18.100 I don't know what any of those words mean,

00:32:19.560 but I'll take you at your word that it makes sense.

00:32:21.720 And I'll take you to a hockey game one day, my friend.

00:32:24.080 But before we wrap,

00:32:25.780 before we wrap,

00:32:27.360 can you please tell our audience

00:32:29.160 how they can get access to your podcast, my friend?

00:32:34.120 Yeah, thank you for that.

00:32:35.200 The Andrew Lawton Show is carried by True North.

00:32:38.020 And if you go to andrewlawtonshow.com,

00:32:41.620 A-N-D-R-E-W-L-A-W-T-O-N.com, 1.00

00:32:45.080 you can get all the subscribe links.

00:32:46.620 You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts,

00:32:48.380 watch it on YouTube, listen online.

00:32:50.580 And all of the episodes are posted as well at True North,

00:32:53.720 which is tnc.news.

00:32:55.580 And I look forward to hearing from all sorts of people

00:32:58.860 about what they think.

00:33:00.380 Fantastic.

00:33:01.220 Well, Andrew, thank you so much

00:33:02.620 for coming on the Ezra Events Show.

00:33:04.460 Good luck with the podcast.

00:33:06.760 Have a great weekend.

00:33:08.100 And let's keep in touch

00:33:09.720 regarding some of the issues we discussed today.

00:33:12.340 Thank you again, sir.

00:33:13.760 Thank you.

00:33:14.860 And that was Andrew Lawton

00:33:16.760 somewhere in southwestern Ontario.

00:33:20.120 Keep it here, folks.

00:33:21.100 More of the Ezra Events Show to come right after this.

00:33:32.540 Well, folks,

00:33:33.300 thank you so much for tuning in

00:33:34.860 and thanks, of course,

00:33:35.700 for putting up with me yet again.

00:33:37.140 And hey, if you're wondering

00:33:38.300 where our commander, Ezra Levent, is,

00:33:40.480 well, here's a short video

00:33:42.200 that will give you an update

00:33:43.940 on his latest mission.

00:33:46.300 Hi, David.

00:33:47.300 Thanks very much for holding the fort today

00:33:49.420 on my show.

00:33:50.360 I am now in Copenhagen, Denmark.

00:33:54.120 It's very chilly here,

00:33:55.380 but they love to ride bikes

00:33:56.980 even in the cold in this town.

00:33:58.780 It's something I know that is easier here

00:34:02.000 than in Canada with all our snow.

00:34:04.640 Anyways, the reason I'm in Denmark

00:34:06.280 for just 24 hours

00:34:08.100 is that Tommy Robinson

00:34:10.960 has been awarded,

00:34:13.300 or will be awarded tomorrow,

00:34:14.940 the World Free Press Award

00:34:18.500 as the person who's done the most

00:34:21.240 in the past year

00:34:22.760 to promote freedom in the press.

00:34:24.780 And I think it's true.

00:34:26.340 Not only has he done so as a journalist,

00:34:29.000 but he's done so as a political prisoner.

00:34:31.900 As you know,

00:34:32.540 he served 66 days

00:34:34.300 in solitary confinement

00:34:36.140 in the UK's harshest prison,

00:34:38.400 Belmarsh Prison,

00:34:39.220 for a trumped-up charge

00:34:41.740 of contempt of court

00:34:43.120 just for reporting

00:34:44.060 outside a Muslim rape gang trial.

00:34:48.160 Anyways, the reason I'm here covering this

00:34:51.080 is because I know no one else will.

00:34:54.040 No other journalist will

00:34:55.600 because it goes against their narrative.

00:34:58.060 The narrative that Tommy

00:34:59.360 is just some thug

00:35:01.500 or some extremist.

00:35:03.380 In the United Kingdom,

00:35:04.620 he's treated as a pariah.

00:35:06.500 He's treated as a criminal.

00:35:07.540 But in other places,

00:35:09.840 like Denmark,

00:35:11.200 he's treated as a free speech hero.

00:35:14.500 What's even more remarkable

00:35:15.900 is that the award will be handed out

00:35:18.940 in Denmark's parliament,

00:35:22.480 in the actual parliament building tomorrow.

00:35:25.700 And the gala presentation

00:35:27.340 will be emceed,

00:35:29.680 or started at least,

00:35:31.180 by a Danish MP.

00:35:33.340 So far from being prison guards

00:35:36.480 and prosecutions,

00:35:39.040 the highest institutions of Denmark

00:35:41.280 are saluting Tommy Robinson.

00:35:44.820 I should tell you,

00:35:45.520 this prize is quite prestigious.

00:35:48.120 Roger Scruton,

00:35:49.520 the late British philosopher

00:35:51.820 who just passed away,

00:35:53.220 was a recent winner.

00:35:54.820 And I don't mean to brag,

00:35:56.380 but about six years ago,

00:35:57.660 I won it

00:35:58.320 for my fight against

00:35:59.840 Canada's Human Rights Commission

00:36:01.260 in publishing

00:36:02.460 the Danish cartoons of Mohammed.

00:36:04.660 So I'm here to cover the awards

00:36:07.860 that Tommy will receive at parliament.

00:36:09.520 I'll be at parliament tomorrow.

00:36:11.120 And I understand that Tommy

00:36:12.740 will make a weighty acceptance speech

00:36:15.820 where he'll go through,

00:36:17.300 he'll make a presentation.

00:36:18.180 I'll do my best to record all of that.

00:36:21.220 And I'll put this video

00:36:23.280 and others

00:36:24.860 up at

00:36:25.920 TommyPrize.com

00:36:28.980 And the purpose for that

00:36:30.720 is to compile

00:36:32.840 the videos I'll do here.

00:36:34.300 And if people want to help chip in

00:36:35.900 to my economy class flight

00:36:37.840 here to Copenhagen,

00:36:39.340 they can do so too.

00:36:40.560 I got a last minute airfare

00:36:42.180 and an economy hotel altogether.

00:36:44.740 It's about $1,800 Canadian

00:36:46.240 or just over a thousand pounds.

00:36:48.540 If folks want to chip in,

00:36:49.800 they can do so there.

00:36:50.760 Anyway, it's pretty chilly here,

00:36:52.500 even though there's still biking

00:36:54.140 around me, as you can see.

00:36:55.940 It's sort of a lovely,

00:36:57.740 there's some Christmas lights.

00:36:59.620 Just want to show you Copenhagen.

00:37:01.380 It's a very pretty city.

00:37:03.240 Alas, I don't think

00:37:03.920 I'll have time to do much sightseeing.

00:37:06.320 I'm here for the news.

00:37:08.180 Back to you

00:37:09.200 at our world headquarters, David.

00:37:11.280 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - January 18, 2020

Working with the police when you're a Rebel News journalist

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