The Candice Malcolm Show - A victory for freedom!

00:00:00.000 Hi, I'm Candice Malcolm, and this is The Candice Malcolm Show.

00:00:05.300 Thank you so much for joining us, folks.

00:00:06.920 We have a great episode for you today, and today's episode is brought to you by Rocklink,

00:00:12.120 but more on them a little later.

00:00:13.840 So we're going to talk about the Nova Scotia forest ban.

00:00:16.200 We're going to talk about the insane, preemptive, soft authoritarianism and government overreach.

00:00:21.300 That is the theme of today's show.

00:00:22.980 But first, I want to report about a little victory here at Juno News.

00:00:27.140 So it's not a victory for us as a company.

00:00:29.000 We do have plenty of those, but this is a victory, a small triumph for all Canadians, 1.00

00:00:33.360 and a testament to the value of independent media and the cause of freedom in Canada,

00:00:37.420 not just Juno News, but other independent outlets like the rebel media.

00:00:41.300 Okay, so two weeks ago, we reported on a CBC smear campaign against a Christian singer

00:00:46.080 and prayer leader named Sean Foyt.

00:00:48.780 The CBC teamed up with a liberal MP to smear him, to demonize him,

00:00:53.420 and to pretend that somehow he was a threat to our country.

00:00:56.500 Now, as I mentioned on the show, the CBC wrote dozens of articles.

00:01:00.580 I'm not exaggerating, folks.

00:01:01.740 They wrote dozens of articles smearing him, labeling him MAGA.

00:01:05.260 You can check.

00:01:06.080 MAGA appears in almost every headline that the CBC wrote about Sean Foyt.

00:01:10.240 They're trying to scare you.

00:01:11.020 They're trying to scare people into thinking that he's some kind of a political activist,

00:01:14.860 that he's here promoting Donald Trump,

00:01:16.720 or that he's trying to push a MAGA agenda onto Canada.

00:01:19.600 But that is not true.

00:01:20.900 Sean Foyt is a Christian singer and prayer leader.

00:01:23.560 He tours Canada every single summer, and he's simply trying to inspire Canadians

00:01:27.820 and connect Canadians with God.

00:01:30.480 Now, that shouldn't be controversial in a Christian country like Canada.

00:01:33.620 Canada is still a majority Christian country,

00:01:35.540 and our country was founded on Christian morals and Christian ideals.

00:01:38.860 But to the CBC, that is something to be scared of.

00:01:41.900 And so they successfully disrupted many of Sean Foyt's appearances and services

00:01:47.700 in Eastern Canada and Central Canada.

00:01:49.820 Folks, that is the power of propaganda that the CBC has

00:01:53.780 to capture audiences in that part of the country.

00:01:56.460 But things are a little bit different out West.

00:02:00.080 And Sean Foyt has been given the green light for a concert service in Edmonton,

00:02:06.060 thanks to the UCB government and Premier Daniel Smith.

00:02:08.580 I'm going to read a little bit from this Juno News article written by Cosmin Georgia,

00:02:13.080 breaking Alberta government defies anti-Christian censors

00:02:15.920 and permits Sean Foyt concert.

00:02:18.000 The government has greenlit a major worship event featuring American Christian rock musician

00:02:22.920 Sean Foyt on the Legislative Assembly on Alberta grounds in Edmonton.

00:02:29.160 And so, like we said, we mentioned this a lot,

00:02:32.200 and we were worried that Sean Foyt was going to Alberta

00:02:35.340 and that the government was going to cave to the same forces

00:02:38.680 and the same hysteria led, again, by CBC and liberal activism.

00:02:42.860 But good for the UCP, good for Albertans for standing up for freedom of religion

00:02:49.100 and freedom of speech in Canada.

00:02:50.720 You should not censor someone just because you don't like them.

00:02:52.960 Sean Foyt is allowed to do this kind of thing.

00:02:55.360 Canada is a free country, after all,

00:02:56.920 and Canadians still have the right to their access of prayer services and religious worship.

00:03:02.100 So, again, that is a small victory for all Canadians.

00:03:06.420 Okay, let's talk about these insane forest bans that are happening in our country, folks.

00:03:12.480 This is scary authoritarian stuff.

00:03:14.220 So you probably saw the news last week that Nova Scotia has banned hiking in private woods.

00:03:19.780 You are not allowed to go into the woods in Nova Scotia right now

00:03:23.040 upon fear of a $25,000 fine.

00:03:26.220 So I'm going to read a little bit from the Juneau News report on this.

00:03:29.060 Nova Scotians have been ordered to stay out of the woods in the forest. 0.89

00:03:33.020 Folks, 75% of the province is made up of forest, but you cannot go into the forest

00:03:37.780 or you face a $25,000 fine.

00:03:39.920 Simply stepping into the woods, even on private land,

00:03:42.520 is now banned by the provincial government with similar penalties to breaching a fire ban.

00:03:47.700 The announcement came from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston

00:03:50.760 concerned activities deemed not necessary, including hiking, camping, fishing, off-road vehicles

00:03:56.940 during this dry spell with conditions that could spark a potential

00:04:02.500 wildfire.

00:04:03.520 So this is the announcement made by Premier Tim Houston of Nova Scotia.

00:04:07.800 Remember, this guy's a conservative.

00:04:09.280 And during the recent federal election, he was openly campaigning for himself

00:04:13.520 instead of supporting Pierre Polyev, who was a conservative leader running in the election.

00:04:17.760 This guy has serious leadership ambitions, even meaning undermining the leader of his own party,

00:04:24.040 at least in name.

00:04:25.300 He's supposed to be a conservative.

00:04:26.320 He's supposed to be on Team Conservative.

00:04:27.400 He didn't do that during the campaign.

00:04:29.080 And now he's out there telling everybody to get inside and that it's not necessary for you

00:04:34.180 to go hiking or camping or fishing in a Canadian summer.

00:04:37.780 Let's play that clip.

00:04:39.040 We're telling Nova Scotians, stay out of the woods. 1.00

00:04:42.160 We are restricting travel and activities that really aren't necessary for most of us.

00:04:49.980 Hiking, camping, fishing, and the use of vehicles in the woods are not permitted.

00:04:53.980 But trail systems through woods are off limits.

00:04:58.520 Camping is allowed, but only in official campgrounds.

00:05:02.280 The fine for violating any of these bans is the same as the fine for the ban on burning $25,000.

00:05:12.080 Folks, that is insane.

00:05:15.200 OK, we are Canadians.

00:05:16.520 It is our birthright.

00:05:17.480 It is our God-given birthright that we have certain inalienable freedoms.

00:05:21.140 We are allowed to move.

00:05:22.840 If we have freedom of movement in Canada, it's guaranteed in our charter.

00:05:24.880 And besides the charter, it is just a basic right that you could go outside.

00:05:28.520 You can go into the forest.

00:05:29.280 You can go into your yard.

00:05:30.320 You can enjoy nature.

00:05:31.460 We only have a few short months to enjoy the sunshine and the warmth in Canada.

00:05:36.660 And for a premier to preemptively say that you can't go outside, this ban, by the way,

00:05:41.640 folks, goes into mid-October.

00:05:44.820 Mid-October.

00:05:45.540 We're talking about weeks upon weeks, months upon months of not being able to go outside

00:05:49.840 just in case there may be a fire.

00:05:51.460 I mean, to my ears, this is pure authoritarianism.

00:05:55.780 It is unbelievable for a conservative premier to tell you that it's not necessary for you

00:06:00.540 to go outside.

00:06:02.160 Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources wrote this on X.

00:06:05.160 If you see something that looks like a violation of the burn ban or wood restrictions,

00:06:09.780 please report it to us by calling this number.

00:06:11.920 Please remember that some people will have travel permits to go into the woods primarily

00:06:15.280 for work.

00:06:15.620 Look, I totally understand a burn ban.

00:06:18.120 I understand that there are concerns of forest fires and that you shouldn't be able to set

00:06:23.000 fires and have bonfires and all those kind of things.

00:06:25.200 That makes perfect sense, okay?

00:06:26.800 Even an ATV ban because, you know, there could be a spark, there could be a motor here.

00:06:32.060 And I understand it's quite dry in Nova Scotia right now.

00:06:34.240 But the idea that you can't even go for a walk in nature in Canada is patently absurd

00:06:39.200 and people should be up in arms about it.

00:06:41.160 And yet, instead, what we hear, even from the conservative side, is a lot of people making

00:06:46.660 excuses and saying, actually, it is correct for the government to ban all people from

00:06:50.940 going outside.

00:06:51.860 And so here, I'm talking about former conservative strategist turned CBC pundit, Fred Delore.

00:06:57.660 I believe he used to be head of the conservative party.

00:07:00.260 This is what he wrote on X.

00:07:01.660 As a woodlot owner in Nova Scotia, I can tell you firsthand, the forest floor is like

00:07:05.100 tinder right now.

00:07:05.720 You can feel the heat rising from it, just waiting for a spark.

00:07:08.380 Our province's small communities are tightly woven into the woods.

00:07:11.460 One fire doesn't just burn trees, it can burn roads, wipe out homes, and trap people fast.

00:07:16.420 We don't have a buffer zone or fire breaks that larger provinces do.

00:07:19.520 A short-term ban on recreational access is inconvenient, for sure.

00:07:22.900 It's also smart.

00:07:23.880 One careless step could cost millions and devastate lives.

00:07:26.400 I understand that argument.

00:07:27.680 I do understand that there is concern, which is why you need proper forest management.

00:07:32.300 The forests need to be swept.

00:07:33.400 They need to be properly cared for.

00:07:34.860 And I would even understand if the government said, look, this one area is problematic,

00:07:39.320 and so don't go over here.

00:07:40.940 But a blanket ban across an entire province, just in case, is patently absurd.

00:07:46.640 Okay, next, we have Globe and Mail contributor Stephen Mayer.

00:07:49.600 He criticized National Post journalists and many others on social media for even questioning

00:07:55.360 the forefront.

00:07:56.240 How dare you question this wise authoritarian move, says Steve.

00:08:00.540 Murray says, don't listen to these people.

00:08:01.980 Stay out of the woods.

00:08:03.220 They smell like they are about to burst into flames.

00:08:06.260 That is what he said in response to journalist Michael Tobe, who just basically said that this

00:08:13.760 is all very excessive, which, of course, it is.

00:08:16.460 Stephen Moore had a lot more to say about him.

00:08:18.420 I'm going to read a little bit from his Twitter thread.

00:08:20.120 He says, because the Nova Scotia government has closed the woods, I went for a run by the

00:08:24.520 side of the road, said along a trail I usually use.

00:08:27.040 It's dumb, obviously, since I would not start a fire by running on a trail, but c'est la vie. 0.81

00:08:31.360 So he admits the absurdity of it. 0.96

00:08:33.620 He says then, the woods are dry, are tinder dry.

00:08:37.240 I think the province is right to have ordered the woods closed.

00:08:40.160 You can't just ban unsafe activities.

00:08:42.440 You have to ban it all.

00:08:43.780 You have to ban it all, folks.

00:08:45.080 That's the mentality.

00:08:46.180 Just ban it all, right?

00:08:47.640 Most people won't be out there doing irresponsible things like smoking in the woods or starting

00:08:52.060 campfires.

00:08:52.820 They know that it is dangerous and most people have common sense.

00:08:56.120 But instead of trusting people, instead of saying, follow these guidelines, follow these

00:09:00.040 rules, no, we have to resort to a blanket rule and then a blanket ban. 1.00

00:09:04.300 And then you have useful idiots like these saying you have to ban it all. 1.00

00:09:07.640 It's just responsible. 1.00

00:09:09.160 Stephen Moore goes on to say, there's a lively debate on this website, talking about X, with

00:09:13.960 libertarian minded people from points west, blaming Tim Houston for overreach.

00:09:18.580 But I suspect Nova Scotians support the measure.

00:09:20.780 Nova Scotians locked down hard and early during the pandemic.

00:09:23.440 As a result, we had lower mortality.

00:09:25.900 It looks like the death rate was actually lower than normal.

00:09:29.520 And he wrote, some people are having emotional reactions to the forest, Nova Scotia forestry

00:09:34.640 policy.

00:09:35.700 Yeah, because in a free society like Canada, you shouldn't just be able to lock it all

00:09:40.380 down.

00:09:40.640 And he even mentions that during COVID, they were somewhat successful because they locked

00:09:44.320 it all down.

00:09:44.800 Well, you know what?

00:09:45.320 Sweden did the exact opposite thing.

00:09:46.860 And they also had lower mortality rates.

00:09:49.000 So explain that one, Steve Moore.

00:09:50.780 But that is the problem.

00:09:51.620 People, it's normalized.

00:09:53.680 We've normalized this idea that the government can just order everybody to stay inside and

00:09:58.060 say no to the forest.

00:09:58.980 And it isn't just Nova Scotia folks.

00:10:00.620 New Brunswick has followed suit.

00:10:03.060 So on Saturday afternoon, we got the announcement from Nova Scotia premier that they will also

00:10:08.140 join Nova Scotia with their own forest ban.

00:10:11.400 And basically just making kind of the same argument, except for, listen to this folks, because

00:10:16.800 speaking at a press conference, New Brunswick premier Susan Holt said that the hiking ban

00:10:21.820 isn't actually about preventing fires in New Brunswick, but preventing possible injuries.

00:10:27.940 Play that clip.

00:10:29.160 Me going for a walk in the woods is going to cause a fire. 0.91

00:10:31.780 I can understand why people think that that's ridiculous.

00:10:35.940 But the reality is it's not that you might cause a fire.

00:10:39.860 It's that if you're out there walking in the woods and you break your leg, we're not going

00:10:43.400 to come and get you because we have emergency responders that are out focused on a fire that

00:10:48.880 is threatening the lives of New Brunswickers. 0.94

00:10:51.440 And if you take your boat out fishing in a pond in Crown Land and you capsize, we're not

00:10:55.860 going to be able to come and help you out because our first responders are focused on an

00:11:00.060 immediate and serious threat to our province.

00:11:02.720 Wait a second.

00:11:04.280 So it's not even that they don't trust you not to start a fire, but that they can't

00:11:08.540 get to you to save you because they're so busy.

00:11:11.420 So now, folks, we have politicians justifying lockdowns because they're overworked. 0.62

00:11:17.320 They're overworked and underfunded.

00:11:18.780 And so they just can't, they just can't help you if you get hurt.

00:11:21.360 And therefore you're just not allowed outside.

00:11:23.500 You're just not allowed outside in Canada because you might get hurt and our first responders

00:11:27.960 might be busy.

00:11:28.880 This is totally insane.

00:11:30.400 Okay.

00:11:30.640 This is totally insane. 1.00

00:11:32.080 And Canadians deserve to be mocked rightily. 1.00

00:11:35.440 I want to point to a social media post by Shopify CEO, Toby Lutke, mocking government

00:11:41.760 overage.

00:11:42.300 This is absolutely right.

00:11:42.960 He writes, true north, strong and free with a little Canadian maple leaf.

00:11:46.100 Little asterix there, except you're not allowed to go in the woods.

00:11:49.540 That is absolutely right.

00:11:50.840 Okay.

00:11:51.140 It is so absurd that we have this entire elbows up movement that we, people on the political

00:11:55.860 left, liberals, CDC crowd love to talk about waving the Canadian flag, love to talk about

00:12:01.180 elbows up, love to champion the charter of rights and freedom, except for then they can

00:12:05.960 also sit there and ban you from going in the woods, not because you could start a fire in

00:12:10.320 a very dry season, but because you could fall and get hurt and that you might have to wait

00:12:15.460 a long time to get help.

00:12:17.200 Or heaven forbid, you might have to get help from someone in your own community.

00:12:20.060 You might have to make a phone call and get someone in your family or someone else to

00:12:23.900 help you.

00:12:24.660 But no, no, no.

00:12:25.580 We're just going to ban everybody from going in the woods.

00:12:27.740 CTV contributor, Sharon Khan, mocked Toby Lutke of Shopify for opposing the force ban.

00:12:34.460 This is what she wrote on X.

00:12:35.940 Being Canadian isn't about whining that you can't stroll in the woods during a fire ban.

00:12:40.040 It's about knowing when to shut it down for the greater good.

00:12:43.360 The real danger is leaders like Toby who worship freedom at all costs, even if it means watching

00:12:48.820 the province burn.

00:12:50.180 Wow, quite the hyperbole there.

00:12:52.280 Is the province burning?

00:12:53.860 Is the province burning?

00:12:55.060 Quick question.

00:12:56.000 Well, look at this.

00:12:56.720 We have a map of Nova Scotia so that viewers can see the actual forest fires that are happening

00:13:02.940 in the province.

00:13:03.840 And there are currently two active forest fires.

00:13:08.220 There are two small and contained forest fires, as you can see.

00:13:13.680 So no, the whole province isn't up in flames.

00:13:16.020 No, there aren't massive wildfire raging across the province right now, just like what we saw

00:13:23.120 in France earlier this summer, what we've seen in California or Hawaii over recent years,

00:13:27.760 devastating fires.

00:13:28.760 And yes, in large part, that was because they didn't evacuate fast enough.

00:13:33.560 This isn't, we're not talking about evacuating from a live fire here, right?

00:13:36.660 We're talking about banning people from staying inside lest they start a fire or even lest they

00:13:42.120 get hurt and we can't get to them on time.

00:13:44.480 So just totally over the top from the legacy media and social media commentators.

00:13:49.080 I have one more, Laura Babcock, who is just like your traditional, typical CBC lib, Trudeau

00:13:55.140 and on type on acts.

00:13:56.960 This is what she writes.

00:13:58.280 People who are complaining that they can't go into the woods during fire season remind

00:14:01.980 me of the same people who were complaining they couldn't go to parties during the pandemic.

00:14:06.240 Selfish and small-minded, they never care about the greater good.

00:14:10.660 The greater good, folks.

00:14:11.920 No, you can't enjoy your life.

00:14:13.280 No, you can't live in freedom, even though it's your birthright in Canada, because we've

00:14:17.540 just decided that for the greater good, you just can't do that anymore.

00:14:21.360 We're just going to take away your rights for the greater good and you go along with

00:14:24.120 it. 0.70

00:14:24.300 And if you don't, we will ridicule you and call you out.

00:14:29.820 And yes, we have already had our first fine handed out from the Nova Scotia government.

00:14:34.240 So this isn't just a scare tactic, they're actually out there handing out these fines.

00:14:38.440 A veteran has been fined $28,000 for the crime of walking in the woods in Canada.

00:14:45.280 In a video shared on X, retired Canadian veteran Jeff Evely walked into the woods and

00:14:50.900 opened the fines of Nova Scotia's ban moments before being fined nearly $29,000 by provincial

00:14:56.540 environmental officers.

00:14:58.240 There are environmental officers out there patrolling the forest, monitoring them, making

00:15:03.000 sure you don't go outside.

00:15:03.880 And if you do, you will get punished with the full extent of a fine handed out by the

00:15:09.040 feds, by the, by the province.

00:15:10.920 This is a longer clip, but I'm going to play it 65 seconds so that you can see the absolute

00:15:15.700 ridiculousness of the saw.

00:15:17.300 Let's play that clip. 0.72

00:15:17.820 This is the DNR office on Mountain Road in Coxete, Nova Scotia.

00:15:24.860 And this is not the woods, but back here, this is the woods.

00:15:31.460 I have a couple of conservation officers with me right now who are not on camera, but have

00:15:37.220 advised me that if I go into the woods, if I defy their orders to go into the woods, then

00:15:42.780 I will be fined.

00:15:44.040 And they also said that they would double my fine to $50,000.

00:15:46.900 I don't know that there's a good spot to do this, but I'm just going to make this as painless

00:15:52.460 as I can for those guys and go in here and they have me on camera.

00:16:03.460 I have a ticket here for, let's see if you can see that, $28,870.50 for victimizing somebody.

00:16:30.300 So in a country where thieves break into homes, break into cars, where you have heinous crimes

00:16:37.320 happening almost every day, judges giving shortened sentences for immigrants so lest

00:16:41.080 they don't get deported, here we have a veteran in defiance of the law, doing it intentionally

00:16:45.920 just to basically see if they're being sincere with these fines.

00:16:50.700 Yes, they are.

00:16:51.680 Not only do you have to pay the $25,000 fine, you also have to pay taxes on that fine and

00:16:55.420 something called a victim fee, which I have no idea what that is about.

00:16:58.880 But this is absurd, folks, and I'm proud to report, happy to report that the Canadian

00:17:02.560 Centre for Constitutional Freedoms will be working with Jeff Evely to challenge this

00:17:08.900 forest ban as they should.

00:17:11.000 OK, I want to share some of my thoughts as to why I think that this is such a big deal.

00:17:16.580 So as usual, as typical, the CBC lib crowd are intentionally misreading the negative reaction,

00:17:23.420 right?

00:17:23.540 They're pretending that people who are criticizing this are just libertarians, they're Westerners,

00:17:28.440 they don't understand Nova Scotia, they don't understand the threat that is happening,

00:17:32.900 maybe they don't understand the collectivism of a place like Nova Scotia.

00:17:37.300 And really, this is just about the government acting in the greater good.

00:17:40.820 Now, let me just tell you, if this was actually the government acting in the greater good, if

00:17:44.660 there was a clear and imminent danger, an evacuation order would be necessary, it would be reasonable,

00:17:50.680 and no one would be questioning it, right? If folks from Los Angeles or Maui or even the town 0.79

00:17:56.360 of Jasper had been evacuated, people wouldn't question that, right? For their safety, that is

00:18:02.300 what the greater good is for, that is what a responsible government would do. If there's

00:18:05.280 eminent danger, evacuate. Nobody would question that. In fact, they would applaud it. It happens

00:18:10.120 all the time during floods, during hurricanes and other natural disasters, including forest fires.

00:18:14.340 But what we oppose is governments ordering people to stop healthy outdoor activities just in case,

00:18:22.020 and a permanent ban, an indefinite ban until the end of summer, until it starts snowing,

00:18:27.020 basically. A government saying that you can just shelter in place, we now have that power to force

00:18:32.500 you inside. During the dark ages of COVID, the government created this power. Well, they didn't

00:18:36.820 actually create it, they borrowed it from communist China. This is a power that the communists use in 0.83

00:18:41.260 places like China. They can just ban you from going outside and order you to shelter in place. 0.95

00:18:46.060 And folks have no choice but to go along with that. But that is not a welcome public policy development

00:18:51.180 in a free and democratic society. Governments should not have this power. Now, let me just tell you,

00:18:57.020 folks, we should have fought harder against these restrictions during COVID. Yes, in the very early

00:19:01.980 days, we were all concerned. We didn't know what was going to happen. And so maybe we could be forgiven

00:19:06.120 for going along with it for the first two weeks. Remember that two weeks to flatten the curve?

00:19:09.540 But the extended, over and over, overly used orders to stay inside, to remain indoors, to shelter in

00:19:17.460 place, to work from home, etc, etc, should have never been allowed in the first place. Thankfully,

00:19:21.660 we finally did have an uprising against it was called the Trekker Convoy. We all know how that ended

00:19:25.940 with government propaganda units and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, absolutely inexplicably

00:19:31.820 demonizing these people in horrendous ways. Don't get me started on that. But we should have not allowed

00:19:37.380 to do it because now governments have that as part of their arsenal. It's just another tool in the

00:19:42.040 toolkit. We can just order people to shelter in place, order everyone to stay inside, say no forest,

00:19:46.460 you're going to ban you $25,000 for going into the forest. Folks, this is the road to serfdom. We are

00:19:52.620 on the road to serfdom. We are well along this road. And that is why this needs to stop. Do not allow

00:19:57.820 them to normalize this. Fight back with every ounce that you can. Good for that individual for defying the

00:20:03.580 rule. Hopefully that forest ban will get overturned. You won't actually have to pay that fine. But if you

00:20:08.480 don't, if we just go along with it, like the CBC journalists and the Globe and Mail journalists are

00:20:12.640 all telling you that you have to, every year, every year during the summer, rather than clearing out the

00:20:18.140 forest and having responsible forest management, rather than just being concerned with specific

00:20:21.960 areas that could be at risk, the governments will use this every time they can. They will just say,

00:20:27.380 you know what, time to shelter in place. Forest fire season's coming. We don't want anyone to get

00:20:32.320 hurt. Everyone just be good little, good little people and go into your house, go along with what

00:20:37.320 we are saying. And we cannot allow that. That is not something that we should go along with,

00:20:42.420 which again, is why we need to fight back against this. All right, folks, I am very pleased today now

00:20:49.820 to be joined by Jonathan Wellam. He is a president and CEO of Rocklink Investment Partners. Rocklink is an

00:20:56.180 independent investment managing firm focused on creating portfolios of high quality assets.

00:21:00.640 It's based out of Burlington, Ontario. They are a proud sponsor of Juno News. Jonathan has years of

00:21:05.980 investment and financial experience, and he is joining our show today to provide viewers with

00:21:10.800 helpful financial advice and to provide analysis on Canada's current fiscal outlook. For more

00:21:15.760 information about Rocklink and their services, please visit rocklink.com. That's R-O-C-K-L-I-N-C.com.

00:21:24.280 Jonathan, thank you so much for joining the Candice Malcolm Show. How are you?

00:21:27.700 I'm doing very well, enjoying a lovely summer here in Toronto, and the stock market's been

00:21:32.900 pretty good too, so no complaints when you're in the investment industry.

00:21:36.240 Well, there you go. And in Ontario, we're still allowed to go in the forest. We're still

00:21:39.540 allowed outside, unlike our brothers and sisters out east. You had an op-ed here at Juno News

00:21:44.900 called The Moral Decline, The Path to Currency Collapse in Canada. So why don't you walk us through that?

00:21:50.280 Well, one of the things that we've been observing the last couple of years, of course, is the high

00:21:55.180 price of gold, silver, some of the commodities going up. And I was quite intrigued by a lot of

00:21:59.540 articles that I was reading that suggested that when the currency starts to weaken, that that's

00:22:06.700 when it leads to moral problems and moral issues, social issues, and so forth. And I thought, well,

00:22:12.140 this is actually very untrue. I mean, yes, as currency weakens, it's going to lead to further

00:22:16.740 problems. But why do we experience currency declines in the first place? And so you go

00:22:22.380 back and, of course, you look at history. I started in that op-ed, even going back to the

00:22:26.100 Old Testament, back to the prophet Isaiah speaking about the corruption in the societies back then.

00:22:33.220 And one of the indications that you know a society is quite evil and corrupt is it dilutes its

00:22:38.680 currency. It waters it down. And back then, of course, they had silver coins, and so they would

00:22:43.460 water it down with dross or non-silver metals. And so when you look at our own situation in Canada,

00:22:50.800 I think people don't fully realize. We're starting to see some of the impact in our economy and the

00:22:55.480 standards of living, which have collapsed for our young people over the last couple of decades.

00:22:59.340 But they don't realize how much our currency has lost value over the last 50, 54 years. And so if

00:23:05.800 you go back to what I did in the articles, I went back to 1971 when Richard Nixon, the President of the

00:23:11.940 United States took the U.S. off of the final remnants of a gold standard. Gold was $35. Today,

00:23:18.280 it's $33,000, $3,400. So it's up 95 times. And then if you look at the debt, if you look at the

00:23:25.860 debt of the United States, similar to Canada, the debt level has increased by 92 times. And then the

00:23:32.380 money supply is up by about 82 times. And so what you've seen here is you've seen largesse, governments

00:23:37.900 getting larger and larger, promising more and more taxes going up, regulations going up.

00:23:43.120 You've seen deficits increase, accumulated debts go right off the charts. And what, of course,

00:23:49.560 what happens eventually is you crowd out private money, you crowd out productivity, you start to

00:23:54.600 become a redistribution economy, and you don't make things anymore, and you don't produce things

00:23:59.500 anymore, and you don't dig holes and develop your resources like we're seeing in Canada.

00:24:03.240 And what happens? You lose purchasing power and wealth levels start to decline. And so that was

00:24:08.640 really the purpose of the article that, you know, what's led to that, you know, lack of hard work,

00:24:14.040 virtue, standards, breakdown in the homes and the families in our country and so forth. And so

00:24:18.940 you've had a lot of moral and ethical issues, which have gotten us to the place where we're at now.

00:24:26.140 And so our issue is, if we're going to fix these things, we have to acknowledge the foundation

00:24:30.620 has been really broken. And, and when you look at your currency, and you look at the loss of your

00:24:35.900 purchasing power, that's one of the best indications that something has really gone wrong in your

00:24:40.660 country.

00:24:41.620 Well, it really is a stealth tax on middle class and on people who save and it's punishing people

00:24:46.680 who save. Your article does a great job of going through the history of it. And to me, Jonathan,

00:24:51.500 it's so frustrating, because it seems to me that every time governments do this and print massive amounts

00:24:56.340 money, the same thing happens, we deal with sky high inflation, right, you drown out the money

00:25:01.200 supply. And so you know, you walk us through what happened in the Roman Empire, it happened in the

00:25:04.900 French Revolution, it happened in obviously, Zimbabwe and places like Argentina. And yet,

00:25:11.300 post COVID, you know, I could have told you that this was going to happen, they told us it was

00:25:15.340 something new called modern monetary theory, and that all you had to do is just print money. And it was

00:25:21.220 like magic, that that wasn't going to happen. And then we all went through inflation,

00:25:25.060 then they tried to gaslight us and say, Oh, no, the inflation had nothing to do with

00:25:29.480 our spending, it was transitory, or it was just because of supply chains. And it was because of

00:25:34.080 COVID. No, it wasn't. It was because of the printing of money. And I feel like we're having

00:25:37.680 similar, we're similarly being gaslit, because every, every, every problem in Canada, it's easy,

00:25:44.440 there's a scapegoat, they just blame it on President Trump and say, this is all because of the

00:25:47.880 tariffs. There's a report last week that Canada lost over 40,000 jobs, which is the most since the

00:25:53.200 pandemic jobs lost 40,000 positions in July, it's pretty scary. And yet the liberals and the media

00:26:00.620 and the CBC kind of just shrug it off, and pretend that it's about President Trump. But it isn't

00:26:04.980 right, the Canadian economy is in trouble independent of what's happening.

00:26:08.580 Absolutely. These trends have been in place now for 10 years plus. And I would argue even there

00:26:13.760 were some of these trends that started going back a couple of decades, they certainly were

00:26:17.540 exacerbated and made much worse from the days when Justin Trudeau took over, and the liberal

00:26:23.320 policies, which are basically socialist left-wing policies. And so if you crowd out the private

00:26:28.180 sector, and you don't make things and produce and you grow your economy, then of course prices are

00:26:33.960 going to go up if you flood more currency into the system. It's impossible not to. And when you look

00:26:38.360 at President Malay down in Argentina, what he's doing is trying to reverse everything that we're

00:26:43.700 actually doing. What is Trump doing in the United States right now? He's unleashing capital. He's

00:26:48.560 lowering the cost of capital. Money's coming into the country. You get productive businesses to expand.

00:26:54.720 And that's the way you're going to deal with inflation. We're doing the exact opposite. So it

00:26:59.160 shouldn't surprise us. Our standard of living in Canada cannot increase. It has to go down if we

00:27:04.420 continue on the policies in which we are the road that we've been on now for the last 10 years plus.

00:27:09.760 And Prime Minister Carney is not making any changes. His ideology is the same as we've seen the last

00:27:15.920 10 years. And you can see him basically slow-walking everything. And what we need to do is unleash

00:27:21.980 capital, get capital back in this country, start to develop the oil sands, further pipelines,

00:27:28.240 develop our uranium more, all of our resources, the developments of our energy, lower our cost of

00:27:35.220 energy, get off these crazy EV mandates, let the market determine where our energy should be 0.94

00:27:40.060 developed. That's what will lower inflation and drive up our wealth. And we're starting to see

00:27:45.600 what's happening in the US. And it's going to be a major contrast between Canada and the United States

00:27:49.960 because of policies, not because of tariffs. I mean, tariffs, you know, can make things a little

00:27:54.960 bit more, put a little more pressure on us. But that is not the underlying reason at all.

00:27:59.120 Well, so it feels like a bit of a contradiction then that the stock market is doing so well. You

00:28:03.660 mentioned the top stock market is doing quite well. I noticed last week that the TSX, the Toronto

00:28:08.620 Stock Exchange hit an all time high. I think that was in large part because of Shopify. Shopify has

00:28:13.260 become the number one stock, the highest valued company in Canada. Full disclosure to the audience,

00:28:18.480 my husband is an executive at that company. And so I'm obviously cheering on Shopify. I think it's a

00:28:22.900 great success story for Canadians. It's a company that enables small businesses to move their

00:28:27.140 business online and helps people connect with customers. It's a great Canadian success story.

00:28:32.160 So walk us through a little bit about the stock market, why it's doing so well, and how it can

00:28:37.860 do so well, even when we are governed in a way that's been sort of driving middle class prosperity

00:28:42.960 down, making the cost of living so expensive, and just making it really unaffordable for young

00:28:48.040 Canadians. Yeah, one must remember that the TSX or the Toronto Stock Market, which you're referring to,

00:28:53.900 still have very large corporations. And many of these companies have expansive operations south

00:28:58.760 of the border and around the world. And so they are actually profiting from some of the developments

00:29:03.560 in the United States and some of the opportunities down there. We also have a large materials or

00:29:07.760 commodity sector. And that also has been going up quite a bit because people are concerned about

00:29:13.480 the drop of their currency values. Going back to the currency issue again, if fiat currency is going

00:29:18.580 down in value, then commodities typically will go up to protect you in value. So gold has been going

00:29:24.240 up, some of the precious metals. Canada's got some great companies in that space. And so those

00:29:28.940 companies have been doing well. But I think if you look at even some of our big infrastructure

00:29:32.440 companies, the Brookfield companies, which have been really topical, of course, because

00:29:36.940 Mark Carney, they're doing very well. But I mean, they're expanding all around the world, but they trade in 1.00

00:29:41.780 the Toronto stock market. So I think it's the smaller businesses, the really Canadian-centric

00:29:46.440 companies that are under more pressure, they're under the radar screen and not necessarily reflected

00:29:51.580 within the TSX itself. But boy, if we had proper governance and policy out of Ottawa and across most

00:29:59.040 of our provincial governments, because we have very poor leadership at the provincial level, too, in many

00:30:04.040 of our provinces. Speaking from Ontario, I'm horrified with Doug Ford's policies as a business person.

00:30:11.280 And if we had better policies, we would unleash amazing growth in this country, the wealth in this

00:30:16.000 country is almost unprecedented around the world. But you have to develop it, and you have to want

00:30:21.420 to develop it, and you have to bring the capital in, and you have to lower the cost. So we would

00:30:26.080 have a much higher TSX if we had proper policies.

00:30:28.800 MS. Well, I think that Argentina's President, Mele, is providing a great example of what

00:30:34.860 policy changes and free markets can do. This is Jonathan Wellam, who is the President and CEO of

00:30:40.680 Rocklink. Rocklink is a proud sponsor of Juneau News. So Jonathan, tell us a little bit about your

00:30:44.600 business and how people can work with you.

00:30:47.480 MR. Yeah, we're a wealth management company. We work with families directly. We're registered

00:30:51.800 right across the country. We are disciplined long-term investors. So we try to think outside

00:30:56.600 the box. We just don't follow the indexes. We buy a handful of great companies that are well-researched

00:31:01.480 by a very strong group of research professionals here at Rocklink. And we buy and we try to invest for

00:31:07.160 the long-term. So we try to think three to five years out. So we're not driven by ESG, DEI,

00:31:12.760 all of the little acronyms out there. We go back to basics. We look for great companies run by the

00:31:18.440 very best people, and we can buy them at good valuation. So absolutely, give us a call. We'd

00:31:23.640 love to talk to you and give you a free analysis and assessment of your financial position.

00:31:28.360 MS. All right, folks,

00:31:29.320 you can find out more at rocklink.com. That's R-O-C-K-L-I-N-C.com. Jonathan,

00:31:34.280 thank you so much for joining the show, and thank you for sponsoring Juneau News and this episode.

00:31:37.480 MR. Thank you very much, Candice. Love the program and the work that you're doing.

00:31:40.760 MS. All right, folks, that's all the time we have for today. Thank you so much for tuning

00:31:43.640 in. We'll be back again tomorrow with all the news. I'm Candice Malcolm. This is Candice Malcolm Show.

00:31:46.520 Thank you, and God bless.

00:31:47.480 Thank you.

00:31:53.640 Thank you, and God bless you.

The Candice Malcolm Show - August 12, 2025

A victory for freedom!

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