The Critical Compass Podcast - April 21, 2026


BertaProudDad ｜ The Mechanic Who Lost a $160K Job Fighting for Alberta Freedom


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

154.47581

Word count

2,447

Sentence count

162

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 All right. How's everybody doing?
00:00:04.340 I was told 20 minutes for a guy who makes videos that are 90 seconds long.
00:00:11.520 That is hard. That is very hard.
00:00:15.660 But look at this lineup, right?
00:00:18.720 You got journalists, you got professors, you got politicians,
00:00:23.380 and then you got a heavy-duty mechanic.
00:00:26.460 And that's me.
00:00:27.520 and we're talking about bearing witness and do i gotta stand somewhere like i i'm a talker and i
00:00:35.380 i move around so talk about bearing witness it's going to be a little bit of a depressing story
00:00:41.900 but i promise near the end um it'll get a little bit better but if the hope is that we all start
00:00:49.560 talking and we all start being vocal we have to know what that takes because I
00:00:57.660 just fell into this by accident and I had no clue so I actually used to make
00:01:03.420 videos when I was seven years old my parents got a VHS camcorder you guys
00:01:08.880 know what those are you plug the tape in and I remember when President Bill
00:01:14.580 Clinton did the little thing with Monica Lewinsky. I did a news story on it. And yeah, this little
00:01:25.880 kid sitting at a table and you know, I should dig that up actually. And I should, I should put that
00:01:33.280 out there. And I pull the tape out, put it in. And you know, after dinner every night, my parents
00:01:38.960 would watch my news stories.
00:01:41.820 That's what they did.
00:01:44.700 Yeah.
00:01:47.000 So fast forward to today.
00:01:50.480 I would have never thought
00:01:52.120 that making videos on the internet
00:01:54.980 would put me on a stage
00:01:57.260 with some pretty impressive people.
00:02:01.680 But influence,
00:02:03.300 and being an influencer,
00:02:04.140 that's a hard one.
00:02:04.680 It was said to me today,
00:02:05.380 I don't like calling myself an influencer.
00:02:07.960 But you are.
00:02:08.960 And it comes with huge responsibility. Huge responsibility. You know, we mentioned the 30-year-olds. I can tell you my demographics. I look at them all the time. I have men and women between 18 and 80. That's everybody. That's huge responsibility.
00:02:28.020 And yes, if you've watched my videos, I rant. I go off. I might look angry. Because I am. I am upset.
00:02:43.080 And I'm not trying to get people angry to do something stupid. That's not what I'm trying to do. 0.92
00:02:48.900 I'm trying to get people engaged. As a society, we become so indoctrinated and so brainwashed by these institutions
00:02:56.600 that so many people out there think,
00:03:00.280 well, we can't do anything.
00:03:01.820 There's nothing we can do, right?
00:03:05.620 I lived an act of addiction for 20 years of my life.
00:03:09.740 Eight of those years was cocaine.
00:03:12.900 It just so happens that after Justin Trudeau got elected,
00:03:16.820 my life absolutely nosedived,
00:03:19.580 and I felt like I couldn't do anything else.
00:03:22.680 And that's hard for me to talk about. 0.90
00:03:25.620 My wife is sitting back there.
00:03:28.060 And without her, I wouldn't even be alive today.
00:03:35.820 That woman has been through so much with me.
00:03:40.960 She's watched me hit rock bottom.
00:03:44.220 And when nobody else was there to help me back up and she could have left, she stayed.
00:03:50.820 And I think about that every day.
00:03:53.320 We're going to be grandparents.
00:03:54.680 my daughter's expecting in July my grandson is never gonna see his
00:04:02.220 grandfather drunk stoned he's only gonna see his grandfather fighting for his
00:04:07.340 future but making these videos online doesn't come without sacrifice I
00:04:16.920 mentioned that I'm a mechanic I'm a mechanic that nobody will hire because
00:04:23.680 i'm vocal because i got fired for doing this we talk about leftist ideology we talk about
00:04:30.160 on the right when i look at somebody i disagree with the last thing i want for them is not to be
00:04:36.800 able to feed their family i screenshot every threat every every time somebody wants to cancel
00:04:44.520 me i screenshot it because you never know if you're going to need it in a in a case right
00:04:51.060 A defamation case.
00:04:52.280 We're working on one right now with a guy in Nova Scotia
00:04:54.500 who tried looking up things on my wife, on myself, on my kids.
00:05:00.660 Like, this stuff is real.
00:05:01.980 I don't just make a video, you know, complaining that I get hate.
00:05:07.720 This actually affected my $160,000 a year job,
00:05:11.920 which I was happy to do.
00:05:13.940 I loved my job.
00:05:16.600 So I'm not trying to scare you.
00:05:18.620 I'm not trying to say don't do this
00:05:21.760 but I don't want you to do this
00:05:24.820 and think that there are no consequences
00:05:26.860 but when I look at my kids
00:05:28.900 and I look at my daughter
00:05:30.680 man, she's like, it's crazy
00:05:32.720 like it's, it is weird
00:05:34.920 it's when you're looking at your daughter
00:05:36.820 and you're like, whoa, what the, what's going on here
00:05:39.180 like it's not supposed to be right
00:05:40.860 but you know she's married and she loves her husband
00:05:42.660 and is right, yeah, anyway, that's a whole other thing
00:05:44.960 did I mention I have ADHD?
00:05:48.620 but I'm doing it for all future generations
00:05:55.120 and the weird part about it
00:05:56.940 is the people that cancelled me
00:05:58.860 who say all the hateful, nasty things
00:06:02.980 they're the same people I'm fighting for too
00:06:06.500 and I want to talk about independence
00:06:11.260 I know this isn't an independence thing
00:06:12.620 but we're going to talk about it
00:06:14.180 I pushed Pierre Polyave
00:06:18.220 so hard in the last election where's the head of the united party is he here still
00:06:23.200 anyway you're not here but i apologize man i bashed him like i did i did because i hate vote
00:06:32.680 splitting okay so i was going to come up here and be mr big man and apologize so hopefully he sees
00:06:38.040 this but i respect him for running for sure but then i look at the federal party and the federal
00:06:45.840 conservatives, and then I look at what's happening in Alberta, you can't fix Canada.
00:06:53.520 You can't. Man, that pains me still to say that. Like, it truly does. Because I have
00:07:02.660 not only family throughout this country, like many of you do, I have followers throughout this
00:07:07.680 country. And if you look at the current system and how it's designed, you know, Chris touched
00:07:13.760 on it. Well, Chris stole my speech. Thanks, Chris. The thing is, we're ruled by a crown,
00:07:22.700 and people don't understand this. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms might as well be called
00:07:25.720 a charter of privileges. They're privileges granted to you by the crown of England that
00:07:29.820 can be taken away from you at any single time. You noticed it during COVID. So what happens
00:07:37.260 in the next big event? Why is Mark Carney right now gone to the Supreme Court with the
00:07:43.400 ruling he lost in an appeal. Why is he doing that? He's going to use it again. That's why.
00:07:49.660 And he can't get egg on his face. He's going to use the Emergencies Act the next chance he can.
00:07:55.220 Because he set precedent. Because COVID was literally an experiment. That's what it was.
00:08:00.620 How many of you will comply? How many of you will listen? And then, okay, look how many are
00:08:05.740 indoctrinated and misinformed, right? Brainwashed. I don't want it. That's not Canada. That's not
00:08:12.620 the Canada I grew up in. That's not the Canada I want my grandkid growing up in. So I will have
00:08:17.240 my grandchild live in the Republic of Alberta and have a future. And it's hard. It's hard for people
00:08:27.540 in the East to understand why we're fighting for that. And I get that. I was invited as an
00:08:32.300 influencer to the Conservative National Convention that was in Calgary. I'll probably never get
00:08:36.160 invited again. That's okay. I didn't get kicked out, so I'll give them props on that. But I spent
00:08:44.520 the entire time talking to members of parliament and people from all over this country about
00:08:51.280 Alberta independence. They don't have a clue. They know what the Toronto news says to them.
00:08:58.680 They know what they say to them in Halifax, but they don't have a clue. And it's not their fault.
00:09:05.320 It's not.
00:09:06.640 You know, Melissa Nell Hansman, she came up to me, she gave me a fist pump.
00:09:10.540 Right?
00:09:10.840 The next day, somebody must have said something to her, bad photo op or something.
00:09:13.820 She just walked right by me.
00:09:16.860 It's like, hi, Melissa.
00:09:18.420 Nope, not having any of that.
00:09:19.960 No bird of proud dad, that's for sure.
00:09:23.280 But I really had to draw a line in the sand.
00:09:25.620 And it doesn't mean that I'm letting my conservative brothers and sisters in the country down.
00:09:30.280 Because I'll fight shoulder to shoulder with them.
00:09:32.060 I still make videos about Mark Carney and the overreach.
00:09:34.480 I'll still continue to do that.
00:09:36.480 I'm now trying to tell every single conservative who has a job and actually can pay taxes to 1.00
00:09:40.580 move to Alberta because, you know, we got immigrants over here that weren't economic 0.98
00:09:46.420 migrants.
00:09:47.420 They came and they started using our social programs and that's what you're seeing in
00:09:49.860 our schools right now.
00:09:52.620 You know, and the left is attacking Danielle Smith on that.
00:09:56.360 Did you know there's 112 languages in our school system today?
00:10:00.720 112. 1.00
00:10:02.960 No wonder why it's a disaster.
00:10:06.140 Teachers can't manage that.
00:10:07.460 How much money will it take to fix that?
00:10:10.140 That's the thing that people don't understand, so that's why my channel exists.
00:10:13.560 That's why a mechanic who's a drug addict who got sober, five and a half years sober
00:10:17.680 by the way, that's why I decided it's important.
00:10:25.400 But when I came up here and I talk about responsibility, I can come up here and say, hey, you know
00:10:29.200 what guys pick up a microphone pick up a camera anybody can do what i can do and then i can walk
00:10:34.480 away and not tell you the bad part about it and that's not fair so i'm blessed enough and this
00:10:42.720 is what i love about this movement this is what i love about conservatism is when i go out there
00:10:47.120 and i tell my story and i say i lost my job for this and then you look at a video and you're like
00:10:53.360 why does this guy put his shirts in the end of every single video it's because
00:10:59.060 this is my job now this is all I can do trucking companies won't even hire me
00:11:04.880 oil companies won't even hire me these are the same people that share the same
00:11:09.260 values and beliefs in fact I had a job right after I got fired from an oil
00:11:15.260 company up in Fort McMurray the vice president follows me actually fairly big
00:11:19.160 oil company. I was sitting in a first aid course in Calgary. Phone rings. Hey Lawrence. Hey, how's
00:11:26.560 it going? Can't hire you. Love what you're doing. Love your voice. Keep it up, but stay
00:11:34.340 starving. That's the message I got out of that. So this isn't a pity party. This isn't
00:11:41.060 a poor me party, but I'm just trying to tell everybody we're not backed by anybody. I don't
00:11:47.620 get government funding. I go around with people like Chris who stole my speech back there.
00:11:54.940 That's $40, by the way. And we do this. Grifters got a grift.
00:12:05.140 And we do this because we actually care. We do care. And when I look at a demographic,
00:12:11.340 like I said, 18 to 80, both men and women, that means I'm hitting the young generation,
00:12:15.100 the older generation the people that are ready to retire and and leslie tells the story the best but 0.77
00:12:19.900 i'm just going to say it i almost got ran over by a lady in costco in her electric scooter right she
00:12:25.980 was about 80 years old because she was rushing up to shake my hand and thank me for everything i'm
00:12:30.380 doing and i love that i absolutely love that but conferences like this one bearing witness is
00:12:41.100 is what are the costs of telling the truth
00:12:43.980 when you're up against a billion-dollar machine?
00:12:46.900 Billions of dollars, not just a billion dollars.
00:12:50.360 You're going to lose your livelihood,
00:12:52.240 and they're going to attack you.
00:12:53.960 A podcast I just came out with,
00:12:55.380 I'm going to plug myself here,
00:12:56.360 is called Over the Target with Berta Proud Dad,
00:12:58.360 because when you're over the target,
00:12:59.980 they're going to do everything to destroy you.
00:13:02.180 Everything, and you guys all see it.
00:13:04.680 We bear witness to that.
00:13:07.500 Sometimes the truth hurts.
00:13:08.600 I'm a realist.
00:13:09.460 being a realist is not always easy
00:13:12.940 because I don't like vote splitting
00:13:16.360 I decided to support Pierre in the last election
00:13:19.260 right
00:13:21.020 I'm a supporter of the UCP government
00:13:23.600 you guys know that
00:13:24.800 I stand with Danielle Smith
00:13:26.420 I don't agree with her on everything
00:13:28.520 there's a couple things
00:13:30.140 initiatives I'm trying to change right now
00:13:32.100 one of them being Care First Insurance in Alberta
00:13:34.540 which is going to strip every single person in this room
00:13:36.820 of their rights to sue if they're in an accident
00:13:38.700 and we've got to stand against that.
00:13:41.220 I'm trying to get that changed right now.
00:13:43.800 Another thing is separation. 0.93
00:13:45.320 She believes in a sovereign Alberta
00:13:46.520 within the United Canada.
00:13:49.320 Right?
00:13:50.560 When you believe in faith, family, and freedom,
00:13:52.700 she has the freedom to believe that.
00:13:54.160 She has the freedom to go out there and say that.
00:13:56.400 But I have the freedom to go up against it.
00:13:59.260 And I know there might be people in here
00:14:00.920 that don't want that either.
00:14:03.280 But just months ago,
00:14:05.120 I was in the exact same boat.
00:14:06.640 So just know you've got to educate yourself before you make an informed decision on independence.
00:14:15.580 And that's all I'm asking people to do.
00:14:18.220 This is just wild for me.
00:14:19.780 And I just want to say thank you to everybody who does support me and who does follow me
00:14:23.100 and who does listen to every single person on there.
00:14:26.720 Because this is absolutely amazing that a mechanic from Hinton, Alberta, that's where I was raised,
00:14:32.280 is now standing on a stage.
00:14:34.720 Thank you.
00:14:36.640 My parents would probably be like, what are you doing?
00:14:41.800 My parents are liberals.
00:14:42.780 Did you guys know that?
00:14:44.340 No?
00:14:45.140 Okay.
00:14:46.220 I tried asking them to come.
00:14:47.420 They weren't interested.
00:14:48.940 But maybe next time.
00:14:52.060 But in all reality, I just want to thank Jason, his wife, for putting this all together.
00:14:55.520 Because this is extremely important.
00:14:57.060 I want to thank you guys for your patience.
00:14:58.320 I'm not a public speaker.
00:14:59.340 everything i do is from the heart everything i do is off the cuff and uh and it really comes
00:15:11.620 from passion because i do love this province and and i i do have to it's my duty to stand up
00:15:17.860 for the future of this province so thank you
00:15:20.460 Thank you.