Western Standard - Farouk Elsaghir of Paul's Pizza on cancel culture and standing up to it

00:00:00.000 that you're a business owner.

00:00:01.380 You own Paul's Pizza.

00:00:02.340 They've got three branches in Alberta,

00:00:04.220 two in Calgary, one in Airdrie.

00:00:06.280 And you've basically been standing up to the cancel mob.

00:00:10.300 You're outspoken, particularly on your Facebook page

00:00:13.640 and have a lot of interactions and discussions.

00:00:16.140 And you won't back down to the cancelers.

00:00:18.660 Is that kind of in a nutshell where things are with you?

00:00:21.380 Yeah, that's pretty spot on, Corey.

00:00:24.580 I'd say I've been dealing with the cancel culture 0.74

00:00:26.720 for several years now.

00:00:30.000 It started back when COVID first came about.

00:00:34.260 Basically, I didn't agree with any of the policies

00:00:36.920 the government was enforcing.

00:00:38.860 I spoke out against it.

00:00:40.940 And from there, it just skyrocketed.

00:00:43.840 I get messages every day.

00:00:45.320 I get threats that people wanted to beat me up.

00:00:47.800 I get one-star reviews saying I don't wear a mask,

00:00:50.740 cancel this business, and yada, yada.

00:00:54.700 Yeah, and your situation, your story resonated with me.

00:00:58.200 As a lot of our regulars know, I owned Water's Edge Pub in Prittis.

00:01:02.260 We made a lot of pizza.

00:01:03.360 I worked in Chicago Deep Dish for a long time when I was younger.

00:01:05.920 I'm a fussy pizza guy.

00:01:07.260 I love my pizzas.

00:01:08.280 We used to sell a lot.

00:01:09.960 And, well, to start with, I went out because I'm going to say,

00:01:12.040 well, I'm going to try these guys.

00:01:13.060 I admittedly hadn't Paul's Pizza yet, and I had it.

00:01:15.640 And I'm happy to report because I just would have had to say nothing if it was crappy.

00:01:18.180 It's very good pizza, guys.

00:01:19.840 That's part of what's keeping you going.

00:01:21.180 I mean, it doesn't matter how outspoken you are. 0.54

00:01:22.680 If your product sucks, you're not going to last in business long anyways.

00:01:25.880 But when I ran my pub, I wouldn't use our public page, I guess, 0.98

00:01:30.220 for my political interactions, though we would still get backlash.

00:01:34.260 When I would use Twitter, things like that, they realized I would own it.

00:01:37.240 Usually when I'd tick off unions and suddenly, yeah, Google,

00:01:39.480 I'd get like 51 stars in an afternoon

00:01:41.380 and accused of all sorts of things and boycotts and such like that.

00:01:46.260 But you're going right out on your Facebook page,

00:01:49.300 but it seems to be kind of actually drawing more people towards it.

00:01:51.980 You've got kind of a very loyal following on there.

00:01:55.060 Yeah, man.

00:01:56.860 The more I post, the bigger the brand grows, I've realized.

00:02:01.980 I like the haters because they're talking about me.

00:02:05.240 Like I say, any publicity is good publicity.

00:02:07.480 As long as they're talking about you, you're doing something right.

00:02:09.420 I always refer, I don't want to refer to myself as him,

00:02:13.980 but I look at Tom Brady, for example.

00:02:16.180 He's the greatest quarterback of all time,

00:02:18.640 but he has the most haters because he's amazing, right?

00:02:22.860 So it just comes with the territory is what I've learned.

00:02:26.240 Yeah, I'm wondering, are you familiar with White Moose Cafe in Dublin?

00:02:30.640 I would have no, no idea.

00:02:32.580 I'm just throwing that out in the blue.

00:02:33.680 The guy who owns it is a guy named Paul Stinson.

00:02:35.480 I'd recommend you and anybody else look it up.

00:02:37.080 Very similar in a sense.

00:02:38.140 He owns a cafe in Dublin, and he has just horrified the woke. 0.75

00:02:42.040 I mean, he put up great policies.

00:02:43.340 He even put one up saying he was going to charge corkage for breastfeeding mothers.

00:02:47.340 He says, you know, if they're bringing their own drinks, I should get a few bucks.

00:02:50.460 And of course, he had the breastfeeding mothers protesting outside his place.

00:02:54.040 It's brilliant and very similar.

00:02:55.820 And what I was saying before to you and others, it's important to see examples like yourself,

00:03:01.800 where rather than curling up and caving to the mob, you just stood up and pushed back.

00:03:07.440 Like we, that's the way to beat them.

00:03:09.180 We can't, there's so many businesses, as soon as you get that sort of controversy,

00:03:12.020 they run away in fear.

00:03:13.560 And you're showing, no, you don't have to be fearful.

00:03:15.720 Your business can still be successful. 0.99

00:03:17.640 Don't take any crap from them. 0.99

00:03:18.820 Spot on. 1.00

00:03:21.640 In my opinion, they're bullies. 0.99

00:03:24.080 The woke mob, they're a bunch of bullies that hide behind a keyboard. 0.97

00:03:27.680 If you're quiet, if you're silent, they're going to keep at it. 1.00

00:03:30.740 So like you said, the only thing to fight back is to punch them back in the mouth.

00:03:35.360 And what I'm trying to do, not, my Facebook isn't just for business to grow the brand, 0.94

00:03:40.580 but I'm trying to teach the world a lesson, right?

00:03:42.700 I'm trying to teach these other businesses, like you just said, not to stay silent,

00:03:47.720 to say something back.

00:03:48.820 If they give you, you know, a one-star review, say something shitty about your business,

00:03:52.720 who cares, right?

00:03:53.660 Move on, get over it.

00:03:55.980 But the more of us that stand together, the better we can fight these guys back.

00:04:03.700 Yeah, that's basically it.

00:04:05.940 Yeah, well, I mean, and they can, you know, the mob is insatiable.

00:04:10.560 I hate it when I see when they get on somebody's case.

00:04:13.060 I understand the fear.

00:04:14.120 Look, especially in the hospitality industry, it's narrow margin, it's tight.

00:04:17.540 You know, you can't take much abuse or you could end up going, you know, into the red

00:04:22.260 very fast.

00:04:23.520 But when I see a business cave, the mob will never back down just because you apologize.

00:04:28.040 They won't back down if you stop speaking.

00:04:29.860 They are like sharks with blood in the water.

00:04:32.020 They'll keep coming until you're crushed.

00:04:33.580 So you might as well fight back.

00:04:36.680 I 100% agree.

00:04:39.640 Luckily for us, we're established.

00:04:42.440 We're constantly growing.

00:04:44.080 The two Calgary locations you spoke of, one we opened about three years ago, one we opened

00:04:48.420 about two years ago.

00:04:49.200 We're actually working on a third Calgary location, hopefully open in the next year. 0.99

00:04:53.260 And these guys, they can say as much shit as they want. 0.99

00:04:56.520 They're never going to cancel polls. 0.99

00:04:57.960 We're uncancelable.

00:04:58.860 We have such great support from our customers, from people all over the world.

00:05:03.940 I get messages from guys in America, Mexico, Philippines, you name it.

00:05:10.120 These guys got my back 100% of the time.

00:05:12.800 And the thing I found is for every customer I lose, I gain 10 more, 10 better ones.

00:05:20.220 And another thing I want to point out is you don't want these customers in your business

00:05:25.440 to the other businesses, you don't want these left-wing nutheads coming into your business, 1.00

00:05:30.940 putting your customers in bad moods, demanding free things, because at the end of the day,

00:05:35.300 all you're getting is a headache, and you're not making a profit.

00:05:37.680 We're in business to make a profit.

00:05:39.780 Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that.

00:05:41.520 That kind of brings into one of the commenters pointing out from Why Not Be.

00:05:45.860 It said, Farouk, is he being bullied by the ESG aggressors?

00:05:48.520 I don't know if it's as organized as that, but it's that mindset.

00:05:51.060 It's that mindset of some people that businesses aren't there to make a profit.

00:05:54.240 They're there to do a social service. 0.97

00:05:55.840 They're there to promote social justice or some such garbage as that. 0.99

00:06:00.580 No, your business is there to provide good service, good food, and for you and your family 0.82

00:06:05.400 to make money out of it, nothing less.

00:06:08.480 Exactly.

00:06:09.020 Spot on.

00:06:09.460 We're a business.

00:06:10.020 We're there to make a profit.

00:06:11.060 If you don't like it, go somewhere else.

00:06:12.660 There's the door.

00:06:13.260 There's a pizza hut across the street.

00:06:15.120 There's 30 other pizza restaurants just in Erdry alone.

00:06:19.200 Go somewhere else.

00:06:19.900 We don't care.

00:06:20.400 We don't want you.

00:06:20.980 We don't need your money.

00:06:22.160 That's my mindset.

00:06:22.900 That's the mindset every business should have, in my opinion.

00:06:25.900 Yeah, and there's other aspects as to why your business is standing.

00:06:28.920 I mean, it comes to kind of what I said before, too.

00:06:31.100 Hey, if your product sucked, it wouldn't matter what you do online or whatever else.

00:06:34.320 Eventually, you're going to go down because people just don't want to eat bad food. 0.94

00:06:37.480 But as well, as Don Sharp pointed out, and I spent a lot of time going through your Facebook

00:06:41.160 page because it's just very entertaining.

00:06:42.960 And it's also great to watch, though.

00:06:45.120 And he said, I really like the way Rick celebrates his staff, and that's leadership.

00:06:48.440 And that's true.

00:06:49.140 I mean, I see you very interactive with your staff.

00:06:52.260 It's clear you value them.

00:06:53.480 You're giving awards.

00:06:54.520 You're bringing them in on the communications and on the business and trying to have some

00:06:58.000 fun with them.

00:06:58.860 And that's really important as well.

00:07:01.900 Yeah, I agree.

00:07:03.500 Once again, I believe that in any business, the staff is the foundation.

00:07:08.020 Without great staff, your business is going to fail.

00:07:10.140 Well, I believe I'm very spiritual, so I believe in positive energy.

00:07:14.720 And the more positive they are, the more uplifted they are, the more family-oriented you make

00:07:19.300 the environment, the more effort they're going to put into the business.

00:07:22.360 And the more they're going to work together, the happier they're going to be, the happier

00:07:25.580 they work.

00:07:26.960 Well, yeah, I mean, it works for everybody.

00:07:28.960 One of the things I found fascinating with my pub was we would break it down.

00:07:32.680 You know, you could see it so much because it's becoming so cashless.

00:07:35.180 And when you see the tipper cash outs and the tip outs and that, there were particular servers

00:07:40.240 who would be considerably higher than the other servers because they're giving a much better

00:07:44.160 experience to the customers and it's coming back to them.

00:07:46.500 And of course, that comes back to me.

00:07:47.560 They're happy customers.

00:07:48.400 They're going to keep coming in.

00:07:50.720 Any, you know, you get that again from the walk.

00:07:52.880 Oh, they abuse their staff. 0.99

00:07:54.000 They don't pay them enough for all that garbage. 1.00

00:07:55.760 Look, you know that you're relying on those employees. 0.92

00:07:59.260 You have to treat them well, or it's again, it's as bad as having bad food.

00:08:02.460 You're just not going to be in business for long if you abuse them.

00:08:06.940 No, spot on again.

00:08:08.680 You abuse your staff.

00:08:10.260 They're not going to work well.

00:08:11.400 They're going to quit.

00:08:12.000 It's going to be harder to find staff.

00:08:14.120 Our turnover rate is very low because we treat our staff like family.

00:08:18.640 Anytime someone needs that in advance, anytime someone needs clothing, you know, whatever it

00:08:22.980 is, we're always there to help.

00:08:24.100 I don't charge a penny of interest.

00:08:25.960 As long as they pay it back when they have it, I'm happy.

00:08:29.140 They're happy.

00:08:30.060 At the end of the day, we're not just, you know, we're a business, but we also, this is

00:08:36.940 what the woke mob doesn't understand is if you're trying to cancel a business, we have

00:08:41.100 at our location alone, 40 to 50 employees.

00:08:43.160 And then another 40 to 50 at the other two.

00:08:46.560 So we have almost 150 employees.

00:08:48.360 You shut us down.

00:08:49.580 You're ruining 150 lives.

00:08:51.540 These guys got kids to feed, bills to pay.

00:08:54.400 That's what the woke mob doesn't realize is hurting us.

00:08:58.440 You're hurting, you know, hundreds, hundreds of people.

00:09:03.080 You're hurting, you're hurting children.

00:09:05.600 Yeah.

00:09:05.740 They don't seem to care.

00:09:06.860 I mean, if you want to see a sociopathic group, you know, a mob together when they start

00:09:10.840 frothing with the pitchforks and getting out there and they don't care who they hurt. 0.70

00:09:14.500 Has there been any incidents?

00:09:15.840 I mean, I see you attract the attention of lunatics and I, again, on Twitter, I'm well

00:09:19.060 aware of, I get all sorts of my inbox is something special sometimes, but has anybody been harassing

00:09:25.040 your staff directly or any of that so far?

00:09:28.420 I don't get any staff that get harassed.

00:09:31.480 Usually they, my staff likes to stay out of those kinds of things.

00:09:35.460 Once in a while, someone will say something on one of the community pages, talking crap about

00:09:40.400 this, and I have a server or two who might say a couple of things back.

00:09:44.260 But that's as far as it's gone.

00:09:45.680 I let all these guys know if they have a problem.

00:09:47.660 I mean, the door is always open.

00:09:49.140 Come inside.

00:09:49.760 We can have a talk.

00:09:50.540 Just buy a drink.

00:09:51.920 Buy something and I'll let you in.

00:09:53.540 I'm not going to talk to you for free.

00:09:55.460 No.

00:09:56.100 You're there to make money.

00:09:57.560 And I'll just, you know, that's good.

00:09:59.780 It was good to hear that it wasn't happening because I just wouldn't want to hear that happening.

00:10:03.000 Hey, I mean, if they're going to come after you, you're diving into the mix.

00:10:05.200 Let's go.

00:10:05.680 But leave the staff alone.

00:10:06.760 They're there to make money and give good service.

00:10:08.540 Kim Holmes just logged on.

00:10:11.180 Just to reiterate, I was wondering what the supposed issue was.

00:10:13.860 Kim, it was a matter of Farouk was vocal against the lockdowns, I believe, and some

00:10:19.480 other things that really sort of initiated that.

00:10:21.300 And it just brings the attention of the mob to a business.

00:10:23.720 I'll get to some of the other businesses that did do that and suffered in a minute.

00:10:28.100 I just would also like to point out, like some of the stuff you do on your page is fun,

00:10:32.380 even if it's, you know, it depends on your type of humor.

00:10:34.960 And it reminds me, like I said, of that Paul Stinson with the White Moose Cafe.

00:10:37.920 Something that I did get a lot of people wound up with.

00:10:40.360 I had a problem.

00:10:41.000 I was in a rural area with my pub and I get people coming in using my bathroom all the

00:10:44.640 time like it was a public service.

00:10:46.060 You know, they would come in, use the bathroom, leave.

00:10:47.560 I had to pay seven cents a liter for water.

00:10:49.140 We're on water wells.

00:10:50.000 Like I'm paying 40 cents a flush when you pitch a loaf in my bathroom.

00:10:53.520 Buy a drink, buy a muffin, do something.

00:10:56.020 Don't just use it.

00:10:56.660 So I started posting pictures from my security camera of the people sneaking in and out and

00:11:00.200 using my bathroom.

00:11:01.500 And boy, man, people got upset.

00:11:03.560 But you know, the sense of entitlement on some people.

00:11:05.900 Again, I'm not a charity.

00:11:07.180 I'm running a business.

00:11:08.480 I mean, I offer a bathroom.

00:11:10.040 People who know my pub, it wasn't the greatest bathroom anyways, but it was functional.

00:11:13.500 But no, I'm not giving it to you for free.

00:11:15.380 And I'm not going to apologize for saying I expect something for it.

00:11:17.940 But posting those things, you can have some fun, even if, even if the people get worked

00:11:23.240 up is what I'm getting at anyways.

00:11:24.460 Because I noticed you've had quite some interactions with some folks on that page.

00:11:28.140 You push back.

00:11:29.960 Oh, yeah.

00:11:32.060 So, I mean, a couple of the other businesses that didn't do as well.

00:11:35.020 I mean, part of it too, as you said, you had an established one already, which helped.

00:11:38.120 You have good product, but also you have multiple locations and you're not in the heart of

00:11:42.120 hipsterville.

00:11:42.720 Like when I saw without papers in Inglewood in Calgary, they were standing up against the

00:11:47.160 lockdowns.

00:11:47.740 They were pushing back.

00:11:48.700 They were really, in the end, they did get shut down though.

00:11:51.440 Personally, I think part of that was they were just, you couldn't withstand it in that

00:11:54.640 location.

00:11:55.140 You were in the heart of Wokedom and it just got to them. 0.96

00:11:59.320 It was sad to see.

00:12:02.380 But I was just wondering, did you interact with those guys at all?

00:12:05.820 I didn't interact with them personally.

00:12:08.240 I kept up to date.

00:12:09.600 I'd watch, I'm not a news guy.

00:12:11.380 I don't like to watch the news, but with all the COVID stuff going on, relating to businesses

00:12:15.480 especially, I kept up to date.

00:12:18.200 I seen without papers, Chris at the whistle stop.

00:12:21.980 Sometimes we have contact with him as well.

00:12:24.040 He's come down to the restaurant a few times.

00:12:26.340 And the thing is, with this whole COVID nonsense is what people don't understand is we have

00:12:32.180 to play by the government's rules.

00:12:35.860 Anybody during the whole COVID situation, anybody could report you for anything and it

00:12:40.060 was anonymous.

00:12:40.600 We had AHS come in, I don't know how many times, 20 to 30 times and not once, not once

00:12:45.900 did we get a fine or anything because every time they came in, we were following protocol.

00:12:52.780 That being said, I still stood out.

00:12:54.800 I still talked about it.

00:12:56.120 But we had a lot of employees, like I said before, that we had to look out for.

00:13:02.540 So we didn't want to cross the lines too much because then they could easily shut down

00:13:07.340 your business, like with what happened with the papers there.

00:13:11.560 Yeah.

00:13:12.060 And it's difficult when you're a licensed establishment too, because the government can use the AGLC

00:13:17.240 as a hammer.

00:13:18.120 You know, if they pull your license, I mean, food's pretty narrow margin off.

00:13:22.220 You need to be selling some liquor to pay those bills.

00:13:24.660 And if they pull your license, you're out of business.

00:13:28.020 Yeah.

00:13:28.440 They pull your, they pull your AGLC.

00:13:30.660 You can't sell liquor.

00:13:31.820 We have VLTs in all of our locations.

00:13:33.680 You can't have any of those.

00:13:35.380 And a lot of people don't realize that AHS, they could, I'm sure they can pull your, like

00:13:41.620 without, without papers, they can pull your food license, your safety and handling license.

00:13:46.280 And there goes everything.

00:13:47.700 There goes everything you built.

00:13:48.900 Right.

00:13:49.880 And that's what people don't realize is these businesses, we put everything into them.

00:13:55.720 That's what pays our bills.

00:13:57.520 That's what puts food on the table.

00:13:59.520 Yeah.

00:13:59.920 And I know some people got on the cases of some businesses that did, you know, abide

00:14:05.380 by the vaccine passports or did shut down or did do other things.

00:14:08.880 And they, I felt bad for that, but I mean, it's still the business.

00:14:12.380 Well, it wasn't the business owner's choice that they get a lot of cases.

00:14:14.480 They just can't take that chance if their margin's that narrow.

00:14:17.300 It was unfortunate some people got on the case of front end staff about that.

00:14:20.780 You know, guys, I'm certain that that hostess doesn't want to bother scanning your vaccine

00:14:25.400 passport.

00:14:25.860 They would much rather bring you straight to a table and get a better chunk out of that 0.75

00:14:28.920 tip pool.

00:14:30.460 But, you know, not every business owner is just has the ability to push back.

00:14:34.380 Unfortunately, the government has such a gun to the head of so many businesses.

00:14:38.480 Yeah, it's rather unfortunate.

00:14:41.160 Everybody knows I disagreed with all of it.

00:14:44.760 I never wore a mask.

00:14:46.240 Anytime someone came in and they asked me to wear them, they'd say, hey, can I speak to

00:14:51.620 the owner?

00:14:52.700 I'd turn around, I'd turn back and I'd say, you're speaking with them.

00:14:56.160 What are you going to do? 0.99

00:14:56.860 Go write your shitty one-star review. 1.00

00:14:59.420 Don't come back. 1.00

00:15:00.940 Go call HS.

00:15:01.860 Let them come in and I'll talk to them. 0.96

00:15:04.360 Yeah, the passport thing was pretty ridiculous.

00:15:06.140 And I recall, I think it was the Calgary, the Chamber of Business, before they brought

00:15:16.060 out the vaccines, I recall them saying, or the vaccine passport, sorry.

00:15:19.420 I recall them saying that vaccine passports are actually going to save small businesses

00:15:24.460 and help us because it's going to make everything safer.

00:15:27.700 And the second I read that, I spoke out, I even tagged them in the post and I said, listen, 0.99

00:15:33.180 you guys don't know shit. 0.98

00:15:34.660 You guys, this is going to ruin small businesses more than anything because all you're doing 1.00

00:15:38.960 is cutting our customer base into half.

00:15:42.540 And then out of those people that are VACs, a lot of them still probably don't want to go

00:15:46.360 out and get their vaccine passports checked.

00:15:49.860 You know, that's your own medical history.

00:15:52.060 And like, look what happened.

00:15:54.140 I was right.

00:15:54.760 Uh, when that happened, you know, everybody's sales tanked and the second they got rid of

00:15:59.700 it, boom, everybody climbed.

00:16:01.800 Oh yeah.

00:16:02.420 Well, and I've written on it a couple of times.

00:16:04.280 The Calgary Chamber of Commerce is a joke.

00:16:06.120 I'm going to editorialize for a sec because you brought them up and I've got a particular

00:16:09.380 burn my saddle with them anyways.

00:16:11.080 And Debra Yedlin, you can tell an organization that clearly doesn't know anything about running 0.98

00:16:15.380 a business going fast forward to, yeah, they were supporting the passport saying it would

00:16:19.420 increase business, which was dead wrong.

00:16:21.220 She also came out opposing getting rid of the passport.

00:16:24.860 And she said, when you get rid of that passport, business is going to slow down because people

00:16:29.480 will be afraid to come out. 1.00

00:16:31.020 She was proven to be full of shit. 1.00

00:16:32.700 I mean, every business got better business. 1.00

00:16:34.960 I mean, if that was the case, others, there was only one, it was a bar on 8th Avenue.

00:16:38.600 They said, we're going to keep the passport system.

00:16:40.460 And all these hipsters were applauding it online.

00:16:42.480 It lasted a week.

00:16:44.200 And, you know, even if you mean it, I mean, if you're running a big bar, if you've got

00:16:48.740 a group of five who are going to come to your place and one of them isn't going to show

00:16:52.360 the vaccine passport, they're not going to go, the whole group of five is going to go 1.00

00:16:55.380 somewhere else.

00:16:56.260 So just by math, whether you agree or not agree with the passports, it's not good for

00:17:01.100 business.

00:17:01.400 Nobody who has even a gram of principle, you know, business idea would think so. 0.99

00:17:06.320 And it's abhorrent that the head of a chamber of commerce would say that kind of crap. 0.99

00:17:09.780 Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing, to be honest. 0.99

00:17:14.200 I don't pay attention.

00:17:15.400 I don't know who this Deborah Yedlin girl is. 0.66

00:17:17.580 I know the business you're speaking of was Ship and Anchor.

00:17:22.860 And like you said, they lasted a week because they probably realized, hey, our sales aren't

00:17:30.460 going up.

00:17:30.880 People are going other places.

00:17:32.500 We have a million competitors right beside us.

00:17:34.820 They're going to leave here and go there. 0.99

00:17:36.000 So they backtracked pretty quick, and I thought it was pretty hilarious, to be honest.

00:17:41.080 Well, yeah.

00:17:41.740 As I said, I mean, say even, and I don't know the numbers, people have all sorts of numbers.

00:17:45.860 Say even only 10% of the people didn't have a vaccine passport, which I think was higher

00:17:51.100 than that.

00:17:52.020 Well, you take a 10% out of the pool of sales you could get.

00:17:55.200 And as I said, it's bigger than that because you're going to lose groups because other people

00:17:58.820 are just not going to go there.

00:17:59.920 But people weren't listening to business owners.

00:18:03.320 They were listening to politicians.

00:18:04.280 They were listening to activists.

00:18:05.800 They were listening to people like Yedlin, who was a business writer before she took over

00:18:10.760 the chamber.

00:18:11.400 She's never, as far as I could tell, run a small business because, again, none would be

00:18:14.940 able to say that sort of thing with a straight face.

00:18:16.860 But most of their intent was to embarrass Jason Kenney and try.

00:18:20.960 And they were hoping for a disaster when he lifted the passports.

00:18:24.780 But that's a separate issue altogether as well.

00:18:29.500 So business now, though, I mean, we're going into 2023.

00:18:32.020 This should hopefully be, what, our first restriction-free year in some years.

00:18:36.040 Is it going well for you guys?

00:18:37.080 As you said, you're expanding.

00:18:38.060 You got another location you're looking at now?

00:18:40.380 Yeah, actually.

00:18:41.520 So I went over the yearly sales the other day.

00:18:44.120 And so from 2020 to 2021, we dipped, like I'm guessing most businesses did because we were

00:18:51.080 facing restrictions that year, we dipped about 6.5%.

00:18:53.880 But luckily for us, we have a strong takeout.

00:18:57.340 Most of our food, you know, pasta, pizza, whatever it is, is built for takeout.

00:19:00.500 We're not like a fine dining restaurant where, you know, they're screwed during the whole

00:19:03.900 thing because people are going out to eat.

00:19:05.300 They're not going to order takeout from them.

00:19:07.040 But anyways, we went down 6.5% in 2021.

00:19:09.600 And then from 2021 to 2022 last year, we went up about 18%.

00:19:14.000 So numbers are strong.

00:19:17.080 We're expanding.

00:19:19.820 We're coming up with a lot of new projects.

00:19:21.720 I just spent $80,000 on a brand new Jeep Gladiator to take around to events.

00:19:27.340 And yeah, we'll see how 2023 goes.

00:19:29.420 I think it's going to be a good year, to be honest.

00:19:32.080 Well, good.

00:19:32.600 I think we saw some social media comments, people whining about the way you drive your

00:19:35.820 Gladiator, though.

00:19:36.640 So, those are the risks you're going to have when you're driving a billboard, when you 0.98

00:19:40.920 get some of the lunatics around.

00:19:42.440 Hopefully, you don't get anything thrown at it or anything like that. 0.86

00:19:45.520 Oh, yeah.

00:19:46.020 I mean, that's always in the back of my mind.

00:19:48.240 I had a cop the first night I actually picked it up, tailed me for five minutes all the way

00:19:51.580 to my house.

00:19:52.360 And I made sure I wasn't speeding.

00:19:55.420 And I thought in my head, I said, if this guy pulls me over, I'm going to tell him,

00:19:58.260 sorry, bro, read the sign.

00:19:59.200 We don't sell donuts.

00:20:02.000 Luckily, he didn't pull me over.

00:20:03.180 And, you know, someone vandalizes my car, that's just more power for us, right?

00:20:09.520 That's just showing that, you know, the woke mob aren't whatever they say they are.

00:20:15.160 They're all nice and open-minded and accepting and caring.

00:20:19.100 That's all that will prove.

00:20:20.360 We already know it's wrong, but it will just prove it even more.

00:20:23.600 Yeah, no, they're vindictive, you know, to use the term that's been beaten to death.

00:20:27.460 But it's true, they're a bunch of Karens who can't just accept that, okay, fine, you 0.99

00:20:31.120 don't like that place, leave it alone, don't go there, don't eat there, go somewhere else.

00:20:34.200 This isn't that complicated, but they can't live that way.

00:20:36.680 They have to interfere.

00:20:37.720 They have to try and shut it down.

00:20:39.560 And as I said, I really appreciate what you're doing because it stands as a symbol for other

00:20:44.020 businesses and other people to realize that these are toothless tigers. 1.00

00:20:47.180 They're jerks. 0.99

00:20:48.000 They can cause a little bit of short-term damage, but in the long run, they're nobody, they're 1.00

00:20:51.420 nothing.

00:20:52.140 And if you stand up to them, it'll pay off in the long run.

00:20:54.860 I mean, you're doing great for a number of reasons.

00:20:56.920 I don't think it's just because of your business stance.

00:20:58.420 Obviously, you're running a good business while you're at it as well, but it's just

00:21:01.940 important.

00:21:02.560 And, you know, the mob, they only have power if you give it to them.

00:21:07.380 Yeah, I agree 100%, man.

00:21:10.500 The more you stay quiet, the hungry and the more powerful they're going to get.

00:21:15.740 To your other point, yeah, exactly.

00:21:17.460 If you don't like it, go somewhere else.

00:21:19.140 I mean, there's a lot of people and places and businesses that I don't like.

00:21:23.300 I'm not going to go and spend all day on their social media, reading every post, arguing

00:21:28.540 with every single commenter.

00:21:29.940 I mean, who does that?

00:21:31.360 Do something with your life.

00:21:32.800 Do something better.

00:21:34.100 I mean, wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and, you know, meditate, smoke some weed,

00:21:40.760 get laid. 0.90

00:21:41.260 I don't freaking know. 0.67

00:21:42.340 Do something to keep you happy and do something good for the world.

00:21:47.740 Yeah.

00:21:48.040 Anything's more productive than going and picking away at other people.

00:21:50.740 Well, I really appreciate what you're doing.

00:21:52.440 I appreciate you coming on to talk to us today, Farouk.

00:21:54.960 Maybe one last time, you can kind of let people know where they can find your businesses

00:21:59.240 and where they can find you online.

00:22:01.660 So we have three locations, one in Airdrie, one in Calgary, Shaughnessy, one in Calgary

00:22:06.660 Northeast off 32nd, right off Barlow.

00:22:09.420 You could also visit our website, www.pauls.pizza.

00:22:13.400 I have an Instagram account.

00:22:14.820 I have a Facebook account. 0.87

00:22:16.060 I don't use Twitter, TikTok, any of the other crap.

00:22:21.100 That's basically it.

00:22:22.260 And thank you, Corey, for having me on the show.

00:22:24.240 And I appreciate it.

00:22:25.360 Right on.

00:22:25.780 Well, and I'll be sure to get another pizza out of you soon.

00:22:27.900 I'll try and drag Jane up to Airdrie one of these days and have a sit down up that way. 1.00

00:22:31.260 Will do.

00:22:31.880 Shots on me. 0.90

00:22:33.400 Right on. 0.71

00:22:34.220 Okay.

00:22:35.000 Well, thanks again.

00:22:36.120 And we'll hopefully see you sometime soon.

00:22:38.440 The current Let's Pitch feed grain prices are as follows.

00:22:41.320 Cash parties at $4.43, feed wheat's at $4.45, and corn's holding at $4.44 per metric ton.

00:22:47.320 In the milling wheat markets, March Minneapolis futures gained $2 at $9.05 per bushel, with

00:22:53.500 local hard red spring bids for January-February movement at $11.55 per bushel.

00:22:58.320 In the oilseeds, nearby canola futures lost $2.70 at $8.6630 per ton, with delivery values

00:23:05.380 for February movement at $19.42 per bushel.

00:23:08.800 In the pulse markets, nearby red lentil prices are trading at $0.32.5 per pound, and yellow

00:23:14.960 peas remain at $13 per bushel.

00:23:17.520 In the cattle markets, February live cattle are down $0.17 at $1.5710 per 100 weight.

00:23:24.180 For more information on grain marketing, call me at 403-394-1711.

00:23:29.200 I'm Sean Smith at Marketplace Commodities.

00:23:32.300 Let's go, Team Canada Juniors.

00:23:34.460 Great, come on, let's go. 0.98

00:23:35.520 It's busy keeping the house going, and getting everyone where they need to be.

00:23:39.380 Awesome.

00:23:40.020 But when it comes to my wellness, I stay connected to my community.

00:23:43.980 And it feels pretty good.

00:23:46.060 And if I need support, I call 211.

00:23:49.460 You can become a Western Standard member for just $10 a month, or $99 a year, for unlimited access.

00:23:54.680 Let's go, Team Canada Juniors.

00:23:56.640 Thank you.

00:23:57.140 That's awesome.

00:23:58.160 Thank you.

00:23:58.600 Thank you.

00:23:59.080 ByeWell Season, Ladies & Cups.

00:23:59.840 Thanks a lot.

00:24:00.520 Bye-bye.

00:24:00.940 Tim and estou.

00:24:01.360 Thanks a lot.

00:24:01.480 Bye-bye.

00:24:02.460 Salut Давайте.

00:24:02.860 Bye-bye.

00:24:03.500 Bye-bye.

00:24:03.820 Peace.

00:24:04.400 Bye-bye.

00:24:05.440 Bye-bye.

00:24:05.700 Bye-bye.

00:24:07.160 Bye-bye.

00:24:07.520 Bye-bye.

00:24:08.420 Bye-bye.

00:24:09.720 Bye-bye.

00:24:10.880 Bye-bye.

00:24:11.940 Bye-bye.

00:24:13.020 Bye-bye.

00:24:13.960 Bye-bye.

00:24:15.260 Bye-bye.

00:24:16.580 Bye-bye.

00:24:16.980 Bye-bye.

00:24:17.600 Bye-bye.

00:24:19.160 Bye-bye.

00:24:19.800 Bye-bye.

00:24:20.580 Bye-bye.

00:24:21.740 Bye-bye.

00:24:21.960 Bye-bye, right-bye.

Western Standard - January 06, 2023

Farouk Elsaghir of Paul's Pizza on cancel culture and standing up to it

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