Join us as we discuss the latest in the Tammara leash saga, and why we should all be angry about it. We are joined by Tamara's good friend and former colleague, Councillor Candice Miller, to discuss her thoughts on the situation.
00:00:00.000So, yeah, I'm glad to have you in. I want to talk about a few things. We always find it easy to talk about a number of things, but the whole Tamera Leach thing, you know.
00:00:08.940Which is a nice segue from what you were just ranting about, about enforcing the law where it should be enforced.
00:00:16.100Yeah, I mean, there's where some of the discussion could even start. You know, people talk about, well, she violated a bail condition, thus she's locked up.
00:00:24.400Maybe, maybe I'll leave that open to interpretation. Maybe she did not fully, properly, you know, when she paused, she shouldn't have spent that three seconds with that person.
00:00:33.060But that's why you have a judge, not a computer in a room. I mean, you work as what is realistic of enough violation that warrants full incarceration or maybe a warning or maybe just telling the police, come on, guys, get serious.
00:00:45.860Like there's the spirit of the law and there's the letter of the law. Yeah. And she's getting beaten by every aspect of the law right now.
00:00:52.340Well, I think it's just appalling. And just to your point, you know, I can't, I can't understand what the hell is wrong with Canadians right now that they let this go on.
00:01:03.780And, you know, as I've been saying on social media the last little while, whether you were supportive or not of the Freedom Convoy and the demonstration and protest in Ottawa that resulted from that,
00:01:18.400whether you supported their initiative, you know, to draw attention to the truckers' mandates, which was the original cause that they were protesting democratically, peacefully with that convoy across Canada,
00:01:30.260you should still be appalled by what is happening to Tamara Leash.
00:01:35.780I mean, here is a kind, generous, you know, grandmother, for goodness sake, with not much for, you know, financial means that helped to organize this protest, a peaceful protest, which she reinforced that message constantly.
00:01:56.280In fact, I congratulated her at the end, when she was finally let out of jail the first time, I congratulated her as a novice for staying on message, something that politicians can't do, but she managed to stay on message.
00:02:10.100She didn't get distracted when some of the more loony bin fellas were talking about overthrowing the government and staying there until Justin Trudeau resigned and some of that nonsense.
00:02:21.940She stayed on message that this was a matter of rights, a matter of democracy, and that's why she was there, and she's being punished like this.
00:02:31.000And, you know, today I posted on Twitter a sign, and it says, imagine how much better Canada would be if the justice system pursued child rapists with the same vigor they have with Tamara Leash and her mischief charges.
00:02:49.000And, you know, what that solicited, I mean, there was a lot of support that came through, Corey, but there was people saying, well, she should be locked up.
00:02:57.660Well, I'm giggling a bit, but not over that, but just that image that's been going around, that's actually a direct quote from one of my tweets from about a week ago.
00:03:43.520You know, I mean, if she was sort of a lunatic who'd come to some meetings and so on, you know, you'd probably just go, geez, you know, they're being persecuted.
00:03:51.620But I'm not really going to stand up and say a lot on the person's character anyways, because it's just not something to speak to.
00:04:00.840And, you know, this is what's so frustrating for those of us that know Tamara and know her well.
00:04:05.600I mean, I had the pleasure and the privilege of working with Tamara for about two years now, ever since I came out of retirement and started a new political party that evolved into the Maverick Party, the West's only federal party.
00:04:21.480And Tamara was on the original board of directors.
00:04:38.980She's always been involved in causes, causes that are near and dear to her heart.
00:04:43.380And as I said earlier, she's the type of grandma that cannot sit idly by when she sees an injustice, when she sees that our rights and our democratic institution, basically, our constitutional rights are under attack by our own government.
00:05:27.620As I've said repeatedly and as you've said, every single Canadian should be very, very concerned about this, that she is being kept in jail now,
00:05:38.300but not by a judge, by a justice of the peace that made this ruling on Friday to keep her incarcerated.
00:05:45.680What is this costing taxpayers to persecute this grandmother?
00:05:51.320Oh, I mean, they spent hundreds of thousands just to fly homicide detectives across the country to arrest her.
00:05:57.360I mean, the money being flushed because she paused next to somebody.
00:06:00.120Remember, that's the crime she's in for right now.
00:06:02.900She paused with somebody she's not supposed to be with for three seconds in a picture in a video, which, again, technically, maybe if you're really a hair splitter, you could say, wow, you crossed the line.
00:06:12.880We had a legal breakdown of that, actually, from one of our columnists, Karen Selleck.
00:06:16.900And she's a lawyer, and again, going into how unreasonable that offense, supposedly, in the bail is.
00:06:24.380I mean, that's, again, why you have a judge.
00:06:37.280Yeah, and Karen questioned it quite interestingly, because she said, and he had to sit for four days and come up with this, and he didn't give a written version.
00:06:46.600He just gave an oral, which she said, typically, they're going to give something written.
00:07:00.680Far be it for us, ladies and gentlemen, to suggest that there would be any political interference.
00:07:06.180And these types of rulings are what's been going on in this courtroom, where a identified partisan prosecutor, right?
00:07:16.860I mean, he's contributed thousands of dollars, as you've said, and others have said, to the Liberal Party of Canada.
00:07:23.760And he's allowed to go on for hours ranting about Tamara as though she truly is a terrorist, rather than somebody that believed in democracy in Canada.
00:07:37.580And something I've speculated, too, though, in past columns I wrote, I think it was for the Carolina Standard.
00:07:42.900But either way, I think part of the reason they're after her is because she doesn't present the visible example of what they would like to point out as a convoy leader.
00:07:54.660She's not a crazed person running around screaming through a bullhorn or a long history of arrests or a long history of organization.
00:08:02.700She doesn't have a swastika tattooed on her forehead.
00:08:07.140When people listen to her speak and they see her and they realize, even if they don't agree with her, whatever this person is, this isn't a threat to society.
00:08:15.400Because it ruins that narrative this government's desperately trying to hang on to, that this was a borderline insurrection, that this was led by crazed people.
00:08:40.240If she was a screaming, raging lunatic, they'd say, get out and get on Facebook as hard as you can because you're making our work easier for us.
00:08:50.540I mean, you know, if we reflect back to when she was arrested, okay, in Ottawa after this protest, I'll call it a protest.
00:09:00.580I mean, the people that are so upset about this apparently call it a blockade or an occupation or they trump up all these kind of charges against, which was, I mean, they were bouncy castles.
00:09:14.780They were protesters shoveling snow for the people.
00:09:18.540They were supporting local businesses that had been in tough times.
00:09:22.660You know, the local coffee shops and restaurants and hotels.
00:09:26.920And in any event, you know, because they blew their horns a little bit too much and drew attention to themselves, they were, you know, into a situation of an occupation.
00:09:38.940And, you know, there was a real hue and cry from the government and from the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, when it was shown that when the police started to move in to clear the protesters, she said, what did she say?
00:10:15.140How many times in our history, including fairly recently, have we witnessed strikes where, justifiably, you know, strikers are saying to their colleagues, when faced with the police trying to break up a, you know, the striker's line with their placards, right?
00:10:36.220They're trying to break them up and they say, hold the line.
00:10:38.960You hear about those guys being arrested, thrown in jail for 18 days, being denied bail and then re-arrested?
00:11:45.040And not only that, but people buy into our mainstream media, bought and paid for liberal media.
00:11:52.060They buy into their argument that those blockades at the Ambassador Bridge and here in Alberta at Coutts were somehow linked to what was going on in Ottawa.
00:12:13.040But that did not have the approval, the support or the affiliation of the protesters in Ottawa.
00:12:19.020And yet the media, the mainstream media, were just all over themselves buying into the Liberals' arguments that, oh my God, look what's happening.
00:12:27.880This is growing all across the nation.
00:12:29.420Well, yes, in a way it was growing, but it had nothing to do with Tamara Leach.
00:12:34.280No, and the media embarrassed itself over the course of that whole affair.
00:12:38.240I mean, they bought into all of the BS myths, that fake Twitter thread of a supposed arson.
00:12:44.060I remember people getting on my case at that time because I called BS as soon as I saw it.
00:13:04.040And there was supposedly some sort of a weird connection to, you know, the illegal importation of firearms and this big seizure that the police had made somewhere else in Ontario.
00:13:16.140And they kind of linked it to what was going on in Ottawa.
00:13:21.060And again, that's part of it, too, is we've got a legacy media that Leach embarrasses.
00:13:27.000Again, as a symbol, because she's not everything they're trying to say this protest was.
00:13:31.700And, you know, this Emergencies Act, they could have cleared that protest without invoking it.
00:13:38.320Well, you know, it's starting to come out and perhaps we'll see this confirmed with the investigation.
00:13:44.440As you say, the justice, the judge that is leading that investigation, hopefully he's going to do as thorough a job as Justice Gomery did with the infamous liberal sponsorship scandal of a few years ago.
00:13:58.420And if he digs that deep and does that type of job, I think he'll do an enormous service to Canadians.
00:14:06.380But, Corey, I mean, it is becoming quite clear that the Emergencies Act, at least partially, was brought in not because the police asked for it, not the Ottawa police, not the Ontario Provincial Police, not the RCMP.
00:14:20.900Nobody, despite what the minister lied about in the House of Commons in question period, you know, what was the reason?
00:14:30.920Well, now it's starting to be suggested it was because tow truck drivers, owners and companies refuse to tow these vehicles.
00:14:40.660So how can our prime minister and the mayor of Ottawa tow these trucks if he doesn't have any tow trucks?
00:14:48.640I mean, government doesn't own tow trucks, but if they had the Emergencies Act, if they had effectively martial law, the prime minister can do anything he wants, including ordering tow trucks to tow these vehicles or they themselves will be punished under law.
00:15:08.380Well, that's it. And not enough citizens realize how serious the invocation of that act is.
00:15:13.660I mean, it used to be called the War Measures Act, and they should have kept it that way because people would realize how serious it is when it's brought in.
00:15:18.360Not just your run of the mill emergency, because what it is, is a form of martial law.
00:15:22.760And what that means is you are going to suspend charter rights for people in the face of an emergency.
00:15:29.240And of all of those, I don't think it was even used necessarily, but symbolically of being able to force a tow truck driver to labor for them, basically.
00:15:37.640And I say with a gun to their head. And I mean, I know there wasn't a literal one, but hey, if you eventually push the police far enough when you've got an order against you, that's what you can end up with.
00:15:45.120Yeah. And then they wanted to press gangs. I mean, you know, they could come on the street and grab you and force labor.
00:15:53.620This is not a minor thing. This is what happens in third world countries.
00:15:57.760People have to understand how serious that was and what was invoked there.
00:16:00.940And I don't think enough Canadians get it.
00:16:02.580Now, you know, I was, I was thinking about, where is it here?
00:16:08.480I was thinking about this, of course, yesterday and the day before as I was tweeting and posting on Facebook about Tamara and this injustice.
00:16:18.140And I came across this famous quote by a Lutheran pastor a number of years ago.
00:16:24.860And we've often heard it, but I want to read it out.
00:16:28.220And I wrote it down, Corey, to make sure I didn't misquote.
00:16:32.400First, they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
00:16:37.760Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
00:16:43.140Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
00:16:49.700Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.
00:17:05.880If we as Canadians allow Tamara Leash to be persecuted in this way, to remain behind bars for mischief, for a peaceful democratic protest, I think this country is going down a very slippery slope.
00:17:35.180We've got the farmer protest about the dramatic increase in the price and cost of fertilizer and what the government's trying to impose upon them in Holland, in the Netherlands.
00:17:47.560We've got what we saw on the news recently about the mass protests in Sri Lanka that forced the resignation of the president.
00:17:55.460You know, it's really I think this whole business, this ridiculous worldwide addressing of supposed climate change is coming home to roost because there is a line there.
00:18:09.660Yes, we all want to be environmentally conscious and do what we can to protect our environment.
00:18:17.080But this business of where they're going to force people off the land, they're going to dramatically impact the production of food.
00:18:27.340And we already know that the world because of our population, our growth in population, all we've got to do is have a bad famine.
00:18:35.760And you're going to have a lot of people that aren't just suffering or struggling to pay the food that goes on the table like we are in Canada, but much more than that, Corey.
00:18:45.740And so we're seeing this growth of worldwide protests.
00:19:09.260When you're forced out of your business, when you're forced to shut down, when you're fined for going out in groups of more than a couple of people.
00:19:50.300Because they know with what the government of Holland has said, many of them will lose their farms.
00:19:57.280And those that struggle to survive aren't going to be making sufficient because they can't grow enough without fertilizer.
00:20:03.740And we've got a growing problem in Canada.
00:20:06.060I was talking to my brother the other day who farms up in the peace country, and he was saying that the cost of fertilizer has gone up unbelievably in Canada.
00:20:15.080And it was already high before last fall when he was out anhydrousing for this year's crop.
00:20:23.320And when it affects the farmers and their ability to properly fertilize and feed their crop, it's going to affect how many bushels they get, what their long-time financial viability will be, and ultimately how many loaves of bread that can be produced.
00:20:41.280Yeah, and we've got this ideologically blinded government.
00:20:44.240So we saw that with Freeland the other day.
00:20:47.140When we're talking about the energy prices, and she comes up and says, this is the reason we have to move even further towards electricity.
00:20:55.840And I tell you what, and I've said this for years, and we're seeing it now, the environment doesn't mean a damn thing if you can't fill your fridge and you can't pay your rent.
00:21:03.380It doesn't matter how ideological or how concerned a person was about the fluffy bunnies and the temperature 20 years from now.
00:21:09.820If they can't feed their family or pay for the roof over their head, they're going to rebel.
00:21:16.720But some governments are starting to get it pretty quickly now.
00:21:19.420Yeah, and you know, one of the things that's so frustrating, and I think even more so for someone yourself that's on air, ranting day after day, trying to draw people's attention to this.
00:21:31.440We get some great comments, but they're just a handful of people that are paying attention.
00:21:36.940The masses are either tuned out or they're ambivalent or they apparently just don't care what is coming at us.
00:21:44.760And it is so frustrating, and it's so annoying for those of us that are involved in trying to message this.
00:21:53.940And for those people out there, Corey, that say, well, what can I do about it?
00:21:58.320You know, I was, again, doing a bit of research, and I reflected back on the 1980s, and a fellow in Poland, his name was, well, he's still around, Lech Walesa.
00:22:11.060And he led a movement called the Solidarity Movement.
00:22:15.620It started out in the Gdansk shipyards as a strike against the communist government of Poland.
00:22:24.840And, you know, it just grew and grew and grew, and they finally forced that government's resignation.
00:22:30.140And arguably, they played a key role in the Iron Curtain being destroyed and ultimately the breakup of the Soviet Union.
00:22:39.320So when people think, well, you know, there's nothing that we can do, you know, I point to things like that in history where people have had the courage to stand up and be counted, and some amazing things happen.
00:22:51.940And I think we're starting to see that similar with this farmer protest, even with our own arguably Freedom Convoy back in the winter.
00:23:00.460People are reaching a breaking point, and they're saying government just doesn't listen.
00:23:06.620These politicians are saying exactly what we want to hear, and then they get elected or re-elected, and the next thing you know, you know, it's the same old, same old.
00:23:41.380I believe that was a lot of Jason Kenney's downfall.
00:23:44.060Again, he promised big, and he delivered low, and people wouldn't put up with that.
00:23:48.420But I got a feeling at least in Alberta, they're going to know whoever wins is going to know better.
00:23:52.800Like, they're not going to stay in that leadership if they don't follow through at least some of their platform, depending on, unless it's one of the liberals.
00:23:59.580The frustrating thing for me, though, at the federal level, and why I've been saying for the last two years since I got involved in launching Maverick,
00:24:07.340is that I'm a slow learner, is because, okay, everybody jumps Pierre Paulieff.
00:24:13.240Okay, he's saying all the right things, especially for Western Canada, especially for Alberta.
00:24:16.860Canada, and hopefully he'll do it if he becomes prime minister.
00:24:20.140I'm not convinced, even if he wins the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, that he can win the government.
00:24:26.800Remember, I was there in two Harper minorities, and how hard it is to get anything done in a minority situation, a conservative minority.
00:24:36.680If you're a liberal, of course, you just get the NDP to support you, and away you go, just the same as if you had a majority.
00:24:42.320But for the Conservatives, will he, as I say, walk the walk?
00:24:47.900Can he win a majority by sticking to this type of a platform?
00:24:52.940Is it going to sell in central Canada?
00:24:54.820And then most importantly, folks, what happens the next time?
00:24:58.540We've been going through this cycle for 100 years now, or more than 100 years.
00:25:04.660And sooner or later, central and eastern Canada will say, well, I don't really like what Pierre Paulyev, as our prime minister, just as they did with Stephen Harper.
00:27:25.700But the pension plan, the RCP, come on, enough.
00:27:28.260How many times have you got to get yes on the ground before you say, okay, we're going to do it?
00:27:32.140Good meddling around, kicking the can down the road.
00:27:34.840So I hope in those two leadership races that, especially the front runners, are forced to commit to a timeline so that people, as they did with Jason, can hold them accountable, ultimately.
00:28:16.360Well, and I think in the wise words of a guy who's not typically called wise, I think it was Mike Tyson, who he said, everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face.
00:28:24.140So all the fluffy plans and environmentalism, that's fine, but you're about to get punched in the face.
00:28:28.700So you're going to have to reevaluate your plan in a hurry.
00:28:31.140And I think that'll mean a lot of people, though, perhaps standing up, even if late, it's better late than never.