David Menzies slams Canada’s proposed birthright citizenship overhaul, calling it a logical fix to stop "passport mill" exploitation—like China-born tourists accessing social programs while costing taxpayers millions, with 379 foreign births in BC alone (2016-2017). Critics like NDP’s Jugmeet Singh and Trudeau’s Liberals label it racist, despite the policy dating to 1947, while Menzies accuses the government of hypocrisy over border security. The episode also dissects Drake’s controversial Hell’s Angels t-shirt, his ties to organized crime, and unanswered questions about his public safety role amid CNE shootings and three murders linked to his circle in 2018. Wrapping up, Menzies exposes Liberal failures, including $5.6M untested search-and-rescue gear and the $750M U-boat disaster, questioning whether accountability or PR drives government decisions. [Automatically generated summary]
Tonight, birth tourism is a big problem in British Columbia and the Conservatives want to put an end to it.
Is this smart policy or evidence of Canada being full of racists?
It's September 4th.
I'm David Menzies, and this is the Ezra Levent Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
There's 8,500 customers here and you won't give them an answer.
You come here once a year with a sign and you feel morally superior.
The only thing I have to say to the government for why I publish it is because it's my bloody right to do so.
One of the more laudable and logical initiatives to come out of the Conservative Party convention in Halifax recently was leader Andrew Scheer stating that so-called birth tourism should come to an end.
This new party policy calls for the government to enact legislation that would end birthright citizenship in Canada unless, quote, one of the parents of the child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.
Such is not the case today.
With very few exceptions, a baby born in Canada is automatically granted citizenship.
Such a policy is an anomaly in most of the developed world.
Indeed, the United Kingdom did away with birth tourism in 1983.
Like present-day Canada, it used to be that if one were simply born on British soil, that person automatically received British citizenship.
No questions asked, but since 1983, the citizenship policy notes that one of the child's parents must be a British citizen in order for the child to receive British citizenship.
Great Britain changed its rules because the system was being gamed.
Likewise, the system is being abused in Canada today, too.
Case in point, tourists, mostly Chinese nationals, are visiting British Columbia in droves.
But they're not coming here to take snapshots of BC's beautiful vistas.
Rather, they're coming to have babies.
It's a win-win scenario.
The procedure in many instances ends up being free of charge, even though it's not supposed to be free.
And because the child is born on Canadian soil, he or she is an instant Canadian citizen and is therefore entitled to all of Canada's social programs should the child actually choose to live here.
Richmond, BC is a hub for so-called birth tourism.
According to Vancouver Coastal Health in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, there were 379 births to foreign nationals at the Richmond Hospital alone.
In the first half of fiscal 2017-2018, foreign nationals accounted for almost 20% of all births at Richmond Hospital.
20%!
Can you say passport mill?
Because that's precisely what's transpiring here.
And it's costing Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars per year.
Oh, well, just put it on the tab, I guess.
But just check out the reaction Mr. Scheer's proposal received.
NDP leader Jugmeet Singh tweeted, Conservative delegates voted in favor of ending birthright citizenship for children born in Canada unless one parent is Canadian or a permanent resident.
Even Trump has resisted this idea.
The NDP unequivocally condemns the division and hate being peddled by Et Andrew Scheer and the CPC, end quote.
Yeah, par for the core, somehow being able to determine who gets to be a citizen, which should be the fundamental right of any sovereign nation.
Well, that's suddenly hateful because apparently if you don't subscribe to open borders, then you are, oh, I don't know, a bigot or a racist.
Certainly, the Justin Trudeau Liberals have absolutely no political will to change the status quo.
In media reports, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussein's office noted that the so-called birth on soil principle has been enshrined in Canada's citizenship legislation since the introduction of the Canadian Citizenship Act in 1947.
So in other words, for the first 80 years of Canada's existence, we didn't have such a birth on soil citizenship policy.
And perhaps post-World War II, there was some motivation to boost the nation's populace, given the number of Canadians who died in the war, but that's certainly not the reality today.
And yet, things have only become progressively worse.
For the past few years, not only has Canada's birthing policy been gained, so too has our refugee policy.
Cross into Canada at a non-official border crossing, which is to say essentially the entire border with the United States.
And presto, you are now potentially on your way to becoming a Canadian citizen and entitled to all the benefits that come with it.
And if you have a problem with that, yeah, you guessed it.
You're obviously a racist.
In fact, even if you have a problem of warmly welcoming returning ISIS fighters to Canada, apparently that makes you a bigot too, folks.
Remember this classic exchange in the House of Commons late last year?
It was Conservatives who amended the criminal code to make it an offense to leave Canada to fight for ISIS.
It was Conservatives who are focused on giving our law enforcement new tools to prosecute ISIS fighters.
This Prime Minister is using a broad spectrum that includes poetry and podcasts and all kinds of counseling and group hug sessions, Mr. Speaker.
When will the Prime Minister take the security of Canadian seriously and look for ways to put these ISIS fighters in jail?
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party learnt nothing from the last election and the lessons Canadians taught them.
They ran an election on snitch lines against Muslims.
They ran an election on Islamophobia and division.
And still they play the same game trying to scare Canadians.
The fact is we always focus on the security of Canadians and we always will and they play politics of fear and Canadians reject that.
Yeah, if you have an issue with terrorists, terrorists, returning to Canada from the Middle East, then according to Justin, you're obviously an Islamophobe.
Sadly, the list of things that makes one a hater is growing disturbingly longer these days.
For example, if you believe that annual immigration levels are too high, and by the way, a recent Angus Reid poll found that half of Canadians surveyed do believe this to be the case, then you are, of course, accused of being racist by the Liberals.
Immigration Minister Hussein goes even further, saying those who criticize immigration policy are not Canadian.
That such people who raise the alarm over asylum seekers are, quote, misleading, divisive, and dangerous, end quote.
And yet, this is the very same Minister Hussein who recently acknowledged in correspondence with the Canadian Bar Association that the number of asylum seekers is rising far beyond what the system can handle.
That the numbers are not sustainable.
Gee, who's being bigoted and racist and Islamophobic now, Mr. Minister?
Regardless, apparently things are so awful, so racist, so Islamophobic in Canada, at least according to the Trudeau Liberals, that the government is now actually developing a, quote, national anti-racism strategy, end quote.
Hey, it's only going to cost $23 million over two years.
Put that on the tab, too.
But it does seem kind of odd, doesn't it, that if Canada was such a boiling pot of racism and bigotry and Islamophobia, then why are so many people from so many other countries flocking here in the first place?
In the meantime, if you care about the citizenship process and if you care about border security, maybe it's best that you just keep those opinions to yourself.
Hell's Angels Controversy00:13:47
Otherwise, openly voicing such concerns might just get you branded as being a card-carrying member of the KKK or a neo-Nazi group.
For when it comes to our dominion under Justin Trudeau, diversity is our strength, even when sometimes it isn't.
Consider Drake.
Yes, you know, the badass from the mean streets of Forest Hill.
He's many things.
He's a Grammy Award-winning musician.
He is the Goodwill Ambassador for the Toronto Raptors.
And apparently, he's a supporter of the Hell's Angels.
Oh, say it ain't so.
And with more on this somewhat bizarre story in terms of Drake's trajectory of becoming an Uber celebrity is the one and only scrawler from the Toronto Sun, Joe Warmington.
Great to have you on the Ezra Event show, Joe.
Good.
I'm wearing colors.
I hope they don't offend anybody today.
Actually, they accenturize, Joe.
So, Joe, you broke an incredible story, and it was basically Drake being seen in public wearing a t-shirt that had Hell's Angels messaging on it.
What is he thinking, Joe?
First of all, I didn't break that story.
That story was interestingly enough broken by the Vancouver Sun.
Oh, okay.
And that's an important part of the story because this was on Instagram since the 21st of August on Travis Scott, who's another rapper, on his Instagram.
But we didn't see it here.
Nobody commented on it here for almost two weeks.
It was the Vancouver Sun and the reporter out there that did it.
To answer your question, it really is something that we haven't had this kind of thing.
I thought the perfect headline would have been Aubrey's Angels.
Because I remember the Mel's Angels thing when Mayor Mel Lastman went out and shook the hand of the Hell's Angels when they came for their big ride here.
Right.
And they gave him one of those t-shirts, and he didn't know what it was.
And later he actually threw it in the trash.
Okay.
And in defense of Mel Lastman, I mean, he's shaking hands with it, but he doesn't know what happens to a lot of politicians.
Yeah, it was no big deal.
He didn't do anything wrong.
In this case here, Drake knows what it means.
And he knew exactly what he was doing, and he knows what he's signaling to.
And Joe, let's talk about what it means.
You talk to Hell's Angels.
They go, hey, we're just a motorcycle club.
We're just a bunch of biking enthusiasts.
Actually, Joe, we all know, come on, this is organized crime.
This is about drug trafficking.
This is about incredibly nefarious activities.
Talk to any police officer about what the Hells Angels really are.
So what is Drake saying by wearing a t-shirt that is displaying the colors and the logo of an organized crime outfit.
I think what he's trying to say is that he's looking for street cred himself and he's doing it through the Hells Angels.
The Hells Angels aren't known for diversity.
You know what I mean?
So I don't understand it.
I guess he can't wear a—he tends to lean towards the bloods.
He wears red most of the time.
Even at a Blue Jays game, you'll see that he'll have something red or he'll wear the one that they wear on Canada Day.
So, and he's been called out before for flashing gang signs, which he says there weren't.
This is the thing with this guy and this kind of thing, is that every time it's hard to say, well, that's what this is, or that's what, because they say, no, no, no, you're wrong.
It's actually not that.
And so, but he knew what he was doing.
He was wearing this Hell's Angels thing.
I think he was looking for street cred.
Hell's Angels aren't at fault for it.
You know, I don't know how they really feel about this guy doing it, but I don't think they're involved with him.
I don't think he's a member.
I think he just wants to look like he's a tough guy.
You know, Joe, I think you're really onto something profound here.
I mean, when you look at Drake, I mentioned in the intro, this is the fellow from the mean streets of Forrest Hill.
Now, for those not familiar with Toronto, Forest Hill is probably one of the very best neighborhoods in all of Toronto.
That's where he grew up.
Yeah, it's the absolute opposite of straight out of Compton.
And I think for street cred, I think because of the rap hip-hop culture, it's important that you have this really badass persona, that you're a gangsta.
You know, that's what really counts.
I don't get it myself, but.
His lyrics reflect that.
I mean, and rap, I guess that goes with it.
That's art.
We're not into censorship around here.
And so, you know, it is what it is.
But let's not kid ourselves.
This isn't Drake calling.
This is always an issue when I do shows and my phone rings.
But as we just talked about before, my job here is to do this kind of thing where you have to be ready for a story at any time.
So if it was Drake, I would do the thing.
But anyway, yeah, this is one of these things where, you know, you've got a guy who wants so badly to be part of that scene.
And, you know, how he does it is, and there's a lot of things to like about Drake.
I mean, his career success is there.
He's from here.
I think a lot of us are enjoying how successful he is.
And he's taken some of the local people with him.
But the problem is they're on bail for violent crimes, taking him to Europe.
And I think that's the part that really bothers me.
And for me, David, is it's the whole thing that goes back to around three years ago when Ariella Fanoy, Navarro Finoy, was shot down at the CNE at the Music Nightclub.
Right.
And he was, it happened in front of Drake the original shooting.
And he never did talk to the police.
And he naywoll on that issue.
He did.
And he was there and his guys were there.
And we don't know who killed the other guy, Duvell Hibbert, and the shot that was either aimed at him or somebody else that was fleeing that went down the street and hit Ariella.
That was one of Drake's fans.
And if you're not going to go and talk to the police and help them for one of your fans, then I've lost a lot of respect for you.
100%, Joe.
And I also mentioned in the intro, he is the so-called Goodwill Ambassador for the Toronto Raptors, whatever that means.
But the Raptors are owned by Maple East Sports and Entertainment.
This is about family entertainment, family-friendly sports teams.
What has MLSE said about this?
Because wearing Hell's Angels paraphernalia, Joe, that's the opposite of spreading goodwill.
They have rules.
I'm still going to call it the hanger.
I know it's the Bank Scotia Vault or whatever.
I can't get used to that yet.
But they have gang color rules there.
The NBA has very strict rules about people involved with the NBA being part of street gangs or gambling.
Oh, so what you're saying, if I wore a Hell's Angels t-shirt into the Air Canada Center or whatever it's called now, I'm not allowed to wear that in?
This is going to be his assignment, the very first Raptor game.
You're going to go in with the same shirt.
We can get it on Carlisle Avenue, see what happens.
It would be interesting.
Yeah, the Hells Angels, Joe, actually, people might not know what you're referring to.
They actually have a gift shop.
They do.
I talked to the guy there, and he was really great.
He had the whole thing.
And he was really a nice guy to talk to.
And finally, he got a little ticked off because he let us shoot all the pictures of myself and Veronica Henry.
And then he got kicked.
But the guy was actually pretty nice to us.
And he said, the way he looks at it, it's no big deal.
And of course, the police say the opposite.
Like you said, they call it organized crime.
Chief Mark Saunders has tweeted about this.
OPP Commissioner Vince Hawks has commented on it.
And as I've other, you know, the chief or the head of Guns and Gangs out in Vancouver.
And so, you know, Drake has stepped over a line here as far as law enforcement is concerned, but we've all bought into it and he's got a lot of publicity too.
Here's the other part of his business.
But you know what?
And you nailed it, business.
And where I'm going with this, Joe, is the bottom line.
You and I, members of law enforcement, reasonable-minded citizens, I think, would be appalled at somebody propping up an outlaw motorcycle gang like the Hells Angels.
But Drake's fan base, do they see this as a positive?
Hey, look at Drake, you know, being bad.
Look at him stirring the pot, rocking the boat.
And at the end of the day, it's kind of like Joe, Nike's recent announcement that Colin Kaepernick is going to be their public figurehead stepping forward.
You and I might be appalled by that, but for a 16, 17-year-old core consumer of sneakers, hey, he's a rebel.
This is a good thing.
What's your take?
Yeah, I mean, the Kaepernick thing I find is disgusting because anybody won't stand for the national animals.
I'm with you.
You know, again, I don't even know.
I mean, I'm not a boycotter, but we have Nike stuff.
I've got kids, as we all do.
And they like the Nike stuff.
And I was just saying before that I had my first Nike shoes when I was, I was one of the first to have them because my coach had them.
He was a big-time runner and he gave them to me.
And so, you know, in those days, it was all about Oregon and the pureness of running.
It changed so much that somebody that hates America.
But anyway, to your point about Drake, yeah, I mean, they're in the publicity business.
The old days, they make their money on tours and they also can record those records very cheaply because it's all computerized, the beats and the sounds.
So you can do it in a room, on a hotel room or on a bus or wherever you want to do it.
And the other thing is that he is big business for MLSE because as the Raptors kind of spokesman, their global ambassador, he has his own nightclub, which is inside the vault.
And it's one of those places that I haven't been in there, but I've been outside of it, where you want to be kind of seen and they've got kind of like bottle service.
And a lot of money's made there because that's where you want to go.
If you're not just at a Raptor game, but you want to be kind of part of the in-crowd, you have to get an invitation to get in there.
He might be in there or some of his friends.
So I think they make a lot of money.
But I also know they're very community-minded at MLSC.
You can't give them full shot on this because they do a lot for the community.
do.
And I think there's going to come a point where they're going to have to figure out what they're going to have to do about Drake because I don't think they can wait for...
There's six people that have been murdered that are connected to him.
I'm not saying that he's involved in any of it, but there's a bunch of his friends that have been killed.
And obviously the two murders that happened at his OVO after party, that's real.
How many involved in your life or none?
None that I know of.
Right.
So, you know, they're not stupid down there.
They know what it is.
So I see what you're getting at, Joe.
It's business is business.
From the corporate side, Drake will pack the house for MLSE, for the 16, 17-year-old consumer of Drake's music being rebellious, offending people like you and I. That's a good thing.
And everyone's making money.
My point of view is that contrary to what Hells Angels Flax might say, this is not a biking enthusiast club.
These are very bad people.
And you mentioned murder.
That's one of their stock in trade.
I just think it's egregious that somebody would wear something emblematic of a motorcycle club like the Hells Angels.
It's particularly interesting that people like us take constant heat for everything we retweet or anybody, you know, I'm coming on with you here today and I'm not going to hear about it.
I feel like calling and texting out to Jonathan Goldsby over at whatever that is to let him know I was here because I know they're keeping track of it anyway.
Is there some sort of a homing device on where I'm going?
It's under your card.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's like, it's interesting how they have a double standard about that.
They wouldn't say boo.
Nobody covered that story.
If it wasn't for Chief Saunders putting out his tweet, I mean, locally, it wasn't even anybody commenting on it outside of the OPP Commissioner.
So, you know what?
There's a double standard.
And it isn't cool what he did at all.
He's not going to be a Hells Angels.
They're not going to accept him.
And the people that died around him this year, or in the last three years and three this year alone, in a year where we have record shootings, record murders, they deserve better too.
And Joe, one last question, because we're almost out of racetrack here.
At the end of the day, in the days ahead, what do you see Drake doing in terms of addressing this issue?
Is there going to be any kind of mea culpa?
Or in his book, in his worldview of things, is this mission accomplished?
Look at all this publicity.
This is part of me becoming the badass Drake, putting the Forest Hill lineage behind him.
Where do you see this going?
Sorry for my cough.
I guess I'm just all emotional about it.
Yeah, no, he's not going to do anything.
He'll just go on to the next thing.
His job is to get Drake and his name out there.
He's done that.
He doesn't care.
I mean, don't tell me he doesn't have people around him that tell him what to put on.
I don't know how he's going to top that, though.
I mean, why does he just go ahead and wear, you know, wear a Compton something or go ahead and just be a gangster, see how long he lasts at it.
I mean, that's, you know, at the end of the day, I think Mike McCormick said it best from Toronto Police Association.
You've got to make a decision.
You're either you have a key to the city from Mayor John Torrey, which we didn't talk about.
That's the other thing.
I think that's why it's a story.
This key to the city, I can't think of anybody else that received the key to the city.
Decision Time00:03:28
We don't hand those out every week.
If you're going to have that in a year where we've got record homicides, including three guys that are related to you or your businesses, I think you should be a little bit more responsible.
I agree, Joe, and it'll be interesting to see if MLSE and Mayor John Torrey, for that matter, weighs in too.
And great story, by the way.
I'm glad you're holding his feet to the fire on this.
And Drake, if you're watching this, it's not a problem.
Give us a call.
It's not cool.
Give Joe Warmington a call.
But it's not cool.
You're supporting an organized criminal enterprise that's capable of the worst of the worst.
And maybe that's going to help you sell some more t-shirts or get you some more music downloaded.
But at the end of the day, I hope a loved one in your circle isn't victimized by somebody that's part of organized crime.
Folks, keep it here.
of the Ezreal event show to come right after this a story in the National Post makes for a fascinating read Here's all you need to know.
The federal government says it's under no obligation whatsoever to ensure the military equipment it purchases can actually do the job.
Indeed, in a court case, Public Services and Procurement Canada has admitted that it's never tested the latest search and rescue gear that it recently purchased for the military and the Coast Guard.
The admission is among the evidence in a complaint by two defense firms that have argued that the government's decision to award a contract to a rival company was unfair.
This bidding brouhaha pertains to the awarding of a $5.6 million contract to provide software to help in search and rescue missions.
But the two competing companies that questioned the government's decision to name MDA Software as the winner of the contract said they were stunned when federal officials freely admitted that not only did they never test the winning system, but they don't even know whether it actually meets the requirements of the Canadian forces or the Canadian Coast Guard.
Hey, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, lots of feedback regarding my recent commentary regarding the federal government's stunning admission that it is under no obligation whatsoever to ensure the military equipment it purchases can actually do the job.
Indeed, in a court case, Public Services and Procurement Canada admitted that it has never even tested the latest search and rescue gear it recently purchased for the military and the Coast Guard.
Just when you think you've heard everything, folks.
Still, how can this be?
Well, Bass Cannon Jake writes, Canada has a drama instructor who makes terrorists millionaires and hates the Canadian armed forces.
That's how.
Hey, Jake, there's an idea.
Maybe Omar Cotter can contribute some of his millions to help prop up Canada's beleaguered military.
After all, this kid has experience in terms of explosive devices.
And Yay Ye writes, the military will fix itself.
The border will fix itself.
The budget will balance itself.
Yeah, this would indeed appear to be the mantra of the Trudeau Liberals.
Faulty Equipment, Risky Lives00:00:57
The only thing missing is the background music of Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy.
And Randy Hall writes, I have to admit, I kind of like the idea of having a weak military under Trudeau, especially with his apparent admiration of dictatorships.
Good one, Randy.
But, you know, I feel for those patriots who are actually serving in the military these days, their lives are being put at risk thanks to untested or faulty equipment that the feds have no problem purchasing.
Remember those U submarines the Kretchen Liberals bought from the UK for $750 million some 20 years ago?
They were lemons, needing more than $2.6 billion in repairs and maintenance work.
And worst of all, one sub suffered an electrical fire that killed one sailor and injured several others.
That is just simply egregious.
Well, that's it for tonight's edition of the Ezra Levant Show.