David Menzies argues December 2020 lockdowns—like Toronto’s failed policies—were ineffective, with 80% of Canadian deaths among the elderly and retail risks at just 0.2%-0.9%. He highlights hypocrisy in shutting small businesses (e.g., Adam Skelly’s restaurant) while Walmart/Costco stayed open, and Manitoba ticketing drive-in church services despite no risk, violating Charter rights. With cases rising in Toronto and Peel, the WHO’s inefficacy warnings ignored, Menzies suggests governments prioritize power over evidence, warning mask mandates may persist post-vaccine as civil liberties erode further. [Automatically generated summary]
This is the Ezra Event Show and I'm David Menzies filling in for Ezra Event.
On tonight's show, I ponder why it is we are still in lockdown mode when it has been proven that lockdowns are not working when it comes to curbing the Wuhan virus.
Now to get the Ezra Event Show as well as other premium content shows, please go to RebelNewsPlus.com, sign up, become a premium subscriber, and never miss another Rebel video.
Tonight, we know so much more about the Wuhan virus than we did back in the beginning of the year.
So why are the lockdowns continuing?
It's Tuesday, December 8th, 2020, and this is the Ezra Event Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
There's maybe 500 customers here and you won't give them an answer.
The only thing I have to say is government a lot of publisher is because it's my bloody right to do so.
Folks, I'm a big fan of editorial cartoons, even though these days, truth be told, editorial cartoonists are far more risk averse due to that three-headed hydra that is political correctness, cancel culture, and the cartoon Karens out there who find everything in anything offensive.
Even so, I came across an editorial cartoon the other day that I think really nailed it when it comes to the so-called COVID-19 global pandemic crisis that we are allegedly currently immersed in.
Check it out.
A news crew is on the beach, presumably filming a sky is falling news report regarding a small wave that is perhaps half the size of the news reporter.
The wave is called COVID, and it is a harmless little wave heading toward the sandy beach.
Even so, the reporter is pointing at the little wave, barking into the microphone, no doubt about the incredible harm the COVID pandemic is doing to the world at large.
Of course, the news crew is completely oblivious to the real story, namely the gigantic tidal wave in the background that is about to engulf them and perhaps sweep them out to sea.
That tidal wave bears the name poverty.
And that, folks, is the real COVID-19 story in the 12th and final month of this hellacious year of 2020.
Indeed, the media still rails on hysterically about the record number of Wuhan virus positive case counts as if COVID is akin to Ebola, that, you know, contracting this virus is almost an automatic death sentence, regardless of who you are.
But surely we all know by now that nothing could be further from the truth.
Meanwhile, where are the stories that the so-called cure is surely worse than the curse?
Poverty is indeed the problem.
Lost jobs, bankrupt businesses, a moribund economy, depression and anxiety.
But since last winter, it's business as usual when it comes to lockdowns and smackdowns and suspensions of our civil liberties.
But to fight what exactly?
You know, personally, like most people, I suspect, I've come to look upon the Wuhan virus far differently in the month of December than I did back in, say, February.
Back then, the coronavirus was some mysterious thing happening in Hubai province in China.
Later, it would spread to Iran and Italy, both becoming hotspots, but still an ocean away.
But then the virus spread to just about every place in the world, including right here in Canada.
And wow, the fear factor loomed large.
One didn't dare fill the gas tank unless one was wearing a vinyl or latex glove.
Hand sanitizer disappeared from store shelves seemingly overnight.
People began voluntarily masking up, which made non-medical masks disappear overnight as well.
People were even donning plastic goggles.
Every point of entry on the body had to be protected.
After all, this was surely some kind of vicious bug.
By the time the lockdowns kicked in around St. Patrick's Day, I had bought into the fear factor too, given that so little was known about this virus.
Could I catch it by just touching an escalator handrail?
And if I caught it, was it an automatic death sentence?
And so it was that the entire planet went into a mindset best described as really better safe than sorry.
Check out this clip of me going to Toronto's Pearson International Airport back in the springtime, where I discovered that contrary to popular belief, international flights were still coming into Canada on a daily basis, including, yes, flights from China, aka that basic dictatorship that our Prime Minister greatly admires.
David Menzies for Rebel News here at Pearson International Airport in Toronto at the international arrivals at Terminal 3.
Well folks, I'm here once again to find out what indeed is going on in terms of international arrivals, particularly those coming to Canada from China.
Now, you might think that that's a thing of the past.
After all, Air Canada suspended flights to and from China last month.
And last Friday, we were told that Justin Trudeau was closing the border.
Remember that?
But it's not the case.
At least five to ten flights from China are coming into Canada on a daily basis.
In fact, there's one coming in from Shanghai at one o'clock and another coming in to this terminal at 2.40 from Chongqing via Beijing.
And I just want to see, first of all, if any of these passengers are being subjected to enhanced screening measures, because that has not been the case in all my other visits to Pearson International Airport beginning in January.
And I also want to get the opinion of other travelers about our policy.
You see, if you fly into Toronto from a flight originating in China and then you want to fly out to say Vancouver or Montreal or anywhere else, you simply get on a connecting flight and off you go.
In any event, these flights are going to arrive at any moment.
I've got my mic on a mini hockey stick to maintain social distancing etiquette.
And we'll see what the people arriving have to say.
Hello, sir.
Did you just come off the flight from China?
Yeah.
And I'm just wondering, did you go through any kind of enhanced screening measures coming through customs?
No.
Extra screening?
I don't think so.
No?
No.
It's normal, just normal.
Oh, just normal.
Even though there's a global pandemic.
I didn't really notice, but I do get some papers.
Did anyone take your temperature here at the airport, ma'am?
No.
Did they take your temperature remotely, perhaps?
No, didn't.
Heck, even in the great outdoors, I was donning so much PPE, I was perhaps half a pound of plastic removed from a full-fledged hazmat suit.
Check out this excerpt from early April of an interview with a trucker who was lamenting that, yes, thanks to COVID fears, truckers, the true superheroes of the supply chain, were being denied the use of bathrooms.
One of the biggest factors that our drivers are experiencing is the fact that they cannot use a washroom.
And I heard stories from our drivers, then I actually heard it firsthand myself.
And I drove just last week two and a half hours to get to one of our customers.
And to my surprise, when I got there, I asked very politely, could I use the bathroom?
And they said, oh, we have to check with the manager.
They go inside, then they come out, and they said, if you really have to go, you're going to have to go behind the trailer.
In any event, the point is that when I look back at the early days of the virus, I realize now in hindsight that I and millions of others overreacted when it came to this strange new bug.
And I say this because we now know who the most at risk are: namely, the elderly in long-term care facilities who account for more than 80% of Wuhan virus deaths in Canada.
That's astounding.
Equally astounding is that those under 40 account for only 0.3% of deaths.
That's right.
0.3%.
Perhaps that is where we should have directed our resources to the long-term care facilities as opposed to, oh, I don't know, shutting down overnight summer camps as what happened here in Ontario, despite the fact that children are virtually invulnerable when it comes to dying from the Wuhan virus.
And by the way, the death toll is really the only meaningful statistic when it comes to this bug, not the number of positive case results.
And when one looks at the death toll worldwide, that number is 1.55 million.
In other words, folks, it is a number that resembles a very bad flu season.
And yet, we are being told by our fearless leaders that they are following the science, that selectively locking down parts of the economy and enduring all the problems that go with that is somehow a positive thing.
And it is a very selective lockdown, isn't it?
The multinational, multi-billion dollar conglomerates such as Walmart and Costco, they can open with impunity.
They can pack in their customers like so many sardines into a tin can, but the little mom paw stores, no.
Those are inexplicably hot spots for the Wuhan virus.
Beating Retail Shame00:04:12
But you know, last week a coalition of major retailers, including Hudson's Bay, Canadian Tire, Indigo, and Leon's, made a plea to government to let all retailers open.
And with good reason, the stats show that only 0.2% to 0.9% of COVID-positive cases can be traced back to retail environments.
Not even one full percentage point, folks.
Yet, the carnage by way of unemployment and bankruptcies of once viable business, it's just downright appalling.
Meanwhile, a new poll by Maru Matchbox indicates that 93% of Canadians believe that small retailers should be allowed to stay open.
87% said that closing in-store shopping to small retailers while allowing big box stores to remain open for in-store shopping is unfair.
But the politicians remain deaf to this groundswell of opposition.
Indeed, check out the disgrace that occurred just two weeks ago in West End Toronto when Adam Skelly had the temerity to open his restaurant to serve his customers and employ his staff and support his young family.
Well, Mayor John Torrey, much to the delight of the mainstream media, I should note, quite literally sent in all the king's horses and all the king's men to quash the great Canadian barbecue rebellion.
Check it out.
You're beating it up!
Shame on you!
Where's he going?
Shame on you!
Shame on you!
You guys are- Hey!
Hey!
What is this?
What is this, guys?
I need a car.
Hey!
Stop it!
Get it on with it!
Shame on you!
Shame on these people!
Shame on these police!
Look at the way they've started now!
You're a hero, Adam!
I love you guys!
Move back!
Shut up!
Stand up!
Small business!
Small business!
Get back!
Shame on the shame!
Shame on the shame!
You're stopping him from beating your shame!
Shame!
Shame! Shame!
Who's gonna be the friend?
Who's gonna be the strange?
Shame on you, brother!
What is that?
Jesus!
Get back!
Shame!
Share!
Just a hero!
This is a hero!
Shocking.
Today, the restaurant is boarded up, fenced off, and under police guard, while a jam-packed Costco operates a mere few hundred meters away, unmolested.
And yes, that Costco even has its own restaurant.
Funny that.
And when the Extreme Fitness Gym in the East End of Toronto dared to open on the same day Adamson Barbecue was being shut down, it endured a similar fate as well.
Locked Out Gyms, Open Costco00:13:00
The owner, as well as fitness enthusiasts, were locked out.
That's odd.
Isn't breaking a sweat a good thing?
Remember those participation ads from the 70s?
These men are about evenly matched.
That's because the average 30-year-old Canadian is in about the same physical shape as the average 60-year-old Swede.
Run, walk, cycle.
Let's get Canada moving again.
This message is brought to you by the CFL, CTV, and its sponsors for participation.
And yet, what does the science tell us about gyms and COVID?
Well, consider a recent study by Sheffield Halam University.
Researchers analyzed more than 62 million gym visits from 14 European nations since September and discovered that just 487 infections had been reported by operators.
That works out to a rate of 0.78 cases per 100,000 visits.
Again, not even a single percentage point.
So deny people the right to work, deny people the right to open their business, deny people the right to burn off their rage and despair by going to the gym.
And what do you get?
Well, you get more and more people thinking about checking out as in permanently.
Sadly and shockingly, the Canadian Mental Health Association reports that a full 10% of Canadians have considered committing suicide during this pandemic.
Compare that to pre-pandemic 2016, when only 2.5% entertained suicidal thoughts, says CMHA's national CEO, Margaret Eaton, quote, cold weather, uncertainty, eroded social networks, and restrictions on holiday gatherings are hitting at a time when people are already anxious, hopeless, and fearful that things are going to get worse.
I am afraid that many people are in such despair that they can't see past it, end quote.
Enough is enough.
We need more liberty during this time, not less.
But is it going to happen?
I don't think so.
It seems to me that elected officials of every level, of every political stripe, have received a taste of quasi-totalitarian power.
And guess what, folks?
They really like that taste.
In fact, they find it downright addictive.
I just want you all to know that you just served a fine upon God, okay?
Think about that.
And I wish you all to consider that.
Because these tyrants didn't want the optics of ticketing Christians during their service, they waited until every media outlet left.
We stayed here to watch what was going to happen because we had a little bit of a hunch that Brian Pallister and his vile health authorities cringe-worthy excuses for law enforcement here in Canada came to ticket Christians for staying in their cars, for staying in their cars while worshiping God.
Under what constitution are you acting under?
Because it's not the constitution that Canada subscribes to, certainly.
It's not the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Was it these guys that gave you the ticket to buy it?
That's right.
How dare you?
Well, that was a video clip of Kian Bexti's visit to Steinbeck, Manitoba.
And as you can see, folks, there seems to be a different standard applied in Manitoba, much like other provinces when it comes to places of worship.
And I think it was encapsulated by that illustration, that cartoon, that depicted an abortion clinic open for business, liquor store open for business, place of worship, a church closed.
And joining me now is Kian Bexti himself.
How you doing there, Kian?
Great.
How are you?
Fantastic.
Well, Kian, you were really fired up in that video.
What was it that got your dander up?
Was it the fact that A, the people in this church were being ticketed, or B, the fact that the authorities outweighed the media so they couldn't record this disgrace on camera?
Yeah, it was a bit of both.
The main reason was that it made me wonder, what does the Constitution mean now?
What does the Charter of Rights and Freedom actually mean if it does not get followed by the people you most expect to follow it, which is law enforcement?
Our freedoms exist to our freedoms that are guaranteed to us in the Charter and in other places are guaranteed to us not by government.
They exist before government, and the Charter outlines where the government can't overstep.
And one of those places is freedom of religion, freedom of the media, a whole bunch of other things.
But in particular, the right for these folks to practice their religion was being absolutely trampled by Brian Palliser, the health officials, and the law enforcement that were on scene.
It was terrible to see with my own eyes.
And I'm glad that we were able to be there with the video camera to show everyone exactly what's happening in this country.
You know, and Kian, strictly speaking in terms of the science, if you will, because we're being told over and over and over again, it's science that is directing these decisions.
When one goes into a vehicle with the windows rolled up and you're just with members of your immediate family and you're listening to the sermon on a radio broadcast, where's the danger?
I witnessed this going back in May to Elmer, Ontario at the Church of God there, and they were being threatened with the same kind of shakedown.
And I can tell you, Kian, about 300 meters away from the Church of God was a no-frills packed to the gills with a lineup outside.
People weren't isolating within vehicles to do their grocery shopping, obviously.
I can't make sense of this.
Yeah, I mean, you look at a Costco and there's more people coming in and out of their cars and sitting in their cars than there were in that place of worship.
And when you look at all that, all the hypocrisy of the rules, you realize, well, this is really just vindictively targeting Christians and people who practice religion.
And that is a massive problem.
And actually, it's interesting to, I'm glad we're able to report this, but Manitoba actually turned course today.
They decided that, oh, okay, maybe those drive-in services aren't that bad after, just a day after we published video footage of what was going on.
So they were obviously embarrassed.
You know, well, good for you then that you were the one media outlet that stood around to capture this on camera.
Indeed, and if that's the catalyst that has changed, you know, the course of this SmackDown of the Church of God there.
But, you know, Kian, again, going back to the science, do we have any statistics to indicate that places of worship are hotspots for the spread of the Wuhan virus?
I mean, last week, a bunch of large retailers came out, such as Canadian Tire, Indigo, Leon's, some other ones, and they were making the notation that when it comes to COVID-positive tests coming out of retail stores, the rate is somewhere between 0.2% and 0.9%.
So in other words, a percent of a percent.
Do we have any indications that the same might be true for religious institutions?
That's a good question.
I mean, I'm not a COVID denier.
I'm not also not an epidemiologist, but when you look at what was going on here, they willingly said, you know, fine, we won't gather inside.
Maybe that is too risky.
They made that determination on their own and they decided to do a drive-in service.
But the fact that that, like even, you don't have to be an epidemiologist to know that you're not going to get the Wuhan flu from someone in a totally different car from you.
That's why it's so obviously funny when you see someone driving in their car all by themselves with a mask on, because it's just insane.
It shows how cult-like this whole thing has become.
And, you know, when they made that decision to hold the drive-in service, everyone could see that that was a reasonable compromise.
It was beyond reasonable, actually.
So, I mean, the fact that this was illegal in the first place goes to show that the Manitoba government and governments across Canada and indeed the world are completely missing the mark when it comes to these regulations, whether it's closing down small businesses and saying they can't sell Christmas cards, but you can still go to Walmart and buy a six liter of chocolate mint ice cream.
It doesn't make sense.
Yeah, it's almost as though the Wuhan virus, it's a super intelligent bugkey, and it, for some reason, likes big box stores.
It hates the small mom paw stores.
But more to the point, I can tell you here in the greater Toronto area, where we look at the city of Toronto and Peel Region, where they are in the gray zone, which is the most severe lockdown color you can be in.
Why it's called gray is anyone's guess.
But besides that, the stats show that since going into that lockdown, the number of positive cases hasn't decreased.
In fact, they've increased.
So it shows that's the indication that these lockdowns or these selective lockdowns are not working.
So why are we still going down this road in the first place in terms of those in the bureaucracy, the public health units, and even the premiers of this land?
Well, that's a good question.
And I guess credit where credit is due, even the World Health Organization, the commies that run it, they say lockdowns don't work.
What do you know?
They also said that masks don't work.
And they also said that masks do work.
And they kind of want vaccines to be mandatory.
It's a very confusing organization, but they've said, and so far it seems that governments in Canada are keen to listen to them on everything that they say, despite them flip-flopping on so many issues.
Right now, they're saying lockdowns don't work, which sort of the data backs that up.
So why aren't the governments listening?
Well, it seems like the governments are all too happy with the power that they've recently found themselves with.
When every premier in this country got elected, except for, I think, Scott Moe and John Horgan, they weren't aware that they were going to have these extraordinary powers.
And now that they have them, they are not going to let them go willingly.
You know, I think you're onto something, Keen.
It kind of speaks to something our boss, Ezra Levant, has said in the past.
Several bureaucrats, several head honchos of public health units, several government leaders have had a taste of totalitarian power.
And you know what?
Kind of like the taste.
Yeah, no, that's exactly right.
This is just, you know, when tragedy strikes and governments get more power, you know, why would they ever relinquish it voluntarily?
Think of the Income Tax Act from the World Wars, from the early 20th century.
That was brought in to deal with the cost of war.
The government said, we're in extraordinary times.
We need to take the extraordinary measure of siphoning money off of your paycheck.
People couldn't believe it back then.
They thought that that was crazy.
It was such an infringement on their own personal liberty and their own financial independence from government.
And guess what?
The world wars are over.
But guess what stayed this entire time for 80 years or so?
The Income Tax Act.
And you can expect that even when vaccines come out, even when people start being vaccinated and it's proven that the transfer of the virus isn't popping between people who've been vaccinated, they're still going to tell you that you have to wear a mask.
Extraordinary Times Tax00:01:06
Mark my words on that.
Oh, I wouldn't take you on that bet at all, Kian.
I am absolutely sure you're going to see that.
In fact, in the New York Times, I think of today, there was a story with that headline that even with vaccines, here's why wearing a mask is a good idea.
So, yeah, I have no idea when we're going to get back to normal classic, but wow, it can't come soon enough.
Keen, thanks so much for a great report and good on you for your spidey senses tingling that you knew they were just trying to outweight the other media and that they were going to hand out those tickets without the glare publicity, but you got them and good on you for that.
Thank you so much, my friend.
Take care.
You got it.
Keep it here, folks.
More of the Ezreal event show to come right after this.