"I Will Open" spotlights small business owners defying 2020 lockdowns—Harry Hutchinson (Victoria) risked a $9,913 fine to reopen his store, Tracy Walker (Red Deer) faced $3K+ mortgage penalties but opened anyway, and Claudia Rocca (Bolton) fought Peel Region’s gray zone rules after a summons. Derek Noble’s toy store saw record sales despite a summons, contrasting with Adam Skelly’s arrest at Adam’s Barbecue, while CrossFit gyms in Victoria argued safety measures made them lower-risk than allowed pubs. The episode reveals systemic bias against local businesses, exposing Walmart and LCBO as exceptions, and frames defiance as survival—protesting "ridiculous regulations" with mannequins and crowdfunded legal aid. [Automatically generated summary]
Hello my rebels and I hope you're having a good Christmas time.
Hopefully you're having a chance to take a break from a busy year or maybe you're still on staycation and have been for many months.
Either way, it's a pleasure to have you listen to the podcast.
Over the days ahead, we have the best of The Rebel compilations of some of our favorite videos this past year.
I hope you enjoyed them.
We'll be back with original programming very early in the new year, but I think a lot of these videos you're about to hear today in the next few days may well be new to you because they were on our YouTube channel, but they were not on my show, The Ezra Levant Show.
So I hope you enjoy these because I think most of them may be new for you and they're really some of our best work.
So without further ado, here are the best of the Rebels shows from 2020.
And just in closing, let me invite you to become a Rebel News Plus subscriber.
You get the video version of these shows, which the podcast is great, but seeing the visuals, especially in some of our most dramatic coverage, really makes a difference.
Just go to RebelNews.com, click subscribe.
It's eight bucks a month.
As you know, we don't take a dime from Trudeau.
So this is how we rely on you, frankly.
Okay, here's today's show.
Tonight, businesses that have decided they've got nothing to lose and are willing to declare, they will open.
It's Christmas Day, and this is the Ezra Levant 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.
The only thing I have to say is government about why I publish it is because it's my bloody right to do so.
It's hard to be in business, especially a retail business when you're competing against the big box stores and increasingly against Amazon.com.
It's hard to be in the restaurant business.
Most restaurants don't make it.
You're on your feet all day.
You've got to watch the till, watch shrinkage, staff eating the profits.
What a tough job.
And then to be the target of these brutal lockdowns, even though it's shown that so few of the pandemic virus spreads come from restaurants or gyms.
It's just not there.
I think it's politicians seeking a scapegoat, or maybe it's the opposite.
It's maybe the big stores like Costco and Walmart and Amazon can afford to hire the lobbyists, but the mom and pop shops can't.
So we have a series called I Will Open.
These are storekeepers, shopkeepers, restaurateurs who have said, I've got nothing less to lose.
I'm going to go out of business anyways.
10,000 restaurants in Canada alone have shut down.
So we have a series called I Will Open.
These are people in Canada and in other places around the world who have said, we simply must stay open.
And those who are with us, please come and shop.
Don't keep doing business with Amazon.
I'm very proud of the work we've done with our I Will Open series.
And that's the subject of today's year-in review.
Take a look.
A Berwick shop owner has today defied lockdown restrictions in Victoria by opening his clothing store to the public.
Harry Hutchinson told me that he has no choice but to open his business or to go under.
Police were on the scene when I arrived and indicated to the small business owner that he might be issued with a $9,913 fine for opening against the chief health officer's directions.
So staff that you've got on today, just on it there.
Yeah, just a one.
Yes.
You obviously know why we're here.
Yes, I do know why you're here and you've got to do your job.
So very simple.
I'll just let you know you don't have to say or do anything.
Anything you say or do may be recorded and given in evidence.
Sure.
Do you understand that?
I just want to ask you what your reason is for breaching the chief health officer's directive to survive and to get all small businesses.
I'm the voice for small business.
And this is my action.
And I realise that we can't open.
But enough is enough.
And I'm sure if you weren't wearing that uniform, you'd be supporting me.
Alright, so I'm happy with your ID.
We'll go make some further inquiries.
You're the owner of this business.
Yes.
So you obviously understand the penalties that may apply to the city.
Yes, I understand.
We'll leave it at that for now.
Listen, I'm going to have to go higher up with this angulation before we start issuing out any penalty notices.
You know, they're obviously quite significant amounts.
Yes, I do, yeah.
All right.
We'll make a couple of phone calls, let you know what's going to happen, and then we'll be on our way.
Okay, no worries at all.
Was this a complaint by a neighbour?
No comment.
Did you get it?
What's your intention from here, Harry?
You've got to intention for the rest of the day or are you going to close off?
To be honest with you, our stock is depleted.
Thank God, which means I will survive and I'll be able to continue my business.
In fact, this afternoon I've got to get on the phone and order new stock.
I knew they were coming.
You knew they were coming.
So you're obviously taking a stand here, I am taking a stand and I'm taking a stand not for Harry's clothing.
stand is for small business we're totally it looks like the community supports your yeah They certainly do.
Look, I've had so much support in this business in the last day and a half.
I'm humble.
If I didn't do this, I felt I wouldn't be reopening on the end date.
Now, we don't know what date that might have been.
The 19th of October was too late for me.
I've got financial commitments, but fortunately, because I've been open the last day and a half, I've cleared those commitments.
I have two shops here, and I've been fortunate to be able to trade throughout the whole time because I have foods.
And I just could see the whole hypocrisy of it, mainly because stores that could open, like for example, a news agent, were selling clothing out the front.
And that's great, that's great initiative.
But the people who have clothing stores, how it's like a kick in the guts to them.
So when I offered about two days ago for Harry to put some clothing out the front of my clothing, about the front of my food shop, and he hesitated to answer, and I thought, okay, he's thinking about it.
And that's when he decided to open.
I've been working on this particular business for 15 years and I wasn't prepared to let it go away through no fault of mine and someone who's never been on a benefit and all of a sudden I'm on benefits and I'm begging for money to survive.
I can't pay rents.
I can't pay insurances.
I'd rather give it away than have that.
You're not worried about the officer said it's about a $10,000 fine.
You're not worried?
It could have been a million dollar fine because that went straight over the top of the head because I'm not paying it and as soon as I get issued with that fine I'm going to rip it to pieces.
I don't care.
You know, I honestly don't care about a fine.
And what's your message to other Victorian small businesses that are struggling that are tossing up between either shutting shop because they just can't afford to keep working or doing what you're doing?
What would you say to them?
We're not a Nazi state.
It's becoming ridiculous out there.
We've got to open up the door.
If you want to value your business and you want to support your customers who are there to support you, do what I've been doing and open up your door.
If we all did it, there'd be no fines issued because they couldn't cope with it.
So I'm urging all small businesses out there, all large businesses, get behind me and open their doors.
How many guys do you employ?
I've got two employees.
And have they worked through this period?
The last day and a half, that's their first work since shutdown.
And were they worried to come into work?
They need money.
They need money.
I'll cover the fine anyway.
But they need money.
How are they going to survive?
They're not on JobKeeper.
They only get paid for me for what they work.
Sheila Gunread for Rebel News.
It's Saturday morning and I'm in Red Deer, Alberta with Tracy Walker.
Tracy's a hairstylist and she's got a terrible story to tell us about how the lockdown is affecting her.
Now, we should discuss a little bit about the new lockdown.
It's Saturday here.
New lockdown measures to deal with the spread of the coronavirus came into effect on Tuesday.
Basically everything is closed except for retail at 15% of fire code and restaurants for takeout, but personal care is closed.
Everything.
Absolutely everything, yes.
And initially, Premier Jason Kenney had applauded your industry for not being responsible for any cases of transmission.
And yet in the new lockdown measures, you're completely closed.
Now, you reached out to me through our iWillopen.com portal, where we invite businesses who will defy the new lockdown measures to get in touch with us so we can tell your story about why you're doing this and why you feel as though you were left with no choice to invite a fine just to try to keep your business afloat.
Tracy, tell us your story.
Well, actually, it started with the first lockdown when we had, we have a mortgage through a mortgage broker versus a credit union or a bank.
And so when we were mandated to shut down, I had to phone my company and ask them if they, or my mortgage broker company, that they could please do the mortgage deferral.
And they had informed me that that doesn't apply to them because they are a broker, not, like I said, a bank or a credit union.
So they don't apply.
And I said, well, there's got to be something that we could do because I am completely shut down and I have no means of, I either pay you and I don't eat or I'm a diabetic as well.
So I wouldn't be able to afford my medicine or I pay the mortgage and I wouldn't even have enough to completely pay the mortgage with what I was making.
So the first lockdown knocked my clientele.
I'm going to say, I don't know where they went and I don't know what happened, but it probably was close to at least half of where I was before.
And so with this mortgage, she said that because it doesn't apply to them, all the fines and fees will be accumulated, that there is no, they're not taking off anything to help in any way.
I was fined $250 a month, being it that for non-payment, and then $92.94 a day for, I guess, failure to pay, I guess it's a penalty per day that you're late.
So at the end of the month, it was already $3,000 just with that, then the $250.
So $32.50 was what I had to pay on top of my mortgage payment.
And they gave me 10 days to do it.
And I said, you need to help me.
I mean, there's got to be something.
There's just got to be something.
I actually really thought that they would come around and that they would come to their senses and say, you can't do this to people that can't afford their mortgage right now for no reason of their own.
And you are now mandating the $3,000 on top of that.
I was stunned.
To lose my house now at 54 years old, I am stunned.
My husband was also during this lockdown, his doors, office doors had to close in order to keep his business open.
So he ended up having to move his office in the house.
And I'm also a caregiver for my brother who is also diabetic and severe, severe heart issues.
Why I Follow You Guys00:15:11
So I look after him.
So my house is not just a home.
It's two businesses and three people's livelihoods.
I don't leave my house.
I don't even know if I can put a meal on the table if I followed the lockdowns.
So I had to.
I had to.
I've talked to my clients.
They're like, Ada girl, I am so glad that you're not closing.
I will see you next week and whatever.
And so that has been encouraging that I've got support and I have somebody that's well, my clients are supporting me and they're greeting.
And a lot of them, they were all about the lockdown, all about the masks, everything.
And I was too.
I wanted to keep people safe.
I didn't know what this thing was going to do.
But I am a researcher.
I am a fact follower.
And that's why I follow you guys.
And if it made sense, I would follow it.
My clients, sorry, my hairdresser friends, they literally, every client, every handle, every door handle, every bathroom, every bottle that anybody touched, all the desks, the work that they do to keep an sterile environment, I am so fortunate because I am a one-man show.
I have control over my environment.
I only allow people, like anybody, you know, if it's a family that's come from one household, they're all to come.
But I used to have a color, book, a cut in between, you know, and then do it.
And, you know, if you run a little behind, okay, you're stacking up in here.
Today, now, I mean, I don't put anybody in between.
So again, just by keeping a healthy environment, not having paths crossing, I don't double book or anything of that nature like I used to.
And so that in itself is also a cutback on your clientele of what you can do in a day.
It's Saturday morning.
And I think most women know on Saturday morning, if you try to go to a hair salon, it's booked.
Yes.
And you don't have any clients today.
But let's hope that changes.
Yes.
And you've explained to me, you really have nothing left to lose by opening.
You're losing your home.
You're already losing your home.
I saw the for sale sign as I walked up.
You're losing your business.
You're, I mean, you're left with the untenable choice of putting food on the table or facing fines.
That's right.
And you're willing to take the fines.
And I'm going to extend an offer to you that if you do get fines, that you also come to us through fightthefines.com and we will help you fight those fines with everything, with everything that we have.
We'll get you a great lawyer and we'll fundraise at no cost to you to help you fight the fines just so that you can try to rebuild your life.
Because I think you've truly done everything right.
You tried to live the Alberta dream and it was through no fault of your own.
Finally, that we are coming into a season where it's our busiest season.
We are excited.
All my friends, I've talked to like the hairdressing forums that you can go on, and I'm not alone.
Every hairdresser is really far behind from where they were in a lot of ways, thinking that this was going to help us through and get us going and get us up and running again and getting some funds for our staff.
I don't have any staff, but my friends do.
And these hairdressers, man, they work hard.
And we're all women.
I mean, this is huge for our industry.
This is nothing we've ever seen before.
Tracy, why don't you tell people how they can get in touch with you, how they can find you if they want to support your business?
Because I imagine there are a lot of ladies who need a quick trim, maybe a quick color before they go to an illegal New Year's party.
Yes, my name is Tracy Walker.
Actually, I used to have a name for my place, but now everybody just calls it Tracy's Place.
So that's what my salon is known as.
But yeah, you could give me a call on my work line, which is 403-346-9912.
And yeah, give me a call.
I would be more than happy.
Oh, I've been doing hair for 34 years, so I know a little something about a little something.
And but I would do a great job and I 100% guarantee my work.
So if you're not happy, you come on back and we'll make sure you are.
So, or I will make sure you are.
But yeah, if you are in need, please contact me.
Well, Tracy, again, the offer stands.
If the government comes for you, we'll come with lawyers and we'll make sure that we fight that fine as hard as we can.
Because what's happening to you because of this lockdown through no fault of your own is an absolute tragedy.
And if any of you at home are experiencing what Tracy is, that through no fault of her own, she stands to lose her home, her business, and the dream truly of entrepreneurialship here in Alberta because of the increased lockdown measures, please reach out to me at iwillopen.com.
And if you're one of those people who has received a fine for just going about your business, doing things that were completely normal back in February, do reach out to us too at fight the fines.com.
For Rebel News, I'm Sheila Gunread.
David Mendes for Rebel News here in Bolton, Ontario, and I'm with Claudia Rocca.
She is the owner of Claudia's Closet.
And what happened, folks, is on Sunday, she decided to illegally, if we can call it that, open up her story.
You see, Bolton is in Peel Region.
Peel Region is in the gray zone.
It's been in the gray zone for several weeks now.
That is the most severe lockdown mode.
And that means that Claudia is not allowed to open her wonderful little boutique here.
But on Sunday, you said, Claudia, I guess enough is enough.
This is the Christmas season.
You opened your doors.
What happened?
I opened my doors on Sunday and all my customers were very happy because they were very excited to do some shopping.
So I had restrictions, like four customers at a time.
So there was a bit of a lineup.
So they came in and they shopped and all was well until the two police officers came and they handed me a court summons.
And there's no set fine amount on that.
It's just a summons to appear in court, I presume next year.
Oh, yes, in February.
Okay, then.
And, you know, I mean, this just strikes me as egregious, Claudia.
It's as though there's what, no other crime, like real crime in Peel Region.
There's no murders, there's no sexual assaults, there's no robberies.
But a police officer will be dispatched the very day you open to give you this summons, and all you're trying to do is make a living.
That's right.
I guess everything is all cleared up in town.
They got to go after little old me.
You know, it's incredible.
And you told me yesterday on the phone that there was, was it one cruiser or two police cruisers?
Two yesterday.
Two police cruisers were in the parking lot of the mall looking at you.
I believe you said that one of the police officers said that if we see any customers coming into your store, you are risking a fine of up to $100,000 and they might even charge the customer with what?
Illicit shopping.
I mean, what did you, how did you feel when you heard that?
Actually, at first I was a bit afraid because $100,000 is a lot of money and really normal people don't really have that hanging around to pay for fines.
And I was even upset because I didn't want them to threaten my customers with fines either.
And as a result, you closed the doors and resorted back to curbside pickup?
Because they were parked outside for the rest of the day just staring at my store and surveillancing me.
So the law enforcement, two police cruisers, spent hours, as you said, surveying you and making sure that you didn't serve any customers because that is probably one of the worst crimes that can possibly occur in Peel Region.
That's right.
Unbelievable.
And Claudia, it should be stated, I mean, I'm very distracted.
I'm looking around your store.
You have such wonderful, beautiful merchandise.
And the thing is, it's not the same with curbside.
I would imagine a shopkeeper like yourself who runs such a store, you depend a lot on impulse buys, and you're not going to get that with curbside pickup, are you?
No, because when someone places a curbsider, they place just what they want.
They want a candle, they want a book, they want this, and then that's it.
So I get everything ready, and then the impulse buying is like zero after.
Yeah, and of course, you've got so much merchandise.
The idea of putting all of this online, it's not doable either.
I have like thousands and thousands of items in here.
Like, it can't, it's not possible to put it all online.
And the other thing, of course, Claudia, is that whether we're talking about mugs or Christmas decorations, you've got clothing in the background.
We know we can go down the street here in Bolton to the Walmart, which will be packed to the gills with customers selling exactly the same merchandise.
Why them and why not you?
That's a good question that I like to know.
That's what really upsets me because if it was fair and the Walmarts had that blocked off and just selling their food and pharmacy, then I really wouldn't have a problem with any of this.
You know, maybe that's an idea.
I'm not counseling you, but what if you just put a bushel of apples at the counter, a nickel and apple, and oh, by the way, we have merchandise on the side you might want to buy.
I'm wondering if that would work.
Yeah, maybe.
We'll try that.
And, you know, but in all seriousness, I would see a small shop like yours, it's set on the door, only four customers at a time.
You've got the hand sanitizer, you've got the mask policy.
I would see compliance to the COVID-19 regulations much easier to apply in a small store environment than a huge big box.
So again, why do the big boxes get to remain open and you don't?
Again, that's something that I really want the answers to.
I don't know.
It's not fair.
I agree it's not fair.
And you know what, folks?
We don't think it's fair that Claudia got that summons on Sunday.
And we, I mean, just for what?
The crime of trying to stay open to try to make a living to serve her customers that obviously want to come in here.
So Claudia, we were in touch with one of our lawyers today.
We, under our portal of iwillopen.com, we are taking on your case.
We are going to crowdfund it.
And folks, if you can go to iwillopen.com, if you're able to, please make a donation because I don't think, and I'm sure you don't think, that a nice lady like Claudia just trying to run her retail business should be penalized like this.
So that's what we've done, Claudia.
We've put you in touch with a lawyer and we are going to fight this fine.
So in come February, we're going to go to court for you.
You won't have to spend a nickel.
You won't have to spend any more time on this nonsense.
What do you think about that?
That's awesome.
Thank you so much for your help.
You got it.
Well, you're very deserving of it because, like I said, folks, this is a lady just trying to make a living.
And the idea that this is a breeding ground for future typhoid Marys, whereas the Walmart down the road that is literally packed to the gills, that's okay.
No, no, no.
That's not okay.
We're going to fight for justice.
So in the meantime, Claudia, I hope at least with the curbside service you're doing, at least a little is better than nothing.
But I really hope we finally move away from this gray zone nonsense so that, you know, law-abiding tax-paying citizens like you can simply make a living doing what you like to do.
Yeah, thank you so much, David.
Okay, then.
All right.
Well, for Rebel News, I'm David, the Menzoid Menzies.
I'm here in Sale, which is a small country town about 220 kilometers from Melbourne.
How you all, mate?
You alright?
Yeah, good.
Just the permits?
Yep, and where are you headed to?
To Sale.
To Sale.
And moving, are you?
Sorry, are you moving?
No, no.
Just coming in here.
John is and I'm on.
Easy done.
Have a good day.
Thanks, mate.
It's got a population of about 15,000.
Now, the reason why I'm here is that we're at Sale CrossFit where the owner here has announced that next Saturday he plans to open his doors in defiance to Dan Andrews' lockdown restrictions.
I'm going to be opening on Saturday.
Have an open day for everybody in the community.
If you think he's alone, he's not.
Since Dan Andrews' announcement, his roadmap to nowhere yesterday, we've been inundated at iwillopen.com.au with businesses telling us they plan to open.
I came here first because I think it's important for Melbourneians to hear from regional Victoria.
Melbourne, like you're behind us.
You know, if this is where we're at and we're three and a half hours away from you in a small little country town, you guys are, no matter what you keep getting told, he's not going to do it for you.
If the police rock up on Saturday, what are you going to say to them?
Look, I'll be polite.
I've got nothing wrong with them doing what their job is.
It's a bit unfortunate they've got to do the job.
But this is what it is, I think.
Will you give him a two-week free trial?
The police, they can come in for free.
Yeah.
There you go.
You had to get it.
We need to keep them strong and healthy.
But I'm also going to keep going.
I'm going to keep going.
So they tell you to shut down.
You're just going to keep going?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I spent $10,000 on my contact tracing system and the cleaning and hygiene systems.
Social distancing can all be managed.
They have 350 square meters.
Gyms can do this safely.
We've been shown to be one of the safest industries worldwide and all the statistics from the UK and America support this.
Australia, Victoria is the only one doing.
All the other states are going.
You know, New South Wales has more cases than we do now and their gyms are going and there's not one case being reported from a gym in New South Wales.
What would your message be to Dan Andrews?
It's hard.
40 People, 40 Pubs, Disappointment00:02:51
He's got a hard job but the thing is he's not taking small businesses into account.
Were you disappointed Jesse or were you expecting the announcement not to include gyms at all?
No, I was really disappointed.
You know, I'm a pretty positive guy.
I like to stay hopeful.
But it was really hard and then I listened to the whole thing.
I sat there listening because there was no mention of gyms and that I got angry and frustrated and then one of the reporters asked him about gyms and he turned around and said we were unsafe and I just had to turn off and walk away.
They are sadly this is a high risk environment.
That's not my opinion.
That's not a matter of that I've come up with.
That's the international evidence.
That's the public health advice.
We've gone further in relation to outdoor but it is a very challenging environment and it's one of those things where no one's taking any joy out of that but it is very difficult when something's just by its very nature.
This is no disrespect or any reflection on the owner or the person who operates it, but when something is by its very nature in a really innate unsafe because in the context of this virus, it's really hard to make it safe.
You can't, it's kind of binary.
There's no stats to support what he's saying.
But he and he's done this not just with the gyms but data after data after data.
The curfews he had, there was no backing for that.
He just said he made that up.
The hotel quarantine, like he's lying constantly to try and cover what he thinks is the best thing and these are his ideas.
I need a certain example for the fitness industry and I need to sort of just get the message out there that we can do this safely and if that means demonstrating that when the police come in, when I open and they see everybody socially distancing, everyone maintaining their spaces, cleaning their equipment and doing it right, hopefully that gets some attention and shows that, look, give us a chance.
I can't even train one person in there.
You know what I mean?
I can stand at one end of the gym and yell at them to do what they're supposed to do and I'm not allowed to do that.
Now most importantly how do you get those arms?
Pubs in this area at the moment are they allowed patrons?
Up to 40 people now.
Up to 40 people.
So up to 40 people can be here but you can't have one in here.
Yeah.
Yeah and some pubs in town are actually smaller than my space.
What do you think is better for people and more necessary?
A pub at the beer, a beer at the pub, which I am a big advocate for, or coming here a couple times a week?
Oh look, everyone I know is going to enjoy a beer after a footy game, you know.
But I mean from a health perspective, we're the protective factor.
You know, the people who are regularly going to pubs and clubs, they're probably more likely to be in the sick and at risk category.
Whereas people that are coming here regularly are going to be on the other end of that.
Even the older people are going to be able to fight off that by staying fitter, healthier, more aware of their diet.
What about people like me that do both?
Well, we've got to have a bit of both, don't we?
I'm good at both.
What are you hoping after Saturday?
Pubs vs. Beer Shops00:09:58
What are you hoping is going to happen?
Look, I'm hoping we sort of get ignored by the police and they say, look, just let it go.
I don't see that happening.
But I hope other gyms sort of see what we're doing and decide that this needs to be done and I can start providing a service for my community again.
You know, we've got so many people I see every day as a coach who keep asking me when we're going to open and when we're going to be able to get them back in the gym and I can't give them an answer and that's the hardest bit.
How's your fitness?
Let's find out.
Chin-ups, can you do chin-ups?
I could try.
You can try competition.
All right, here?
Yeah, you go there and I'll go here.
You're going to count them?
All right.
Ready?
Let's go.
Should be fun.
One.
So I've had to cut it there because I won.
Yeah.
We'll give it to him.
Why now?
Why have you decided for next Saturday to suddenly open?
Look, I actually said something to my community last week about it.
And I thought, look, I'm going to wait until he gives us his easing on restrictions on Sunday because he said there's going to be big changes, especially for regional Victoria.
We can expect these big changes.
So I thought, cool, surely, surely now, because we've done everything right.
We've done everything right.
We've done our job.
And then on Sunday, he didn't even give us an inkling.
And if I don't do it now, do I just keep waiting?
Do I just wait until Christmas when I can't put presents in my kids stockings?
No.
It's time to take some action and just do something.
So is this your last chance for this business?
I think so.
I think so.
If we don't get up and running again, then it may have to be selling everything and closing it up because I can't keep going along like this.
So if you're also a small business that plans to open in defiance to the lockdown, let us know at iwillopen.com.au and we will tell your story.
I bought the gym in January.
And so then we, at that point, we had all the bushfires coming through.
And so a big component of the gym is military and emergency services.
And so they had to go off and fight them.
So we lost some time there.
Affected the business pretty drastically, plus all the tourism.
People couldn't travel around.
People were blocked in coming and going.
So a lot of members were locked up in other areas and couldn't get back here to train.
So not only did we have the bushfires, and that was January when I bought the place, and then come March, and ever since then, pretty much on lockdown.
And no help.
No help from Andrews.
No help from Andrews.
David Menzies for Rebel News here in Bolton, Ontario.
And you might recognize the mass gentleman beside me.
He is none other than Derek Noble.
And he is, well, first of all, he's celebrating his 50th birthday.
So congratulations.
Happy birthday to you, Derek.
And astute viewers of Rebel News know that a couple of weeks ago, Derek violated the Peel Region Grey Zone lockdown.
He opened his incredible toy and collectible store called Noble Toys here in Bolton.
And yes, he was fine.
Yes, he was given a summons.
But since then, Derek, you've carried on.
And you just, you told me a couple of things off camera.
One was when the video aired, you started getting calls and visits from people all over the province.
And evidently, Saturday was a record sales day.
So congratulations to you for that.
Yeah, I think we mentioned in the beginning this wasn't about the sales.
I mean, the sales are going to help a small shop this time of year.
And that's why we're trying to get these small shops open because they do 50% of their sales six weeks before Christmas.
That's a proven fact.
So sales have been amazing.
The people, I just want to say thank you to everybody because these, like, I've been an emotional wreck over the past couple of weeks because right across the world, even we've had people from like England, Australia reach out to us right across Canada.
And I just want to say thank you very much for that.
That meant a lot to us and to the fight.
We did get a couple stores open.
And I know we got a bunch of stores open that don't want to go on record of being open.
And that's just right across Canada too.
And isn't that funny?
I mean, it reminds me of Prohibition era North America.
You know, the speakeasies, you do a secret knock on the door and they let you in.
You can have alcohol.
The real irony, folks, today is that one of the stores not affected by the province-wide or city-wide or region-wide lockdown is the LCBO.
Those are government-owned liquor stores always open there.
So a bit of irony in 2020, you can go to the liquor store and get as much hooch as you want, but if you come in here and you want to buy a toy or a game or a puzzle, ooh, you're public enemy number one.
Yeah, we're all criminals here.
No, again, I want to say the OPP have been very, very receptive.
They have a job to do.
Like I said, we had some visits.
We had some summons.
We had that.
We had Peel Health and Safety come in.
And I had a good half-hour chat with them.
They were great people.
They told me about consequences and such.
And I said, listen, we're mandating your masks.
We're using your sanitizer.
We're doing whatever it takes to stay open.
So they kind of backed off.
We did get some local people who must have reported us, which I don't understand why, going back to what we talked about five minutes down the road, you can walk into a Walmart and they don't report them.
But for some reason, we were reported.
So we had more calls from some officers.
Great conversations.
They warned me there could be more repercussions.
And I said, I'm not closing.
I said, the only way I'll close this store if they drag me out in a cop car or if they padlock my doors.
I'm staying right till the 24th.
Derek, careful what you wish for because you know it's just about.
I don't want that to happen.
I'll go on record.
I don't want that to happen.
But we are not going anywhere.
And I've told people that.
And I don't want it to happen to you either.
But you know what, folks?
We have seen it happen.
A few weeks ago, Adam Skelly of Adams and Barbecue, remember what happened to him?
Check it out.
He's got my wrist, bro.
So, and you know, that is just so incredible to me, Derek.
It just shows the inconsistency in how politicians or law enforcement are enforcing these Wuhan virus rules.
Adam Skelly literally had all the king's horses and all the king's men descend upon his restaurant.
He was cuffed, put into a cruiser, spent a day in jail overnight.
You had that initial summons and fine, but they haven't come back to harass you anymore, really.
So what do you make of it?
And by the way, I'm happy they're not harassing you, but what do you make of the inconsistency?
Well, I think we've done a very peaceful approach here.
We've had, to date, we've had zero incidents.
Also, you know, we are mandating all the mask and sanitizer, et cetera, et cetera.
So we're making sure everybody's safe in this place.
We've done six to eight max.
We actually, if I'm by myself, I've actually decreased that from four to six.
We'll lock the door in between people just to make sure everything's safe.
But I mean, it's one of those years where nothing makes sense anymore.
Like, you know, like when we have bookstores around the corner that, you know, two, three people could go into, which would be a safe environment, but yet the big box, you can have hundreds of thousands.
And people have seen these videos of thousands of people lining up for these malls and big box stores.
And it makes no sense.
And then the Ford government is saying, oh, we feel so bad about the small business, yet they keep closing.
I mean, I mean, I saw an article today where some of these small business downtown are putting out mannequins and stuff like this just to say, hey, man, we're losing our business here and nothing's being done.
Well, you know what?
It makes no sense at all.
I think what has to happen and what can be done is what Adam Skelly did, what you did, just opened the doors.
It didn't work out so well for Adam Skelly, but I'm so happy that you're having even record sales.
Again, Derek Touchwood, a Merry Christmas to you.
And I hope there is no more future harassment for you at your wonderful store here.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas to you.
And I wanted to thank you personally again.
I've told people I have a man crush on you because I'm a big fan of what you did.
The interview went perfect the first time.
And thanks for following up and everything.
And I just want to say Merry Christmas to everybody else out there.
And thanks for the awesome wishes and support you've given us.
It means a lot to us.
You guys have made my year and pretty much my life.
Like this has been one of the greatest things to ever happen to me.
Well, unlike the Adam Skelly story, this is a good news story.
This has a happy ending.
Thank you so much again for your time, Derek.
And folks, like we've said for weeks now, if you are a shop owner and you want to open in defiance of these ridiculous regulations, please reach out to us at Rebel News.
Go to iwillopen.com.
That's iwillopen.com.
Tell me your story, and I'll tell the world your story.
FOR REBEL NEWS, I'M DAVID THE MENZOID-MENZEES.
WELL, THAT'S OUR SHOW FOR TODAY.
Thanks so much for watching.
Until next time, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, good night.