Mayor John Tory’s Toronto enforces protests differently: anti-lockdown activists arrested for megaphones, flags, or biblical quotes at Young Dundas Square in March 2021, while Middle East Toronto bloggers filmed freely and LTTE terrorists displayed weapon imagery without police action. Lockdowns persist despite Ontario Science Table data showing only 0.5% of deaths came from long-term care, contradicting initial 100,000-death forecasts. Politicians defer to unaccountable CMOs like Eileen De Villa while silencing critics like Randy Hillier amid 51% of Canadian businesses struggling to survive. The "old normal" vanishes as vaccine passports and lasting restrictions reshape society, leaving dissenters marginalized in a new, uncertain era. [Automatically generated summary]
Hey folks, this is the audio version of the Ezra Levent Show.
I'm David Menzies, guest hosting for Ezra Tonight.
And the monologue of tonight's show is on the double standard when it comes to protesting in the city of Toronto.
Now, if you would like the video version of this show and some other great TV format style shows, please go to RebelNewsplus.com.
That's rebelnewsplus.com.
sign up and get the whole enchilada tonight anti-lockdown protesters get arrested but pro-terror groups are allowed to protest It's March 9th, 2021.
I'm David Menzies, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're the 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.
But why others?
Just because it's my bloody right to do so.
Since January, Mayor John Torrey has made it loud and clear what the new rules are in the new normal in the new and not improved Toronto.
Namely, if you go to Young Dundas Square, as the anti-locktown protesters used to do, you will be arrested should you commit any of the following five egregious crimes.
Speaking into a megaphone, displaying a sign, waving a flag, quoting biblical passages, or merely standing on a corner.
We have weeks worth of video evidence proving this to be true.
Here, check out the low light reel.
Handcuffs you, ma'am.
What did he say to you?
Oh my goodness, I don't understand why I'm being why I'm being arrested.
I don't understand all I was trying to do.
It's on my heart.
I even used to be in the cathedral to pray about this before I came here.
All I wanted to do was let people know about this vaccine.
And make no mistake, folks.
Tyrant Tory got his way.
Young Dundas Square, which should exist as the heart of the city, is now a no man's land.
Indeed, after being ticketed and tackled and arrested and hauled off to jail for exercising their constitutional rights, anti-lockdown protesters now congregate at Queen's Park, where they get ticketed and tackled and arrested and hauled off to jail for exercising their constitutional rights.
Rins and repeat, rinse and repeat.
But last Saturday morning, I ventured into the forbidden zone of Young Dundas Square and look what I saw.
A crew that puts together the Middle East Toronto blog had congregated there.
And lo and behold, police weren't cracking heads on this day.
Rather, a police officer was being interviewed.
Check it out.
Is this for a documentary or something?
Or you'll find it on blog Middle East TO, Middle East Blog Toronto.
Oh, okay.
blog for Middle Eastern people and we're talking about building trust between the police and Middle Eastern communities.
Oh fantastic.
Okay.
I was just here because usually I've been here in the past and the police are arresting people for congregating on Young Dundas Square.
So I just wanted to get a record of that if any shenanigans happen like that.
So they snow that was for the anti-mass protest?
The anti-lockdown people?
I think so, yeah.
Yeah.
So I mean, I'm just trying to understand, officer, what's the difference between people protesting and these nice people doing a little documentary here?
I'm not dealing with the protests.
Okay.
All right.
All right.
Good luck with your work.
Okay.
Isn't that special?
The Middle East Toronto blog people were completely accommodated.
And I'm happy for them, really, folks, because I adore that silly little concept known as freedom of the press.
Yet, just look at how Rebel News videographers were treated at Young Dundas Square protests a few weeks ago.
It's not a popular.
So what's the difference between me and CP24?
I'm not sure.
You just got to keep moving, right?
That's all you got to do.
What's the difference between me and CP24?
I'm not sure what your company is.
If you're not sure, why are you making assumptions up?
You just got to move.
Everybody's got to move.
That's it.
Go ahead and go tell CP2 people.
You just got to move, sir.
We're cautioning you right now and we're cautioning everybody.
You know, I love that line about media not being allowed unless you are the bought and paid for mainstream media like CP24.
Amazing and beyond parody.
Oh, but it gets worse, folks, because later that same day in the afternoon, last Saturday, check out who was occupying the public square brandishing flags and signs.
None other than members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, aka the LTTE, aka the Tamil Tigers.
Folks, your eyes are not deceiving you.
The Tamil Tigers are recognized as a terrorist group in Canada, as well as more than 30 other nations.
And here they were on Saturday, their supporters in Toronto, Canada, proudly flying a flag that displays a tiger's head next to a couple of automatic weapons and a halo of bullets.
So let me get this straight.
One can brandish the flag of a terrorist organization in Tory Town, but if you wave a Canadian flag, well, check out what happened to this poor patriot.
Wow look at that takedown It is reminiscent of the offensive line of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But where oh where was the fuzz when it came to the Tamil Tiger supporters marching upon Young Dundas Square?
Nowhere, that's where they sat this one out.
But why?
Well, I sought answers from Don Pete, Mayor Tory spokesman, and Brad Ross, the City of Toronto spokesman, as well as Connie Osborne, the spokeswoman for the Toronto Police Service.
Here's the gist of my email.
Quote, just curious, last Saturday I dropped by Young Dundas Square in the morning, and there was a group from the Middle East Blog Toronto filming a segment there.
Far from police clamping down as they do with the anti-lockdown protesters, a police officer was actually being interviewed by the crew.
I don't begrudge these bloggers this opportunity to gather, but why the double standard when it comes to the anti-lockdown people who tend to get ticketed and or arrested?
But it gets even more curious.
In the afternoon at the square, there was a demonstration by those supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, LTTE.
Canada has designated the LTTE as a terrorist group, yet there they were waving the flag of the Tamil Tigers.
But again, why is this tolerated but not anti-lockdown demonstrations?
Please let me know at your earliest convenience.
Thanks kindly.
End quote.
I have also followed up with a phone call and you know what folks?
It's radio silence.
This is just too much of a political hot potato for Team Tory to handle.
And really, how do you justify the unjustifiable in the first place?
But this grotesque double standard is appalling.
It is egregious.
It is downright cowardly and disgusting.
And the underlying message seems to be, if you are a member of a so-called politically incorrect protest, i.e. the rank and file of Yahoo Nation, you will be ticketed and arrested and incarcerated.
But if you are part of a protest that, oh, Laud's a terrorist group, oh, well, nothing to see here, folks.
Move along, move along.
Oh, and if you are a Black Lives Matter protester, not only do the cops turn a blind eye to illicit gatherings, but the rank and file actually take part in the protest, including the former chief.
But then again, we know that John Torrey just loves Black Lives Matter.
Do you remember the infamous racist rant a few years ago by Usra Kogali, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto?
Check it out.
Quote, please, Allah, give me strength not to cuss kill these men and white folks out here today.
Please, please, please, end quote.
You know, Yasara never apologized for this racist rant.
And instead of condemning her, Black Lives Matter shamefully rushed to her defense.
And as for Mayor John Torrey, well, he presented this lovely lady with a civic award called the Pam McConnell Award for Young Woman in Leadership.
Just look at this pathetic man, this phony baloney conservative.
He actually rewarded an unapologetic racist.
Indeed, imagine if Yasara Kogali was a white man and one was to replace Allah with God and the man's plea was for God to give him strength not to cuss kill these women and black folks out here today, please, please, please.
Do you think that guy would be getting a leadership award as opposed to a prison cell for committing a hate crime?
But that's how we roll in John Torrey's Toronto these days.
Hogtown is the living land of the double standard.
Patriots get arrested while terrorist sympathizers are openly accommodated and racists actually get rewarded.
Hey, John Torrey, what are you going to do for an Encore?
give Omar Khadr the key to the city?
Reopening Rejection00:02:07
Well, folks, in so many jurisdictions the world over, the lockdowns are coming to an end and economies are reopening, but not so much in Canada.
And when you are a politician of any political stripe, of any jurisdiction here in our great dominion, it seems that when you argue for more economic liberty, you are dismissed as being unproductive or counterproductive or even being called an outright crank.
Why oh, why is that?
Well, joining me now is our friend to the show, Andrew Lawton of True North.
And Andrew, you had a great commentary on True North discussing this very issue.
And we have seen that politicians, and I think of people like Randy Hillier, Roman Baber, those who speak out against the Ontario policy regarding the lockdowns, well, suddenly cancel culture comes right up into their windshield, doesn't it?
Yeah, and it's actually quite shameful.
I mean, we've seen in the last several years a number of issues become political hot potatoes, where if you have the wrong opinion of them, it's a cancelable offense.
And we've talked about this, you and I, and I know on our respective platforms we have.
But we're talking about something really devastating right now, which is that you cannot even speak out in support of reopening, in support of sending people back to work, of letting people live their lives without that being characterized as a fringe position and you being then characterized as fringe as well.
And as far as all of the, I say political issues, because that's really what it is, as far as all of the political perspectives that have become cancelable, this is one that I find is the most shameful because of the fact that it's actually a majority position.
Most people want to live their lives and go back to it.
But in politics, it's a slim, slim minority of politicians prepared to say that.
Indeed, and you know, Andrew, I want to give a shout out to our mutual friend, Anthony Fury.
He had a great column in today's Toronto Sun.
Risks Of Reshaped Normals00:08:55
It was about a briefing that happened on Monday by the Ontario Science Table.
And to me, it was incredible good news because you look at the stats and there's so many stats, but I think the most important one was that this science table concluded that a whopping 55% of deaths coming from the virus were from long-term care residents and the number of deaths and when you look at that as a segment of the population, that's only 0.5%.
So we know now, surely, where the most vulnerable demographic is, and it only accounts for 0.5%.
So why the heck is the economy in still lockdown mode?
There's so many arguments being made that the so-called cure is worse than the curse.
One of the big things that I've noticed in all of this is that whenever we've had predictions from, I'll say Ontario specifically, my in your province, They have been flat out wrong.
And I don't just mean, you know, they might just have a bit of a rounding error, but flat out wrong, oftentimes a literal fraction of what was predicted.
Remember, the first modeling we heard said that we would have 100,000 deaths.
We were supposed, and that was within the span of a few months from when that was made in, I think it was April of 2020.
We've been told that we could be up to 20,000 cases a day by now, and we're actually at less than, or we're at about 1,000.
And this whole thing happens in a way that most sensible people would say what Anthony's been saying, what you've been saying, what I've been saying, which is, okay, if those numbers are wrong, let's delve into them a bit deeper and say, and ask where are the risks and what can we do safely?
And who do we need to really protect and target our measures towards?
And for the government that says science needs to be at the forefront of its decisions, this is the process they should be doing.
But they're not.
It's coming from independent media.
It's coming from so-called fringe politicians.
And that's how it's so maligned.
And you know, Andrew, what's behind this?
Because my take on this, my friend, is that before this pandemic took root, I didn't know who the various chief medical officers were in the city, in the province, federally.
I didn't know the name of Eileen Davila and David Williams and Teresa Tem.
And now these are almost household names.
They're almost like celebrities.
And yet these are unelected, non-accountable people that are completely immune to any kind of financial hurt from a lockdown.
They haven't suffered a nickel's worth of salary being deducted.
They haven't been laid off.
And it seems that our elected leaders are beholden to these people and almost using their advice as an excuse of why the economies must remain in lockdown.
Well, just look, David.
Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, got an Emmy out of his press briefings.
In BC, the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Bonnie Henry, got a book deal out of it.
So she's a medical officer who's actually got time to write a book throughout this pandemic.
And listen, what we're seeing here is, I think, twofold.
Number one, I believe there are genuine risks.
There are public safety risks that are inherent in the COVID-19 pandemic.
And I think that what government doesn't want people doing is taking it upon themselves to start deciding, well, I think this is safe.
I think this isn't.
So they end up with this one-size-fits-all position.
But the problem with that is that it delegitimizes all of their advice when they're proven to be wrong on their numbers.
So people don't actually pay attention.
People don't listen to them.
When the government was saying, well, don't do masks.
They make things worse.
And then do masks and now double mask and triple mask.
And by this time next year, we might be at the hazmat suit phase of it.
Who knows?
When they do these flip-flops, all they do is force sensible people who aren't themselves experts to just say, well, all right, I'm just too confused by it.
And that, I think, is a big risk here.
So government is trying to use simple, easily understood solutions.
But to do that, they have to go to the lowest common denominator, which means the least possible freedom.
And I think, too, it's a matter of CYA, cover your R2, Andrew.
If there were continued case counts, continued deaths coming in, someone like a Premier Ford could say, well, you know, don't blame me.
I did all I could.
I shut down the economy, even though I'm a super free market person.
So I think there's a little bit of that too.
But going back to your original premise, it's so sad when you see the likes of a Roman Baber, Randy Hillier, Belinda Carajolios get kicked out of caucus when they dare to speak differently than the politically correct mandated strategy when it comes to the lockdowns.
And I thought it was very interesting you flagged David Sweet of the Canadian, of the Conservative Party of Canada, rather.
He spoke out against it, but this is someone really with no skin in the game in terms of repercussions.
As you mentioned, he's not running in the next election.
And I thought Erin O'Toole's response to Mr. Sweet, it was pathetic, Andrew.
It was.
And I read this in my video.
I don't have the exact text handy.
So if you do, perhaps you can put it up.
But the part of it that stood out was him basically saying, and I'm paraphrasing here, yeah, we're a year into this.
I get why people are frustrated, but that's no excuse to lash out in counterproductive ways.
So he was basically inferring that by speaking against lockdowns, which is, to be honest, the definition of productivity, of wanting people to get back to work.
But by speaking against lockdowns, you're just being counterproductive.
Basically, accusing David Sweet of demagoguery for saying that he wants his constituents to be able to keep their jobs.
When, just to put that in context, this week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce found that 51% of Canadian businesses don't know if they'll be able to last to the end of the year.
That is a shocking statistic, especially since those are the remaining businesses, Andrew, that they pulled.
Yeah, those biggest.
Yeah, there's some survivor bias there because these are the ones that survived lockdown 1.0, and half of them basically are saying, I don't know.
And sure, a lot of them will, maybe most will.
But the fact that there's that much uncertainty means that this should not be a fringe position we're talking about here.
So, Andrew, one last question.
It's a crystal ball question.
You know, you go to jurisdictions like Florida, it's a different world.
I mean, you can sit down, you see people walking around without masks, congregating at beaches, you name it.
Heck in February, 25,000 people in Tampa Bay to take in the Super Bowl.
What I'm asking is that regardless of the cowardice level that we have with our elected representatives of every political stripe, of every level here in Canada, when or when do you think we can do things like, I don't know, go to a rock concert, get into a jam-packed restaurant again, go to a sporting event?
When is the cherished old normal going to come back?
Well, at this point, it doesn't look like there ever will be one.
And I know that's a very depressing position to put forward.
And I'm sorry about that because I'm bothered by it as well.
But we already have Patty Haidu, the health minister, saying that vaccine passports are on the radar for discussion among G7 countries.
And even if Canada were to decide against a vaccine passport, any destination Canadians might want to go to may have a requirement of one.
And for us to even imagine that there is going to be any such thing as the old normal, this is a 9-11 caliber event where all of these things that we once took for granted are reshaped and remade in the image of COVID, despite the fact that the threat will have, for the most part, passed.
Do you know?
I fear you might be right, Andrew.
The Ontario Science Table data should have been cause for celebration with medical health officials.
Instead, I see the likes of Dr. David Williams, Eileen Davila.
They're not celebrating at all.
They seem to be of the mindset that until we have 100% vaccination and until the virus is 100% eradicated, we can't go back to the old normal.
And those two things are never going to happen, my friend.
So maybe what you just said is a prophecy that unfortunately might come true.
Yeah, I fear to say it.
And like I said, it brings me no joy.
I would love to be wrong about this, but the optimism's waning.
Okay, well, Andrew, thank you so much for joining me here on the Ezra Levent show.
And keep fighting for freedom, my friend.
Anytime, David.
Fantastic.
And that was Andrew Lawton with True North.
Keep it here.
More of the Ezreal event show to come right after this.