Ezra Levant attended a 9/13/2021 Toronto protest of 8,500 against vaccine mandates, calling it peaceful while media like CTV and Toronto Star exaggerated its size and labeled protesters as "Covidiots." Police ignored peaceful demonstrators but arrested Antifa members later, contrasting past crackdowns on non-violent protests. He ties mandates to "medical tyranny," comparing them to apartheid, and criticizes Trudeau’s government for abandoning Charter rights—turning vaccination into a coercive litmus test for freedoms. [Automatically generated summary]
Tonight, you will not believe the mainstream media spin on yesterday's hospital protests.
And yes, I was there to observe it.
It's Tuesday, September 14th, 2021, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
You've got 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
The only thing I have to say is government.
But why publish them?
It's because it's my bloody right to do so.
You know, folks, there were a couple of reasons why I wanted to cover the protests outside Toronto General Hospital yesterday.
First, I wanted to hear what healthcare workers and their allies had to say about mandatory vaccine passports, which was the ostensible policy reason for the protests in the first place.
The second reason, I wanted to be there to witness firsthand how the mainstream media would demonize these people.
And wow, folks, the state-funded sonographers at the media party truly outdid themselves on this day.
Actually, come to think of it, there was another reason I wanted to cover this event.
You see, there were whispers in the air that Premier Doug Flipflop Ford and Mayor John Testicular challenged Tory.
We're going to go all out Adams and Barbecue on the demonstrators.
These esteemed leaders are sick and tired of those peddling the idea of shockers vaccine choice.
So was this going to be an Australia moment for Toronto?
Was the mounted unit, which was on standby nearby, by the way, going to come charging in?
Well, that seemed like a good bet, especially since virtually every mainstream media outlet had come out to cover this protest.
That was very telling, you see, because they rarely cover anti-lockdown and vax choice demonstrations.
These people are the Covidiots, after all, the deplorables, the nutjobs, and a bunch of Yahoos.
And it's best not to give them any attention whatsoever.
But yesterday was different.
The mainstream media types were out in full force and like a bunch of sharks smelling blood in the water, the media sluggos were champing at the bit to engage in a feeding frenzy in which they would cheer on the cops, cracking the heads of the non-compliant.
Well, spoiler alert, the police, to their credit, did not whack them and stack them, as the saying goes.
And undoubtedly, members of the media returned to their various propaganda headquarters depressed and downright angry that they were denied the visuals of a violent takedown of those protesters who they so vehemently despise.
Hey folks, as the saying goes, if it bleeds, it leads, but there would be no blood spilled on this day, thankfully.
But there was plenty of ink sacrificed in vilifying the demonstrators.
Consider this headline in none other than the Toronto Sun before the protest even took place.
Quote, Covidiots, discredited group to target five GTA hospitals with medical freedom protests, end quote.
Here is the lead paragraph of the story penned by Looney Liz Brown.
Quote, a discredited fringe nursing group will start the week with organized medical freedom protests outside hospitals across Canada, end quote.
Discredited?
By whom exactly?
The likes of Torrey and Ford and other members of the political and healthcare elites, by the political left who used to subscribe to the mantra of my body, my choice when it came to terminating a baby's life, but now seem to subscribe to a new saying, namely, my body, my government's choice when it comes to the Wuhan flu vaccine.
By the way, check out this excerpt of an interview I had with Sarah Chichonian of Canadian Frontline Nurses.
Sarah, by the way, says she has been labeled by the RCMP as a domestic terrorist because she was in Washington, D.C. when the so-called insurrection took place, even though she was miles away from the Capitol building.
You tell me if she seems unhinged to you.
No, actually, I was fired in November for my first job.
I spoke out October 31st for the first time because I was seeing the detrimental effects of the lockdowns on my residents, but also I was a facilitator for mental health in the community, and I saw my mental health decrease because I go to the gym and do group therapy, you know, to keep myself healthy.
And so I saw what it did to the people that weren't mentally tough and that it was detrimental to them.
Like we have such an increase in overdose and suicides and all that.
So they're saying that people like you are a fascist.
You don't look like a fascist to me.
Why are they here?
I don't know.
They're here to cause trouble.
You know, but isn't, you know, mandatory vaccinations, the government telling you to get an experimental injection or you're going to lose privileges going to sports games, flying even your place of employment.
To me, that's fascism.
I thought they're anti-that.
They seem pro-that.
Maybe instead of anti-fo, they should just be pho for fascists.
I totally agree.
But back to Liz Braun of The Sun.
She writes this, quote, 10 days ago, a joint statement from the Canadian Medical Association and the Ontario Medical Association decried this further burden to health care workers, saying the health care workers who have worked tirelessly for months on and are being bullied and harassed for doing their jobs, this is wrong and unacceptable.
Full stop.
We are in a health crisis of unprecedented proportion, end quote.
There are two things about this statement that stink worse than a pole cat stuck in an outhouse.
First, despite what you may have read or heard, folks, there was no bullying at this protest or a similar one a couple of weeks ago, also outside Toronto General Hospital.
These were entirely peaceful protesters, not mostly peaceful protesters.
You know, the catchphrase for those thugs who comprise antifun Black Lives Matter who attend protests with weapons.
No, the narrative being peddled by the mainstream media was that healthcare workers and even patients were being prevented from entering hospitals.
This was an absolute lie and evidence of this falsehood simply does not exist because it does not exist.
As well, you want to know what bullying is?
How about this?
How about you get the jabs or you lose your jobs?
Full stop.
Healthcare workers and others who do not want to put an experimental vaccine into their bodies are being threatened with termination.
And in fact, some have already been terminated.
That's bullying on steroids.
And by the way, is this not lose-lose?
I.e. some nurses are now without their livelihoods and now hospitals, which are supposedly strained to the limit, are going to be further adversely affected due to staff shortages, i.e. those healthcare workers who were fired for not getting vaccinated.
Incidentally, is it not somewhat laughable that the Ontario Medical Association is being hailed as the voice of reason here?
Remember my report from a few months back about the OMA, namely how Dr. Samantha Hill, the president of the OMA, went on CP24 to admonish skeptics out there who aren't so certain that the Wuhan virus is the second coming of the bubonic plague.
Check out the question she has asked and the answer that she gives.
So what do you say to those people, Dr. Hill, the ones who don't believe it, or they just say, I'm fed up with this?
So to everyone who's fed up with this, I say I get it.
Me too.
But that doesn't change that that's what we're living in.
For the people who are saying they don't believe it, I invite you to take a tour of any of the COVID wards in the hospitals.
We are building and have built massive sites outside of hospitals like Sunnybrook to tolerate and to be able to manage some of this overflow.
This is not a figment of anyone's imagination.
To say that it is is intensely disrespectful.
Did you catch that?
Dr. Hill invites people to visit any of the COVID wards in the province to discover the truth.
And again, let me quote the good doctor verbatim, quote, so the people who are saying they don't believe it, I invite you to take a tour of any of the COVID wards in the hospitals, end quote.
Smashing.
So I decided to take up Dr. Hill on her offer and book a tour of a COVID ward.
I reached out to the OMA and here's what their spokesman, Alex Delto, had to say, quote, Dr. Hill was speaking personally, saying she wished people could see how very sick patients are on COVID wards and how hard doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are working to care for them.
Every hospital has infection control and other policies around public and media access to their premises and you would need to contact them directly for permission.
End quote.
Yeah, she was speaking personally on live TV being viewed by tens of thousands of viewers.
Oh, and I did reach out to Sunnybrook Hospital for a tour as per the spokesman's suggestion.
Sunnybrook said absolutely no way was that going to happen.
So I'm sorry, Dr. Hill, but in terms of credibility, you are barking or should I say quacking up the wrong tree.
Incidentally, the post-protest coverage in the Toronto Sun was equally appalling.
In a story by Scott Laurie, he writes, quote, GTHA mayors and chairs also denounce the demonstrations, saying people go to hospitals because they need medical help.
They also don't deserve to be harassed or intimidated by protests, end quote.
But here's the thing, folks.
Those GTHA mayors and chairs were not at the protests, but Scott Laurie was.
And so was I, plus two cameramen.
And please note, no one going in or out of this hospital was harassed or intimidated unless harassment and intimidation is defined by a lady holding up a sign stating, I will not be a lab rat.
If gazing upon such signage is deemed to be harassment and intimidation, then I would suggest psychiatric as opposed to medical treatment is in order for those members of Snowflake Nation who are traumatized by opinions they do not subscribe to.
But the question arises, why didn't the sun report this?
Now, I chose to look at the Toronto Sun's coverage given that the Sun, if you can believe it, leans right of center.
So you can just imagine what sort of tripe the unapologetic leftist media outlets were running.
Actually, we don't have to imagine, do we?
Remember that appalling headline in the Toronto Star a few weeks ago?
Quote, unvaccinated COVID patients do not deserve ICU beds, end quote.
Well, that's harsh.
You know, folks, once upon a time, the star had a motto regarding its role in society, namely, its bailiwick was, quote, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, end quote.
Alas, that was before the Torstar Corp had to suck from the Trudopian teat for financial sustenance.
And as a result of devolving into state-funded sonographers, it would appear that the train seals at the Toronto Star subscribed to a new motto, namely, comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted.
But the most unintentionally funny coverage of yesterday's protests comes courtesy of a CTV tweet.
There's a photo of an aerial view of the front of Toronto General Hospital, presumably before the start of the protest, when most demonstrators had yet to arrive.
The photo depicts about 100 or so demonstrators.
And the tweet, obviously written by a tweet, reads, quote, it's terrifying.
Police on hand as pandemic protesters pick at hospitals, end quote.
Terrifying?
Does that look terrifying to you?
By the way, please look closely at the photo.
Do you notice that white truck?
What do you think that vehicle is?
Do you think maybe it's the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force, perhaps?
Well, no, folks, since I was there, I can tell you exactly what that set of wheels was.
It's an ice cream truck.
That's right.
While CTV would have you believe that the front lawns of Toronto General Hospital were terrifying, the good humor man was nevertheless on site selling his wares.
War Is Hell00:02:43
Oh, sure, war is hell, folks.
All the more reason one needs refreshment in a war zone via a butterscotch Sunday or a banana split.
By the way, there was a tiny counter protest by various loony leftists, and that's where the media spin was most apparent.
The journalists flocked to the dozen or so counter protesters as if they were rock stars while mostly turning their backs on the main event, i.e. the hundreds and hundreds of demonstrators.
After all, the lame stream media doesn't want to further the narrative that there should be reasonable accommodation in society for those who do not or cannot get the jabs.
Hey, remember that old chestnut?
Reasonable accommodation?
Looks like that phrase has been consigned to the scrap heap of obsolescence along with my body, my choice.
Funny that.
But then again, the counter demonstrators and the media people are on the same side.
Check out this lovely lady.
She gave an in-depth interview to one mainstream media outlet.
I patiently waited until it was over.
And then I approached her with my questions because I figured that, you know, if you attend a protest or a counter-protest and bring along a sign, chances are you're looking for attention, that you want to, you know, get your message out.
But from the get-go, as soon as she noticed my mic flash, as soon as she saw we were not state-sponsored media, well, suddenly she took a vow of silence.
I'm just curious, what happened to my body, my choice, when it came to the feminist movement?
I'm interviewing a sign right now, ladies and gentlemen.
As you can see, it says Vax and Grateful.
Thank healthcare workers.
It's funny, I know she can speak English because I just saw her give an interview to the mainstream media.
But I guess when it comes to a media outlet getting another side of the story out.
But you know, I can't help but think of the perverse irony here.
People like this are telling these people to stay away from the hospital because they're causing interference.
But by her being here at the hospital, she is part of that alleged interference.
What do you think about that, ma'am?
Oh, one other important point to be made here, folks, is that the likes of Tori and Ford, or the two-headed thing as I like to call them, well, they stated they were not against protests per se, which was very nice of them, given that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are indeed, you know, charter rights.
Toronto's Town Square Protest00:03:35
No, it was the venue they took issue with that there were more appropriate places to stage such a demonstration.
Oh, really, Mayor Torrey, like, oh, Young Dundas Square, perhaps?
Literally the town square of Toronto.
Well, check out what happened starting in January, folks, when police violently clamped down on peaceful anti-lockdown demonstrators.
What's on my heart?
Mainstream media has decided to sit this one out.
Nothing to see here, folks.
It must be questioning this.
This is Toronto.
This is not North Korea.
Officer, why are these protesters not allowed to protest And people like you took the knee for Black Lives Matter in the summer.
I'm not going to leave a communist country to my kids or anyone else's kids.
Yeah, so since January, Young Dundas Square has been a no man's land, unless, of course, demonstrators are supporting terrorist groups like the Tamil Tigers or Hamas.
They're welcome anytime because, well, just because, okay.
And then there is Nathan Phillips Square, the home to Toronto City Hall.
Can you assemble there?
Well, that depends.
If you are a member of the Afro-Indigenous Rising Group, then Mayor Torrey will roll out the red carpet and even provide free port-a-potties, even though these people still preferred to urinate on the square.
But if you are seeking to practice journalism at Nathan Phillips Square, as we tried to do last summer, well, Tori will sick his security staff and the police on you while turning a blind eye to violent thugs throwing haymakers here.
Check it out.
We're going to go there.
David's going to try and do journalism.
Ideally, we're done in half an hour because nothing happened.
Hey, people here!
What would you like us to do?
Off my lads, that's what I like.
We've got another gender.
Touch my elder.
Your elder?
What you're doing is causing a disturbance with everybody here.
I need to ask you to leave.
What am I going to do?
causing disturbance Please don't fire it!
That in Toronto, the town square is a place where a journalist can go peacefully.
So if that is not true, we need to know it.
So I'm sorry, John Boy.
It looks like demonstrators, or at least the demonstrators you don't like, are running out of Hogtown real estate in which to stage protests these days.
So yeah, I guess hospital roll on University Avenue will have to do.
Finally, leave it to the darling of the mainstream media to take advantage of the false narrative being portrayed that terrifying, destructive violence occurred outside hospitals yesterday by those advocating for vax choice.
Mainstream Media Misreporting00:09:41
Yes, none other than Justin Trudeau stated that if re-elected, his government would make it a crime to block access to health care facilities.
It would also be a crime to intimidate a healthcare worker or medical patients.
Quote, we're going to make it a criminal offense for anyone to threaten or intimidate a health care practitioner on their way to work in the practice and exercise of their duty or a patient on their way to get medical services, end quote.
And so the circle of deceit completes itself thanks to Prime Minister Trudeau not letting a crisis go to waste, even alas, if there never was a crisis to begin with.
Stay with us for more.
In the aftermath of 9-11, first responders the world over achieved a new level of respect from citizens.
So it is perversely ironic that with the 20th anniversary of 9-11 recently marked, that Calgary firefighters are being disrespected not by some random twit, but by their own fire chief, Steve Dongworth.
Chief Dongworth actually ordered the city's firefighters memorial barricaded from his own firefighters.
The reason?
Well, he didn't want unvaccinated firefighters touching the memorial.
Apparently, not getting the COVID-19 jabs makes these men and women unworthy.
Unbelievable.
And joining me now with more on this story is our man in Calgary, Adam Seuss.
How you doing there, Adam?
Great.
Happy to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Well, thank you for your time as always.
So, Adam, you were there to witness this bizarre barricading situation from the get-go.
What was the mood there?
Was it anger, incredulity, or perhaps a blend of both?
Yeah, well, we spoke to one gentleman who was a 37-year veteran, and he found the entire thing absolutely repugnant to suggest that these people who didn't want to speak out, didn't want to make a big show, but they stood in solidarity, respectfully and quietly.
And at the end, in an effort to pay respects to their fallen comrades, fellow firefighters, walked up and touched this memorial.
It was borderline religious, the degree to which they respected and venerated that memorial.
The point was to be honorable and respectful.
To call this a desecration is ridiculous.
And the firefighters that we spoke to certainly would agree to that.
The folks that did come out there, they weren't shouting, they weren't yelling, they weren't even necessarily anti-vaccine.
What they were against is forced vaccines and mandated vaccines.
What's additionally troubling is the fact that this Captain Steve Dongworth, his rhetoric is actually not accurate when it comes to the vaccines and some of the narratives that he's pitching.
So not only is he decrying and criticizing these people, his own facts don't even line up with what our government is currently saying.
You know, Adam, let's speak about the motivation here, the unspoken strategy of Chief Dongworth.
As you said, firefighters touching their own firefighters memorial, that's not desecration.
Desecration would be, you know, bringing out spray paint or taking a hammer to it and vandalizing the memorial, touching it as a expression of honor and respect is not desecration.
So really, what's going on here with the chief in terms of why he put up that ridiculous barricade in the first place?
Well, for all the left and the progressive and even not that, even just the pro-vaccine side of the argument about how they're the compassionate ones and they're just trying to save lives and that's the extent of it.
They accuse us of vilifying and splitting society and polarizing things.
The reality of the fact is when you look at the rhetoric, almost everyone attending this protest, there's probably about 2,000 people at the second protest in support of these firefighters and other frontline workers.
One of the speakers actually said that the mainstream media is going to attempt to make it that we're villains and we're anti-vax.
Is this an anti-vaccine protest?
The entire crowd in unison said no.
And he said, are you here to oppose vaccine mandates?
And they said yes.
There's a clear distinction to be made there.
And a majority of people, I think, despite these polls suggesting that so many people are in favor of this, a large number of people are against people being forced to become vaccinated.
So these individuals, they're thinking politically.
They're not thinking pragmatically.
They're not thinking about human rights.
They're thinking politically about, let's say down the line, we are forced by governments to do this.
We don't have the backbone to stand up against it.
So we need to start vilifying these people now.
We need to start dehumanizing them.
So when we force this on them or fire them, they're the radicals, not us.
Unbelievable, Adam.
And here's the thing.
What happened to the slogans that the left has uttered for decades now?
I'm thinking my body my choice, at least when it comes to terminating a baby's life.
I'm thinking of reasonable accommodation.
What's happened to those tropes?
Well, and it's funny.
We've seen this over and over.
It used to be that the left were the anti-big pharma critical voice saying, hold on, that was one of probably the good roles that they served in society.
There was weak sides and strong sides, but suddenly they've abandoned all those principles.
They're the big government organization.
Furthermore, I've seen numerous people point out that an authoritarian collaboration between private business or capital business and the state is a pretty categorical definition of fascism.
So they are implementing a medical tyranny.
And I mean, this term is becoming, I'm not saying that it's there now, but I'm saying we're getting pretty close.
If they literally say that you're going to lose your job and you aren't allowed to travel if you don't put this experimental drug in your body, people are saying, well, they're not technically forcing the vaccine.
Well, that's an extreme degree of coercion that I would say constitutes forcing an opinion or an action on a minority.
And you know, Adam, while you were in Calgary yesterday covering the firefighters memorial issue, I was in Toronto covering the protest outside of Toronto General Hospital.
And thank God I did, my friend, because if you believe the mainstream narrative, you would think that doctors and nurses and even patients were being prevented from accessing the hospital, that there was all this fear and intimidation and bullying, and there was absolutely nothing of the sort.
And yet there was a small counter protest, perhaps a dozen of the progressives.
And believe it or not, members of Antifa.
And I thought the irony was just staggering to me, Adam.
I mean, as you said, they were the ones that used to be against big government.
They were against big pharma.
You used the word fascism.
They were against fascism.
And here they are coming out as the apologists or in the likes of Antifa that want to be enforcers of big government.
Adam, the world's upside down.
In fact, I think you had to run in with Antifa in Calgary yourself, didn't you?
We did.
And it was one of the most surreal things there.
We saw in the lead up to these protests, as you said, government officials, Calgary police, all these people pitching this narrative that these people are dangerous and they're blocking it.
They aren't on the hospital property.
They're along the side of the road.
In fact, I'd argue the largest disturbance at the previous one that was quite a bit larger was actually just cars driving by honking in support.
That was probably the most disruptive element.
Some people honking while driving by, not even people participating in the protests.
These are peaceful.
There's always been a walkthrough.
In fact, if you want proof, I did a hyperlapse where I walked straight through the entire crowd and no one disrupted my access for freely moving.
No one is going on the road.
That's clearly not the case.
The only time that we have seen disruption that I would consider problematic was when Antifa arrived.
So there was a massive police force on hand as though to keep the protesters out.
But when Antifa arrived, the police didn't seem to have a problem with them.
In fact, there was lots of talk about the noise being an issue.
Well, Antifa came with a cart that they rolled up with and they had these massive speakers and they were blaring like loud electronic dance music and like heavy metal type music, the loudest possible volume.
And it was extremely disruptive.
You likely, if you were close to it, would not have heard an emergency vehicle nearby.
We mentioned this to police and they said, well, we're filming and we've got decibel meters.
Pretty quickly, though, the Antifa folks, the last event, no physical confrontations.
This event, completely peaceful.
But as soon as Antifa arrived, they started shoving people, getting in people's faces.
A number of fights broke out.
Two members of Antifa were taken into police custody, at least briefly.
I went up to one of them and said, listen, do you want to tell us kind of what you're here for?
And he basically lunged towards me and accosted me.
A cop intervened really quickly and pushed him away.
But the degree of malice is simply unbelievable.
Growing Antifa Crowds Disrupt Peace00:03:04
Admittedly, not to color the picture inaccurately.
It was probably, there was about 12 Antifa people.
I think only three or four of them were becoming involved in physical altercations.
The rest were simply standing there holding a sign.
Regardless, they're operating as a block, and that sort of conduct is unacceptable.
Furthermore, the conduct of police, many times females were being pushed around by Antifa people, and I had to go get police officers and urge them to intervene so the situation wouldn't escalate.
Well, that is shocking to hear.
The ones I encountered were far more docile, but just as stupid in terms of trying to convey what they were there for.
One last thing, Adam.
I see this as just the tip of the iceberg as we move forward in terms of vaccine passports.
I see the creation of a two-tier society.
You know, my wife is originally from South Africa.
Her family came over to Canada in 1977.
They lived very comfortably in Johannesburg, but they were repulsed by the system of apartheid.
And she made the observation of, I've seen this movie play out before, but this time it's not apartheid based on race, which rightfully made South Africa a pariah until it was abolished on the world stage.
It's apartheid based on vaccination status.
Last word goes to you, my friend.
Listen, the people who are coming out to these protests are new faces, often people who have never been out to a protest before.
The amount of people who I've spoken to who said that they're double vaccinated and that they might even get vaccinated if they decide to bring in a booster program, it's overwhelming.
The crowds are growing and growing.
This is no longer even an issue about vax or unvaxed on a principle level.
This is an issue about whether our society caves in and abandons fundamental values.
The thing that absolutely perplexes me is I am certainly no fan of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, but among the okay things he did amidst the myriad of problematic things was bringing in the Charter of Rights so that minorities who felt oppressed could have their day in court, could have their fundamental freedoms and could stand up for themselves.
It seems Justin Trudeau is hell-bent on destroying the one positive legacy that his father left for Canada.
You are so right on that point, Adam.
And, you know, it's just, it's funny too.
The apologists out there will say, oh, no one's getting forced to have the jab.
Nobody from the state is strapping you into a chair and putting a jab into your bicep.
But the thing is, if you want to get on a plane, if you want to go indoors for a meal, if you want to go to a sports event, if you want to go to a movie, that is off the ledger unless you get jabbed.
And even more ominously, if you want your job, you better get the jab.
To me, that is coercion.
That is indeed force if they're putting that kind of economic penalty on you.
Coercion or Choice?00:00:37
In any event, Adam, great job in Calgary.
Glad you didn't get hurt by those goonish, mostly peaceful protester thugs known as Antiva.
And I look forward to more of your reports in the future, my friend.
Thanks very much.
Really appreciate that.
You got it.
And that was Adam Seuss in Calgary.
Keep it here, folks.
More of the Ezra Levant show to come right after this.