Ezra Levant highlights the Coutts, Alberta trucker blockade—200+ trucks and 500 people, including Sikh protesters like Gurteg Singh—defying vaccine mandates as a fight for freedom, not extremism. Police, backed by RCMP, enforce removal under charges like traffic violations or mischief, while Rebel News provides legal support via Chad Williamson and crowdfunding at truckerlawyer.ca. Protesters, acting as a united "family," reject mainstream media but welcome foreign coverage, contrasting it with Canadian outlets’ demonization. Williamson confirms negotiations failed; protesters must leave now to avoid charges, though past infractions could still lead to arrests. The convoy’s resilience underscores broader systemic battles over civil liberties and media bias. [Automatically generated summary]
Today, we talk about the blockade at Coutts, Alberta.
That's a border crossing between Alberta and Montana.
Hundreds of truckers are holed up there blocking things.
They're surrounded by police.
And police are starting to move in.
We have two reporters embedded in the group, and we'll talk about what they have to tell you.
We'll go live to one of them.
That's on today's show.
I really wish you could see the images.
It's quite something.
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I want you to see what's going down in Coots.
All right.
Here's today's podcast.
Tonight, while the national media focuses on the truckers in Ottawa, let me tell you what's happening in Coutts, Alberta.
It's February 1st, 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 to the government about why I publish it is because it's my bloody right to do so.
Keep watching our coverage of the Trucker Convoy in Ottawa.
We have three reporters on the ground there, Lincoln, Alexa, and Guillaume from Quebec.
And we're sending our friend David Menzies to Ottawa too.
He's back in action, doing great.
He was on our live stream today, and he's excited about the convoy story.
He's going to do great.
What's interesting but no longer surprising is how foreign coverage of Canada's convoy is so different from Canadian media coverage of it.
And I'm not just talking about foreign conservative media like Tucker Carlson.
I don't know if you caught this short mention of us at Rebel News on Tucker's show last night.
Watch this, one of the most humiliating scenes ever caught on tape.
What did it say?
Sorry?
So it says, F your white nationalist agenda.
I am not a white.
This is nothing to do about white.
This is nothing to do with truckers.
This is about freedom for all of Canadians.
You can be brown, black, white, blue, whatever color you want to be.
This is about freedom.
And Trudeau has no right to put us in this condition or mandates to our country.
Trudeau are not going to school.
It's a terrible thing to do.
Oh, thank God for Rebel News.
It may be.
You think Fox is an anomaly in the United States?
I'd like to be Rebel News.
Literally, the only people in all of Kanada who are playing it straight.
So there they are trying to tell you that some guy from the subcontinent is a white nationalist.
They're trying.
They're trying hard.
And now they have evidence.
It's brought to you by CNN naturally working in tandem with the CBC.
Apparently, brace yourselves.
There was a Trump sign in the crowd of truckers.
That was fun.
But all sorts of other media in the United States and around the world, TV stations to websites.
I mean, even Breitbart.com did a story just about my speech to the truckers.
They really liked it.
I liked it too.
And so did the truckers.
But of course, it wasn't going to be covered by the media, even if it was newsworthy.
I mean, I don't know if a speech from me is newsworthy.
Nearly 1 million viewers seem to think it was.
I think it might actually be the most watched speech of the trucker convoy, but it would never be covered by the media party in Canada because it's me and the media party dislikes me as much as I dislike them.
And secondly, even if they didn't know me from Adam, they would still hate my message.
They're all on the same plan: demonize the protesters.
Big media, big government, they're all in it together.
There are a handful of counter examples.
Our friends at True North, our alumnus Kian Bexti, there are some other independent citizen journalists.
I don't even know all their names, of course.
But the media party is part of the establishment.
Never forget that.
So keep following our convoyreports.com for our news from Ottawa.
We're going to be there for at least another week.
We'll extend it if we need to.
But the news today is from Coots, Alberta.
That is a small border crossing between Alberta and Montana.
And a sympathetic echo convoy mustered there.
American and Canadian truckers, both upset about the forced vaccines.
It would end their business.
It would ruin commerce.
And most importantly, it would destroy their civil liberties, which I think is the most important part, don't you?
Now, there have been a lot of wonderful truckers I've gotten to know over the past week, if not in person, at least through their social media accounts.
This guy is for sure one of my favorites.
Hey, Mr. Trudeau, in your last speech, you said that almost 90% of Canadians are vaccinated and they are very careful about their health and stuff like that, right?
Yes, maybe almost 90% of Canadians are vaccinated.
But have you ever asked them why are they getting vaccinated?
Go ask them if they're getting vaccinated because of the fear of your mandates or the fear of COVID.
You will know.
I'll tell you, in my circle, most of my friends are families.
They're getting vaccinated because of the fear of mandates to save their jobs or they have to fly to see their families back home.
All right?
Go ask them and you will know that why are 90% of Canadians are vaccinated.
Thank you so much.
He's so earnest.
He's so likable.
He's so real.
And he's defying the official narrative in his own way because he's Sikh and he's not alt-right white supremacist.
I don't think he cares about those slurs.
And speaking of fighting for freedom, look at this next guy.
He also happens to be Sikh too, I think.
A lot of truckers are.
And maybe that makes me love him all the more because I have always believed that freedom and loving freedom is a human condition, not just for this race or that race.
I've always believed that everyone wants to be free.
When people say China's Confucian cultural mindset is for order and rules and obedience and hierarchy, I don't want to accept that.
I mean, you can point to Hong Kong and Taiwan as proof to the contrary.
Those are freedom-loving places.
I truly believe that every race, every human, is meant to be free, and I think they know it.
But sometimes the Liberal Party in Canada and the Democrats in the States seem to grab voters as soon as they immigrate here as a sort of implicit, I let you into the country.
I'm a left-winger, so now vote left-wing with me as payment.
So to see this next guy with his smiling face so calmly and plainly use words like rights and freedoms and liberties.
I don't know, maybe it was a combination of those words and his smiling face.
I literally want to hug this guy.
I would hug him.
He's like a Sikh Santa or something.
I love this guy in a very fraternal way.
How about you?
Hi, my name is Gurteg Singh.
I'm from London, Ontario, and I'm here for my freedom and my rights.
I love my freedom and my liberty as much as everybody does.
And I hate the government telling me what to do with force.
That's all I'm here for.
It's about choice.
It's not about vaccines.
And we are all together.
We are all Canadians.
We are all truckers.
Go ahead, Tucker.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
He is walking proof that Trudeau is a liar and a smearer.
Okay, but back to Alberta, the border crossing accoups.
Truckers deciding to do something about it.
I mean, if they're going to be put out of business anyways, why not, right?
So they block the road.
Now, what do we make of that?
We're law abiders here, aren't we?
I mean, I remember how we covered the railroad blockaders from two years ago.
Anti-oil protesters are putting thousands of Canadian jobs at risk and potentially bankrupting farmers.
And Trudeau's liberals are ready to negotiate with these economic and eco-terrorists instead of supporting and enforcing the rule of law.
How are these truckers blocking the road different from those anti-foot types blocking the railway?
It's a good question and one to consider.
I have a few answers myself.
The truckers have their own answers.
I'll give you my answers, but first let me show you a few more facts before I comment on the facts.
So I'm going to show you a series of videos now shot by Kian Simone and Sidney Fizard, our two reporters on the scene.
Here's how it started.
You've already heard about the trucker convoy, but that's not just happening in Ottawa.
You see, that sparked something across the nation.
And right now, we've got a trucker convoy.
It's a slow roll, a Truckers for Freedom rally that's taking place at the border, stopping travel between Canada and the United States of Freedom Land.
Now, this is somewhat unprecedented, and Jason Kenney himself has come out against these guys because they don't want to go through permanent medical procedures to live their daily lives.
So we're going to find out what happens.
We have K2 here behind the camera.
He's been going out there, and tomorrow, he's going to get some coverage of some of the guys here and to see some of the action that's been going on.
Because as we were walking through, there were barbecue pits, all sorts of stuff.
So these guys, they're digging their feet in right now.
Truckers for Freedom Rally00:05:52
They're not going anywhere until all of these mandates are lifted.
And we saw a sign on the way that would tell you exactly that.
So stay tuned.
We're going to bring you the other side of the story.
And let's go check out what this convoy looks like right now.
When it was clear that the police were coming with force, the men prayed.
I thought this was powerful.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from mercy.
For thine art the kingdom, the power, the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.
Amen.
The man had a discussion as a sort of town council, and then they had a vote on what to do.
I'm with you.
I'm here.
They can leave me.
They can leave.
But the only way I'm leaving is in a cruiser.
Yes.
There you go.
I'm with you 100%.
That's right.
You know what?
So who's going to stay?
Who's there?
Hey!
Who's there?
Hey!
Who is there?
The Lord is with us.
They're tactics on.
We're surrounded.
Yes.
Yes.
It's all moral outlets.
Keep up the morale.
It's already started.
I'm just the ones that want to leave to leave.
If you're not enough funds, then go fund me.
We'll pay the full.
I have money.
Alex.
They can issue us and take it through for a highway traffic act.
That's all they can do.
Bring on the ticket.
And they decided to stay.
They acknowledged it was going to end with the law coming for them.
One man said he knew he would only leave in a police car.
That's one of the differences between principled, conscientious objectors, passive resistance, civil disobedience, versus the anonymous saboteurs of railroad tracks who are really just looking to derail a train and run away.
These men in Couts, like Gandhi himself, knew they were breaking the rules and knew they would be punished for it and decided that was fine.
The injustice of the laws was too much to bear passively or even consensually.
That saying nothing wasn't an option and that complying wasn't an option.
And so the morality of the universe required them to call themselves lawbreakers since the law was so odious.
In this case, a new segregation, a new ghettoization, a new apartness, or as they would say in Afrikaans, apartheid.
That's too much to accept.
And a ticket or a fine or a charge, even a criminal charge, was the price they would pay.
And that by making the so-called justice system process them, the system itself would be revealed to be wrong or broken, and maybe it would therefore be amended.
That's what Gandhi did.
It only works in democracies, though.
Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Xi Jinping, they would just kill or imprison Gandhi.
Only the British could be appealed to through their consciences.
That's what these truckers are hoping.
That it's not all for nothing.
It's interesting.
Arthur Pavlovsky has lost and lost and lost in court, by the way.
We've been there from every step of the way.
But is there a soul in the country who thinks that he has been diminished morally or illegally by all of the rulings against him?
Isn't it sort of the opposite?
That by persecuting him so obviously, the government proves his point and that the respect of the rule of law and the respect for police and the respect for the courts itself has been diminished.
I think that is what has happened.
These truckers have decided to bear the price for their families, for us too, for the children.
And it's not a random destruction like the eco-protesters, like the saboteurs.
It's not dangerous or malicious.
It's more akin to a wildcat strike by a union.
A wildcat strike is a strike against the collective agreement.
You're not supposed to do it, but obviously it's not to destroy the company, but to improve a problem or a grievance.
These truckers don't want to actually lock down cross-border traffic.
That's what Trudeau and Biden want to do.
These truckers want to be free to drive their trucks.
So their wildcat action, while temporarily reducing the flow, is actually meant to make it free again.
I see that Jason Kenney is against it, which I suppose you have to be if you're the chief lawmaker of a province.
I would only say that he seems to have locked down the province, not just businesses, but people too, churches too, for two years.
I'm not sure if his lockdowns were more moral than this rogue lockdown.
And by the way, most of the lockdowns in Canada under which we continue to labor were not passed in any parliament or even by some cabinet committee.
They were issued by some unknown public health official, unfireable, unaccountable, just some high priest up on Mount Olympus sending down edicts.
It made me laugh when Perrin Beattie of some big business lobby group condemned the Ottawa truckers for their two days of peaceful protest after two years of government lockdowns.
By the way, I didn't hear any concerns from Perrin Beattie about the Black Lives Matter protests when they turned violent in many cities.
That's another difference.
No violence, no threats, allowing critical things to pass through.
As harmless as it can be, just conscientious objectors, like the wheat board farmers, who a generation ago sold their wheat across the border, instead of selling it to Trudeau's wheat board, they were arrested and prosecuted and convicted and sentenced and jailed.
Were they really criminals?
I mean, they did break the law.
They were jailed, but now they're regarded as heroes.
One went on to be a MLA in Alberta.
How will history judge these truckers and coots?
I don't know.
Truckers' Support Needs Supplies00:14:57
But I know that last night I got a phone call from them asking for help.
I got on the phone, and a group of the men all got together on the speakerphone and they asked if we could help them get a lawyer and would we crowdfund a lawyer for them?
And I said, Yes, of course we would.
And so we did.
We set up a website, truckerlawyer.ca, and we put together some dough.
And we'll probably need more.
It's going down right now.
We hired Chad Williamson.
You might remember him.
We've used Chad in the past.
He helped Chris Scott of the Whistle Stop Diner, who I should also tell you, Chad, won a rebel news case for us.
I don't remember.
He was our lawyer against Trudeau when Trudeau banned us from the leaders' debates in the election.
So I called up Chad last night, late at night, and I asked him if he could drop everything and get down to the border.
And he said yes.
And he brought another lawyer with him named Marty.
And here's the video of their arrival in Coots today.
Hey, Chad Williamson, how are you?
Doing well.
Nice, nice to see you.
Nice to meet you.
Chilio today.
Well, as you are the man of the hour, you're the lawyer for the man of the sequence.
So the amazing civil liberties initiative launched by the Rebel to get these guys some representation and hopefully diffuse the tense situation that we've got down here.
It's hot and you know it's cold.
So we're going to try to bring some clarity to everything and try to see if we can bring parties together.
So that's your mission today.
And what is your expectation, let's say, for the day and even for the future going ahead?
Well, I mean, there's a lot to do.
First, we want to obviously meet the group and meet the protesters and then establish a connection and a rapport with the authorities that are on scene so that we can start productive negotiations if that's possible.
And I know you fight tuned to nail and our supporters are going to be able to help you do that through truckerlawyer.ca and I know everyone here really appreciates your support.
Thanks.
Yeah, we've got a great team here today.
It's Martin Raymond and myself.
It's early morning, so we're on scene and I don't want to leave until this thing's over.
So you probably know from my reputation, I do as well.
First of all, I just want to commend you guys and congratulate you for taking a stand for our constitutional rights, our charter rights, and for exercising your right to peaceful protests.
So on behalf of Albertans and Canadians in general, I thank you for what you've done.
It's going to be a trying process.
And frankly, I can't promise you guys that we're going to be able to fudge the government on this stuff.
But we've got, I mean, you know, we're the people and we've got the power, right?
So give yourselves a round of applause just for and as I've told everybody, this is pretty serious business.
And obviously you guys are aware of that, what you're doing, what's on the line, and what's at risk.
So if you need Marty or me, we're here to help you.
The legal fees are being crowdfunded, so that's great.
And you guys will have representation.
Okay, so thank you guys again.
We're not going to be going anywhere.
So we'll be floating around all day if you have any questions.
We are going to be dealing with a couple folks that hopefully will be representing the majority of interests here.
And once we have a little bit of a meeting downstairs, we'll be establishing our connection with the authorities to start negotiations.
So thank you guys again.
Again, a big round of applause for everybody.
This isn't easy.
And, you know, my family arrived in Alberta at the turn of the 20th century over 100 years ago.
And I'm about as Albertan as they come, but I still don't think that that even measures up to what you guys are doing no matter when your families arrived in this province.
So my hat's off to you, okay?
And like to thank you as well.
Thank you very much for taking.
That's exciting.
And it's about to get heavy.
The police were trying to freeze out and starve out the protesters.
They were blocking fuel and food and medicine.
That's illegal, by the way.
That's collective punishment.
The police literally set up checkpoints around the city.
No one was allowed in or out lest they sneak in food or medicine to the truckers.
And those stuck with the truckers, including our two reporters.
That's abusive.
That's illegal.
And in a way, it proves it was the Mounties who locked down this city too, not just the truckers.
Importantly, what about the medical supplies?
People in here.
Well, absolutely.
There's people with heart conditions here.
There's people with ulcers.
There's, you know what, they need their medicines, right?
They didn't realize it was going to take this long.
But yeah, like there's more support coming in.
There's more people coming in that, you know, in support of us, but left on a quick response without knowing that, you know, but totally supportive, but they need their supplies.
They need their medical stuff, right?
And if they keep that closed, I mean, that's not fair.
And if we have a medical situation come of that, that's on their hands.
So I hope they realize that this is staying and that they need to abide by what we want as well.
A lot of things happen around the side.
Certainly we have checkpoints as far as to make sure that we're trying to work again towards that, towards somewhere in the middle there.
So in our discussions earlier this morning, we were working on making sure that we could have your food brought in to make sure you had your supplies.
And a lot of things happen really quick.
So that's part of why we were looking to talk to you guys here to find out, you know, are those Do those trucks belonging to you and your group to set up an access point so it doesn't surprise our people because we have people in the area.
And again, they're just looking to make sure that they're following their processes and procedures as well.
And that's one thing we're looking to coordinate with you so we can bring it back to again our change and facilitate that.
As I record this, I hear word that the police are about to make their move.
Our lawyer is in place.
Our reporters are in place.
We'll keep you posted.
This is a big story.
And as always, you just can't trust the media party to tell you what's really happening.
Stay with us.
We'll talk to our reporter, Kian Simone, next.
Joining us now live from Coots, Alberta, via his cell phone, is our friend Kian Simone.
We also lovingly call him K2.
Kean, great to see you.
I know it's very cold outside.
Give us the latest.
Chad Williamson, our lawyer, has arrived.
I understand he's met with police.
What news do you have?
Well, actually, right at the moment, I just heard from Sid, the other reporter here.
Just on the highway, they are starting enforcement.
So he just buggered off to go cover that.
I'm just going to stay here with the truckers who are at the smuggler saloon, as they call it.
Yeah, so the final negotiations happened today, just a short hour ago, where the RCMP walked in and said, you either move your trucks or you're arrested.
They didn't continue any further than that.
The truckers asked, can we have some communication without any demands?
We want to talk.
We want to figure this out in a peaceful resolution.
And it was just a fat no, Ezra.
Chad gave us an update after just explaining the same thing.
And he's very disappointed that he came out here to be able to be a proper counsel and a strong, firm voice for them.
And the RCMP aren't listening now.
Let me ask you: were you there when the police said this?
Yes, yes.
It's now on Twitter.
We sent it in.
They're very firm.
They're not budging on the move in or get arrested and held here.
The truckers, in response to that, they're not budging.
They're parking their trucks into ditches so it's harder to be towed.
And above this, the checkpoints that were around Coots, Alberta, not letting food in, not letting supplies in, not letting medicine in for people who have conditions.
I guess they needed the resources.
So those just completely opened.
And more convoys from all around Alberta are coming in here.
So it's going to be a tough time for the RCMP to get all these hundreds and hundreds and now more hundreds of people out of here.
This is really going on in real time.
I'm just looking at your Twitter feed here.
We're now going to play a clip.
This is amazing reportage by you and Sidney Fazard in the room when the police lay down their ultimatum.
Let's take a look at that clip now that I'm literally looking off your Twitter feed.
What do you do next?
How long can you stay?
We will stay.
We will stay.
We can make this easy too for you guys is by you guys working with us.
We're in this together.
We all want the same thing.
We want this stuff done.
They have to be finished.
We're not here to cause issues.
The main restrictions get taken down.
We'll leave.
We get that the message has been delivered.
It hasn't helped.
Like everything's still the same.
That's right.
This whole media thing that we're just a little fringe minority, there is more and more happening.
Just so you guys know.
You guys are.
This mic is not a small fringe minority.
Okay.
What's your name, sir?
My name is George.
George?
Yes.
I appreciate you bringing that out and talking on behalf of the group.
Right.
You know, you've got to have somebody that's willing to speak up and talk.
I get that.
That's why I'm here today.
It's to be the one on behalf of the RCP that's speaking up and talking to you guys.
Right.
What we have been told to impart upon you is that today is the day that you're opening the highway.
And the reason that that's happening is because we've been instructed to do so by the people that are in charge of us.
So when was it going to be a good question?
Are you guys not tired?
Like, do you not have families?
Do you not have families that this affects?
Yes.
Like, this is the time where we all work together.
We need you guys to make a choice as well today to stand with us to make this change.
We have so much going on right now.
We have so much support right now.
You guys can decide to say F you to your superiors and say we're not doing this anymore.
It's happened in other police forces.
You know, it has to.
Okay, I'm going to stop you there.
That's not an option that we have.
You do.
You can do.
You have the option.
We can do it.
You couldn't see you right now.
Do it right now.
Do it.
Rather, it's coming in strong arm.
No negotiations.
That is absolutely incredible footage.
I literally just watched that now.
You just posted that to Twitter.
I don't think this is very rare reportage to be in the room.
As police negotiate with the truckers, you can see our lawyer, Chad Williamson, there, the police deaf to his appeals, the police making it clear that they're following orders.
They're not quite clear who the orders are from.
I should tell our viewers who are unfamiliar with how policing works in rural parts of Alberta: it is the federal RCMP, the Mounties, who are the police, but they are on a contract with the provincial government to provide rural policing.
Other provinces like Ontario or Quebec have their own provincial police forces.
Alberta does not.
I wonder if these cops are taking orders from Justin Trudeau in Ottawa or from Jason Kenney in Alberta.
And please don't tell me the fiction that politics doesn't apply to policing.
I've just observed too much in the last two years to believe that anymore.
So, K2, you say that the police have begun enforcing.
So, basically, they've got, I presume, heavy-duty tow trucks, the kind of tow trucks that would be needed to lift a semi-trailer, like a tractor trailer.
Is that right?
Yeah, I can't confirm the tow trucks.
I know that they had them in Milk River, Milk River, sorry, and they were ready.
And amazing enough, Sid ran over there to check it out.
When he says enforcement, you know, they could just be arresting people or they could be moving people out of the way so that they could come here.
To the point before of the RCMP talking with the protesters and Chad, we don't know where the order came from.
They did just say higher up.
So, politically, I'm not sure, but the supporters, sorry, I'm freezing here.
The supporters, they asked, like, what are you going to do?
Are you going to fight for us?
And the police said that's not a choice.
And it caused a big rift between them.
And I think that's where a lot of the tension started, where they do have a choice, and the protesters were not happy with how this is going.
Yeah, now, I haven't looked deeply and carefully at what the police said in full.
Did they say what the arrests were for?
I mean, when you arrest someone, as a cop, you typically have to say what the arrest is for.
And if someone is in a restaurant and their truck is out there, I can't imagine what the charge would be.
Mischief, maybe some traffic offense, like when I park somewhere illegally, I get a traffic ticket.
Maybe it's under the Highway Traffic Act or something.
Do you know what the charges are?
So, yesterday, during the three sets of negotiations, the RCMP officers suggested that it could be traffic violations for tickets, critical infrastructure, and one more.
They said criminal code, but they didn't go any further than that.
Today, during the negotiation, their demand was that they're opening up the highway regardless, that be RCMP.
So, maybe it's an obstruction of justice that that could be.
I'm not too sure.
They didn't actually say what they would be arresting them for.
Charges Unclear00:05:02
Right.
Very interesting.
And, of course, police can charge whatever they want, whether or not those charges hold up.
I would imagine, I mean, like, if you're parked in a handicapped parking spot, if you're parked in a lane, you can be towed.
You're not going to be charged with a crime.
I have, I don't know what would happen in a mischief charge.
Mischief is almost a catch-all criminal offense.
You mentioned that critical infrastructure law.
Politicians who hate democratic peaceful protests have started to bring in these laws to ban protests they don't like outside a politician's home, in front of a hospital, for example.
By the way, I'm not sure if protesting outside a hospital or a home is the best choice to make, but both are public places, and we believe in the right to protest, even if politicians don't like it.
It would be an interesting test of that law to have it applied to these truckers at a border crossing.
Well, this is very interesting, K2.
And I know you're extremely cold there, and it's probably hard to hold the phone in your hands.
I was in extremely cold Ottawa, too.
I can't thank you enough for your coverage.
You and Sydney were on the phone yesterday when I personally spoke to the truckers, and I said that we would crowdfund their legal defense.
Here's my thinking on that: everyone deserves a lawyer, and especially people who don't have access to justice, can't afford a great lawyer, don't know how to hire a lawyer, don't know how to get one to come down quickly.
So, I feel really good that we're able to get Chad there and another lawyer with them, Marty, and there's another lawyer part of their team that if they do face these charges, will fight the charges.
I believe everyone has the right to a lawyer, and I'm very proud that we're doing that at truckerlawyer.ca.
Can you tell me about the mood of the men?
I was not there last night, I was just on the other end of the phone when we agreed to crowdfund their lawyers.
You've spent a few days with these men now.
Just end with on a maybe a personal observation or an emotional observation.
What's it being like to be amongst these holdouts who have decided to make a stand on principle?
You know, these truckers, they're not scared.
They have been acting like a family this whole time.
They've been making decisions as a whole group, not just one person or even not just five people.
It's been all hundreds of them have been making these decisions together.
They've been taking votes.
They've also obviously had their bickering, they've had their disagreements, but it was like being at a family dinner table.
And it has truly been amazing to see them gather together like this.
There's been no, um, there's just frustrations, and that's that's that's that's basically the uh the vibe you get in there.
But when they're eating together, it's all smiles and it's hugging, and they know that they're fighting for freedom.
That that's their that's what they say.
They say, uh, most of them, some of them, sorry, aren't even truckers.
They just came here to support and they said, you know, our family is fine, we're okay, but we're here to fight for other families too.
So it's uh that that's what's going on here.
That's what they've been, it's on repeat, that's what they say.
It's on repeat that they're fighting for other people's freedoms, and they're doing this.
They're uh, they're standing tall.
Very interesting.
It'll be interesting from the prosecutors or police point of view.
How do you prosecute and who do you prosecute?
If there's a if there's a truck on the road, who put it there?
I mean, I suppose you could say, well, who's the owner and who's the driver?
But is that enough to charge someone with a particular offense?
If someone is just there out of solidarity, have they committed an offense if they're just hanging out of the restaurant?
I think the police are smart enough not to touch you and Sydney, who are there as reporters, but you never know.
I mean, Trudeau's RCMP beat up our reporter in Toronto last month, our friend David Menzies.
So you never know what the RCMP might do.
I think the presence of your cameras is having a salutary effect.
It's probably keeping the police from going full waco.
You said one thing, you said hundreds.
How many people are there?
How many trucks and how many people are there?
So before the checkpoint opened up and more are coming in, I haven't been able to see that.
But for the past day and a half, I heard someone say that was 200 trucks are blocking, and about someone said 500 people.
And that is people still in their trucks.
You know, they take shifts almost basically coming in and out of the smuggler saloon.
And that's why they brought the diesel fuel because these guys are in their trucks.
They need to run their trucks to stay warm, to have electricity.
They're sleeping in their sleeper cabs, really, because Coots is a tiny town.
There might be a motel or two, but they're not going to have room for 500 guys.
That's very interesting because I saw that room last night.
It was a big room and it was full of guys.
Yeah, and they're not even able to fit in there sometimes, you know?
So people are behind the bar and in the kitchen and downstairs.
It is packed in there.
And how are they treating you and Sydney?
I mean, you two are fairly new rebels.
You've both been with the company for, I'm going to say approximately a year.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
New Rebels Shine00:10:47
So, but you've both been on TV.
You've both done civil liberties reporting.
You both traveled around.
I mean, this is your time to shine.
You guys are doing a great job under high stress situations.
I know you've been sleeping just barely.
Do you have to go there?
Is something happening there?
No, the RCMP is just pulling away beside me.
I'll let you go in one minute.
Just how I just am curious on a personal level, because I think that one of the reasons you're accepted there and that we they talked to us, they asked us for help in the whole world.
Who do they go to?
It was quite an honor to be asked for help.
I said, of course, you were on the call.
I think it's because they just don't trust the establishment.
That's exactly it.
The other mainstream media that has been here, they have been unable to get a proper interview, not in any hostile way at all.
They've offered them food.
They've offered them coffee.
They just don't want their story twisted.
They've treated us great.
They've treated us with respect.
They've been feeding us too.
They've been offering any services that we need, whether it even be fuel for the car here.
That's basically stuck.
They're very happy that we're telling the entire story.
And I told them that it's, you know, it's one thing to be here, but it's almost just easier to film the entire thing and say this is what's going on.
And they're so happy that that is.
And one more point on the when they asked for help, when we agreed and everything happened with sending Chad out here and fundraising, they were almost in tears.
They were hugging, patting each other on the back.
They're hugging me when we're on speakerphone.
They're saying thank you so much.
And I think that just helped them know that people care and we got their backs.
Well, that's great.
And you know, not everyone is used to the world of lawyers.
Not everyone knows, well, how do you hire a lawyer and which lawyer and how much do you pay them and how do you keep in control?
It's not something most people know how to do.
Thank God most people don't have to know that.
That is something that over the years we've gotten better at here at Rebel News.
We know Chad and I knew he would be a perfect fit.
So I'm glad that we were able to help them.
And I think that it is a perfect rebel activity.
I mean, you know, the three things we do: we report the news.
That's just straight up what happens.
We give our opinion.
We call that news analysis.
Well, here's what I think about the news, and here's how I'm looking at the news.
And the third thing we do is advocacy.
In this case, we're helping folks get access to justice that they simply would not have been able to do on their own.
I think.
I mean, maybe they have more.
I mean, that's not for me to say, but to get Chad Williamson down there in time and to tell these guys their legal rights, I feel that's an accomplishment.
I bet a lot's going to go down today and tomorrow.
So stay safe.
Keep posting to Twitter.
Keep phone if you need any help.
The lawyers are there.
So I think you're fine on the legal side.
I don't know how long or how far this is going to go.
If folks want to follow this, we have a website now.
We call it truckerlawyer.ca.
You could chip in if you want to help cover the costs of Chad Williamson and Marty.
I don't know.
K2, I'm really proud of what you're doing.
Say hi to Sydney for me also and the men there and stay warm, stay safe, get some rest, but also be there when it goes down because we have to show the world.
Yeah, we're not leaving here, Ezra, until this is all settled and we get the full story.
Just thank you for having me on.
Right on, there it is.
Keen K2 Simone, Rebel reporter based in Calgary, now down in Couts, Alberta.
covering the blog.
Stay with us.
Hey, welcome back.
Your viewer feedback.
Someone with a nickname GreaseMonkey One.
I'm guessing that's a nickname.
That's not a name your mama would give you.
Says the only politicians I have a shred of respect for are the ones who have been out there standing in meeting with the convoy and protesters.
There's about five I was able to count, and Leslie Lewis is one of them.
If she or Pierre aren't the leader of the Conservatives next, we're doomed.
Well, it's funny you mentioned that because I really think Aaron O'Toole is going to be gone as soon as this week.
Is there a caucus meeting on Wednesday?
I mean, he has been awful.
I understand why members of his caucus have had to be obedient and quiet.
I mean, if you're part of a team, you have to follow the leader.
It's true.
But my God, have they allowed him to do terrible things to the party?
Alex SDB says this woman is a real politician, a real representative.
She is sensible, logical, but simply living in reality.
And whose purpose is tied to that?
You know what?
It was great to talk with her.
And I think it's a sign of the times that conservative MPs want to talk to Rebel News, speak to our viewers, speak about our issues.
That's something that Aaron O'Toole did not allow.
It's clear he's not in charge anymore.
GNM says, at least she's speaking to Rebel News.
I'm sure CBC will bash her.
Where are all the other conservatives talking to the rebel?
Well, I think you're going to see a lot more in the days ahead.
In fact, in our morning story meeting, I think we listed about five conservative MPs who have been aching to talk to Rebel News for two years, but simply didn't want to be thrown out of the party for it.
Now they're no longer afraid of the big bad wolf of Aaron O'Toole.
So I think you can expect to see conservative MPs on our shows regularly.
And it just shows that we were not actually shunned by the Conservative Party of Canada.
We were shunned by a red Tory pretender who is now being thrown into the dustbin of history.
That's our show for today.
Very interesting stuff happening in Coots.
I'm sort of nervous about it.
Those are good men in there.
I understand that they have chosen a certain course that will likely result in their punishment.
We're going to help them get the access to the best lawyers we can.
It's very dark days.
I believe those men are standing up for something larger than themselves.
We'll see how the story ends.
If you want to learn more, go to truckerlawyer.ca.
That's our show for today.
Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night, and keep fighting for freedom.
Freedom!
KK2, Simone here with Rebel News, and there is some breaking news.
The RCMP and lawyer Chad Williamson have discussed the negotiations are officially over.
The RCMP will be moving in.
The truckers have a little grace period to move their trucks or be arrested.
We're going to stay here on scene in the blistering cold.
You can help them at their defense fund for the guys who are staying at truckerlawyer.ca.
You can help us bring you this exclusive coverage at convoyreports.com.
Please stay tuned because this is happening at any minute.
Chad, could you just give us the update?
What just happened here and what's happening now?
So the police have essentially shut down all negotiations, period.
They've indicated that they've got marching orders essentially to reopen the highway.
They're not going to discuss anything further with the protesters.
They've indicated that those who leave now are free to do so.
Those who remain behind run the risk of being arrested.
There's various pieces of legislation and charges that they can essentially lay against people that remain.
They've indicated that they're going to seize equipment and they've indicated that they're going to reopen the highway.
So we provided the standard legal charter advice for folks and we're going to see how this plays out.
But we've really tried to stress everyone to kind of remain calm, remain peaceful no matter what happens.
But things are pretty tense.
And quickly, they haven't alluded to consequences for the people who do decide to leave now, but is that still potential?
It's a potential.
They've said that they won't charge people, but again, if someone's committed an infraction, technically they can still arrest people.
Okay, thank you for your time.
And that's truckerlawyer.ca to help these guys fight this legal fight.
This is such a big development and now we have a top-notch lawyer who is going to be defending them for tickets, arrests, whatever may come today.
So we're going to catch up with Chad later as well.
And I just want to thank everybody for tuning in for Rebel News.