Ezra Levant unpacks a New York Times poll (Oct. 19) showing 63% doubt Biden’s legitimacy, only 37% trust midterm election accuracy, and 59% see mainstream media as a democracy threat, while 47% of Republicans back Trump in 2024. At Ottawa’s Emergencies Act inquiry, Keith Wilson (convoy lawyer) clashes with Mayor Jim Watson, exposing Watson’s flip-flops—negotiations worked yet he called protesters "irrational"—and questioning his Liberal Party loyalty to Trudeau. Meanwhile, Richmond Hill farmers protest 10,000% stormwater fee hikes, facing police crackdowns while counter-protesters evade rules, revealing a global pattern of institutional hostility toward agriculture. The episode underscores how elite narratives clash with public priorities, fueling distrust in both media and government. [Automatically generated summary]
Boy, I found such an interesting poll in the New York Times of all places.
I'm going to take you through it.
The number of Americans who hate the media, the number of Americans who do not trust the government and say they're only working for elites, and there's just some wonderful questions in there that I'm really surprised the New York Times asked and that they published the answers to.
I hope you'll find it interesting.
That's ahead, but please go to RebelNewsPlus.com and subscribe to the video version of this podcast.
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All right, here's today's podcast.
Tonight, a major New York Times poll shows most Americans hate the media and worry about stolen elections.
It's October 19th, and this is the Ezra Levant Show.
Shame on you, you censorious f**k.
If a conservative told you that people just don't trust the media, you wouldn't be surprised.
But what if a liberal said that?
What if the New York Times itself, the flagship liberal newspaper in America, said that?
That's surprising, and it can't be written off as some conservative spin.
Well, that is exactly what the latest New York Times poll showed.
I'll put a link to the poll under this video.
It's the full crosstabs, as they say.
That means very detailed results by different age and gender and race.
Here's the poll.
You can see it on the New York Times website.
There's so many things in it that I think are interesting.
And the fact that it comes from the New York Times adds to its impact.
I just think that if a liberal newspaper is publishing something that hits this hard, well, it means it's bad out there.
Biden's Approval Crisis00:14:55
Remember, up here in Canada, look, we're focused on our own things right now.
We've only been out of the lockdowns for a few months.
Unvaxxed people have only been allowed to fly for a few months.
The mask mandate in airplanes was only lifted three weeks ago.
I mean, we're a mess.
Our politics are busy.
There was just a Quebec election.
There was a leadership vote for the Conservative Party of Canada.
There was just a leadership vote last week for Alberta's United Conservative Party, both of which leadership races were caused by the truckers, actually.
A momentous set of city elections across BC last week.
A bunch of leftist incumbents thrown out.
Of course, the Trucker Commission of Inquiry is underway right now in Ottawa.
Inflation is crazy.
I think it's pretty clear we're headed into a recession.
I'm so sorry to say it.
So Canadians are busy.
We're focused on our own things as a country.
But the United States is just weeks away from their midterm elections, remember, November 8th.
It's been two years since Joe Biden was elected, and he's visibly declining right in front of our eyes.
I mean, it's embarrassing.
Here's a sample.
Look at your child.
You know the needs of innocent to live to live and not having the money to pay for it.
Not a joke.
Think about it.
Think about what you'd think about at the time.
Think about how you'd feel if you didn't have the insurance and didn't have the money.
It's wrong.
It's not who we are, and we're going to fix that too.
And will people who have privately held loans, will they at some point become eligible for this forgiveness because they no longer are?
We are working on pathways there to support those, but we're moving as quickly as possible to provide relief to as many people as possible.
The right that I pushed hard and it finally got changed, the married couples in the privacy of their bedroom.
Excuse me.
I'm thinking about the Dobbs decision.
Imagine, well, I'll get to that in a second.
He does other weird things too, like touching and groping young girls.
He keeps doing that.
It's really creepy.
Oh, what the hell?
Look at them.
Now, the very important thing I told my daughter and granddaughters, no serious guys in the 30s.
Okay.
No serious guys till you're 30.
I'll keep that in mind.
You know, Biden hasn't done a one-on-one interview with a reporter in about a year.
He only appears with his wife with him as a kind of spotter or nanny.
That's a fact.
You know, Biden's on vacation almost half the time just to rest up his weary bones.
I think he's actually the president only in name.
I think other people are running the country.
And I think what President Dwight D. Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex, I think that's a big part of it.
So in three weeks, Americans get to vote, not for or against Biden.
He's not on the ballot, but he really is a kind of ballot question by proxy.
Do you like where things are going in America right now?
Do you like the direction of the country?
It's fascinating and telling to see so many local Democratic candidates shying away from Biden.
No one is asking for his endorsement, unlike Republicans who seem to get big energy from a Trump endorsement.
Every single congressional seat is up for grabs, and a third of the Senate, the Democrats, control things right now.
But if it tips back to the Republicans, Biden will be as good as done.
He'll get very little of his remaining agenda through, at least through the legislature.
Remember, he still has massive executive power, ranging from foreign policy and wars to nominating judges.
But the era of Biden is quite likely over if it ever started.
So let me show you this massive New York Times poll three weeks before election day.
Do you think the United States is on the right track or is it headed in the wrong direction?
That really is the key question, isn't it?
It's actually all you need to know.
All you need to ask people, isn't it?
And the result is shocking.
I think it's just unbelievable.
Unbelievable if you use CNN of the New York Times as your source of information about the world, because the media party, as I call it, well, they're like press agents for the Democrats.
They love it.
I mean, look at this guy.
Are you concerned about, just one more economic one, are you concerned about the strength of the dollar right now?
I'm not concerned about the strength of the dollar.
I'm concerned about the rest of the world.
That makes sense?
Let me explain that.
Yes.
Our economy is strong as hell in the internals.
Inflation is worldwide.
It's worse off everywhere else than it is in the United States.
So the problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much harsh.
And that's how it's worldwide inflation.
It's consequential.
The mainstream media ran that clip without blushing, but here's what the people say.
24% say America's on the right track.
64% say it's on the wrong track.
Even 35% of Democrats say wrong track.
That is shocking.
Now, some Democrats would still vote for Biden, even though they say he's on the wrong track.
But here's the generic party split today.
If this year's elections for Congress were held today, which party's candidate would you be more likely to vote for in your district?
And 45% say Democrat and 49% say Republican.
Now this next question is truly amazing.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?
Well, look at the answers.
Only 18% strongly approve.
Another 21% somewhat approve.
13% somewhat disapprove, but a whopping 45% strongly disapprove.
They're mad about it, despite full-time puff pieces by the media party.
Trump was demonized 24-7 for years.
I don't think he actually polled this low when he was president.
Now, the New York Times takes a break from the upcoming midterm elections to talk for a minute about the 2024 presidential race.
Fair enough.
They ask this.
Among those who plan to vote in the Republican primary, they only ask Republicans this.
If the Republican 2024 presidential primary were held today, who would you vote for if the candidates were?
And then they list them.
Trump gets 47%.
And look at that, 60% of young Republicans.
Ron DeSantis of Florida gets 28%.
The rest are all single digits, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, and others.
And then they do a hypothetical matchup, Biden or Trump in 2024.
And would you look at that?
Trump would just beat out Biden despite all the demonization of Trump.
So what's on people's minds as they're going into vote?
This is fascinating.
Compare this list to what your news feed is likely full of.
I mean, depends on what country you're in.
If you're in America, you probably hear about Black Lives Matter and transgenderism and non-binary and drag queen story hour things.
You probably hear about the war in Ukraine, the need to fight global warming, people listing their pronouns.
You hear that word Latinx that no actual Latino has ever said.
Now compare those weird, distracting issues that the news serves up for real life.
Here's what real Americans say they care about.
The economy, jobs and the stock market.
26% of people say that's their issue, even higher among young people.
The next is inflation and the cost of living.
I'd say that's actually the same sort of subject.
That's another 18%.
It's all people are thinking about is money issues.
Nothing else is above single digits.
Abortion and immigration are next, which I believe.
But look at that.
Russia, Ukraine.
That's 2% of people think that's the big issue.
Global warming is 3%.
And look at coronavirus.
Less than 0.5%.
Talk about a chasm between what the elites care about and what actual people care about.
The media party is still obsessed with the pandemic, talking about mandatory vaccines for kids, new waves, but less than 0.5% of Americans feel the same way.
Hey, look at the next one.
I think it's got to be the most lopsided number in the whole poll.
Seriously.
Which comes closest to your views, even if neither is exactly right.
The government mainly works to benefit ordinary people, or the government mainly works to benefit powerful elites.
Well, only 22% of Americans say it works for ordinary people.
68% say the government is for elites.
And for young people, look at the charts.
That was crazy.
17% say for the little guy, 79% say elites.
I can't think of a single other issue that 79% of young people would agree upon.
Elites.
That means the political class, bureaucrats, the people who invoke the lockdowns, big pharma executives, Hollywood, the military-industrial complex, globalists of the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the deep state, all the people on TV.
Let me show you a couple more.
The mainstream media, major threat to democracy, minor threat to democracy, or not a threat to democracy?
What a great question, by the way.
It's amazing the New York Times asked it, and the answers are amazing, too.
59% say major threat.
Another 24% say minor threat.
Add them together, that's what, 83% say it's a threat.
I guess that's even larger than the elites question.
And again, young people feel it hard.
93% of them.
I think that's amazing, no.
I mean, come on, that's 93%.
Do you think any journalists feel responsible for this?
Or do you think journalists need to simply shout louder at people, call them racist more, call them sexist, call them Russian disinformation agents more, call them transphobes, whatever the insult of the day is.
Do you think any journalists are actually reflecting on that poll result?
That's a stunning number.
Do you think a single media party journalist cares?
Do you think they realize it's why people are leaving mainstream media for alternative media?
Even like us, we're alternative.
Quick snapper, 49% of Americans say electronic voting machines are a major or minor threat to democracy.
I agree.
Look, just mark ballots by pen and count them by hand.
50% of Americans say voting by mail is a threat too.
I agree also.
Only 37% of Americans say they have, quote, a great deal of trust that the upcoming midterm elections will be accurate.
In fact, only 63% of people think Joe Biden is the legitimate president from last time.
People don't trust the regime.
They don't trust the official narrative.
I think that's incredible, and it's even more incredible to read it in the Times.
One last question that just made me chuckle.
You know, I meet a lot of people, especially now that I'm not under, you know, Trudeau's no-fly list anymore.
I should tell you, in my entire life, I have met precisely two people who believe in something called QAnon.
It's a kind of conspiracy theory or ideology or political worldview that's sort of cryptic, lots of secret signs and symbols.
It suggests that someone named Q is giving secret hints about the world.
There are other parts of the worldview, some of which could be called legitimate conservative or skeptical viewpoints, but some of it is actually quite conspiratorial.
I have literally only met two people in my whole life, and I think I meet a lot of people.
But the media party is obsessed with QAnon.
You hear about QAnon every week in the liberal media.
They project it onto conservatives.
They want to write off all conservatives as dupes, as cult members, as foolish conspiracy theorists.
But the poll shows that no one even knows about QAnon other than the media, I guess.
Do you personally find the QAnon theories or movement believable or not believable?
Or do you not know enough to say?
Only 5% say they're believable.
39% don't.
And 52% say, what are you talking about?
Q what?
Isn't that amazing?
I think that's amazing.
What do you make of this poll?
I believe it's largely accurate.
I believe a lot of these same questions would get similar results here in Canada.
The distrust of Elise, the hatred of the media party, the completely different set of priorities for the people as opposed to the media political class.
I'm glad the New York Times published this because for them to admit this, you know it must be bad.
And in three weeks, we'll see what this yields in the U.S. midterms.
If those midterm elections are accurate, a proposition that only 37% of Americans deeply believe.
Stay with us.
David Menzies has a guest interview.
I'll be back in a minute to read your letters.
David Menzies for Rebel News here in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
And folks, the war on the farmer took a really perverse turn last Saturday here in Richmond Hill when it came to a demonstration.
You are not going to believe what happened.
David Menzies for Rebel News here in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
And folks, I'm in the midst of dueling protests.
On one hand, we have the people that we spoke to earlier across the street there.
They're protesting against the 10,000% increase in stormwater management fees for the farmers of Richmond Hill.
And on the other hand, we have a group called A Better Richmond Hill.
Now, A Better Richmond Hill, they claim to be, quote, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization with a mandate to encourage public engagement and public participation in municipal issues in Richmond Hill, end quote.
Non-partisan, that's kind of odd, isn't it?
Because I'm looking at these signs here, which state vote out Pirelli, Barrows, and Munch.
They put an advertisement in the Richmond Hill Liberal this week stating the same thing.
Why are these individuals aligned?
Well, they are right of center counselors.
Pirelli, Burroughs, and Munch sit on the right of center of council, unlike the rest of council.
Because if this was all about ethics and morality and malfaisance, wouldn't the first name on that sign be Karen Sullovitz?
But she's okay, according to A Better Richmond Hill, which claims to be non-partisan.
Protest and Police Presence00:11:43
Well, let's wade into the crowd and find out how they can justify who they approve and who they smear.
Hey, ma'am, I see you got a sign there.
Vote out Pirelli, Burroughs, and Munch.
What about Karen Sullovitz?
Absolutely.
She's got to go too.
Oh, okay, that's interesting.
Thank you.
Why isn't she on your sign?
Well, I didn't make the sign.
So someone just gave it to you.
I believe in this sign.
Okay.
And I believe there should be another name on that sign.
Hey, sir.
How you doing there?
Are you part of a Better Richmond Hill group?
Yes.
Okay then, so why we're...
You want to talk to him?
He's going to trap you.
Okay.
My goodness, did that man try to French kiss you, sir?
So just wait a second.
Okay, wait, just wait a second.
We have a support speaker.
He very soon, okay?
Oh, he told you not to speak then, right?
No, no, no, not to speak, because I'm basically for this one.
So, okay.
So why are you a part of a better Richmond Hill then, sir?
Because we want a better Richmond Hill.
reason so I see you you don't want to go ahead and see why we're guessing Yes, very detailed.
We have a very detailed explanation why we're against this candidate.
Why are you not against Karen Sullivanz, the convicted fraud, sir?
So we're not involved at all.
Right now, we have only limited resources.
We only focus on these three, I think, seats.
How about yourself, ma'am?
Why are you part of a Better Richmond Hill?
I'm not talking to you, bud.
Oh, is that right?
Why is that?
I have nothing to talk to you about.
Why are you a supporter of Karen Sullivitz, a convicted fraud, sir?
Hey, sir, what brings you out to this demonstration?
No comment, man.
I'm just helping out.
No comment, did you say?
Okay, then.
You can't articulate why you're at a demonstration.
Pardon me?
From a better Richmond Hill!
Telling Bullberg, take this away.
Don't get aggressive.
Don't get aggressive.
You do not own the corner.
We don't have to.
You do not own the corner.
Don't get purposely.
You do not own the corner.
You do not own the corner.
What can we not say, sir?
So folks, as I said, I'm here at the Donor Farm.
This is Paul Doner.
He's the head honcho here.
And you might recall earlier this month, we reported that the city of Richmond Hill passed a 10,000% increase in the stormwater fee schedule.
That means that for the donor farm, the bill is going to go from $150 to almost $15,000.
Again, it's like the war on the farm that we see around the world.
It has now come to the municipal level here in Richmond Hill.
And that caused a protest to happen a week ago Saturday.
And here's some, we were there for that.
Check it out.
Tell me about what's going to happen in the next hour.
I see many pickup trucks with trailers on them with signage.
You're going to send your message to the mayor and council, at least those councillors that voted for this.
Do you think it will change anything, Paul?
I have no idea if it'll change anything.
I hope that it'll raise some awareness at least and let them know that the stormwater management fee issue is not going away, that we are fighting it and we're going to continue to fight it whether the council likes it or not.
You know, we're not going anywhere.
So we're here for a while yet and we're going to keep doing what we do.
Well, Paul, thank you so much for your time.
Good luck with your demonstration.
And we're going to keep on this file because this is an injustice.
People, like I said, 100% of people on this planet need farmers.
And to target farmers, I just cannot explain it.
So good luck with your demonstration.
I hope it, you know, gets some results at City Hall here.
Okay, so a peaceful protest and there was a counter protest.
People with the anti-development organization called A Better Richmond Hill.
But Paul, there was another demonstration I could not attend yesterday.
And it was the same deal.
It was pickup trucks with trailers with signage denouncing this 10,000% stormwater fee increase.
You are around Young and 16th in Richmond Hill.
And suddenly, it didn't really turn so peaceful.
What happened?
Well, it remained peaceful, first of all.
We were told by the York Region Police that we weren't welcome there essentially.
They said we weren't supposed to be driving our wagons in that area and that they were there on the direction of the superintendent apparently from the day before he'd given them direction to go in and basically stop us.
They threatened to pull our trucks and wagons off the road and have them inspected, which would basically delay the whole purpose of it and take any momentum we had out of the demonstration.
And what was the reason they gave you for shutting down this peaceful protest?
Originally, I think they said it was in the interest of public safety.
And they were concerned with us obstructing traffic, which we were not.
Traffic could go around us.
It wasn't being obstructed.
In fact, I was driving one of the wagons on Young Street and traffic wasn't moving anyways.
The number of times I had to wait for the traffic to clear even to start going again.
So it wasn't that we were obstructing traffic.
Traffic was bad, period.
And you know, folks, just a few weeks in the exact same area and beyond, there was a protest by more than 50,000 people against the Iranian regime.
Traffic was snarled, but I didn't see the cops interfering with that demonstration.
We were there for that one too.
Check it out.
The Islamic Republic is not Iran.
I think most people here, virtually everybody would agree with that.
I guess there's a lot of people experiencing buyers' remorse from the 1979 revolution.
Yeah, I agree with that.
And that's why we're all here.
And we're supporting the people and our people and their voice in here.
And you know, it's such a shame what happened to Miss Amini.
She was arrested by the morality police, died for not allegedly wearing her hijab properly.
How can this force be called the morality police?
That seems to be the most immoral thing possible, killing someone for not wearing clothing properly.
That is just shameful and this is not right.
These protests have spread to all 31 of Iran's provinces.
They've spread to major cities around the world.
Here we are in Richmond Hill, thousands of people.
Here's a big question though.
In terms of tangible change in Iran, what would you like to see countries like Canada do to help the Iranian people?
Sure, the main thing that we want to get across is getting the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
They have a lot of family here.
There's going to be people here that you don't know.
They're associated with the regime back home, but they are.
They're going to be taking pictures of everyone, trying to catch them back home, putting them in prison.
So that's something we want to put a stop to.
They own a property in Bridal Path.
They own multiple businesses all around the GTA.
We want to put a stop to that.
Vancouver, all across Canada.
We want to put a stop to that.
So there you have it, Paul.
50,000 people plus gathering in about the same area where you were.
And that's okay, though.
The police let that peaceful protest go on.
And what I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, the cops said that you either leave now or we're going to measure the air pressure in your tires.
And for each tire that's out of compliance, each tire that's not exactly right air pressure-wise, you're going to get a ticket.
You're going to potentially receive thousands of dollars of tickets.
Did that actually happen?
So what they said is they would pull us over and have our vehicles inspected for the safety inspection, which I believe can only be done by an MTO officer anyways.
But that was their threat to us, that we'd be pulled over.
We'd be forced to a roadside inspection.
And if they found anything wrong, then that would be an issue.
Something like air pressure in your tires could be a potential safety violation if you were a couple pounds over the limit on what the tires rated for, for instance.
There was certainly some concern with having them deal with this, and we didn't want the hassle, so we went home.
Well, this strikes me as so incredibly petty.
And I mean, when it comes to safety, you weren't driving these pickups and wagons like these were NASCAR racers.
I mean, you were just slowly going up Young Street.
I mean, it just seems, like I said, petty and preposterous.
Were you surprised that they came down on you, whereas the other protests, the Better Richmond Hill people, they were back at that corner and they had planted signs in the grass, which I understand is contrary to bylaw, but it was a matter of nothing to see here, folks.
Move along.
I was disappointed we were the only ones that were being forced out.
You're correct.
I was told the same thing as you that their signs were illegal and erected illegally on the corners that they had the better Richmond Hill had put up.
Yeah, I was very disappointed in the police that we were the ones that were targeted.
For the record, our vehicles were all equipped with slow-moving vehicle signs, as farm machinery when it's operating on the road has to have.
And we are restricted by that sign to go a certain speed.
And the police completely ignored that fact.
You know, Paul, it strikes me as sort of there's a comparison here with the Freedom Convoy movement that was in Ottawa and at the Ambassador Bridge and how eventually, at least in the Ottawa situation, the federal government had to invoke the Emergencies Act and then really brutally put down that peaceful protest.
And it's kind of like here in Richmond Hill, the city has gone weaponized with its war on the farm by sending in the guys with guns to lay down the law, but lay it down very selectively, I should think.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure why they chose to target us.
The police did say at one point, you know, did you talk to the mayor's office about doing this protest?
I didn't realize I needed authorization from the mayor to drive a wagon down the road.
Never have in the past.
You know, I've been operating machinery on the road since I was allowed to legally.
And, you know, that was quite a number of years ago now.
And, you know, I've never had to get a permit in the past.
So, yeah.
Well, it is shameful in my book.
I have reached out to Mayor West because there's a rumor that he or one of his allies was the person who called in the police in the first place.
And I have reached out to the media relations desk of York Regional Police Service.
And I'll see what they have to say.
Mayor West never gets back to me, but I'm hopeful the cops will.
I guess one last question.
Any more protests?
Or do you think that's a moot point, that the cops are going to be sicked on you and come up with incredibly petty reasons why you can't drive your wagons?
As for more protests, I don't know.
Growing Belligerence Towards Farmers00:02:06
Maybe.
We'll see.
We're certainly not looking to get in trouble with the police.
You know, we've had a good working relationship over the years with all emergency services.
You know, the fire departments quite often come here to the farm for training and whatnot and just to walk around and see about the grain bins and potential fires on those type of things.
You know, the police have been around too.
I mean, we've haven't had any issues with them in the past.
We don't want to ruffle any feathers and get in trouble with them.
But I, like I said, I'm disappointed that that's what happened yesterday.
They took away our right to protest.
And I'm still baffled by that stormwater management fee, especially since you don't even receive the service, Paul.
I don't get the idea why Mayor West and four other counselors would have voted for this in the first place.
When it comes to food, 100% of the people on the planet have to eat.
What's your take on why there is this growing belligerence towards farmers the world over?
I honestly don't know.
The farm or farmers in general have always been looked at as dependable people.
I've always thought of, and they've been shown in a positive light over, they do the work, they work the land, they provide our food, that they're good people.
There seems to be a growing movement to villainize the farmer, whether it be genetically modified crops or pesticide use, or in this case, we're being taxed, taxed and taxed and taxed.
And Some of the other areas are having fertilizer issues, which is going to get worse.
And prices in the grocery store are going to go up.
I mean, people think that they've gone up now.
No, we're still on last year's prices.
You know, the crop we're selling today is last year's crop, whereas six months from now, it's going to be this year's crop, which was grown on higher expense to inputs.
So it has to go up.
Farmers Under Fire00:08:21
Well, Paul, I wish you all the best.
You're fighting a good fight.
And maybe your problem, your fault, is that you are growing corn and you're not raising crickets because if you open a cricket farm like Aspire Foods in London, Ontario, there's no war on the farmer.
Indeed, the Trudeau Liberals will cut you checks for tens of millions of dollars.
So maybe that's what you have to do is reinvent yourself from a food farmer to an insect breeder.
Well, maybe that's the future.
Maybe we have to look at that.
It's unfortunate, though, that we would have to change.
You know, we've been doing this for over 200 years on this farm.
And that's what we do, is what we've done well.
And I don't foresee us changing to a cricket farm.
That's good.
I prefer a corner with my steak any event.
Thank you again, Paul.
And we're going to speak to Ward 2 Councillor Tom Munch, who's been an ally on your side.
He was someone who voted against the stormwater fee increase.
We'll see what he has to say.
Good luck, my friend.
thanks Your letters.
A lot of these are about our live stream.
You know, we're covering the Trucker Commission of Inquiry all day through live tweets.
We're streaming the commission during the day, and then we're having our own commentary live stream every night.
Jaws says Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson really revealed how unprofessional he is when he resorted to calling names by calling the protesters a bunch of yahoos.
Well, that's the same thing that conservative Premier Doug Ford says.
To his credit, Jim Watson did not lie.
When he was asked if he observed any violence or threats of violence, he admitted he had not.
He had just heard rumors in the newspapers.
Arthur NS says the Emergencies Act was clear, and being annoyed by protesters is not a valid reason.
Exactly.
There had to be a grave danger to people or the country itself.
And in the word and, not or, and that problem couldn't be solved by existing laws.
The invocation of martial law was a fraud.
Someone named GottaGo says, the emphasis has been, why didn't you come down harder?
No representation from the truckers, no effort at the time to mediate with the truckers.
Instead, every effort has been made to paint the protesters as being in league with bikers, being terrorists, etc.
This is a show trial to justify the suspension of Canadians' rights.
I think that's the media narrative, but I think over the last few days you have seen a lot of city officials, including Jim Watson, the mayor, acknowledge that they had substantive and meaningful negotiations and discussions with the truckers, and the truckers were acting in goodwill.
I think that's why it's so important that we cover what's going on, because the media party lied about the truckers in February, and they're lying about the commission now.
You just can't believe a word they say.
New York Times would agree.
That's our show for today.
Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, you at home.
Good night.
And keep fighting for freedom.
Mr. Watson, why do you keep talking about incidents that you only see on the media and not by yourself?
Mr. Watson, why did you vote against a motion to pursue the Emergencies Act, but then welcome it a week later?
Why did you vote against that at council?
Hey folks, William Diaz here in Ottawa for the fourth day of the Emergencies Act inquiry here that's happening since Justin True invoked the Emergencies Act on peaceful protesters during the Freedom Convoy back in February.
So today I'm here to ask Keith Wilson, the lawyer for the convoy organizer, some question about the testimonies, the bizarre testimony we heard from Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson today.
Let's check it out.
You know, we saw earlier Jim Watson said that the protesters had been capable of discussing rationally, of negotiating rationally.
What you have to say to that, because I thought you were able to have courteous text messages with the city of Ottawa during the convoy, and even some truckers were willing to move their trucks to Wellington Street.
What do you have to say to his claims that the truckers weren't willing to negotiate rationally?
Well, it was pretty clear that what the mayor was doing this morning was using every opportunity he could to say bad things about the protesters.
And one of the things he said was that they're irrational group and you couldn't negotiate with them, where in fact, we did negotiate with the mayor.
And he acknowledged that the agreement was successful.
He acknowledged that over 100 vehicles left the downtown and several blocks were cleared.
And he acknowledged that the truckers had upheld their end of the bargain.
So I think it's pretty clear when you look at the repeated derogatory phrases that the mayor used.
I think he's trying to help the prime minister out.
I don't know what promises the prime minister has made to Mayor Watson, as who you know is not seeking re-election and will be on the job market soon.
So I don't think the commissioner is buying it.
I think the evidence yesterday from the city officials about the goodwill nature, the credibility that the truckers and their representatives had in the negotiations and in the dialogue with the city officials, I think is going to prevail in the end.
I think what we're seeing here is just political posturing, the mayor trying to win favour with the prime minister and do his best to slight Canadians who came here to protest for their freedoms.
Talking about political paths and political biases, earlier we saw Brendan Miller try to find out what the political path of Jim Watson was.
He talked about federal politics, about provincial politics, about mayoral politics.
Can you explain what was the point of this line of questioning?
Well, I think it was to emphasize that the mayor is and always has been a political player.
He's the former minister of housing and municipally related matters here in the province of Ontario.
That's something I didn't know until today.
He's been an active member of the Liberal Party.
So he's played politics all his life and he was playing politics in the hearing room again today.
And he said he didn't politicize the protest when Brendan Miller asked him if he agreed that he politicized the protests.
Do you agree with Miller's assessment that he did politicize the Freedom Convoy?
Well, again, look at what he's doing today.
He's completely contradicting the evidence of his city officials, his own chief of staff, the city manager, in terms of how they described their dealings with the freedom protesters and their representatives.
And they described them in a very positive way, and they explained how they honoured the deal to de-escalate.
And but for the intervention of the federal government and the police stopping the movement of trucks out of the downtown area, the protests would have been largely consolidated to Wellington by the Wednesday of the same week that the federal government and the Prime Minister decided to invoke the Emergencies Act.
And finally, one last thing.
You said that the testimonies that happened yesterday don't corroborate with the testimony fully that happened today.
I keep receiving a lot of messages about hearsay and lies that are being told to the Commission.
Why do you think we're seeing so much hearsay and what can council do?
How much do you think is going to have an impact on the result of the commission?
Well, you know, we have a very seasoned judge who is the commissioner.
He's a justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal.
He has 20 years of experience of being a judge and adjudicating matters.
I think he has a keen eye and a keen ear, and he will seek to sift out the real evidence from the political posturing.
And because it's a commission inquiry, the formal rules of evidence don't apply, so hearsay evidence is allowed.
But what a decision maker does in that circumstance is it goes to weight.