Sheila Gunn-Reid and Kian Simoni’s documentary Church Under Fire exposes COVID-era arrests of Christian pastors, like Pastor Tracy and Rodney Fortin fined $80K for refusing inspections or Pastor Phil’s seven-day solitary confinement. Funded independently by nearly 1,000 donors, it bypassed mainstream platforms due to their Canadian identity but secured U.S. distribution. Gunn-Reid warns of foreign political influence—from Olivia Chow’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party to environmentalist groups like Tides—and highlights systemic government waste, like $56K on airplane photos while cutting seniors’ services. The film’s grassroots success underscores a growing public backlash against perceived anti-Christian policies and bureaucratic incompetence. [Automatically generated summary]
I just got home from a nine-day cross-country tour screening our latest documentary.
My filmmaking partner, Kien Simoni, joins me tonight to talk about it.
I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.
When the world was engulfed in fear, COVID-19, which is causing all of the concern right now, pastors faced an unimaginable trial.
They were wrongfully persecuted during the COVID-19 pandemic, their voices silenced by oppressive measures.
And we realized something doesn't match up.
There's an agenda under the surface here.
I cannot abide under their wishes.
I cannot just abide this new norm, if you will.
In the face of adversity, they held on to their beliefs, defending the sacred right to worship.
Out of this property, you Nazis!
Out!
Join us on an extraordinary voyage across Canada as we shine a light on the untold stories of these pastors who were wrongfully persecuted during COVID-19.
Witness their courage, their unwavering faith, and their determination to reclaim their voices in the face of adversity.
I'm not going to let those who are in Ottawa determine my peace, my joy.
You're disobedient to the government or disobedient to God.
And take your pick.
This summer, embark on an unforgettable exploration through Church Under Fire, Canada's War on Christianity, a documentary that will inspire and challenge your perceptions.
Experience their remarkable stories, a testament to the indomitable human spirit and the power of faith.
I just got home Monday morning so that I could finish the cross-country tour of our latest documentary here in Edmonton with a very successful sold-out screening at Church in the Vine in Edmonton.
You see, we've been touring our documentary, Church Under Fire, Canada's War on Christianity, and we've been taking it to the congregations that survived this very dark time.
And I say survived, but as it turns out, they thrived.
Our documentary details the persecution of Christian churches in the name of public health.
And we set it up so that you can understand that the persecution of churches and the pastors who went to jail for not turning away their congregations, it didn't happen in a bubble.
There was a lead up wherein Justin Trudeau picked away at religious freedom and stigmatized Christians until it became socially acceptable to haul pastors away in handcuffs because they were singing or giving communion or not turning away congregants to meet an arbitrary government gathering restriction.
And we've been warmly received.
We've had sold-out showings all across the country, Regina, Winnipeg, Calgary, Calgary, Edmonton, St. John, Ottawa, Toronto, Aylmer, Ontario.
It's just been incredible.
It's been heartwarming, but it is still hard to watch this documentary over and over again.
And I've seen it dozens of times.
Heck, I'm in it.
But it's an important story that needs to be told.
And we're not done touring the documentary.
But I thought I would bring Kian on with me today to discuss the reception of the documentary, what it's like touring this thing, how you can get your own copy going forward, how you can get some of the exclusive merch, and how perhaps you might want to bring this documentary to your own community and host your own screening.
So joining me now in an interview we recorded just moments ago is my friend, colleague, and filmmaking partner, Kian Simoni.
Take a listen.
So joining me now is my friend and colleague, Rebel News Head of Documentaries and my documentary filmmaking partner, Kian Simone.
We both just came back from an incredibly grueling, I would even call it oppressive, documentary tour schedule where we brought our documentary, Church Under Fire, Canada's War on Christianity, to venues all across the country, including to the congregations, many of them who are featured in the documentary and who lived through it.
So I thought I would have Kian come back on the show so we can talk about the reception of the documentary and the most asked question at our screenings, how do we get our hands on this documentary to show our friends.
So Kian, thanks for coming on the show.
I am still not recovered.
I still feel car sick.
I feel car sick.
I don't know if I'm jet-legged or hungry.
I'm having difficulty sleeping because we were never in a time zone long enough to adjust.
And we were taking really early morning flights to make sure that we got to the venues on time and to also save money, to be quite honest.
But it was exciting, right?
Like it was long.
It was like nine days on the road.
And it started even before that because we did two showings in Calgary where you are, but I had to travel for those before we started our cross-cross cross-cross cross-country tour.
What did you think?
You know, that was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life.
There were times, I think, every single day where in the morning we'd get up at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, so 3 a.m. our time, after like a wild night before.
And I was just like, it really hurt and it really sucked.
And then the instant gratification, I guess I would say, of that night seeing 300, 400 people's faces and seeing all of our supporters, it really made it all worth it.
It was, again, I think that was one of the best and the coolest things I've ever done in my life.
Me too.
It was hard, but I was kind of sad to see it over.
Yeah.
You know, just weird feeling.
We wrapped up the first leg of the documentary showings in Edmonton on Monday night to just an absolutely phenomenal reception from Church in the Vine.
The biggest pastoral news history in documentary showings.
Was it?
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes, it was.
I think they had over 500 people in their venue.
Pastor Tracy and Rodney Fortin, they're featured in the documentary because Pastor Tracy and Church in the Vine received an $80,000 regulatory offense penalty for not allowing occupational health and safety inspectors into the church because Alberta Health Services couldn't weasel their way in.
So they started wanting to inspect the church as though it were a work site.
But I mean, that was, I was sad, tired, for sure, because we had just flown back from Winnipeg in the morning, but kind of sad to see it end.
But it really ended on a high note because the reception was so warm and the people were so, I think they were touched by the care that you took in telling their story.
Yeah, I think that that definitely really clicked in, you know, in Manitoba, I think it clicked in too.
But it was really Edmonton seeing, you know, it wasn't just a few people from the congregation.
There was probably literally all 350 or however many people that they have at the church who were all there.
People Want to Share This Documentary00:10:25
And we kind of, it's funny when we were on tour, we kind of judged reception by if people clapped between the chapters or if they clapped at certain things or if they laughed at certain things.
And we've both now watched this documentary many times, so we know what's coming.
And I just kind of see like which city kind of liked which part and Edmonton liked everything.
Like they, it was like, it really was just universal of all the shows into one of just everybody and not enjoying, but enjoying.
Does that make sense?
Maybe it doesn't make sense to people watching, but it might make sense to you.
You always say, you're not going to enjoy this documentary at the start of every show.
So just watch it.
But I think everybody there watched it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
And that is true.
I do say, normally I say, please enjoy our documentary before we start rolling.
But frankly, people don't enjoy this documentary because it is so dark and it is so painful to watch.
I had a lifelong friend who is at the show.
Hi, Tara, if you're watching.
And she was crying before we got through the introduction of the documentary.
And, you know, there are times where I sort of feel a little bit tight in my chest as you see these pastors ripped away from their families.
And so people, they don't enjoy the documentary, but it's important that people see it.
And Ezra always says that he is left viscerally angry every time he sees it.
And, you know, I think that anger is not a bad thing.
It's a useful thing if you use it to make sure this never happens again.
Yeah, I don't know if you noticed, but I never stayed inside the venue when Pastor Phil was up.
Yeah.
I always either, and if I was, I had my back turned.
I can't watch that one.
I made the damn thing and I can't watch it.
Yeah.
It's Phil's kids at the door.
And, you know, I was talking to Phil's family.
I don't think I'm talking at a turn, but his youngest is pretty little when he was arrested and held in solitary confinement for seven days for the crime of not turning away his congregants.
And because she was so little, she didn't remember all of it.
And she was really seeing it with her family for the first time and sort of understanding what had happened to her dad during that week.
I guess it was almost two years ago now, where he was, you know, held like a prisoner in St. John prison.
It's moving on.
I can't do it.
No, I know.
I know.
It's tough.
And yeah, like you say, we've seen it dozens and dozens of times.
Now, I want to talk to you about one of the things that people constantly ask us about.
They even ask us before they've even seen the movie, which is kind of weird because I'm like, I don't know if you're going to want to share it, but thank you for your confidence in us.
People want to know how they can see this documentary in the future because they sort of leave wanting to evangelize this documentary to their friends and family who may be on just a little bit too much CBC or maybe heard about Pastor Art because how he was frequently featured on Fox News,
but didn't really know the story of Pastor Phil and the heartbreak that befell his family or Pastor Tobias or some of the other congregations.
And they're kind of shocked and they want to tell other people.
So, what are the ways that people can do that?
Yeah, well, I mean, we definitely made it, as you say, for a space alien.
You don't have to know anything about anything to be able to watch this.
So that's good for the viewers now to listen about sharing it to their friends and family.
You don't need to have that precursor or that sit down with them and kind of explain things.
You can really just put it in their hands and let them watch.
I think it's at the end of next week, we'll have DVDs ready to go so we can buy those on Rebel News Store.
I'd say those are probably more of a gift than something to give your grandson or something to watch because he won't know how to watch it.
But we're also at the hopefully at the end of this week, if not the start of next week, we'll have it up on Rebel News so that it can be purchased individually and as well on Rebel News Plus.
I think the purchase individually is really important because that can be shared or that can be bought for other people and so that they can really just press play and watch it.
Am I missing anything?
We will be licensing it to churches and stuff like that, like giving it to mega churches and letting them kind of play it for their congregations and stuff like that, which I think is really important.
Oh, in distribution, I'll tell the story that I tell everybody in the crowd: I knew that this was, I don't want to say good, but it's good.
It's great.
It's a good documentary.
It's great.
I'm really proud of it.
It's a bad, it's bad, but it's good.
Bad in the sense of the context of what's in it.
So I knew that America, we knew, the whole Rebel News knew that this was something that America needed to see.
So I started calling or Googling how to play your movie in America.
Nothing really came up.
But after that, I found the way to basically get it up on things like Amazon Prime and Hulu and HBO.
Like I was wondering how you kind of do that.
And you need what's called an aggravator.
So it's a distributor in America.
So I called four, and I got answers from all of them.
And before they even let me give the context of the documentary, they said no, just because I'm Canadian.
You know, I want to be mad, but I kind of understand.
It's America, right?
That's where all the movies come from.
And then I called the fifth, and you have 15 seconds to pitch your movie.
And I've never done that before, so maybe the first four were just, maybe it was bad.
But on the fifth one, I kind of got just really frustrated.
So I didn't even pitch the documentary.
I said, I know you're American, and I know America likes to hear about other people's problems more than they like to hear about their own.
And he laughed.
And then he said, Okay, tell me about your movie.
So I told him about the Canadian pastors, and I just kind of went, blah, Probably 20 seconds of just spewing it out.
And he stopped me.
And he said, You're Kian, right?
And I said, Yes.
I never gave him my name.
And he said, You made an amazing documentary.
I've already seen your trailer.
And he said, Yes, I would like to take this on.
And so that was great because he saw Rebel News on Fox News.
And he said, I would have never known if it was for you guys.
So he's already a fan.
He's already been on our website looking at our trailer and stuff like that.
So it was just so cool.
It was so cool.
I'd like to take credit, but really all I did was call him and he answered.
So it was really awesome.
So I think with that, hopefully that maybe it doesn't mean theaters in the States because we are competing with some really big, like at that point, we literally are competing with Oppenheimer and Barbie.
Right.
And Mission Impossible.
Like that, that's big.
And I wouldn't expect the theaters who, as the distributor says, the theaters are in the business of business in America.
They're not going to take down an Oppenheimer screen to put this up.
But that does not leave us with no hope because my mission or job with this is to make sure it gets into the house of every American.
I'm not too worried about bringing people out of their house to the theater for this.
So we'll get it.
Now, one of the other questions we get is perk fulfillment because we funded this movie in a different way than we funded our other documentary projects.
Usually we just say, hey, we're making this documentary.
Wouldn't you mind helping us?
Because this is a story that nobody else is going to tell.
And we made that same ask, but we did it a little differently because we wanted people to feel invested in this because a lot of people did also live through this simultaneously with their pastors.
And so we wanted to give Canadians kind of ownership over the documentary the same way we did.
So when we asked for money or when people made donations, we offered them perks at different levels depending on how much they donated.
So one of the questions we get is, when am I getting my stuff?
So give us an update on that.
So the most universal, no matter how much you gave, is you get a copy of the movie.
So when we start, when we put it up for people to buy, you'll get your free version or the version that you already paid for.
T-shirts, most people probably know that we already have t-shirts up on the site for the official documentary t-shirt and sweaters and stuff like that.
But we're making a special one for the people who donated.
So that should actually be done tomorrow.
I'll make sure that we get one, Sheila, because they're pretty darn cool.
So we'll get that bundled with the DVD for the people who got the DVD package.
If not, then the t-shirt will go out probably next week when everything starts getting shipped out because we need to wait for the DVDs.
The idea was to not just send certain people certain things when we get it.
I think I just made the call to when we get everything, let's just ship it out to everybody at that time.
So just so people aren't upset that the t-shirt's not ready, but they got the DVD.
I think if I donated money to a documentary, I would want to open up a big box with all my goodies.
So I figured that people would appreciate that more.
So hopefully by the end of July, it would be shipped to you.
I don't want to make any promises for Canada Post, but it's coming.
Almost finished.
Great Couple's Ungovernable Merch00:02:58
That's great.
And, you know, you touched on the merch there, and I'm wearing one of the shirts, hoodies, and it has John 832 on the sleeve.
This is some of the best merch that I think we've ever created here at Rebel News.
I think it is on par with the ungovernable merch, which you appear to live in.
But yeah, me too.
It's universal, the ungovernable merch.
But this is some great stuff.
It looks a little bit different aesthetically than some of the other merch that you'll find in RebelNewsStore.com.
It's beautiful.
And, you know, if you are able to see us, friends at home, at one of the screenings, we do generally try to have merch with us.
And once you see it, I mean, it's just flying off the tables because it's beautiful.
Why, I'll ask you, because your hands are sort of intrinsically involved in everything, why is this merch just a little bit different than the other stuff that we've done?
Yeah, you know, we have one of our executive producers of the movie donated a lot of money.
They're a great couple.
Yeah.
A great couple.
And I had a Zoom call with them.
And they both had their, it's really, you have your t-shirt and then you have like a square just like this.
And it's just something super controversial and funny and kind of get like double looks from people.
Or maybe it's just a Rebel, but they had theirs on.
And it just clicked.
And I was like, you know, they would wear that shirt because they're, you know, super mega fans.
They want to be a part of this.
And they just, they definitely put the shirt on just to show support because they were getting on a Zoom call with me.
And I just thought, I was like, what about the people who do support Rebel and don't want to wear controversial shirts?
Or don't want to wear something that just says Rebel just because they don't want that, you know, altercation in the Costco.
And I was thinking, and I spoke to our person who kind of does the, like, I kind of give the ideas.
And then Danny, who is our graphic designer, kind of does the designs.
And I told her, I was like, let's do something really different.
Like, let's do something that my aunt, who's not a Rebel supporter, would wear, who would buy, who I could give her a t-shirt and she would wear it.
And so we just kind of came up with this, you know, let's at least keep it a little bit freedom-oriented so that there is a little bit of a hint.
So I think John 832, I think that's the, is that truth?
You shall know the truth and truth shall set you free.
See, I'm learning.
So it does have that freedom-oriented symbol to it.
And at the same time, anybody can wear it.
And it's cool.
It's really cool.
It's hip.
But at the same time, it's so simple.
So old people, young people, I'm not even Christian and I wear it.
It's like it's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah, I love it.
Hundreds Of Names Listed00:02:46
Now, you touched on, you used the word executive producer.
And that's one of the things I'm really proud of about this documentary is at the end of the documentary, there's just hundreds of names of people who are listed at the end of the documentary.
And, you know, you might think maybe those are congregants or maybe those are people who did physical work on the documentary, but that's not who those people are.
Why don't you tell us about them?
Yeah, so those hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, I'd say almost a thousand.
I don't have the number, but I kind of want to know the number now.
It's a lot.
Are all the people who donated for perks, whether it was $5, $25, or executive producers, $10,000?
You know, it's an amazing feeling when you watch the credits roll at the end.
I still look up.
I have my phone filming the people are clapping.
I have my phone in one hand and then I'm looking up at the screen with the, like, just watching the list.
And it's such a great feeling that there's that many people who donated before the movie, before we even really started filming, they had that much faith in us to know that we would tell the story properly.
And I don't know how many people on that list have seen it yet.
But I do think that we would make them proud.
I do think that they, and I do know that one person who came said that, who donated a large amount of money, who said that it was more than worth it.
So I think they'll be happy.
And I'm happy.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm happy too.
When you walk out on stage, because you know, after the documentary shows, I do my little blah-de-blah.
You do all the hard work and I do all the talking.
And I just sort of turn and stand there, and it's just names just rolling by.
And it's one of those things that, you know, like if you were up at 3 a.m. to catch a 5 a.m. flight and you're tired, you see that and it just fills up your tank to fight on the next day, to fight through the next day, because like what a what a gift of those people to have that kind of faith and confidence in us to tell these stories accurately.
And those are just hundreds, if not over a thousand names of people who are just cheering for us to continue on and tell these stories because nobody else will.
And I'm just so grateful for every last one of them.
And, you know, as we always say at the end of the documentary, what you won't see here is made in partnership with the government of Canada or with funds from Telefilm Canada or the National Film Board or anything like that.
Radway's Excitement About Emails00:09:52
And I think you're hard-pressed to find a documentary in this country, with the exception of a few that don't have that government stamp of approval at the bottom.
And I'm very proud of it.
It's because independent movies get significant tax credits.
And that's one of the things that they need to put at the end of the movie.
Isn't that interesting?
Yep.
Government just made sure that they want that.
They'll give you the $2,000, $3,000.
And just they pretty much, it's almost like the government pays them to make sure that that's on there.
It's like sticking their advertisement on it, like an ASCAR, right?
Stick their sticker on the side.
We still are not done our documentary screenings.
We've got a few more scheduled out.
If you want to talk about those, that's great.
And also, if people want a screening, because I think we're still, you know, like we'll still take a few more.
Let us know how people can see the next screenings, find out about them, or contact us to book one.
So if you go to churchunderfiremovie.com, it's a new URL.
That's where you can find our next screenings.
think we have one in northern ontario or i guess people laugh at me when i say northern ontario huntsville um and uh so outside of the gta may as well be northern on Outside of the middle of the universe, GTA.
We have a screening in Huntsville, and then we start our BC tour leg.
We are Vancouver, Whistler, Powell River.
I know Powell River and Whistler are launched already.
We're still working on just finding out some details with the others, which I'm really excited for.
I got so many em I got more emails from people who were like, let's say, happy with it or just wanted to ask me questions.
I got more people emailing me angry that we didn't go to BC.
But really quick, BC is like the home of film in Canada.
So everybody's super woke there when it comes to movies.
And like normally when you have a venue where you could play a movie, there is no way that they would take a Rebel News documentary.
Like no way.
Trust me, I tried.
And if you want to host your own screening, I believe same link, churchunderfiremovie.com.
There's a media inquiry spot there where you can kind of put in what it is you're looking for, what kind of venue you're hosting.
If you want Sheila and I to come kind of thing, then that'll be really fun because there have already been people who have emailed who have cooler ideas than I had about screenings.
So hopefully, yeah, if you have any ideas, send it there or just email me at KianSmoney at RebelNews.com and we can go from there.
Cool.
Keen, I know you have work to do today, and so do I.
And, you know, we're both home for about a week before we go back out on the road showing the documentary.
And, you know, it's exhausting, but I'm happy to do it.
I'm happy to meet with the people and I'm happy to hear their feedback because I think so far it's been universally, the feedback is good about a very bad time in Canadian history.
I agree.
I'm really excited.
I know I was really happy to get home and hit my pillow, but I'm really excited to go back out, even if it's, I think that's just for the one Huntsville show.
Yeah.
I'm really, really excited.
Thank you for having me on, too.
It's just so nice to talk about it and go over everything.
That's great.
I'm not used to sleeping, laying down.
I've been sleeping on airplanes for 10 days.
Like this.
Kian, thanks so much.
We'll talk very, very soon, probably in the next 15 minutes because we work together.
Thanks, buddy.
you well friends we've come to the portion of the show where i invite your viewer feedback Unlike the mainstream media, I actually care about what you think about the work that we're doing here at Rebel News.
And that's why I give up my email address right now.
It's Sheila at RebelNews.com.
Put gun show letters in the subject line, two ends, please, so that it's easy for me to find your letter and I know exactly what you're talking about when you email me because I do get dozens, if not hundreds, sometimes, depending on what I've done that day and what sort of controversial nonsense I've been up to.
So gun show letters in the subject line, just so it's easier for me to find.
Today's letter comes to us from a regular viewer.
I read his emails frequently on the show, and that could be you too, if you email me a lot.
It's Bruce Atchison.
He lives in Radway, Alberta, and he often signs off with a tagline from his cat.
And he emails me on last week's show that I filmed in the brand new studio in Toronto with my friend David Menzies as I was in Toronto on the documentary tour.
I still have other work to do, so I thought, why not use the new studio to film the gun show?
I brought in David and we talked about the election of Olivia Chow to be the mayor of Toronto and what that means for the rest of Canada, because so many of these bad ideas are percolated in the petri dish of Toronto.
For example, Toronto has out-of-control gang violence and the liberals say, oh, you know what?
We got to do to grab the guns of the Albertans and the Westerners because the government has left the borders completely wide open and they are soft on crime and the bail laws need reform.
But instead of doing those things, the liberals have decided to take the path of least resistance and go after the most law-abiding people in the country because for the liberals, all guns are bad.
Whereas for normal people, we realize that guns in the hands of bad people are bad and guns in the hands of me mean fewer coyotes bothering livestock.
Anyway, Bruce writes, hi, Sheila.
I love it when you and David host any show.
Well, David and I frequently host the Rebel News daily live stream together.
So we have what some might call chemistry.
You and him are well matched and keep the show interesting.
There are some hosts who are as exciting as watching laundry dry on the line.
Have you been watching CBC, Bruce?
I don't feel like you're a CBC watcher, but it is true.
David is funny, and sometimes I'm the break to his gas pedal, but that's why I think we're well matched.
I understand how you feel about Olivia Chow.
She's a tool for the Chinese Communist Party.
Yeah, isn't that interesting?
There have been reports about that.
It's time all politicians in all levels of government were examined for influence by Beijing.
I think influence by anybody.
I would also be concerned about foreign influence with regard to environmentalist mega charities out of San Francisco, like Tides or whatever they call themselves now, Makeway.
Their name was so stigmatized by anti-oil sands garbage that they had to change their name to Makeway here in Canada.
So, you know, I think we shouldn't just be concerned about Beijing ruling Canadian politics.
I'm concerned about all kinds of foreign meddling and interloping.
Did you know that Thorhild County blew $56,000 on airplane photos?
That seems about right, although I bet drone photography would be a heck of a lot cheaper, but leave it to government to do the most expensive thing.
A plane was buzzing around Radway last Thursday, July 6th, for a few hours after supper.
Why didn't they use Google Earth?
Great question.
Because government doesn't think about saving money, generally speaking.
They could have learned all they needed to know for free.
Meanwhile, they sold the second seniors excursion bus, so various clubs have to fight over who gets to ride the bus on which days.
I bet you that $56,000 could have went a long way to maintaining the seniors' bus.
But again, government doesn't think that way.
This makes me wish Radway was back with Sturgeon County.
We split with them in 1977 because they couldn't fix up Highway 2A.
And besides that, residents like shopping in Redwater, then Pokey Little Thorhild, your loyal viewer, Bruce, with Delta the cat sleeping on the couch.
Bruce, you know, people might not know anything about Thorhild or Radway or Sturgeon County or the problems with Highway 28A.
However, I think it is universal across this country that government wastes your money and they don't stop and think about the most responsible ways to spend your money and the most common sense, practical solutions.
And that is a problem that happens in big cities and small towns like Sleepy Little Radway.
It's the universal rule of all government from international levels of government all the way down to the tiniest municipality like your county, which I think has about 3,000 people spread across a place the size of a small European country.
So it doesn't matter where you live.
It's all the same.
Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
I'll see everybody back here in the same time in the same place next week.