Ezra LeVant’s holiday special dissects listener letters, from Gwendolyn Weber’s privacy concerns post-Muhammad cartoon controversy to Monique Levesque’s alarm over Trudeau’s 2024 WHO treaty—Rebel News is covering it via Tamara Ugalini. He mocks AP’s "militants" label for Hamas (designated terrorist in Canada) and Trudeau’s divisive polling-driven policies, like gun control amid urban violence, while dismissing a proposed Canadian patriot dating site as impractical. LeVant also reveals past PTSD from a gas-canister attack by Trudeau’s security, contrasts leftist "male feminists" with right-wing safety, and praises Rebel News’ investigative focus over breaking news, despite CRTC hurdles. The episode underscores media bias, legal battles, and the cost of truth-telling in an era of cancel culture and regulatory overreach. [Automatically generated summary]
I've got a Santa's bag full of letters and I'm just going to read them and I haven't looked at them before.
I have not vetted them.
I'm just going to tuck into your questions to me.
It's a special Christmas episode.
But first let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
It's the video version of this podcast.
Just go to RebelNewsPlus.com and click subscribe.
All right, here's today's podcast.
Tonight, ask me anything, your letters to Ezra.
It's December 25th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.
Shame on you, you sensorism bug.
Oh, hi, everybody.
I'm not sure if I'm dressed as Santa or an elf.
I want to tell you that for the first few years of my life, I thought that Santa was real, although it wasn't a big thing in my family since we celebrated Hanukkah, not Christmas.
But then, like you learned, the tooth fairy is not real, you learned that Santa is not real.
But I have since, in my middle age, learned that, in fact, Santa was real.
He was a historical figure.
Santa Claus is sort of short for Saint Nicholas, and he was a real person who lived in actually in what is modern day Turkey.
And he's the patron saint of brewers and sailors and repentant thieves and palm brokers and unmarried people and children.
And he became famous for his act of secret gift giving.
So Santa is not a mythical character like the Tooth Fairy.
Santa was very much real.
Just wanted to tell you that.
So what we knew as children is actually true.
I have here in my hand a bag, a Santa's bag.
There are no gifts in it, but there are letters.
Again, we're keeping with the slightly stretched theme of Christmas.
And there's a TV of a fire going on.
It's not a real fire, don't worry.
What I want to do for the course of the next half hour is read your letters to me.
I have not pre-read these.
We put out the call for sort of an ask me anything.
So there may be some letters in here that I'm not thrilled to get, but I promise I will just read them and I'll do my best to answer them.
And I think the best way to do it with letters like that is just to read them live, not to be prepared.
So welcome to our Christmas show.
And I am now going to read your letters to me.
And thank you very much for spending 2023 with us.
It was an incredible year, a terrible year, a wonderful year, a good year for Rebel News and so many of our projects, but a dangerous year for the world.
Hopefully some of these letters are fun.
So let's get right to it.
I'm just going to reach in randomly and pull them out.
This is from Gwendolyn Weber.
Ezra, how have you been able to maintain privacy for your family when there have been opportunities for people who disagree with you or hate you to stalk you?
Well, I've been very lucky in that regard.
I mean, I don't show my family or give their names on TV.
And I guess I don't want to tempt fate, but I have been spared from that.
I mean, I keep a fairly low profile.
I don't publicize the whereabouts of my house or our office for that matter.
And I should say that some years ago when I published the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, the police contacted me out of the blue saying I was at risk and they had a specific threat.
But that was many years ago.
And I'm very lucky.
I don't want to tempt fate, but thank you for worrying about me.
Do take some precautions, and so do others on our team.
James F Ezra, I think Santa will be putting lumps of coal in all your stockings this year.
You've been very naughty okay, by the way, lumps of coal sound like a punishment but, as we know, coal is the stuff of life.
Coal led the industrial revolution.
Coal heats the world warms.
You can't make steel without coal.
Tell that to someone who's proposing proposing to build wind turbines.
Let me continue the letter.
All the media zombies repeat it, so it must be true.
Thank all the team for their incredible dedication and amazing revelations.
It's an honor to be a rebel supporter, whether the donation is large or small.
Well, thanks very much for that.
You know, we had our Christmas party the other day.
We brought in our team from the whole country and even from the United States too, where we have a friend.
And it was wonderful to see everybody.
And I often say to our team, the Rebel News is a job and everyone needs a job.
But at least for me, it's much more than a job.
It's a way to express myself and to help others on the team express themselves with our general editorial viewpoint.
But it's also a pleasure to work with like-minded people.
So I regard myself as very lucky.
And of course, our funding model means the most important part of the puzzle is you, our viewers, because we don't have an oligarch.
I work for an oligarch, as you may know, at Sun News Network, Pierre Caldpelago, bankrolled the whole thing.
And it was wonderful, as long as he didn't step on his toes.
And I was careful not to.
I had plenty of other things to talk about.
But an oligarch can be whimsical.
He just shut it down one day.
We don't work for a large corporation that'll censor you.
We don't work for the government that'll have you run errands for them.
So really, it's a team effort.
Our reporters are behind the scenes people.
And you actually make it possible.
Otherwise, it would just be us with a hobby.
Next letter from Daniel.
Dear Ezra, I'm wondering if you were cool with homemade acronyms.
I thought that since Donald Trump has MAGA, make America Great Again, I think we should have one too.
And mine is called OTARC.
It stands for Oppose Trudeau and Restore Canada.
OTARC.
I think we should spread the hope to put more fuel in the fire of hope.
I think with Trump, the slogan came first, make America great again.
That really did sum up his thesis, his promise, his value proposition, the ballot question when he ran in 2016.
So the slogan came first, and then it just was shortened to MAGA.
I don't think you can sort of force an acronym starting with the acronym unless it's funny or catchy.
And with all due respect, I don't think OTARC is sort of catchy.
Oppose Trudeau and Restore Canada.
I mean, I agree with the sentiment for sure.
It's just, I just don't think, like, Trump has a very special gift for nicknames and acronyms and stuff like that, doesn't he?
I mean, he gives you a nickname and it sticks.
I think that's that Manhattan, you know, Manhattan's a pretty tough place to roll.
And the real estate business is pretty cutthroat.
I think he's sort of a, he's a comedian and sort of a, and a touch guy at the same time.
All right, this is a lengthy letter.
Stephen Campbell.
Hello, Ezra.
Thank you for the opportunity to send you a question.
I saw that you had received a check for $20,000 from the government to cover Mr. Gilbo's personal obligation to you.
At a minimum, this payment should be included as a taxable benefit in Mr. Gilbo's hands from his employer, as any other Canadian is obliged to disclose in the same circumstances.
Can you officially engage the CRA, the Canada Revenue Agency, to inform them of this transaction and to ensure Mr. Gilbo's 2023 personal income tax return is examined and audited to ensure he discloses payment made on his behalf?
At least he would then have to pay 50% of the $20,000 as tax.
Cheers, Stephen.
Stephen, let me tell you what I think happened there.
So Stephen Gilbo, the environment minister who was heritage minister before, blocked us on his government Twitter.
Now we knew it was his government Twitter because he has a staff writing it in French and English.
And it's usually fairly corporate sounding statements.
It's not personal.
There's corporate announcements.
Through his Twitter account, he retweets other cabinet minister accounts.
So it's obviously government and it has a little gray check mark on it.
And if you hover your mouse over the check mark, it explains that in the Twitter verse, that means it's an official government account.
So that's why we objected when he blocked us from it.
I always said, and I'll say it again, I don't care if Stephen Gilbo blocks me in Rebel News from his personal Twitter account.
I don't know if he has one, from his personal Facebook.
I don't want to see his family photos.
Like, I have no feeling that I have a right to see his personal stuff or even his party stuff for all I care.
But when it's a government account run by the government using public resources and more importantly, giving services to the public.
I mean, it might sound funny that Twitter is a service, but it's no different than a radio ad or a website or going into an office to fill out a form.
And for the government on a government site to say, we're going to ban people that we don't like from getting government services, I think that's wrong.
So we sued him.
And here's the point, and I'm coming to your point in a second.
For two years, he said to the court, no, no, no, it's mine.
It's mine.
It's not the government's.
It's mine.
It's not the government's.
And then in the last minute before the trial, they conceded the obvious, that it was the government's.
That gray checkmark, they actually fought for a full day in court to keep that gray check mark out of evidence.
Isn't that crazy?
And when the judge said that's ridiculous, that gray check mark will be in evidence.
That's when they settled after two years of fighting.
So we sued because it was a government Twitter account.
And tell you the truth, I don't know if it was him or a staffer who blocked us.
It may have been someone in the bureaucracy that Gilbo didn't even know did it.
Because I don't think Gilbo himself is actually hands-on with his Twitter account.
There's more than a dozen bureaucrats who are.
My point is, I always alleged in court that it was a government Twitter account, which is why I had access to it.
He always alleged, no, no, no, that's my account.
You don't have rights to it.
Only at the very end did he say, fine, you're right.
It's a government account.
And so in the penalty or the cost that they had to pay me, the $20,000 did come from the government.
And I suppose that's in keeping with my theory that it was a government account.
But the reason why I call him a deadbeat and the reason why I say he should pay for it is because for two years he argued it was his own.
For two years he argued it was his own.
And not only did he have to pay me $20,000, we've done an access to information request on how much money he spent fighting that stupid lawsuit.
We haven't got it back yet.
There is no way it was less than a quarter million dollars.
Just no way.
So I think that technically the CRA would say, well, it was a government expense because he finally admitted it was a government account.
The reason I made a big deal about it is because for two years he claimed the opposite.
For two years he claimed it was a personal account.
Anyways, I take your point.
I don't know what the CRA would say.
I'm enjoying rubbing it in Gilbo's face that he lost because he, and the fact that he's a deadbeat and that he pawned this loss off on the taxpayers.
Absolutely.
It was his pride that made him fight it for two years.
Brenda and Byron.
Right?
Hi, Ezra.
We've enjoyed many of the reports and stories on Rebel, but most of the Canadian reports and news are from Western provinces.
Rare Voices Omitted00:03:10
We live in Nova Scotia on the eastern coast of Canada.
There is seldom any coverage of events or stories from the Atlantic or maritime provinces.
So we are canceling our subscription.
Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that.
If the Trudeau regime keeps going with their dictatorship and the great reset controlled by Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum, World Health Organization in the UN, Canada and societies we knew it will disappear.
Well, first of all, I'm sorry to see you go.
And I'm sorry that, and you're right, we don't have anyone east of Montreal.
And I don't know if we could sustain someone east of Montreal.
Now, in our course of time, we have traveled out there for different stories, but it's rare.
I acknowledge that.
You know, there's a saying that I sometimes say in the office, you can't save the world if you can't pay the rent.
I mean, boy, I'd love to have a reporter everywhere.
For a while, we had one in Saskatchewan, but she had to leave for personal reasons.
I mean, I love Saskatchewan, but we have not really covered that province much at all, even though it's pound for pound is probably our strongest province.
You know, it's just, I don't know if it's economically strong enough to support a reporter.
I would certainly like to do more stories out there, but I can't commit to hiring a reporter.
And of course, you have a reporter, well, then you need a cameraman and a producer.
So you almost have to hire people in pairs.
I just don't think we have the budget for it.
And I don't know if we could support it.
Maybe there's some freelancers out there or someone who could do it on a part-time basis.
I'd be interested in that.
But let me close by citing your own letter to me.
What were the issues you talked about?
World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, United Nations.
Those we cover routinely.
We cover those.
In fact, in less than just over one month's time, actually less than a month's time, we are going to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, in Davos, to cover.
You might recall when Avi Yamini and I caught Albert Bourla on the streets of Davos and scrummed him.
And that was really a career highlight for me.
So I hear what you're saying about covering local things in the Atlantic.
And we've covered some things from afar.
We've covered Blaine Higgs a bit, for example.
But the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization in the UN, we cover that, I think, more than anybody.
So I'm hoping you'll reconsider because the issues you referred to in particular there, we do cover.
And that's one of the reasons why I like covering things from the UK occasionally and from Australia.
Avi Amini, he's from Melbourne, Australia.
But if you saw his coverage during the pandemic and the lockdowns, I think you would agree that although the facts were Australia specific, the themes were international, weren't they?
I was riveted by what happened there, even though I had actually never been to, I think I'd been to Melbourne for like one day once when I was younger.
So I found it interesting even though I'm not a Melburnian.
Here's a letter from James McSherry.
Why Dating Sites Mirror Politics?00:08:22
Hi, Ezra.
Perhaps you can explain why it is that the Associated Press, AP, gets a free pass referring to Hamas as, quote, militants, as opposed to what the rest of the world has rightly defined as terrorists.
I just can't get my head around this.
Thanks, James.
Well, it's not just the Associated Press.
The CBC does it too.
So does the BBC.
Quite often, so does CTV and global news.
It's ubiquitous.
Why?
For one thing, it's not a matter of opinion that they're a terrorist group.
It's a matter of fact.
It's a matter of law.
Canada has an official list of Entities that they call terrorist groups.
It's about, I don't know, 30 or 40 groups on there.
And you can see Hamas is on there, Hezbollah is on there, Taliban's on there, Islamic Jihad is on there.
So it is not a matter of opinion that Hamas is a terrorist group, as a matter of fact.
And it's also, you can observe what they're doing.
What they're doing is textbook terrorism.
Like there's, what else would you describe?
A militant.
What does that even mean?
You know, it's funny because the word militant typically is used for someone who's just very strongly willed about something.
Oh, he's a militant vegetarian or she's a militant feminist.
That doesn't mean they're military.
I think that that is a word designed to obscure the truth, not reveal the truth.
And, you know, if you ask the CBC, the BBC, why they do that, they'll say, we don't want to judge.
No, You just have judged.
You've acquitted them of terrorism.
You just gave your judgment and you have picked a side.
Calling them terrorists, you're implying picks a side.
Well, that means not calling them terrorists picks the other side.
So any media outlet that refuses to call them terrorists is not being neutral.
They are literally picking a side.
All right, I'm digging deep in this bag for more letters.
Here's a long one from D.W. Simpkins.
Ezra, this is a very welcomed offer to get a question into play regarding the depravity we see every day in Canada.
So my question is: why do Canadians believe the true dope narrative on firearms?
His statements and stand on the issue are completely unsubstantiated, unfactual, outright lies, and very misleading.
With his promises that removing the firearms from long-standing law-abiding, legal and responsible firearms owners via his order in council and Bill C-21 and amendments will prevent street crime, gang crimes, and the gun violence on the streets of Canada's big cities.
His program to buy back the hundreds of thousands of lawful owners' possessions is a simple confiscation of people's property.
The firearms and sporting industry is worth billions to the Canadian economy in retail, jobs, sports shooting events, to name a few of the normal, safe, and fun pastimes of responsible owners.
You're so right.
And I'm not the expert at rebel news on firearms matters.
Sheila Gunread knows a lot more about that subject than I do and some of our other teammates too.
But you're absolutely right.
Almost no gun crime in Canada is done with long arms, rifles, shotguns, which are the mainstay of not only the shooting sports, but of farmers and ranchers and duck hunters.
And yet they are demonized, and it's obvious why.
As is so clear to me now after eight years of Justin Trudeau, his entire political tactic is to divide and pit one group against the other.
He's very divisive, whether it's, you know, trans issues or feminist issues or race issues or vaccinated versus unvaccinated.
He loves to divide and demonize.
And he looks at the polls very carefully before he does so.
So for example, he would have seen that unvaccinated people during the pandemic were likely very freedom-oriented, very skeptical, very contrarian.
And so they would have typically been Conservative Party supporters or maybe even People's Party supporters.
Maybe some of them would have been more principled Green Party supporters, but mainly they were people who weren't going to vote for him.
So he checked the numbers and said, okay, I can demonize the unvaxed because it's not going to cost me any votes, but I'll win points with my base, the vax, the conformists.
I think that's why Trudeau has taken the position he has on Israel and Hamas.
He's done the math.
Canada's Jews under Stephen Harper started to vote for the Conservative Party more.
And I think that Justin Trudeau just was not in a position to outbid the Conservatives for the Jewish vote.
So he just brought in a million Muslim migrants.
And now there are five times as many Muslims in Canada as there are Jews.
And Trudeau's done the math.
And by the way, it's not just that there's five times more Muslims in Canada than there are Jews.
Where they're located, they are absolutely tilting the balance of certain ridings in Mississauga. for example, whereas the Jews are in ridings that are completely safe liberal seats no matter what, typically in Montreal and Toronto.
So I think that Justin Trudeau is simply doing his divisive politics.
A gun owner in Canada is likely rural, likely conservative, and very unlikely to vote liberals.
So what a perfect demon to demonize, as opposed to talking about the real sources of gun crimes in the cities.
There's no farmers or duck hunters committing crimes in the cities.
Short letter from Rusty Shackelford.
Possible to start a dating site for Canadian patriots.
Call it rebel dating.
You know, I remember early during the pandemic in the United Kingdom, there was an unvaxed dating site on the website, The Daily Skeptic, which my friend Toby Young had started for all sorts of news.
I'm just going to pull my elf's head down a bit.
There was all sorts of news about the pandemic in the UK.
And one of the things is people were just sick of going on dates with masked, super-vaxxed people.
And they just, I think they just wanted to company with other nonconformists and contrarians and skeptics.
And I remember when I did a live stream and I read one of these dating ads out on TV just to show how much fun it was.
And the lady whose dating profile I read emailed me and said, that's me.
Anyways, it was really fun.
You know, it's such a competitive industry, I think, and it's such a high-tech industry.
I don't know if we have that skill set.
Maybe it's easier to set up a dating site than I think it is, but I don't think it's easy.
I think the market is saturated.
I know there's Christian dating sites.
We have some supporters who run a Christian dating site, for example.
I mean, I suppose we could have like a yellow pages type web ad, but I just don't think we have the manpower or the tech know-how to do it.
And I actually think that perhaps the market is already served by others.
So I would say maybe there is some other free existing dating site.
I think it would be easier for a dating site to set up a conservative wing than for a conservative site to set up a dating wing.
But I love the idea.
I love the idea.
Because you know what?
I mean, I obviously haven't been single in a long time, but I can imagine how difficult it is to be a conservative-oriented young person and just have this river of woke people.
And I could just imagine what dating is like and if you haven't been able to vet for those things.
And obviously there are some things more important in life than politics, but I think it comes down to shared values.
I think that's, I, and even if you disagree over some small political matter, it's probably reflective of a larger disagreement.
So I actually think it is important to find compatible people with your politics if you're a strongly political person.
Thankfully, most people in the world are not strongly political.
They care about other things.
Daily 6 PM Newscast Plans?00:09:16
But if you're watching Rebel News, you probably care a lot about politics.
A letter from Timothy J. Gatton, who says thank you so much for all that you do to keep us informed of the truth.
I know that you have recently tweaked your daily and weekly roundup.
I'm just wondering if there are any plans in the works to go that daily 6 p.m. newscast.
Many of us have developed routines that include the viewing of national news every day.
Unfortunately, I cannot watch any of the MSM newscasts, but would love to have an independent media outlet for a half-hour or hour newscast of all the top stories, not just targeted stories of the day.
I realize your current resources may preclude you from doing this, but is there even a small possibility that you could do something like this down the road?
You know, it's a very interesting thing, and I would say a few things.
First of all, I don't know what time zone you're in.
And that's one thing to keep in mind, is that in Canada, there's about five time zones, if I'm not mistaken.
Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, Atlantic, and Newfoundland.
Did I get that right?
And so we are at my show comes on at 6 p.m. Mountain Time, the Israel Land Show.
But I think the bigger answer is Rebel News especially is not just reporting straight news.
And I don't think we're built for it.
We don't have the massive global resources to jump on a story of an earthquake here or an attack there.
We're better at finding sort of investigative stories.
I think of David Menzie's recent work on this transgender 50-year-old male swimmer swimming against teenage girls.
But I also think that we cover the news that tells the other side of the story.
So we're more strategic in what we do.
And I think you indicate that there.
So I don't think we lend ourselves to breaking news.
Believe it or not, when Rebel News was very young, in our first months, we had a young talent named Emily who would do a morning, here's five stories, and then afternoon, here's five stories, just rattle off very brief headlines, but without any strong opinions, just here's the news.
And no one watched it.
Not that she wasn't a very lovely young woman, but it's just that if you're looking for breaking news, even if you're a conservative, you probably go to CNN or CBC or Fox News or Twitter.
You don't say, well, some news just broke.
Let's get all the details from Rebel.
You probably say, what does Rebel have to think about it?
But we are just not built to cover wall-to-wall 24-hour breaking news.
But we do do something that I think you might like.
And I don't know if you've signed up for this.
Every morning, we send out an email in the morning at about 8.30 a.m. Eastern Time.
So I don't know what time zone you're in.
So that's not 6 p.m. at night.
But in the morning, we call it Rebel Buzz.
It's a free email.
And it's about a dozen stories that we think are interesting, not just from Rebel News, but from other media too.
Once in a while, we even have a link to a CBC story.
So if you're looking for that daily hit, I would encourage you to go on our website, RebelNews.com, and sign up for it.
It's called Rebel Buzz.
And tens of thousands of people get it every morning.
I like it, frankly.
It started out as an internal product here at Rebel News that we used internally for what's cooking and what we'll be looking at today.
Luciana Cristello.
Hi, Ezra.
I know you feel you don't need TV, but I beg to differ as I think Rebel TV ratings would kill all other news channels along with regular programming.
Have you changed your mind about TV?
I would be happy to pay for the channel.
Well, Luciano, thank you very much for this.
You may know that I came from TV.
I was on the Sun News Network, which was a cable TV network sponsored by Pierre Carl Pellado of Quebecor, one of the largest companies in Canada.
And it was regulated by the CRTC.
That was shut down really for regulatory reasons, but there were cost reasons as well.
And we went all internet to get away from it.
If you were to ask me where the name Rebel News comes from, I know the answer because I named it.
Number one, rebelling against the ideological conformity of the establishment media.
Number two, rebelling against the technology and the cost structure of the existing media.
I mean, my studio at Sun News was $1 million.
The big cameras we had were a quarter million dollars each.
There were five people in the control room when my show went on.
When we interviewed someone, we very rarely use Skype.
We almost always used a satellite link up, which could cost up to 500 bucks.
So that was the second rebellion.
And the third and final rebellion was to rebel against the regulatory CRTC that really euthanized Sun News.
So to go back on TV would mean to go back under the regulatory framework of the CRTC.
Now, the trouble is, as you know, under C-11, the CRTC is coming for us.
We're not going to them.
I think that you maybe need to tell me what you mean by TV, because you can watch Rebel News on your television, and the show feels a little bit like a TV show.
So I think what you mean is on like a cable news package.
But I should tell you that Rebel News has much more viewership, much easier to find and all around the world now that we're just on the internet as opposed to making someone subscribe, pay money on a cable program, tune in at a certain time.
I think I'd want to understand a little bit more what you mean by TV because aren't you watching this on a TV now?
And by the way, don't most people watch TV on their phones now?
Letter from Susanna.
Dear Ezra, I've had a subscription to Rebel News for a few years now.
You gave the best explanation of the criminal 2020 presidential election in my poor beleaguered USA out of any news feeds.
Well, thank you.
In fact, whenever there is a breaking story anywhere, I check in with Rebel News first to see what your intrepid reporters have to say about it.
Your reporters are some of the bravest souls I have seen in these increasingly morally degraded times.
I just want to thank you all for your courage and conviction to always do the right thing, no matter what.
By the way, David the Menzoit cracks me up.
All the best to you and your crew.
Well, Susanna, that's so nice to hear.
I really appreciate that.
And of course, we're Canadians and it's where we're based, but we think about America a lot because it's so important a country.
And if you care about freedom, as we do, if you care about prosperity, if you care about being morally just.
And we have the same thematic fights up here in Canada, but the stakes are so much bigger in America.
And Donald Trump was such a disruptive force, not just in the American political context, but he changed the whole world, including Canada.
So naturally, we're interested in it.
And I thank you for your compliments.
Monique Levesque.
Good day, Ezra.
I commend you and your group for always looking for the truth, which is not an easy task in these times.
I'm extremely concerned with the World Health Organization treaty that our prime minister is supposed to sign in spring of 2024.
As you know, this could change everything in Canada as it would remove all sovereignty from our country in making decisions for any emergencies.
We need to shine a big spotlight on this as many Canadians are still not even aware of this treaty.
Do you have any plans in the near future to bring this issue up with the Liberals?
I believe that the more Canadians find out about this, the more pushback there will be.
Thank you in advance.
Well, Monique, thank you very much for this letter.
And one of the most valuable teammates on our Rebel News team is a young woman named Tamara Ugalini.
And believe it or not, we found her because she was charged with breaking the pandemic lockdown.
And she was one of our Fight the Finds clients.
And so we interviewed her as we probably interviewed 100 different Fight the Finds clients out of 3,000.
And I said, who is this articulate, brave, telegenic young woman?
Who is she?
And I called her up and we chatted.
I said, you got to come work for Rebel News.
So she started out as someone we were helping.
And she's just a regular mom who cares.
And over the last couple of years, she has truly become one of Canada's experts in public health, in pandemics, in lockdowns, in vaccines.
And it's amazing because she doesn't come from a position of authority.
She's not a PhD.
You would win the lab code.
She just asks really basic questions that the experts forgot to ask.
And in fact, a week ago at our annual Revi Awards, we have the Viewer's Choice Award, but we have internal awards and she won our Health Advocate Award.
That's a long preamble to say that we absolutely are covering it.
Tamara Ugalini is our lead.
In fact, I don't know if you know, but we actually went to Berlin to cover the World Health Assembly, which is the big annual conference of the World Health Organization.
And Tamara actually bumped up to Dr. Tedros himself, the head of the World Health Organization.
You can find that online.
So the answer is yes.
I agree with you that that treaty is concerning.
Just like firearms are not my particular beat.
That health treaty is not my own beat, but Tamara is on it.
I think Alexa Lavoisier reported on it as well, and perhaps others, maybe Sheila Gunrid.
So yeah, go on our website and poke around.
By the way, I'm excited to say our new website should be launching hopefully early in the new year.
Agreement On Podcasting00:03:43
And I hope you find it more user-friendly and a better search engine too.
Very short letter.
Denise Taylor.
Have you ever thought of doing radio like 640 Toronto?
I do.
I have.
I thought about it.
Occasionally I get invited on.
In fact, I was invited on 640 just the other day, but they had to cancel last minute.
Recently, Bell Media put, announced they were getting out of a lot of the radio business.
They were shutting down six stations and selling three more.
And I actually made inquiries about them, but I learned how expensive it is to run a radio station, especially AM radio.
You actually need a tower, and that costs an enormous amount of money a year.
The electricity, that tower itself, maintaining it.
And it is a very high, in fact, the last AM radio tower in Canada was built, I think, more than a decade ago.
It's such, and so I love radio.
I actually think it's my best medium.
It's my favorite medium.
I used to have a radio show way back in the day.
I won't get into that now.
I did look into it just a couple months ago, and the answer is it's very expensive, and you are regulated by the CRTC.
I think the replacement to radio is podcasting.
In fact, when I met with an expert, when I met with the guy who built the last AM radio tower in Canada, he basically said to me, you're crazy to back into radio.
Everyone's trying to get into podcasting, which is basically radio without the towers.
Guess Foster says, Mr. Levant, here's a question.
Are Sophie Gregoire and the kids under any sort of non-disclosure agreement?
They seem to have become invisible, indeed, non-existent.
How convenient for Justin's re-election strategy.
Merry Christmas.
Habi Kaneka, Ezra.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you.
Well, I mean, listen, they are their mom and kids, and they're not employees.
However, if there was some sort of separation agreement between Sophie Gregoire and Justin Trudeau, which we now understand there is, she may have agreed to that in a contract, which would, you know, you would never have a husband and wife have a contract with each other normally and for something like that.
But if they are exes now, it could well have been part of a divorce settlement where he pays her a certain amount of money and she gets certain rights, but in return she has to shut up about things.
But I should tell you that she really has not had a lot to say in public for years.
I think the last time she had really, I mean, once in a while she would do a strained photo op with Trudeau, but very rarely.
Once in a while, she would go on some glamorous foreign junket, like she went to India with them.
She went, I think, to Japan.
So, of course, she wanted the freebies and the perks.
But, I mean, it's been an open secret that they've been estranged for a long time.
Photos were her without her wedding ring, etc.
So, in answer, we don't know if there is a non-disclosure agreement.
I bet there is if they had another separation agreement that involves the divorce and funds.
So, the kids, I mean, you can't have a contract like that with a kid.
None of the kids are the age of majority.
A contract wouldn't be binding.
And the kids, you know, it's their own mom and dad.
I mean, I don't want to imply that I'm taking any joy from the fact that the children are the children of divorce right now.
Women's Safety Concerns00:04:36
Well, I was just rummaging around in the bag, and I actually have gone through all the letters.
The rest in here is just stuffing.
There's no more letters in here.
But I think we covered the waterfront, went through a lot of issues, and it's nice to hear from you.
There really weren't any, but I was worried about some really personal questions.
The closest one to a personal question asked if I'm afraid of being stalked.
And I'm not.
And we're really lucky that way.
I have some friends who do have some danger when they go out.
And I think maybe I'm not quite as rambunctious as they are, or I live in a slightly safer place.
Also, I'm not, you know, I mean, I sort of live a boring life.
I go from home to the office and back.
I do go out and do some journalism.
I think the closest I've come to being afraid was when I went to the United Kingdom for one of their massive pro-Hamas protests, and I didn't have a bodyguard with me.
It was sort of a last-minute idea to go.
And I relied on the fact that I didn't think anyone there would, at that event, would recognize me.
I was wrong.
Someone in the end did recognize me, and was being provocative, and I walked away fairly quickly.
But typically, if I'm going to a dangerous place, we bring security, and our journalists do that too, because our people have been attacked.
I don't think any of our people have been attacked on their private time.
But when we go to events, when there's antifa or other thugs like that, they absolutely target our people, especially the women.
They target Alexa.
They target Drea.
They targeted Sheila.
So I thank you for your concern for me, but actually my concern is more for the women reporters on our team because there's something about the feminist male that they claim to be for women's rights and all that, but it's just a facade.
I think right-wingers or conservatives or real men or whatever would never hit a woman, even if they were hit first by a woman.
Whereas these new men of the left, these male feminists, absolutely target women, and it's super gross.
As you know, Sheila was hit by Deion Buse at a women's march, for God's sakes.
Well, that's the mailbag.
I went through the whole thing.
The rest in that bag was just stuffing.
But hopefully I got to one of your questions and thank you for putting them to me.
And thanks for your support over the year.
You know, I look back and so much happened this year.
In fact, I mentioned earlier about scrumming Albert Burla Pfizer.
That was January of 2023.
It feels like an eternity ago.
But we've covered a lot of stories around the world and across the country and I and I take to heart your point about that we don't have a strong presence in eastern Canada and, believe me, I wish we could cover everything but, but I know we have to.
My job, besides doing some journalism, is to make payroll every week, every two weeks, and I take that extremely seriously, in fact.
I'll close on this note.
The very first question was, am I worried about my safety?
There's only one thing I worry about.
I'm not worried about the slings and arrows thrown at us verbally.
I'm not even that worried about physical risk because we have security, I think, when it's reasonable.
I'm not worried about our ability or inability to do the job.
I'm not worried about competitors really.
The only thing I'm worried about is can I make payroll every two weeks?
Because I promised you, the viewers, that we will continue to do the work and I've promised our employees, our staff, that I'll pay them.
And it's really, that's the essential job.
How do you pay for citizen journalists in 2023 and 2024 when YouTube has demonetized you, when the government harasses you?
Obviously, they don't give you any money, and no corporation will touch you.
How do you make a payroll for, I think there's 46 of us altogether?
How do you do that?
That's actually the only thing that keeps me up at night.
But so far, so good.
In fact, we're coming up on our ninth anniversary in about six weeks.
So we'll tell you more about that.
Until next time, from all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters to you at home on this Christmas Day, good night and keep fighting for freedom.
Learn French, Gain Courage00:02:44
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I just hear from my producer, Olivia, that I received some Christmas letters and I would take the time to answer it because it really means to me.
So the first one was by Robin Boomstrom and he wrote to me, but first of all, João Noël, what a crazy year.
Rebend News has been on an extraordinary journey.
Your dedication to truth has not only kindled my interest in journalism, but has also united a passion for learning the beautiful French language.
As an unilingual redneck Albertan, learning French has been tough.
And I wish I could have paid more attention to it when I was learning it in high school.
But I would say that in high school, a lot of people didn't pay attention to other language.
Most of the time, we focus on other topic.
And I regret too, because I learned really late to speak in English and I needed to move to Australia to start to be in an immersive English place.
So I worked there and I learned my English.
I don't regret it, but I would never lose my accent.
But I would say it's never too late to learn.
So I know that French is difficult, but you should like take a moment.
And if you are really interested, you should learn it.
And I continue, and I saw in the spirit of unity, freedom, and truth that you champion have become more actively involved in my community and local politics.
That's great.
Your fearless reporting has shown me the power a brave voice can have to inspire change across our country.
And that is true.
Merci, and continue l'Excel Havale.
Thank you for the French.
Merry Christmas and Bonani.
Thank you.
That was really kind.
And as I say, I'm really pleased to be the voice for the French and English side.
As you know, a lot of French Canadians still doesn't speak English.
I'm not perfect, but I think I'm trying to bring you as much as I can with my French accent.
My second letter is from Nicola Casper.
Merry Christmas Greetings00:12:03
Did you suffer PTSD after Trudeau Tug shot you with the gas canister?
Do you have a permanent mark from being shot?
I would say I did suffer PTSD for a while.
I was sweating at night.
I was waking up, like remembering what happened.
And it was kind of really traumatizing, I would say.
I had some difficulty to walk for months because I had like still some pressure in my legs.
I'm really fortunate.
There is no mark on my legs, but I didn't really look at it like every day.
But I would say that we will see what the trial brings us.
We are key, we are still trying to make them accountable of what they did.
And we will update you in 2024 because it's probably then we will have the trial about it.
Then, well, sorry if I don't say it correctly.
To the lovely Alexa Lavois, other than being a reporter, what do you do?
What do you enjoy doing the most in your off time?
Thanks for the great reporting and Merry Christmas to you and all the rebels.
What I like to do, but first of all, I like doing sport.
I'm a runner, but also I'm the kind of person that I like to draw.
I like to paint.
And also, I'm kind of like, I like everything that is craft.
So I like doing some Britic collage and other stuff like that.
So I'm kind of basic person, but I really like to try a lot of different stuff.
So I'm kind of keen to try any sport that I didn't try before.
So thank you for everybody who wrote to me.
And I wish I would see you every single person in 2024 for more reports.
And please keep writing to me.
I really appreciate it.
Letters to Drea.
I guess that means I'm in the big leagues.
It's no longer just Ezra.
This is really exciting.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
I'm going to be quick.
I'm just reading a few of them.
I'll read all of them, though, behind the scenes.
First one is from Brent Babcock.
Mr. Babcock says, Hi, Drea, I live in BC and never know when you are here to report on great topics.
Can you please let viewers know ahead of time so we can come and support, please?
Oh, thanks, Brent.
Actually, I get asked this a lot.
You might be surprised to know I don't come to BC.
I am in BC.
I'm Rebel News' BC Bureau Chief Reporter who's stationed in British Columbia in the lower mainland.
And as far as giving a heads up, which again, you're not the only one ask for that, are you following me on Twitter?
Not a shameless plug, just that is where I do sometimes say tomorrow I'll be covering this or this is happening or what have you and give a heads up.
Also, sometimes I don't really want people to know a heads up like my best friends in the Antifa Club.
So I might not post those types of things ahead of time.
And then sometimes news just comes at your door at any hour.
And I don't get to let people know ahead of time for that.
But thank you so much for wanting and supporting our coverage here at Rebel News.
Next is Robert Guthrie.
Hi, Robert.
Says, I live in Richmond, B.C. From the moment you first appeared on Rebel News, I was a fan of your cool and calm style.
Not sure if you're a family style today, but I was a fan of your cool and calm style and asking questions and commenting with basic common sense.
Thank you.
You have a natural gift for journalism, and I'm so glad your talents aren't wasted on one of the scripted corporate media organizations.
They may pay better, but at the end of the day, the most important job of a journalist is to tell the truth and ask questions, not just allow a well-edited script approved by some suit in Toronto.
All the best to you and your family over the holidays.
Please keep asking tough questions and keep up the great work.
Thank you so much, Robert.
I promise to do so.
I'm looking forward to 2024.
And Merry Christmas to you and yours.
The next one's from my husband.
My goodness, Brownie Points.
He says, Merry Christmas to my beautiful Rebel wife.
I want to let you know how proud we all are, or we are, of all of the Rebel News team, and especially Drea's accomplishments.
Her dedication and bravery in these trying times are unwavering and unmatched.
It takes so much to balance what you do on a professional level, then come home and be the best wife and mother anyone can ask for.
Oh my gosh, this guy takes some notes, husbands.
Oh wow.
He says, I don't know anyone who works as hard as you.
We are truly blessed.
I salute everyone in the community that has supported Drea and Rebel News.
Without these special people, the other side of the story is rarely told.
Happy holidays and love you all.
That is so sweet.
I love him so much.
And he's not giving himself credit there because it's not easy being married to a Rebel News reporter.
Wow.
Well, I'm feeling very blessed, very loved.
Thank you all.
Merry Christmas.
I love you just like my husband does.
And let's get it going next year.
It's David Menzies here reading your letters to Rebel during this Christmas season.
And unlike Santa Claus, who's way too busy this time of year, I'm going to respond.
Let's see.
Danny writes, Dear David, when you asked that 50-year-old swimmer guy if he's a sexual pervert, you made my year.
It also woke up a friend of mine to his LGBT stuff going way too far.
Kudos.
Well, thank you so much, Danny.
And you do notice he didn't deny he was a sexual pervert.
Did he?
No, he just did that feeble cry for somebody protect me from these people.
I think this weirdo has been protected all his life and the protection's got to end.
He's got to go to the little boys room from now on and not invade the sanctity of the female bathroom.
What a creep.
Gladys Molly writes, Hi, David.
I have to tell you that I just love all of the journalists at Rebel News.
And I was thrilled to meet Ezra at a book signing in BC at a Tamara Leech function.
But I have to say that you are my favorite journalist.
I love your bubbly and comical personality.
And I wondered if your wife was the same.
Or if not, does she just tolerate you?
Oh, that is such a beautiful letter.
That is my Christmas present.
No, she tolerates me.
That's it.
And as time goes on, Lady Manzoid's tolerance is getting thinner and thinner.
She has no reservations whatsoever to tell me to shut the hell up.
I know that's coming.
It's when her lower lip starts to tremble.
Yeah, I've annoyed her too much.
But hey, folks, you know what they say?
You only annoy the ones you love.
Big DPS writes, as much as I love seeing you get one-on-one with fake transitioners, Kayla Lemieux and all, why do you think when organizers see you, they are keen on protecting those you are trying to expose to the public?
That's a great question.
And I think it's this.
Everyone is so terrified about being branded a transphobe, a bigot, you name it, that they got to seem to be protecting these transgendered people because if they don't, maybe their job is in jeopardy.
Such is the cancel culture we live in.
It is tyranny of the minority, my friend.
And hopefully this wokeism will start to dissipate when we get regime change in the U.S. and Canada in the years ahead.
Christina Story writes, Hey, David, I enjoyed your reporting in Windsor with the Canadian geese honking.
That was the best.
And your laugh.
Merry Christmas.
Well, thank you so much, my dear.
That was indeed funny.
It was a goose.
If you haven't seen this video, folks, it was just about a minute.
And we came across this domesticated goose in Windsor and it was honking.
And I thought, oh my goodness gracious, if Liberal MP Yara Sachs finds out about this, she might have the goose's bank account frozen or worse.
Look at that, folks.
Did you hear that goose honking?
Doesn't it know that you're not supposed to be honking?
I think that's a racist, bigoted goose that's honking incessantly and destroying asylum for the good people of Windsor.
How dare you, Mom?
No, no, honking.
Yara Sachs is the one, remember, who said that honk honk is an acronym, her words, for Heil Hitler.
Oh, what was I saying just a second ago about pining for regime change in Canada?
What a moron.
Greg Brown writes, why is there an effort to cancel Christmas?
Who are the ones offended by it?
Why do we never hear from these particular people, but rather we hear from a white collar representative of some group stating that Christmas is racist?
Not one ethnic person that I have ever met has ever been offended by a Merry Christmas.
Christmas has been for all people to enjoy and partake in regardless of their backgrounds.
This is something sinister in nature.
Well, my friend, I don't know if it's sinister.
It's certainly cowardly.
It's certainly embracing a ludicrous version of wokeism.
And I agree with you.
I have met so many people, Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, they have no issue whatsoever with the word Christmas.
But you know, the other day I was in a shopping mall.
There were maybe over 100 stores.
I think I saw the C word displayed once on a poster.
And by the way, at this point, I want to give a shout out to Canadian Tire.
It is once again using the slogan, Canada's Christmas store.
Yeah, imagine that.
A retailer being applauded for its bravery for using the word Christmas at Christmas time.
But that's where we are today.
Why don't we start a movement to, oh, I don't know, make Christmas great again.
Well, folks, thank you so much.
What a year, eh?
Can it get any more weird and wacky than the last 12 months?