Ezra Levant exposes Justin Trudeau’s election-year bribes to media, including a $1.6B CBC boost and $58.8M for Bill C-18, which restricts news sharing—despite claims of fiscal restraint. Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe defies the federal carbon tax, saving households $400, while Trudeau’s Atlantic Canada exemption is called a "substantive lie." Lynx Airline’s collapse and Lush Cosmetics’ closures highlight economic harm from taxes and regulations, with per capita GDP dropping below U.S. states like Alabama. MP pay raises—Trudeau now earning $405K—amid consumer hardship fuel outrage, while the Online Harms Act and CJA-backed censorship bills reveal a shift toward Orwellian control, abandoning conservative values for state-manipulated narratives in an escalating "info war." [Automatically generated summary]
I'll give you the latest on his huge bailout for his best friends.
But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus.
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All right, here's today's podcast.
Tonight, as Canadians abandon the Liberal Party in record numbers, Trudeau pays off his base.
Journalists.
It's March 1st, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug.
You know, you shouldn't put too much stock in polls.
They're not a prediction for the future.
They're a snapshot in the present.
But still, you got to like how the polls have been looking for about a year now.
In fact, in the last month or so, they're the worst ever results for Trudeau.
It is a fact that Donald Trump's approval numbers in Canada are higher than Justin Trudeau's approval numbers in Canada.
Isn't that weird?
And I like looking at all the pollsters because they have different approaches and different reliability, but abacus research is my favorite.
First of all, I know David Coletto, the boss there.
I used to work with him a decade ago at Sun News, and he's a really nice guy.
Budget Bonuses Bewilder Executives00:11:21
But I like them because they're liberal.
And so when they report bad news about Justin Trudeau, you know they're doing it against their instincts, but they have to be honest about it.
It's sort of like when the New York Times criticizes a liberal, you know, it's got to be bad for them to say so.
One of the statistics I like to look at is different demographic groups, Westerners, men, women, young people are for the conservatives in a way that I don't think has ever been the case in my lifetime.
Now, every other demographic seems to be for them too, including women.
For the first time I can remember, conservatives have an advantage with women.
And I contrast that to the United Kingdom, where only 1%, according to a poll, only 1% of young people plan to vote conservative in the next election.
Just incredibly shocking.
The economy is a disaster.
Immigration is out of control.
That makes everything else tougher.
There's crime.
There's political violence and threats of violence on the streets in the form of these GAZA protests and not just protests.
They get into crimes as well.
And now massive corruption scandals.
I think there was three in one day the other day.
Hundreds of millions of dollars, not just wasted.
Wasted would be one thing.
This is being pocketed by crooks.
And in the middle of this, Trudeau announces his biggest censorship bill ever, the Online Harms Act.
And I've been paying extremely close attention to that.
I've been reading everything I can about it.
And it is my observation, and you correct me if you think I'm wrong here, that this Online Harms Act is only being supported by those who are being paid to support it or who will have a direct benefit from it.
I have not seen a single organic expression of support by anyone.
No one was calling for this.
No one is saying, yes, finally, the government can tell me what I can or can't see on the internet.
As I've told you before, most of the bill is stuff that's already law.
I was just looking at it again today.
There's a section of the bill that requires Twitter and Facebook and YouTube to have a block button.
Yeah, good idea.
They've had it for more than a decade.
They're required to be able to flag spam or other content.
Yeah, they all have that.
Isn't that weird to have a I demand that you have a block button?
Okay, well, we have one, so your demands are met.
I demand we put that into law.
Okay, you do.
You will have the block button whether or not you do it.
Like, it's just such an awful law.
Half of it is just stupid stuff.
I mean, if those things weren't done, if there weren't a law against revenge porn, for example, it'd be a good idea to introduce it.
But Stephen Harper already did that.
The law against revenge pornography was enacted in 2014.
Like I say, this is only about controlling what you do and say on the internet.
No one actually wants that other than the very small clique of people who intend to profit off it.
Even the normally somnolent Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the so-called civil liberties group that basically decided to go on holiday during the pandemic, even they mustered themselves to say something against him.
I'm curious what the Senate of Canada will do.
Of course, it's completely packed by Trudeau's hand-picked appointees, but they are independent only in one way, is that they don't have to seek election again.
So if they're truly troubled by something, they might actually occasionally speak out.
If you remember, that's what caused the end of the Emergencies Act when it looked like Trudeau would not muster the support he needed for it in the Senate.
Even liberals were saying, whoa, this guy's out of control.
There's a few ex-journalists in the Senate.
I wonder what they have to say about things.
On both sides, there's Pamela Wong on the conservative side, and there's Paula Simons on the liberal side and others too.
I wonder what they have to say.
I'm sure it'll pass, of course.
The Liberals have such a huge majority.
But things aren't going great for the Liberals, is what I'm saying.
No one's happy with the economy.
Even mainstream journalists are saying immigration is out of control.
So the Liberals are trying to shore up their base in what could be an election year.
I think it's 50-50 that will have an election in 2024.
So who is this liberal base to be shored up?
Obviously, it's Hamas supporters.
It's a full court press for their vote every week.
Seriously, every cabinet minister who's even close to that file is weighing in on a weekly basis.
And with good reason, there are now areas in this country where the pro-Hamas vote is significant enough to make a difference.
I don't know if you saw this news in the United Kingdom yesterday.
They had a by-election in the district called Rochdale.
And who won that?
Not Labor, not the Conservatives, but an sort of independent, extreme pro-Hamas candidate, George Galloway.
Just a shocking win.
Take a listen to him.
Dear Starmer, this is for Gaza.
You have paid and you will pay a high price for the role that you have played in enabling, encouraging, and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip.
Oh, by the way, here he is literally hugging a leader of Hamas.
So yeah, that's what Trudeau wants.
He wants half a dozen Hamas ridings in this country.
He thinks he can get them.
I think he can.
But who else is for Trudeau?
Not young people, not minorities other than the small.
I don't know if it's small.
I wish it was small.
Pro-Hamas segment.
Not women, not even Atlantic Canadians, not even Quebecers.
So who is his base?
Well, the answer is so obvious.
It's journalists.
They're not numerous, but they have megaphones and magnifying glasses.
So what they say is echoed many times over.
And wouldn't you know it, look at this.
Justin Trudeau is taking care of those who he wants to take care of him.
Ottawa adds funding to CBC, despite executives' claims it was asked to cut its budget.
That's what they think is important.
The lie of the executives say that's not what is important.
What's important is that Trudeau is taking care of the journalists so they take care of him.
I'll read a little bit.
Documents released Thursday show CBC will get $1.4 billion in 2024-2025.
Canada's public broadcaster, it's not the public broadcaster, it's a government broadcaster.
There's a difference.
Canada's government broadcaster is getting an increase in funding, despite executives insisting that a request to cut CBC Radio Canada's budget for the next fiscal year was one reason they announced layoffs for 10% of staff.
Now, I'm sure it's true.
I'm sure the Liberals, you know, this is a back and forth.
CBC was sort of saying, well, we're going to lay people off if you don't get us, give us more money.
It was sort of a negotiation of sorts.
But look, of course, Trudeau is going to pay these people off.
Let me keep reading.
Documents Canadian Inheritance released on Thursday show CBC will get a $1.4 billion budget in 2024, up from the $1.3 billion it spent in the previous year.
The increase amounts to $96.1 million, which the department says is primarily attributable to salary increases following the ratification of collective agreements.
Oh, so they're all getting raises.
You heard it?
Did you get a raise last year?
No.
In fact, you had a real reduction in your per capita GDP, and more is coming when they hike the carbon tax on April 1st.
Let me keep reading.
The broadcaster announced in December it would cut 800 jobs and $40 million from its production budget because of a $125 million projected shortfall for the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1st.
You know, there's a saying in Washington, D.C.
I think it applies here in Canada too, firemen first, which is, if you tell a government organization they have to cut money, they're going to obviously cut the one thing people care about the most.
We're going to, oh, because the government has reduced our budget, we're going to have to lay off the firemen.
Not any of these useless bureaucrats, the firemen.
And so I think that's the game CBC's executives were playing.
They were saying, well, Justin Trudeau, if you don't give us more money, we're going to have to lay off hundreds of staff.
Uh-oh.
Oh, good.
You're going to give us more money.
You know, Catherine Tate, the CEO of the CBC, is one of the absolutely worst people in Ottawa.
And I think even her own staff hates her.
I'm on TikTok, which is a Chinese app.
I shouldn't be on it because it's spying on me.
But I get the feeling that the people at the CBC who actually run the TikTok account actually hate Catherine Tate because it's only on TikTok, not on Twitter or the websites, that they have the most unflattering videos of her.
I think they actually hate her.
Here she is lying a few months ago about bonuses and saying, no, no, no, we don't have bonuses.
It's just performance pay.
And no, I'm not going to tell you if I'm going to take a bonus myself.
Remember this loathsome woman?
Why you be giving bonuses to executives?
My response to that question is to say that we have a process, a rigorous process.
It is not my decision to award performance pay.
It is in fact the decision of the board of directors.
And that decision comes at the end of the fiscal year.
We have another two months before we reach the end of the fiscal year.
And as I have also said in public, everything is on the table.
So we will see at the end of fiscal year based on results and where we are financially.
So as a CEO, you do not make the decision.
You have no say in whether or not bonuses are granted.
All of the management team measures and analyzes our results on an annual basis, which are published very clearly as well.
As cardio in the quarterly no say in whether or not bonuses are given.
All of the management team presents to the board of directors the results of our year against KPIs, key performance indicators that have been tracked throughout the year.
And based on the analysis and the results, the board of directors makes its decision.
I should just point out, perhaps of interest, for example, last year, we did not meet two of our KPIs.
And our bonus level was reduced.
It's just really weird to me that someone who lives in New York City would be hired to run the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
I know for at least the first part of her tenure, she would commute back and forth from New York.
She would fly in because she cares about carbon emissions, you see.
It's really weird to me that a New Yorker is running the CBC, but it's all about politics.
What's incredible to me at all is that such a failure has been allowed to continue because the CBC audience continues to decline.
I showed you this the other day.
Frankly, I should show it to you every day.
According to their own statistics, according to their own annual report, the CBC is losing viewers every year.
Canada's population is skyrocketing mainly because of immigration, but the endemic population, as in the not the immigration population, is at least staying the same.
Trudeau's Furnace Oil Ploy00:14:29
How can you have a country that's never been more populous have declining viewership of the CBC every year?
Because people hate it.
Imagine giving them a bigger budget.
Who gets a raise for failing worse every year?
Well, that's the CBC.
And by the way, don't believe the $1.4 billion figure.
That's just their official budget.
They also get special money, so countless sums through, for example, they've got special pandemic money.
There's all sorts of other money other than their official budget.
So it's surely closer to $1.6 billion.
Anyways, look at this news just today.
So we heard about the CBC yesterday.
Here's the news about more payoffs.
Support for independent local journalism, because you deserve to know.
This is actually an official government press release.
Deserve to know what?
What Trudeau wants me to know?
The government of Canada remains committed to helping Canadians access news coverage on topics of local interest that affect them.
That is not true.
Because of Bill C-18, which was going to ring out Facebook for $100 million to give payouts to Justin Trudeau's favorite journalists, you cannot post a Canadian news story on Facebook.
I don't know if you know that.
You can't post a rebel news story on Facebook.
Justin Trudeau and his atrocious scheme backfired.
And so one of the largest sources of Canadian news has been cut off.
Thanks, Trudeau.
And let me read the press release.
Local journalism reflects our day-to-day realities, informs us about issues that might affect us, and through storytelling, unites us as neighbors and Canadians.
I don't really think that's what it does, but hey, you do you.
The government of Canada remains committed to ensuring that all Canadians can access sustainable and robust independent news.
That's a lie.
There really isn't any independent news left in Canada because every single newspaper, every TV station, every radio station is heavily regulated by government and is subsidized by government.
Literally 99.9%.
And that's not an exaggeration.
We've shown you before that there are 1,500 different news companies on the toll.
I didn't even know there were that many news outlets.
Let me keep reading.
The Honorable Pascal Saint-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced $58.8 million in funding to extend the local journalism initiative for the next three years.
A pure election year bribe is what this is, folks.
That's why they're announcing it now.
This is an election year or next year is for sure.
And they need to shore up their base.
Let me continue a little more.
protect the independence of the press.
Did you know government can protect the independence of the press?
I didn't know that.
The only way to protect the independence of the press is not to meddle, not to use a carrot or a stick.
To protect the independence of the press, the government will continue to work with not-for-profit organizations to administer this funding.
These organizations provide the funds that support media organizations, produce local journalism in underserved communities.
This just isn't true.
And I know this from personal experience.
A few years ago, Justin Trudeau announced something called the QCJO News License, the Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization.
You have to apply to the government, and that was the precursor to getting all sorts of benefits for your newspaper or your website.
Now, we would never take money from Trudeau, but we wanted the status.
We were refused.
We were rejected.
They said what we do is not news.
They said less than 1% of what we do is news.
And they denied us, just like the hand-picked debates commission that Trudeau set up denied us as well.
It is a lie to say that this is independent, and it is a lie to say that this is being done at arm's length from government.
But look, I've got to tell you this, folks.
Bribing journalists like this, it's not going to save them.
In fact, it's going to drag the media down with them.
Because every day that the journalists of this country mimic the liberals of this country, they absorb the hatred that's directed at the liberals.
I'd like to see polling for journalists the same way I see polling for politicians.
I think it's not going to save either the liberals or the newspapers, but it will explain a lot of the editorial decisions that you see by the regime media this year.
Stay with us for more.
You know, I love Saskatchewan.
It's not the flashiest province, and they sort of like it that way.
But their premier, Scott Mo, he's tough.
He looks just like a folksy neighbor on the outside.
You never see him coming, though.
Bam!
Let me show you a tweet that he tweeted the other day.
It was one of his cabinet ministers standing outside Parliament Hill with a bit of an announcement, Saskatchewan-style.
Take a look at this.
I'm here at Ottawa, where 40 years ago, Pierre Trudeau took a walk in the snow and decided to resign as prime minister.
Today, I took a walk in the rain and made an important decision about the carbon tax.
After the cold start that, we're all well aware that it's still winter in Saskatchewan.
Justin Trudeau continues to lead Saskatchewan people out in the cold.
Last October, the Liberal NDP government here at Ottawa further divided Canadians by exempting home heating oil from their unfair and unaffordable carb tax.
This move provided affordability relief for people in Atlantic Canada, where the largest concentration of homes heated with oil are located.
But it gave a cold shoulder when Saskatchewan people predominantly heat their coal, natural gas or electricity.
When asked what it would take to extend similar affordability related families in Western Canada, a liberal minister suggested that we should elect more liberals.
That's no way the brotherhood.
Our government responded immediately and sent a clear message to the federal government that we could not accept this unfair tax.
That's why Premier Stotlow announced that Saskut would stop collecting the carbon tax on residential and to give Saskatchewan families the same affordability relief that Trudeau is giving to Atlantic Canada.
By January 1st, we followed through on that.
This has already saved Saskatchewan families a lot of money through January and February and will save the average household about $400 this year.
In addition to affordability, this is also about fairness.
And our government refusing to allow Trudeau to treat Saskatchewan people like second-class citizens.
The carbon tax has always been unaffordable.
But up until now, it said it had been the heating oil exemption for Atlantic Canada, that changed that.
And our government simply is not going to accept this unfair treatment of Saskatchewan families by Trudeau.
Well, that's Dustin Duncan, the Sask Energy Minister.
Now, Saskatchewan, for historical reasons, cultural reasons, still has some publicly owned utilities, including the energy company.
And that is the mechanism by which Scott Moe, the Premier, and Dustin Duncan, the cabinet minister there, are able to say, you know what?
We control that energy operator, and we are not going to be tax collectors for Justin Trudeau.
We're just simply not going to do it.
And we're allowed to make that political decision as the political masters of the public utility.
That wouldn't be possible in provinces where it's a private sector company that would pretty much have to obey the feds.
The feds cannot make the province a tax collector for them.
And if you doubt me, ask Quebec, which for jurisdictional reasons and reasons of cultural pride and sovereignty association, they have control over a lot of their own tax collection and pensions and Quebec police.
I like that.
And it reminds me of the lie that Environment Minister Stephen Gilbo told my colleague David Menzies the other day.
I don't know if you saw this.
I want to play it for you in case you haven't.
My buddy David, who normally gets arrested and roughed up by liberal bodyguards, he encountered Stephen Gilbo, the environment minister on the street the other day.
And I was shocked.
They didn't try and arrest him.
They didn't assault him.
I think they realized we're going to sue the living daylights out of them.
So David walked and talked with Stephen Gilbo for a couple of minutes down the street.
And David put to Gilbo that very question.
Why are you only taxing Westerners?
Why did you give an Atlantic exemption?
I want to show you this video for the substance of it, but also to show you that I think the liberals are sick of being sued and pummeled by us.
We have more news on that file to come.
But look at this.
Stephen Gilbo actually answering some questions.
He's lying, but at least he's being a grown-up about it, a grown-up liar.
Take a look.
Mr. Guibo, according to this press conference, it looks like this program is available for residents of the city of Peterborough.
In that regard, it's reminiscent of the announcement last fall that only Atlantic Canadians would receive relief from the federal fuel charge if they heat their homes with heating oil.
Given that your prime minister once said a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, why is it that only some Canadians qualify for relief and others do not?
Actually, the premise of your question is wrong.
The home eating oil rebate applies to Canadians who use heating oil all across the country.
And I'll give you an example.
There are more people who heat their homes with oil in Quebec than in all of Atlantic Canada.
So it's not a project.
It's not a program that's specific to Atlantic Canadians.
What we're announcing today is a partnership with the city of Peterborough, but we're announcing similar partnerships.
And we've heard from the Canadian Federation of Municipalities that one in 2,100 similar programs have been funded through the Green Municipal Funds.
And we're hoping to fund even more with those type of announcements.
Thank you.
Of course, it's technically true, but that's actually a substantive lie.
Anyone with home heating oil is exempted, but of course, the vast majority of home heating oil users in this country are in the Atlantic province's aka liberal ridings.
All of this is a preamble to introduce one of our most popular guests on the Ezra LeBan show.
To advocate for taxpayers.
And these days, we need all we can get.
Unfortunately, a lot of people out there are co-opted because they take government grants.
Not our next friend.
The Taxpayers Federation for a generation has eschewed government funding, which is why they're allowed to be so independent and forceful.
Let me introduce to you, my friend, Franco Terrazano.
You know what?
There was a lot of preamble, a lot of intro.
We should play two videos before getting to you, but you've got the news we really wanted you to come on about.
They're raising the carbon tax on April Fool's Day, aren't they?
Oh, they sure are.
Hey, folks, I mean, people are struggling with just the price of necessities, right?
Whether it's just hamburger meat at the grocery store or trying to fuel up your car on the way to work or staying warm during the winter months.
Well, the Trudeau government seems either not to know the struggles Canadians are going through or just doesn't care.
Because on April 1, the joke's on you, dear taxpayer.
The government is raising the carbon tax again.
And let's just go back to what the government of Saskatchewan is doing.
Hey, can I just say it's great to see a premier coming off the bench and actually trying to stick up for their taxpayers there in Saskatchewan?
You know, I think it's very clear that Scott Moe, the Premier of Saskatchewan, his heart is in the right place and Trudeau is in the wrong.
I mean, what did Trudeau think was going to happen when he did a pure political ploy to take the carbon tax off of furnace oil, which predominantly helps Atlantic Canadians, where they were falling in the polls, but leaving 97% of Canadian families out in the cold and paying the carbon tax on their home heating bills.
So, folks, look, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is pushing back.
And the thing that you all need to know is that again, on April 1, the Trudeau government is going to be cranking up the carbon tax once again.
Hey, I know that there's something else that goes up every year, and I think it's also an April Fool's Day.
And you correct me, Franco, I know this is your area of expertise.
So if I've got it wrong, you got to let me know.
Is it also true that every April 1st, the members of parliament and the senators give themselves an automatic raise too?
Is that true?
Oh, it sure is, right?
So on the same day that they take more money from your wallet, they're stuffing more money into their own wallet, right?
So a lockdown, sky-high inflation, people losing their job, people losing their businesses.
None of that stopped our so-called representatives in Ottawa.
They're supposed to represent us, but they're not representing us very well on this issue, are they?
None of that stopped members of parliament from rubber stamping their pay raises year after year after year.
And again, on April 1, they're about to give themselves another raise.
This year's pay raise will range from an extra 8,100 bucks for a backbench member of parliament all the way up to an extra $16,200 for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Okay, so stay with me here for another second, folks.
After this raise goes through, a backbencher along with collecting dust will be collecting a salary north of $200,000.
And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new salary will be about 405,000 smackers.
There is no job in the private sector that he could possibly get on the merits that would pay him more than $100,000.
The man has no tangible skills.
He, I mean, I mean, the money is just icing on the cake for him.
He's atrocious in every way.
But the idea that he's getting a raise after his misconduct, his incompetence, his failure is shocking to me.
It's just so, I mean, there's 365 days a year.
It's a leap year.
So this year, there's 366 days in the year.
The odds that they chose April Fool's Day for both the carbon tax hike and the pay raise.
I don't know if it's a coincidence, but I think they think we're fools.
I think putting it on that day is their way of saying you're fools.
April Fool's Tax Hike00:05:20
And frankly, this applies to the opposition MPs too, because they're all getting the pay raise.
Franco, are you aware of any conservative MP or new Democrat MP or block MP who is saying, no, I'm not going to take it and I'm going to prove I'm not going to take it?
Some of them sort of mumble something once a year, but I've never seen proof that they're not all in on it.
So there are some things they're all colluding against the taxpayer.
Do you have any evidence to the contrary?
No, that's a great point.
Here, let me just step back one second, though, and I'll get right into that.
I promise, okay?
But one thing I have to show you folks is that since the beginning of 2020, okay, this will be their fifth pay raise since the beginning of 2020.
So lockdowns, business losses, job losses, sky-high inflation raise every single year.
Now, to the point, carbon tax up, MP pay up, you pay higher taxes, they take higher pay.
Do you see how it works, folks?
And I'm glad you brought up that other question about the opposition, right?
Because the liberals or the government could stop the pay raise with a simple piece of legislation, just like it was stopped in 2010 to 2013 following the 0809 recession.
So it can be done and it should be done.
Now, to the main question, that's a great one.
And I haven't seen a single member of parliament truly attack the member of parliament pay raise.
While the liberals could stop it tomorrow, all that would really need to happen is for one opposition party to truly break ranks with the rest of the parties in the House of Commons, to launch a campaign against it, to put in a private member's bill, to take the social media and to make a real stink about this.
So my message to any member of parliament who's watching this show and who wants to be a true taxpayer champion.
Well, if you really want to be a taxpayer champion, you got to oppose the carbon tax hike and you got to oppose the MP pay raise.
Yeah.
Hey, I want to talk to you about one more thing.
A few weeks ago now, it's about a week old now, there was a little startup airline about two years old in Canada called Lynx, L-Y-N-X, like the big cat.
And I flew on it a couple of times.
It's not as luxurious as, let's say, an Air Canada seat or even WestJet.
It was a real economy, ultra-low-cost carrier is what they called themselves.
And it was cheap.
It was sort of the people's airplane.
It was just for students and tourists and small business people and people who really couldn't afford to fly at regular prices.
So this was, I mean, they have these in Europe, more Ryanair and EasyJet and things like that.
But this was a Canadian version and they flew for two years and they had about 20 cities they went to.
And I guess it's about a week ago now, a little more, they announced that they're shutting down and they listed six reasons, Franco.
And I don't know if you read them.
Almost all of them had to do with the federal government.
They talked about regulation.
They talked about inflation.
They talked about the eroding currency because their costs are in U.S. dollars leasing those jets.
They talked about carbon taxes.
They talked about fuel taxes.
And I think six out of six or five out of six reasons they said they were going out of business had to do with this government's misconduct.
And I thought to myself, this is terrible.
It's terrible for the staff and owners of Lynx.
It's terrible for the Canadian consumer who now has less choice and more cost.
But Franco, that's what I think.
I think in the liberal government, this is a success.
Because remember the whole theory behind the carbon tax, punish polluters.
That's what they say.
Punish behaviors that emit more.
So by driving links out of business, they're achieving their climate goals by getting people to fly less.
And if they cause people to give up their cars, you and I would call that a disaster.
They would call it a success.
The whole point of the carbon tax, this is what they say, is to change your behavior, to nudge people to doing things that involve less energy.
Killing links looks awful to you and me, but to them it's a success.
Isn't that the whole point of the carbon tax?
So, Ezra, I hadn't heard about that, but let me just make a point about the broader economy that is in essence a similar issue, okay?
So, these regulations, these taxes, when the federal government is increasing costs for businesses through the regulatory environment, through higher taxes, through the money printing, you know who that benefits?
That benefits the bigger companies that are better able to deal with the higher costs from taxation and regulation and pushes the smaller companies out of the market.
Okay, so that helps quasi-monopolize industries to the benefit of the big corporations, and that hurts the smaller businesses who are trying to break into the market or who are just trying to compete.
And it also hurts the consumer, right?
So, not only are you paying the direct price of these taxes and regulations that directly drive up the price of goods, but you also suffer through the regulation that forces out the smaller companies because the monopolization or the quasi-monopolization of industries drives up costs for consumers that way.
Canadians Poorer Than 10 Years Ago00:06:17
And while I don't know the specifics of what you brought up, I can tell you that that is a huge issue across Canada, including multiple different sectors where you have the government regulate, increasing regulatory costs, increasing tax costs.
That drives out the smaller and medium-sized businesses, and it makes life in Canada more expensive by reducing competition.
Yeah, I think these are troubling times.
Lynx going out of business.
I see other companies, if I'm not mistaken, I think Lush Cosmetics announced it's shutting down 33 locations.
There's announcements of companies shutting down all the time.
You know, sometimes economists point to GDP, gross domestic product, and say, well, it's growing.
No, it's only growing because of massive immigration on a per capita basis.
Canadians are poorer now than we were 10 years ago.
10 years of moving backwards in terms of prosperity.
Canadian provinces are now poorer on a per capita basis than even states like Alabama, who, you know, who I think Canadians will probably in a snobby way say those yokels, those poor southerners, yeah, they're richer than us.
The average Canadian is poorer than the average U.S. black person.
And blacks are an underdeveloped minority, economically challenged.
There's a lot of systemic problems there and other problems.
Canadians are even poorer still.
We think we are a world-leading country, but we are falling behind in so many ways, Franco, and it's heartbreaking.
And I think people feel it, even if it's not reflected in the official media.
Last word to you.
Well, I just want to end on the MP pay raise, okay?
Because Ezra, this thing just, it drives me nuts.
I get, there's so many things to be mad about with this federal government and the way it wastes our money and overtaxes us Canadians, but this MP pay raise drives me completely nuts.
It makes me sick to my stomach to think of some of my family members working so hard for the money they earn and the taxes they pay.
And for the federal government to be making life harder for them and for so many Canadians with higher taxes, with the money printing, with the massive deficits, making it harder for average Canadians, and then turning around and giving themselves raises.
It absolutely makes me sick to my stomach.
So, folks, if there is one issue that you can oppose in the next coming weeks, I would say probably oppose the carbon tax, but a close second is that MP pay raise.
It drives me nuts.
And I hope more Canadians can take action.
Well, you and I are both non-partisan, and someone might joke and say, come on, you're not non-partisan.
No, I am non-partisan.
I haven't been a member of a political party in 20 years.
I criticize conservatives even harder than I criticize liberals when they drop conservative values.
And I think, Franco, you guys are the same way, which is why people trust you.
But I think that Canadians are waking up.
Every demographic, every region, every age group, I think is starting to say we are on the wrong path.
And so this has been a very depressing conversation.
But I do want, I do believe that change is coming.
And I think it's coming at the ballot box.
And I think that Canada is not done yet.
We will have better days ahead.
So these are dark times now, economically and in other ways, but I think we'll get through it.
Franco, great to see you.
Keep up the good work over the Taxpayers Federation.
Thanks for having me on, Ezra.
Appreciate it.
It's our pleasure.
There you have it, Franco Terrazano.
He's the boss of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Stay with us.
more ahead.
Hey, welcome back.
Your viewer mailed to me, Let Freedom Reign Honk, says, I just read the email I received from CJA, that's the Jewish Association, asking for my support and to let my MP know.
I'm glad I came upon this video because I was trying to figure out why they would ask for this and to support this criminal government.
Thanks, Ezra.
Yeah, look, CJA, I mean, I think I've told you this before.
I was on a precursor organization to CEJA about 15 years ago.
And back then, they were trying to have some conservative point of view because they wanted to get along with Stephen Harper.
They've abandoned that altogether now, that's for sure.
Yeah, they've been paid a quarter million dollars by Trudeau, but I think that they're just, it's not even the money.
I think they just think like liberals.
They are based on, you know, Montreal liberal Jewish money, the Bronson family, which typically is liberal.
And they do some good work.
They do.
I mean, I used to be on their board a decade ago or more, more than a decade ago now.
But signing on to the most odious censorship bill in Canadian history is a terrible idea by its own measure, but it is an even worse look for a Jewish organization to say, yeah, we want a piece of this censorship action.
I said in my monologue today, I haven't seen any organic expressions of support for this atrocious bill.
None.
The only people who have are those being paid off.
I think the official Jews shot themselves in the foot and offended countless supporters and frankly offended a lot of Jews who said, I'm not for censorship.
Chemistry of Questionable says, of course they did.
Have you seen the censorship laws they forced through in Europe?
You can't disagree with the current opinions of past events.
I don't know exactly what you mean by that, but yeah, I think that censorship is on the rise around the world.
Ireland, it's terrifying, for example.
I think New Zealand has pulled back from the worst of Jacinda Ardern's ideas.
They had an election.
Hopefully we'll get rid of Trudeau too.
Gordron says Canada needs an Orwell bill that if it's in 1984 or can be argued to be along the same dystopian line that it is against the national interest.
Canada could be the center of the next renaissance, but it needs away from influencing products and markets.
Well, remember when I were you watching the other day when I read from our republished version of 1984 that section where Winston Smith, the hero in 1984, is being tortured and his torture holds up the fingers and says, how many fingers?
How many fingers, Winston?
Winston's Dystopian Fingers00:00:55
And it's obviously four.
And Winston wanted to say four, but the torturer made him say three or five or whatever.
And when Winston said, fine, fine, it's five.
No, you have to believe it.
I think so much of politics these days is psychological manipulation and gaslighting and making you say things that you know are false.
I think that's what transgenderism is.
You see it's a man.
You know it's a man.
You know it's insane for them to go in a girl's change room, but they force you to do it.
It's absolutely crazy to me.
And that's just one aspect of the total gaslighting.
Trudeau saying, I'm for civil liberties while he brings in the censorship law.
Trudeau saying I'm against division when he pitted vaccinated against unvaccinated.
It really is an info war.
There's a battle on for your mind, as Alex Jones would say.